Chu Tiankuo spoke again: "Father, the first one on the tray is the original rice and wheat ears of our Chu State, the second one is the high-yield grain variety of Zhao State, and the third one is the high-yield grain variety newly cultivated by our Chu State."
The three ears of rice and wheat placed together create a very sharp contrast!
The original ears of rice and wheat in their Chu State had sparse grains and many dry and flat chaff.
The rice and wheat ears of Zhao State have full and compact grains, but few empty husks and barren grains.
The last ear of rice and wheat had large and full grains, a whole bunch, without any chaff to be seen!
It feels heavy to pick up!
The contrast between the three ears of wheat is also obvious!
The emperor suppressed his excitement and waved to the Minister of Revenue: "Lord Zhou, take a look. Estimate how many kilograms of rice and wheat are produced per mu."
Zhou Liang, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, came from a poor family and was in charge of supervising the imperial fields. He was the official most familiar with grain.
Wen Ruiqing stood in the corner and looked at Zhou Liang with envy.
Zhou Liang and Wen Ruiqing took the imperial examination in the same year. Zhou Liang was the top scorer, while Wen Ruiqing was awarded the title of third place because of his youth and handsomeness.
Their class had the largest number of students from poor families who passed the imperial examination and became Jinshi.
Over the past decade, Zhou Liang has risen from a small editor in the Hanlin Academy to the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue!
The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is much better than the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. The Minister of the Ministry of Rites has a thankless job, especially when it comes to the exchanges with the State of Zhao.
Wen Ruiqing felt annoyed when he thought about having to meet the envoy from Zhao State soon.
Eunuch Lao brought the tray to Zhou Liangman.
Zhou Liang's eyes lit up when he saw the heavy ears of rice. He had never seen such large and full ears of rice!
He picked up the heavy ear of rice and carefully counted the number of rice grains on it.
After that, he excitedly asked Chu Tiankuo: "Your Highness, I wonder how many rice ears can grow from one seed of this high-yield rice?"
Chu Tiankuo: "20-30 plants."
Zhou Liang was so excited that he gasped. He said excitedly, "Your Majesty, each rice ear in our Chu State has about a hundred grains of rice, and most of them are barren. Generally, each rice ear in Zhao State has about 200 grains, sometimes close to 300 grains, and only about 30 empty grains. This is already very good! But the high-yield rice cultivated by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has more than 300 to 400 grains of rice per rice ear, and each grain is full. There are only two or three empty grains, which are almost negligible. According to the yield of this rice ear, I am afraid that the yield per mu can reach more than 900 catties, or even more than 1,000 catties per mu!"
The Minister of Revenue's voice was trembling at the end of his speech!
A yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu, this is a legend!
There was silence all around: more than a thousand kilograms per mu
What is this concept
If the yield per mu is more than 1,000 kilograms, as long as a family has one mu of land, the harvest of one season will be enough for the family to eat for a year!
Most of the fertile fields throughout the Chu State can be harvested twice. In the remote south, the climate is extremely warm all year round, so three seasons of planting are possible!
So...
The emperor was so excited that his voice trembled when he heard this: "The prince has made a great contribution this time! Haha... I will reward the prince well! Reward the commoner who cultivated the high-yield grain! He has made a great contribution! The people of Chu will be blessed in the future!"
The Minister of Works immediately knelt down and said in a loud voice: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! The people of Chu are blessed! There will be no more famine in our Chu! The people will no longer starve to death!"
Upon seeing this, Imperial Censor Lin and the others also knelt down: "Congratulations, Your Majesty,..."
The Second Prince and Prime Minister Liang and the others looked at each other with heavy and puzzled eyes. They shouted along with the others: "Congratulations, Father/Emperor..."
The emperor said happily: "My dear ministers, please stand up. Take a look at the high-yield grain varieties cultivated by our Chu State and compare them with those cultivated by Zhao State. See how excellent our high-yield grain varieties are!"
The ministers swarmed towards the Minister of Revenue.
A minister carefully held the heavy ears of rice and wheat and counted them seriously.
A minister picked it up and weighed it carefully.
... ..
The emperor looked at the heavy ears of rice and wheat being passed among his ministers.
He clenched his fists secretly.
What this conveys is not just a bunch of rice and wheat ears, what it conveys is hope and a future!
They have turned things around. From today on, the Chu State can turn things around!
Talented people emerge in every generation, and each of them leads the trend for hundreds of years!
No matter what, it is the turn of the Chu State!
~
Chu Tianyu, Prime Minister Liang, the Minister of Revenue and others stood up, and their expressions were somewhat solemn.
Prime Minister Liang stroked his beard, feeling as if a huge rock was pressing down on his heart: Could it be that Chu Tiankuo had really cultivated a high-yield grain variety
If it is true, this achievement is enough to make him admired and supported by all people!
This is a glorious achievement that will go down in history!
Prime Minister Liang couldn't help but glance at Chu Tiankuo. He had found so many experienced farming experts from the public to research high-yield grain varieties, but they had not been able to cultivate high-yield grain varieties for more than ten years. Could they really grow them in just a few years when he was away
Futai County clearly stated that the grain in the granary could not possibly be a high-yield variety.
Where did these two heavy strings come from
Chu Tianyu glanced around. All the ministers were very excited, except Chu Tiankuo who stood there, looking outside, looking calm and unperturbed by fame or disgrace.
He didn't believe that he could really cultivate high-yield grains! Those were obviously fake grains!
He couldn't help but say: "If my brother can really cultivate high-yield grains and wheat, this time he has really made a great contribution! I admire you very much."
Chu Tiankuo's eyes fell on the petite figure outside. After hearing what he said, he turned around and glanced at him calmly, "It's true. There are many things about me that you admire. You should learn from them in the future! Don't always fantasize about things that don't belong to you. Only in this way can you make achievements."
Chu Tianyu: "..."
Why are you so arrogant? You haven't done anything meritorious yet!
If you have the ability, you can continue to establish yourself with one achievement after another!
Chu Tianyu was furious! This high-yield grain must be fake!
Chu Tiankuo ignored him after he finished speaking and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, there are three new farm tools outside..."
~
Outside, on the empty terrace.
A pedal thresher, a manual harvester, and a winnowing windmill were placed side by side on the ground. Next to them was a pile of newly harvested rice and a bag of dried rice that had not yet been winnowed.
There is also an original grain barrel and a semi-enclosed winnowing windmill.
All the civil and military officials in the court looked at the three giant farm tools on the ground with shock and curiosity in their eyes.
The emperor looked at the three huge creatures on the ground. Is this what Confucius mentioned in the letter
The surprises the prince gave him today were truly one after another!
The emperor was excited in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. He asked majestically, "Can this pedal thresher, manual harvester, and winnowing windmill really save nearly half the time and effort?"
Chu Tiankuo stood at the head of all the civil and military officials in the court, bowed his hands and replied calmly, "Father, it is absolutely true. I have verified it. Now you can have someone try it. Father, you will know after you have a look."
After Chu Tiankuo finished speaking, his gaze fell on the person standing obediently not far away.
Today, he must earn a huge credit for her!
Let her hold the token and she can run rampant in the State of Chu in the future!