Chapter 32

Baili Jing rode his beloved little red date horse, with a small sack slung diagonally on the horse's back, inside which nestled his little white ze, leading a troupe of tall and mighty personal guards as they came and went shouting through the manor; Grand Tutor Xu tried to catch him but couldn't.

The King wasn't just playing around; they were scouting where to put the vegetable garden.

Finally he took a liking to the wasteland beside a dried-up small river ditch; maybe it will have water next year even though it's dry now! Letting him occupy the farmland for growing grain, the King still felt a bit reluctant. After being in You Prefecture for over half a year, the King is no longer the former King!

This place lies between the three merged manors; after the broken fence was torn down, this became wasteland; otherwise this relatively flat plot would have long been reclaimed and planted with grain.

He ordered the rear personal guards and eunuchs to halt, then he himself rode out to circle the wasteland, wanting to find a landmark to make his position easy to locate on the map.

Soon on the east bank of the small river they found a large stone and a tree root. The tree was indeed thick, but unfortunately the part above ground had already been cut off, leaving only a short stub of root that hadn't been dug up.

The King pretended to be looking at the distant harvest of crops, but in fact he was busy opening the map, rummaging for a while until he found his own position, then he took out the garden base stored in the warehouse and clicked to use it.

He thought that after placing and confirming it, it was done, and he could have people come over to dig the ground and plant vegetables.

Who would have thought that just as they put away the light panel, a tremor suddenly came from the ground beneath where they stood; although the magnitude was small, it was enough to startle Zhao Bao badly: 'The earth is moving! Your Highness, dismount quickly!'

The personal guards stationed not far away also jumped down from their horses one by one, straining to hold back the restless steeds.

Little Red Date remained very calm, and Baili Jing also followed the crowd and jumped to the ground. After training in martial arts, when Little Red Date stood still without running, his dismount from the horse was no longer so awkward.

Fortunately they were in a wasteland, which was a very safe place during the tremor. Zhao Bao quickly regained composure, ordering the personal guards to encircle the King on all sides; after a few more seconds of shaking, the earth finally returned to calm.

After everything had calmed down, Baili Jing pointed at the farm workers in the distance who were harvesting.

"Look, they are so calm."

Zhao Bao also found it very strange in his heart; an earthquake is a major event, yet those commoners behaved far too nonchalantly. Could You Prefecture frequently experience earthquakes? I've never heard of such a thing!

The King continued to coax, 'I feel it's not that the commoners don't know fear, but that only the place where we stand experienced the tremor! Otherwise they couldn't possibly be so calm.'

He quietly gave Zhao Bao a look, 'The seeds we brought would be better planted right here; it seems to be reminding us that this plot of land is not ordinary!'

Zhao Ba's expression changed drastically; he summoned Tong Shun, "Go ask the farmhands over there—did they feel the earthquake just now?"

The two sides were close, so Tong Shun quickly rode back, "Your Highness, the farmhands harvesting over there say they didn't feel the earthquake."

The Prince nodded, raised his small riding whip, and pointed at that stone, "Take this stone as the boundary's starting point, mark out a square of five mu to the west and south, fence it in—I want to plant something fresh here!"

Zhao Ba's expression kept shifting back and forth in just a moment; he suspected the Star Lord had given his lord some hint. But because of the earthquake, a dozen or so people had surrounded the Prince, making it inconvenient for him to inquire.

As soon as the Prince spoke, he arranged it, and everyone sprang into action.

Tong Hui was quickly summoned over, bringing with him the one hundred soldiers previously eliminated from the palace guard corps, and he also moved all the oxen from the manor over—fortunately, the harvesting stage only needed oxen in limited places.

The Prince had given an order: even if the autumn harvest stopped, they must press on.

Tong Hui and Zhao Ba personally measured and marked the lines.

The others began picking up stones outside, digging up large shrubs and small trees.

The grass lying flat on the ground couldn't be pulled up; in the dry weather they could only wait for the oxen to pull the plow over, then manpower would shake off the soil from the grass not pressed in and haul it away.

After the old ox had pulled the plowshare two steps across the ground, the farmhands guiding the plow and the little eunuchs watching the spectacle together let out exclamations!

Why?

The manor's land was uniformly loose yellow earth, yet here the plow turned up reddish-brown moist soil!

Not to mention the few old farmers who handled the oxen—even the soldiers conscripted from various places had never seen such a thing; the only consensus was that nobody doubted this place was highly suitable for farming.

Zhao Ba's expression was the most complicated; when turning his back, he quietly asked, "Your Highness, tell me the truth—was it the Star Lord who reminded you that this place is suitable for planting the seeds he gave?"

The Prince: "Oh… oh, yes!" Good, Zhao Ba had already figured out the brain-filling skill on his own.

Bai Li Jing, upon returning at night, studied the planting guide that came with the seeds; without looking, one wouldn't know that growing vegetables is also a branch of learning.

For instance, they must be planted according to season—those with long growing periods need to be sown in spring; also, most vegetables cannot be stored over winter, they wither and rot in just a few days, which makes them very unsuitable for Youzhou.

The Prince wanted to find something that could be stored without spoiling, ideally something he could sell to other commanderies and counties—melons, fruits, and vegetables.

The worst part is that this book not only teaches planting, but also includes recipes at the back. The Prince looked at it with stars in his eyes—many of the melons and fruits he, as the emperor's son, had never even tasted!

The Prince wished he could plant them and have them sprout tomorrow, but unfortunately most must be sown in spring and cannot mature before the northern freeze.

Take this cold melon, for example—it says the color is like red jade, the flavor sweet and juicy, refreshing and thirst-quenching, the flesh richly fragrant, with an endless aftertaste. The Prince was drooling as he read, but who knew that flipping to the back would reveal the planting season: April.

Isn't this deliberately making the Prince salivate!

The Prince flipped through the book with a rustle, and indeed the few kinds listed at the front are suitable for present-day Youzhou.

Namely, carrots, potatoes, and chili peppers.

These three can be planted in autumn; the Great Jin doesn't yet have these three vegetables, making them quite a novelty. Especially the flavor descriptions later on, he's extremely curious.

For instance, this carrot seems to be good for the body when eaten.

It says the root is fleshy, long conical in shape, and orange-red in color.

It also says it contains vitamins; the Prince doesn't really know what vitamins are, but he understands that this can cure night blindness—something almost everyone in the Great Jin suffers from!

At a glance the Prince spotted the keywords: braised carrot with mutton! This he can have.

The Great Jin has white radish; let Youzhou seize the lead under heaven and grow an orange-red carrot to eat. Look at the name—even its origin is given. Carrot, a new radish transmitted from the Hu people.

With this carrot that can cure night blindness, the chili powder later ground and sprinkled on roasted lamb legs didn't arouse much interest from the Prince, simply because he still doesn't know how to appreciate such things.

Having decided, he and Zhao Ba dumped that bag of seeds onto the ground to look—sure enough, those three were inside. As the text says, those listed up front are definitely the key recommendations.

The Prince also recorded the other seven kinds, planning to study their planting methods together tomorrow. No rush—after all, once the land is turned over it needs to be sun-dried for two days to kill insect eggs.

The gifted grand package contains ten kinds of fruits and vegetables: carrot, cucumber, chili pepper, cold melon, potato, white radish, napa cabbage, rapeseed, spinach, and tomato.

Seeing the white radish and napa cabbage, the Prince felt heartbroken—these two the Great Jin already has! He specially flipped through that list of a hundred examples for a careful comparison; napa cabbage is just "song cabbage"! What a precious slot—now two are gone.

Prince's diary:

【October 1, Youzhou Prince's Manor.

Drought; the first autumn harvest will be ruined, the Prince is deeply worried.

Father Emperor! You certainly won't watch your son starve to death; the son knows.

I don't even know what braised carrot with mutton tastes like, but I look forward to it.】

Drought, the first autumn harvest will be ruined, this king is very worried.

Father Emperor! You certainly won't watch your son starve to death, the son knows.

I also don't know what carrot‑stewed lamb tastes like, I'm looking forward to it.】