Chapter 352: The Agricultural Office

Outside Xianyang City, there was a military camp.

The army of thirty thousand had long since assembled; the majority of this force consisted of the Imperial Court's Imperial Guards, absolute elites.

Using them for farming was clearly a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, yet in reality, the Great Qin of today had millions of soldiers who also had nothing to do.

After all, with the world unified, aside from some fighting in Nanyue and the northern Caoyuan, there was almost no place for the armies in other regions to be of use.

Because of the dense forests in Nanyue, the great army could not advance at all; the same was true for the Beidi, where the Imperial Court's army was also relegated to passive defense.

"Old Wang, I'll leave the army's affairs to you."

In the camp, now that Su Fan had caught a useful tool, he naturally wouldn't let him go. With Su Fan's eye, he could tell these thirty thousand Imperial Guards were absolute elites; he didn't know how they compared to Meng Tian's Golden Fire Cavalry.

But in the battle at the Mo Jia Ji Guan Cheng, the soldiers under Li You's command had looked much like these Imperial Guards.

"Rest assured, General."

In the army, Wang Zhan was no longer as he had been before; the military valued status and rank, especially the hierarchy between superiors and subordinates.

In the army, Su Fan was the commander-in-chief, so Wang Zhan naturally had to uphold Su Fan's military prestige.

"Zheng Lao, I will have to trouble you next to lead the men in crafting all of these."

The things Su Fan brought out were farming implements from later generations, far better than those in this world.

Agricultural tools were also an auxiliary means of increasing yield per mu; for instance, the curved-shaft plow was something absolutely indispensable in ancient times.

Of course, since this world had the "black technology" of the Mohist School, Su Fan was also prepared to take some machines from later generations and bring them to this world for these people to study.

Zheng Lao was from the Qin Mohists and was a craftsman belonging to the Lesser Prefecture of Works. With Su Fan's current status, borrowing a portion of manpower from the Lesser Prefecture of Works was simple.

"Rest assured, Agricultural Official Su, this old man will craft the things the General needs as quickly as possible."

Zheng Lao said hurriedly. Facing Su Fan, he dared not act like an elder; the other party was young, but to have reached the rank of Two Thousand Shi at such a young age, comparable to their own boss, he had to be respectful.

"Then I'll trouble you."

Su Fan smiled upon hearing this.

Thus, for the next period of time, Su Fan was busy training the agricultural personnel who had come to learn; these people were all from the Agricultural Office.

The Agricultural Office was a department specifically appointed by Ying Zheng to promote agricultural technology, and Su Fan was the Assistant of the Agricultural Office, the top official.

Once this agricultural technology was promoted throughout the world, the Agricultural Office would officially become a new department of Great Qin; even if it wasn't equal to the Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers, it wouldn't be far off.

As an emerging department, it was inevitable that some noble scions would mix in, but the majority of the others were truly dedicated people.

After Su Fan taught for a few days, he let Su Pei take his place.

Then, after half a month, the temporary training was almost finished; after all, his instructional techniques had long since been compiled into text.

The training was merely to point out the problems they had.

Eight hundred people disappeared in the blink of an eye; they were sent to various commanderies and counties to begin their guidance work.

Those who could join the Agricultural Office were not fools; they were very clear that this was absolutely a good department.

Guiding local agricultural work—once the autumn harvest came next year, as long as the grain harvest increased in every region, these would all be their merits.

Since they had become officials, no one didn't want to rise and advance, and the Agricultural Office was the best place for advancement.

Especially in the first year, as long as one was diligent and followed the Assistant's guidance methods, it would definitely increase the grain in the fields.

Therefore, many people broke their heads trying to get into the Agricultural Office.

This also made Su Fan increasingly popular in Xianyang City.

As the head of a department, he could control the world's agriculture, even though the autumn tax revenue had nothing to do with him.

But the interest relationships involved were still very significant.

Many wealthy merchants and nobles wanted to meet Su Fan.

However, it was a pity that Su Fan didn't give them a chance at all. Every day in the military camp, besides practicing, he spent his time with the people from the Lesser Prefecture of Works, researching various machines.

At the same time, he also invited agricultural personnel from all over the world, as well as some local veteran farmers, to study together how to further increase agricultural yields.

Donghai, Sanghai City.

"Do you all have any thoughts after seeing this news?"

"Can the grain yield really increase by thirty percent?"

"Indeed! The news from Xianyang City says this person has already been promoted by Ying Zheng to General of the Household for Agriculture and Assistant of the Agricultural Office."

"We also had a few people arranged to enter the Agricultural Office, and they have brought back this person's methods for increasing agricultural grain yields."

"Ying Zheng has already begun large-scale promotion."

"Once it is truly promoted, the annual grain revenue of Ying Qin will increase greatly, and by that time..."

Fan Zeng's face was gloomy. If the Xiang Clan wanted to rebel and restore the Chu State, relying solely on the Xiang Clan was impossible. Even if some of the people in Jiangdong still leaned toward the Chu State, once the grain harvest truly increased significantly...

Even the people of Jiangdong would likely be unwilling to follow the Xiang Clan in rebellion.

As a top-tier strategist, Fan Zeng was very clear about this point, so he knew that their great cause of restoring the state had reached a moment of extreme crisis.

"This person must die!"

"And we must also stop the Agricultural Office; we cannot let this technology be promoted throughout the world."

Da Tiechui said resentfully upon hearing this.

"Everyone, wanting to kill this person is likely not that easy; Ying Zheng must have already made preparations."

Zhang Liang saw everyone was filled with righteous indignation, so he hurriedly said.

At the same time, he felt moved in his heart. He hadn't expected that since they parted that day, this person would have risen so high. Although he felt this person was extraordinary at the time, he hadn't expected that in the half-year since they left, the other party would have become a high-ranking official of Great Qin.

General of the Household for Agriculture, a high-ranking official with a rank comparable to Two Thousand Shi, was definitely considered the upper echelon of the Great Qin government.

At the time, he had even thought about winning the other party over; he hadn't expected the other party to give him such a big surprise in the blink of an eye.

Like Fan Zeng, as a top-tier strategist, he was very clear about the consequences of increased grain.

Originally, he felt that if Great Qin continued to follow its past harsh laws, it would be a good thing for those of them determined to restore their states.

Because of the harshness, the people of the Six States did not have a high acceptance of Qin law to begin with. Once they encountered any natural disasters and grain yields decreased, many people would not be able to survive; as long as they gave a push from behind, it would inevitably trigger countless uprisings.

However, now, if the Great Qin's grain increases, then it will be different; it will also become much more difficult for them to incite others.

He has gone deep into the grassroots and is very clear that the common people at the bottom do not have great demands; as long as they can survive, no one is willing to live a life where they might be beheaded.