Chapter 102: Excited
The beans were finished being threshed, and they collected the scattered soybeans from the ground, removed debris, and weighed them.
“General, ten stone in total!!!”
When this number was tallied, the person shouting was already hitting a high note.
“Ten stone, it’s really ten stone!”
“Hahaha…”
They were all overjoyed to the point of madness.
Even Xie Chong, who usually had a poker face, now had a faint smile on his face.
Some people were so excited they cried while holding the beans.
Soybeans with an output of ten stone per mu, this was all grain, something that could fill stomachs and also be used to press oil!
The onlookers didn’t understand what was happening.
It wasn’t until they heard someone exclaim that this was the yield from one mu of land that the crowd erupted.
Many farmers, who had dealt with crops their entire lives, pushed through the crowd. Disregarding the fact that the people opposite them were soldiers they wouldn’t have dared approach before, they trembled as they walked over.
“My lords, could you, could you let this old woman have a look at these soybeans?”
Xie Chong nodded: “Everyone come and see, but you’re not allowed to touch them.”
“Good, good, good…”
These old people, with their dark skin, bowed backs, and wrinkled faces, excitedly stepped forward. They repeatedly wiped their rough hands on their clothes before carefully cupping the plump soybeans.
“This, this really grew from one mu of land?”
“Would we lie to you? It was planted in that piece of land in our General’s backyard, exactly one mu.”
The farmers immediately knelt on the ground.
“Hahaha… The heavens have opened their eyes! It truly is that so much grew from one mu of land.”
They were so excited they cried and laughed.
Qin Wanwan watched, and though it should have been a happy occasion, for some reason, she felt a pang of sadness.
Xie Chong and the others didn’t reprimand them for their impropriety; they understood how these people felt.
Most soldiers were conscripted from the lower-class farmers.
They naturally understood the importance of grain to farmers.
Apart from slaves who had no personal freedom, farmers could be considered the lowest stratum of society, making up the largest portion of the population.
Yet, they received the fewest resources.
In the hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, farmers, though seemingly ranked second, lived the hardest lives.
Their entire lives were spent toiling in the fields, their sole desire being to fill their stomachs and ensure their families didn’t go hungry.
However, the current grain seeds were not excellent, the yield per mu was low, and a large amount of tax had to be paid annually.
After a year of hard work, many families could only scrape by.
They might even face various natural disasters that would reduce the already meager harvest, or result in no harvest at all. In such cases, they could only wait to starve to death.
Therefore, one could imagine how important a high-yield grain seed was to them.
At Xie Chong’s signal, a talkative deputy general stepped forward to take the opportunity to publicize.
“These seeds were discovered by our General’s daughter, Qin Wanwan, and purchased from an overseas merchant. Not only here, but several mu have also been planted in other places.
This batch of soybeans will be reserved as seeds. Later, we will tally the border pass counties and villages and distribute them one by one. Next year, most counties should be planting this type of soybean.”
His voice was loud, and most of the onlookers heard him.
The atmosphere at the scene immediately became lively.
“Many thanks to all of you, thank you General and the General’s daughter!!!”
After collecting the beans, Xie Chong told the onlookers to disperse.
Some farmers rubbed their hands and pointed at the soybean stalks, “My lords, do you still want those stalks? May this old woman take one back? I want to show such a divine seed to my ancestors.”
A few soldiers looked at him: “Hey, old man, you’re quite resourceful. Go ahead and take one.”
Everyone was happy, it was just a bean stalk.
With the old man leading the way, many others also wanted to take some bean stalks home.
Those who were lucky might find un-threshed beans still clinging to the pods.
If they took these soybeans home and compared them to their own, the difference would be like night and day.
The commotion at the General’s Mansion caused by the soybeans dispersed, but the excited feelings of the people would not dissipate so easily.
From today onwards, countless people began to anticipate the arrival of next year.
After this, everyone would discover that high-yield grain seeds were not the only kind!
Xie Chong lovingly stored these beans in the granary and gave Qin Wanwan an instruction.
“Wanwan, go invite two powerful Cat Officials.”
Places like granaries were prone to mice stealing food, and everyone detested mice that stole grain.
Their border army granary had several Cat Officials specifically hired to patrol the granary and catch mice.
Saying they were inviting Cat Officials was actually buying cats.
It would cost copper coins.
One cat cost around fifty copper coins.
He asked his daughter to go because he felt Wanwan had a great affinity with animals and was a little lucky star, increasing the probability of finding powerful Cat Officials.
Qin Wanwan patted her chest and guaranteed: “Daddy, leave it to Wanwan!”
As if accepting an important mission, after eating lunch, Qin Wanwan was ready to set off with a high spirit.
“Daddy, I’m going to invite the Cat Officials!”
Xie Chong: “Take a couple more people with you.”
“Got it!”
Xie Chong did not accompany Qin Wanwan because he had to busy himself with the soybean product workshop.
Shang Wuyang had asked for a batch of soybean products to be made as soon as possible. He intended to take them with him to Shangjing and ideally use the opportunity to establish his reputation.
He wasn’t worried about Qin Wanwan’s safety; it was very safe inside Shahe City.
Ever since the incident with the kidnapper last time, entry and exit from Shahe City had been strictly inspected.
However, Xie Chong never imagined that he only wanted Qin Wanwan to go around the city and see who had cats to invite two back.
But she ran directly towards the grassland!
Those who ran out with Qin Wanwan were dumbfounded.
“Miss, weren’t you going to invite Cat Officials? Why are we running here?!”
Qin Wanwan said righteously: “Because I want to invite very powerful Kittens!”
