Chapter 205: Gains
Editor: Atlas Studios
On the day of the corn harvest, not only did Qi Haoran bring a group of soldiers, but Qi Xiuyuan and Rong Ze also came personally.
Fan Zijin was lucky enough to come over to watch the fun.
Qi Xiuyuan personally broke off a corn cob and weighed it in his palm. With a smile, he said, “It’s quite heavy. After breaking off these corn, send them all to the 5th Division. Zijin, don’t you have a workshop there? Just dry them there. Haoran, make sure the doors stay shut during this period of time so that the news doesn’t leak.”
Agreeing, Qi Haoran kicked the straw under his feet. “Is this thing still useful?”
“It can be used to feed the cows. I wonder if the horses will eat it. If not, it can still be used to start a fire.” Mu Yangling said, “But starting a fire doesn’t require so much. If you don’t want it, I’ll use it to nourish the land.”
Qi Haoran asked with interest, “How?”
“After cutting it, we’ll leave it in the ground. When it snows heavily in winter, it’ll rot by quite a bit in the ground after an entire winter. When spring comes, we’ll cover it up with soil. By the time we’re ready to plant the corn, it’ll be about time.”
Qi Xiuyuan smiled and said, “You can make the decision on your own. But didn’t you say that corn can be planted for a second season? I’ve asked the villagers of Four Tray Village. They also said that as long as we seize the time, we should be able to harvest another season before the cold wave. Is your straw still useful?”
“General, this is low-grade land and isn’t fertile enough. After planting for half a year, we have to let it rest for half a year. The second season I’m talking about refers to planting on high-grade land. You have to know that corn seeds are precious now and can’t be wasted. Not counting the other camps, just the high-grade land of our 5th Division alone spans 500 to 600 acres. We merely have enough corn seeds to plant on the high-grade land.”
Qi Xiuyuan hadn’t considered this problem. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I don’t know much about this matter, so I still have to leave it to you.” Qi Xiuyuan turned to Qi Haoran and said, “Haoran, discuss this with Ah Ling. Since there aren’t enough seeds, plant them in your 5th Division first. Tell the military households that this corn is planted for the military camp. Later, I’ll get your Brother Rong Ze to see how much of next year’s military rations required can be reduced after accounting for the amount of corn handed over.”
Surprised that Qi Xiuyuan would think of such an incentive policy, Mu Yangling couldn’t help but smile.
This way, Qi Xiuyuan would not be at a disadvantage. The commoners did not know how to prepare corn, so they might not be able to accept such crops for the time being. However, if by planting corn they could reduce the military rations that they needed to hand over, they would definitely plant them well.
Meanwhile, the Imperial Astronomer had already predicted that the drought situation in Xingzhou Prefecture would intensify next year and the production of grains would continue to decrease. Under such circumstances, it was still uncertain if they could successfully collect military grains. Now that they were given such an incentive, it would indeed make everyone pay more attention.
Qi Haoran quickly understood the crux of the matter and agreed. Turning around, he pulled Mu Yangling back. “Get someone to leave some straws for me. I want some dry and green straws.”
“What do you need it for?” Mu Yangling asked curiously.
“I’ll see if I can feed the horses with it.”
Mu Yangling said in a lowered voice, “Are you willing to let your precious horses eat these things?”
Qi Haoran glanced at her and said, “Who said that this is for my horse? Can’t I give it to someone else?”
Those who could afford to raise horses could not afford to feed them?
However, Qi Haoran had no intention of explaining further. He quickened his pace and caught up with Big Brother.
Qi Xiuyuan asked, “Can you finish peeling them today?”
“It shouldn’t be a problem.” Qi Haoran said confidently, “They’re all proficient now and we have more than enough manpower. They should be able to settle it in a day.”
Qi Xiuyuan nodded. “First weigh them raw. Then weigh them again after they’re dried. Get the data as soon as possible. They should’ve more or less finished harvesting the wheat and rice in Jiangnan and by the two lakes by now. I hope this set of data can reach the Imperial Court at the same time as their data.”
Fan Zijin lowered his head and calculated. He figured that Butler Chen should be back soon, right?
Qi Haoran was the one who helped settle down the villagers in Four Tray Village, so he also understood the corn situation partially. He said, “If it doesn’t rain and the sky is as clear as today, we should be able to obtain all the data in about seven days.”
This was the advantage of having more people. Qi Haoran could settle the matter with just a few dozen people, while Mu Yangling and the others might have to spend half a month or even longer to harvest the corn and dry it, not to mention peeling corn kernels.
The soldiers threw the corn on the ox cart and pulled it back to the 5th Division to dry it on the field in front of the workshop. This place was originally used to dry the rabbit skin, but because the workshop had stopped operating for a period of time, the fishy smell had dissipated.
When the soldiers transported all 36 carts of the corn back, the citizens of Chenggu Garrison stood in front of their houses to watch the commotion. When they saw that the corn was transported to the camp, they muttered in surprise, “Isn’t this from the Mu family? Why are they mobilizing the army?”
“We all belong to the army. Whatever the army wants, they can simply take it.”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was worried about this year’s military rations. This year’s harvest was poor to begin with. Fortunately, there was a lot of land, so even after handing over the military rations, they would be able to live a good life. At least, it would be a little better than before. However, if the army insisted on collecting rations, as someone mentioned earlier, how could they not hand over the rations when everyone was considered to belong to the army?
Qi Xiuyuan and the others didn’t know what the military households were worried about. They just went to the ground to look at the corncobs scattered all over the field. Looking at the golden corn, Qi Xiuyuan was in a splendid mood. He asked Mu Yangling, “How long will it take to thresh?”
Mu Yangling scratched her head and said, “We should be able to start threshing after the corn dries a little more.”
Rong Ze said, “You have to be careful. If you damage the corn kernels, it will directly affect the planting of the next season. I think it’s better to invite the people from Four Tray Village over and let them help dry and thresh. When the time comes, Haoran will order 20 to 30 of his men to help out. Considering there are 100 people or so, they should be able to finish the work very quickly.”
Nodding, Qi Xiuyuan said to Haoran, “Didn’t you make the arrangements for the people from Four Tray Village? Later, invite them over. Then, invite the reputable elders from the various sections and those who are better at farming. Let them work with the people from Four Tray Village, regardless of gender, lest they have to be taught again when they start planting.”
“Don’t worry, Big Brother. I’ve already arranged everything. Now that the people of Four Tray Village have also received some land and are enlisted into the army over here, there’s no need to worry about confidentiality and safety.”
Qi Xiuyuan nodded to himself. Seeing that it was getting late, he said to Mu Yangling before he left, “When the data is out, we’ll buy it from you for 20 copper coins a catty. I’ll get someone to send you money later.”
“But General, how can corn be sold at such a high price when the millet only costs 18 copper coins a catty?”
Smiling, Qi Xiuyuan said, “The corn harvested now will be used as seeds. Of course, it’s worth this price. Just accept it. After this year, the price of grains will grow crazily.”
No matter how crazy it grew, it was difficult for the price of corn to reach 20 copper coins per catty. Mu Yangling could only swallow the words that were about to come out of her mouth when she saw Qi Xiuyuan’s determined expression. She vaguely understood that he was apologizing for what Fan Zijin had done previously.
“Alright, thank you, General.”
Seeing that she had accepted it, Qi Xiuyuan smiled happily.