Dominate the ancient academy

Compared with the dazzling array of modern crops, the current ones can only be described as barren. The gap is too big. Shu Xiaoxiao plans to first see if there are any high-yield crops in Yuxi Mountain. If not, she will look for those ship merchants going out to sea. It is impossible that she will not find any at all.

While Shu Xiaoxiao was thinking, all the teachers had finished their speeches. Everyone had the rest of the day to sort out their affairs. If they had anything to do, they should prepare in advance. They had to arrive at school on time at 5 a.m. tomorrow. Latecomers would be severely punished.

"It's already morning! It's so early! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get up." Su Shiche sighed with a sullen look on his face.

"Don't look at me. I can't do it even better." Shu Xiaoxiao said hurriedly when she saw Su Shiche's eyes. Normally, when she woke up at noon, she would be fuzzy for a while, right?

"I usually get up at 7:00 a.m." Qian Jinbao said quickly.

"I'll call you at the hour of Mao tomorrow. Remember to hurry up. If you're late you'll be punished with a ruler." Shu Tingfei gets up at the hour of Mao to practice martial arts every day, so this time is just right for him.

"Alas, students in the martial arts class have a harder time."

......

Youranju

When the headmaster saw his two outstanding disciples, he felt a little relieved as he had been worried about food.

"Master, do you really want those students to farm? Can they tell the difference between grain and grass?" Yun Qinghan, the son of Marquis Dingbei, was very surprised by his teacher's decision.

The Sixth Prince beside him was also somewhat puzzled by the teacher's approach. The discovery of crops was difficult, and there had been no progress in the past hundred years. Wasn't the money invested by the Ministry of Agriculture not enough? So many people said they were researching every day, but there was no response so far.

"I just don't have any idea. I was thinking about whether I could find another way."

"I have been a mountain chief for so many years and I have found that some people are born to be good at studying. They can remember everything they read after reading it once and understand everything explained to them at once. Some people are born to be good at martial arts. They are stronger than ordinary people and can achieve twice the result with half the effort when practicing martial arts.

So, I think there must be people who are born to be farmers. They must be better at farming and have a high chance of making achievements. "

Yun Qinghan: “…”

The Sixth Prince: “…”

It makes sense. People in their position have come into contact with a lot of people, and there is indeed a big difference between those with talent and those without. The people in the Ministry of Agriculture also passed the imperial examination. It is possible that those who are good at farming are not good at studying. So, is it that their direction has been wrong, and that is why there has been no progress?

“Teacher, should we ask the emperor to issue an order to search the whole country for such talents?” The Sixth Prince felt that the academy still had certain limitations, and if a nationwide search was conducted, the results might be better.

"No need. I went to see Master Wuchen a few days ago and he said the hope lies in the 'Yuren Academy'." The dean looked confident. He had observed the students in the academy and was sure that this person should be among the new students this year.

"Besides, 'Yuren Academy' is also attracting a lot of attention, so the news should spread quickly." He believed that the position of his last disciple was still attractive.

"Master Wuchen from Yunguang Temple?" Yun Qinghan looked surprised.

"If what Master Wuchen said is true, there is still hope." The Sixth Prince nodded in agreement.

Yunguang Temple has a long history and is very popular among the people. Master Wuchen is an accomplished monk who is good at divination, but it is difficult to get a divination and his whereabouts are usually unknown. It really depends on fate if you want to ask him to tell your fortune.

It is rumored that before the current emperor ascended the throne, Master Wuchen once told him about his fortune, but no one knows the result. However, after he ascended the throne, the emperor trusted Master Wuchen very much and wanted to appoint him as the national teacher, but was politely declined. This also made the people more convinced of Master Wuchen.

If Master Wu Chen said so, then it is indeed possible.

"It seems like we are really going to have another junior brother." The Sixth Prince sighed. He had met Master Wuchen with his father. Master Wuchen had a special temperament that was not comparable to ordinary people.

“As long as he can really ensure that Daning does not lack food, I will worship him as my ancestor in the future, not to mention my junior brother.” Yun Qinghan joked.

Although he had never been to the battlefield, he knew about its cruelty from his parents' descriptions. When he traveled before, he also saw many people working hard for a year but still could not fill their stomachs. If there really was someone who could increase grain production and allow the people to fill their stomachs, he believed that not only him, but even the emperor might be willing to support him.

In the previous battle of Luhe, it was clear that Daning had the upper hand, but due to insufficient food and grass, they accepted the enemy's surrender. If there were sufficient food and grass, they could definitely attack their lair. His father now feels regretful when he thinks of the situation at that time.

“Then I’d really like to see how the unrestrained and uninhibited Prince Dingbei treats people as his ancestors.” The Sixth Prince joked, but he didn’t know that in the future, Yun Qinghan really treated their junior brother as an ancestor. It reminded him of his current joke and he couldn’t help but sigh that things in the world are unpredictable.

"If there is really someone who can keep the people from going hungry, I would be willing to support him, not to mention accepting him as a disciple," the headmaster agreed.

"Master, have you ever thought about this, if the person who appears is not a student but an old man of your age, would you still accept him as an apprentice? What if we can't call him "Junior Brother" at that time?" Yun Qinghan felt a little uncomfortable when he thought of such a situation.

"He who is about the same age as me will be my disciple, and you can just follow me and call him Grandmaster." The dean was very easy to talk to on this matter.

The Sixth Prince smiled but said nothing. He was looking forward to the appearance of this junior fellow apprentice or master.

Dingbei Marquis Mansion

Marquis Dingbei looked at the map in front of him, thinking about the barbarians who were ready to make some moves recently, and sighed. These barbarians came to Daning to plunder because of the lack of food, and Daning could not drive them away completely due to the lack of food. Alas!

"Husband, you are thinking about the problem of food and grass again." Princess Anyang saw her husband's worried look and knew that he was thinking about how to completely drive out the barbarians.

"Princess." Marquis Dingbei took the herbal tea from his wife's hand, still looking worried.

"I know that my husband wants to completely eliminate the barbarians, but he also has to consider the people. They cannot withstand the consumption of a war, and we cannot lose sight of one while focusing on the other. The people are the foundation." If taxes are increased for the sake of war, the people cannot afford it.

"I know what I have to do now is to stop those who want to invade our country and let the people recuperate."

"Yes, we are waiting. When the time is right, we will naturally make sure that these bandits will never dare to invade an inch of our Daning land again." Princess Anyang said firmly.

His royal brother also wanted to drive these barbarians back to their nests, but he really couldn't mobilize more food and grass. If he insisted on launching a war, the people would suffer. They needed time to build Daning.

The well-arranged architectural layout of the 'Yuren Academy', the ancient-style study rooms, and the endless sound of reading all made Shu Xiaoxiao and the others feel cheerful. When they were in the Zhengde Hall, Yuan Zhen and the others had already asked about several important locations in the academy. Shu Xiaoxiao just had to follow them and listen to their introduction.

But Shu Xiaoxiao was a little absent-minded when thinking about food. Now is the planting season. If you miss these few days, you will have to wait for another season, which is a loss! Before this idea, it didn't matter. Now that I have decided, I feel like I'm on fire. I must change this habit and prepare for everything early.

"Yuan Zhen, do you know where the place the headmaster is talking about is?"

"Young Master Ye, it's in the back mountain to the east." Su Shiche's servant Fang Rong said hurriedly.

"Let's go over and take a look."

"Brother Ye, do you want to be the headmaster's disciple?" Qian Jinbao asked doubtfully. Their family also had a lot of land, and no matter how well the tenant farmers took care of it, the amount of harvest each year would not make much difference.

"This is not easy." Su Shiche shook his head. Although he didn't know much about farming, he knew it was not easy just by looking at the jackpot.

"Do you know what I am called at home? 'Little Shennong'! As long as it is planted in the field, nothing can stump me."

Shu Xiaoxiao was full of confidence. No matter what, she had to give them the impression that she had a special talent for farming. When she discovered new crops in the future, they would also think that she was gifted. She wanted to establish herself as a farming genius.

"Then let's go to the fields and take a look. Maybe we can really become the headmaster's disciple." They didn't understand, but that didn't stop them from coveting the position of the headmaster's closed disciple.

With beautiful dreams in mind, several people went to the back mountain in the east. Shu Xiaoxiao then realized that it was no wonder that the mountain chief would reclaim wasteland here. The place was large and flat, mostly covered with weeds and not many stones. After clearing the land, it would be more than 100 acres. If all the land was planted with crops, how much grain could be harvested?

The area directly opposite them had already been cleared, all the grass had been cleared, and there were no large rocks, so they could sow the seeds directly.

The reclaimed area is about 20 acres. Shu Xiaoxiao plans to plant 10 acres first. Even if she plants wheat, with her golden finger, she should have a good harvest. Then she will mobilize all the plants to find high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes and corn. She will not waste her efforts.

"I don't think there's anything special about it. Can Brother Ye farm it?" Su Shiche said that he didn't realize that farming could be done here, although he had never seen anyone farming.

The rest of the people also looked at Shu Xiaoxiao. They really knew nothing about these things. Yuan Zhen knew how to farm, but when he knew that the young master wanted to increase the production, he was confused. An acre of land is so small, how can it be increased?

"I have some idea. Let's go to the abbot's office to register first."

"Ten acres? Are you sure you want to plant ten acres?" The abbot looked surprised. He had already planned to find some tenant farmers to plant some wheat on these lands, and then supply it directly to the canteen so there would be no waste. He didn't expect that someone would actually come.

"Yes, could you please help me with the registration?" Shu Xiaoxiao was very sure.

"Okay, if you've decided, you can take classes with the martial arts students. While they're practicing martial arts, you can take care of your ten acres of land."

Students who choose farming will take classes in the martial arts department and take care of the fields while practicing martial arts. If there is no effect on the fields, it depends on the students' own choices. If they can really meet the requirements of the headmaster, then they will be able to achieve success in one step.

Two or four hours should be enough for her to find the seeds. Once she finds the seeds, she can hire some people to plant them. She only needs to give the orders. Two hours will be enough.

"Abbot, if I want to hire someone, can you come down the mountain?" She had to ask this clearly, otherwise she would die of exhaustion and not be able to work the ten acres of land by herself.

"You don't have to go down the mountain. If you register ten acres of land, there will be twenty people to follow your arrangements." This was specifically instructed by the mountain headmaster. There are two people for one acre of land. The registered students just need to give good instructions. As long as someone chooses to farm, he will be given the greatest convenience.

"Okay, Abbot, I understand." That's easy.

Hearing that Shu Xiaoxiao was only responsible for giving orders, Shu Tingfei felt relieved, as long as his sister didn't have to do any work.

Su Shiche and Qian Jinbao were a little envious. They could rest for two hours every day and had the chance to become the headmaster's closed disciples. If they really knew nothing about planting, they would also like to sign up.

But think about what the dean said yesterday: if there are students who don’t know anything and can’t even tell the difference between grass and grain, causing food waste, they will be expelled from the academy immediately once discovered.

They should just forget it, after all, they are the ones who can’t even tell the difference between food and grass.

When returning to the dormitory, Shu Xiaoxiao immediately looked for ginseng, which is the undisputed ancestor among plants.

"Shenbao, ask the plants in Yuxi Mountain if there are any plants whose fruits grow underground. If we find any, we will have done a great deed, okay?" Potatoes and sweet potatoes are two high-yield crops that grow underground. They are easy to identify and have large enough yields. Let's find these two first and then deal with the others later.

"Okay, don't worry, I will definitely let all the plants look for it well, so that we can worship the most powerful teacher." It had been there all day, knowing that if they planted the land well, the master they worshipped would be more useful than in the school.

Shu Xiaoxiao was quite surprised. She didn't expect that Shenbao was so thoughtful and wanted to become the disciple of the most powerful master.

"Yes, as long as we find a highly productive species, we will have the most powerful teacher to teach us, and we will also be the most powerful."

"The fruits grow underground, right? Give me these bags." He said and was about to go out.

"Wait a minute, I'll take you out."

Before he could finish his words, Shenbao had already opened the window and jumped out.

"Be careful, don't let anyone find out!"

Shenbao waved his ginseng beard and disappeared into the night.

As soon as Shenbao arrived at the forest, he returned to his home. He shook his ginseng whiskers and saw that the flowers, plants and trees that seemed to be asleep immediately became energetic. The branches and leaves swayed in the places where there was no wind, and the whole mountain seemed to come alive in the places where they swayed.

"Ancestor."

Hundreds and thousands of voices that humans could not hear shouted "Ancestor", and then waited silently for the Ancestor's orders.

"Look for plants whose fruits grow underground. Look around for them. Our ancestors used them."

"The fruits growing underground make a squeak. Are our ancestors looking for them?" Immediately some plants took action.

Then, the words "the fruit grows underground, make a sound" slowly spread around with the ginseng as the center, and the leaves of the plants also moved automatically without wind, transmitting the message.

"Ancestor found it! It's here! It's here too!"

Following the response of the plants, Shenbao quickly came to a place where there were green seedlings.

"Your fruit is underground?"

"It's us, ancestors. We are sprouting again now. In a few months, we will bear fruits underground, and they will be very big." The voice of the seedling is childish.

"I know. Wild boars dug out their fruits from the ground before. They were as big as stones." Yang Shu next to him quickly confirmed, his steady voice full of reliability.

"Okay, I'll come see you tomorrow."

"Where else?"

Shen Bao searched three places in total and confirmed that they were all plants whose fruits grew underground. Then he returned to the dormitory and prepared to bring Shu Xiaoxiao over to take a look tomorrow.

The guards on duty at the Yuren Academy today felt that the plants and trees were a little strange. Normally, these plants and trees were inconspicuous at night, but for some reason, they seemed more energetic tonight than usual.

It seems that working the night shift is too tiring. I must have a good rest when I change shifts tomorrow, otherwise I will have hallucinations.