Chapter 383

"What do you all think?"

Seeing the few flip the booklets to the end, Liang Qu asked.

"Wonderful, truly wonderful!"

"Lord Liang's learning is heaven-defying; a slight move is extraordinary!"

"I have always heard that Lord Liang has many ingenious ideas, creating the pinyin method in the academy and inventing new ship anchors in the River Patrol Office. I never expected that even farming would have such ingenious methods; truly, hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once."

The shopkeeper of the Changchun Branch Hall in Yixing Town was the son of Shopkeeper Chen of the General Hall in Pingyang County, hence called Small Shopkeeper Chen, who highly praised Liang Qu's creative idea of intercropping.

Liang Qu was not what he used to be; his ears had grown calluses from hearing others' praise, so he didn't take it to heart, not to mention that it was all the wisdom of predecessors.

"Everyone, there's no need for scruples; if you have problems, just say them. To be honest, I don't know much about raising black-spotted frogs and golden-threaded leeches, and I'm not clear if there are any conflicts of interest."

"Lord Liang is too modest. This old man believes that just looking at the rice-frog and rice-leech farming methods, there isn't much wrong. At the very least, if handled properly, the situation of mutual supplementation and mutual support can indeed be realized, and the difficulty is not great."

"Once joint farming is realized, every mu of frog field can produce at least one extra mu of rice output out of thin air. While increasing income, it reduces the use of fertilizers and feed, lowers costs, and greatly increases the output rate!"

The two herb merchants became happier the more they looked, and were convinced by Liang Qu's vision.

Coming here this time, the two hadn't held much expectation, just treating it as "accompanying the prince to study."

They would agree to non-excessive requests on the spot, just to win the favor of a local powerhouse; if it was too excessive, they would spend money to find the Herb Merchant Association to mediate.

In the medicinal herb circle, how can one avoid dealing with martial artists? No one is made of mud.

Never did they expect to reap such a big surprise from the hands of a descendant of a fishing family!

Farming is very particular, and the primary one is fertilizer.

What does it mean that fertile water doesn't flow into outsiders' fields?

Excrement and urine should be piled in the place where one's own fields are composted!

Whether it's river silt or composted feces, it's all shiny silver.

Besides fertilizer, another major problem in farming is pests.

The Great Shun has no pesticides, which doesn't mean they don't control pests; a more common method is to use Jia grass and Mang grass.

Coastal areas will even burn oyster shells to produce oyster lime, using the alkalinity of oyster lime as an insecticide.

The methods of use include mixing into seeds for storage, planting with seeds, soaking in water or boiling juice for spraying, lighting for smoke, and applying to insect-bored holes.

One by one, it all requires manpower and investment.

Rice-frog joint farming is different.

Frog feces are fertilizer, and the frogs themselves will eat pests!

Rice-frog joint farming reduces fertilizer use while disguisedly solving the pest problem and lowering feed input!

In addition, the two also suspected that planting rice in frog fields would also help increase the yield of black-spotted frogs.

Ordinary frog farming is nothing more than digging shallow ponds, concentrating all frog species into a piece of silt land, and surrounding it with nets.

If farmed a bit densely, and if water quality isn't paid attention to for a few days, infectious plagues will break out, and whole ponds will die of disease.

No matter what, the farming environment cannot compare to the lush green rice fields.

As for rice-leech, it is more complicated than rice-frog, but the general situation is still about the same, with only differences in details.

Seeing that the two had no objections, Liang Qu made the final decision.

"Since the two have no problems, I'll take it seriously. But after the rice is cooked, how should it be eaten? Do the two have any suggestions?"

The two herb merchants looked at each other, whispered a few words, and the older one stood up.

"Lord Liang, why not do this: the operation of those fifteen mu of fields will be counted on us, and our people will plant them. In addition, the two of us will each contribute one hundred mu, totaling two hundred and fifteen mu."

"We won't do any summer plowing; we'll test the effect from spring plowing. If we lose, we two will bear it ourselves; if we earn, the income from the fifteen mu of fields will all belong to... this..."

"Chen Qingjiang."

"All will belong to Lord Qingjiang. The remaining two hundred mu will be based on the average profit of previous years, and Lord Liang will take half of all extra income."

"If we expand the scale in the future, it will all be like this, with the extra benefits split fifty-fifty. Costs, labor, and operation will all be borne by us. How about that?"

Liang Qu pondered for a moment.

"Good!"

In farming and breeding, the biggest cost is actually time.

Once the time period is missed, one has to wait for the next year.

The two herb merchants were powerful, and they were so generous in the testing stage, so Liang Qu naturally had no objections.

Moreover, splitting the extra income fifty-fifty meant Liang Qu was doing business without capital and wouldn't involve any energy.

A win-win.

The most critical point is that farming is an asset that can drive a wide range of common people to get rich!

Why can't many local powerhouses act rashly, even if they commit a crime?

It is precisely because their roots are deep and closely related to the overall interests of the locality.

Moving one part affects the whole body.

After simply discussing the distribution of benefits, Liang Qu kept everyone for lunch.

It just so happened that the flying dragon sent by Fan Zixuan hadn't been eaten.

In the following days, rice-frog and rice-leech farming were further perfected in the hands of the two herb merchants. At the same time, both sides drew up an agreement and entrusted the Herb Merchant Association to find a middleman to guarantee it, signing and stamping it, but the identity of the middleman caught Liang Qu off guard.

"Head of the Academy!?"

Zhao Ji stroked his beard and smiled.

"Why, are you surprised to see me?"

Liang Qu bowed respectfully: "The student is indeed surprised; I really didn't expect you, Head of the Academy, to come and be the middleman."

Small Shopkeeper Chen bowed and said: "Head of the Academy Zhao is venerable and respected, and has always had a reputation, so he couldn't be more suitable."

"I have read the agreement between you beforehand. If the rice-frog and rice-leech planting methods can really increase the output of each mu of land and be promoted, it is truly a beneficial matter. The disputes of ancient and modern times are nothing more than that little output in the fields."

"Head of the Academy has true insight!"

It is true that there are benefits to being a middleman, but it is also true that Zhao Ji cherishes his own feathers.

For simple interest negotiation, Zhao Ji would never appear here.

Yang Dongxiong is actually better, a local powerhouse, and has connections just like the Herb Merchant Association.

But Yang Dongxiong is Liang Qu's master, and there is a distinction between close and distant.

The middleman approved everything, and there were no problems with the agreement.

Liang Qu was decisive, signing and stamping on the spot, pressing his own title seal and name seal, in duplicate, to be kept by both sides.

A few days later.

Chen Qingjiang's fifteen mu of fields had been plowed into ridges and frog ditches under the hard work of the water buffalo, and the frost hanging on the weeds by the field ridges had not yet completely melted.

Liang Qu was accompanied by farmers.

"As Lord Liang sees, all fields are expected to be plowed and completed by April, with bamboo tubes and fences installed."

"When raising frogs in new fields, what is generally done?"

"We will first disinfect."

"Disinfect?"

"That is, each mu of land is first sprayed with 140 to 240 jin of quicklime stirred into a paste to kill enemies and insect eggs, eliminate epidemic qi, and prevent the black-spotted frogs from getting sick."

"After twelve hours of clearing the pond, add water to submerge the field surface, soak for another twelve hours, drain the water, and finally refill with new water to eighty percent full. It takes about three days before the black-spotted frog species can be stocked."

"When transplanting rice in the summer, it will probably be the growth stage when tadpoles grow limbs. According to your plan, my lord, it is not much different from our usual frog farming, except for adding a rice transplanting link in the middle and changing the terrain of the frog pond."

Seeing the farmer speak clearly and logically, Liang Qu couldn't help but nod.

The idea was given, the rest was left for them to do, waiting to collect money, expand the scale, and become a powerhouse.

After settling the farming industry, Liang Qu didn't have much to do for the next half month.

By the pond, a new two-story wooden house was freshly baked, and the snake demon the Dragon People spoke of never appeared.

Very comfortable.

Until the end of the first lunar month.

Liang Qu finally received a reply from his senior brother far away in the Flowing Gold Sea, and rode a horse to the post station to receive the package.

The package was in hand, and the weight was not light.

Liang Qu's heart was pounding.

He rubbed his fingertips and nervously opened the package.

In the center of the cloth package, two yellow-skinned ancient books that had experienced the precipitation of time came into view.

"Green Dragon Killing Classic"!

"Green Dragon Seven Killing Spear"!

Observing the front and back, the covers were all there, and there was no major damage!

It's the real deal!

"Ha."

Liang Qu let out a long breath, his tense nerves relaxed, and he slumped into the armchair.

Not easy.

Too not easy.

From exchanging martial arts for water control to today, it has been half a year!

After many twists and turns, the two martial arts were obtained in their entirety!

Since the day he sent the letter, the unease in Liang Qu's heart had never stopped, always worried that the bamboo basket would end up empty.

No other reason.

A location pieced together by two books, there were simply too many variables.

Who could know if, after the long changes of time, the place initially set up was still there?

Maybe two mice got in and destroyed it, or some strange person fell off a cliff and got there first.

Fortunately.

"Lord Liang, there is another package for you, sent from the entire Heyuan Prefecture."

The post station clerk brought out another item, square and upright.

Opening it, there were two wooden boxes.

Liang Qu wasn't in a hurry to open them, because there was a letter sent with the two secret manuals.

Breaking the wax seal, the writer was none other than his senior brother Yang Xu.

The letter began with greetings, and then Yang Xu recounted the cause and effect of this search for the items.

It turned out that the location Liang Qu gave was an underwater cave dwelling.

The cave dwelling was completely submerged in the Flowing Gold Sea, carved on the cliff of Bitter Wood Cliff, and was exceptionally hidden.

Even though Yang Xu had the exact location, he led his men to search for two full days in the ice and snow.

There weren't many things in the underwater cave dwelling, just some daily necessities, some furniture, and the rest were two martial arts manuals and two treasure plants.

Yang Xu guessed that the treasure plants grew later, because the roots all drilled out from the cracks in the furniture, squeezing the wood until it cracked.

Leaving the roots and taking the things, Yang Xu rushed back to Heyuan Prefecture without stopping and entrusted a messenger to send them, which could be described as rushing.

The two wooden boxes contained the two treasure plants.

Regarding one of them, Yang Xu specifically explained why the three-hundred-year-old blood ginseng only had half a section.

He took a part to distribute to the brothers as hard-earned money, and the remaining half, along with the other treasure plant, was sent with the letter.

At the end of the letter, Yang Xu wrote a few paragraphs of encouraging words, saying that if there was a chance, he hoped the two could meet in Huangzhou.

Liang Qu put away the letter and opened the wooden box.

Blood ginseng, the name has blood, it seems it should be all red, but in fact, it only glows with a faint orange-red.

It belongs to a very good healing treasure medicine, often used to make life-saving elixirs; below the Wolf Smoke realm, the effect of saving lives and hanging breath is excellent.

In the previous great battle with the Ghost Mother Sect, the main ingredient of the "Non-Lonely Pill" that everyone had one of was this.

The other one...

Inside the wooden box, three fruits with black skin, the size of a chicken head, with a circle of flesh skin on top, rolled around, the skin slightly shriveled.

The journey was long and bumpy, causing the three fruits to be slightly shriveled, with signs of rot in many places.

Liang Qu held the wooden box, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

It was actually three cockscomb fruits!

No wonder there was no mention of it in the letter; it wasn't anything amazing at all.

There would be no difference between cockscomb fruits grown in the Flowing Gold Sea and those grown in the Jianghuai Great Marsh.

These three things were sent thousands of miles from the Flowing Gold Sea to the Jianghuai Great Marsh, and the manpower and material resources spent in the middle already exceeded their own value!

Indeed, just a small cave dwelling, occasionally being able to grow such good healing treasure medicine as blood ginseng is already quite remarkable; how could there be two plants at once.

Closing the wooden box.

Liang Qu suppressed his excitement, packed his bags, hurried home, closed the door, and entered the quiet room.

Starting today.

Seclusion!

In the quiet room.

Liang Qu lit the golden oil lamp, opened the two ancient books, and studied them seriously.

A few days passed in a flash.

Except for eating and washing, Liang Qu almost never stepped out of the quiet room, and his daily routine became the same as the old monk's.

But today there was a slight accident.

In the pond, the old toad was quite dissatisfied. When it faced the wooden house by the pond and learned that the wooden house was for the Dragon People to live in, it clamored to see Liang Qu.

"Why let the Dragon People move in? Who agreed? Who allowed it?"

It wasn't that the old toad was unhappy.

Fist, Can't Move, River Otter, Da He Li all lived in the same pond, and this place looked like a water beast paradise.

Many beasts make it lively, which is quite good.

What the old toad was unhappy about was that Liang Qu hadn't told it!

Didn't we agree that the frog clan was the master of this place?

Fist, Da He Li, they were there before, so living there was fine.

But there were newcomers, and he didn't even notify it!

The fat catfish hugged the old toad, busy calling out that it couldn't be done, while sending a message to the Heavenly God in the spiritual link, looking for a way to break the situation.

In the secret room.

Liang Qu, who hadn't had much success, was rubbing his eyebrows, and upon hearing the message, he shuddered.

Bad thing.

The Dragon People moved into the pond, and he really hadn't told the old toad!

There is always a slip in a hundred.

He forgot that the old toad was the nominal pond master.

For a while, he felt embarrassed to explain in person, but...

In the pond, the fat catfish, hugging the old toad's bucket waist and delaying it from entering the inner courtyard, changed its eyes and suddenly let go of the old toad.

The old toad's waist loosened, and caught off guard, it fell face-first onto the pond stone. It stood up cursing, scolding the footless frog for not talking about frog morality.

But at this moment, the fat catfish stood up out of the water, its two long whiskers fluttering in the wind, and amidst the solemnity, there was a trace of majesty!

The fat catfish danced its long whiskers, pointing and scolding, while secretly glancing at the old tridacna.

The old tridacna had some enlightenment, cleared its throat, and spoke loudly.

"Treasure Toad! Have you forgotten the great wish of the frog clan's past kings to unify the Great Marsh?"

The old toad was bluffed and hurriedly lay on the ground.

"I wouldn't dare forget for a moment!"

"Since that's the case, then we must unite all forces that can be united and form the broadest united front! Make more friends and fewer enemies!"

"Make more friends and fewer enemies?"

The old toad smacked its lips and waved its claws.

"Keep talking, keep talking!"

The pond was full of clamor.

Da Kai, who was observing from the side, was thoughtful.

Inside the quiet room.

The candlelight was dim.

After finally getting the fat catfish to persuade the old toad, Liang Qu's attention returned to the two secret manuals, feeling quite a headache.

In three days, he had read the entire content of the two secret manuals, and learned from the preface of the complete version of the "Green Dragon Seven Killing Spear" that there was a cause and effect.

The founder of this spear technique was the Heaven-Human Jiang Zongshi who left the charm on the "Green Dragon Killing Classic"!

The complete version of the "Green Dragon Killing Classic" belongs to a general martial arts secret manual; those who learn the saber can use it, and those who learn the sword can also use it, focusing on the method of killing.

The "Green Dragon Seven Killing Spear" is a set of spear technique moves additionally summarized by the Heaven-Human Jiang Zongshi after observing the "Green Dragon Killing Classic".

Because both come from the same source, the True Steel that can be condensed is all Taiqing Dragon Steel!

Therefore, Liang Qu doesn't have to suffer from choice difficulty, but it's not that simple to get started and cultivate True Steel.

At least he must fully practice the last two moves of the Green Dragon Seven Killing Spear to the Minor Completion realm.

Fortunately, Liang Qu, who possesses the Mirage Insect, still has plenty of time.

The only problem...

"Is the charm so hard to comprehend?"