26. Chapter 26
"Bleeding after eating feces"
Under the gaze of all the bondservants in the fields, Dachun Elu and his son bent over and retched, their legs shaking like sieves, and they fled in fear.
Qi You glanced at the father and son calmly, then looked at the abandoned ditch beside him. Finally, he smiled and asked Lin Daniu: "Master Lin, now that manure has been poured on the land, what should we do next?"
A glimmer of light finally appeared in Lin Daniu's eyes, but it quickly faded, and he became silent again. He began to talk more, "We've already fertilized the fields after the winter solstice, so we should wait until the rice ears emerge before watering again. After the rain, we'll store water, level the fields, and plant the rice."
As expected, Dachun deliberately poured manure at this time to disgust him away. Qi You frowned and asked, "What if there is less rain?"
Lin Daniu replied, "Go fetch water from the Chaobai River."
Qi You's expression faded, and he pointed at the ditch and asked, "When there were canals in the past, could we directly draw water from the Chaobai River for irrigation?"
Lin Daniu lowered his head and was silent for a moment, then nodded. "There are rivers everywhere, and the water they bring in can irrigate the land. There's no shortage of water here."
Qi You pondered for a moment and asked, "Why don't you repair the ditch..." He then changed the subject and asked directly, "What did Dachun ask you to do during your slack season?"
Lin Daniu suddenly raised his head and looked at Qi You in surprise. When their eyes met, he lowered his head in panic, not daring to look him in the eye.
Qi You frowned slightly, knowing that this matter was not simple. A bondservant was a slave, and Lin Daniu was used to being oppressed, so he didn't force him.
There is still no way to abolish slavery, so Qi You has built this canal.
Since the crops had already been fertilized with manure, which was extremely valuable and had to be used effectively, Qi You told Lin Daniu not to fertilize them again. "Master Lin, just do what you need to do and don't worry about me. If I'm in your way, just let me know."
Lin Daniu responded, picked up the load and walked back.
On the way, Qi You talked to Lin Daniu from time to time, asking questions about grain production, pests and diseases, etc.
The more he asked, the more disappointed Qi You became.
There are several major challenges ahead.
First, grain production is low. There is a significant difference in yield between the north and the south, with fields classified as high, medium, and low quality.
The average rice yield per mu of land is about 350 kilograms. The yield of rice is 70% to 80%, which is equivalent to an output of about 250 to 2800 kilograms of rice.
Qi You remembered that the hybrid rice in later generations had an average yield of 2,000 to 3,000 kilograms per mu, which was ten times higher than the current yield.
Qi You didn't know how to cultivate hybrid rice seeds. This was a career that countless scientists, such as Yuan Lao, had devoted their entire lives to.
Qi You couldn't even imagine that he alone could be more powerful than all the scientists and countless teachers and students from agricultural universities, and could cultivate rice seeds with a yield of over a thousand per mu.
Rice seeds alone are not enough. Modern equipment such as chemical fertilizers, pest and weed control, mechanical planting, mechanical irrigation, etc. are all key to a good grain harvest.
The second is taxation.
In later generations, the state not only exempted farmers from taxes such as levies on their crops, but also provided subsidies to the farmers.
Comparing the various corvee labor and taxes that the court was now levying, Qi You could only smile bitterly.
Whether the people have land or not, it doesn't make much difference; they can only barely fill their stomachs.
The big landowners could not get rich just by relying on the grain harvest. The rich were the powerful who did not have to pay taxes.
For example, the powerful masters of the Eight Banners.
Third, there is official corruption.
Apart from the Eight Banners masters, the only group of people who could make a fortune were officials.
County Magistrate Lin Yicheng currently earns around three taels of silver a month. Hired advisors and staff members need to pay for their own expenses, and their monthly salary is barely enough to support their families.
Without money, the only option is corruption.
Three years as a clean magistrate, 100,000 silver coins.
From top to bottom, it's rotten.
After following Lin Daniu around for a whole day, Qi You did not return to the palace at night, but went to Dachun's house first.
Dachun was soaked from head to toe by the rice field. He went back to the house and washed countless times, but the nausea was still there.
Elu cried out in despair, choking with sobs, and suffered a headache and body aches, falling ill instantly. His concubine called for a doctor and ran to Dachun to cry.
"Little cripple!" Dachun was used to bullying others in Shunyi. After washing, he came to his senses and was filled with hatred.
He pounded the table with his fist, a vicious look flashed in his eyes, and he wished he could get rid of Qi You as soon as possible.
No matter how filled with hatred he was, Dachun still didn't dare to actually take action.
Qi You is a prince. If something goes wrong in Shunyi, his entire family, including his nine clansmen, will not be able to escape.
When Dachun was in Shunyi, even the county magistrate, Lin Yicheng, had to act according to his mood. When Qi You, who was younger than his son, arrived, he could still tolerate the embarrassment in front of Lin Yicheng and others.
Dachun could not swallow the humiliation of losing face in front of a group of lowly slaves.
He must get back the humiliation he suffered today!
Dachun was angry, scared, and racking his brains to think of how to retaliate.
Lying in dire straits on the bed, Dachun received a prescription for tranquilizing the nerves from the doctor and drank a bowl of ginseng soup, but he still felt dizzy and had a stuffy chest.
"Master, the Seventh Master is here, Master, the Seventh Master is here!" Outside, the housekeeper's face turned pale and he ran all the way, shouting loudly as he rushed into the house, "Master, the Seventh Master is here!"
"Bring my medicine quickly and tell them I'm sick, quickly, quickly!" Dachun climbed up from the bed with incredible agility, jumped down and shouted at the top of his voice.
He can't see Qi You, he absolutely can't!
He was ill, very ill, and he wanted to write a letter to the higher authorities to complain. Qi You had been here for only one day, but he had already caused chaos in Shunyi and forced him, the deputy commander, to become bedridden!
Qi You, accompanied by his guards Gao Guihe, arrived at the main gate. Seeing the gatekeepers and servants running off to report the news as if they had seen a ghost, he simply smiled and said nothing, not trying to stop them. He simply rushed into the warm room on the east side of the main courtyard, which was the central axis.
Dachun had just finished drinking a bowl of medicine, with the medicine juice still on the corners of his mouth. He turned his head and looked at Qi You standing in front of him in horror, and for a moment he even forgot to greet him.
Qi You had a blank expression on his face. He turned around and looked around, then said calmly, "This room is well decorated. It's not much worse than Khan Ama's imperial study."
Dachun came back to his senses, his legs softened and he fell to his knees. He kowtowed loudly and said in a trembling voice: "I greet Seventh Master. I am ill. Please forgive me. I dare not compare myself with the Emperor..."
Qi You looked at Dachun who was talking incoherently. When he heard him change his name from "I" to "little one", he smiled and said, "Dachun, you can be sick, but you must not be sick when I want to see you."
Dachun was about to cry, and replied: "Yes, I will follow the instructions of the Seventh Master, even if I am very sick..."
Qi You doesn't allow him to be sick. Is he sick, or can he not be sick?
Dachun couldn't continue. Sweat poured down his face, and a chill ran down his back. He thought he might be really sick.
Qi You paced back and forth beside Dachun. Seeing that he seemed to be about to collapse again, he spoke coldly: "Dachun, no matter who the master behind you is, no matter how powerful you were here before, all of this is in the past. Unless you want to rebel, and the master behind you wants to rebel. Otherwise, you will do as I say and do it obediently."
Dachun froze. His initially flustered heart now felt much calmer, though still a bit cold. He swallowed quietly and replied, "I dare not. Please give your orders, Master Qi."
Qi You was impatient to talk nonsense with Dachun and gave orders one after another.
"First, you must repair the canal immediately. You must pay for the repairs out of your own pocket and pay the workers in full. If you dare to pay even a single cent less, your property will be confiscated!"
Dachun calculated it and said through gritted teeth, "Yes, I will follow the Seventh Master's orders."
Qi You smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He said coldly, "Secondly, you have to renovate the shacks where the bondservants live next door so they can stay warm in the winter and not freeze to death. You will still pay for it. Thirdly, the bondservants' wages and rations will all be tripled according to the current regulations, and they must be paid in full. No inferior goods may be substituted for good ones."
Dachun suddenly raised his head and said with a pale face: "Seventh Master, they are just a group of lowly slaves. It is a great honor for them to have a shack to live in. Lowly slaves should do the hardest work. As long as they don't starve to death, it's fine. After they are full and have strength, they will rebel. Seventh Master, I am not afraid even if you try to reason with the emperor."
Qi You sneered, raised his left leg, and stepped directly on Dachun's prone palm: "Look, even if I am disabled, my useless leg can still step on you."
Even though Qi You didn't use much strength, Dachun still felt a piercing pain in his fingers.
Qi You spoke calmly, "In front of me, you are also a lowly slave. Dachun, today I will teach you a line of poetry: 'We are of the same root, why are we so eager to harm each other?' Their today is the tomorrow of you, your three sons, your grandson, and your countless concubines."
Dachun's throat was wheezing, and he replied desperately: "Yes, I obey your command!"
The author has something to say:
I’d like to recommend a pre-collection of “I became a big boss after being reincarnated as the best female supporting role in the book”. The text is as follows. Please collect it. Thank you.
Yu Zheng found himself transmigrated into Yu Taohua, the top female supporting character in a farming novel.
Half a year after the original owner got married, her husband Zheng Sanniu joined the army and no news of him was heard from since.
The original owner, who was ambitious and despised the poor and loved the rich, could not stand the poverty and ran away with the peddler who came to the village.
The original owner's cousin Yu Lihua was reborn. After her cousin ran away, she took the initiative to come to the Zheng family.
She serves her parents-in-law, takes care of the household chores, and is tolerant of her sisters-in-law, and she is praised by the villagers.
Ten years later, Zheng Sanniu, who had become a guerrilla general, returned home in glory, and Yu Lihua became the general's wife, enjoying endless wealth and glory for the rest of her life.
The original owner was deceived by a peddler and sold to a brothel. In the end, she was old and ugly and no one wanted her, so she had to make a living by begging.
When she heard that Zheng Sanniu had become a general, she shamelessly ran back to the Zheng family, wanting to take back the position of general's wife. Naturally, she was humiliated in every way and ended up dying miserably in the wilderness.
Yu Zheng, who already knew the plot, was flirting with the peddler when he traveled through time.
Logically, she should have changed her ways, worked hard and stayed in the Zheng family, waiting to enjoy the good life in the future.
Yu Zheng only took a look at the Zheng family's penniless house and the farm work that was harder than that of an ox. She made a decision without hesitation and ran away by borrowing the peddler's money.
Many years later, there was an unspoken understanding in the capital.
The security of the capital depends half on Jingzhao Yin and half on Boss Yu.
If Boss Yu hadn't been relied upon, the capital would have been in complete chaos.
The god worshipped by successive Jingzhao Yin was a small statue of Yu Lao Da.
One-sentence summary: The story of a peasant woman who had nothing but rose to become the boss of the largest underground force in the capital.
Read the guide:
This is just a fiction, please do not verify it.
The heroine is not perfect, so don't read if you don't like her.
The career line is the main thing, and the love line is casual.
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