The Daily Life of a Rich Peasant's Boy in the Imperial Examination

After having a banquet with a group of newly promoted scholars, a few days later, the scholars picked a date to hold a banquet and sent invitations to Sun Shan one by one.

Butler Wang came in, holding his waist, and asked, "Master, do you want to go to the wedding of these eight families?"

Sun Shan shook his head without even thinking: "No."

With a calm expression on his face, he continued, "Pick some gifts and have Brother Dingnan deliver them. I won't go in person."

It would be unacceptable for a scholar to send an invitation without giving a gift.

As the saying goes, gifts can be given without the recipient.

Scarcity makes things valuable. Remember when Sun Shan was admitted to high school, Lord Wei came in person.

But there were so many scholars in Yuanlu County that Sun Shan refused to go to any of them.

Butler Wang had long guessed that Sun Shan would do this.

If you don’t want to go, then don’t go. The master is the head of Yuanlu County. He can offend anyone, but of course he can also say that he doesn’t want to offend anyone.

What is worrying is not the lack of wealth but the inequality. The adults reject everyone fairly and no one dares to say anything.

Wang Guanshi continued, "Sir, how about we take the gift for the scholar out of the gifts they gave us? That way we won't have to spend money to buy things from outside."

A's gift is given to B's gift, B's gift is given to C's gift, and so on, ensuring that no one receives a gift from their own family.

Sun Shan nodded in agreement. "Just do as you say. Just be careful not to get them mixed up."

Butler Wang said confidently, "Master, don't worry, I will never make a mistake."

The first requirement to become a qualified housekeeper is to have a good memory.

Butler Wang believed that he had been trained by a wealthy family and was very confident that he could do the things his master asked him to do.

Sun Shan smiled and said, "I trust you to do your job."

Among so many people, it is Butler Wang who understands the ways of the wealthy families the best.

It’s a pity that he has been recovering from injury for several months and has been holding back.

Now that his condition has improved a lot, Butler Wang immediately took on the work and tried to show his performance.

Sun Dingnan went to present gifts on behalf of Sun Shan. After the banquet, the imperial examination, which was held twice every three years, came to a perfect end.

Xiucaigong continues to do what he should do, and Sun Shan also continues to do what he should do.

The autumn harvest has arrived in a blink of an eye. The rice in the "Rice Experimental Field Base" has drooped its head heavily and is ready to be harvested.

Sun Shan stood on the edge of the field, looking at the golden rice, his heart filled with joy.

As the saying goes, "If the harvest is 80% ripe, the yield will be 100%; if the harvest is 100% ripe, the yield will be 50%."

This means that when harvesting rice, you cannot wait until all the grains turn yellow before harvesting them.

If you harvest after the rice turns yellow, the loss during the threshing process will be greater.

Therefore, rice should be harvested when it is not fully mature.

How to determine whether the rice is 80% ripe can be done through visual inspection, tactile inspection, and oral inspection.

When more than 95% of the grains are the golden or light yellow color inherent to the variety, the rice field is ripe.

Then feel the hardness of the grains by touch. The grains of mature rice are hard and not easy to break. Pinch the grains. No pulp will flow out of the mature rice and the rice grains will be waxy, which also means that the rice is mature.

The last step is to put the millet in your mouth and take a bite. If it tastes crisp, has a certain hardness, full grains, and is not easy to crush, it means the rice is ripe.

By observing, pinching and biting the ears, we can roughly determine whether the rice can be harvested.

If an experienced farmer can tell whether the fruit is ripe by just taking a few glances and walking around a few times.

Sun Shan bit off a few grains of rice and said, "Our rice is ready to be harvested. I'll go back and put up a notice that the rice will be harvested the day after tomorrow."

Sun Shan looked at the sky. It was cloudless and the sun was shining brightly. It didn't look like it was going to rain.

I also asked a few experienced farmers, and they all said that the weather would be good recently and it would be the best time to harvest.

Sun Shan said to the two local helpers, "The day after tomorrow when the rice is harvested, go back and tell the neighbors to come and see how much the rice yield can be increased by using guano."

The two local helpers nodded and said, "Yes, sir. We will tell the villagers when we get back. Let them come and see how good your rice is."

Even if Sun Shan didn't say so, the two local helpers would spread the news of "rice harvesting the day after tomorrow".

Everyone wants to witness this rare gossip with their own eyes.

Local helper A bravely asked, "Sir, is it true that your fields are growing so well because of the bird droppings?"

There was no need to harvest and weigh the rice the next day. It was obvious to the naked eye that the rice fields at Lord Sun's house were growing much better than those outside.

Look at the rice ears, hanging down and heavy, it is obvious that there is a good harvest.

Sun Shan nodded. "Yes, it's because they used the bird droppings from the warehouse, that's why they grow so well."

Local helper B asked anxiously, "Sir, does the government really have guano for sale? Is it expensive? I want to buy some too."

Then he asked, "Sir, how do you use guano? Is it used as fertilizer like normal? If I buy guano, will you teach me how to use it?"

It’s useless to buy something if you don’t know how to use it. This issue must be made clear.

Looking at the two pairs of expectant eyes, Sun Shan's heart was suddenly touched.

This is the farmers' desire for food, and even more so for having enough food and clothing.

Sun Shan spoke softly and gently, "Don't worry. Next year during the spring plowing season, there will be guano for sale at the government office, and someone will be here to teach you how to use it. Don't worry, guano is not expensive, and you can afford it."

Local helpers A and B looked at the thin and short Sun Shan and for some reason seemed to him to be very tall.

The speaking voice is also very penetrating.

He said blankly: "Sir, I am waiting for your guano."

September 25th, slightly cold with dew.

Sun Shan got up early in the morning, had breakfast, and then led a group of officials to the "Rice Experimental Field Base" in Yuanlu County.

Before entering the experimental field, bursts of whispers could be heard.

Suddenly someone shouted, "The magistrate is here."

Someone else shouted, "The county magistrate is here too."

Then someone else shouted, "Why is Instructor Deng here too? Doesn't he have to teach?"

Then I saw a group of students following Teacher Deng.

The onlookers suddenly realized: "Oh my god, not only did Instructor Deng come, he also brought students with him. I didn't expect students nowadays to care so much about farmland."

Another bystander chuckled and said, "The students don't have land at home? Don't they need to eat? Maybe after watching the rice harvest, they'll go home and buy some guano."

As soon as these words were spoken, the onlookers laughed.

By the time Sun Shan entered the experimental field, Sun Dali had already divided the onlookers into several groups.

A warning hemp rope was pulled up in front, and the Sun family guards were asked to patrol back and forth.

Warn the people not to get too close to the experimental fields and Mr. Sun.

This practice caused great dissatisfaction among the onlookers.

The melon-eating lady asked unconvincedly: "With strong protection, they won't let us get closer, so how can we see clearly?"

Sun Dali thought to himself: "Whether you can see clearly or not is none of his business. His main responsibility is to protect the master."

Humph, if one of them goes crazy and hurts the master, all his wealth and glory will be over.

Sun Dali was determined to keep the onlookers away from the master of the Sun family.