It was soon August, which was the happiest time of the year for the people of Qianshou, because the crops were about to be harvested.

The grain crops of Wuling County are mainly rice, this year has been smooth and rainy, after the new Wuling County Shou Zhang Yi took office, he attaches great importance to agricultural production, and has done a very good job in water conservancy irrigation and persuasion of agriculture, so the growth of rice this year is very good, and it is a bumper harvest year.

As a thorn history, too shou, every year in the spring ploughing and harvest time to symbolically go to the farmland to work for a day, in order to show the importance of agricultural production, this year's spring ploughing, because of the rebellion of Zhao Ci to go to Nanyang Ping, so Wang Ei failed to work with the people, harvest season, Wang Ei must not be missed.

This is also a way to gain the hearts and minds of the people.

On this day, Wang Rong, Wang Heng, Zhang Yi, and the state and county officials changed into farmers' clothes together and came to a field in the eastern suburbs of Hanshou City.

Zheng Xuan also brought some of his proud disciples, he came with great interest, he has been cultivating in his hometown and Buqi Mountain for many years, and he is still very interested in agricultural production, in fact, some of the courses he teaches involve agricultural production, and among his disciples, there are many who know agriculture.

In this era, many great masters of scripture not only studied theories, but also were willing to practice, and the courses they taught were also very rich, not only Confucianism, including Huang Lao's art, law, astronomy, calendar, arithmetic, poetry, tuwei, agriculture, etc., all taught, with few ideological constraints, and the disciples who taught them also had many talents, which was in stark contrast to the later generations of Confucianism who were not diligent and did not distinguish between grains and grains.

Of course, Zheng Xuan was also among them, and he also went one step further and founded Zheng Xue, which integrates ancient and modern scriptures.

After Wang Rong and the others came to this field, the local villagers, villagers and some old farmers greeted them, and they saluted Wang Rong and others, Wang Rong smiled and asked, "How is this year's harvest?" ”

The villager's name was Pan Gui, and he replied respectfully: "Wang Yuanjun, this year is fortunate to have good weather and proper state and county decrees, and this year's harvest should be very good." ”

Wang Rong nodded with a smile.

After a brief ritual of opening the sickle, the people went down to the field with their sickles.

Wang Heng was in the field for the first time, he followed the example of others and wore a hat, a short brown and short silk, barefoot, and a sickle, and began to cut the rice, but he saw that other old farmers were cutting very briskly, and it was far from the same thing as cutting it himself.

Harvesting rice requires a hunched waist, Wang Heng is now growing very fast, has grown to about seven feet five inches, hunched back pain for a while, this soreness is not his body, so there is no way to alleviate it, he has to straighten up his waist and rest when he cuts.

Soon, he was left far away by the old peasants around him, and even a few of Zheng Xuan's disciples were much faster than him, Wang Heng sighed helplessly and shook his head, and could only chase after him hard.

When Wang Heng's field was only cut to less than half, an old farmer on his left finished cutting his own field, seeing that Wang Heng was cutting hard, the simple old farmer came to help him, Wang Heng shook his head and said: "Uncle, I'm too useless." ”

The old farmer was cutting the rice quickly, and said with a smile: "Childe is a person who does big things, and people like us can do such small things." ”

Wang Heng said: "This is not a trivial matter, the people take food as the sky, and everyone in the world has to rely on farmers to feed, and I am certainly no exception." ”

The old farmer just smiled and didn't speak, but his hands quickened the action of cutting the rice.

Wang Heng asked, "Uncle, who else are there in your family?" How many acres do you have? Are you having a good time? ”

The old farmer had a smile on his face: "Son, there is an old wife in Xiaomin's family, two sons, a daughter, the daughter is not yet an adult, the two sons have married wives, the eldest son has a son, and the second daughter-in-law is also pregnant. The small people have a total of 71 acres of land, and this year's harvest is good, at least three or four stones per acre, Wang Tingshi and Zhang Taishou are sympathetic to the people, and it seems that next year will be much better. ”

Wang Heng quickly calculated that the land endowment in the Han Dynasty was not high, thirty taxes were one, and the old peasants had seventy-one acres of land in their homes, and the acres referred to in this area were the big acres of the Han Dynasty, each mu was about equal to 0.7 acres in modern times, and if the yield per mu could reach three stones, seventy-one acres could harvest two hundred and thirteen stones of rice, and if it could reach four stones, it would be two hundred and eighty-four stones.

The price of grain in Jingzhou is not as high as in the north, and the price of rice is about 200 yuan per stone, so that the rice harvested by the old farmer's family this year is worth about 40,000 to 50,000 yuan, that is to say, the family's harvest in a year is equivalent to a Wuling spring wine.

There are six adults in the old farmer's family, and each person is given one hundred and twenty yuan, but his little daughter-in-law is pregnant, so he doesn't need to pay the calculation, and he has to pay six hundred yuan for one item, and he has to pay one hundred yuan for the oral allowance in previous years, and this year it should be exempt.

If it was in previous years, Cao Yin collected a lot of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, which were canceled this year, that is to say, the remaining income of the old farmer's family this year is still more than 40,000 yuan, and it is still possible to feed the whole family at today's prices.

However, if the year is not good and the taxes are high, the life of the old farmer's family is indeed difficult.

Like a few years ago, there was a great drought in the north, and the crops were not harvested, but the Ling Emperor Liu Hong and local officials were still desperately exploiting, so why didn't the people rebel?

Wang Heng was sighing, and the old farmer was still saying with joy on his face: "This year, because of the elimination of the four evils, my family's oral endowment does not have to be paid, the little daughter-in-law is pregnant, and I have saved a person's arithmetic, it seems that I can buy more family business next year." ”

Seeing the hopeful face of the old farmer, Wang Heng suddenly felt that he had the responsibility to make the people's lives better.

When Wang Heng's land was more than half harvested, Guoyuan on his right also finished harvesting his own field and came to help.

Wang Heng and Guoyuan are also about the same age, and they usually talk very well, Wang Heng said: "Senior Brother Guoyuan, you also received it so quickly?" ”

Guo Yuan said with a smile: "When I was not in the mountains, I was the best farmer among the disciples of the teacher. ”

The three of them harvested together, the speed was much faster, and after a while, Wang Heng's land was also harvested, and the harvested rice was bundled and placed on the edge of the field, and the three of them sat on the ground together to rest.

Guoyuan asked the old farmer: "Uncle, after harvesting the rice, what will be planted in the field in winter?" ”

The old farmer said: "If you don't plant anything, the fields must rest and store the land, otherwise there will be no good harvest next year." ”

Wang Heng nodded, there is no chemical fertilizer in these years, and it is indeed necessary to store soil power.

But Guo Yuan shook his head and said: "We have two kinds of wheat a year, wheat in spring and beans in autumn. ”

The old farmer's eyes widened: "Can there be a harvest then?" ”

Guo Yuan said: "If you plant wheat in the field where you have planted beans, the harvest will be better than the harvest of a single crop of wheat." ”

The old farmer didn't believe that a teenager like Guoyuan could be better than himself in farming, although he still looked decent when he put away the rice, but after all, he was too young, he shook his head again and again: "This son, don't coax me, I don't believe it." ”

Wang Heng remembered at this time, Hu bean is also broad bean, broad bean has rhizobia, can produce nitrogen fixation, can indeed improve land fertility, although the farmers of this era do not understand the scientific truth, but with long-term practical experience, can also make a choice in line with scientific principles.

Wang Heng smiled and said to the old farmer: "Old man, this is the disciple of Master Zheng Xuan Zheng, Master Zheng has the ability, his name is even known to the emperor, and he has also planted in Beihai and Donglai for decades, and he has planted very well." Since it was Master Zheng's disciple, it must have made sense. In this way, you try to plant 10 acres of beans according to what he said this year, and if the rice harvest of these 10 acres is not as good as that of other fields next year, I will compensate for the loss, and if the harvest is better than other fields, then you will plant like this in the future, okay? ”

The old farmer knew that Wang Heng was the son of the Thorn History, since he said so, it must also make sense, how many good things the Thorn History has done to them this year!

The old farmer nodded and said, "That's okay, I'll plant ten acres of beans this year, and I don't need any compensation if the harvest is bad next year, if the harvest is good, I'll let everyone plant like this." ”

Wang Heng nodded happily.

The old farmer said: "But we don't have the right bean seeds here!" ”

Wang Heng looked at Guoyuan, Guoyuan explained the reason, it turned out that Hu Dou was still a crop variety brought back from the Western Regions by Zhang Qian of the former Han Dynasty, and it was still relatively popular in the north, but there were not many people planting in the south, which is why there was no secret in Wuling that Hu Dou and grain crop rotation could increase yield.

This matter is easy to solve, Wang Heng only needs to ask the Tongjiang business to bring back a batch of bean seeds from the north.

At this time, other old farmers who had harvested their fields also gathered around and listened to Guoyuan's words.

Guoyuan introduced the specific method of rice and soybean rotation, now in the north, with the improvement of water conservancy facilities, rice planting is also very popular, they found that the rotation of beans and other food crops can increase the soil fertility and yield, and the rotation of beans and rice belongs to the rotation of water and drought, and it can more mature the field, as long as a few years, the rotation of the land can become mature and fertile land.

The farmers are most interested in what is going on in the field, which is related to their harvest next year, so they listen to it with great interest.

Later, Wang Ei, Zheng Xuan, Zhang Yi and others also finished harvesting their own piece of land, and came to the crowd to listen to Guoyuan's speech.

Guoyuan said that Wuling County has a lot of hilly terrain and a lot of low-lying terrain, so there are many obstacles and difficulties in planting rice, so it is necessary to do a good job of water conservancy facilities, and often irrigate in high places and drain water in low places, so that you can harvest high yields.

Guoyuan's words suddenly aroused the interest of the onlookers, Wuling County is vast and sparsely populated, and its jurisdiction includes some areas of Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Guizhou and other provinces in the later generations, the area is quite large, but many of such a large area are not suitable for planting, either too high and prone to drought, or too low and prone to waterlogging, and there is no harvest.

In this era, there is a big gap between the planting technology in the south and the north, and many places are still carrying out the primitive farming method of slashing and burning, and the development process in the south is not enough in the past, the water conservancy facilities are very imperfect, and irrigation and drainage are very problematic, even if this year is a bumper harvest year, the real yield is relatively high, and only a few counties such as Hanshou, Xiaoling, and Linyuan are relatively high, and the terrain is relatively flat.

If it can really be like what Guoyuan said, how much fertile land can be added? How much more food can be added?

Guo Yuan talked about this for more than half an hour, he turned around by chance, and found that the assassin Shi, the county guard, the teacher and others were standing behind him, his face turned red all of a sudden, no matter how famous he was in the future, now he was only a teenager, he quickly stood up and saluted Wang Rong and them.

Wang Rong asked him not to be polite, and Wen Yan said to him: "You said it very well! ”

Guo Yuan's gushing just now was nowhere to be found, and he snorted: "Yuan is terrified! ”

Wang Rong turned back to Zheng Xuan and said, "Brother Kangcheng, did you also teach them agriculture?" ”

Zheng Xuan said with a smile: "I teach some, but many of them are cultivated with me in the mountains and realized by themselves." ”

Wang Rong nodded and said: "It is said in the Book of Han that the king regards the people as the sky, and the people regard food as the sky!" Therefore, agronomy is very important! ”

Guo Yuan was very excited, and his face turned red.

After a few words, the most exciting moment arrived, and that was to measure the yield.

Zhang Yi asked people to randomly select a few fields and measured the yield of these fields, and the results showed that the lowest yield per mu also reached more than three stones, and the highest yield per mu reached about four stones, which is already a high yield in the south, where agricultural technology is not very developed, which makes everyone very happy.

After returning home, Wang Heng asked Wang Heng about his views on Guoyuan, because they usually deal with each other a lot, Wang Heng told Wang Heng that Guoyuan is very smart, but not frivolous, his personality is very steady and down-to-earth, and he usually has a deep knowledge in scripture, and he has real talent and learning, but he himself did not expect that Guoyuan also has such a deep study in agriculture.

After hearing this, Wang Rong nodded again and again, and he asked again: "Then what do you think of letting Guoyuan come out and do things now?" ”

Wang Heng asked, "Father wants Guoyuan to be in charge of farming?" ”

Wang Rong bowed slightly.

Wang Heng said: "With Guoyuan's talent and his understanding of agriculture today, he should be able to take charge of agricultural affairs, but he is too young and his knowledge is not enough, can he delay for a year or two before letting him become a leader?" ”

Guo Yuan is only sixteen years old now, and he has only been studying under Zheng Xuanmen for a few years, so if he is allowed to go out too early and abandon his studies, it will hinder his future future.

Wang Rong nodded and said, "Your concerns are reasonable, but you can let him do things while studying with Brother Kangcheng." Nowadays, there is a shortage of food in the north, and more and more hungry people are coming to Jingzhou, and if you want to resettle them, you can't do it without food. Today, I heard Guoyuan say that it makes sense, many places in Wuling County, as long as water conservancy facilities are done, are fertile land, how much fertile land can this add to Wuling? And how much more food can be added? I can't afford to wait for a father! ”

Wang Heng knows, in fact, Wang Heng still has a layer of meaning that has not been said, Wuling County is vast and sparsely populated, and many of the land that was not suitable for cultivation before is ownerless wasteland, if it can be transformed into irrigable fertile land, it is all official land, and it can be used to settle the hungry people from the north at that time.

Wang Heng said: "If you let him do things and study at the same time, then it's okay, I'll go tomorrow to ask the teacher and Guoyuan's own opinions." ”

The next day, Wang Heng went to Zheng Xuan's class, Guo Yuan, Sun Gan, Wu Yan, Zhang Zeng, Xi Xian, these Zheng Xuan's disciples saw him coming, and greeted him one after another, and Jiang Wan and Pan Jun, two boys who were only six or seven years old, bowed respectfully to the ground and saluted Wang Heng: "Senior Brother Shuping is here!" ”

Wang Heng likes these two boys very much, today's Jiang Wan and Pan Jun, they don't have the aura of the famous ministers in the future, they are two little boys with pink makeup, very cute, and they are now fans of Wang Heng, they worship Wang Heng for creating printed books, not to mention that the wall of Hanshou Academy also has Wang Heng's popular "Shuping Four Sentences" written in big characters, these four sentences When they started, Zheng Xuan let them read and recite them by heart.

Wang Heng greeted these senior brothers and disciples one by one, and then entered the inner room, met Zheng Xuan, he told Zheng Xuan about Wang Ei's desire to let Guoyuan out, and after Zheng Xuan heard it, he asked Guoyuan to come in.

Zheng Xuan said to Guoyuan: "The assassin wants you to be in charge of the agricultural affairs in the state and county, I don't know what you think?" ”

Guo Yuan was obviously a little surprised, but this surprise was only fleeting, and he said to Zheng Xuan: "Teacher, now that the disciple is not good at his studies, how can he become a scholar?" ”

Zheng Xuan smiled and said: "This doesn't hurt, you can learn from the teacher while doing things, but you may be tired." ”

Guoyuan said: "The disciple is not tired, but I am afraid that the teacher is old and too hard." ”

Zheng Xuan laughed and said, "As a teacher, he is only sixty, what kind of age is it?" Nowadays, most of the disciples are taught by your senior brother, and it is only you disciples who teach the teacher, so what is the hard work? You just said that you would like to be a leader, right? ”

Of course, Guo Yuan was willing to become a minister, although sixteen years old was a little too early, but since he was in charge of the agricultural affairs that he was most interested in, he felt that he had no problem being competent.

How many scholars have not had a chance to become a leader when they are forty or fifty years old, and now that the opportunity is in front of him, Zheng Xuan has said this again, and he will naturally not refuse again.

Guo Yuan bowed to Zheng Xuanshen and said, "The disciple is willing!" ”

Zheng Xuan stroked his long hair with his hand, bowed his head slightly, and said: "That's it, as long as you remember the four sentences written on the wall of our academy, work hard, and let the people benefit because of you, then it will not be in vain for me to teach you." ”

Guo Yuan was shocked and said, "The disciple has been taught!" ”