March 26, the second year of Tiande.
After much delay, Fu Xiaoguan and his party finally arrived at the territory of Mozhou.
The rice fields had been filled with water and the seedlings had been planted. Many farmers were busy in the fields. Fu Xiaoguan and his group were very small and did not attract much attention.
This is Lizhuang. There are 50,000 people in Lizhuang, all of whom are his tenants.
Fu Xiaoguan felt happy as he walked along the ridge of the field, as if he had returned to the West Mountain.
He came to a rice field and looked at the seedlings. The middle-aged farmer in the field felt something was strange. The young man looked unfamiliar and was obviously not from Lizhuang.
Looking at his clothes, they were ordinary, but he was delicate and fair-skinned, so he didn't look like a farmer. He was well-mannered and probably a student from some school.
"Uncle, these seedlings can be planted now. If they grow any taller, they will be too tall and may fall over easily."
Li Da was stunned. Hey, this young man also knows how to turn over the seedlings?
He grinned and said, "Brother, these rice seedlings will be planted in the fields tomorrow. Do you know anything about farming?"
"I understand a little bit... Uncle, I heard that all the fields here are used to grow rice seeds. Is there anyone here to teach you?"
"Yes, they are in Wangjia Village next door. They all tinker with this stuff. And their village chief, Wang Er, the chief technician, came to our Lizhuang a few days ago and talked about it in detail."
Li Da stood up straight, wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at Fu Xiaoguan and smiled, "Brother, did you know that this rice cultivation technology was invented by our emperor? Wang Er said that back in Xishan, our emperor was still a landlord. He was really amazing, using that male sterile plant... What a weird name, I don't know where our emperor came up with it."
"Anyway, he was created just like that, and the one being cultivated now is the sixth generation Fu. Originally, it should have been the fifth generation Fu, because this year is only the fifth year, but our Majesty is too busy, so I'm afraid he remembered it wrong, so let's just call it the sixth generation Fu."
"Last year, this rice seed yielded a bumper harvest of over 700 kilograms per mu in our large fields! You look like a playboy, so I'm afraid you don't understand what a yield of over 700 kilograms per mu means. Anyway, everyone in Li Village was shocked by the yield!"
"We used to be in Shizhangyuan, where the soil was also extremely fertile, but an acre of rice field only produced 300 kilograms at most. Now we've seen yields double that of Shizhangyuan. Isn't that shocking? That's why our village chief said these rice seeds were bathed in the holy light of our Majesty, hehe."
Fu Xiaoguan also laughed, and Dong Shulan behind him chuckled even more. The man said with a smile: "What, you still don't believe it? Just ask others and you will know clearly. I, Li Dazhen, am not bragging."
Fu Xiaoguan touched his nose and felt a little embarrassed. Do I still have holy light?
"You just said that the soil in Shizhangyuan is also extremely fertile?"
"Yes, it's a pity that the flood two years ago completely washed away our farmland and home."
"Didn't they build a new riverbank? It should be fine now."
"It was newly built," Li Da glanced around, then turned to Fu Xiaoguan and whispered, "Even the emperor came, executed over thirty officials, ordered the river embankment to be rebuilt, and then relocated us all. But I heard from the folks who stayed there that... the new embankment cost 30 million taels of silver. 30 million taels! But if only 10 million taels were actually spent on the embankment, that would be great."
Fu Xiaoguan was shocked. "Emperor Wu killed more than thirty officials, and they still dared to embezzle this money?"
"Young man, you're still too young. Why don't you dare embezzle? The whole government is in cahoots with them. I heard that even the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Works in Guanyun City, has people colluding with them. Don't be surprised. This is perfectly normal. Our emperor has only been on the throne for a year. I heard he's still a teenager. It wouldn't be difficult for those officials to deceive him."
Fu Xiaoguan laughed, but Eunuch Jia felt a chill - if this was confirmed, many people would probably die.
"You're right. The little emperor stays in the palace all day. How could he understand the suffering of the people? How could he understand those officials who would deceive their superiors and lie to their subordinates?"
"My dear, what you said is not true. Our emperor knows the sufferings of the people, otherwise Fragrant Pig No. 1 would not have been born. Every household in our village raises pigs. I heard that the method of castrating pigs was invented by our emperor. In addition, our emperor has also built a new school. For example, in Lizhuang, the new school is under construction. It is spacious and bright, and you don't get paid for studying..."
"Think about it, where in history has there ever been such a good thing?"
"Our village chief said, 'When water is too clear, there are no fish.'" He meant that while there are many officials in the government, the emperor only has one pair of eyes. He has to focus on the overall situation, so it's normal for him to miss those small, mischievous fish and shrimp. Ah, I just said it casually, so just listen."
Fu Xiaoguan washed his hands in the ditch and said, "Thank you very much, uncle. Listening to your words is worth ten years of reading. I'm grateful for your teaching. I'll take my leave first... When planting the rice seedlings, remember to space the rows a little wider."
After saying this, Fu Xiaoguan turned and left. The joy on his face disappeared and was covered by a dark cloud.
Li Da looked at Fu Xiaoguan's back and thought the young man was a little strange, because Wang Er once said that the row spacing when transplanting rice seedlings should be wider than that of ordinary seedlings.
When they got on the official road, Fu Xiaoguan did not get on the carriage, but said to Jia Gonggong: "Call Zhou Tongtong to come to Wangjiazhuang as soon as possible."
"I obey your command."
Eunuch Jia released a carrier pigeon and said softly, "Your Majesty, don't let this bother you. The farmer has some truth to his words. The government is clean and honest these days. Let Zhou Tongtong get rid of those few bad apples."
Fu Xiaoguan sighed deeply. "I understand that, but that's the riverbank! The riverbank is about human lives! Shizhangyuan and Yehuoyuan are both excellent farmlands. If they were managed well, they would be a land of fish and rice."
"It was the Wuyuan dam collapse that killed over 300,000 people and left millions homeless that led to this massive migration."
"I've read all the county annals covering the Daling River. The Daling River has been managed year after year, but it still floods year after year. The reason, the books say, is that the river is wider upstream and narrows abruptly at Dongcheng. Once heavy rain falls along the Daling River, it's very likely to cause the dikes in Dongcheng to overflow."
Fu Xiaoguan raised his head and sighed, "It seems... this is not the main issue. After we finish our tour of the Six Prefectures of Beixiao, we will go to Daling River to take a look."
"I obey your command."
"Let's go to Wangjia Village. I haven't seen Wang Er for a long time."
After getting on the carriage, the three carriages set off again.
In the carriage, Dong Shulan peeled a grape and stuffed it into Fu Xiaoguan's mouth, smiling gently: "When we get to Wangjia Village, I'll accompany you to plant rice."
Fu Xiaoguan calmed down and asked, "You can also plant rice?"
"Humph, who are you looking down on? Back then, when you didn't send any news back, I lived in Xishan and went there to plant rice seedlings."
"Hehe..." Fu Xiaoguan smiled obscenely, "How about we plant some rice seedlings tonight?"
Dong Shulan was stunned, her face turned red instantly, and she looked at Fu Xiaoguan shyly, "You have ten rice fields!"
There can’t be any more!
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