Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

After the crops in the fields were harvested, dried and stored in the granary, the family could have some free time.

Although the family had more land this year, Sheng Xuan did not ask his mother for help with other crops except corn. The family had permanent workers and hired temporary workers, but he did not consider himself an official at all and still led the permanent and temporary workers to work in the fields.

Since the food shop has hired an accountant and a shopkeeper, he doesn't have to worry about anything. At the end of the month, Xiao Lan just needs to check the accounts regularly.

"Dad, why don't we invite some people who are good at farming and have some ideas?" Xiao Lan said to Sheng Xuan, "If the research is successful, maybe the per-acre yield of corn and wheat we grow here will be even higher in the future?"

In the past two years, Sheng Xuan has found the taste. He has tasted the sweetness of growing wheat. Although the benefits of this corn have not yet been realized, he knows that it will be indispensable.

The daughter's approach might be right. People in the past didn't know how to plant corn either. After slowly exploring, they learned how to plant corn. Wasn't there corn seeds before? The answer is definitely no. These corn seeds were brought back by the daughter from Hejian County. He didn't believe that the Persians only went to Hejian County. Even if they only went to Hejian County, why was his daughter the only one in Daqi who grew high-yield corn?

If the local people could try to grow corn like Xiaolan did, and not consider the problem of bad or good harvest before planting, wouldn't they have grown corn earlier? If corn had been grown earlier, there wouldn't have been so many people starving to death during the two years of famine.

Therefore, Shengxuan very much agreed with Xiaolan's decision.

After agreeing on the wages, Xiao Lan picked up her pen and wrote a recruitment notice.

The next day, Sheng Xuan took Xiao Lan to the county town to post the notice. Although the notice was posted, it encountered some minor problems. For most of the day, the notice did not even make a splash.

The reason is simple, it is because in this era, there are too few people who can farm and know how to read.

There was no other way, Xiao Lan had to ask two people to stand next to the notice and read it to everyone.

The crowd didn't believe what she said on the notice, and thought she was joking. What's the point of studying farming? Anyone in the fields can do it. What's the point of studying?

So there were a lot of people watching, but no one came to apply for the job. This incident became a joke and spread throughout the surrounding villages.

After a few days, no one came to Xiaolan to apply for the job. Just when Xiaolan was thinking about whether to go to the capital to post a notice, Sheng Xuan solved the problem for Xiaolan. "My girl, what kind of person do you think is good at farming?"

"Dad, you are the one who knows how to farm." Xiao Lan knew that some of her ideas might be different from Sheng Xuan's, but she still explained, "I think farming also requires skills. You see, from plowing the land, to leveling the land and then planting seeds, there are also fertilizing, catching insects, irrigation, harvesting, etc. in the middle, all of which require methods and techniques. Of course, there are also seeds. I even think that seeds can be cultivated..." Seeing that Sheng Xuan was listening carefully, Xiao Lan slowed down her speech and continued, "Now the crops here are not drought-resistant. Dad, think about last year, we had a severe drought here. If the general hadn't repaired the water conservancy in advance, I'm afraid all our crops would have been lost..."

"Let's not talk about the distant ones, let's talk about the near ones. Look at our crops, they are neither drought-resistant nor high-yielding. This is compared with corn. The per-acre yield of our local grain crops is indeed not as good as corn."

"I want to develop drought-tolerant, high-yielding crops..."

"If you want to grow this kind of crop, you must first grow good seeds..."

This was the first time Sheng Xuan talked about crops with his daughter. He frowned and looked puzzled. "The seeds of crops are all left by the previous generation. How...how to cultivate them? If we want to have a high yield of grain here, we can only cultivate the land carefully and fertilize it as much as possible. We also need to fertilize, weed, and catch insects on time, and we have to keep up with the irrigation..."

Xiao Lan was unable to explain the concepts of heredity and hybridization to Sheng Xuan. After all, these words were too modern and Sheng Xuan would definitely not understand them.

"Dad, during the drought last year, some places did not suffer a total crop failure, but only experienced a reduction in yield. That's because some crops were able to withstand the drought. Although the same crops were planted in the field, those that were able to withstand the drought produced ears of corn..."

Sheng Xuan seemed to be thinking about something.

"So, I wonder if the descendants of these drought-tolerant crops can also tolerate drought?"

Sheng Xuan was stunned when he heard this, and really started to think about it seriously.

"Dad, you see, when we pick seeds, we always pick those that are full. Isn't this the method of survival of the fittest? Those full seeds should have a high chance of full offspring. It can be seen that the seeds of those cold-resistant crops will also have a high chance of drought-resistant offspring..."

“What if these seeds are not drought-tolerant?”

"We have to wait until the ears are formed, and then we can select the best ones. However, this only ensures that the crops are drought-resistant. We also have to ensure high yields. So, Dad, I plan to go into the fields and take a good look next year to see if there are any ears that are particularly long and have a lot of grains. I will save them as seeds then."

"Ah, but you want both drought tolerance and high yield, how do you combine the two seeds?" Sheng Xuan asked with his eyes wide open, "They can't mate..."

Xiao Lan laughed immediately. She was worrying about how to explain the principle of hybridization to Sheng Xuan.

"What are you thinking about all day, kid? Can these crops mate?" Sheng Xuan said to himself, "But, yes, those flower spikes are actually just flowers, but how can they mate..."

When Sheng Xuan saw Xiao Lan staring at him with an embarrassed look, he reached out and slapped himself in the face. How could he, who was so careless with his mouth, bring up such nonsense in front of the child?

Xiao Lan really didn't expect Sheng Xuan to think of this. She said to Sheng Xuan happily, "Dad, you can be responsible for the experiment. Dad, you don't have to worry about the work in the fields. When the time comes, we can hire people to work in the fields, and the two of us can just concentrate on taking care of a few acres of experimental fields..."

"So do we need to remove the notice?"

"No, Dad. This experimental field is not enough for the two of us alone. Let's recruit a few more people. As the saying goes, three heads are better than one. Let's brainstorm and maybe we can come up with more ideas."

She didn't know much about crops now, she just heard or saw them on TV in her previous life, but she had never practiced them herself. So she planned to buy a few agricultural books to read.

"If the person is not from our village, it is not very convenient for him to come here to work." Sheng Xuan said.

"Dad, there will always be a way. Otherwise, we can build more houses on the farm. At worst, people can live on the farm. Dajiang and Xiaohe are also going to look after the ranch. When they leave, the rooms can be vacated..."

Sheng Xuan wanted to say something, but before he could open his mouth, there was a knock on the door. "Is anyone home?"

After Sheng Xuan opened the door, he led two men in. The two men stood awkwardly in front of Xiao Lan, their mouths opened, their faces flushed, and they didn't say a word.

Xiao Lan looked at the two people, one was strong and the other was thin. The strong man had a simple and honest face and big hands. He stood in front of Xiao Lan with a slightly hunched back. He saw the person next to him standing straight out of the corner of his eye, so he also tried to straighten his back, but it was in vain. , now beads of sweat appeared on his forehead in anxiety.

The thin man next to him looked a little calmer than the strong man, but his uneasiness could be seen in his eyes. He kept rubbing his hands in front of him and stood in front of Xiao Lan without saying a word for a long time.