On his way back to his government office, Mu Yundian secretly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, and finally decided to send someone to Luocheng immediately after returning to his government office to ask his younger brother Mu Yunfeng to recommend a capable and battle-hardened general to serve as the general to fight against Japan.
After all, Mu Yunfeng has been commanding troops in Luocheng, and Luocheng happens to be the border fortress in the north of Wei State. The generals there have rich combat experience, and many of them are relatives of the royal family.
At that time, as long as some royal family members participate and a capable general leads the soldiers, it will not only balance the power of the court but also ensure the smooth progress of the war. This will not only complete your majesty's mission, but also effectively prevent the excessive power of the Mu family from causing unnecessary turmoil.
Chu Fan instructed Tang Hongwen and other ministers to do their respective tasks, and then let them leave the palace to go about their business, while Chu Fan continued to prepare for various matters related to the imperial expedition.
In the following days, the State of Wei carried out various preparations in an orderly manner according to Chu Fan's orders. Food, weapons, and soldiers were deployed in an orderly manner. By July, it was almost the harvest season for sweet potatoes and corn. In addition, there were no major natural disasters this year, so the people and farms across the State of Wei welcomed a bumper harvest.
However, a new problem arose before the people: there was too much food, so they could not eat it all, and they did not know how to store it properly. This made the people of Wei worry about the oversupply of food for the first time in a thousand years.
Because of the increased production and Chu Fan's reduction of farmers' taxes, even after paying a portion of their grain as taxes, the people still had a large surplus. Many people looked at the baskets of sweet potatoes and bags of golden corn thrown from the land with a mixture of joy and helplessness.
Of course, Chu Fan didn't let the people worry for long. His plans for the past year had been geared towards this moment. Even if he wanted to return to modern society, he didn't want Wei to be plunged into war because of his own willfulness. The first step to victory, or even to remaining undefeated in a war, was to have sufficient food reserves.
Now the whole country is experiencing an unprecedented bumper harvest due to the planting of sweet potatoes and corn. Chu Fan immediately ordered the Ministry of Revenue to quickly organize officials from all over the country to start purchasing the excess grain from the people. At the same time, he ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to spread the method of storing sweet potatoes and corn to all parts of the country, and also asked the Ministry of Rites to send people to Shu to inform the State of Shu about the storage methods of sweet potatoes and corn.
At this time, the agricultural major established in the five universities built by Chu Fan played its due role. In the past, the Wei State did not pay much attention to agricultural officials, so many times, the Minister of Agriculture was often unable to fully spread agricultural knowledge.
Now, the students majoring in agronomy in the five universities built by Chu Fan have quickly filled the previous shortage of manpower, because they have learned all kinds of advanced agricultural knowledge in college, and these people are young talents who love agriculture. They also quickly learned the storage and processing methods of sweet potatoes and corn.
At one time, countless agricultural students went to every corner of the Wei State, patiently instructing the people on how to scientifically store sweet potatoes and corn to avoid mold and insect infestation.
In the rural areas surrounding Luocheng, Wei, the land, once abandoned by the Xiongnu and Gan states, has now seen a bumper harvest. Because their region was invaded, Chu Fan has exempted the people from all agricultural taxes. Seeing the crops growing thrivingly in the fields, the people's faces are filled with long-lost smiles.
In this era, as long as there is food, there is hope for life on this land, and there is an infinite future. No matter how much suffering people have endured in the past, as long as there is enough food, the people can rekindle their confidence in life.
When the agricultural students who graduated from the university arrived in this village, the villagers were a little confused and curious for a while. After all, His Majesty had said that all their agricultural taxes would be exempted, so what were these officials doing in their village now?
Could it be that the imperial court, seeing their bumper harvest this year, wanted to revoke their order and re-impose taxes? Or perhaps they were exploiting them under some other pretext? The people couldn't help but feel uneasy at the thought, and they looked at these young officials with a hint of caution.
The yamen runner who had come to the village with the agricultural student was the first to speak: "Who is the village chief in your village? Please come forward and speak."
It’s not that the yamen runner’s attitude is arrogant, but if he wants to complete the task quickly, he must use a tougher tone to suppress these people, otherwise they may cause unnecessary trouble due to misunderstanding.
At this time, an old man among the villagers stood up and said, "I am the village chief of Tuba Village. I wonder what brings you gentlemen to our village?"
If it is a blessing, it will be unavoidable. If it is a disaster, it will be unavoidable. The old man did not hesitate at all. After hearing the words of the yamen runner, he immediately stood up and answered.
The yamen runner saw the old man and solemnly introduced him, "This is an agricultural expert sent by the Imperial Court's Ministry of Agriculture. He's here to teach everyone how to store and process sweet potatoes and corn to avoid losses."
After the yamen runner introduced him, he stood aside. At this time, the young man with him stepped forward and said:
"Student Wang Ping greets all the elders and fellow villagers."
After Wang Ping finished speaking, he bowed deeply to the people of Tuba Township. This was the etiquette he learned in the university founded by His Majesty. No matter whether they were facing court ministers or peddlers, these students all followed the same etiquette.
Seeing the young man, who looked like an official, salute them, the villagers of Tuba Village were momentarily stunned. This was the first time an official had saluted them so solemnly. In their memory, officials from all countries were arrogant and rude.
Even these peasants knew that some scholars and juren, even without official positions, would never look them in the eye. But now this young official from the Ministry of Agriculture treated them as equals, which made them feel respectful and many people let down their guard.
However, this group of people also wanted to find out the purpose of the young official's visit. The old village chief was ready to kneel down and return the greeting. After all, others respected lowly people like them, so they should also have corresponding etiquette, otherwise it would seem that they did not know the rules.
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