Chapter 1884 Experimental Field
The prince thought there was something strange about the field, but he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong. Pointing at the field, he asked Zhou Man, "Why does this field look so strange?"
Bai Erlang turned his head to look at Bai Shan, and Manbao also subconsciously glanced at Bai Shan first.
Bai Shan exchanged a glance with the two men, then stepped forward and replied, "Your Highness, this piece of land is cultivated by our family."
The prince approached, squatted beside the field, and took a closer look. He frowned and said, "I see that the ridges of this field seem higher than those of the others, and the water is deeper. Why are the seedlings so small?"
Of course it was smaller. It was sown ten days later than other rice seeds and planted nearly ten days later.
This is the first batch of seeds that Teacher Mo handed over to her. When he handed the seeds to her, Dr. D was still under silence, so he could not contact her. She only knew that the yield of the first batch of seeds she researched was pretty good, but she didn't know what the second generation would be like. Unfortunately, this is the second generation.
Bai Shan probably knew that her seeds came from Uncle Zhou, and Bai Erlang helped them manage the farm. They suddenly split out a piece of land and thought about planting it themselves, and they had so many requirements, not only did they want fertile land, but they also had to ensure fertilizer and water.
In order to get water, they specially selected a piece of good dry land next to the village, built ridges and irrigated the land, and used sugar mud mixed with manure to nourish the soil. Only then did they turn the dry land into farmland, but they didn't know whether they could grow crops well.
But there was no other way. This area was short of water and there were no deep ditches. Only the Crescent Pond they dug near the village had water, and this area was basically dry land. That's why they wanted to transform a piece of land into farmland.
Bai Erlang didn't know where they got the seeds, but since there were new wheat seeds, he also had some guesses about the rice seeds, so he was a little nervous.
The prince not only looked at it, he also pulled out a seedling out of curiosity, examined it carefully and said, "There are quite a lot of roots. Come on, go to the field over there and pull out a seedling for me."
The guards responded and left.
Prince Gong finally walked up from the back of the ridge with disgust. Because he walked unsteadily, there was some mud on his feet. He rubbed his shoes on the grass and felt that his shoes were even dirtier, so he frowned and looked at the prince and others in front of him.
Hearing the prince's words, his face turned even darker. "Brother, the imperial court strictly forbids officials from damaging the seedlings. How could you send people to pull up the seedlings?"
The prince ignored him and raised the seedlings in his hand and asked Bai Shan and Zhou Man, "Why do you plant only this one piece?"
Bai Shan and Man Bao also ignored Prince Gong and squatted by the field. They replied, "This is an experimental field, used for experiments."
Then he asked curiously, "Your Highness also knows how to farm?"
The prince said directly: "I don't understand."
But when the guard pulled out a seedling, he put the two seedlings together and said to the two men, "The roots here are much smaller and not as deep as this one. It also doesn't have many branches. Where did you get the seeds from?"
"Outside," Manbao made a vague excuse. Seeing that the prince had discovered something that none of them had noticed, he looked at him suspiciously, "Don't you understand this?"
The prince casually planted the two seedlings in his hand into the field, which was not far away. He washed his hands with the water in the field and said, "I don't understand. I just saw the Minister of Agriculture do it this way."
For more than ten years, ever since he became the crown prince, he has followed his father to plow every year. In the past, his father did the plowing himself, and when he was interested, he would run to the field to help him lead the cows. If he was not interested, he would play with mud and water in the field.
But later on, many things were beyond his control. He refused to go to the fields, and the court officials scolded him, and his father also scolded him.
Later, he not only had to follow his father to plow the fields every year, but also had to watch people sow wheat, harvest wheat, sow rice seeds and plant rice seedlings. Many times, he was impatient to follow the emperor around the ridges of the fields and ran off to ride horses to relax, and was scolded as soon as he returned to the palace.
He's seen this kind of thing so many times that even a fool would know it. It's not his first time seeing it.
However, farming was a matter of national importance, so he still paid some attention to it. So he made an exception and stayed a little longer, pointing his whip at the field and asking, "Your family has planted a new wheat seed. If you can also plant a new rice seed, it will be a great achievement."
Manbao said, "This matter has not even started yet, it may not be successful."
She said, "But I've handed over the farming to my eldest brother. My eldest and third brothers are the best at it. I've divided the same seed into three parts. I planted one part here in Zhuangzi, my third brother planted one part, and sent the other part to Longzhou."
The prince only knew the surface, but not the inner workings. He frowned and asked, "Why are there so many different places to plant?"
He said, "The Minister of Agriculture only grows some crops in the fields of the imperial estate."
Bai Shan glanced at the Crown Prince and said, "Your Highness, the Sinong Temple has directly-owned farmland in every state."
So they couldn't just plant it in the imperial farm. He said, "The climate, soil, and water in each place are different, so the seeds needed are naturally different. So we need to plant it in different places to see the effect."
The prince tilted his head, "Really? Why haven't I heard Sinong Qing mention this?"
Prince Gong rolled his eyes upon hearing this and said, "That's because Big Brother isn't paying enough attention. Even I know that the Sinong Temple has direct subordinates in various places. They are not only responsible for cultivating new varieties, but also for distributing seeds and tools."
If someone else had said this, the Crown Prince would not have reacted. But when Prince Gong said this, the Crown Prince glared at him and said sarcastically, "Third brother, you know quite a bit. It seems you're quite close to the Minister of Agriculture."
A while ago, Manbao and Baishan Bai Erlang had asked the Minister of Agriculture for a lot of seeds for the development of the village, including some novel seeds. Upon hearing this, he immediately spoke up for the Minister of Agriculture, "Prince Gong, look at that?"
Pointing to a patch of weeds on a grassy field not far away, he rolled his eyes at Zhou Man rudely, "Weeds, what's the matter, Zhou Man? When did it become your turn to question me?"
The prince glanced over, stared at the grass carefully, and said, "Fool, that's hemp."
Then he turned to Zhou Man and said, "Why, your tenant farmers are so uninterested in hemp. Do they want to plant mulberry trees, raise silkworms, and weave silk?"
Manbao said, "Silk can be sold. I've agreed with them that I'll pay for the silkworm seeds and mulberry seeds in the first year, and I'll pay for half of the silk produced."
The prince said, "You are very generous."
The two of them were chatting harmoniously, but Prince Gong, standing beside them, was furious at the word "fool". Of course, most people couldn't see it, but Manbao was a doctor. Seeing his chest rise and fall slightly with anger, and his face a little ugly but suppressed, he was really worried that something might happen to him, so he said, "Don't be angry, Third Prince. I'm not targeting you. I just want to tell His Royal Highness the Crown Prince that the Minister of Agriculture has nothing to do with you."
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
