The Quick Transmigrating Cannon Fodder Chooses to Farm - Chapter 60

The prince indeed owned a fully-working small village. After the prince’s household had purchased the place, the villagers who lived in it had become tenant farmers of the prince’s household. These villagers weren’t slaves, though; what they had was more equivalent to a binding employment relationship.

When Xu Yin and her entourage arrived, the tenant farmers were working in the fields, ploughing and planting rice seedlings.

Wang Bo, who managed the farm, was the former village chief. He was very well-versed in farming.

Xu Yin wasted no time and ordered the guards to take down the curved plough from the carriage as soon as she arrived. She explained how to use the curved plough to Wang Bo.

Wang Bo understood. It was just a plough, after all! It just had a different style from the ones that they’d usually use. Since the noble miss wanted them to try it, then they would.

He waved to a young man and said, “Take the plough and plough a section of the field. Show it to the noble miss.”

People who were working in the nearby fields straightened up to watch. 

Someone joked, “Wang Bo, why are you telling Liu Sheng to do it? Look at how skinny he is. Can he even hold the plough properly? Why not let me do it instead?”

As that person’s words fell, Liu Sheng, the young man in question, pushed the curved plough forward without any struggle at all. He seemed as if he was taking a stroll in the fields and showed no signs of exertion.

Everyone was astonished.

They were all eager for a turn to try the curved plough.

It was truly unbelievable! Liu Sheng was as thin as a feather, but he could actually push the plough effortlessly. It’d normally take a lot of effort to do that even for someone twice his size. 

They looked at the path that the curved plough had traversed. The soil was dark and had finer particles. It indicated deep and thorough ploughing. Besides that, the plough had also pushed the soil to the sides, like a boat parting waves as it moved forward.

This was incredibly astonishing!

There was nothing that could interest farmers more and improved farming tools and the increased yields that they’d bring. 

Ploughing was the most laborious, yet necessary part of farming. Now, a farming tool that’d make that process so much easier lay before them. Who wouldn’t be amazed and cheer for it?

The nearby farmers gathered to give the curved plough a try. They all found that it was remarkably efficient.

Not only was it lightweight and easy to use, it also, crucially, ploughed more deeply than an oxen could.

Xu Yin was satisfied with this. She nodded approvingly and told Wang Bo, “I’m giving this plough to you so you can use it. I’ll have more sent over by tomorrow.

“Also, I need a few acres of land for experimental purposes. I’d prefer it if the land is closer to the main road near the entrance of the village.”

Xu Yin still had a long way to go. 

If only she had rubber, she could try making tires. If she could make tires, then she’d also be able to manufacture bicycles. 

On their journey home, Xu Yin asked Nanny Feng and her maid about it. Unfortunately, none of them had heard of or seen anything like rubber. 

Xu Yin remembered that rubber was a tropical crop. Could it be that it just hadn’t reached this continent yet?

By the time that they returned to the prince’s residence, it was already dark.

The princely residence’s dinner seemed to follow her schedule. It arrived promptly as she reached her courtyard.

Xu Yin first went to bathe. After that, she was presented with a table full of dishes and couldn’t help raising her eyebrows. It was so lavish.

“The steward had asked if you were unhappy with the meals that you’ve been served here, Miss, since you refused your lunch,” Qiu Shuang, Xu Yin’s maid, explained. “Because the kitchen couldn’t serve you anything at noon, they’ve prepared a sumptuous dinner tonight. They hope to make you happy with it.”

Xu Yin: ‘…’

Could she say the real reason why she refused her lunch, though? It was because the kitchen had sent her a breakfast that was much too big and lavish, making her too full to eat at noon!

Oh, how could she say such a shameful thing…

“Everyone, please sit down and eat. You’ve all worked hard today.”

A few of the servants, including Nanny Feng, hesitated but couldn’t refuse. They added a table in the corner, shared some dishes, and dined with their miss.

Meanwhile, Yan Kejin was also having his meal. As he ate, he listened to Yan Qi’s report on the activities of his not-yet-wedded princess today. His hand, which was holding his chopsticks, paused when he heard about the curved plough.

“You’re saying that she had the carpenter make a unique type of plough, and that the plough is lighter and easier to use than normal ones.”

“Yes. After hearing the report from the hidden guards, I personally went to the village to verify what they’d said. The plough is not only lighter and easier to use, it also allows the plougher to freely adjust the depth and width of its ploughing. 

“It doesn’t hurt the plougher’s shoulders like traditional ploughs do. Instead, it works when it’s pushed forward, much like a millstone. The plougher stands behind it and pushes it forward, but it’s much less strenuous than pushing a millstone, and it also isn’t difficult to turn it.

“Wang Bo mentioned that if they continue using this plough in their fields, they’ll be able to plough an extra five or six acres per day.”

How could that be?

Land that would usually take five days to plough could now be ploughed in just one day. It also wouldn’t take as much effort as it used to.

Yan Kejin put down his chopsticks and wiped his hands. Then, he issued a series of instructions.

“Is Nineteen still in Linhai? Have him gather a group of craftsmen to come here.”

“Tell Thirteen he is now responsible for procuring the materials needed to make the new ploughs.”

“As for the blueprints, tell her… no, I’ll go and talk to her myself.”

So, after Xu Yin was done enjoying her meal, she got a cup of sweet and sour digestion tea and relaxed on the couch. She contemplated whether to bring out a mahjong or playing cards set to enrich her evening. She was caught entirely off guard by the sudden appearance of the master of this residence, Yan Kejin.

“Are you playing something?”

Yan Kejin strolled in casually.

“…”

Xu Yin and the steward behind the prince shared a glance.

Why the hell was he here?

Nanny Feng couldn’t help but feel a headache coming.

The prince, amidst his busy schedule, took the time to see the young lady, yet she was still lazily lying on the couch.

The frantic eye signal from the steward finally reminded Xu Yin of the proper etiquette that she needed to display.

“…”

This was so cruel…

While she could complain, her life had to be preserved.

She got up to bow, but before she could, Yan Kejin stopped her.

“No need for such formalities.”

Yan Kejin didn’t beat around the bush and sat down, stating his purpose.

Xu Yin was momentarily stunned. “Curved plough… oh, the one I took to the village this afternoon? You’re interested in that?”

Yan Kejin took note of the relaxed way in which Xu Yin addressed him and herself. ‘You’, ‘I’… The corners of his mouth twitched slightly. He didn’t mention it. He idly played with the teacup that Steward Feng had presented and lowered his gaze.

He said, “You might not be aware of this. There are two main reasons why the Southern barbarian lands are considered useless land: it is infected with hot miasma, and it is barren. The soil here is nowhere near as fertile as soil in the north, and it’s unsuitable for growing grains like wheat and millet. Cotton here has low yield; even if it grows, its yield will be of poor quality.

“Rice and corn have higher yields here. However, these plants require deep ploughing. The plough you took to the village this afternoon isn’t only lighter and easier to use; it also works much better than regular ploughs in terms of its results’ depth and width. It’d be excellent if this plough could be more widely-used.”

Xu Yin would agree to anything that could benefit the people. 

Besides, she had already thought about spreading the use of the curved plough, anyway.

However, the amount of metal that she could acquire was limited. This issue made the mass production and the promotion of the curved plough throughout the southern land challenging.

Now that Prince Jinnan was willing to take on this matter, on his own accord, it lifted a huge burden from Xu Yin’s shoulders. She was so happy that she couldn’t care less about anything else right now!

She handed over the designs. He could just take them all away; he didn’t even need to tell her ‘thanks’!

In fact, Xu Yin also threw in an improved fertilising method, which was part of her ‘future knowledge’ as a bonus.  

There was also something else that was on her mind.

“Actually, considering the climate here, it might be better for us to grow winter wheat than spring wheat. Spring wheat is resistant to drought, but not to heat. Meanwhile, this area is humid and hot, with frequent bursts of rain. No matter how meticulously these farmers take care of their spring wheats, they won’t achieve the yields that the north does. All their effort would go to waste!”

Like the old saying went, ‘oranges grown in Huainan were oranges, but oranges grown in Huaibei were tangerines’!

Translator’s Note:

[1] What the idiom is saying is that the same plant grown in two different environments will end up being different things. Tangerines and oranges are actually different fruits from each other, so, you might want to ignore that part of the idiom and just take the meaning that it’s supposed to give you…