Chapter 126
The effectiveness of fertilizers is much slower than expected.
There are many types of fertilizers and crops, and the number of combinations is frightening. However, the effect of fertilizers in reducing pests and significantly increasing yields is extremely attractive.
In order to quickly research the efficacy of each fertilizer, ensure a good harvest, and free the people from hunger, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Works and other departments worked together, and the entire court worked together.
The Ministry of Personnel selected officials, the Ministry of Works produced fertilizers, the Ministry of Revenue allocated experimental fields, and the Ministry of Agriculture conducted specific experiments... In addition, many civil and military officials volunteered to help.
Dasheng's geographical environment can be described as being surrounded on three sides by wolves, with enemies watching closely and large and small battles often breaking out on the border.
Once the war breaks out, the army becomes the real food consumer. The amount of food consumed every day can be described as "burning", which is not an exaggeration at all.
In the past, the treasury had no money, so the emperor and his officials tried their best to avoid war. Now the treasury has money but not enough food, and the emperor and his officials are still trying their best to avoid war.
Because of this, the Dongyi stole gold from their territory for three years, and they were unwilling to fight despite such a huge loss.
——Food shortage is too deadly.
Sweet potatoes are high in yield and very filling, but eating too many can cause bloating and excessive gas, so they shouldn't be eaten daily. While they can temporarily alleviate food insecurity, they can't completely resolve it.
If fertilizers could significantly increase wheat and rice production, it would greatly alleviate food pressure. If the situation ever became so severe that a prolonged war or a three-pronged attack were necessary, Dasheng wouldn't be afraid.
To this end, the court found ways to use all the land, whether it was the land of officials' homes or the uncultivated wasteland in the suburbs.
Unfortunately, there are many types of fertilizers, and food is a major issue, so they must be thoroughly studied to fully determine the time, quantity, and concentration of use, whether other problems will arise during the period, and whether there are really no side effects. Only then can they be made public and recommended to the people throughout Dasheng for use.
It was not until the following year when Chu Shu got married and Chu Huan passed the imperial examination, and the third year when Jiang married for the second time and Chu Huan passed the provincial examination, that the court announced and publicly sold several of the fertilizers.
The official action was slow, but the people had already noticed it.
Over the past two years, Dasheng has reclaimed wasteland everywhere and achieved bumper harvests everywhere. One acre of land can produce so much, and there is so much extra grain on the market. All these anomalies have long been discovered by the people, and people often squat near the experimental fields to see how they actually farm.
No matter how many experiments the imperial court conducted, it would eventually push fertilizers to the people. In order to enable the people to better purchase and use fertilizers in the future, some information was revealed to some people.
Some wealthy households and officials started using chemical fertilizers early on, partly due to the expansion of experimental fields. As more people knew about and used them, the news could no longer be concealed.
The effectiveness of fertilizers had long been spread among the people, and many cases of fertilizer theft had occurred, resulting in several ridiculous lawsuits.
Someone stole the owner's fertilizer. Not knowing how to use it, he used it randomly based on his previous experience and estimated the amount. As a result, all the crops in several fields were burned. In a fit of anger, he sued the owner of the theft to the government and demanded compensation.
When the system ate the melon, it exclaimed: "This is really outrageous! I'm opening the door to outrageousness."
Chu Hua was not surprised: "Then you haven't seen a thief steal something from a house, break his leg while escaping, and then sue the owner for medical expenses and win the case."
The system hadn't seen this before, and the entire statistical data was in a state of panic: [Is this even possible?]
"No, why is that? It was clearly a thief who stole something, and theft itself is a crime. And the thief broke his leg himself, so what does that have to do with the owner?"
Chu Hua: [I can't quite remember the specifics, but the owner installed anti-theft spikes on the wall, which threatened the thief's safety. This violated some regulations, so they had to pay compensation.]
The person who told her about this melon didn't explain it clearly, so she could only remember a general idea.
system:【……】
There's really nothing else to say except "outrageous".
Chu Hua: [How was this lawsuit finally resolved?]
System: [The thief's crime of theft is undeniable. He is sentenced to compensate the owner for the loss of fertilizer. However, the owner, considering that the thief's several small plots of land were completely damaged, has requested less compensation.]
It's absolutely impossible not to compensate. If the government were to handle this matter this way, many people's fertilizers would be stolen tomorrow. The owners' request for less compensation is just a personal opinion, perhaps based on humanitarian concern.
Chu Huan is now fully preparing for next year's metropolitan and palace examinations. Even Hongmei, who loves gossip, dares not tell her the news from outside. She can only get some gossip from the system to avoid being out of touch with society.
How is the promotion of fertilizer going?
System: [The imperial court was concerned that the newly introduced chemical fertilizer, unlike the composted fertilizer used in the past, would be poorly accepted by the public. Over the past two years, they've been releasing information frequently, even using it as a pilot program to encourage people to use it. Initially, many were skeptical, some even refusing to use it. But after seeing that chemical fertilizers actually increased production, they became wildly interested.]
At that time, some people wanted to wait until others had used it before making any decisions. They were worried that the fertilizer used by ordinary people might be different from that used by the rich and powerful. And since the fertilizer was so effective, it might be very expensive, and they might not be able to afford it. As a result, they waited year after year, but the court still had no news of a sale, and many people became anxious.
People often went to local government offices to ask when fertilizer would be available and what the price would be. The government repeatedly appeased them, which made many people very nervous. Now that the fertilizer was on sale, everyone bought bag after bag, fearing they would run out of it.
Chu Huan could understand the previous measures, but the people's subsequent actions made her feel a little amused and helpless.
I've heard of people hoarding rice, oil, and paper, but this is the first time I've heard of someone hoarding fertilizer.
"Isn't that right?" The system was surprised when it found out. "They kept emphasizing that the imperial court had sent a lot of them, so everyone could buy them. But seeing that everyone was still buying like crazy, they had to impose purchase restrictions to ensure that others wouldn't be left without them."
There are purchase limits on fertilizers, which is unimaginable in modern times.
Ultimately, it was because of the low crop yields in ancient times and the lack of food that forced farmers into a desperate situation.
After a while, everyone will see that the court has a large amount of fertilizer stockpiled and there is no risk of shortage, so they should stop the mad rush to buy and hoard goods.
Chu Huan thought that the matter ended here, but she never expected that the system had another secret that it hadn't revealed.
The system said cautiously: [Sister Huan, I want to tell you something. Please don't be angry.]
Chu Huan:?
[Shanglu has fallen in love with someone else? ]
[He dares?!] Worried that his babyish voice wasn't commanding enough, the system switched to a more authoritative, older man's voice and angrily said, [If he dares to let you down, I guarantee he'll be socially annihilated across the continent!]
Isn't the entire Dasheng enough for you? Chu Hua was speechless.
What happened?
The system coughed fakely: [Chu Shu is pregnant. You are going to be a mother.]
Chu Hua: [Yes.]
System: [After your brother returned from Jiangnan last year, didn't the emperor send him out again? When your mother saw that the situation had stabilized, she was so anxious that her mouth was blistered because your brother was already 23 years old and still hadn't married. She went around looking for a wife for him.]
Your brother is quite old, and many girls have already been engaged. Your mother couldn't find a good girl, so she just held off. A while ago, Nangong Ling and her fiancé finally broke off their engagement after going through a lot of trouble, and your mother has set her sights on her.
Chu Huan hadn't expected the Wen family to want to marry Nangong Ling into their family: "My mother is already worried enough about me, someone who's always thinking about entering the government, postponing the wedding, and even not having children. How did she come up with Nangong Ling?"
Nangong Ling is a ruthless person who talks about contract couples every day because the system has been opened up.
A marriage was delayed year after year, but there was a suitable excuse. Chu Huan also postponed the marriage for the sake of the imperial examination. The other party could not force Nangong Ling to get married early, and he could not wait any longer, so he exchanged some interests with the Nangong family and peacefully dissolved the marriage, and quickly found another girl to be engaged.
System: [Isn't it that Nangong Ling comes to your house every day? Before, you couldn't see her when your brother was not at home, but now you see her often when you are at home after your brother is not on a business trip? ]
Nangong Ling is both talented and beautiful, and you get along well with her. If there was anything wrong with her, you would have disliked her long ago. With me here, both families know each other well. They haven't committed any illegal acts, and both the parties involved and their parents are of good character, making them very suitable for in-laws.
As long as Chu Qin and Nangong Ling are willing, and the two patriarchs are willing, Chu Huan has no objection.
Unless the Wen family's match for their eldest sister-in-law is truly unsuitable and might even bring trouble to the Chu family, how could she, as a younger sister, interfere in her eldest brother's marriage? It would be so annoying.
My brother is already 24 years old and has never been in a relationship or engaged. In modern times, this is an age where people are often pressured into marriage. It's a happy event that he and Nangong Ling are dating. A best friend becomes a sister-in-law, which is double the happiness. Sisters-in-law don't usually quarrel, so why should I be angry?
The system was inwardly distressed: [Well, well, that's not what I wanted to say.]
Chu Huan's eyes narrowed dangerously: [What exactly are you trying to say?]
What kind of content makes the system so hesitant?
Afraid that she would be angry, I told her two good news in advance to make her happy.
The system burst into tears and immediately dropped a bombshell: [The seventh volume of "The Legend of Chu Hua" is now on sale.]
Chu Huan's breath was caught in her throat. Dongfang Heng had actually written this thing into the seventh volume?
The system went all-out: [As soon as the seventh volume went on sale, all stock was sold out in less than an hour. Bookstores everywhere rushed to print copies, and even neighboring countries were not spared from this sell-out frenzy.]
With a "snap", the brush in Chu Huan's hand broke, and some wood chips fell on the white paper.
Such a calm person, yet he exudes a cold aura of "Do you want to die?"
The system whimpered in fear, but dared not say anything: [Han, Sister Huan, you should have expected this.]
The first and second volumes sold well in Dasheng, and many merchants stocked up and brought them to neighboring countries. They sold well at the time. Some people found them novel, while others wanted to learn about penicillin and other things. It can only be said that there was both personal and political demand.
Last year, you took the college entrance exam and came in first, putting all the men to shame. When the results came out, the women of the capital cheered wildly. Many women shop owners gave out gifts like it was a holiday. "The Legend of Chu Hua" became even more popular with women, with some even buying a copy to keep even though they couldn't understand it.
Once the results of this year's provincial examination are released, things will get even more crazy. Women will look up to you as a role model, men will see you as a rival and strive to catch up, and parents will treat you as their daughter, inspiring their children. You've completely become someone else's child. The Chu Hua Biography is selling better and better with each volume. Isn't that natural?
The more the system talked, the more it seemed to have no problem. Besides, what did this have to do with it, an innocent system that just watched the show?
At most, it would choose to conceal the news in good faith and delay the notification for the first time it happened in order to make the host feel good and not affect the host's imperial examination.
Is it wrong? No!
The system became more and more self-righteous, and felt that the host should be grateful for its understanding and appropriate quick thinking.
In other words, Chu Hua didn't know what the system was thinking, otherwise she would have let it see the wickedness of human nature :)
System: [Propaganda for chemical fertilizers has been ongoing, and there are still many voices of resistance from the public. One reason is that there are many restrictions on their use. You can't use too little, too much, or use them incorrectly. Most farmers are illiterate and can easily make mistakes. This has been criticized quite a lot.]
Another reason was that the research process for fertilizer was time-consuming, and while many people knew its benefits, the imperial court held onto it and gave it to wealthy individuals and officials. While there were specific explanations, primarily for experiments, the people refused to listen. They saw it as collusion between officials and businessmen.
When the topic was brought up, Chu Huan's anger temporarily subsided, and she rationally analyzed: [This situation is inevitable.]
To quickly learn the usage and dosage of those dozen or so fertilizers, we must intensify the experiments, involving more and more people. Ultimately, the responsibility of farming still falls on the farmers, and many have no desire to maintain confidentiality.
Even if you present facts and evidence to them, many people will still only listen to what they believe, what they want to hear, and what is in their own best interest, without considering whether the matter itself is reasonable.
System: [Yes, in the eyes of the people, collusion between officials and businessmen is normal. They are actually afraid of not colluding, fearing that something even more terrible will happen to them.]
The main reason is that they are scared by corrupt officials and unscrupulous businessmen.
This will require several years or even decades of political clarity and peace and prosperity before the people can gradually change their views.
The next few decades will depend on the young people of Chu Huan's generation. She has already felt the pressure and also felt how much effort the old Grand Tutor, the old Grand Preceptor and others have put into Dasheng.
Only when generations of people continue to work hard can Dasheng become more prosperous and the people can live and work in peace and contentment.
The system felt the foreshadowing was sufficient and continued: [The court saw the power of publicity and marketing in "The Legend of Chu Huan" and also saw your personal charm. Therefore, they immediately arranged for you to promote the fertilizer.]
Chu Huan slowly typed a question mark; she had a bad feeling.
The seventh volume of "The Legend of Chu Huan" has sold so well, could it be that the imperial court is behind this?
really!
The system said: [Dongfang Heng left some foreshadowing in the previous volumes. For example, when you saw the farmer weeping while harvesting wheat, you asked, "Is there anything that can make the wheat grow longer?", and your mother replied, "Yes, there's fertilizer."]
Dongfang Heng wrote about your psychological state, asking, "Does the fertilizer really work? Why are they still crying?" Then, in Book 7, he expanded on this point, explaining that although you come from a family of officials, you've never forgotten that your ancestors were ordinary farmers who worked the land for a living.
Let's say you want to change the miserable plight of farmers who work hard all year but harvest only a few grains of wheat. To this end, you, a wealthy young lady, learn about composting, how it's made, and why it's so effective for wheat.
After years of intensive research, you've finally developed a set of principles. Simply put, crops, like people, need medicine if they're too thin or sick. You summarized the energy requirements for crop growth and developed two types of fertilizers. Other fertilizers are based on this foundation.
Chu Hua: [Then how did he explain why I took out the fertilizer but didn't give any specific instructions for how to use it?]
System: [He said it's just like a doctor. They know a certain medicine is effective, but every doctor has different ideas about how much to use and how to use it. Even after using a medicine for many years, some doctors may still develop other uses for it. This is all very normal.]
You've developed the fertilizer, but that's only theoretically possible. The practical application still requires expertise. Even a seasoned farmer who's spent their entire lives working in the fields wouldn't dare to guarantee it, let alone a wealthy woman who never works in the fields.
Chu Huan: [...What a talent! He was able to pull it off.] She now believed that Dongfang Heng's words would sell well even without the imperial court's backing.
He said I shouldn't work in the fields anymore. Is there no one who doesn't believe in the fertilizer made by an amateur like me? It's unscientific that no one questions it!
System: [Of course!]
Those who insist on not using chemical fertilizers use the excuse, "How can a rich girl who doesn't work in the fields possibly produce anything good?" to dissuade others, even going so far as to say, "You're definitely stealing the fruits of other farmers' labor."
Before Chu Hua's expression changed, the system said, "Most people have seen the benefits of fertilizers and don't care where they come from. Some people, because you've already brought out so many good things, think it's no surprise that you're bringing out another fertilizer."
Some people think that if you're going to be rewarded with merits, why not other merits? Why does it have to be fertilizer? And what exactly is fertilizer made of? Many people can't even tell, even experienced farmers don't understand.
Chu Huan handed the thing over to the court, letting the court deal with it. As for whether the credit was hers? It wasn't her research in the first place. Everyone in the court knew about it, but she didn't really care.
System: [Controversy creates popularity. This time, due to the fertilizer issue, the seventh volume sold out. Many people couldn't get the seventh volume, so they bought up the remaining stock.]
"Sister Huan, you're really popular right now. How popular are you? Even three-year-olds in Xirong know that there's a very powerful Chu Huan in Dasheng. They know you're taking the imperial examination and want to become the top female scholar. Thank you for the smallpox vaccine you developed."
Chu Huan was very surprised: [Where did Xirong get the cowpox vaccine? ]
System: [Cowpox can prevent smallpox. Earlier, an official from Dasheng suggested that the section about the cowpox vaccine in "The Legend of Chu Huan" should be deleted. This was because once the story spread, other countries would quickly develop a cowpox vaccine. When the old Grand Tutor and Grand Preceptor learned of this, they nearly shut down the court.]
[For over three years, not all the civilians in Dasheng have been used, nor have the border residents and soldiers. If the Western Rong caught smallpox and deliberately poisoned the border, how many people in Dasheng would die? Those are young and strong laborers. Dasheng is already short of young and strong laborers and cannot withstand such malicious consumption.]
Although the Xirong wouldn't thank Dasheng for having the cowpox vaccine, and it wouldn't stop them from fighting, at least it would reduce the risk. Dasheng had conducted numerous experiments, and those vaccinated with the cowpox vaccine were indeed protected from smallpox. However, everyone was still a little concerned about what would happen if smallpox were to spread widely.
Modern people are able to confirm this because they have sufficient medical knowledge and research. Dasheng was first exposed to concepts such as vaccines, antigens, and antibodies. People did so because everyone was afraid of smallpox, but everyone knew very well: it was only prevention, not treatment.
The cowpox vaccine is useless for people who have had smallpox.
Chu Huan did not formally enter the officialdom, but under the guidance of the old Grand Tutor and the old Grand Preceptor, her horizons were broadened and she changed a lot.
[Both teachers have a long-term vision and a strong sense of crisis.]
The Xirong Emperor is too shameless. No one knows whether he will poison someone in a fit of rage. If that happens, it will be the end of us.
System: [The reason "The Legend of Chu Hua" is so popular is because it contains many secrets. Penicillin is said to be extracted from moldy oranges, and the cowpox vaccine is said to be extracted from cowpox. Various countries have tried and succeeded.]
Although you are from Dasheng, you have also brought many benefits to other countries. The Emperor of Xirong no longer wants to kill you. He urges his ministers to conduct research based on the content mentioned in "The Biography of Chu Huan". The harassment and fighting on the border have not been so intense.
[According to Buddhist teachings, Sister Huan, your actions have saved countless people and accumulated immense merit! ! ! ]
Chu Huan just wanted to laugh, how many years have you been out of the factory? Don't try to make promises to a seasoned office worker!
【With the merit of social death across the entire continent, I'll give it to you, do you want it? 】
The system is quiet as a chicken.
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