Chapter 318: Guidance
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling’s recruitment notice did not even cause any ripples when it was posted. This was because in this era, there were too few people who knew how to farm and read.
She had no choice but to invite two people to stand by the side and read it out loud to explain to everyone.
However, everyone did not believe her recruitment notice and felt that she was kidding. What a joke. Was it even necessary to study farming? Couldn’t she just hire a random someone to work in the fields?
Therefore, although there were many onlookers, no one went forward to register. This matter became a joke that spread throughout the surrounding villages.
Mu Yangling took the time to send Bowen and Xiuhong to Hanzhong Prefecture. She got the two of them to work with Xiuhong on the children’s winter clothes. Even when they returned, no one had registered.
Just as Mu Yangling was wondering if she should try Xingzhou Prefecture, Liu Ting came looking for her.
Liu Ting did not enter the city often, so he only found out about Ah Ling’s recruitment after hearing the discussions in the village last night. The elders in the family felt that Ah Ling was fooling around, but Liu Ting was tempted.
In the past two years, Ah Ling had always used a few acres of her land to do experiments. He knew that because he would come over to help each time. He had also personally helped tidy up those experimental fields. Sometimes, he could not help but think that Ah Ling might be right. Didn’t people not know how to plant in the past?
They had all figured it out step by step. During Emperor Gaozong’s time, although everyone had corn seeds, they had been ignored for nearly a hundred years because they didn’t know how to plant them. If they could experiment all kinds of methods to plant them like Ah Ling and think about the reasons for the varying results, wouldn’t they have long succeeded in planting corn? If they had done that a long time ago, everyone wouldn’t starve every time they encountered a natural disaster by now. Even the worst case scenario would be much better than now, right?
Hence, Liu Ting informed his cousin, Liu Yuan,before coming to look for her.
Liu Yuan also wanted to come, but he was tied down by something, so he could only let his cousin ask first.
Shu Wanniang was very respectful to Liu Ting. After pouring him a cup of tea, she went to the kitchen to cook for him and let the two of them talk.
Liu Ting looked around and asked, “Where’s your great-aunt?”
“Great-aunt couldn’t stay idle and went to the backyard to take care of the vegetable field.”
Liu Ting nodded. “Do you have enough vegetables at home? If there’s not enough, I’ll get your aunt to carry a load over for you.”
Smiling, Mu Yangling said, “Not only did Great-aunt plant vegetables in the backyard, but she’s also tending to the vegetable fields at the back of the old house, so we certainly don’t lack vegetables. It’s just that there are fewer varieties after winter. In a few days, we can only eat cabbage every day.”
“If you don’t eat cabbage in winter, what else can you eat?” Liu Ting said nonchalantly, “I’ll help you repair the cellar later. Change the water diligently so that the cabbage will dry up slower.”
Mu Yangling nodded. Seeing that Liu Ting was beating around the bush, she asked, “Uncle, why are you looking for me?”
Liu Ting felt uneasy for a moment before asking, “I heard that you posted a recruitment notice in the county to recruit people who know how to farm?”
Mu Yangling nodded.
Liu Ting was silent for a moment before asking, “What is considered a person who knows how to farm?”
“Uncle, you’re someone who knows how to farm.” Mu Yangling knew that many people disagreed with her point of view, so she explained, “But I think there’s a technique to planting. From leveling the land to planting, then fertilizing, watering, and harvesting, different methods yield different harvests. I want to find a better method for each specific crop by improving the planting techniques. Also, I think seeds can be cultivated.” Seeing that Liu Ting was listening attentively, Mu Yangling slowed down and said, “Now, the seeds of rice are not drought-resistant and are not high-yielding. The ears are not long and the stalks are not tall. I want to cultivate rice that is drought-resistant, high-yielding, and tall.”
Liu Ting frowned as confusion flashed in his eyes. “But the seeds are all left behind from the previous generation. How… how do we cultivate them? It’s not as if we can inject immortal spells into the seeds. If we wish to cultivate high yield seeds, we can only try to farm as meticulously as possible. When fertilizing the ground, we have to be more careful to ensure moisture levels…”
The more Liu Ting spoke, the more discouraged he became. “It’s not like we can graft1 them like fruit trees?”
Mu Yangling’s eyes lit up. She couldn’t explain the concept of genetics and hybridization to him, but survival of the fittest could also be an explanation.
Mu Yangling entered the house and placed a handful of rice seeds on the table. “Uncle, look. My family harvested these this year.”
Liu Ting peeled a grain and put it in his mouth to chew. He nodded and said, “It’s quite delicious. It’s full and fragrant. To be able to harvest such good grains in such dry weather, it looks like you’ve done your best. However, I remember that most of the rice in your field didn’t have any ears?”
Puzzlement flashed across Liu Ting’s eyes. Could he have remembered wrongly?
With a smile, Mu Yangling said, “I harvested a total of 108 catties of rice on ten acres.”
Liu Ting’s face darkened. This yield…
“These grains grew in a dry field, while the nearby rice didn’t even produce heads. But these grains were able to withstand the drought. Uncle, do you think their descendants will be able to do the same?”
Liu Ting was taken aback as he pondered seriously.
“I think these seeds are the same as humans. Not only is it survival of the fittest, but it can also pass on the genes of those which are superior. Therefore, I plan to use these seeds for experiments next spring.”
“What if these seeds are not resistant to drought?”
“There must be some rice that produced heads, right? When the time comes, we’ll choose the winners. However, this only takes care of the drought aspect. We also have to ensure high yield. Therefore, Uncle, I plan to enter the field next year to take a closer look and observe if there are any rice with especially long ear nodes and that produces especially many grains. We’ll keep those as seeds.”
“But how did you turn two seeds into one?” Liu Ting widened his eyes and said, “They can’t mate…”
Mu Yangling immediately smiled brightly. Liu Ting was dumbfounded. “W—what’s going on in your head? Rice can mate too?” As he said that, he muttered to himself, “That’s right. That ear1 is the flower. You have to sow it before grain filling can take place. But how do you make them mate?”
When Liu Ting saw Ah Ling looking at him with bright eyes, he reached out and slapped himself. Look at what he was saying in front of the child. It was simply too embarrassing!
Mu Yangling did not expect Liu Ting to think of this. She said happily, “Uncle, come and help me. You don’t have to worry about the fields. When the time comes, I’ll hire people to work in the fields. The few of us will just focus on those few acres of experimental fields.”
Liu Ting shook his head. “It won’t take long even if you walk one round around the fields every day. Ah Ling, your Uncle Yuan has more ideas than me. He and I can help you. I think you should remove the recruitment notice and not waste the money.”
“No, it’s not enough to rely on you guys alone. It’s better to recruit a few more people and brainstorm. They might be able to come up with more ideas.”
The main reason was that she didn’t know much about some things. Although she had read two farming books in the past year, there were still many things she hadn’t mastered. Therefore, she had to learn step by step and figure it out from the beginning.
“But if those workers aren’t from here, it’s not convenient for them to come to your place to work.”
“There will be a way. Since the old house next door is still empty, at most, I’ll let them live there.”
“Don’t Zhang Wu and Zhang Liu live there?”
“They moved to Hanzhong Prefecture. I asked them to keep an eye on the cattle farm. Even if they come back, they can also live there, considering the old house isn’t small. Our entire family used to live there, too.”
Just as Liu Ting was about to object, there was a knock on the door and someone shouted, “Is anyone home?”
Liu Ting could only stop and wait for Mu Yangling to open the door.