Chapter 87 People from the Capital (2)
Magistrate Meng and his entourage followed Zhao Jian away. Li Xiaoxiao felt that this matter had nothing to do with her, so she wasn't very interested and continued tending to her fields.
The farmers who were helping in the fields did so voluntarily. They saw the ox in her hands. They had just been assigned to Lord Meng's land by drawing lots. Each family owned five acres of top-quality farmland, and their entire family's food supply depended on these five acres. So, of course, they had to put the most effort into taking care of it.
Seeing Li Xiaoxiao leading the ox to plow the field, awkwardly guiding it and barely managing to move it even one line after a long time, the neighboring farmer couldn't bear to watch her tormenting the old ox like this. He came over and asked what was wrong, only to find out that she was the county magistrate's daughter and that these ten acres of land were her "experimental fields".
She only had ten acres of land, but she had an ox! The farmer immediately had an idea and offered to help her plow all ten acres of land, but he could borrow the ox.
Li Xiaoxiao agreed without hesitation, but it wasn't just this farmer who thought so. When the other tenant farmers heard that Li Xiaoxiao was willing to lend her a cow, they immediately said that they could also help her and borrow a cow as well.
Nearly twenty households ultimately agreed to borrow cattle, and the order in which they would borrow the cattle was determined by drawing lots.
Five acres of land can be plowed in just one and a half days using oxen, but it would take a full five days if plowed manually.
Li Xiaoxiao only needed to lend out one cow to get so much labor in return, so she felt she had made a profit.
Farmers who want to borrow cattle only need to put in a little bit of work to borrow one, and they feel like they've made a profit.
Everyone was happy.
These farmers were all experienced in farming. When they saw that Li Xiaoxiao knew nothing and was a complete novice, they started to show off their experience, thinking that she was easy to fool. But when they actually went to help her in her field, they found that although she didn't know much about farming, she was a very principled person who didn't allow them to question her.
The first step was to till the land. They usually tilled it to a depth of one foot, but she wanted to till it to two feet, which more than doubled the difficulty. The oxen also had a hard time pulling it, and many people felt sorry for the old oxen: "Tilling it to a depth of one foot is enough for planting. We have been tilling it this way for generations."
Li Xiaoxiao disagreed: "So you have never solved the problem of low grain yield for generations. You can only harvest a little over 100 catties per mu, which means that your experience is wrong. Just do as I say."
The farmers were speechless, so they had no choice but to grit their teeth and help her till the soil to a depth of two feet. Ten acres of land that could normally be tilled in a day and a half had now been tilled for almost three days with great difficulty.
During the spring plowing season, every hour is precious. Some people, seeing that it would take too long for their turn, had no choice but to reluctantly give up their oxen and return to their own homes to use manual plows and hoes to turn the soil.
Of course, a manual plow cannot be pulled two feet deep; it can only be pulled about one foot. After turning over one's own land, the soil is yellowish with a hint of grayish-brown, just ordinary, high-quality soil. But when one goes back and looks at the dark soil that Li Xiaoxiao turned up, one feels heartbroken. This kind of dark soil is the good soil for fertile crops.
Gritting her teeth, all the farmers who had turned away returned, no longer complaining about why she insisted on tilling so deep. In the past, no one had oxen; everyone relied on people to pull the plow, which could only dig up a foot of soil. Over the years, the surface soil in the fields had lost much of its fertility. Now, Li Xiaoxiao insisted on tilling two feet deep, and the undeveloped fertile soil was exposed from the bottom.
Although the farmers were not very educated, the obvious facts immediately made them abandon their original ideas and work with more enthusiasm than the rest of them.
With a blade of grass dangling from her mouth, Li Xiaoxiao sat leisurely on the riverbank, watching the bustling activity in her field. She glanced back at the black mud washed up from the Crescent Bay, which looked very nutritious.
After she finished plowing all the soil in her field, she planned to dig up some river mud and put it in the field as fertilizer.
She had already told Uncle Chai that he wanted to keep all the cow and horse manure in the house for her to use for farming. As for human excrement—she hissed, "Forget it, I don't want it, it's just too smelly."
She could tolerate the smell of grass that cows and horses ate, but she couldn't stand the taste of people eating grains and meat.
Uncle Chai even laughed at her for being so naive, saying that since she was already farming, she was still complaining about the smell of manure.
Li Xiaoxiao didn't care. Instead of using manure, she wanted to find other ways to solve the fertilizer problem, such as using the river mud from Crescent Bay.
There's always a solution.
During the apocalypse, she studied the history of ancient China and knew that the planting methods of this era were very backward and the grain yield was very low. She wanted to try to use her limited knowledge to plant an experimental field to see if she could grow a higher yield of grain.
After all, she was going to live in this place for a long time, and she didn't want to see the people here go hungry every day, especially in Xiaoye Village. The village chief's wife had gone to the whole village with a bowl but still couldn't gather enough food to treat them, which left a particularly deep impression on her.
If only their fields could produce 300-400 catties of grain per mu.
This is just a very, very low standard. After all, in her memory, a great agronomist in ancient China later developed hybrid rice, which made the national rice yield per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.067 hectares) reach over 1,000 jin (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 0.5 kg). She, a poor student, didn't know how that was done, but she lowered her goal a little, for example, 350 jin (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 125 kg). Would that be difficult to achieve?
Actually, she wasn't sure herself, but she figured she might as well give it a try.
When Magistrate Meng heard that someone had come from the capital, he rushed home and found that it was his cousin from the third branch of the family, Meng Wenli, the son of the third patriarch.
Meng Wenli had been there for a while. Liu brought Meng Liniang out to greet him, and they chatted for quite a while.
Having not seen their relatives from the capital for a long time, even Liu Shi became much more enthusiastic. However, Meng Wenli felt very uncomfortable looking at Liu Shi's simple clothes and the shabby backyard of the county government office, where even serving tea and water had to be done by Granny Qi herself.
Grandfather Meng did not become an official, but instead went into business thanks to the blessings of his two older brothers. Meng Wenli, who had been in charge of the family for several years, had taken over the family's responsibilities a few years ago. He had no shortage of money. Now that he saw that his cousin, who had been separated from his wife, was living such a life, he couldn't help but secretly slip another silver note into the purse he was giving to Meng Liniang as a gift.
Because the place Magistrate Meng was inspecting today was not far from the county seat, Zhao Jian returned in less than half an hour after reporting the news. Upon seeing Meng Wenli, Magistrate Meng said with delight, "Brother Wenli, it turns out it's you."
Meng Wenli looked at his cousin, whom he hadn't seen for over a year, in surprise. After seeing the remoteness and poverty of Biyang County, he had expected Meng Ying, the local official, to be old and haggard. However, the fair-skinned and gentle cousin he remembered was nowhere to be seen. The person in front of him had slightly dark skin, but was full of energy and looked even more robust than when he was an official in the capital.
Meng Wenli exclaimed in surprise, "How strange! I heard from your sister-in-law that you were seriously ill when you first arrived here, but you seem to be even more robust than before. Is the environment of Biyang County so nourishing?"
Magistrate Meng laughed heartily: "If my cousin knew that I go up to the mountains and countryside every two months and climb all the mountains I've never climbed in my life, he probably wouldn't have asked this question!"
Meng Wenli could tell from his hearty laughter that he was in a good mood and did not seem depressed.
This is good too. Although this place is remote and poor, it is still the local government where people live and can make their own decisions. As long as Meng Ying can accept it, that's good.
Meng Wenli had come all the way from the capital, so he must have important matters to discuss with Magistrate Meng. Liu Shi tactfully led Meng Liniang away and went back to the inner courtyard to prepare a meal.
Magistrate Meng invited Meng Wenli to his study, and Steward Zhao served tea before leaving.
Meng Wenli asked, "Why haven't I seen Qi-ge'er?"
Magistrate Meng said, "He went to study at Wanshan Academy, and he left right after the New Year."
Wanshan Academy? Meng Wenli had also heard of this famous academy: "That is a better academy than the Lin'an Prefectural School. Qi Ge'er has been smart since he was a child. With good teachers to guide him, passing the imperial examination is just around the corner."
Magistrate Meng thanked him for the praise. Meng Wenli pondered for a moment before explaining the purpose of his trip: "We received your letter before the New Year. After discussing it with my father, my uncle planned to send someone to deal with the Lu family after the New Year. But unexpectedly, the Crown Prince was escorted into the capital by the Imperial Guards on the second day of the New Year. We didn't even realize that this matter had anything to do with our family before the palace suddenly started sending rewards..."
He disregarded the loss of face for the second wife and recounted in detail the rewards bestowed upon him by the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Empress, and the Crown Princess, as well as the fact that the gifts had been brought to the Meng residence and then carried back. Finally, he frowned and asked, "The whole capital is saying that you saved the Crown Prince's life. What exactly happened?"
Magistrate Meng's gaze was deep: "Has news of the Crown Prince's assassination spread throughout the capital?"
Meng Wenli said, "The news has spread, and His Majesty has ordered a thorough investigation. The capital is in a state of panic, with everyone speculating about who has the audacity to assassinate the Crown Prince. Since you saved the Crown Prince, do you know what happened?"
Magistrate Meng had no desire to get involved in such a conflict. He was too far from the capital, and if he spoke carelessly and someone with ulterior motives leaked the information to the capital, angering those behind the scenes and causing trouble for him, it would be troublesome. Although the Meng family was a century-old clan, distant water could not quench a nearby fire. In order to protect his family, he pretended to know nothing: "I only know that the assassins of the Crown Prince were from the Luzhou Guard, and that they were all captured by the Qingzhou Guard that day. They all went to the capital with the Crown Prince. Because of this, five yamen runners in the county office were killed."
This kind of thing can't be kept secret. The fact that the Crown Prince and his entourage escorted so many guards from Luzhou back to the capital must have already spread throughout the entire city.
Meng Wenli did indeed know about this, but he was not satisfied with only getting this information from Magistrate Meng: "How did the Crown Prince come to your house? Was he assassinated in Biyang County?"
Magistrate Meng downplayed the issue, saying, "No, the Crown Prince encountered Qi Ge'er, who had just returned from Wanshan Academy, on his escape route. Qi Ge'er, confused, took him home, but that very night, the Luzhou Guards attacked."
Meng Wenli fell into deep thought, and after a long while said, "According to you, this is a coincidence?"
Magistrate Meng said, "It was indeed a coincidence. Our county government only has ten yamen runners. When the Luzhou Guards came, they were no match for them at all. In the end, the Qingzhou Guards arrived in time, and His Highness the Crown Prince was able to escape danger."
It turns out it was all a coincidence. It seems that Meng Ying and his son didn't contribute much to this matter!
After considering for a moment, Meng Wenli slowly spoke the words that the clan leader had instructed him to say: "Then do you think it's possible for the Crown Prince to give you important positions?"
Magistrate Meng immediately said, "It is a subject's duty to help the Crown Prince in times of crisis. How could I dare to take advantage of this favor? Moreover, the main contributor was not me, but the Qingzhou Guard. His Highness the Crown Prince's kindness in letting me stay overnight and giving me a reward is already an extra blessing. I would never dare to ask for any more benefits under this pretext."
A hint of disappointment flashed in Meng Wenli's eyes. What a pity. Hearing that Li Wenkui, the Junior Chamberlain of the Eastern Palace, had died, the Crown Prince quickly promoted his younger brother, who taught at the Imperial Academy, to the Eastern Palace. From a schoolteacher, he became an official of the Eastern Palace, which can be described as a meteoric rise.
However, the trip was not entirely fruitless. Although Meng Ying was not promoted for saving the Crown Prince, he at least gained a favor from the Eastern Palace, which might come in handy in the future.
Moreover, the Meng family had almost given up on him, thinking he would be stuck as the magistrate of Biyang County for the rest of his life. But with the favor of saving the crown prince, he might actually be able to be transferred away from here and return to the capital.
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