Chapter 200: Inquiry
Editor: Atlas Studios
Other than Mu Yangling, this was everyone’s first time eating corn. Qi Haoran said pertinently, “It’s quite delicious and doesn’t hurt my throat.”
Fan Zijin asked, “Isn’t that because it’s still tender?”
Mu Yangling nodded. “We can only eat it like this for about ten more days. The corn grows old very quickly. When the time comes, we can only harvest it, dry it, peel off the corn kernels, crush it, and cook corn porridge with it.” Mu Yangling thought for a moment and said, “But I think this is more fit for pigs.”
Great-aunt widened her eyes and said, “Whose pig is so blessed to be able to eat corn? No matter how bad corn tastes, it can’t be worse than chaff, right? Every year, when there’s a shortage of crops, it’s not uncommon to eat chaff for a month.”
Shu Wanniang also nodded. “If this thing can be used as grains to fill one’s stomach, it can indeed save many people. Ah Ling, don’t say anything about feeding this to the pigs lest it causes a misunderstanding should outsiders hear it.”
In the end, Qi Haoran took a basket of corn from Mu Yangling and asked someone to send it to Qi Xiuyuan.
Qi Haoran originally wanted Big Brother to try it too, but Qi Xiuyuan called him back overnight and even specially asked the messenger to bring Fan Zijin and Mu Yangling along.
Mu Yangling had just finished watering the wheat and rice fields and was about to sleep, but as soon as she lay down, she was pulled up. When she heard that she had to go to the prefectural capital, Mu Yangling immediately rejected that person. “I have to be at home in the middle of the night. If my house is robbed, I have to be at home to protect the old, weak and young at home.”
Qi Haoran glared at her and said, “I’ll get someone to stand guard at the door. Nobody will dare to barge in. Hurry up and get up. Big Brother is waiting in the prefecture capital.”
Mu Yangling could only get up, put on a shirt, and climb onto the horse in a daze.
Qi Haoran saw that although Mu Yangling’s eyes were half-closed, she didn’t even sway when she walked. Looking at her in a different light, he jumped onto the horse and started galloping away.
Fan Zijin followed behind him.
As soon as the horse started running, Mu Yangling woke up. The three of them headed towards the prefectural capital under the protection of a team of guards.
It only took an hour to ride a horse from Mingshui County to the prefectural capital. Along the way, they used the token Qi Xiuyuan gave Qi Haoran to get the guards to open the city gate.
Qi Xiuyuan was sitting in the study waiting for them. There were even dishes on the table.
After riding for an hour, the three of them were no longer sleepy and now stood in front of Qi Xiuyuan.
Qi Xiuyuan was chewing on a corn cob in his hand. When he saw them enter, he put down the corn cob in his hand and sized them up carefully. Mu Yangling was only ten years old, and Fan Zijin and Qi Haoran were only 13 years old. Thinking of what these three children had done, Qi Xiuyuan couldn’t help but laugh happily. He clapped his hands and said, “Not bad, not bad! I underestimated you previously.”
The three children became a little nervous. They stole glances at Qi Xiuyuan shakily and winked at each other from time to time, as if to ask, “Have you done anything bad recently?”
Qi Xiuyuan turned around and took out a raw corn from the basket on the table. Then, he turned around and asked them, “Did you make this?”
The three of them looked at each other. In the end, Qi Haoran was the first to nod and acknowledge it. Seeing the smile on Qi Xiuyuan’s face, Qi Haoran felt that it was not a bad thing, so he bragged. “Big Brother, Zhuang Dawei brought these seeds over back then. Mu Yangling then planted those seeds. I picked these corn out and got someone to send them over for you to try.”
“I know. I’ve asked Fei Bai. I heard from him that A Ling’s corn can grow two cobs per stalk. Are all the cobs this big?”
“It’s definitely impossible for all of them to be this big, but more or less, I guess.” Mu Yangling looked at Qi Xiuyuan’s expression as she said, “Because the corn’s seedling emergence rate is a little low this year, it’s a little sparse. It’s only because the fertilization was done well that the corncobs could be so big.”
“Then will you be able to grow such good corn next year, too?”
“Now that I have experience and time to prepare base fertilizer next year, it should be better than this year’s.”
The corners of Qi Xiuyuan’s lips curled up as he asked, “Then estimate how much your cornfield can produce per acre?”
Mu Yangling’s eyes were filled with confusion. How could she come up with an estimation when this was her first time farming? She probably only knew how to estimate how big a piece of land was.
On the other hand, Fan Zijin pondered for a moment and said, “Eldest Cousin, I’ve taken a closer look. If nothing unexpected happens, the production per acre should be between 500 to 600 catties.”
Qi Xiuyuan instantly clenched the corn in his hand and asked, “What if we plant them on high-grade land?”
Fan Zijin calculated in his heart and said, “That should be about 700 to 800 catties.”
“How many times have you watered the corn during the drought this year?” Qi Xiuyuan asked Mu Yangling.
“Once.” Mu Yangling said, “As corn is a drought-resistant crop, there’s no need to specially water it.”
Qi Xiuyuan’s eyes lit up. “Who knows about your corn farming? Has news of the high yield of corn spread?”
Fan Zijin already had a vague guess in his heart. Only Qi Haoran and Mu Yangling were still confused.
Shaking her head, Mu Yangling said, “Other than our village and the Liu family of West Village, no one knows that my land is planted with corn because my great-aunt doesn’t have much confidence in that. No one knows that corn will produce high yields. Furthermore, that land is in the middle of my family’s fields, near the mountain. Since there’s only my family’s land there, no one else passes by it.”
In ancient times, the population density was sparse and information didn’t spread easily. Therefore, other than people in her village and her uncles, no one was aware that she planted corn. Even for Madam Liu’s family, only Liu Daqian and Liu Erqian’s families knew.
Completely relieved, Qi Xiuyuan said to Mu Yangling, “I want you to keep all the corn harvested this time as seeds. Next year, 50% of all the military fields must be planted with corn, and 40% of the freehold fields must be planted with it.”
Fan Zijin’s expression changed slightly as he asked, “Eldest Cousin, is there a natural disaster?”
Qi Haoran also reacted. “Or is there going to be a war?”
Qi Xiuyuan looked outside. After confirming that the guards were guarding outside the study and no one could hear their conversation, he said with a sigh, “The natural disaster has already begun, and the war has also begun. This year, other than the drought in Xingzhou Prefecture, it hasn’t rained in Hong Prefecture for two months. On the other hand, it has been raining intermittently in Jinghu from April until now. It hasn’t been sunny for seven consecutive days. Hong Prefecture and Jinghu are both major grain-producing prefectures. In the past, 40% of the grain shipped to the north came from these two places.”
The three of them widened their eyes. They only knew that things were hard in Xingzhou Prefecture, but they didn’t expect it to be the same elsewhere.
Qi Xiuyuan continued, “This year, the Jin Kingdom is worse off than us. After the Jin soldiers occupied the Jingzhao Prefecture, they forced the commoners to graze cattle in the Hanzhong Prefecture, ruining many fertile fields. The grains they harvested over there was less than 30% of what they harvested in the past. This year, the overpopulation of rabbits at the start of spring also ruined more than half of their pasture. I heard that a lot of cows and sheep have starved to death. Refugees have been appearing since April. The Jin soldiers are fighting with the West Xia now, but if this situation worsens, in order to obtain more food and resources, they might drag the Great Zhou into it.”
