Capítulo 1895: Chapter 1870: Experintal Field
The Crown Prince found sothing odd about this piece of land, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. He pointed at the field and asked Manbao, “Why does this field look so strange?”
Bai Erlang turned his head to look at Bai Shan, and Manbao also instinctively glanced at Bai Shan.
Bai Shan exchanged a glance with the two of them, then stepped forward and answered, “Your Highness, this field is our family’s own cultivation.”
The Crown Prince stepped forward, crouched by the edge of the field, and after examining it closely, furrowed his brows and said, “It seems to that the embanknt of this field is higher than others, and the water is deeper, yet why are the seedlings so small?”
Of course they’re small. This rice was sown ten days later than other varieties and transplanted nearly ten days later as well.
This was the first batch of seeds handed over by Teacher Mo for experintal purposes. At that ti, when he gave her the seeds, Doctor D was still under a communication ban, so she couldn’t contact him. She only knew that the first batch of seeds she had researched yielded well, but wasn’t aware of the situation with the second generation. As it turned out, this was the second generation.
Bai Shan roughly knew that her seeds ca from Uncle Zhou, and Bai Erlang helped them manage the estate. They suddenly set aside a piece of land to experint with various planting thods, with nurous conditions: they needed a fertile field and had to ensure both fertilizer and water.
For water, they specifically selected a piece of relatively good dry land by the estate, built embanknts to retain water, and used sugar mud mixed with manure to nourish the soil. Thus, they transford the dry land into farmland, although whether they could cultivate successfully remained uncertain.
But there was no other option, as the area was generally short on water, lacking deep channels. Only the Crescent Pond near the estate, which they had dug, had water, and most of this area was dry land, hence the thought to transform a piece of land into farmland.
Bai Erlang didn’t know where they obtained the seeds, but with the introduction of new wheat seeds, he had so suspicions about the rice seeds, feeling sowhat tense.
The Crown Prince not only looked but also couldn’t resist pulling out a seedling, examining it carefully and noting, “The roots and stems are quite nurous. Soone, go over there and pull out a seedling for from that field.”
The guard responded and went to do as instructed.
Prince Gong finally, disdainfully, walked up from behind the embanknt. As he wasn’t very steady on his feet, he got so mud on his shoes. He rubbed his shoes on the grass, thinking they were even dirtier, and thus furrowed his brows even more as he looked at the Crown Prince and others ahead.
Upon hearing the Crown Prince’s words, he looked even more displeased, “Elder Brother, the court forbids officials from damaging seedlings; how can you send soone to pull out a seedling?”
The Crown Prince ignored him and held up the seedling, asking Bai Shan and Manbao, “Why did your family plant just this one piece separately?”
Bai Shan and Manbao also ignored Prince Gong and squatted by the field, replying casually, “This is an experintal field, set aside for experintation.”
Then curiously asked, “Does Your Highness understand farming?”
The Crown Prince replied straightforwardly, “No, I don’t.”
But when a guard brought a seedling over, he placed the two seedlings side by side and told the two of them, “The roots and stems here are significantly fewer and not as deep as this one. Where did you get your seeds?”
“From outside,” Manbao made up an excuse, and seeing that the Crown Prince noticed sothing they hadn’t, looked at him skeptically, “And you don’t understand it?”
Casually, the Crown Prince inserted the two seedlings back into the field, not far apart, washed his hands in the field’s water, and said, “Not really, but I’ve seen the Minister of Agriculture do it this way.”
It’s been over ten years; since he beca Crown Prince, he would annually follow his father to open the fields. Initially, his father did it himself. If interested, he would lead the oxen in the field for his father; if not, he would just play in the mud and water in the fields.
However, later on, various affairs were beyond his control. If he didn’t go to the fields, the court officials would criticize him, and his father would scold him, too.
Eventually, not only did he have to follow his father to open the fields every year, but he also had to observe people sowing wheat, harvesting wheat, sowing rice, and transplanting seedlings. Several tis, out of impatience following the Emperor around the field, he went horseback riding for relief, only to be scolded upon returning to the palace.
Seeing so much of all this, even an idiot would learn sothing, not to ntion it wasn’t his first ti observing.
Nonetheless, considering farming affairs a significant state matter, he still took the effort to stay a little longer, pointing to the field with his whip, and said, “Your family has grown a new wheat variety, and if you could manage a new rice variety, it would be a huge achievent.”
Manbao replied, “It’s not even on paper; it might not succeed.”
She continued, “But I’ve entrusted the farming matter to my eldest brother. My elder brother and third brother are the best at farming. From the sa batch of seeds, I divided them into three; one part planted by the estate, one by my third brother, and one sent to Longzhou.”
The Crown Prince only knew the surface, not the underlying details, so he asked with a frown, “Why sow in so many places?”
He noted, “The Minister of Agriculture only grows so in the imperial farm fields.”
Bai Shan glanced at the Crown Prince and said, “Your Highness, the Ministry of Agriculture has direct fields in every state.”
Thus, they wouldn’t only plant in imperial estates, he said, “The climate and soil conditions in different places vary, so naturally, the seeds needed are also different, which is why they need to be cultivated in various locations to observe the results.”
The Crown Prince tilted his head, “Really? Why haven’t I heard the Minister of Agriculture ntion it?”
Prince Gong rolled his eyes upon hearing this, “That’s because you don’t pay enough attention. Even I know that the Ministry of Agriculture has direct involvent in various places, not only responsible for cultivating new varieties but also for distributing agricultural seeds and tools.”
If soone else had said that, the Crown Prince might not have reacted, but coming from Prince Gong, he shot him a sidelong glance and sarcastically said, “You sure seem to know a lot, Third Brother, you must have close ties with the Minister of Agriculture.”
Recently, Manbao, Bai Shan, and Bai Erlang had received quite a few seeds from the Minister of Agriculture for the developnt of the estate, including so novel ones. Hearing this, Manbao imdiately defended the Minister of Agriculture, “Prince Gong, what is that over there?”
He gestured to a patch of wild grass on the nearby grassland, rudely rolling his eyes at Zhou Man, “Wild grass. So, Zhou Man, since when is it your place to question ?”
The Crown Prince glanced over, seriously eyeing the grassy area, then remarked, “Idiot, that’s hemp.”
Then turned to Zhou Man and asked, “Why are your tenant farrs so inattentive to the hemp? Are they planning to replace everything with mulberry to raise silkworms and weave silk?”
Manbao replied, “Silk can be sold for money. I made an agreent with them that I would pay for the first year’s silkworms, and also for the mulberry saplings, and we’d split the silk fifty-fifty.”
The Crown Prince responded, “You really are generous.”
The two conversed amicably, but Prince Gong was infuriated by the “idiot” remark. Of course, it wasn’t obvious to most, but Manbao was a doctor, and seeing his chest slightly heave in anger, though his expression was sour, he held it in, genuinely fearing sothing might happen to him. Thus, she said, “Third Highness, don’t be angry. I’m not targeting you; I just wanted to indicate to the Crown Prince that the Minister of Agriculture doesn’t have much to do with you.”
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