Chapter 500: Pay-to-Win Palace Intrigue System (35)

"Old man, why are you looking so sour?"

Liu Shen, carrying a basin of laundry, returned from the river pier and, seeing her husband squatting under the eaves smoking a dry pipe with a grim expression, asked in confusion.

Farm Manager Liu let out a long sigh: "It's the master's family."

"What's wrong with the master's family? Isn't the harvest pretty good this year?"

"It has nothing to do with the harvest. The young mistress has come to the Farm."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

The more Liu Shen heard, the more puzzled she became.

In previous years, the master's family would also come to the Farm to stay for a few days at this time.

When the weather was nice, they would go out for autumn outings, and if they couldn't make it back to the city in time, they would also stay at the Farm.

What was there to worry about?

"You don't understand..."

Farm Manager Liu sighed heavily, took a puff of his stifling pipe, and said:

"The one who came this time is the young lady, and she brought several kinds of seeds, saying she wants to set up some Experimental Field; she won't let us plant cabbage in the fields anymore."

"The young lady? Is it the one from our manor who was taken in as a disciple by a martial arts expert many years ago?"

Seeing her husband nod, Liu Shen said happily: "Oh my! Then I must prepare a few good dishes and send them to the young mistress."

"..."

Seeing her husband's depressed and complex expression, Liu Shen snapped: "That's enough out of you! We are just here to work for the master's family; if the master is happy, we are happy. Even if the Seventh Young Lady is just planting things on a whim, it was permitted by the master and mistress, so why are you sighing? Don't act like you're the only one who knows about farming."

"..."

The logic was sound, but Farm Manager Liu still felt uneasy in his heart.

It was said that this young mistress had been wandering the pugilistic world with her master for years; how could someone who wanders the world know anything about seasonal farming?

It was nothing more than getting some seeds she had never seen before from somewhere and wanting to plant them for fun because she found them novel.

Large swathes of fertile fields, and instead of planting perfectly good cabbage, she insisted on setting up some Experimental Field.

Sigh...

But he was only a servant of the Xie Manor, so no matter how dissatisfied he was, he could only keep it to himself.

He only hoped the young mistress would soon grow tired of her sudden interest in farming and return to the manor to enjoy her life, rather than meddling in agricultural affairs.

Xie Yang did not know about Farm Manager Liu's complex psychological activities, but even if she did, she would still do it.

Which household didn't plant cabbage for winter storage? Not to mention other manors, even her own family had more than just this one Farm growing vegetables.

If there really wasn't enough to eat, they could always purchase more from farmers.

But high-yield Corn, sweet potatoes, and Potato were taking root and sprouting in the soil of the Great Ye Dynasty for the first time.

After arranging for people to plant them, Xie Yang went to check the Farm's Fire Chamber.

That's right, the Great Ye Dynasty also had Greenhouses, only they weren't in the open air, but in cellars.

In cellars that were warm in winter and cool in summer, after the start of winter, they would light low heated brick beds, and on these beds, they would grow chives, garlic sprouts, and yellow mustard greens that could survive without sunlight; this was the source of winter vegetables for wealthy families.

It wasn't winter yet, so the Fire Chamber hadn't been heated, but chives had already been planted, and growing them into yellow chives was also a seasonal dish.

Xie Yang took out some vegetable seeds she had exchanged from Europe, including Cabbage and Broccoli, and she also managed to get some Mushroom Spore, intending to try mushroom cultivation.

The Farm was very close to the mountains, and out the back door was the foot of the mountain.

When the masters came to the Farm for a short stay, it was either for spring outings or autumn viewing, and they would usually bring maids and guards in a grand procession up the mountain.

But after the young mistress arrived at the Farm, she didn't go anywhere; the Experimental Field and the Fire Chamber alone were enough to keep her busy.

Farm Manager Liu watched the busy young mistress, not knowing whether to be happy or worried.

This contradictory emotion stayed with him until the start of winter—

The strange-looking crops in the Experimental Field had matured!

"Manager! The young lady didn't lie to us! The crops she planted really have a high yield! That golden-yellow crop called Corn, guess how much we harvested per mu? Five and a half shi!"

"Hey! The sweet potatoes I was responsible for are even more! We harvested a full eight shi per mu!"

"Manager, Manager! That thing called Potato, we dug up twelve and a half shi per mu!"

Farm Manager Liu: "!!!"

The trial planting of the three major high-yield crops was a success!

This yield, while incomparable to the thousands of catties per mu in later generations, was, after all, a first-generation crop.

And it was only achieved after three years of careful cultivation on the South American continent and soaking in Nutrient Solution.

If they had used seeds directly from South America, the yield per mu would likely have been cut in half.

But others didn't know that; they thought this was the natural yield of the crop and were so shocked their jaws nearly hit the floor.

Soon, these three crops were delivered to the Emperor's desk in the Imperial Study.

Accompanying them was a memorial submitted by Third Master Xie.

After reading the memorial, the Emperor was overjoyed: "Heaven protects our Daye! To think there is such high-yield grain in this world!"

As for Third Master Xie's proposal to "wait until the high-yield crops are popularized throughout the north and south of Daye and the granaries are full, then exchange with the Western Regions for Heavenly Horse steeds," the Emperor did not approve it immediately.

It was still too early for the granaries to be full!

Beiguan had been relatively peaceful these past few years, with few wars, and they had just added a batch of Sweating Blood Horse this year, so there was no shortage of warhorses for the time being.

However, he was very satisfied with Third Master Xie's "taking precautions," and specifically praised Xie San a few times during the morning court session.

Third Master Xie: "..."

Well!

His seat hadn't even warmed up yet, and His Majesty had already made him a target of jealousy again.

Truly a sweet burden!

He thought he would at least be needled by a few people.

Unexpectedly, after the morning court session, not only did no one needle him, but they were instead extremely enthusiastic, surrounding him and scrambling to get him to spare some seeds of the high-yield crops.

Wanting to see what crops with a yield of five or even ten shi per mu looked like was one aspect, but more importantly, since the Emperor wanted to promote these crops, they as ministers naturally had to cooperate fully.

They were all people who mixed in official circles; how could they not see this shift in the wind?

However, the bulk of the high-yield crops harvested at the Farm had been donated to the Ministry of Revenue, to be distributed to farmers in the suburbs for trial planting after the spring of the coming year. The Xie Family only kept a small portion for seeds themselves, and were reluctant to even use them for a taste.

"Ouch! I almost didn't make it back!"

Xie San returned to the manor in a disheveled state more than an hour later than usual.

Madam Xie San asked hurriedly, "You didn't agree to spare any for them, did you, my lord?"

"How did you know that people wanted to find me to spare some high-yield seeds, Madam?"

Madam Xie San sneered: Why? Because she had encountered the same sweet trouble!

The mistresses of the various mansions who came to visit had nearly trampled her threshold flat.

Xie Yang took the opportunity to say, "Father, Mother, why don't I go find that Nongchang owner and buy back more high-yield grain seeds?"

The crops at the South America Nongchang must be having another bumper harvest this year; if there are no delays on the road, four or five months for a round trip should be enough. It won't make it in time for spring planting, but catching the autumn planting wouldn't be bad either!

"Where does this Nongchang owner you speak of live? How far is it from our Daye? Can a carriage reach it? What? You need to go by sea? Then let your eldest brother go!"

"..."

However, Xie Yang thought about it afterward; letting Xie Jing get familiar with this South America shipping route with his merchant fleet early on wouldn't be bad either, that way she could retire early and go treasure hunting in various famous mountains and great rivers at her leisure.