Chapter 340: Observations 2

Tan Laosi followed behind Meng Qingshan and walked into Luolong County; when he neared the city wall, he deliberately patted it and discovered that the wall was extremely solid, even sturdier than walls built from large stones.

"Little brother, I wonder what this city wall is made of?" Tan Laosi asked.

Meng Qingshan looked at Tan Laosi with disdain, just like a city dweller looking at a bumpkin from the countryside, and said, "Cement."

"Water? Mud?" Tan Laosi was puzzled; he knew water, and he was also very familiar with mud, but what was cement? Could it be that they mixed mud with water and then built the city?

That couldn't be, right? Even a child knew that a city wall made of mud would collapse with a gentle push; it was simply impossible for it to be as indestructible as the Luolong County city wall.

Tan Laosi continued walking forward with Meng Qingshan and discovered that the roads within the city were clean and tidy, also cast from the same material as the city wall, which made him realize that the building material called cement could be shaped at will and could also be as hard as stone.

This was a good thing; if this building material could be popularized throughout Dongzhou, it would be much easier to build cities and other defensive works.

Tan Laosi kept cement in mind and continued walking forward; soon, he saw a large, lush expanse of crops in the outer city area of Luolong County, which took him by surprise.

One had to know that within Dongzhou, many places had parched land, withered crops, and harvests that yielded nothing.

He hadn't expected that Luolong County's outer city would actually have planted so many crops, only these crops were not wheat, nor were they rice; they looked strange, and he didn't know what new variety of grain they were.

Tan Laosi also saw that the soil in the fields of the outer city area was fertile and moist, as if it had just been watered, and the crops were growing vigorously.

It was said that Meng Yifan could Summon Wind and Rain; it seemed the rumors were not false. Why would such an Immortal Master with boundless magical powers act as a rebel? Just by his ability to bring rain, even the Emperor would have to treat him with great respect.

"Eh! May I ask, little brother, what kind of crops are planted here?" Tan Laosi asked.

"These are potatoes, and those are sweet potatoes," Meng Qingshan said.

"Potatoes? Sweet potatoes?" There were no such two crops in the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty, and naturally, Tan Laosi had never heard the names of these two agricultural crops. Tan Laosi asked, "Little brother, I wonder how the harvest is for these two crops?"

Meng Qingshan said proudly, "Potatoes yield at least five thousand catties per mu, and sweet potatoes yield at least six thousand catties per mu."

"Impossible," Tan Laosi blurted out. In the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty, even in a year with favorable weather, food crops would only yield two or three hundred catties per year. If potatoes and sweet potatoes yielded five thousand catties per mu, wouldn't that mean the yield had increased more than twenty times? This was too terrifying; this little brother must be talking nonsense.

"Envoy, come with me," Meng Qingshan smiled, offered no explanation, and led Tan Laosi in another direction.

Following Meng Yifan's several instances of Summoning Wind and Rain, the rain that fell all contained Spirit Qi, which could accelerate the growth rate of the crops.

There was a small area that Meng Yifan had specially cared for, where the potatoes and sweet potatoes had already matured, and today, farmers happened to be harvesting the crops.

Soon, Tan Laosi saw that in a field of four or five mu, three farmers were harvesting crops. All three of them were First Grade Martial Artists who had practiced hand techniques like Iron Sand Palm and Eagle Claw Skill. He watched as they carefully dug open the soil with their hands, and soon pulled out something the size of a watermelon; after brushing off the mud, the purple crop inside was revealed.

"Envoy, please look, this is a sweet potato. The taste is sweet and delicious; it can be eaten as a staple food or as a vegetable," Meng Qingshan laughed.

Tan Laosi took two steps forward and weighed the large sweet potato, feeling that it was at least fifteen catties. If the sweet potatoes in an entire mu of land grew this big, six thousand catties per mu would be an underestimate; perhaps the yield could reach eight or nine thousand catties.

Good heavens, a yield of eight or nine thousand catties per mu—this was too exaggerated. If it could be fully promoted, wouldn't it mean there would never be famine in the country again?

Immortal Grain; the sweet potato was an Immortal Grain, an Immortal Grain that could save countless lives.

Tan Laosi was extremely excited and said, "Little brother, I wonder if I might eat a little bit of the sweet potato."

"Of course you can," Meng Qingshan laughed.

Tan Laosi held the sweet potato as if he were holding a rare treasure; he broke the outer skin, carefully broke off a small piece, stuffed it into his mouth, and slowly tasted it as he ate it.

"It's somewhat similar to an apple, the taste is sweet and delicious; good food," Tan Laosi praised endlessly.

On the other side, the potatoes were also being harvested. Soon, one mu of land was finished, and they weighed it right in front of Tan Laosi.

One mu of potatoes yielded seven thousand six hundred and thirty-eight catties, and one mu of sweet potatoes yielded nine thousand five hundred and thirty-two catties.

Tan Laosi was stunned and dumbfounded; he could not believe this was real. He personally went down to harvest a mu of sweet potatoes and personally went to weigh them; the result reached ten thousand one hundred and thirty-three catties.

"There is actually a crop in this world with a yield of over ten thousand catties per mu; this is truly incredible." Tan Laosi was shocked; the sweet potatoes and potatoes completely overturned his understanding of agricultural crops.

"Envoy, please follow me to the county office study; Lord Meng is waiting for you," Meng Qingshan said.

The reason Meng Qingshan brought Tan Laosi to see the potatoes and sweet potatoes was all because Meng Yifan had instructed it. Meng Yifan could not possibly agree to the imperial court's offer of amnesty, but he still needed those four types of Spirit Herbs and Spirit Stones, so Meng Yifan prepared to do business with Dongzhou City.

Using potatoes and sweet potatoes, or even AK47s and Rocket Launchers, to exchange for Spirit Herbs and Spirit Stones.

Tan Laosi followed Meng Qingshan and continued walking forward; soon he saw two huge Wind Turbines spinning rapidly, and he asked curiously, "Little brother Meng, I wonder what those are?"

Meng Qingshan said proudly, "Those are wind-powered Generators; they can generate electricity. Lord Meng says that in the future, every household of our Luolong County people will be able to use Electric Lamps, and even at night, our Luolong County will be brightly lit."

"Wind-powered Generators? Electric Lamps?" Tan Laosi heard two more terms. In his impression, a lamp was a kerosene lamp; how did it get linked to electricity?

Mentioning electricity, what Tan Laosi first thought of was rainy days, Lightning and Thunder; the power of Thunder was immense, and if one were struck by it, they would basically be charred.

Could it be that Meng Yifan had already subdued the violent Thunder, making it tame and useful for the people?

The more Tan Laosi thought about it, the more unfathomable he felt Meng Yifan was, and his heart was filled with awe for Meng Yifan.

Meng Qingshan led Tan Laosi to continue walking forward, and soon they arrived at a Grand Drill Ground, where many soldiers were conducting shooting training.

Some soldiers were holding a very special type of weapon in their hands; that weapon was only eighty-some centimeters long, looking somewhat like it was cast from refined steel, with a curved box underneath that looked somewhat like it held bullets.

He watched as that soldier pulled the trigger, and accompanied by a series of crisp gunshots, thirty bullets sprayed out, accurately hitting thirty targets three hundred meters away.

"What kind of weapon is this? It can actually fire continuously?" Tan Laosi asked in surprise.