I started on a deserted island and encountered Ying Zheng, who insisted I was an immortal.

"Ten thousand...jin?"

These two words were like a heavy hammer blow, slamming hard onto the deck.

Li Si tightened his grip on the ship's railing, his nails scraping against the wood with a sickening sound. He was usually very particular about his appearance, but now he didn't care that his jaw was about to drop to the ground. He was like a duck being choked, panting heavily.

That's ten thousand jin!

Even the most fertile fields in Guanzhong, the heart of the Qin Dynasty, could only yield four shi of millet a year with meticulous care.

This unremarkable clod of earth can actually produce tens of thousands of kilograms?

That's a difference of a full twenty-five times!

If the Qin Dynasty possessed such a thing...

Ying Zheng's breathing became rapid, his chest heaving violently. He stared intently at Zhang Ying, as if trying to discern even a trace of a joke on the young man's face.

But Zhang Ying was picking her ear with her little finger, looking very impatient.

Why would I lie to you? Do I have that kind of free time?

Zhang Ying blew the dust off her fingers and pointed to the cargo hold entrance at the bottom of the ship. "Don't believe me? Go down and see for yourself. A batch we just received a few days ago is piled up there and hasn't been processed yet; it's almost sprouting."

"lead the way!"

Ying Zheng practically roared it out.

He shoved aside Meng Yi, who was trying to help him, and strode towards the stairwell. His anxious manner was a far cry from the composure of a great emperor; he looked more like a wealthy landlord who had just heard that his granary was on fire.

……

Bottom of the warehouse.

This place is deeper and cooler than the previous one.

The moment the wooden door was pushed open, a rich, earthy scent mixed with the unique fragrance of plants wafted out.

Meng Yi held up a torch and peered inside.

The firelight illuminated the darkness.

"hiss--"

Gasps of astonishment rose and fell.

Inside the huge warehouse, sacks were piled up densely. There were also several small "mountains" piled directly on the ground, all of them fist-sized, yellowish-brown tubers covered in soil.

The sheer number of them almost filled the entire field of vision.

Is this just the amount harvested in one go?

Wang Ben swallowed hard, then shakily reached out and grabbed a potato.

heavy.

Very honest.

He squeezed it hard; it was all flesh.

"This...this is all grain?" Wang Ben's voice trembled.

"What else? Stones?" Zhang Ying leaned against the door frame and yawned. "These things are hardy, drought-resistant and cold-resistant, they'll live if you throw them in the ground. There are just too many of them, I can't eat them all, so I use them to feed the pigs."

Feeding pigs.

These two words were like two needles, piercing Li Si's heart.

He suddenly turned his head and stared intently at Zhang Ying, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"What did you say... to feed them?"

"Feeding the pigs," Zhang Ying said matter-of-factly, shrugging. "What's wrong with that? How can pigs grow meat if they don't eat their fill? And where will I get the oil to cook vegetables if they don't grow meat?"

Li Si felt a tightness in his chest and almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

What a waste!

What a waste!

This divine food, capable of saving countless lives, was actually used to feed those filthy pigs?

Ying Zheng ignored Li Si's breakdown.

He stood before the mountain of potatoes, his hands trembling as he reached out and cupped a full armful of potatoes. The mud stained his dragon robe, but he remained oblivious.

He buried his face in the clod of earth and took a deep breath.

It tastes like grain.

It is the taste that can ensure that the Qin Dynasty will never suffer from famine again, that can make its iron cavalry crush the Xiongnu, and that can ensure the Qin Dynasty's foundation will be solid for ten thousand generations!

"gentlemen."

Ying Zheng suddenly turned around, still clutching the potatoes tightly in his arms, as if afraid someone would snatch them away.

His face was contorted, a result of extreme excitement.

"How many of these are left on this island?"

Zhang Ying thought for a moment: "There are still several acres of land buried and undivided, I'm too lazy to move them. What, Lao Ying, you want to buy them?"

"purchase?"

Ying Zheng laughed loudly, the sound echoing in the empty warehouse, carrying an overwhelming and domineering aura.

"I...I want everything on this island!"

He stepped forward, closing in on Zhang Ying.

"All the seeds, all the fruit, and even the soil of this earth!"

"I will empty this island!"

Zhang Ying was startled by the old man's imposing manner and instinctively shrank back.

"Hey Lao Ying, you're getting way too into character, aren't you?"

Zhang Ying stared speechlessly at the middle-aged man who had descended into madness.

"Empty it out? Do you know how big of a project that is? With your lousy ship, even ten more ships wouldn't be enough to hold it all."

He patted the sack next to him.

"Besides, this stuff can be grown anywhere as long as you have the seeds. Why are you bringing soil? The soil on this island is just a bit salty, nothing special."

Ying Zheng was taken aback.

It can be grown anywhere.

We don't need the immortal land of this fairy island?

"Really?" Ying Zheng pressed.

"I'd be a dog if I lied to you." Zhang Ying rolled her eyes. "As long as it's not a desert or Gobi, just find a piece of land, cut a slab, bury it there, and you can wait to harvest it in three months."

Ying Zheng held the potato tighter and tighter.

Three months.

It only takes three months.

The granaries of the Qin Dynasty could be filled with such divine objects.

That being the case...

"Meng Yi!" Ying Zheng shouted sharply.

"Your subject is here!" Meng Yi immediately bowed, the torch in his hand swaying, illuminating his equally excited face.

Write it down!

Ying Zheng's voice was resolute.

"This crop is called potato. It yields tens of thousands of catties per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.165 acres), is drought-resistant and cold-resistant, and can ripen in three months."

"Classified as a top secret of the Qin Dynasty!"

"Anyone who dares to divulge even a single word will have their entire family wiped out!"

Meng Yi was startled and immediately took out his bamboo slips and pen, quickly taking notes. His hands trembled slightly, and the handwriting was crooked, but the force was penetrating the bamboo.

Zhang Ying watched from the sidelines, thoroughly amused.

"Alright, alright, stop acting. 'Exterminate three generations'? Don't you understand the rule of law in this society?"

He waved his hand and turned to walk out.

"Now that you've finished looking, let's go up. I'm going to feed the pigs anyway. If you're free, come and lend a hand."

Feeding pigs?

Ying Zheng and Li Si exchanged a glance.

When Zhang Ying mentioned feeding the pigs with this divine food, they dismissed it as an exaggeration.

Could it be... true?

An extremely absurd yet terrifying thought arose in everyone's minds.

Just how wealthy was this Marquis of Hanzhong?

Chapter 73 You call this pig feed?

The sun was setting in the west.

The island breeze carried a hint of coolness, dispelling the heat on the deck.

Zhang Ying led the four members of the Qin Dynasty's royal court through a dense thicket of bushes to the other side of the island.

Before they even got close, a series of grunting sounds came from over.

Immediately following was an unpleasant smell.

Pigsty.

This is a makeshift pigpen that Zhang Ying built with stones and wooden stakes, where she keeps three black wild boars. After three years of domestication and crossbreeding, these pigs have long lost their wildness, each with a fat head and big ears, lazily lying in the mud pit.

"arrive."

Zhang Ying pointed to several large wooden barrels next to her.

"Wang Ben, you're strong, go and carry that bucket over."

Although Wang Ben was a high-ranking official, he had long since lost his temper in front of Zhang Ying. Having just enjoyed a good meal, he was now ready to put in his best effort.

Without saying a word, he walked over and lifted a large wooden bucket, about half a person's height, with one hand.

"Wow! It's pretty heavy!"

Wang Ben peeked into the bucket.

Upon seeing this, he froze completely.

The bucket contained a paste made by cooking and mashing the food.

The white stuff is rice.

The yellow ones are potato chunks.

There were also some green vegetable leaves mixed together, emitting a unique sweet aroma of grain.

It tasted even better than what they had just eaten!

"this……"

Wang Ben's hands began to tremble, and the pig feed in the bucket sloshed around, splashing a few drops onto his boots.

"What are you standing there for? Go pour it into the trough!" Zhang Ying urged.

Wang Ben suddenly turned his head, his eyes reddening.

"teacher!"

This roar, tinged with a sob, startled Zhang Ying.

"This bucket... is full of white rice and potatoes?"

"Oh, yes," Zhang Ying said, puzzled. "There are still some tomato peels left. What's wrong?"

"You...you feed them this?"

Wang Ben pointed at the black pigs rooting in the mud in the pigsty, his fingers trembling as if he were accusing his father's killer.

In the Qin Dynasty, ordinary people could not even afford a single dry meal all year round.

Even the elite soldiers in the army ate corn cakes mixed with sand.

But the pigs here!

They were actually eating crystal-clear white rice, and consuming divine grains that yielded tens of thousands of kilograms per mu!

"What, you want some?"

Zhang Ying looked Wang Ben up and down with a look of disgust.

"Even though this pig feed is clean, your taste is a bit too strong!"

"I..." Wang Ben was speechless with anger, his dark face turning a deep liver color.

Li Si also came over at this moment. After seeing what was in the bucket, he swayed and almost fell headfirst into the pigsty.

"What a waste...what a waste!"

Li Si was heartbroken and wished he could rush up and snatch the bucket of pig feed.

"If this grain were taken to Xianyang, how many gold coins could it be exchanged for? How many starving people could it save?"

"Sir, you are committing a crime!"

Zhang Ying was getting annoyed by the group's reaction.

"Hey, you bunch of extras, aren't you being a bit too dramatic?"

He snatched the wooden bucket from Wang Ben's hand, walked to the pig trough, and poured it all in with a splash.

"Huff, huff!"

Several black pigs smelled the aroma and immediately climbed out of the mud pit, crowding to the edge of the trough and devouring the food.

The sound of chewing, each one like a whip, lashed at Ying Zheng's heart.

Ying Zheng stood outside the fence, watching the pigs eat with their mouths full of oil.

He recalled the ragged, emaciated people he had seen during his recent tour.

I think of those old soldiers who would chew up and swallow wild vegetable roots to save a single bite of food.

And here.

Several animals were enjoying fine grains that even the Qin emperor had never seen before.

"gentlemen."

Ying Zheng's voice was somewhat hoarse.

"This rice... also has an extremely high yield per acre?"

Zhang Ying tossed the empty bucket aside and clapped her hands.

"It's alright, it's hybrid rice, irrigated with seawater. The yield is only about 1,500 to 1,600 jin per mu."

One thousand...five or six hundred catties.

So what?

Ying Zheng felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart tightly.

Millet yields three to four shi per mu, which translates to no more than three to four hundred jin.

This rice yields four to five times more than millet!

Moreover, judging from the color of the rice grains, they are plump and round, clearly indicating that they are of superior quality.

"gentlemen……"

Ying Zheng took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

"I... I want to know, why are there so many divine objects on this island?"

"Furthermore, since food is so plentiful, why does the gentleman still...?"

He pointed to the pigsty.

"Does it have to be this extravagant?"

Zhang Ying shrugged, leaned against the fence, and watched the black pigs scrambling for food.

"Luxury? I don't think so."

"Food is grown to eat. If people can't finish it all, they feed it to pigs. The pigs grow meat, and then people eat the pigs. It's an energy cycle, didn't you learn that in junior high biology?"

He turned his head and looked at Ying Zheng, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"Besides, I want to keep it too."

But I'm all alone.

"I cultivate and harvest all the thousands of acres of land on this island by myself. If I don't feed the pigs, all the grain will just rot in the fields."

"Letting it rot in the ground, that's the real waste."

Zhang Ying sighed, her tone tinged with helplessness.

"I also want to ship these things out and sell them for a good price, or donate them to the country."

"But I have no boat, no people, and no connections."

"I'm desperate too."

Ying Zheng's pupils suddenly contracted.

Nobody here?

No boat?

Isn't this exactly what the Qin Dynasty had in abundance?

If before he only wanted these auspicious seeds...

Now, his ambition has swelled to its limit.

He wants more than just seeds.

He also wants all the technology on the island!

This method of pig farming, this technique of planting, this...the principle of energy circulation!

"Are you short-staffed, sir?"

Ying Zheng stepped forward, his gaze fixed intently on Zhang Ying.

"We're short of them," Zhang Ying said casually. "If we had a few hundred strong laborers, I could clear out that whole wasteland behind the island. Then, I could grow not only potatoes, but even cotton."

"cotton?"

Although I don't know what it is, it must be something good coming from Zhang Ying's mouth.

A slow, gentle smile curved Ying Zheng's lips.

It was the smile of a hunter seeing his prey, or an emperor seeing his territory.

"If you only need manpower, sir."

Ying Zheng stretched out his hand, pointing to the end of the vast sea, towards the direction of the Qin Dynasty.

"I'll lend it to you."

Chapter 74 Your Majesty, Borrow Some Troops to Farm

The sea breeze carried the unique smell of the pigsty, swirling among the group.

Zhang Ying raised an eyebrow, looking at the imposing middle-aged man in front of her.

"Lend it to me?"

He looked Ying Zheng up and down, then glanced at Li Si, who was as thin as a monkey, and Wang Ben, who, although strong, was clearly the product of a gym workout.

"Old Winner, I'm not trying to discourage you."

Zhang Ying scoffed.

"How many people are in your film crew? A few dozen? A hundred?"

"The wasteland I'm going to clear is all saline-alkali land and rocky beaches. It would take at least half a year and three hundred strong laborers to clear it."

"And they also provide food and lodging."

"Is your budget enough to handle all this?"

In his view, this group was just a makeshift film crew that had been shipwrecked. Even if Lao Ying was the investor, it was probably just an empty shell.

Ying Zheng was not angry.

He just stared at Zhang Ying quietly, and that look in his eyes made Zhang Ying feel inexplicably uneasy.

"Does Your Excellency think I am joking?"

Ying Zheng stood with his hands behind his back, the sea breeze blowing his long robe, which remained magnificent even though it was covered in mud.

"Meng Yi".

"Your subject is here!"

"Tell the sir how many troops I have in the north."

Meng Yi straightened his back and shouted loudly:

"Your Majesty, General Meng Tian has led 300,000 elite cavalrymen to garrison Jiuyuan, construct the Great Wall, and defend against the Xiongnu!"

"Three hundred thousand?"

Zhang Ying was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Three hundred thousand? You guys have really gone all out with this script! Even Hollywood blockbusters wouldn't dare to write something like this!"

He patted Ying Zheng on the shoulder, laughing so hard that tears almost streamed down his face.

"Alright, alright, three hundred thousand. Then go ahead and call them over. Don't even mention three hundred thousand, I'll admire you if you can call three thousand people."

Ying Zheng did not dodge Zhang Ying's hand.

He simply looked at Zhang Ying indifferently, his tone eerily calm.

"Three thousand?"

"Sir, you underestimate me too much."

Ying Zheng turned around, faced the sea, and suddenly spread his arms wide.

"I will not only give you three thousand men."

"I order 100,000 elite troops to be deployed to the island for land reclamation!"

100,000!

Li Si and Wang Ben were both terrified.

Mobilizing 100,000 troops, just for... farming?

If this gets out, what will the world think? What will the historians write?

"Your Majesty! You mustn't!"

Li Si knelt down on the ground with a thud, ignoring the smell of pig manure on the ground.

"Military and national affairs are not to be taken lightly! Mobilizing 100,000 troops will consume enormous amounts of provisions, and the border will be vulnerable. If the Xiongnu take the opportunity to invade southward..."

"Shut up!"

Ying Zheng turned around abruptly, his eyes like knives, slashing fiercely at Li Si's face.

"You saw those potatoes and that rice too!"

"With all this, will Qin still lack provisions?"

"With these, my iron cavalry can sweep across the northern deserts; what fear do I have of the Xiongnu?!"

He pointed to the pigpen behind him, and to the black pigs that were feasting.

"Even pigs eat better than my elite soldiers!"

"I want these 100,000 soldiers to see for themselves what they risk their lives for!"

"It's so that every citizen of the Great Qin can be like these...like the creatures on this island, no longer going hungry!"

Ying Zheng's voice was deafening.

Li Si opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

He couldn't refute it.

Faced with a yield of 10,000 catties per mu of grain, all ancestral rules and regulations seem so pale and powerless.

Zhang Ying stood aside, watching the "performance".

He had to admit that Lao Ying's acting skills were simply Oscar-worthy.

That ruthless determination to sacrifice everything for the common people was portrayed so realistically.

"Alright, alright, calm down."

Zhang Ying waved her hand, interrupting Ying Zheng's impassioned speech.

"You make it sound so real. If you can really call people, I'll feed you even if you only bring 10,000, let alone 100,000."

"You'll be full."

He added a sentence.

These two words are the greatest temptation.

Ying Zheng suddenly turned around and stared intently at Zhang Ying.

"Does a ruler keep his word?"

"I never lie," Zhang Ying shrugged. "As long as they're willing to work and follow orders, they'll get plenty of beef stew with potatoes and rice."

"good!"

Ying Zheng shouted loudly.

"Meng Yi! Draft the imperial edict!"

Meng Yi quickly got up, and without caring whether there was a table or not, he lay down on the wooden fence of the pigsty and spread out the bamboo slips.

"Wang Jian's son, Wang Ben, shall immediately take my tiger tally and mobilize 50,000 elite troops from Guanzhong and 50,000 auxiliary troops from Beidi Commandery, for a total of 100,000."

"Bring your farm tools and large boat, and set sail immediately!"

"Target: Penglai Immortal Island!"

"Task: Farming!"

Wang Ben was filled with fervor upon hearing this. He knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist, and roared:

"Your humble servant obeys! I will not fail His Majesty's trust! Even if it means filling up the entire sea, I will bring the person here to you, sir!"

Zhang Ying looked at the group of people's serious expressions and shook her head helplessly.

crazy.

They've all gone mad.

They're really getting into character.

"Alright, alright, whatever makes you happy."

Zhang Ying yawned and turned to walk back.

"I'm going back to sleep. You can continue acting, just don't scare my pig."

Watching Zhang Ying's departing figure, the fervor in Ying Zheng's eyes gradually cooled, replaced by unfathomable scheming.

He turned to look at Wang Ben and lowered his voice.

"Remember, troop deployment is just a pretext."

"What I want from you is not just farmers who till the land."

"We must also bring the Qin Dynasty's top craftsmen and most elite assassins."

Ying Zheng turned around and glanced at the pig trough full of "auspicious omens," his gaze deep and unfathomable.

"I will not only empty this island."

"I will also transform it completely into the granary of the Qin Dynasty!"

The sea breeze howled.

A "farming" campaign that could change the course of history for the entire Qin Dynasty and even the world officially began right next to this fence filled with the smell of pig manure.

At this time, Zhang Ying was unaware of this.

He imagined that the "extras" would really come charging in with a massive army.

Even the imperial edict written on the bamboo slips was stuffed into the box by Meng Yi because there was nowhere else to put it...

In the empty bucket that holds pig feed.