Chapter 7 Qin 7
After enjoying herself, Zhu Qing'ai planned to take a stroll around the Zhao King's Palace and also checked her private messages.
She suddenly realized that Tai Shu Jiu had sent her a private message this afternoon. At that time, she was so engrossed in acting that she didn't check the backstage at all.
She also thought that Taishu Jiu hadn't messaged her for several years, so it was unlikely that he would message her right when she was performing. Therefore, she didn't keep an eye on the private message channel.
Unexpectedly...
She checked the private message.
[Host, Taishu Jiu: Ying Ji has personally come to invite me; should I accept now?]
Half an hour later
[Host, Taishu Jiu: I refused?]
Five minutes later
[Host, Taishu Jiu: I politely declined his offer.]
Zhu Qing'ai calculated the time; it had been two or three years already, and the King of Qin should have noticed Taishu Jiu by now.
She didn't notice the host's death, and Taishu Jiu didn't send any messages for help, so everything was fine.
Surely Ying Ji wouldn't suddenly go mad, so she quickly replied.
[System 99: Good riddance! Let's keep him hanging for another four or five years.]
After seeing the reply, Taishu Jiu carefully calculated whether Ying Ji would still be alive four or five years later, and the answer was no.
After hanging him for four or five years, Ying Ji was 'hanged' to death.
At that time, the King of Qin in power would be Ying Zichu, who was Ying Zheng's irresponsible and absconded father.
****
This morning, Ying Ji received a message from his subordinates. He stared wide-eyed in shock at the numbers recorded on the bamboo slip.
"Is it really true?"
"Your Majesty, it is absolutely true."
Ying Ji suddenly stood up, tripping over the low table in front of him without paying any attention. He called for people to prepare a carriage and horses, intending to go and see for himself.
After all, the numbers recorded in the bamboo slips were truly enticing. He had no doubt that his subordinates would dare to lie to him; surely no one was tired of living and looking for death.
Of course, before setting off, he had someone conduct a brief investigation into this Taishu Jiu, the Neng clan's Taishu, who was clearly no ordinary person.
Ying Ji just couldn't understand why such people would stay in Qin and farm, since the Taishu clan didn't live in Qin territory.
After his men gave him a brief overview of Taishu Jiu's background while accompanying the convoy, Ying Ji found it even more unbelievable.
Taishu Jiu was a man from the State of Qi. He had only been in the State of Qin for three years, but people had seen him farming since he arrived. By today, he had been farming for two or three years at most.
Ying Ji was practically asking himself a question mark: "You're from Qi, why are you farming in Qin? Are you crazy?"
This was certainly not because Taishu Jiu was sick; it was simply that obtaining an identity certificate indirectly was much cheaper than directly obtaining a Qin state identity certificate.
If you obtain an identity certificate directly in Qin, you won't be able to explain your interpersonal relationships from the previous ten years or so, and you'll have to spend a lot of points to fill in the gaps. However, if you are from Qi and settle in Qin, you won't need to fill in the gaps in your interpersonal relationships from the previous ten years or so, which will save you a lot of points.
Ying Ji almost laughed out loud when he thought that talented people had secretly come to Qin. He almost thought that the time he was looked down upon as a barbarian was fake, and that everyone actually wanted to come to Qin.
Although Ying Ji strongly suspected that there was some conspiracy involved, he clenched the bamboo slips in his hand tightly.
It wasn't that he lacked vigilance, but rather that the number was simply too tempting, representing almost half more than the original grain production.
If that were all, he wouldn't be so excited. The news he received also mentioned that after receiving and following the instructions from Taishu Jiuyi, the common people in the surrounding area saw their fields increase in yield by 20% to 30%.
The word "talent" was practically written all over Taishu Jiu's face. If he didn't care about this, what difference was there between him and a tyrant?
So Ying Ji excitedly led his men out of the Qin Palace and headed towards the outskirts of Xianyang. On the way, he kept thinking that if he could get his hands on this superior breed, wouldn't the Qin state become even stronger...
Just thinking about it made him even more restless; he was quite uneasy sitting in the carriage.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Go faster!" he urged the driver outside.
Even if it's some kind of conspiracy, he has to get his hands on this superior seed first.
Ying Ji had already considered that if the other party was unwilling to hand over the superior seeds, he should sentence them to a few years and force them to continue farming in Qin.
However, this thought was only fleeting. The fact that Taishu was willing to farm in Qin showed that he did not reject Qin, and Ying Ji felt that he still had a good chance.
Ying Ji is now torn between waiting for the person in the farmland or waiting for them at their doorstep.
After thinking for a while, he decided to go directly to the farmland to intercept the people. The fact that this news had reached him through rumors in the city meant that many people already knew about it.
One step behind means another step behind; he absolutely could not accept that such a talented person would be intercepted halfway by spies from other countries in Qin.
At this point, Ying Ji had already forgotten that Taishu Jiu was from Qi, not Qin.
With a serious expression, he declared that if it was planted on his Qin land, then it belonged to his Qin.
****
When Ying Ji arrived, Tai Shu Jiu was still squatting in the field checking the millet and wheat he had planted.
The harvest is almost here, but there's a problem: with the increased grain production, he doesn't know if he can harvest it all in time.
"Mr. Taishu..."
Taishu Jiu was startled. It seemed as if someone was calling him. He looked up at the edge of the field and saw the King of Qin, dressed in ordinary clothes, standing by the field with many guards and attendants around him.
Perhaps to avoid trampling the crops planted in the field, the group stood very carefully on the ridge of the field.
Taishu Jiu stood up, bowed respectfully in the direction of King Ying Ji of Qin, and then slowly walked towards the edge of the field.
Under the worried gazes of the crowd, he bypassed the plants that were considered treasures and carefully walked onto the ridge of the field.
"I was unaware of Your Majesty's arrival; I have failed to greet you properly." Taishu Jiu bowed again, but Ying Ji quickly helped him up, interrupting his bowing.
Under Taishu Jiu's puzzled gaze, Ying Ji spoke up: "Sir, you are a man of great talent. Have you ever considered serving as an official in Qin?"
Ying Ji asked very directly. He always believed in taking action as soon as he saw something he wanted, and the same was true for the talent he wanted. Talent is something that you can't get if you're too slow.
Ying Ji's question was also the reason why Tai Shu Jiu sent a private message to Zhu Qing Ai to inquire, but unfortunately, he did not receive an answer immediately.
I could only awkwardly say, "This humble citizen currently has no ambition to become an official."
Taishu Jiu stood tall and was neither humble nor arrogant. Although he was already tall enough, Ying Ji was even taller than him.
The old man, now quite old, had a weathered face, but his eyes still shone brightly, and every thought he had made was for the sake of the Qin state.
He precisely grasped the meaning of the word 'currently', and after a moment's thought, he suddenly smiled nonchalantly: "Sir, you are a young and talented man; you should wait for an even younger monarch..."
"This humble citizen is filled with fear."
Ying Ji waved his hand: "There's no need to say anything more, I don't care about this."
He knew his life was coming to an end, and it was normal for Taishu Jiu not to want to become a former minister of the previous dynasty. Experiencing the change of Qin kings always meant being involved in the power struggles, and he didn't want such a talented person to die in a pointless fight.
He should have devoted himself to the Qin state, instead of losing his mind for a moment.
"Sir, could you tell me about this strangely shaped farming tool?"
Ying Ji pointed to the farm tools piled up casually outside the thatched hut not far away, where two cows were tethered.
He thought that this Taishu clansman was really confident in the security of Xianyang, not even afraid that the ox would be stolen, and simply tied it up here. However, thinking of the strict Qin laws, he smiled smugly.
Taishu Jiu looked in the direction Ying Ji pointed and led his men to the thatched hut he had temporarily built.
As he walked, he explained, "This is a curved plow, a farm tool I made from wood and iron."
Taishu Jiu's greatest skill is copying. Perhaps because he was transformed from a programmer into a human, he has extremely strong hands-on ability. Even when he makes a machine tool by hand, the precision is not much different.
What he fears most is not simply following the textbook, but rather being forced to devise his own inventions. Copying is the best option; if the conditions here weren't so limited, he could even build an atomic bomb.
"It has a plowshare, handle, plowshare, plowshare tip, plowshare frame, etc., mainly used for ox-drawn plowing," he explained, pointing to each part of the curved plow.
"The depth of plowing can be controlled and adjusted here, but the plow is a bit too big; it requires two oxen to pull it."
If he hadn't built up his reputation in the neighborhood over the past two years and finally earned some points, he wouldn't have been able to afford these two cows, and he would have thrown away the straight-shafted plow he used to use long ago.
Ying Ji didn't see this as a drawback. In those days, plowing with oxen required two or three oxen to work together, so he thought this new tool must be very useful in comparison.
The evidence is the exceptionally lush crops that you can see as soon as you turn around.
He disregarded his image and squatted down, touching and looking at the object from left to right, clearly wanting it.
“The plowshare here is round, which can push the turned soil aside and reduce the resistance to moving forward,” Taishu Jiu pointed to the plowshare and explained to Ying Ji. “Moreover, it can also turn over clods of soil to cut off the growth of weeds, so that crops can grow better.”
"Mmm." Ying Ji nodded repeatedly, already quite tempted, and now even more so...
If people can't climb up to the imperial court, then what about these farm tools...?
"Sir, could you please..." Ying Ji stood up, his eyes slightly narrowed, his meaning quite clear.
Unfortunately, Taishu Jiu had never been a person before and didn't understand human relationships. He looked puzzled and asked, "Can't you do what?"
Ying Ji: "..."
"...Could you sell it to me?"
Taishu Jiu: "..."
He calculated the speed at which he could make paper by hand and realized he wouldn't have enough time to make a new set for Ying Ji. If he were to give him blueprints, he would have to make paper first, and carving them on wooden or copper plates would also be a waste of time.
He quickly did the math: the blueprints in the mall were ridiculously expensive, while the ready-made ones were cheap, but it was obviously more cost-effective to give this set to Ying Ji and use Ying Ji's money to buy materials and make another set himself.
There's nothing he can do; he's poor. (Referring specifically to points)
So he nodded and tentatively said, "Okay, but this curved plow is troublesome to make and not cheap."
“Name your price, sir.” Ying Ji smiled, confident that he could afford the price Tai Shu Jiu was asking for.
Seeing Ying Ji's demeanor, Tai Shu Jiu realized that such a generous client was rare, so he decided to quote a higher price. He said, "It will cost a thousand coins."
To everyone's surprise, Ying Ji burst into laughter and immediately rewarded Tai Shu Jiu with 2,000 coins.
Even Taishu Jiu couldn't figure it out, so he still offered a cheaper price?
If his boss finds out, he'll definitely accuse me of not being a shrewd businessman...
Ying Ji smiled and ordered his men to carry away the curved plow. He then turned around and asked a few skilled craftsmen to make a replica.
"I would appreciate it if you could teach them how to use this curved plow."
Taishu Jiu agreed without hesitation. This thing was easy to operate and he could learn it just by watching it, so he might as well just agree to Ying Ji's request.
A note from the author:
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If you convert the prices, two thousand coins is less than a hundred bushels of millet, which is roughly equivalent to less than five years' wages for a laborer.
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