Chapter 1436 Betting (Happy Birthday to Book Friend "Wang Chunting")
Manbao thought for a moment and said, "But my father said farming is the foundation. If my fourth brother and his family want to go out and do business, they have to cultivate the land at home first. We can make a lot of money from business, but I always wonder, if it becomes easy for businessmen to make money, won't many people abandon their land to run businesses? What will happen to the food then?"
Bai Shan nodded. "That's exactly what I'm worried about. We still have to find a way to increase grain production. Unfortunately, the new wheat seeds are just a type of seed. And I've looked at our village's account books over the years, and the grain seems to be degenerating."
Manbao said: "This is not degeneration, but adaptation."
Bai Shan was puzzled, "Adapt?"
Manbao nodded and said confidently, "It's adapting to our environment and evolving into a grain more suitable for local growth and inheritance. Didn't you notice that the highest and lowest yields in our wheat fields used to vary greatly? But it's become much more stable in the past two years."
Bai Shan recalled the data and it was true.
He raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "I thought you were only focused on studying medicine now. Have you ever looked at the account books?"
Manbao lowered her head a little embarrassedly. She noticed it when she was checking the accounts during the New Year, but she did not go back to check them one by one. Instead, she asked Keke directly.
This explanation was also given by Koko.
The maximum yield of the new wheat variety has decreased, but its genetics are more suitable for the local environment. In the east, west, south and north, wherever it is suitable for growing wheat, it has gradually evolved into a wheat variety suitable for the local area.
And the yield is much higher than the original wheat varieties.
Manbao said, "Before we left, didn't we have Bai Zhuangtou supervise the selection of the best wheat seeds? I believe that year after year, the wheat seeds will only get better and better."
Bai Shan nodded. Wheat is the main food for people north of the Yangtze River. The output of rice is even lower than that of wheat. Now the new wheat seeds have been circulated to various places, and its effect will be apparent in the next two years.
If ten acres of land could only feed one person before, but now only five acres may be needed, there will be a lot of extra food, which can naturally be used for business.
Bai Shan paused at this point, pulled out a piece of white paper, and began to calculate. Man Bao, leaning outside the window, said to him, "But relying solely on the new wheat variety to increase production isn't enough. At least, this level of increase isn't enough. If you want to benefit businesses, you also have to stabilize the land, which means you have to reduce taxes on farmers. Otherwise, under the heavy demands of profit, the land will surely be abandoned, and perhaps even passed around until it all falls into the hands of wealthy families."
She said, "Have you forgotten the books we read, how many dynasties were destroyed by the hands of aristocratic families?"
Bai Shan laughed and said, "That's just a fake history book, how can you take it seriously?"
Manbao looked at him seriously and asked, "Do you think the book is well written?"
Bai Shan paused and began to think with a frown.
Man Bao said, "Look, you think it's reasonable. You use it when it benefits you, and when it doesn't, you say it's a fake history. Then let's not talk about those stories, and just talk about our official history. How did the previous dynasty fall?"
It was destroyed by an uprising of powerful and aristocratic families. The current royal family, the Li family, is a Longxi aristocratic family.
Manbao asked again: "How was the previous dynasty destroyed?"
Coincidentally, he was also destroyed by the powerful, and it was the father-in-law who seized the throne from his son-in-law and grandson.
Manbao: "How did the previous dynasty fall?"
Things became even more chaotic. Several emperors who came after him were all puppets of the aristocratic families, and in the end the dynasty was destroyed by a group of aristocratic families.
Manbao spread his hands and said, "Look, the official history is also like this."
She directly concluded his article, "I think your article is definitely not up to standard."
Bai Shan raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "That's not necessarily true."
"Then let's make a bet?"
Bai Shan: "Let's bet, what do you want to bet on?"
Manbao thought about it, but couldn't figure out what she wanted to bet on. She was reluctant to give up her belongings, so she said, "Gambling is bad behavior. Let's bet on something else. If you lose, you can help me with the homework the teacher assigns me next time. If I lose, I can do one for you, too."
Bai Shan: "...I don't need you to help me with my homework. Forget it. How about you give me your dagger?"
Manbao flatly refused: "No."
Bai Shan rolled his eyes and said, "If you lose, then you have to accompany me to Xuandu Temple to appreciate the peach blossoms. No one else will come with you, just the two of us."
Manbao smiled and nodded repeatedly, "Okay!"
Mr. Zhuang and Xiang Mingxue came back slowly from outside. As soon as they entered the yard, they saw two young men talking, one inside the window and the other outside the window. They had smiles on their faces, and no one knew what happy things they were talking about.
Mr. Zhuang asked, "Why are you leaning against the window and talking in such a cold weather instead of coming inside?"
It is already the end of February, and although the spring breeze is blowing, unfortunately, it has been very cold in the past two days.
Man Baocai had just made a bet to ghostwrite her homework when Mr. Zhuang suddenly appeared, startling her. Feeling extremely guilty, she stood up and made an excuse, "I just had a few words with him."
After saying that, he made an excuse and ran away.
Mr. Zhuang saw her running into the garden, then turned to look at Bai Shan.
Bai Shan, who was sitting in the window, blushed slightly. He also put away his homework and said, "I've been working at my desk for a long time. I'm going to the garden to let my eyes adjust."
Also ran away.
Xiang Mingxue saw that they had all run away, so he smiled at Mr. Zhuang and said, "Young people are really lively."
Mr. Zhuang laughed and said, "Mr. Xiang isn't that old, so why does he look like an old man?"
He smiled and said, "You are in your prime, and your legs are healed now. Shouldn't you consider getting married?"
Xiang Mingxue hadn't expected this to involve him. He paused for a moment before saying with a wry smile, "Sir, you're joking. I'm just a commoner now, a penniless one at that. Which girl would be willing to marry me?"
There are still a lot of them. After all, the autobiography of Xiang Mingxue written by Bai Erlang is very popular now. Although most of the readers are men, there are also many women who follow the book.
What's more, there are gentlemen in the teahouse who buy books and tell stories in the teahouse.
When Mr. Zhuang went to the teahouse to drink tea, he often heard girls talking about how outstanding a woman must be to marry Xiang Mingxue.
So Mr. Zhuang felt that it would not be difficult for Xiang Mingxue to get married.
Moreover, he didn't think it would be difficult for him to make money. After all, he was able to organize people to assassinate the King of Yizhou in such a difficult situation, and he was not caught until three times in a row.
Now, the imperial court has returned Dongxi Manor to him, and some of the properties that were confiscated from the Xiang family when they were exterminated have also been returned. It is not difficult for him to make money.
Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "I wonder what kind of person Mr. Xiang likes. Maybe I can be a matchmaker for you."
Xiang Mingxue: ...If I had known, I wouldn't have teased Bai Shan and Zhou Man.
Just one sentence caused so much trouble.
Manbao wrote down the bet she made with Bai Shan today in her notebook in the evening so that she would not forget it. She felt that as long as the teacher and the doctor of the Imperial College were not fools, they would definitely reject his article.
You will win!
I wish my book friend "Wang Chunting" a happy birthday. May you have this day every year and good health.
See you at 11pm
(End of this chapter)
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