The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 486 Prejudice is Higher than a Mountain

Tests have proven this.

Natural asphalt, combined with gravel, sand, and desiccants such as sulfur, makes paving roads quite fast and efficient.

The 250,000 new immigrant laborers were quickly put into the massive asphalt road paving project.

The asphalt from Black Oil Mountain is being rapidly digested.

At this point, it was already mid-to-late September in the lunar calendar.

At the end of last year, Xiong Zhen brought back high-yield wheat and rice seeds to Shangdu. After they were sent to several grain-producing areas for trial planting, data was gradually transmitted back.

On this day, the Minister of Revenue was the first to step forward in the imperial court:
"Your Majesty is overjoyed!
The fifty mu of low-grade experimental land in the Nanhe Provincial Administration Office yielded an average spring wheat yield of five shi per mu! The hundred mu of fertile experimental land in the Shaanxi region yielded an average wheat yield of seven shi per mu!
One hundred mu of medium-quality experimental rice paddies in Jiangnan yielded an average of seven shi per mu! Fifty mu of superior-quality fertile land in Huguang Province yielded an average of eight shi per mu.

Spring rice and paddy rice were harvested one after the other, and the local governor only dared to report the data up the chain of command after obtaining the final figures.

The Minister of Revenue is responsible for matters such as land, population, taxes, corvée labor, economy, and finance. Today, he has given a report and summary on the seeds of these two experiments.

The other civil and military officials in the court could hardly believe their ears after hearing the long string of data.

The officials of the Censorate were the first to step forward:

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I request a thorough investigation of these experimental fields, as the data is illogical."

"Impossible! This data is absolutely impossible! In my estate in Jiangnan, even the best fertile fields only yield four shi of rice per mu!"

"These provincial governors are deceiving the emperor; I must impeach them."

Emperor Qianwu, in high spirits: There are always people who like to give me their sour looks when I am happiest.

He's not the type to go back on his word.

“If you ministers want to investigate thoroughly, you don’t need to go so far! My imperial estate happens to have planted both of these crops. I deliberately planted them a month later than other places, and now it’s time for the autumn harvest.”

Let's go, let's have a team-building activity.

The theme of our team building activity is "Autumn Harvest"!

What a momentous event it is to discover a high-yield, superior variety!
Everyone was filled with doubt and uncertainty, yet eager to try.

The 71-year-old Minister of Personnel, surnamed Cao, had served as Vice Minister of Personnel for three years during the reign of Emperor Beiwen. He confronted Emperor Beiwen and the corrupt government on several occasions. Later, he was suppressed by his political enemies, dismissed from office, and returned to his hometown.

When Emperor Qianwu returned to the capital, his makeshift team was short-staffed. After making inquiries from various sources, he managed to bring back Old Man Cao and even promoted him.

After being dismissed and returning to his hometown, Minister Cao had ten years of farming experience. How could he not know the yield of wheat and rice?

Upon hearing the report from the Minister of Revenue, his first reaction was also one of suspicion.

Upon hearing that Emperor Qianwu wanted to take all his civil and military officials to the autumn harvest, the old man believed that the story was at least 60% credible.

His lips and beard trembled with excitement.

Emperor Qianwu, considering him to be the oldest, exempted him from working in the fields.

Minister Cao, however, insisted on going with him.

Because the imperial estate didn't have many seeds left, each of the experimental plots that were fenced off was two mu!
Nearly two hundred civil and military officials of the fourth rank or above have now squeezed into the four acres of land!

It's like making dumplings; no one gets a single dumpling!
Emperor Qianwu took the lead in harvesting the first batch of rice, and the ministers followed suit.

There is strength in numbers.

Even though none of them were particularly skilled at manual labor, they finished working on four acres of land in less than an hour. They even managed to harvest every last grain of wheat or millet that had fallen into the field!
Before dinner, the data for the four-acre experimental plot/field was released.

This is incredible!
"The yields from the two mu of wheat fields are 935 jin and 1053 jin respectively!"

"The yields from the two mu of paddy fields are 1,167 jin and 1,240 jin respectively!"

As mentioned earlier, the unit of measurement in the previous dynasty was one hundred and twenty catties.

That's how it's used now.

To present the data more accurately, the manager of the imperial estate stopped using stones as the unit and went straight to the kilogram.

Unsurprisingly, the guarding of these four acres of land completely astonished all the officials involved in the autumn harvest.

After a while, a wail came from the direction of Minister Cao:
"Your Majesty! To possess such a high-yield and superior seed is a great fortune for the nation and a blessing for the people. If this superior seed can be widely distributed throughout the land, the people will surely be well-fed and clothed, and the nation will enjoy long-term peace and stability! This is all clear proof of Your Majesty's sagacious virtue and Heaven's blessing upon our Yongtai Dynasty. Your subject is overjoyed and hereby offers my congratulations to Your Majesty."

Officials: "."

They harvested the wheat and rice themselves!
Even though the land on the imperial estates was more fertile than that allocated to the common people, and even though the tenant farmers on the imperial estates had cultivated those few acres of land with great care.

Even if the yield decreases by one-third if this method is implemented, the output will still be much higher than that of fertile land today!

The civil and military officials finally came to their senses and began to sing praises.

Xiong Zhen first offered his congratulations as was the custom, then addressed Minister Cao:

"Lord Cao, these two high-yield varieties were purchased from foreign merchants from afar by the General Zhenxi, whom you often criticize, and then cultivated over two years."

Minister Cao's eyes welled up with tears, and he suddenly choked up.

very?
Was this the work of that General Zhenxi again?!

She's everywhere!

Emperor Qianwu also declared at this time:
"These seeds were indeed purchased by the General of the Western Garrison. The wheat seeds from Guanzhong have already been promoted for two seasons in the Hexi Corridor and Huaiqing Prefecture. To ensure the stability of the improved varieties, they were only tested in several grain-producing areas this year."

"You've seen the yields, and the data from various regions has been compiled. The facts prove that both of these grain seeds can be sown throughout the territory of my Yongtai Dynasty."

Minister Cao still wanted to make a last-ditch effort, repeating his old arguments.

Emperor Qianwu didn't want to listen to those women's fallacies, and simply waved his hand:

"Minister Cao, please rest assured that if these wheat and rice seeds are successfully promoted throughout the Yongtai Dynasty within three years, I will reward the General of the Western Garrison for his merits!"

Emperor Qianwu: It's not that I'm unwilling to reward you now, it's just that General Gan has been promoted too quickly!

If everyone in the Yongtai Dynasty eats this high-yield grain from Guanzhong within three years, let's see if we can still shut you old stubborn folks up!
Furthermore, the second son of the Gan family, who had worked at the Taipusi Military Horse Farm for over a year, was said to have helped more than 800 mares conceive foals. If all of them were to give birth successfully, that would be a great achievement.

What should we reward them with then?
correct!

This young man doesn't have a wife yet, so I'll bestow a good marriage upon him.

Gan Minglan was unaware that her younger brother had managed to marry a woman from a high-ranking family by feeding horses with dog feed.

I don't know, but many old men in Shangdu have a deep-seated prejudice against her.

In fact, Cao Shangshu was not the only one who had prejudices against her!
Throughout the past few centuries, there has never been a woman more courageous than a man.

The civil officials wished they could just keep her a title and have her hand over the power in Kansai and go home to take care of her children.

Unfortunately, the General of the Western Garrison was simply too powerful!
So powerful that all the military generals in the imperial court were impressed and defended him.