Chapter 32: Sowing

Zhao Hai went to the study upstairs. This study was also prepared by Green, with some books inside, though not many. There were also some account books and such, but there was no shortage of paper and pens.

What surprised Zhao Hai was that the pens here were of several types. Some were made from bird feathers, some from animal bones, and some from metal, similar to steel pens. There were also brushes and charcoal-like pencils. It was a mix of Eastern and Western, ancient and modern, which broadened Zhao Hai's horizons.

However, the paper did not meet Zhao Hai's expectations. It was not the white paper he imagined, but yellow, similar to the kraft paper he had seen when he was young. The paper was very hard and much rougher than kraft paper.

Seeing this, Zhao Hai was momentarily speechless. In Adam's memories, there were many romantic and luxurious events, but there was no memory of pens and paper, indicating what kind of person he had been.

Zhao Hai picked up the charcoal pencil and drew a simple sketch of a stone mill and a grinding stone on the paper, then handed it to An.

An glanced at the paper and immediately said, "Young Master, I can make this. We usually use something similar to mill rice, though it's not exactly the same, it's close enough."

Zhao Hai nodded in relief and said, "Good, if you can make it, that's great. Meg, arrange for forty men to follow An and learn how to make these two things. Make several, as they will be used to mill rice and flour. We have many people here, and a few won't be enough."

Meg responded, and Zhao Hai continued, "The remaining ten men should go to the mountain to cut grass. Cut all the dry grass and have the women follow Chrysanthemum to learn how to weave grass mats. They should hang these mats on all the houses as soon as possible. If anyone has any special skills, tell me. Also, tell the slaves that if they find the ground too cold to sleep on, they can spread corn stalks on the floor. We don't have enough resources to provide beds, but sleeping on the ground can make them sick. Laying several layers of corn stalks can serve as a bed."

Meg agreed, knowing that the slaves currently had nothing much to do. Zhao Hai's land had not been fully improved, and the mine had been mostly cleaned out, leaving little work to be done.

After giving the instructions, Zhao Hai and the others left the study. As they walked into the living room, they met Merlin, who had come to call them for breakfast, which was already prepared.

At the table, Zhao Hai told Merlin about his arrangements. Merlin did not object, as the tools for milling rice and flour were indeed necessary, and Zhao Hai's plan was the best.

After breakfast, Meg immediately followed Zhao Hai's instructions, assigning the men to find suitable stones for the grinding stone and mill, and the women to weave grass mats under her supervision.

The entire castle became busy, but Zhao Hai and Meg were not in the castle. They went to the canyon by the mountain lake. This time, it was just the two of them, as there was no danger, and Merlin found it easier to travel with one less person.

They walked over the waves and quickly arrived at the canyon. Zhao Hai went to the land he had improved the day before and saw no changes. He then improved another ten acres of land next to it.

Seeing that Zhao Hai had finished improving the land, Merlin turned to him and said, "Young Master, why don't we have the slaves come tomorrow to till this land and plant the crops?"

Zhao Hai shook his head. He wanted to use this land for an experiment. He remembered the prompt he received when he first touched the small iron shovel, which could be used outside the space and could till ten acres of land per day. He also wanted to know if the seeds and water from the space would still be under his control outside the space. If they were, he could plant ten acres of land every day.

Seeing Zhao Hai shake his head, Merlin knew he had something else in mind and did not press further, just watching him.

Zhao Hai focused, and the small iron shovel immediately flew out of the space, tilling the land. Zhao Hai thought about sowing, and the corn seeds immediately flew out of the space and landed on the freshly tilled land. Zhao Hai went over to check and found that the seeds had been buried. He was relieved.

However, Zhao Hai also noticed a problem: the shovel, the seeds, and everything in the space could not leave the ten-acre range and could only perform simple tasks within this area. The shovel could only till the land, and the seeds could only be planted. Zhao Hai wanted to test the water from the space, but it had already been used to improve the land, and he could not use it again today.

Zhao Hai was somewhat unsatisfied. If the water from the space could be controlled as he wished, it could potentially be a powerful weapon. Unfortunately, once outside the space, the water could only be used to water the soil and nothing else.

Compared to Zhao Hai's dissatisfaction, Merlin was extremely shocked. She never imagined that Zhao Hai could plant crops in such a way, which was truly amazing.

After more than two hours, the ten acres of land were planted. The small iron shovel automatically returned to the space, and the seeds disappeared. Although it was only ten acres, Zhao Hai was satisfied. He could only improve ten acres of land per day and plant ten acres, which was perfect.

Seeing the land planted, Zhao Hai turned to Merlin and said, "Grandma Merlin, can you use water magic to water this land?"

Merlin immediately nodded, walked to the water pond, and quietly recited a spell. This time, the spell took longer, and soon a cloud of water vapor rose from the pond. The vapor accumulated in the air and gradually turned into a light rain.

Zhao Hai once again marveled at the magic. This was like artificial rain, which was incredibly powerful.

What Zhao Hai did not know was that not all mages could perform this feat. Only high-level mages like Merlin could do it, and it was a supportive spell, much simpler than offensive spells.

Merlin's control over the magic was excellent, and soon the soil was thoroughly moist. She then stopped the spell.

Zhao Hai looked at the ten acres of land, feeling a sense of accomplishment. He turned to Merlin and said, "Grandma Merlin, although this land cannot make plants grow as quickly as in the space, it is the foundation for our survival. I fear the space might disappear one day, so I am eager to improve the land."

Hearing this, Merlin's expression changed, and she quickly said, "May the gods protect us, I hope your space does not disappear."

Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Grandma Merlin, I can only improve ten acres of land per day. Let's go back." Merlin nodded and followed Zhao Hai back to the cave.

Walking over the waves was enjoyable, but Zhao Hai still hoped to travel by boat one day. However, they lacked the materials and expertise to build a boat, so he could only dream.

As they emerged from the cave, they heard a chorus of chants coming from a nearby small cave. Zhao Hai and Merlin looked over and saw Stone leading An and the others, carrying a large stone out of the cave.

Zhao Hai quickly went over and first examined the stone. He could not tell if it was good or bad, but he wanted to see if it was large enough.

The stone was irregular in shape, about 1.5 meters high, with a minimum diameter of about 3 meters and a maximum diameter of about 5 meters. It was clearly very heavy. They had used a lot of ropes to secure it and carried it out of the cave bit by bit.

Zhao Hai said, "Alright, put the stone down. I'll take care of it. You can go back to your other tasks."

An and the others looked at Zhao Hai in confusion, but Stone knew what was happening. Zhao Hai wanted to store the stone in the space. He did not explain to An and the others but immediately told them, "Alright, put the stone down and continue mining in the cave. We don't need to worry about this."

An and the others, though confused, did not dare to disobey Zhao Hai and immediately put the stone down. Stone then had them remove the ropes from the stone.

Once the ropes were removed, Zhao Hai waved his hand, and the stone was stored in the space. An and the others were stunned, having never seen such a magical ability. Although this continent had space equipment, it was usually only available to the nobility, and even small nobles could not afford it, let alone slaves like An.

However, An and the others knew the power of magic and assumed Zhao Hai was using magic. They were all very excited, thinking, "So, our master is a powerful mage."

Zhao Hai did not pay them much attention and immediately followed Merlin back to the castle. On the way, they saw several male slaves cutting dry grass on the mountain.

This time, Zhao Hai did not help them carry the grass back. The grass was light and loose, so the slaves could carry it back themselves.

When they returned to the castle, they found many women sitting in the square, led by Meg and Chrysanthemum, weaving grass mats. Some women were carrying corn stalks from outside the castle to the slaves' houses.