Chapter 124: Colored Peppers and Black Beans
Jiang Xuan would observe the red crystal rice seeds hanging on the beams every day, hoping that they would germinate successfully.
On the first day, the second day, and the third day, the seeds showed no movement.
Jiang Xuan was getting a little anxious. Was it not feasible to use water to germinate the seeds? But since they had already been soaked, he had no other choice but to continue to wait patiently.
It was not until the fifth day that Jiang Xuan got up early in the morning and opened the animal skin bag. He was surprised to find that almost all the red crystal rice in the bag had sprouted, and their size and length were almost the same.
"It turned out that there was not enough time. I thought it was spoiled."
Jiang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. He picked up a seed and observed it carefully for a moment, then put it back into the animal skin bag with satisfaction.
Then he took off the animal skin bag and walked towards the prepared paddy field.
The red crystal rice in this small animal skin bag is used as a test product. After it germinates, it will be planted in the paddy field.
The other red crystal rice has been planted in the ground according to the original method, but has not yet sprouted.
"Chief, has the red crystal rice been successfully germinated?"
Not far away, Gan Song saw Jiang Xuan coming and hurried forward to ask. He was very concerned about the seeds soaked in water.
"It worked, look."
Jiang Xuan opened the animal skin bag, revealing the plump red crystal rice seeds inside, each of which had a tender sprout growing out of it.
Gan Song picked up a seed, looked at it for a long time with joy, and said, "It really sprouted, that's great."
Jiang Xuan said: "Now we can plant it."
“Go plant it now.”
Jiang Xuan and Gan Song came to the paddy field.
The paddy fields have been divided into many rows, and a drainage ditch is dug between two rows.
Now, most of the water in the paddy fields has been drained away, with only a small amount of water left in the drainage ditches, but the soil is very moist.
Jiang Xuan went to the fields barefoot, and together with Gan Song, he planted the red crystal rice seeds from the animal skin bags into the fields one by one.
Red crystal rice plants are very tall and cannot be planted as densely as rice. Sufficient spacing must be maintained between them.
Therefore, although there was not much red crystal rice in Jiang Xuan's beast skin bag, after planting it all, it covered more than half an acre of land.
After planting, Jiang Xuan and Gan Song washed the mud off their hands and feet by the stream.
Jiang Xuan said: "Now that we have just planted the rice, we cannot irrigate the field. Just keep water in the ditch. Once the red crystal rice has taken root and grown firmly, we can start irrigating the field."
Jiang Xuan thought for a moment and said, "It's not safe to flood the entire field. How about this? After they have taken root and become firmly established, surround the two red crystal rice plants with mud and try to fill them with water to see if the red crystal rice will be drowned."
"If the red rice dies, it means that the water cannot submerge its roots. If it survives and continues to grow, it means that it is not afraid of water and the whole field can be irrigated at once."
Gan Song nodded and said, "Chief, I have noted it all."
Jiang Xuan smiled and said, "Don't be nervous. These red crystal rice are only a small part. Even if the experiment fails, it doesn't matter. We can still harvest a large amount of red crystal rice in the fall."
"Of course, success would be the best, as it would prove that our idea is correct. If the yield in the paddy field is higher than that in the field, that would be even better."
After listening to Jiang Xuan's words, Gan Song was already looking forward to the scene of a bumper harvest of red crystal rice in the paddy fields.
"Okay, I'm going to go back first. Please pay more attention to the paddy field."
"Don't worry, Chief. I will take good care of these red crystal rice."
Jiang Xuan washed his hands and feet and turned to leave. Gan Song was looking forward to the sprouted red crystal rice growing quickly and hoped that the paddy field experiment would be successful.
Jiang Xuan was not as nervous as Gan Song.
The fruit of red crystal rice is shaped like wheat ears. One plant can produce several ears, or about several hundred grains. Each red crystal rice is as big as a red date, and the yield is incredibly high.
As long as there are no natural disasters or man-made calamities and the red crystal rice can grow and mature normally, the Teng Tribe will have a huge harvest this year. It is estimated that the red crystal rice alone can fill up the existing granaries.
If other grains also have a good harvest, we will have to build more granaries.
Therefore, Jiang Xuan could accept the half acre of red crystal rice in the experimental field, whether it was a success or a failure.
Back in the yard of the bamboo forest, Jiang Xuan walked into the house and took out two other important seeds, namely colorful peppers and black beans.
These were the things the old witch brought back from other places last year. There were not many of them. After being dried by Jiang Xuan, they were stored in pottery jars.
He first opened the first clay pot and took out a bunch of dried bell peppers.
Bell peppers are colorful, and almost every fruit is different. They are extremely spicy. Jiang Xuan tried them himself last year.
Jiang Xuan guessed that the bell pepper was one of the native peppers in the Southern Wilderness, but he didn't know what its yield was.
As for chili peppers, people who like it love it spicy, while people who don’t like it will stay away from it.
Jiang Xuan happened to be the kind of person who liked it. He had missed this stimulating taste for a long time.
"Gah..."
Jiang Xuan broke off a thumb-sized dried bell pepper, and a pungent spicy smell immediately spread out, revealing the seeds inside.
The colored pepper seeds are similar to the pepper seeds that Jiang Xuan had seen in his previous life. They are very small. A thumb-sized colored pepper may have dozens of seeds.
Jiang Xuan gently scraped off the seeds, then broke open another bell pepper and continued scraping the seeds.
After scraping a bunch of dried bell peppers, Jiang Xuan got hundreds of seeds.
He took the seeds to the vegetable garden in the yard.
This vegetable field had been cleaned up long ago, with almost all the gravel, tree roots, bamboo roots and grass roots picked up cleanly.
At the same time, Jiang Xuan dug a lot of black fertile soil from the forest and covered the vegetable field with it.
He squatted in the vegetable garden, patiently planted dozens of bell pepper seeds one by one, and covered them with a thin layer of soil.
As for the remaining bell pepper seeds, according to the principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket, he will plant them in different fields. Even if one place does not work, there are other places to make up for it.
After all, there are only so many bell pepper seeds. If something unexpected happens if you plant them together, you won’t have time to cry.
After planting, he patiently covered the vegetable field with a layer of hay to keep it warm and moist, allowing the bell pepper seeds to germinate and grow faster.
Afterwards, he went to other fields and planted bell peppers one by one, and asked the soldiers of the planting team to take good care of them.
Then he returned to the yard and opened the second jar.
This jar contains black pearl beans, about fifty or sixty of them. Each one is as big as a quail egg, round like a black pearl, and translucent black.
Beans are also one of the important food crops. Although they cannot be used as staple food, they can provide people with high-quality protein and are good for the body if eaten regularly.
The Teng tribe currently has no bean crops, so these black beans carry Jiang Xuan’s hopes.
He even thought that if black beans could be successfully grown, he would find a stone maker to make a stone mill so that he could grind soy milk to drink or even try making tofu.
When he thought of the fresh tofu and sweet soy milk, Jiang Xuan couldn't help licking his lips, recalling the delicious taste in his heart.
He walked to the vegetable garden in the yard and carefully planted half of the black beans, and planted the other half in the fertile crop field.
After planting the bell peppers and black beans, Jiang Xuan erected a tall fence to surround the vegetable garden to prevent Tangyuan from entering and causing damage.
After closing the fence door, Jiang Xuan nodded with satisfaction and said, "This is much safer."
"Eer..."
At this moment, Tangyuan, who had gone out to hunt, flew back and landed in the yard.
It actually had a huge python in its claws!
The python was as thick as a small bucket, seven or eight meters long, with complex patterns on its body, but its head had been pecked to pieces by the glutinous rice balls.
"You really have a soft spot for catching snakes."
Jiang Xuan looked at the giant python, feeling a little amused and helpless.
Tangyuan grew bigger and bigger. Its height was already much taller than Jiang Xuan, and its wingspan was eight meters. If the bamboo shed had not been built large enough, it would probably not have been able to accommodate it.
But its habit of catching and eating snakes has not changed at all.
"Eer..."
Tang Yuan picked up the python, placed it in front of Jiang Xuan, and pecked at the middle.
"Give me half?" Jiang Xuan asked.
Tangyuan nodded. This guy’s IQ is higher than expected and he can already understand a lot of what people say.
"Okay, thank you Tangyuan."
Jiang Xuan took out a sharp stone knife and peeled off the entire skin of the python.
Snake skin is a very good material for the tribesmen. It can be used to make real "snake skin bags" and also to make clothes.
Then he cleaned the python's internal organs, took out a stone axe, and chopped the python into two halves, giving one half to Tangyuan and the other half to himself.
As for the internal organs, Jiang Xuan buried them in the vegetable garden, where they could be used as fertilizer after rotting.
Tangyuan picked up half of the cleaned python meat, staggered into the bamboo shed, squatted in the nest and started pecking at the food.
Jiang Xuan cleaned half of the python meat, chopped a piece and threw it into a ceramic tripod, added some spices and salt and simmered it slowly, and hung the rest over the fire pit and roasted it slowly.
Stewing it and roasting it have two different flavors, and Jiang Xuan likes both.
After eating and drinking, Jiang Xuan found a few mushrooms growing on a piece of rotten wood in the corner of the yard.
Jiang Xuan said to himself, "It's mushroom season. There should be a lot of magical mushrooms growing in that mushroom forest, right?"
Jiang Xuan was thinking about going to the Mountain Turtle Tribe to make another trade in exchange for some magical mushrooms to enhance the strength of the tribal warriors.
Jiang Xuan immediately went to find Chishao and told him his idea.
Chishao said: "It's good to trade some mushrooms, but be careful. I don't know where the Crow Tribe has gone now. I'm worried that they will attack the Teng Tribe again."
Jiang Xuan said: "We won't go through the forest. I will take a few people with me and ask the old witch to borrow a giant eagle to fly over. There will be no danger."
Chishao nodded and said, "That's fine. The tribe is protected by the Vine God, so you can go without any worries."
"Okay, let's pack up and go there tomorrow."
Jiang Xuan was about to leave when Chishao suddenly called him.
"Xuan, wait."
"Anything else?"
Chishao hurried into the house, took out several small ceramic jars with wooden stoppers, and put them into Jiang Xuan's hands.
"This is the healing medicine I made from magical plants. Take it with you and be careful on the road."
Jiang Xuan looked at these small pottery bottles and felt Chishao's care. He was silently moved in his heart. This sister was so good to him.
"Okay, thank you sis. I'll be careful."
Jiang Xuan put the small pottery bottle into the animal skin bag he carried with him, and then left Chishao's yard.
After returning, Jiang Xuan notified others and began to prepare the items to be taken to the Mountain Turtle Tribe for trading.
The last time he went to the Mountain Turtle Tribe to trade, he used things like tusks, bones, and skins of wild animals.
This time, in addition to ordinary goods, he also planned to bring salt made by the Teng tribe.
Salt is of great value to most tribes.
Only a small amount of salt can be exchanged for a large amount of supplies.
Jiang Xuan didn't dare to bring them before because he was afraid of bringing disaster to the tribe. After the attack by the Crow Tribe, he realized that the Teng Tribe was not as weak as he imagined.
In this case, he can trade salt with other tribes with confidence.
Of course, he would not say that the salt was made by the Teng tribe themselves, as that would arouse envy.
Another commodity used for trade is pottery. Exquisite pottery is often very popular among the tribesmen.
Jiang Xuan prepared a bag of salt, a dozen pieces of pottery, and some animal bones and teeth, which were packed into several large animal hide bags.
The next day, Jiang Xuan took Uncaria and three warriors to the old witch to borrow the giant eagle.
"Go to the Mountain Turtle Tribe to trade?"
After hearing Jiang Xuan's words, the old witch immediately became interested.
"I'll go with you. I also want to see this mountain turtle tribe."
Now that the old witch has spoken, can Jiang Xuan still refuse?
So they took their goods, sat on the giant eagle's back with the old witch, and prepared to set off.
“Huff, huff, huff…”
The giant eagle flapped its huge wings and began to take off.
However, the giant eagle had just flown a short distance when Tangyuan caught up with it.
"Eeyore...Eeyore..."
Tangyuan flew behind the giant eagle and kept chirping.
Jiang Xuan turned around and shouted, "Tangyuan, go back quickly, we are going to a very far place."
However, Tangyuan did not go back and still insisted on following.
At this time, the old witch said: "If it wants to go, let it go. I will let the giant eagle fly slower, so as to train its long-distance flying ability."
Jiang Xuan thought about it and felt that it made sense, so he did not ask Tangyuan to go back, but asked it to follow closely.
Tangyuan was very happy. He spread his big purple wings and followed the giant eagle. When he was excited, he even tried to rush to the front.
Two birds of prey, one large and one small, flew across the sky toward the Mountain Turtle Tribe.
It would take two or three days to walk from the Vine Tribe to the Mountain Turtle Tribe, but riding a giant eagle would only take a day.
This was because Tangyuan was following the giant eagle, flying slower and taking three breaks in the middle.
When the giant eagle and Tangyuan landed on an open space not far from the Mountain Turtle Tribe, a large group of mountain turtles immediately gathered together as if they were facing a great enemy, staring at this side vigilantly.
The warriors of the Mountain Turtle Tribe each held their weapons and surrounded the two birds of prey from a distance.
Seeing this, Jiang Xuan immediately stood up and shouted, "I am the leader of the Teng tribe, Xuan, and I have done business with you before."
On the side of the Mountain Turtle Tribe, the leader Shanjia heard Jiang Xuan's call and found out that they were really from the Teng Tribe, so he immediately ordered those warriors to lay down their weapons.
"It turned out to be Chief Xuan. I thought those damn crows had returned again. It was a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding."
The pangolin walked ahead, but out of fear of the giant eagle, it did not get closer.
Jiang Xuan got off the giant eagle's back and asked, "Leader of the Mountain Armor, did the Crow Tribe attack you as well?"
Shanjia said bitterly: "That's right, fortunately our tribe is protected by the Turtle God, otherwise it would be dangerous... Wait, your Teng tribe was also attacked by those crows?"
Jiang Xuan nodded and said, "Yes, but he was forced back by our Vine God."
Shanjia was surprised. If this was true, the Teng tribe would be a powerful tribe.
Shanjia greeted enthusiastically: "Come on, Chief Xuan, we must be tired after running all the way here. Let's go inside the tribe and talk."
Jiang Xuan asked Gou Teng and others to unload the goods, and then walked towards the Mountain Turtle Tribe with Shanjia.
Along the way, Jiang Xuan indeed saw many traces of fighting, and many houses were under repair, obviously they had been severely damaged before.
(End of this chapter)
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