kingnovel Chapter 1340 Lord Shen will be protected by Xiao Ba!
Chapter 1340 Lord Shen will be protected by Xiao Ba!
Late autumn has arrived.
The sweet potato vines were slightly withered, rustling in the autumn wind.
The Empress Dowager, adjusting her straw hat, looked down at the half-yellow, half-green sweet potato vines on the ground, slightly puzzled: "Zheng'er, these vines..."
It seems that many of them have withered and died?
Although she knew the real crops were buried in the ground, the Empress Dowager couldn't help but mutter to herself as she looked at the desolate scene before her, and secretly glanced at Balezhan who was following behind.
—We shouldn't have let the magistrate of Quanyang County come along.
If those taro plants in the field don't grow well, wouldn't Zheng'er lose face in front of the officials from other counties?
“Madam, these vines started to wither slowly about a month ago.” Shen Zheng knelt down and jumped off the ridge, squatting down to dig through a patch of vines. “I discussed this with the agricultural officials of the Ministry of Revenue beforehand, and this is a sign that the crops in the field are ripe.”
Looking at the sandy land that had revealed its true nature, the Empress Dowager was skeptical.
Ba Lezhan, standing behind, also secretly began to mutter to himself.
He had previously heard that Lord Shen had brought back many unusual crops from the capital, and he had never seen these withered vines in the field before.
It's a novelty, though.
Can......
Judging from the Empress Dowager's expression, the crops in the field did not seem to be growing very well.
No!
He gritted his teeth.
Today, Lord Shen will be protected by Xiao Ba!
We absolutely cannot let Lord Shen lose face in front of the Empress Dowager!
Without hesitation, he bent over, tied a knot in the hem of his clothes, and jumped into the ground with a thud.
What followed was an almost flamboyant performance.
"Oh my, Lord Shen, this crop... it's quite novel!"
He stroked a vine back and forth, saying, "I had heard that you brought back many new crops from the capital. You know, our Liuyang Prefecture is a thousand miles away from the capital! The climate and soil are completely different from those in the capital! Now, you have managed to get these crops to take root and sprout in Tongan County. You truly deserve to be called the number one female official of our Great Zhou, an agricultural genius! I admire you, I admire you... I admire you!"
Perhaps his movements were too vigorous, for he plucked two withered leaves from the vines, which then wobbled and fell to the ground.
"..."
Shen Zheng was stunned.
The Empress Dowager was stunned.
Yu Shizhang was stunned.
Everyone present was stunned.
"Lord Ba..."
Shen Zheng was the first to come to her senses, pointing at Ba Lezhan's feet and saying, "You stepped on the crops in the field."
Ba Lezhan shuddered.
Lift your left foot, but there's nothing under your feet.
I lifted my right foot, but there was still nothing there.
After a moment's pause, he realized—Lord Shen was not only a first-rate agriculturalist, but also a first-rate liar!
"It was my poor judgment!" He immediately took two steps back and continued his performance: "Lord Shen, in my humble opinion, the yield of this crop per mu is probably as high as five...three hundred jin, right? This is simply a blessing for the people!"
"How much?" Shen Zheng looked at the potato field and slowly stood up.
Three hundred catties?
She might as well find a sturdy sweet potato vine and hang herself from the mulberry tree next to her!
After observing the situation for a moment, Ba Lezhan changed his answer immediately: "One, one hundred and fifty jin?"
Shen Zheng choked, raised her hand and asked Wang Youfu for a sickle, grabbed the root of a sweet potato vine, and cut the vine off.
The Empress Dowager and others stepped down from the paddy field embankment and gathered around.
The cut vines were thrown aside by Shen Zheng, and without saying a word, she stretched out her hands and began to dig at the ground.
Wang Youfu was startled and quickly picked up his pitchfork and ran over: "Lord Shen, let me do it."
As Shen Zheng dug the ground, she shook her head: "The outer skin of this crop is precious. Once it is damaged, it cannot be used for seed. We are planting it for the first time and lack experience in digging, so it is better to be cautious. It is not too late to dig the ground with a hoe after we have a general understanding of its growth."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Shizhang, Xu Yunyan, Ba Lezhan, Cui Jinyin and the others rolled up their sleeves.
"This humble official will dig!" Ba Lezhan took the lead, directly occupying the open space next to Shen Zheng. "This humble official is best at digging with his hands. Lord Shen, please rest and direct this humble official from the side!"
Yu Shizhang also said, "You're thin-skinned, let us do it."
Shen Zheng shook her head, about to refuse, when her fingertips suddenly touched a hard object.
"I touched it!"
She smiled slightly, gathered soil in her hands, and in a moment, a small patch of purplish-red crop husk quietly emerged from the dark brown ground.
Balezhan clicked his tongue in amazement.
There really is something in this field...
The Empress Dowager also bent down slightly, her gaze fixed on Shen Zheng's fingertips. Shen Zheng moved slowly and carefully, peeling away the red skin bit by bit.
Before long, a purplish-red crop, about the size of two fists, slowly appeared before everyone's eyes.
Looking at the size of the crop, Balezhan gasped.
Good guy!
This one piece alone probably weighs two pounds!
No wonder...
No wonder Lord Shen's expression was so strange when he said "300 catties per mu".
So it turns out he really was short-sighted and didn't criticize enough!
At this rate, the yield of this new crop per acre will definitely be over a thousand catties!
He was so excited that his heart was pounding, but he saw that Shen Zheng's fingertips did not stop, and she was still gently digging at the side of the crop.
Just as he was wondering, Shen Zheng dug out another piece of purplish-red crop.
"There's more?!" Everyone exclaimed in unison, extremely surprised.
The Empress Dowager suppressed her increasingly rapid breathing and asked in a softer voice, "Zheng'er, under this vine... there is more than one fruit?"
Based on this calculation, how high would the yield per acre be for this land?
two thousand?
Three thousand?
four thousand?
still......
The Empress Dowager dared not think about it anymore.
Shen Zheng's fingertips continued moving as she smiled and said, "Madam, there are still some in the field."
"There's more?!" Balezhan shouted, his voice cracking.
Yu Shizhang even squatted down and started digging the ground with Shen Zheng without saying a word.
again.
Another one.
One more...
As the red-skinned crops sprouted one after another, the crowd became almost numb.
Even Cui Jinyin, who had never been to the ground before, knew: "Young Master Mu, it seems that our teacher... has done something big again."
Today, Mu Ruojue was unusually talkative, and surprisingly answered her question: "Lord Shen is no ordinary person."
When the five crops clustered around the same root were fully revealed to everyone, Granny Chang exclaimed in surprise, "Old Madam!"
Everyone was startled and looked at the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager clutched her chest with one hand and raised the other, saying, "It's nothing. I'm just......"
Surprised?
No.
Right now, the word "surprise" is no longer enough to describe her feelings.
It was shocking.
It was ecstasy.
It was as if a miracle had been witnessed.
She had lived most of her life, witnessing the turmoil in the court, the changing times, and the vicissitudes of life.
I thought the growth and development of all things in the world were predetermined, but unexpectedly, in less than a year, this little girl has once again made the impossible possible.
"Madam," Shen Zheng said, carrying the crops in her robe, as she approached her. "Would you like to name these new crops?"