Shipin Dalizheng

Rong Tang knew that Zhang Pojun was obsessed with live caesarean sections. He was a medical fanatic, and his moral bottom line was at a very delicate point. He still had the most basic compassion and would not harm innocent people.

If he encountered a woman with a difficult labor and her life was in danger, he might be able to do it. So he took advantage of his free time to record the limited medical knowledge in his head and put it in Zhang Pojun's place for them to read.

Although Xiao Poyun was unable to enter the officialdom due to his physical disability, his talent was appreciated by Emperor Xuanning. Moreover, because of the same political views, he was summoned to the palace every now and then after the grand court meeting began to discuss national policies, and was also given the status of a guest official.

Following Zhang Pojun and Dr. Mo, he also set up a courtyard to accept students of all ages. Initially, only Rong An, Li Jin, and Rong Qiaoqiao were accepted. Later, seeing that someone even the emperor admired had opened a school, several nearby mansions also tried to send a few naughty children.

Rong Tang didn't take special care of him. If he wanted to become the president of Tai College in the future, he had to prove himself with his ability. Fortunately, it would take at least a year before Tai College was completed, so he had time to make a name for himself.

Since Tang Tiantian also had to run the Actuarial Society and could not teach classes elsewhere, she discussed with Zhao Ling and decided to open a mathematics school next to the Actuarial Society. Cui Minshu took in the children, and she taught those with a basic knowledge, and she was quite good at it.

At first, Mrs. Tang was afraid that bad things would be said and did not agree with her daughter showing up in public. But her daughter was good at it, and her son-in-law also agreed, so her objection was ineffective.

However, Rong Tang was also concerned for her safety. In addition to the several palace maids he had given her, he also assigned two additional guards to stand guard. Combined with Zhao Ling's guards, the Actuary Society was the most heavily guarded shop on the entire street. Basically, no one dared to cause trouble.

Tang Fuyun and Sima Xin could only teach at the Ministry of Works workshop for the time being, but this was their normal job: master craftsmen mentoring junior craftsmen, and junior craftsmen mentoring novices. They simply put up a large sign at the workshop entrance, inviting commoners to learn the craft, with food and lodging provided. Their wages would be halved for the first three years, and fully paid after that.

This is naturally great news for ordinary people. You know, all the knowledge and skills are mostly in the hands of a small number of people. A small family workshop has a small secret recipe, which is a treasure passed down in the family and cannot be leaked even if you die.

As soon as this poster was posted, it immediately attracted many well-informed poor children to sign up. People outside the city got the news late, but people living in the city, such as those in Xicheng District and Beicheng District, came to sign up every day, and Sima Xin couldn't receive all of them.

The sixth-rank agricultural official from the Ministry of Agriculture had been "exiled" by his superiors to the Imperial Academy to teach because of his lack of connections. Lacking a suitable venue, he would regularly seek out Rong Tang for advice, asking questions about dormant rice buds. Last year, before winter, over a dozen villages in Xijiao County harvested a second crop of rice, increasing yields by over 100 kilograms per mu—a remarkable achievement. When Rong Tang assigned him another project, studying the feasibility of double-season rice, he found it incredible.

On this day, he went to the Jian'an Earl's Mansion again. The servants recognized him and invited him in.

Rong Tang was asking Butler Tao something.

"Have you harvested enough beet seeds?"

It is already the end of February and almost March. Beet is a cold-resistant crop, so seeds need to be planted early.

Steward Tao said, "It's true that they want too much. Seeds are harder to buy than land. I've only saved a few sacks now, which can hold about 500 to 600 kilograms."

Beet seeds are small, so if you plant two seeds per hole, you'll need about half a jin (approximately 1000 kilograms) of sugar beet per acre. With 500 to 600 kilograms, you can plant at most 1,000 acres. But right now, this is only a trial phase, and he's not sure if it will be successful.

"Rice and sorghum shouldn't be planted right now, so plant the sugar beets first. Go to Rongjia Village and find Rong Dajiang. Ask him to borrow a hundred laborers. Fuxinzhuang can also contribute some, and that should be enough."

He did see the official from the Ministry of Agriculture coming, but since they were talking about farming, he didn't avoid him.

The official's surname was Zuo. He listened quietly for a while, and became more and more confused. This was about buying saline-alkali land and planting sugar beets. Are they the same thing?

Steward Tao took his orders and left. Lord Zuo looked over and saw that no one was waiting on Earl Jian'an. He went over and poured himself some tea. As he drank, he asked, "Young Master, you've been talking for a while, but I didn't understand a word you said. Should sugar beets be grown in saline-alkali soil?"

He thought he was joking, and Rong Tang replied, "Yes!"

"puff……"

The mist splashed in the air, and Lord Zuo felt embarrassed. "Oh, this is rude. Young Master, I have also farmed. Don't underestimate some land just because it's idle or cheap. It's very likely that it's worthless."

It was a euphemism for expressing that there was a possibility that his investment in the business would fail.

Rong Tang didn't explain either. It was useless to explain something that he himself was not sure about.

"Master Zuo is here, is there something wrong?"

Lord Zuo said, "I know that in southern Xinjiang, where Young Master is from, they can harvest two or even three rice crops a year. However, the weather there is warm, allowing for year-round planting. Our location in the north is not ideal. Planting too early can lead to death from freezing, and planting too late will also cause death. The months from late April to late September are risk-free, but that's only enough for one crop. It's already quite remarkable that the dormant buds you mentioned could regrow and form ears, allowing for a harvest by mid-October. I simply can't think of a way to harvest two full crops in such a short time."

Rong Tang was just making a suggestion. In fact, even in later generations, there were many places in the north that could only grow one season of rice. There might be a way to grow two seasons, but if the input and output were not proportional, there was no need to persist.

"Don't feel pressured, Master Zuo. We're not forcing you to complete this task immediately. Just think about it and find a favorable path. It might take decades without any results, but once you do, you'll be a famous figure in history books."

Lord Zuo is very soothing. This Earl of Jian'an is really a good person. Anyone can feel no pressure when talking to him.

(The Liang and Chu families: We have different opinions.)

"That's right," Lord Zuo said with a wry smile. "I'm just a useless agricultural official, assigned to work under the Earl of Jian'an. I always want to make a difference, just not look like a waste."

"Then go out and do something!"

Rong Tang stood up and said, "It just so happens that I want to go to the fields to take a look. If you have nothing to do, Lord Zuo can go too. It would be best if you can take charge of a test field yourself and do everything yourself. Maybe inspiration will come to you."

Lord Zuo thought this made sense, so he went out of the city with him. After riding their horses for about an hour, they arrived at the saline-alkali land closest to Shangjing.

In fact, the wasteland had been reclaimed during this period. After Rong Zhan and his companions got married, Rong Tang no longer asked them to serve as mere guards, but sent them out to handle matters independently. Each person was given a piece of saline-alkali land, and the work of reclaiming the wasteland and building a wall took almost a month and was basically completed.

They were heading to the area Rong Zhan was responsible for, where the hired workers from the neighboring village had just finished their work and were taking a break. Rong Zhan's new wife, Xu, had wrapped her hair in a cloth and scooped up some personally boiled water for her husband to quench his thirst. She walked gracefully, elegant even on the ridges of the fields.

Rong Zhan looked so happy and cheerful that he didn't look like he was 33 years old. He looked more like he was 13 years old, which was really disgusting.

Rong Tang put his hands behind his back, pretending not to see anything, and walked to the edge of the leveled land with Lord Zuo, pointing and talking.

Understand the old bachelor!