Chapter 65: The Chen Clan’s Secret Farm
Translator: 549690339
“If it can really grow, then this famine is nothing to Chen Cheng.”Chen Xuan said with a smile.
“Not only that.” Yang Chen continued,” When the time comes, our Chen family has so much food. If we make good use of it, we might be able to reap benefits for the family.”
“But Patriarch, how are we going to give these ordinary grains and fertilizers?”The spirit rice could be made from the spirit grass that the green ox ruminated on, but what would be good for this ordinary rice?
“Use the feces of ordinary people or Qi Refining martial artists.”
“Feces?” Chen Xuan was dumbfounded. This thing could be used as fertilizer?
Chen Yang saw Chen Xuan’s expression and knew that he would not believe it. Then, he smiled and said,”Great Elder, whether it is successful or not, you will know once you try.”
“Alright, we can give it a try. How do we do it?”Chen Xuan thought for a moment, then made up his mind. He immediately asked how to use feces.
“It’s very simple. Choose a place that faces the sun and not the wind. He dug out a pit that was five feet deep and had a fixed length and width.”
“After mixing the feces, rice husks, and weeds evenly, pile them into the pit. When the color becomes dark and there is no stench, you can use them.”
As for the time, it was not too certain. When the time came, he would observe carefully and then he would go.”
In his previous life, the time it took to ferment naturally was usually half a year, but here, Yang Chen did not dare to guarantee it.
What if the time became longer or shorter?
“Alright, I’ll send someone to try immediately.”Immediately, Chen Xuan called the person in charge of the farm and told him the method to prepare the fertilizer.
Then, Chen Xuan looked at Chen Yang again.” Master, if the cultivation is successful, who will be the one to plant it?”
“With so much land, our Chen family can’t grow all of it. But if we let the tenants plant it, what if our secret is exposed?”
This was indeed a difficult problem. If the Chen family were to rely solely on their own cultivation, they would definitely not be able to grow much food.
At that time, all his plans would become empty talk.
However, just like what the Great Elder had said, if they used tenants, it was very likely that it would be leaked.
After thinking about it, Yang Chen gritted his teeth.” We’ll use the tenant farmers. Anyway, by the time the feces can really be used, it will have already changed greatly.”
“In addition, there’s no stench, so they might not be able to recognize it. When the secret gets out, we’ll say that we found it by chance.”
“When the time comes, I might be able to earn spirit stones by selling these things. Moreover, I am the disciple of the Deshun Commandery Prince, so they wouldn’t dare to ask us for it openly.”
“Even the royal family of the Great Qian Dynasty would consider the face of the Deshun Prince.”
Yang Chen had already thought it through. After they found out that the Chen family had an endless supply of food, they would definitely find out about the problem.
Since that was the case, it was better to use the tenants to plant rice in large quantities.
Moreover, with the Chen family’s current reputation, those tenants might not necessarily tell others. After all, they could also obtain a lot of food by planting food for the Chen family.
In times of famine, food was more important than anything else.
With the protection of the Chen family, he might be able to hide for a long time.
After the two of them discussed the matter, the Great Elder was in charge of the fertilizer while Yang Chen went to the county office to inform the county magistrate of what had happened in Chen City.
The county magistrate might have already known, but the Chen family had to report it.
In the county office, the county magistrate looked at Chen Yang, who was sitting in front of him and drinking tea leisurely. He couldn’t help but say,”My Lord Chen, how can you still be in the mood to drink tea when the fire is already burning your eyebrows?”
Yang Chen put down the teacup and looked at the county magistrate.” Magistrate, this is not something that can be solved by a city or a county.”
“Now, we can only sit here, drink tea, and wait for the orders from above.”
Hearing Yang Chen’s words, the county magistrate also felt that this was the case. He immediately said,”That’s true. There’s nothing we can do except wait.”
This wait lasted for seven days.
Within seven days, the matter of a food crisis in Jiang Prefecture had completely exploded. Countless farmers were in danger and did not know what to do in the future.
If it wasn’t for the fact that every household had a little grain in stock and that the merchants in Jiangzhou also had grain to sell, it would have been chaotic long ago.
However, the effects of the food crisis had already begun to show. In the major merchants, the food supply had increased tenfold.
Some large trading companies even began to set up spirit stone transactions.
Although one spirit stone could buy a large amount of food, at present, no one was willing to use spirit stones to buy food.
As for the future, that was hard to say.
The various aristocratic families and factions in Jiang Prefecture took the opportunity to buy food. They sent batches of carriages to other prefectures. If it was not for the urgent ban issued by the Great Gan to prevent the aristocratic families of the Jiang Prefecture from going out of the prefecture to buy grain, the grain in other places would have been sold out.
Chen Clan, in the meeting hall.
Yang Chen looked at the county magistrate and pondered for a moment before saying,””Is Da Qian really going to let us settle this ourselves?”
When the county magistrate saw this, he smiled helplessly.” Lord Chen, this is already the third time you’ve asked. I’ll explain it to you again.””
” The Great Gan Emperor’s Decree: All the aristocratic families will solve the food problem within their sphere of influence. The Great Gan will provide a certain amount of food according to the grade.”
“I know about this edict. I’m just curious. Is the royal family really not going to care about it?”Yang Chen asked.
The county magistrate smiled bitterly.” Family Head, to put it bluntly, these cities, territories, and people have almost become the private property of the great families.”
“Now that there is a food crisis, the various aristocratic families are not solving it, but the royal family is solving it. No matter what, it can’t be justified.”
The magistrate’s words made Chen Yang speechless. After all, Chen Yang had always thought that Chen City was the territory of the Chen family.
Moreover, the Chen family had enjoyed Chen Cheng’s worship for many years and controlled all the businesses that could produce spiritual stones in Chen Cheng. Other than the taxes that had to be paid, they did not leave a single cent for the royal family.
Now that there is a problem, you will naturally have to solve it yourself. Da Qian is only able to provide a certain amount of food because of the tax.
“Then when will the royal family’s food be shipped over?”Yang Chen asked again.
“Within a month. However, even if it was transported over, it would at most be enough for the people of Chen City to eat for a year. If they wanted to restore the black soil to its original state, they would need more than ten years of accumulation.”
At this point, the county magistrate’s face was filled with worry.
Originally, he was about to be transferred away because of his contribution in defending Chen City. Now that this matter had happened, the day of promotion was far away.
Yang Chen saw the difficulty of the magistrate and immediately smiled.”Don’t worry, County Magistrate. My Chen family will definitely resolve this matter perfectly.”
Seeing how confident Yang Chen was, the county magistrate said,””Since that’s the case, I’ll leave it to the Chen family. Alright, I’m busy, so I won’t disturb the Chen family head.”
“Take care, County Magistrate.” Yang Chen watched the magistrate leave the meeting hall..