When King Liang heard that the Jiang family was coming to visit, he raised his eyebrows.
His wife had inquired about the couple from Jin Xiu in many ways. She heard that the Jiang family was "maverick" and the couple was very aloof and did not like to interact with too much people.
Once you come, you go. No more than once. I hate owing favors to others...
Indeed, the Jiang family readily accepted the support of the palace, but they also didn't try to curry favor. Knowing when to advance and when to retreat, they struck just the right balance, and Prince Liang was pleased with this.
It was unusual that the other party came to his house on their own initiative. King Liang was naturally curious about what was going on, so he asked the butler to take them to the study.
He had already received Li Zhi's report on what had happened at the Jiang family a while ago. He naturally reprimanded Li Zhi, which was a way to chill the other party's heart—but the premise was that the other party took him seriously. But obviously, he didn't.
However, after this incident, King Liang had a better idea of these two people.
He had his own standards and had never looked down upon these two people. They had revealed quite a few good things, and who knew how much more they still had hidden.
The last time he made a deal with the other party, he got indestructible cement.
The wide range of uses for this cement is truly astonishing. Not only did it provide shelter for the people and improve their living conditions, it also helped build strong city walls and protect his rear, which was a great help in his great achievements.
In this transaction, he took the bait before the Jiang family even put out the bait.
Sure enough, Madam Jiang did not disappoint him.
She brought with her high-quality seeds, grains, and vegetables, guaranteed to yield high yields. Furthermore, she also brought along improved agricultural tools, making them lightweight and powerful.
King Liang half-squinted his eyes as he read the light blueprints in his hand, a clear idea in his mind. There was a severe lack of animal power, and the tilled land was shallow, so the grain yield was only about two dan per mu.
If the people could have such light farm tools, they could get twice the result with half the effort and the harvest would definitely be good!
With good farm tools and good grain seeds, the people will surely be able to live a good life soon! King Liang was filled with excitement.
"You have built high walls, stored up abundant food, and slowly declared yourself king. The unification of the territories is sure to be just around the corner."
Everyone likes to hear good things. Jiang Yue just wanted to praise him more so that they can negotiate terms.
Unexpectedly, these words that came out of his mouth hit the mark exactly what King Liang was thinking.
"Build high walls, store up food, and declare yourself king slowly. Madam Jiang said it very well! Very well said!" King Liang stood up, clapped his hands in praise, and was obviously in a very happy mood.
It’s a pity that this is a young lady, otherwise he could really say “great minds think alike”!
He spoke again, "What do you want?"
"We want a farm, preferably with a hilltop."
This was their original wish, and wasn't it also what King Anliang wanted?
Jiang Yue knew that they had a lot of things in their hands, and King Liang was wary of them and would definitely not let them go easily.
When King Liang heard this, he was delighted. This was not a high request. Now that the entire Central Plains belonged to him, what was the difficulty in dividing some hilltops and fields?
With a wave of his hand, he gave her a farm fifty miles away from Yindu, which had mountains, water and five hundred acres of land.
The field was originally fertile land, but it had been left fallow for two years. The weeds were probably more than half a person's height, so it had to be reclaimed.
Jiang Yue is not afraid of wasteland. As long as there is food, there are many people willing to work.
Because there was still a month and a half before the farming season, after King Liang got Jiang Yue's drawings, he ordered the craftsmen to make hundreds of improved agricultural tools within three days, and at the same time hired a large number of people to open up wasteland and cultivate the land.
"What? This time, regardless of gender or age, from ten to sixty, everyone is welcome? Oh my god, how much land do they have to open up?"
"Well! Who cares how much land we open up? As long as the government pays us enough wages and food, we'll just work. I wish they would hire people to open up wasteland every day!"
"I thought so too. Perhaps it's because the wasteland is too difficult to open up, so they recruit so many people."
Although the land they were cultivating wasn't truly wasteland, deep plowing was still difficult. Last year, during the first year of reclamation, there weren't enough plows, so most of the fields were plowed up bit by bit with wood, which was very laborious.
But this year, the government not only made preparations and prepared a lot of agricultural tools in advance, but also distributed a lot of new agricultural tools.
Not only can experienced farmers tell at first sight that it is useful, even people who are not good at farming can feel its benefits as soon as they get started.
This new farm tool can plow deep and save labor, and it is easy to turn. You don’t need to lift it up, you can just turn it in the field and continue plowing.
In the past, one person held the plow from behind while another pulled it from the front. After turning over an acre of land, the person pulling the plow would have bloody marks on his shoulders from the hemp rope.
But now that I use this new farm tool, my shoulder doesn’t feel anything at all, but at least it doesn’t hurt anymore.
With the new agricultural tools, people's enthusiasm for farming has greatly increased.
Suddenly, it seemed as if I had returned to the busy spring plowing days of a few years ago, with fields being reclaimed and new crops being planted.
Sweet potatoes and potatoes were grown here for the first time. The villagers of the former Changle Village all became "masters", happily teaching others how to farm, feeling very proud and becoming the talk of the town.
Most people went to earn food for the government. The city was bustling with activity outside, but the city returned to its quiet days. Even the three-day performance was cancelled.
Jiang Yue simply closed the cloth shop, gave the three people a holiday, and asked them to come and help them look after the chickens and pigs at home.
As the weather warms up, the hens' enthusiasm for laying eggs has returned, and they lay twenty or thirty eggs every day.
At first, Jiang Nian searched every corner as if he was picking up gold, and picked up the eggs carefully one by one.
As time went by, he finally got what Jiang Yue wished for. He got tired of eating eggs and even lost interest in picking them up.
There are so many chickens, and they like to lay eggs in every corner of the yard and under the straw. If you don't pick them up within half a day, they may be crushed by the chickens.
The two pairs of breeding pigs were separated by Jiang Yue for breeding when they were eight months old.
The boar is very capable. Now that the spotted pig is pregnant, it cannot be left hungry.
"You are not allowed to go up to the second floor, and you are not allowed to scare our chickens and pigs to death. As for the eggs, you can eat them as you please."
Jiang Yue assigned tasks to the three people and asked Fan Mo to keep an eye on the other two to prevent them from breaking into the chicken coop and gnawing on the food when they were hungry in the middle of the night.
Then he left enough food for the three of them, as well as the chickens and pigs. As for the two of them, they got on a mule cart and headed for the newly acquired farm.
Xinzhuangzi is not far from Yindu Capital. If you drive fast, it will only take more than an hour even on the bumpy dirt road.
The fields outside are large, so naturally there are no walls. There are only stone tablets at intervals to mark the boundaries.
There was originally a courtyard on the farm for the owner and servants to live in. Jiang Yue looked at the tattered wooden door, the corners of her mouth twitched, and the rusty key in her hand was useless.
"Bang--"
Jiang Nian fell down with a light kick, and dust flew all over the sky.
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