Chapter 44 Rational Utilization of Resources
Right under their noses, the plants on both sides of the stone road have grown several feet tall. If they continue to leave them alone, the palace will be turned into a primeval forest tonight, even before tomorrow.
Ying Zheng glanced at the courtyard, which had been completely covered by vegetation, and gave a solemn order, "Shaofu, take someone to clear the vegetation outside the courtyard."
The Shaofu stepped out and accepted the order: "Yes."
"Start cleaning from two meters outside the yard."
"yes."
Ying Zheng looked at the Grain Control Secretary, who was squatting in front of a flowerpot, grabbing an oversized radish and refusing to leave, and said, "Call the agricultural officer."
When Zhisu Nei Shi heard this, he jumped up with joy and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Then he squatted back in front of the flowerpot and carefully stroked the radish leaves.
The appearance of this thing made Princess Yangzi have to remind her: "This is raised by an immortal."
——Don’t try to take it away secretly!
While waiting for the agricultural officials to arrive, they saw that the fruits on the trees had ripened three more times. It would not take long for the fruits that fell to the ground to grow into seedlings.
The history of treating millet:! ! !
"Your Majesty!" He looked at Ying Zheng with burning eyes.
Crazy gesture: If fruit trees can grow so fast, crops can grow too!
Feng Chang, who believed in the gods and ghosts the most, almost popped his eyes out of his head. But fearing to disturb the immortals, he could only lower his voice and yell, "Are you crazy? This behavior is no different from that of a scoundrel!"
Zhi Su Nei Shi simply ignored him, his mind full of food, food, food, money, money.
"We didn't force it. We simply felt the immortal's blessing outside the courtyard." The more he spoke, the more reasonable it seemed, and even his tone rose. "Since the immortal allowed the blessing to overflow, he must be trying to help us, but he just didn't want to say it out loud."
"If we can't understand the immortal's hint, wouldn't it be a waste of her kindness!" After the last word fell, most people were moved.
His Majesty!
Everyone tried to convey their desire with their eyes.
Civil and military officials: Today we are all King Ji Ji.
Your Majesty, please say something.
Is it possible? Is it possible? Urgent!
Ying Zheng: I’m a little moved.
"Your Majesty, under Fukuzawa's influence, a radish the size of a little finger can grow to the size of an adult's arm. If wheat or millet were used instead, wouldn't it grow to the size of a fist?"
"That's not certain. There might be hundreds of them growing on one plant."
Ying Zheng: wavering.
"Your Majesty, the courtyard is blessed with abundant resources. New grass has grown as soon as we cleaned it."
Ying Zheng: Why not charge?!
"Meng Yi, transfer some of the Black Armor Guards to come over and plant the grass."
"Yes." Meng Yi took the order and left.
"The Minister of Grain, order a message to the county capital, mobilizing the city's curved plows and grain seeds to be sent to the imperial palace."
"Yes." Zhi Su Nei Shi wanted to jump three feet high.
"Shaofu, have someone set up a tent here. I and the other ministers will bathe in the immortal water here."
"Yes." "Thank you, Your Majesty!" This time the voices were particularly uniform and loud.
…
With a big carrot hanging in front of them, everyone worked hard and cleared a large piece of land for planting that day. Only the big and sturdy trees remained.
"Put aside the time-consuming things first and bury the seeds in the soil as quickly as possible."
The Minister of Grain led the agricultural officials to inspect the temporarily opened fields and directly stopped the black-armored guards who were holding axes and trying to cut down trees.
Normally, grain seeds should be soaked in water first, and then sown after a little sprout grows, and then transplanted. But now, for fear of missing out on the fairy blessing, he asked someone to bury the seeds directly in the soil to see if it would work.
Digging a hole, sprinkling water, filling... After a few breaths, a little green emerged from the dark brown soil, and that little green turned into two slender leaves. The small leaves grew against the wind, and in less than a cup of tea they grew to the height of ordinary wheat stalks, and then bloomed into fine, slightly white wheat flowers, which showed a little yellow in the breeze.
Under everyone's gaze, swarms of bees came from nowhere and flew and lingered among the wheat flowers. Almost at the moment they left, wheat ears emerged from under the shade of the leaves, with plump and round wheat grains scattered all over them, hanging heavily, like strings of gold ornaments.
"This, this is..." The agricultural official's words were stuck in his mouth, his throat was dry, and he lost the ability to speak.
"One, two, three, four... eighty-one, eighty-two... eighty-two?"
"Eighty-two grains! Eighty-two grains on one ear of wheat!"
How many grains can a wheat plant in Daqin produce now? More than twenty, and nearly half of them are empty shells.
The yield per mu is only a few hundred kilograms, and this is produced in the fertile soil of Guanzhong. The yield in other places will be several percent lower.
Under the influence of spiritual power, the wheat ripened very quickly. Before they could react, the ripe wheat seeds had fallen to the ground, and new sprouts sprouted in an instant.
Zhisul Nei Shi and others who witnessed this scene held their breath, fearing that they would accidentally disturb the growth of the fairy wheat.
Yes, Xianmai.
This was the respectful name they had just given to the wheat in their hearts. How could a wheat seed blessed by immortals and with extremely high yield not be called immortal wheat?
Finally, Ying Zheng came over, his words even faster than usual. "Quickly bury the remaining grain seeds in the soil," he said, looking at the wheat that had matured a new round while he spoke, and added, "Keep them farther apart."
After an afternoon of observation, they roughly understood that the land closest to the fairy courtyard received the most blessings, and the growth rate of the land farther away would be slower.
So the first thing that was cleared was the land two meters outside the yard, and then expanded outward in circles.
All the exotic flowers and plants in the garden were pulled out, and the ornamental trees were cut down and moved away, clearing as much land as possible for growing crops.
The most central area is where the most important crops of Daqin are grown - wheat, beans, millet, sorghum and rice.
Each type of grain occupies a certain area, and is spread across almost the entire palace. It is so great that one wishes the walls were demolished to clear the space for farming.
The stone slabs on the roads leading to and from the palace were directly pried off, leaving only the passages between the main palaces.
As for the tents of Ying Zheng and his ministers, except for the emperor, the other ministers had to squeeze in as much as possible, trying to occupy the smallest space possible.
At first, the seeds of crops were just left to fall to the ground, but in less than an hour, they had grown on every inch of the land. All the crops were heavy with grain, and the fallen seeds were held up by the overly crowded leaves and could not fall into the soil.
At first, only the guards who had fought out of Xianyang City were harvesting the rice. Later, they found that it was too late, so they ordered people to mobilize the nearby garrisons and gave each person a sack. They no longer had to cut wheat and rice stalks, but could directly pick the ears of rice and put them in bags.
The people in front carried sacks to pick ears of grain, while the people behind followed suit and cleared away the remaining stalks.
There is no need to re-sow seeds afterwards, as the remaining grain in the field is enough to sprout again and grow several waves.
The bright moon hung high in the sky, and torches and braziers were densely packed on the ground, making the entire palace almost as bright as day.
The scorching sun replaced the bright moon, bringing layers of sweat to the people who were working hard.
…
In the tent, Ying Zheng, who hadn't slept for two days, rubbed his temples and closed his eyes to rest.
I could hear a few suppressed cheers that leaked out continuously in my ears. They were clearly restrained but carried with them an irrepressible ecstasy.
"Your Majesty, Doctor Nong requests an audience."
Ying Zheng had already opened his eyes when someone approached him. There was no blur in his deep eyes, only red bloodshot from lack of sleep.
"pass."
"Call Dr. Nong to see the emperor." The eunuch's voice came from afar.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty live forever, and may the Great Qin live forever." The doctor, dressed in official uniform, saluted respectfully.
Seeing his overly considerate manner, Ying Zheng raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "What do you want?"
Dr. Nong knew he couldn't hide it from him, so he simply said, "The Nong family requests Your Majesty to open up one acre of land in the inner circle."
He was talking about the farm family, not himself.
This is the farmer's choice.
Ying Zheng tapped the table with his fingers, tap, tap, tap...
The emperor's pressure spread, and each sound seemed to knock on the doctor's heart, and a heavy weight was placed on his back.
"reason."
The pressure on his body continued unabated. Beads of sweat formed on Dr. Nong's forehead, but he didn't even dare to wipe them away. He lowered his head even lower. "The farmers want to use the immortal grace to cultivate crops that are not afraid of white soil."
White soil is saline soil, which gets its name because the high salt content on the surface makes it appear white in the sun.
The area of Daqin Baitu is not large, but it involves nearly two million people. Daqin has a population of more than 20 million, which is nearly 10% of the population.
This kind of land is not easy to grow food. Even the most experienced farmers can only get much less food than ordinary land after a year of careful tending. In the eyes of people of this era, white soil is cursed land.
Whoever encounters this will be unlucky. The solution is to move away and find a new piece of wasteland without white soil to cultivate.
"Can you make white soil grow normal food?"
Dr. Nong: "Farmers would like to take this opportunity to research crops that can grow normally in white soil."
It’s not about making white soil normal, but about developing crops that are suited to white soil.
Ying Zheng's fingers slid across the memorial, recalling the mention of the 'white earth curse' he had seen in the memorial before.
"allow."
Dr. Nong was overjoyed, bowed his head, and made a great salute: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
…
The farmers’ research is actually very simple, mainly utilizing Xianze.
Pour salt water on the designated land to artificially create a saline land, and then plant crops here. With the help of the power of Xianze, let them germinate and grow, one crop after another, until they grow into varieties that can adapt to this salinity.
This method sounds appropriate, but upon closer inspection it seems unreliable, and even farmers are arguing about it.
"The white soil tastes salty, could it be that it's been soaked in salt?"
“This is simply a fantasy!”
"Salt is so precious that the people of Guizhou wouldn't even eat it, so how could they just dump it into the soil? White soil and salt have nothing to do with each other!"
"You guys are so reckless that you can't even cultivate the land yourself, as the farmers requested."
The supporters' reason is just one sentence:
"What if it works?"
White soil is salty, and salt is also salty. What if there is some connection between them?
Besides, they are not doing this without a purpose. Farmers have long had plans to grow crops on white soil, and the plan is even being tested. It's just that the progress is so slow that it's almost like there is no progress at all.
Such divine blessings are rarely seen again in the world. If you miss it, you will never have another chance.
In the end, the "what if theory" won out, which led to the scene where the agricultural doctor asked to see the First Emperor.
With the farmer's introduction, other people's imaginations were also opened up.
For a time, all kinds of requests came to Ying Zheng, including those who wanted to make wheat resistant to frost and grow in winter, those who wanted silkworms to produce half a piece of cloth after eating once, and those who wanted beans to produce a lot of oil...
Of course, most of these were rejected by him, and those who proposed the ideas were criticized. Only a few that sounded the most reliable were kept, and a piece of land was designated for research.
-------
The commotion in the palace was so great, and with the two mobilizations of manpower and supplies from nearby counties, it was impossible to conceal it no matter what, so he simply gave up and spread the word that the immortal was blessing Daqin.
When the news spread, many people believed it, some didn't, and the topic became the talk of the town after dinner.
"A high-quality seed that yields 700 to 800 kilograms per mu? Tsk, you believe such nonsense?"
"Why wouldn't you believe it? My eldest brother-in-law's neighbor's son-in-law's cousin's nephew is the city gatekeeper. The night he was on duty, he saw with his own eyes someone knock open the city gate and escort a long convoy into the city. The ground was deeply rutted, and the convoy was loaded with grain."
The person who was speaking threw a roasted bean into his mouth, slammed the table and concluded, "If it weren't for the blessing of the immortals, where would there be so much food nearby?" This year's grain tax had been collected long ago.
If an interstellar person heard about his complicated network of relationships, he would definitely turn around and leave, but at this time, it was convincing evidence.
Those who heard it not only believed it, but even imagined the scene at that time based on his description.
In the pitch-black night, torches lit up in the darkness, strung together like a long dragon. Next to each torch was a fully loaded grain cart. The ruts were deeply sunken into the dirt road, and it took several people to push it forward with difficulty.
When they arrived at the city gate, they would be met by the gatekeepers. The gatekeepers were very fierce, but as long as the grain transport team revealed their identities, they would be immediately and respectfully invited in.
The ruts extended all the way into the city, all the way to the granary.
"Can these high-quality seeds become our crops for next year?"
"Would you like to try exchanging some for the government office?"
The person who asked this question didn't get an answer, which wasn't surprising, because he was just talking. If he were asked to make the real trade, he wouldn't necessarily be willing to do it. Trading seeds you already grew at home, where you know the roots and the roots, for unfamiliar grains is like gambling with your life, the lives of your entire family.
But they can't afford to gamble.
If those nobles' few plots of land did not produce any food, they would just live a less luxurious life, but for them, it would mean that their entire family would starve to death.
So, wait a little longer, wait a little longer.
When they find a field that can produce several hundred kilograms of grain, they will switch to new crops.
They don't dare to gamble, but some people have the money and information to try.
Many local nobles and officials gathered in the county magistrate's mansion.
They had been operating in the local area for many years, and even in the Qin State, where promotion was based on military merit, they were deeply rooted in the local area, with their roots and tentacles spread throughout the county.
Halfway through the banquet, after the cups were exchanged, someone brought up the main topic, "Your Excellency, County Magistrate, I heard a piece of news these past two days that has made me uneasy. I have come to ask you for your help."
As for these local tyrants, the county magistrate usually treated them with respect, and the two sides kept to themselves. Although they were not very sincere with each other, they did exchange glances. But this time, he really did not dare to reveal anything.
His Majesty is just dozens of miles away, and the Chief Justice, who is in charge of the country's laws and criminal cases, is also here. Even now, there are no His Majesty's spies scattered in the city. He thinks the thing on his neck is too strong and wants to move it!
So, facing the temptation of this group of people, he rejected them ruthlessly for the first time. "Just believe what the news says. Don't say anything extra. Don't extend your hand, no matter how long it is. Otherwise, you will blame me for being merciless."
The attitude is tough and direct, and it can be said that there is no respect at all, but isn't this another way of revealing things?
Everyone present was smart. After hearing this, they took the opportunity to excuse themselves and change the subject. For a while, the banquet was lively with the clinking of glasses.
------
It was not until half a month later that the system finally compiled the program for the external display screen, and then allowed the host to build a simple physical device and put it into use.
With such intuitive display, the Qin emperor and his ministers will surely be more motivated.
It looked at an extra interface on the panel. This was the reason why it took more than half a month to complete it - the host's task publishing function.
It is a system for cultivating immortals, which can only be opened in the world of cultivating immortals. After accidentally running into this world, it cannot even release tasks. Fortunately, the host is hardworking and lucky enough to allow this task release program built on merit and energy to appear in the world.
This small program, combined with the information it collects, can issue tasks to the host more accurately.
To avoid being like we are now, completely in the dark, relying entirely on the host to do whatever he encounters, like a headless fly.
With its own achievements, the system happily ran out to find the host. It had already imagined the scene of the host madly outputting flattery.
That was a scene that really made Tong happy.
I never expected...
The system looked outside and almost thought that it had unknowingly taken the host through time again.
Where is this place that looks like a primeval forest?
Wasn't the host on an autumn hunt with the Qin Emperor? Why did he suddenly run back to the mountains and forests alone?
No, no, its scanning function started beeping, and it detected many overlapping green dots, all representing friendly humans.
One of them even had a special mark on it.
Ying Zheng.
He's here too? That means he didn't run away from the world.
The system breathed a sigh of relief. The source code that had nearly flown out of the body was tidied up and straightened out.
But what are they doing?
The system extended its long tentacles, watching them harvest the crops in the fields one after another. Their assembly-line-like tacit understanding and excellent performance made it nod repeatedly: This is the efficiency we want. Work hard, work hard! Create great merit for it and its host.
However, the food seems to be growing a little fast, almost catching up with the scene where the host uses spiritual power to ripen it.
The host uses spiritual power to ripen...
The host ripens...
Spiritual power...
system:! ! ! !
When it looked back, it saw that the endless stream of merits was almost burying its host!
In just half a month, her cultivation level has soared from the early stage of Jindan to just one step away from the late stage of Jindan.
How much merit has been absorbed!
The system rolled back to the host's sea of consciousness, and the program ran at full capacity, quickly gathering the merits that were still accumulating.
I collect, I collect, I collect, collect, collect!
Only after finally storing all the merits that almost filled up half the sky into the system's merit storage slot did the system have time to check what had happened.
It opened the automatically recorded system log and flipped through several pages before finding the record.
It turns out that a few days after it left, the host went into seclusion, and then merits continued to appear?
system:? ? ?
Looking again, it turned out that when it was concentrating on compiling the external display, the automatic merit collection function was turned off.
System: numb.
It turns out it was his fault.
It allocated a portion of its merits to the host to help her enter the late stage of the Golden Core, and the rest was kept.
Without merit, Wei Shengxue slowly woke up after another breakthrough.
The mind that was immersed in the inner palace slowly withdrew, and the eyelashes trembled like the wings of a black butterfly.
------
The merits dissipated. Although others could not see it, some sensitive people noticed that the courtyard where the immortal was seemed to have changed.
The comfortable and desirable attraction is waning.
"His Majesty."
Meng Tian walked over, stood behind Ying Zheng, and followed his line of sight towards the "dense forest" ahead.
It was originally the courtyard of an immortal.
Ying Zheng clearly saw nothing, yet he said with such certainty, "She's about to wake up."
As the words fell, the growth rate of the crops around them slowed down rapidly.
It originally took half a quarter of an hour to mature, but it was reduced to a quarter of an hour, and then to half an hour, until it maintained its original appearance and no longer grew.
It was as if in this short hour, something that made them grow was rapidly disappearing.
"Shaofu, Zhisu Neishi."
"I'm here." The two people who had run over when the incident happened responded.
"Clear all of this."
"yes."
His Majesty did not say it explicitly, but the two of them had already understood what he meant.
…
On the courtyard wall, Wei Shengxue lay on a large tree that had mutated from a banyan tree into an unknown species, watching them clearing away the crops that should not have been in the palace at an astonishing speed.
"What do you think would happen if I went out now?"
They will play dead.
Wei Shengxue took a bite of the fruit she had picked from the tree. The texture was similar to that of steamed bun, which made her frown relax unconsciously.
"This thing tastes good. I'll let them study how to grow it later."
If it is easy to grow, it can be promoted nationwide.
This fruit is quite filling and may even save lives when the harvest fails.
She threw the shell away and mobilized her special powers to extract the vitality from the plants.
The plants that have lost their vitality gradually withered and turned yellow, and then turned into ashes in the wind and fell into the dust to become spring mud.
"It's my turn."
Wei Shengxue walked out step by step, and all the plants she touched disappeared silently, creating a path to the outside world.
…
The immortal is about to come out.
This is recognized by everyone who has seen the disappearance of vegetation that was once growing luxuriantly.
But their traces have not been cleaned up yet.
what to do?
All eyes, some calm and some panicked, fell on Ying Zheng who was standing in the front.
Your Majesty, please give me an idea.
Swish, swish, swish...
It was the sound of feet stepping on dead leaves.
The immortal is right before your eyes.
The last layer of vines that surrounded it faded away, and the person who had not been seen for half a month appeared.
Everyone was dazed for a moment. They didn't know if it was an illusion, but they felt that the immortal was more handsome than half a month ago.
Wei Shengxue walked out of the dense forest nourished by spiritual power, turned her wrist, and made a closing gesture with her right hand. In an instant, the dense forest that almost covered the sky and the sun disappeared and turned into a ball of green light in her palm.
No, it didn't disappear directly, but first withered and then turned into ashes, as if a lifetime had ended in an instant.
Being able to easily control the progress of life, this is the power of gods.
At this moment, they deeply understood that no matter how gentle the immortals appeared, they were still different life forms from them.
They were just disguised as her kind.
In fact, even the slightest bit of her aura could benefit them greatly.
The wheat straw and grain scattered all over the ground are the evidence.
They needed to rely on her evidence.
Also, evidence that they are not of the same kind.
After realizing this, Meng Tian subconsciously wanted to draw his sword and protect His Majesty behind him, but he forced himself to restrain himself and just held on to his sword tightly without moving.
Wei Shengxue looked around. The traces left on the ground made the place very messy, and it was easy to see the chaos behind it.
Her gaze slid across everyone, one inch at a time. Those caught in her gaze unconsciously turned away, unwilling to meet her gaze, which seemed to see through them. Finally, her gaze stopped on Ying Zheng's face, and fell into his still deep eyes.
——Fellow Daoists, what have you done?
Facing this gaze, Ying Zheng stepped forward with his sword, remaining silent for a long time.
After a long while, he finally smiled a faint smile that was different from usual. He was gentle as always when facing her. He said:
"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on coming out of seclusion and reaching a higher level of cultivation. I borrowed your aura to do something."
Wei Shengxue raised an eyebrow when she heard this: "A little?"
Ying Zheng avoided the spotlight, leaned over and extended his hand, "Zhenglue has prepared some wine, and we'll drink together."
——By the way, let’s talk about how to make rational use of these grains.
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