Chapter 445: Cause Trouble
Editor: Atlas Studios
When it was time for the spring sowing, Mu Yangling directly moved to the farmstead. Li Jinghua couldn’t understand. “Can’t you just let the servants do it?”
Mu Yangling shook her head and said, “The other matters are fine, but I have to plant the experimental fields myself. Since I didn’t bring many seeds here, I can’t let anyone waste them.”
The more people there were, the faster things would be done. At this moment, the farmstead had already been built. Everyone began to weed and plant the arable land.
Mu Yangling carved out eight acres of land for conducting experiments and planted wheat and rice separately. When the people in the farmstead saw that the owner even personally went to the fields, their mouths were agape. However, Zhu Liang was used to it.
Fourth Madam had dozens of hectares of land in Hanzhong Prefecture. He also knew that she would work in the fields with everyone during every spring sowing and autumn harvest.
Moreover, because his father was the chief steward, he also knew that the West Camp had always been self-sufficient in terms of rations and even had some leftovers. That was all thanks to Mu Yangling’s improved seeds. If she could cultivate even higher-yielding grain seeds, it would not be a problem for the General to recruit more troops.
Mu Yangling brought her men to plant the eight acres of land before bringing them to inspect the depressions by the river.
This depression was wide and long, and the aquatic weed was very abundant. The closer it was to Clear River, the longer the weeds grew. On the other hand, near the land, there was a wet meadow, and the water only reached the instep.
Not to mention its length, just the width of the depression was about 200 meters. The more Mu Yangling looked at it, the more satisfied she was. She turned her head and asked, “How was such land sold back then?”
Zhu Liang thought that she despised it, so he said, “I’ve asked around. This fertile land of more than 1,000 acres was originally owned by an official. When this land was sold back then, the government office gave these low-lying lands away as a complement. Later on, the official’s assets were confiscated, so this land was taken back and sold again. I don’t know how this most inferior 500 acres of land ended up in the hands of Minister Qin’s Steward Liu.”
Zhu Liang paused for a moment before continuing, “Though it’s said to be 500 acres, the effective area is, in fact, only 180 acres. The hills and riverside depressions were just complements.” Therefore, when that guy bought it back then, he did not have to pay for the hills and riverside depressions. It meant that Fourth Madam had been cheated.
Now that she knew the reason, Mu Yangling was satisfied. “Then we have to keep this land deed well.”
Zhu Liang was speechless. ‘Do you think that this land is so precious that someone will come and snatch it away?’
“Has the fishing net I asked you to order arrived?” Mu Yangling turned her head and asked.
“Yes. It’s all piled up on the farmstead.”
Mu Yangling nodded. “Find ten young men who know how to swim and surround this depression with fishing nets. I originally wanted to use the river to raise fish, but from the looks of it, the depression is enough. Start buying fish eggs and rear them in batches. After monitoring the situation, we’ll decide when to rear the second batch.”
Zhu Liang agreed. “What about duck eggs?”
“There’s no hurry for duck eggs. We’ll buy the duck eggs after we plant the fields.” The corners of Mu Yangling’s mouth curled up slightly. “When the time comes, the rice should be stable. We can then chase the ducks into the fields to eat grass and insects. Let’s see if we can increase the harvest that way.”
Zhu Liang stuttered, “Won’t this crush the seedlings?”
“Just control the number of ducks. Since our field is so big, how can that happen when we chase just hundreds of ducks into the fields every time?” Mu Yangling said confidently, “Don’t worry, duck feces can even be used as fertilizer in the field.”
Zhu Liang said helplessly, “Then should we ask the servants to sweep the duck feces out of the depression and put them in the field?”
“That’s for the fish. Why should we bother to sweep it?”
Zhu Liang decided that he would definitely not eat fish for the next six months. Even if he did, he would not eat the fish produced in the farmstead.
After making the arrangements, Mu Yangling got someone to look after the experimental fields before returning to the Qi Residence. After listening to the report, the Emperor was silent for a long time before asking, “Could that piece of land really be a treasure land? Madam Mu actually personally farmed it.”
After a moment of silence, the secret guard said, “Your Majesty, I heard that the people in the farmstead refer to the farmland planted by Madam Mu as the experimental fields. Moreover, according to the news from the north, she seems to also have a plot of land in Xingzhou Prefecture for experiments.”
“What experiment?” The Emperor couldn’t help but sit up straight and ask.
The secret guard shook his head. “The villagers in Chenggu Garrison don’t know much either. The land there is too vast. If they deliberately hide it, it will be very difficult to find out. However, their experimental plot should still be underway. Your Majesty, give me some more time and they should be able to find out more details.”
The Emperor frowned, a little dissatisfied with this answer. He decided to wait and see. If it was really as Qi Haoran said, that they were indeed interested in the land itself, perhaps he could use him.
Although the rebellion had slowed down because of the showing of mercy, because the Ministry of Revenue could not fork out the money for disaster relief, chaos continued everywhere. Now, there were plenty of civil servants but generals were difficult to find. Didn’t they say that Qi Haoran’s martial arts skills were not bad?
Since the Emperor was worried about him going north, he might be able to transfer him to the southwest and arrange for him to supervise the army there. As long as he suppressed Qi Haoran and did not let him stand out, he would not be able to cause any trouble.
Just as the Emperor was thinking of inspecting Qi Haoran, at this moment, Qi Haoran was fighting with someone in a teahouse. He arrogantly beat up a few young masters so badly that they had to be sent to the medicine hall.
Chen Qian pushed away the servant in front of him, jumped onto the table, and shouted, “If you have the ability, smash it. Let’s see who dares to attack again!”
Standing in front of the table with a dark expression, Qi Haoran raised his fist and glared at them.
Min Zhou covered his face and shouted, “Chen Qian, you’re shameless. Why are you involving Qi Haoran? If you have the ability, fight us one-on-one.”
Chen Qian rolled his eyes and said, “Do you think I’m a fool? There are only three of us and a large group of you. Even if it’s a one-on-one battle, you can take turns to take us on. Now, it’s one of us against eight of you. Just bring it on. We’ll only send Qi Haoran.”
“Shameless! Chen Qian, you’re too shameless.” Min Zhou and his gang started shouting. Qi Haoran was already invincible in the capital at the age of 12. Among those of the same age, even Yuan Wulang couldn’t defeat him, let alone feeble scholars like them who didn’t have the strength to fight.
They could only target Qi Haoran. “Qi Haoran, are you really going to interfere in our matters? Don’t forget that you’re already an official of the Imperial Court.”
Upon hearing Min Zhou’s words, everyone finally reacted. That’s right, Qi Haoran was no longer a profligate son like them. He was already working in the Imperial Court. Everyone perked up. Not only was this against the rules, but it was also against the law. Hence, everyone started harping on this. “Qi Haoran, we’re going to lodge a complaint against you. Just wait to be impeached by the imperial censor.”
“His father is from the imperial censor’s office…”
“I’m not afraid. His father doesn’t dote on him…”
Everyone was eager to give Qi Haoran an unforgettable pain. Dumbfounded, Chen Qian and his companions looked at Qi Haoran apologetically and sadly. Could it be that they couldn’t escape the fate of being beaten up today?
However, Qi Haoran raised his fist arrogantly and said, “If you dare to tell the imperial censor, I’ll beat you up every day. I’ll beat you up every time once for every complaint you file against me.”
He was way too arrogant!
Min Zhou jumped up and was about to argue when he was held back by the person beside him. Everyone turned around and saw the chief imperial censor with his two subordinates glaring at them with a green face.
Everyone shrunk their necks and stood at the side. The imperial censor looked at Qi Haoran and snorted. “Assistant Commander Qi, shouldn’t you be at work right now? What are you doing here?”
Qi Haoran widened his eyes and replied, “My purpose for returning to the capital is to debrief. Since His Majesty hasn’t arranged any errands for me yet, I don’t have any office hours to observe at the moment.”