mtl008 Chapter 669 Xingguo Rice Harvested
Chapter 669 Xingguo Rice Harvested
After several days of sailing, Chen Yu finally returned to the Jiangdong sea area with Zhang Xiu and set foot on the Jiangdong land.
But since he was now a dead man, he did not go to see Wang Fu and Pi Dan, who had been promoted and given important positions by Wang Fu. Instead, he took Zhang Xiu's letter of recommendation and went straight to Jiangling.
After several days of trekking, we finally arrived at Jiangling City. Upon entering the city, we were immediately shocked by the scene inside. The streets leading from the city gates were wide enough for four or five four-horse carriages to walk side by side. They were not only wide but also clean, and even the air felt fresh.
He entered from the east gate, right next to Jiangling's most bustling commercial district. Within his sight, carriages and horses passed by, and people were bustling about, giving him a sense of prosperity he had never seen before.
Chen Yu had no time to observe, but instead followed the guide Zhang Xiu had assigned him straight to the residence of Duke Mi Zhu of Yue. When they finally arrived, the gatekeeper told them that Mi Zhu had gone with Liu Bei to harvest rice outside the city and might not return until evening.
Chen Yu had no choice but to wait in the hall, while wondering what kind of rice Liu Bei needed to harvest personally.
What other kind of rice could it be? It must be the Xingguo rice that Liu Bei had been longing for.
After several months of growth, the Xingguo rice finally ripened, which greatly excited Liu Bei, who had been paying close attention to its growth. He immediately decided to personally harvest it with his court officials.
In the experimental field outside the city, Liu Bei, with his trousers rolled up and a sickle in hand, squatted down and cut down the Xingguo rice one by one, his movements as skilled as an old farmer who had been cultivating the land for many years. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei next to him were doing the same thing, working with great ease.
Both Liu Bei and Guan Yu came from humble backgrounds and worked in the fields from a young age. Their ancestral skills were not rusty. Although Zhang Fei had considerable wealth when he was young, he had not yet reached the point of being completely retired from production and could not work. Therefore, he was equally skilled in his work.
Although Zhuge Liang came from a noble family, he was equally skilled in farming in Nanyang for many years.
They have work experience, but don't forget that there are still many lazy people in the court who are used to being waited on hand and foot, such as Sun Quan and the Three Fools of the Han Dynasty.
Liu Shan also squatted on the ground to harvest, but when had His Highness the Crown Prince ever done such hard labor? He felt awkward no matter how he cut with the sickle, and after squatting for a short time, his legs felt sore and numb, and he felt uncomfortable all over.
Liu Shan grumbled, "Father, why didn't you just delegate this little thing to someone else? Why did you have to do it yourself? It's exhausting! How do you two feel about securing the country and bringing prosperity to the nation?"
Guan Xing had never done this kind of work before either. He tried to fish in troubled waters with his hoe, but after half an hour he was still standing in the same spot. Hearing this, he sighed and said, "Alas, who knows the hardship behind every grain of rice on the plate? Farm work is really not easy."
Zhang Bao was working with great enthusiasm and had already cut several meters away. Hearing this, he turned around and said, "Hurry up! Those three old men have already cut over a hundred meters away while we're still going around in circles. Be careful we don't get scolded later. And Your Highness, you should lose some weight."
Of the three, Liu Shan was the fattest. Although he wasn't so fat that he couldn't walk, it was indeed inconvenient for him to move forward while squatting. Hearing this, he said, "Slow down. The three of us are a team. Don't be a loner."
Zhang Bao rolled his eyes at him. He was speechless at his lazy brother-in-law. In the end, he had no choice but to come back and cut off Liu Shan's share as well.
Guan Xing took the opportunity to give him his share as well, got up, rubbed his sore back, and looked around. Looking up, he saw that the vast field was full of tempting rice and busy figures harvesting rice.
The productivity of the Han Dynasty was far inferior to that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The scholar-officials would occasionally work in the fields and did not completely renounce their jobs because of their noble status. Therefore, they were quite skilled at their work. Even Shi Xie, who was over eighty years old, enjoyed it, let alone others.
Looking across the entire field, the three of them were the last ones to fall behind, but it didn't matter. Liu Bei was in a good mood today and would definitely not be willing to scold or beat them.
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang quickly finished cutting the crop before getting up to rub their backs. Then they saw the three idiots still dawdling at the starting point and said speechlessly, "These three brats are getting more and more outrageous. Leave this crop for them and don't let anyone help. If they can't finish during the day, let them continue at night. Especially A Dou, how can the crown prince not know about farming?"
The order quickly reached the ears of the three fools, and Liu Shan immediately cried out in agony, "Your Majesty, why are you also playing the contract system? Who did you learn this from?"
Guan Xing said with a wry smile, "Let's hurry up and get to work. Otherwise, everyone else will have finished and we'll be the only three left. I don't want to be surrounded by the entire court while doing such a small amount of work."
The thought of everyone finishing their work and then watching the three of them work made Liu Chan shudder. He quickly picked up his sickle and hurriedly caught up with the work.
It turns out that the three idiots were just lazy, not stupid. If they could overcome their laziness and work hard, they would be very efficient. It didn't take long for them to catch up with the people in front of them and continue to move forward. Soon they rushed to the middle of the group, turning themselves from the last one at the back into the middle group stuck between the start and the end.
When Liu Shan arrived at this point, he wanted to slack off again, but Guan Xing encouraged him, saying, "Go all out! A second attempt will be less effective, and a third will be exhausting. Keep working hard and finish cutting before you rest."
Since the work will be mine sooner or later, there's really no need to dawdle. Finishing it early and going to bed early is the best policy.
With plenty of hands and resources, there's no shortage of work to do!
With the combined efforts of hundreds of civil and military officials, the rice in the fields was quickly harvested. However, Liu Bei did not leave. Instead, he led everyone to continue picking up the fallen rice ears during the harvest, striving not to waste a single grain of rice. He truly embodied the stingy old farmer to the fullest extent.
Liu Bei picked through the rice ears three times to make sure there were none left in the field before he got up and waved his hand, ordering the army to take all the harvested rice back to the palace for processing.
Rice cannot be harvested and then the work is done. It must be threshed and dried thoroughly to ensure it will not mold before it can be eaten or stored in a warehouse.
Moreover, this rice paddy has another important task: to dry it, weigh it, determine the yield per acre, compare it with the yield of traditional rice, and then decide whether to promote it based on the comparison results. So there's still a lot to do.
Liu Bei spread the rice he had brought back directly on the open ground in front of the palace, intending to thresh it again after it had dried completely.
Looking at the rice paddies spread out as smoothly as a carpet, and then at the magnificent palace walls around him, Liu Shan smacked his lips and said, "Drying rice in the palace is just too incongruous."
Indeed, the stark contrast between the splendor of the palace and the ordinariness of the rice was like a burly man picking his toes suddenly appearing at a banquet of well-dressed scholars—it just felt awkward no matter how you looked at it.
Guan Xing quickly reminded him, "Keep your voice down, or you'll get a beating if His Majesty hears you."
Liu Bei came from humble beginnings and had experienced hunger in his youth. He had the same obsession with food as people in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, who hoarded food and licked their bowls clean after eating. In his eyes, food was more valuable than gold.
Liu Shan, however, had never suffered such hardship and could not understand the starving ghosts' obsession with food; the father and son were completely unable to empathize with each other on this matter.
While Liu Shan was complaining about Liu Bei's recklessness, Liu Bei looked at the rice with a satisfied expression. After a long while, he said, "My dear ministers, you may all go back. I will take A Dou, An Guo, Xing Guo, and the other two to do the rest."
Three Idiots: "..."
Why us?
The civil and military officials bowed and took their leave. Liu Bei then called the three fools to his side and said with a smile, "Come here, I will teach you how to handle the aftermath. From now on, you don't have to work, but you can't be ignorant of agriculture. If you don't know, you will be easily fooled."
Liu Bei's idea was simple: you don't have to be an expert in everything, but you must understand it. If you understand it, your subordinates won't be able to fool you.
With the intention of educating future generations, Liu Bei patiently explained the rice, but the three fools listened absentmindedly, and it was unknown how much they could remember.
Meanwhile, after leaving the palace, Mi Zhu went straight home by carriage. As soon as he arrived at his residence, the gatekeeper rushed over and bowed, saying, "My lord, a young master named Lin Yu is requesting an audience. He has been waiting for you all day."