Chapter 68

As the small boat drifted downstream, the guards on horseback slowly followed along the riverbank. The Dongyang River flows from Yushan and eventually merges into the Wei River.

Chang'an has long been known for the saying "Eight Waters Surround Chang'an," referring to the Wei River, Jing River, Feng River, Lao River, Yu River, Hao River, Chan River, and Ba River. Among these, the other seven rivers ultimately converge into the Wei River, which then flows into the Yellow River. The Dongyang River is a tributary of the Wei River, passing through the counties of Lantian, Wannian, and Sanyuan around Chang'an. The farmlands surrounding these counties all rely on this river for water (this is a fictional imagination, please do not take it as fact, after all, it is a novel, and the author cannot find an accurate map). Li Kuan and his companions' small boat soon left the territory of Yushan and entered the jurisdiction of Lantian County.

Speaking of Lantian County, Li Kuan felt a bit melancholic, because over 1,400 years later, he would come here and visit the historical sites of the Lantian people. It was this simple trip that brought him from the 21st century, filled with countless exhaust fumes and noise, to the Tang Dynasty. Now, revisiting this place, he felt deeply moved.

The surroundings gradually changed from wasteland to farmland. It was the busy farming season in Guanzhong, and the wheat was almost ready for harvest. Large fields of wheat began to turn golden. The Guanzhong farmers were in the fields, laughing heartily at the sight of the golden fields. This was their harvest, the fruit of their labor. The wheat stalks were heavy with grain, the sharp awns pointing straight to the sky, and the stalks were sturdy and straight, like soldiers.

Another year of good harvest, fewer people would starve this winter. Li Kuan thought to himself. When he came to this world, he did not see the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. The country had just been pacified, leaving a mess behind; all industries needed to be revived, and countless people were displaced. These were the most hardworking and kind people in the world. They asked for nothing more than a warm and full life. As long as they had food to eat and clothes to wear, they would work diligently, but the world could not even meet such basic needs.

In the past two years, in the city of Chang'an, Li Kuan had seen Wu Hou drive a cart in the early morning, pulling out the frozen bodies from the corners and burying them in the乱葬岗 outside the city. This made him stop the habit of leaving food on his plate. For those buried in that desolate mass grave, he dared not waste food as he used to.

Seeing this often, Li Kuan began to wonder why the bag of rice seeds he gave to Li Er had not been widely promoted. Was it for the sake of political achievements, waiting until he ascended the throne? Or was it labeled as an auspicious omen? If so, Li Er's heart was a bit hard.

Li Kuan did not ask, because from the day he took out the rice seeds, he did not intend to intervene. He was an outsider in farming, having never done it himself, only having seen villagers do it. Although he grew up in a single-parent family, he had never worked in the fields, leaving the family's farmland to his uncles to cultivate, receiving enough rice for the two of them to eat each year.

The water flowed slowly, and the banks on both sides were golden with wheat fields. The guards had to ride their horses through shallow water to stay close, as being too far away would not be conducive to protection. However, after the boat passed a wheat field, the color on both sides turned green. Li Kuan stood at the bow, looking at the changed banks with surprise.

The little ones behind him did not have these feelings. Little Nianwei was still at the edge of the boat, stretching out her small hands, playing with the water or the little fish; Li Lizhi was taking care of her sister, being a responsible older sister; as for Li Tai, the fat one could sleep anywhere, so he was dozing off at the stern of the boat.

Li Kuan steered the boat towards the shore. Getting closer, he saw what was planted on the land. It was already the territory of the Changsun family, not as vast as it would be after Li Er ascended the throne, but still a large area. What was planted here was not something else, but the Champa rice seeds Li Kuan had given to Li Er. It was the right season for the rice to grow, the critical time for the rice plants to divide.

Getting closer, Li Kuan realized that the entire area was planted with rice, but something seemed off. However, he could not pinpoint what was wrong, as he only had a basic understanding of farming.

"Second Brother, why did you steer the boat here?" Li Lizhi asked Li Kuan.

"I just noticed the rice fields here! I wanted to see if the seeds I gave to Father were effective, after all, they were given by my teacher." Li Kuan did not hide this from the others, as Li Chenggan, Li Ke, and Li Tai all knew about it. Secrets are hard to keep; one person's secret is private, two people's secret is a secret, and three people's secret is public. Li Er's indulgence, Changsun's indifference, and Changsun Wujì's fear were all because they knew about the so-called scientist.

"These are the rice seeds you gave to Father? They look good! But where did the rice grow? I don't see it." Li Lizhi asked.

"It's not time for the rice to grow yet. It will take some time. Look, the middle leaf that looks like it's wrapping something, that's where the rice is." Li Kuan pointed to a rice plant and explained.

"How is this rice different from wheat? I can't tell where one plant ends and another begins; they all grow together!" Li Lizhi tried to distinguish the size of a single rice plant but found that they all grew together, making it impossible to tell.

"They all grow together?" Li Kuan suddenly understood. Unlike wheat, which grows straight, rice stalks are more flexible. Although both rice and wheat need to tiller, starting with one plant and growing into several, one seed of rice or wheat can produce many plants and grains. However, wheat stalks are hard and straight, with even pollination, while rice stalks, due to their length, tend to bend downward. When planted too densely, this can lead to uneven pollination and a lot of empty grains, reducing the yield.

"Who planted this? How did they plant it like this? Is there even a harvest? Even if they just scattered the seedlings, it wouldn't look like this!" Li Kuan muttered. It seemed that even the old farmers who had farmed all their lives could not handle this rice.

Li Kuan originally thought Li Er was keeping it to himself, but he did not expect this result. The rice seeds he gave to Li Er probably did not yield much in the past two years. Perhaps after saving seeds for the next year, the rest were all sent to the Qin王府. In the past two years, Li Kuan had eaten familiar rice again, drinking hot rice porridge in the morning, thinking that rice could be widely planted. He did not expect that the Guanzhong farmers would be stumped by this.

The old farmers probably grumbled in their hearts: "These damned nobles, eating rice, wasting water, and with such low yields, it's just a hassle!"

Li Kuan called over a guard and asked him to find the farmer in charge of the land. This rice was planted incorrectly, and rice should not be planted like this.

Soon, the guard returned with a group of people. They were all tenant farmers of the Changsun family, busy harvesting wheat. Hearing that the young master and young mistress had come and brought a method to plant rice, a large crowd gathered to watch.

The crowd knelt and greeted the four children who had returned to the shore. Li Kuan looked at the emaciated farmers and felt ashamed, especially with the fat Li Tai standing beside him, which was like a slap in the face. Li Kuan felt his face burning. These were the kindest people in the world, how could they suffer like this? What should he do for them in this era? Li Kuan asked himself for the first time, but he had no answer. He was just a junior high school graduate, who had gone to work in the city, learned no skills, and could not do any handicrafts or make paper or glass. Although he had a system, he had no energy to exchange for anything. Fortunately, he had seen how others planted rice, even though he had never done it himself, he knew some basics.

"I am the steward sent by the Changsun family. I have met the two young masters and the young lady before," an old man stepped forward and bowed again.

"Old sir, please don't be so formal. I dare not accept such a grand salute from an elder!" Li Kuan, who was overwhelmed by the crowd, now stepped back.

"According to this guard, the young master knows how to plant this rice?" the old man asked Li Kuan.

"I do know a bit. The seeds were given to me by my teacher," Li Kuan replied.

"So, the Champa rice seeds were brought by the young master. But how should they be planted correctly? In the past two years, most of the harvest has been empty grains, and after sorting, there is not much left to eat." The old man grumbled in his heart but did not show it on his face. He had been scolded by the lady of the Changsun family, Changsun Wujì's wife, for the poor yield of the rice. Although it could be planted twice a year, the yield was far less than wheat.

"It's my fault for not explaining clearly. Rice needs to be planted with space between the plants. When transplanting, leave appropriate gaps, otherwise, they will crowd together, leading to uneven pollination and reduced yield." Li Kuan explained what he knew. It was not a complicated matter; just pay attention to the spacing when transplanting.

The old man did not understand what pollination meant, but he knew that rice needed to be planted with space, not densely packed together. However, in Guanzhong, wheat had been planted by scattering seeds for hundreds of years, and no one had heard of transplanting. So he asked, "How do you transplant and pollinate?"

Li Kuan was surprised. Could it be that simple? It seemed that agriculture in the Tang Dynasty was very primitive and backward, or rather, it had always been so. Wheat was easier to grow than rice, which required soaking seeds, waiting for the roots to sprout, and then transplanting, a tedious process. In the homeland of rice, Champa, the locals used a similar method, digging holes with sticks and planting seeds, covering them with soil, and waiting for the harvest. This crude method was like the behavior of savages, and Li Kuan deeply despised it.

PS: Thank you, Chen Yifei and Kuang Tian Qilin, for your support. I, the author, thank you. Also, thank you to the three anonymous supporters, one of whom is Bai Ma Wangzi. I appreciate your support. Next week, the book will be strongly promoted on the main site, which is a challenge. I cannot update only once a day; I need to update twice. I have no backlog, so I will have to write until midnight. I managed to keep up with the three Jiang updates this week, but next week with the strong promotion, it will be very tight. My rest time is severely compressed, and my job is also very risky. However, this is a rare opportunity, and I am determined to give it my all. This week has already been tough, but I will push through.

Also, I apologize to Ye Hongxue for not noticing your support on September 3rd. I was too excited about the three Jiang updates and did not express my gratitude in time. I thank you sincerely here.

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