The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

Winter wheat is planted in August of the lunar calendar and harvested in April or May of the following year. This crop is mostly planted in the north and less in the south. Probably after Anlu County presented this method last year, the county governor Teng was not sure whether the situation in Anlu was a coincidence or true, and was anxious to know its effectiveness, so he ordered to increase planting in various places.

Jiangling, Ying County, Zhijiang, Yiling, Dangyang, under the order of the county governor, almost every county planted hundreds of acres of winter wheat.

As the county governor's carriage came to the edge of the field, Hei Fu looked from afar and saw that the winter wheat in the field had already formed ears. When the summer wind blew, the golden wheat waves rose and fell, and a wheat fragrance mixed with hot air hit his nose...

Because of the hot weather, the harvest in Nanjun was more than half a month earlier than in the north. In the fields, strong women delivered water, and farmers were working hard and harvesting wheat with sickles. It was a lively scene. Seeing the ceremonial guards and carriages of the county magistrate and the county magistrate approaching, they all dropped their farm tools and prostrated themselves.

The county magistrate changed his appearance, went down to the fields himself, and helped up the farmers and women. This provincial leader did not seem to be arrogant at all, and asked the farmers about their harvests.

"I dare to report to the county magistrate."

The old farmer in charge of this wheat field was very excited and said tremblingly: "Originally, the farm officials asked us to pile up human and animal feces together for fermentation. We were very puzzled and thought that there was no difference between piling up manure and applying it directly to the fields. However, after these winter wheats were irrigated with compost, the yield per mu was 30% more than in previous years! 30%!"

The old farmers also named the manure after composting, "Beautiful Manure".

Ye Teng laughed: "Mei Fen, what a good name. Although it is stinky manure, it can make the fields fertile."

Ye Teng asked Tianshoufu of Zhijiang County to hand over the bamboo slips recording the yield of these wheat fields. After carefully reading them and comparing them with the data of Jiangling and Ying County carried by the chief secretary, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Including Anlu, the fields of four counties have all seen a significant increase in yield per mu due to the application of compost and fermentation of "Mei Fen", which can fully prove that this is not a coincidence, but a true fact!

He called Heifu to the edge of the field, pointed to the plump ears of wheat, and asked: "Heifu, do you know how much contribution your family's compost fermentation method has made to Nanjun and Qin?"

Heifu didn't know what the old sly guy meant, and he didn't like the feeling of being controlled by others, so he said he didn't know.

County Magistrate Teng also knew that since he had frightened Heifu once, Heifu had been on guard against him, so he said directly: "Agriculture is the basic occupation of the people. The reason why the sage kings guide their people is to focus on agriculture first. However, since the decline of the Zhou Dynasty, rituals and music have collapsed, the princes and tyrants have invaded each other, local corrupt officials and corvée labor are rampant, government orders are not trusted, the upper and lower levels are deceiving each other, public fields are not managed, and famines are frequent..."

"Until two hundred years ago, Li Kui of Wei State presided over the reform. He wrote "Teaching to Make the Most of the Land" for Wei Wenhou. Li Kui calculated that within a radius of 100 miles, there are 90,000 hectares of land. In addition to the one-third of the land occupied by people in the mountains and swamps, 60,000 hectares of land can be opened. If the farmer is diligent in farming, the yield per mu will increase by three dou, and if he is not diligent, the yield will also decrease by three dou. That is to say, the annual output of a hundred miles of land may increase or decrease by 1.8 million shi due to diligence or laziness. From this, it can be seen that farmers must be encouraged to produce, which is the so-called teaching to make the most of the land!"

"The land system of Wei is slightly different from that of Qin. Nanjun has many rivers, lakes, mountains and forests, and the land it owns is not as good as that of Hedong. But with the method you proposed today, the yield of each acre of land can be increased by 30% to 40%! As the saying goes, 100 acres of top land can feed nine people, 100 acres of top land can feed eight people, 7 people of middle land, and 5 people of bottom land. But with this method, the fertility of the land can be increased, and the bottom land can be turned into middle land, and the middle land can be turned into top land, and the top land is even better! According to last year's calculation, if the entire 18 counties of Nanjun implement this method, by the time of autumn harvest, rice, millet, and wheat are added together, it may be possible to increase the production of 3 million to 4 million shi of grain!"

Even though Hei Fu had known the historical significance of this method for a long time, he was still slightly surprised when he heard the amount of increase in production in Nanjun in a year: "It's so much!"

In this way, the increased grain production of Nanjun alone can feed 600,000 people who are conquering Chu for three to four months!

For a moment, Heifu felt that he and his uncle Zhong had become the Yuan Longping of this era.

Ye Teng nodded and said, "In short, this is a matter of great benefit to Nanjun, Qin, and even the world. The person who discovered this method is far from enough with a mere first-level title. Your uncle can be directly promoted to the highest level! A reward of 10,000 coins! After the autumn harvest is reported to Xianyang, this method can even be promoted to a doctor, and the reward will be even greater."

At this point, Ye Teng showed his signature smile again: "It's a pity that from Tian Zuoli in Yunmeng Township to Tian Suofu in Anlu County, the names of your uncle were reported when reporting the merits. If it is changed again, it will be deceiving the emperor. Heifu, do you regret this matter?"

Heifu smiled: "To put it in a high sense, this method will be implemented by the county governor, which will be of great benefit to Nanjun and Qin; to put it in a low sense, I just mentioned it casually, but my uncle has worked hard for a year to study this method, and the benefits have not flowed into the fields of outsiders, so why regret it?"

Ye Teng was slightly surprised, and then laughed.

"Good, good idea to keep the land within the family!"

...

On the way back to Zhijiang, Ye Teng sat in the carriage in a good mood, and the scenery along the way seemed to be much more pleasant.

He stroked his beard and said to the chief official beside him: "At the end of August last year, after receiving the report from Anlu, this county governor immediately asked all counties to plant winter wheat for trial, without delaying for a day, just to confirm this matter as early as possible before and after the beginning of summer this year, so that it can be implemented throughout the county, so that farmers can apply fertilizer in time after weeding the fields. At least it's in time."

This decree was indeed very hasty, and the chief official, as the executor, also flattered: "Even if it is a thousand-mile horse, it needs to be appreciated by Bole. Only the county lord can have such vision and be so decisive."

Ye Teng was not modest at all. He accepted the flattery generously and said with a smile: "I am not bragging. If someone else was the county governor, it would definitely delay for half a year. Although he would miss the war against Chu, he would eventually prove his effectiveness and then submit it to Xianyang for the king to know. Even the worst officials would not dare to ignore it, because this is Qin State. From the king to the county officials, they all take the teaching of the Legalists to make the best use of the land as their main duty!"

"But, what if it is not Qin State, but other princes? What will be the consequences of submitting the method proposed by Heifu and his uncle Zhong?"

The chief secretary bowed: "I don't know, I hope the county lord can solve my doubts."

It seems that today's events have touched Ye Teng's heart, and he has a lot to say. He told his confidant who has been with him for ten years about an incident when he was an official in Han State.

"Speaking of which, the situation today is somewhat similar to that of the past. More than 20 years ago, I had just started my career as an official in Han. Han was a dangerous land with many mountains. The only crops grown were either wheat or beans. The people ate mostly bean rice and broth, and their lives were extremely hard."

"One day, when I was inspecting the villages, a farmer under my jurisdiction said that putting straw or cut grass in the fields and letting it rot on its own could also increase the fertility of the soil and increase the harvest next year. I was overjoyed and immediately reported the matter to the county magistrate in an official document, hoping that by implementing this method, the people would have more harvests..."

"However, a year passed without any response. I couldn't help it, so I used the relationship in my clan to go to the county to inquire. The county magistrate said that he was busy and forgot about it. I urged him to report it to Xinzheng. Then, two years passed, and three years passed. Xinzheng still didn't respond. It didn't even send anyone to ask me whether the matter was true or false. Although my clan had some influence in Yedi, compared with those nobles in Xinzheng, it was only a small village tycoon and couldn't help me..."

"It was not until many years later that I became an official in Xinzheng and found an opportunity to ask that I knew that the method I submitted was only roughly flipped through and was not valued by the important officials in the capital. So I could only wait until I became a fake county magistrate before I could let the people in the counties implement this method. But at this moment, twenty years have been wasted in vain. The old farmer who discovered this method has long died, and his descendants have not received any rewards from Korea."

"At the same time, Zheng Guo, who had been lobbying the King of Han to build a canal to increase agricultural production but failed, was sent to Qin by the King of Han. Although he knew that the canal would cost countless money and manpower to dig, the King of Qin immediately agreed to Zheng Guo's plan and treated him as a guest of honor."

"Zheng Guo was deeply moved and began to do his best to preside over this matter. When his mission to exhaust Qin was exposed, he had forgotten his original purpose and personally met the King of Qin, bowed his head and said, 'At first, I was a spy, but the canal is completed, which is also beneficial to Qin.' Do you know what the King of Qin said at that time?"

The chief secretary replied, "The lower officials don't know."

"The king said, building this canal will only extend the life of Han for a few years, but it can build a great achievement for Qin for thousands of years! If you die, who can succeed you? Do it now!"

Knowing that it was poison, but beneficial to him in the long run, the King of Qin still drank it without hesitation! Let Zheng Guo continue to build a canal for Qin. When the canal was completed, it irrigated more than 40,000 hectares of land, and Guanzhong became rich.

"From that day on, Zheng Guo became a loyal minister of the King of Qin. He was ordered to carry out Wei Liao's plan and brought gold and silk to lobby me, saying to me that good birds choose trees to live in, Han is a rotten tree, and Qin is your phoenix tree!"

"I heard about his experience and learned that Qin attached so much importance to farming, so I was shocked. Only then did I know that the victory of Qin Liushi was not luck, but destiny!"

"Only those who can be better farmers and make full use of the land can win the world!"

If Hei Fu was here, he might agree with him and reply to him: The system is the cornerstone of developing productivity. Whoever can develop productivity to the greatest extent can win the victory of this long war!

After saying that, Ye Teng looked back and saw Hei Fu dozing off in the car.

There is love for talent, but also envy for this young man.

"Although this boy was born in a humble family, he was born in Qin, a country that values agriculture and merit, and I am the governor of the county. How difficult is it for him to rise to prominence?"

"As long as he is given a little encouragement, he will be a thousand-mile horse! There is no limit to his future."

Ye Teng narrowed his eyes: "The only question is, who can be his mentor?"