On behalf of Chen Guo, Uncle Xia asked for a pot from Lu Zhi, the general of the Chu army, like a mother sheep wanting to get back the lamb that had been swallowed from the mouth of a tiger.

The contrast in strength made Uncle Xia know that he could not get Huqiu back, and Chen Gonggong's authorization to him was also to give up Huqiu in exchange for the Chu army's retreat, but to use the recovery of Huqiu as a bargaining chip to force Lu Zhi not to continue to attack Chen Guo and not betray Chen Guo's other interests.

If the State of Chu had greater ambitions, Lu Zhi would definitely scoff at Uncle Xia's request, but he didn't expect that Lu Zhi was not like this, and Uncle Xia Yu had confidence in his heart.

After several rounds of bargaining, Xia Yushu and Lü Zhi finally reached an agreement: Chen relinquished Huqiu, the Chu army no longer held Chen responsible for his dealings with other countries, and the two countries redrew their borders.

Chen Guo swallowed the bitter fruit of being bullied by the Chu army, which was the result of the contest of strength, and it was also the consequence of the Jin State not sending troops to reinforce Chen in time.

Uncle Xia Yushu withdrew from Huqiu and returned to Zhuye after signing an agreement with Lu Zhi, but at this time, another minister was announcing to Chen Gonggong, saying that Xia Yushu had made too many concessions to the generals of Chu and betrayed the interests of Chen Guo, and Chen Gonggong was still so confused that he had forgotten the order he gave to Uncle Xia Yu to transfer Huqiu in exchange for the Chu army not to attack, and ignored the suggestions that demanded that Lord Sima be held responsible.

Uncle Xia Yu was exhausted and asked Chen Gonggong to take a few days off after explaining the details of the negotiations with Lu Zhi, the general of the Chu army, and Chen Gonggong agreed to Chen Gonggong's request for rest.

Uncle Xia Yu came to Zhuyuan, he wanted to have a good rest in this country house.

After resting for a night, Uncle Xia Yu got up early in the morning, and when he saw that the weather was good, he took a walk in the courtyard alone.

He saw a lot of chickens in the yard and the grove, and there were people rowing boats in the river by the yard, driving a large flock of ducks, and there were golden rice fields at the end of the yard.

Seeing the housekeeper Chen Ke and a group of people busy in the two rice fields to be harvested, Uncle Xia Yu walked over.

Chen could see that Uncle Sima Xia was coming, and hurriedly stepped forward to say hello.

Uncle Xia Yu walked to the edge of the field and saw that there was a clear difference between the rice fields of the two fields, one was flat, the rice was low, and the rice grains were not only small and flat, but they were no different from the rice he usually saw; The other is growing well, the rice grows tall and straight, and the ears are full and rich.

"Chen Ke, why is there such a big difference between the rice in these two fields?"

"My lord, these two fields were planted by Mrs. Xia herself, and the average growth was planted in the previous way, and the one with good growth was made in the way that Mrs. Xia taught." Chen Ke said.

"Huh? Such? Uncle Xia Yu was obviously very surprised.

"My lord, in addition to the good growth of rice on this side, there are also many loaches in the field, which can be scooped up after harvesting the rice field, and one field can be harvested with two different harvests at the same time."

"It's so smart, is it because of raising loaches and rice that it grows so well?" Uncle Xia Yu praised.

"My lord, that's just one of the reasons. The way of planting taught by Mrs. Xia is a completely new approach. ”

"Really? Tell me about this new approach. "Uncle Xia Yu's interest is very high.

"My lord, there are several aspects of the planting method under the guidance of Mrs. Xia that are different from the previous ones, one is breeding instead of sowing, the second is raising seedlings instead of water rakes to weed, and the third is raising loaches and earthworms to loosen the soil and improve the fertility of the land." Chen Ke said.

"It's a very novel idea, how to breed? What are the advantages. ”

"Adult, breeding is to concentrate on rice seedlings, so that the seedling rate of rice seeds is very high, and it is easy to manage." Chen Ke said.

"What about after breeding?"

"Adults, after breeding seedlings, it is to raise seedlings, and rice seedlings are raised intensively, so as to avoid the formation of weeds."

"What should I do with the seedlings after raising them?"

"My lord, when the seedlings grow to about one chopstick, they are inserted into the paddy field, and the paddy field is evenly sprinkled with loaches and earthworms before transplanting."

"Oh, I see, I see, but it's a lot more complicated than a fire rake."

"Yes, sir. It's complicated, but it's worth it if the yield is high. Mrs. Xia opened up two fields of the same size and planted them differently in order to compare the difference in yield. ”

"I'm also anxious to know now, I should be able to harvest the scythe, right?" Uncle Xia Yu said.

"I'll arrange the harvest now." Chen Ke said, and as he spoke, he began to organize a few people to harvest the rice in the two fields and place them separately.

After harvesting, the loaches from the paddy fields were also caught.

After the harvest is completed, they are threshed and weighed, and the rice field planted according to the traditional fire cultivation and water raking method harvests 480 catties of rice.

According to Mrs. Xia's breeding, seedling raising and transplanting method, the rice planted is 820 catties. In addition, there are more than 170 catties of loaches in this acre of field.

Uncle Xia Yu was overjoyed, he didn't expect that the lady who was born in the golden branches and jade leaves was so ice and snow smart, and nearly doubled the yield of one mu of paddy field, and also produced other additional products with higher value.

Uncle Xia Yu thought to himself: Great, if this planting method is vigorously promoted in Chen Kingdom, it can make our Chen Kingdom a rich place.

"Chen Ke, those free-range chickens and ducks were also taught to you by Mrs. Xia?"

"Yes, sir. Don't underestimate these chickens and ducks, they rarely eat food except for insects in the grass and fish and shrimp in the river. ”

"Don't eat much food? How can it be raised so well? They all look sturdy. ”

"My lord, the staple food that these chickens and ducks eat is insects raised according to the method taught by Mrs. Xia."

"Bugs? What bugs? ”

"It's a bit disgusting to say, but chickens and ducks love to eat it, and raising these bugs is easy and doesn't cost food." Chen Ke said.

"Disgusting bugs? It can't be maggots, right? ”

"Your Excellency is right, this is it."

"Haha, it's disgusting, but it's so simple and costly." Uncle Xia Yu said, secretly thinking in his heart that this idea is really amazing.

"My lord, Mrs. Xia's experiment with raising chickens and ducks with maggots and experimenting with new planting methods are all to facilitate the promotion in the Zhuangyuan fiefdom of Xia Mansion, so that the grain output can be greatly increased and the output of chickens, ducks and poultry eggs can be increased without competing with others for food." Chen Ke said again.

"yes, Madame's method is so good, I really don't know how she came up with it." Uncle Xia Yu was amazed, and he had the impression that Xia Ji had always been a noble lady who did not touch the spring water with her fingers, why was she so good at these things such as farming and raising chickens.

Uncle Xia Yu returned to the lobby from the Zhuangyuan rice test field, and immediately wrote the end of the war between Chu and Chen, as well as the yield of two acres of land and the yield of loaches, on a strip of silk cloth, tied it to the leg of the carrier pigeon, and passed the news to Xia Ji, who was far away in Zheng Guoxin Zheng.