Chapter 20 Qin 20
The sounds of the conversation between the two countries drifted away on the wind. The grandfather and grandson, who were teaching under the ancient tree, unconsciously lowered their voices. Although only snippets of words could be heard, they still revealed the vastness of the world and stirred the heart.
Ying Ji sighed. He was getting old. If only he were a few decades younger.
Returning to his youth, he could stand proudly beside his motherland, pontificating and pointing out the flaws in the country, but it was a pity that he only saw his mother's true face at the very end.
Ying Ji was regretful but also confident that his years of planning and diligent work were an indispensable pillar and cornerstone on the road to Qin's hegemony, and that he could boast about it even if he were to meet his ancestors one day.
****
"Tsk, how shameless." Zhao didn't say the word "shameless," as a way of temporarily maintaining their fake "friendship."
Qin smiled dignifiedly and generously, "Don't I know you? You can speak freely, there's no need to hold back."
"Heh, come on, do you want me to hold a grudge against you?"
"Oh dear~~~ If I remember correctly..." 'Zhao' deliberately dragged out the tone and raised his voice, wanting the people under the tree in the next yard to hear him, "Even Qin Ji is on your grudge list, isn't he?"
Qin coughed lightly: "You're not me, how would you know...?"
“Because the one who understands you best is your enemy country, me,” Zhao said, emphasizing each word.
Zhao didn't keep them in suspense and chuckled, "I guessed it. I guessed it when the news of Lord Wu'an's death came."
Qin smiled and remained silent, neither denying nor admitting it.
Zhao found Qin's reaction rather uninteresting, so he leaned down to look. The grandfather and grandson were happily huddled together reading the bamboo slips, but Zhao didn't see anything particularly interesting about their reaction.
"Ugh, this is so boring. I'm leaving now. Come find me if you need anything, otherwise don't bother me."
With a swift turn, Zhao's skirt billowed in a beautiful arc, the withered green seeming to sprout new buds.
****
Ying Ji wasn't indifferent to the resentment he felt he was being held against; he kept it in mind, but he didn't have a good opportunity to ask about it tactfully because he was becoming increasingly busy.
Besides preparing teaching materials, he had a mountain of administrative duties to deal with every day, and he also had to find time to visit Taishu Jiu.
Having agreed to not kill prisoners, we naturally had to find a way to fulfill that promise, and the prerequisite for doing so... was, of course, the issue of food production.
This time, Ying Ji brought a lot of gifts with him, and also gave Tai Shu Jiu dozens of oxen and a bunch of servants.
He thought that he had already arranged for food, clothing, and lodging for the previous few times, so this time he would send something practical. After buying the surrounding land and giving it to Taishu Jiu, he saw that the other party had also made plans. Such a large place could not be left for him to take care of alone.
When Ying Ji found Tai Shu Jiu, the man was in the field, holding a notebook made of bound paper and writing something down.
Ying Ji didn't mince words and went straight to the point, asking the question he wanted to know: "Master Taishu, is it really true that these superior seeds can't be used in recent years?"
Taishu Jiu observed the other party's emotions and, judging by standard emotions, the other party was anxious.
"Is Your Majesty in a great hurry?" Taishu Jiu calculated that this was the third time Ying Ji had come to ask him about the grain seeds, and the number of times he had visited him three times was also up.
He first asked his long-lost leader in the private chat channel, and Zhu Qing'ai replied instantly.
[System 99 (Zhu Qing'ai): Tell him he can try planting it on land near Xianyang first. The soil conditions are different in other places. Ask him to transport the soil over, and I'll scan and analyze it to generate a report for you.]
[System 99 (Zhu Qing'ai): Remember to add money this time.]
Taishu Jiu blushed, feeling as if the leader had discovered something he had forgotten.
He clearly made a lot of money, and what's the point of saving so much money...?
Instead of asking Zhu Qing'ai, he started analyzing it himself. People say that money can make the devil turn the millstone, and maybe that's how money is used.
Moreover, the Qin kings changed frequently afterward, and Ying Zheng, who finally ascended the throne, was too young to rule personally. If he wanted to support the young Qin king, he would definitely need money. He couldn't compare to a big merchant like Lü Buwei, but he at least needed to have his own power in the court.
Taishu Jiu felt that he had also made great progress and could now see the meaning behind the extra money, so he confidently asked Ying Ji to give him more money.
Ying Ji agreed without hesitation, not only bestowing gold but also promising Taishu Jiu a pie in the sky: "Sir, you are a man of great talent. A mere thousand gold pieces is not enough; you are worthy of being called a Grand Master of Ceremonies."
As for who should bestow the favor, it certainly cannot be him. The matter of bestowing the favor should be handled by Ying Zhu or Ying Zichu. They should also be instructed to remember to give Taishu Jiu the title of Zheng'er's tutor.
Taishu Jiu wasn't interested in titles or anything like that; he only cared about whether his points had increased. If a title gave a lot of points in the achievement system, then it was a good title.
"Your Majesty flatters me," Taishu Jiu invited Ying Ji to see the crops in the fields, and then introduced the characteristics of the crops he was currently researching. The endless rows of plants in the fields made Ying Ji's eyes gleam with envy. "...Although it is high-yielding, it cannot be used for seed saving after one generation, and it requires the preparation of seeds every year. Even if seeds are saved, the yield will be reduced... On the other hand, there is a traditional high-yield crop that I have cultivated. It cannot match the yield of the previous crop, but it has the advantage of being able to be used for seed saving steadily..."
Ying Ji naturally knew that both crops were excellent, but given the current situation, the first one was naturally better.
"It's good that it can't be propagated; this seed is just right, sir. There's no need to improve it any further!"
Taishu Jiu really wanted to say that there was no way to change it, that's just how hybrid crops are, but seeing that Ying Ji was quite happy, he refrained from doing anything that showed a lack of emotional intelligence.
Ying Ji asked enthusiastically, "Does sir have enough land? How about I buy another ring of land around here and give it to you? I'll leave the seed production to you."
Taishu Jiu opened his panel to check the extent of his current land holdings. If he bought another area... he would become the biggest 'landlord' in the vicinity.
That's not the main point. The main point is that there's also an achievement in the achievement list that's calculated based on the land area under the host's name, and you can earn points for it!
Unfortunately, you can only earn it once; once you achieve it, having more land is useless.
He readily agreed, saying, "I just felt that the experimental fields were a bit insufficient, so expanding them would be just right." (To earn points.)
"If Your Majesty wishes to use the grain seeds in a place far from Xianyang, you will need to have someone record the local weather and environmental characteristics and bring me some local soil."
Ying Ji naturally agreed to everything. It wasn't like a person was going to the local area to bring back some soil. He could even bring back soil from the vicinity of cities that hadn't been conquered yet...
The two reached a deal that satisfied them both, and each felt they had made a profit.
On his way back to the palace, Ying Ji was still thinking that these seeds that were not meant to be used for propagation were really tailor-made for him. If all the seeds in the world came from Xianyang... then the world would be unified even if it wasn't.
****
Breeding cannot be done in a short time. The first farmers to use the new grain seeds were those near Xianyang. As for those further away, they would have to wait until the second batch.
After three years of publicity and promotion, people near Xianyang knew that their king would regularly distribute high-yield grain seeds to them, requiring them only to hand over grain equal to the weight of the seeds after the harvest, with taxes to be paid separately.
Even after two harvests, the common people near Xianyang found that they still had a lot of surplus grain left over, much more than in previous years.
If the family gritted their teeth and bought a new set of farm tools, the yield would be even higher.
In a short time, the living standards of ordinary people near Xianyang improved significantly, and the number of spies also increased dramatically. All the states wanted to know why the grain produced by the Qin people had suddenly increased so much.
****
"Ahem, another batch of people have been dealt with?"
"Your Majesty, everything has been cleaned up and will not offend Mr. Taishu's eyes."
"Cough cough cough, that's good... add more people to provide protection... cough cough..." Ying Ji took a breath, waved for the people to leave, and then propped himself up to stand up.
Two years have passed, and the Qin state has grown stronger and stronger, while he himself is nearing the end of his life.
He held the scroll in his hand and coughed twice more: "Someone, summon the Crown Prince to my bedchamber."
After saying this, he knocked away the servant's hand that was trying to help him up and insisted on walking back to his bedchamber on his own.
Back in his bedchamber, he could barely stand and sat down on the edge of the bed: "...I'm really getting old..."
He sat on the bed, covered himself with the blanket, and stared at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought.
After a while, Yingzhu hurriedly walked in from outside. He bowed respectfully and asked, "Father, what are your instructions for summoning me here?"
A note from the author:
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Da Liangzao: The *Records of the Grand Historian* uses the twenty-level Qin military merit system inherited by the Han dynasty to retroactively deduce that Shang Yang was "a marquis (Chehou), titled Lord Shang," which does not match the actual situation at Shang Yang's time. This is because Shang Yang's version 1.0 of the military merit system only had seventeen levels, lacking the ranks of Chehou, Guanneihou, and Siche Shuzhang. Military merit system 1.0 was divided into two sequences. The first sequence of ranks was for military personnel, including colonels, apprentices, drill sergeants, and other menial staff, consisting of two ranks: "Xiaofu" and "First-Class Gongshi." The second sequence was for combat soldiers, including ranks such as Second-Class Shangzao, Third-Class Zanniao, Fourth-Class Bugeng, Fifth-Class Dafu, Sixth-Class Guandaifu, Seventh-Class Gongdaifu, Eighth-Class Gongcheng, Ninth-Class Wudaifu, Tenth-Class Keqing (later renamed Zuoshuzhang after the conquest of the six states), Eleventh-Class Zhengqing (later renamed Youshuzhang after the conquest of the six states), Twelfth-Class Dashuzhang, Thirteenth-Class Zuogeng, Fourteenth-Class Zhonggeng, Fifteenth-Class Yougeng, Sixteenth-Class Dageng, and Seventeenth-Class Daliangzao (Dashangzao). These two sequences totaled seventeen ranks, with Second-Class Shangzao to Fourth-Class Bugeng being "soldiers," and Fifth-Class Dafu and above being military officers. After Qin Shi Huang unified China, he abolished the original ranks of Xiaofu, Keqing, and Zhengqing, and incorporated Guanneihou and Chehou into the military merit system, thus formally establishing the twenty-level military merit system, version 2.0.
At that time, the title of Grand Master of Ceremonies was indeed the highest rank.
The genetic basis of hybrid rice is the hybrid organism. Saving hybrid rice seeds for planting will result in significant segregation of traits, with severe inconsistencies in plant height, morphology, growth period, seed setting rate, and disease and pest resistance, leading to reduced yields. Therefore, saving hybrid rice seeds is not recommended; production seed should be carried out annually. Hybrid rice generally outperforms conventional rice in terms of yield and resistance. Planting hybrid rice requires purchasing seeds every year. If you wish to save seeds, you should choose conventional rice varieties with stable genetic characteristics, and be sure to change the variety every 3-4 years, or undergo purification and rejuvenation treatments to ensure continued seed saving.
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