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“The specific yield will only be known after drying.”
“Regardless, it will definitely be much higher compared to your yield last year,” Su Jiu said with a smile and a confident tone.
Wang Jinhe smiled but didn’t say anything, as this was indeed a fact.
With nearly 1,200 acres of land, it took everyone eight days to complete the harvest, using a total of thirty threshing machines working together.
Originally, they could have harvested a bit more, but they didn’t have enough manpower and had to rely on time for the harvest.
After the harvest, they proceeded with cleaning and drying. The governor had not returned home in the past few days and stayed at Wang Jinhe’s house, visiting the homestead every day.
The weather was favorable, and after five or six days of drying, all the rice was completely dried.
After drying, it took a few more days to weigh the rice. In total, they harvested 900,000 catties of grain from over 1,000 acres of land. The average yield of the rice planted last year was around 1,200 catties, while the high-yield rice was around 1,800 catties.
This result drove the governor into a frenzy.
“That’s great! With such a high yield, this year’s grain can be distributed to more places. Madam, look…” the governor began.
“Don’t worry. This year, I will leave 60,000 catties in Fu’an County. By then, we should be able to cover the entire county,” Wang Jinhe said, understanding what the governor wanted to say from his expression.
“That’s great.”
“Let’s go to your village and see how much they have harvested.”
After the grain at Wang Jinhe’s estate was harvested, the village also began its harvest, starting with the Xie family.
Last year, their yield was close to 700 catties per acre, and the governor wanted to see how much they would harvest this year.
As the autumn harvest began in Fu’an County, it also started in the capital. The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Revenue all became busy.
Even Xuan Feiran went to the imperial estate.
The Ministry of Agriculture had people harvest an acre of grain, clean the leaves, and weigh it.
During the weighing, everyone was a bit nervous.
Even Xuan Feiran stood nervously on the side, watching intently.
When the weight was revealed, Xuan Feiran was dumbfounded. The total weight was over 1,100 catties, and after drying, there would be at least 900 catties. It was truly within the range of what Xiao He had mentioned.
“The county princess has truly achieved it. The yield from her fields is really close to the weight she planted,” the Minister of Agriculture said excitedly.
“I wonder how much the county princess’s yield will be this year,” Xuan Feiran also began to anticipate.
“The Minister of Agriculture should quickly have the grain harvested, dried, and stored. This grain will be very useful,” the Emperor said.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Xuan Feiran returned to the palace with his people to share the good news with the Empress Dowager.
“Your Majesty, the yield from our imperial estate is over 1,100 catties per acre, and after drying, there will be at least 900 catties,” Xuan Feiran said joyfully.
The Empress Dowager was also delighted to hear this. “That’s great. Xiao He said that this year’s yield will be even higher. Has the news from her side come back yet?”
“Not yet.”
Suddenly, an Urgent message from Fu’an County came.
Upon hearing this, Xuan Feiran hurried over to receive the message and, after reading it, burst into laughter.
“Xiao He has done it. This is truly wonderful,” he exclaimed.
The Empress Dowager quickly approached and asked, “What’s going on?”
“The yield from Xiao He’s fields has been announced. The average yield of the crop we planted this year is over 1,200 catties per acre, and the new rice she planted has a yield of 1,800 catties per acre, and it’s already dried. Xiao Yu said that they harvested over 900,000 catties in total this year, and they can provide the court with 700,000 catties of grain seeds,” Xuan Feiran said, extremely excited.
The Empress Dowager was taken aback by the yield. Xiahe had initially mentioned 1,500 catties, but now it turned out to be over 1,800.
“Announce this good news to the public as soon as possible. The people will be very happy to hear it. Such a high yield per acre means that the people will no longer go hungry in the future. Moreover, the tax set is not high, only 20%. The rest belongs to the people. Even if there are natural disasters in the future, the people will not suffer to the extent of eating bark and roots. This is really important,” the Empress Dowager said.
“I will announce it in the court tomorrow. What do you think would be a good reward for Xiao He?”
“Xiao He doesn’t lack money either, after all, the wine made from the fruits she grows is so expensive. Instead of giving her a monetary reward, it would be better to grant her land. That’s what she would appreciate. In the future, if Xiao He’s side is to supply grain seeds to the entire country, the current amount of land will definitely not be enough,” the Empress Dowager suggested. It might not be convenient to buy more land.
Xuan Feiran nodded in agreement. “You’re right, I will issue an imperial decree to reward Xiao He with 1,000 mu of good land and have the local Governor find the most suitable plot for her.”
“Agreed.”
The next day, during the morning court, Xuan Feiran shared this good news with everyone.
When they heard that the highest yield from Wang Jinhe’s fields reached 1,800 catties per acre, the official who had wanted Wang Jinhe to share his methods with the court ministers last year was completely dumbfounded.
The Minister of Agriculture was the most delighted. “This is great, to have such a high yield.”
“This year, County Princess Changning can provide the court with 700,000 catties of grain seeds. Minister of Agriculture and the Ministry of Revenue, come to the study later. I have something for you to handle,” the Emperor said.
“Is there anyone here who still wants to claim credit for this?” Xuan Feiran asked the ministers below in a cold voice.
This question silenced the ministers, especially those who had entertained such thoughts last year.
Would they dare?
Wang Jinhe was also an oddity. Last year, they thought that a yield of 1,000 catties per acre was already a lot. So when Wang Jinhe said that this year’s yield could reach 1,500 catties per acre, they thought it was a pipe dream. Who would have thought that Wang Jinhe not only achieved it but even exceeded 1,500 catties by 300 catties.
Three hundred catties was not a small amount.
Before Wang Jinhe achieved high-yield grain production, even the best paddy fields could only yield up to 500 catties per acre.
A yield of 1,800 catties was a dream come true, something they had never dared to imagine. Yet, Wang Jinhe had made it a reality.
Wasn’t the Emperor’s question at this moment a bit unreasonable?
Who would dare to claim this credit? Just because Wang Jinhe shared her methods, did that mean they could achieve the same results? What a joke.
“It seems that you all have a sense of self-awareness this time,” the supporters of the Emperor and those loyal to Xuan Feiran chuckled upon hearing this, as if the Emperor was implying that they lacked self-awareness last year.
When did the Emperor become so unreasonable?
The individuals who felt marginalized were surprisingly dissatisfied but dared not say much, standing stiffly in their places.
The person from the Censorate who had previously spoken up for Su Yu suddenly spoke, “Your Majesty, given the significant contribution made by the County Princess of Changning, she deserves a reward.”
“That’s not right. The County Princess of Changning is already a county princess. How can she still be rewarded?”
“If you don’t need a reward, then why did keep getting promoted? Why did you need to advance in rank?” the other person retorted bluntly.
“Mo Zhen, what do you think would be an appropriate reward?”