The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 214

"What are these last two things?" the man frowned. "Grand Tutor, please don't try to fool us with things we don't understand!"

“I’m not trying to fool you,” Xu Tian said frankly. “Growing crops requires both water and soil. If there is only soil and no water, the seeds will not be able to germinate. If there is only water and no soil, the seeds will not be able to grow at all. The latter two are temperature and the fertilizer that needs to be used.”

"What's the use of all this?"

"The Tian Shan snow lotus grows in the Northwest, but it is difficult to cultivate here, partly due to the temperature. Fertilizer is needed to improve the soil quality and increase its fertility, which will ensure that a larger batch of crops survives."

The man's voice went hoarse upon hearing this. He hadn't been able to answer these questions immediately, and now, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he had no choice but to admit defeat.

Then Xu Tian gestured for him to ask, meaning it was his turn to ask the question first this time.

The man then asked confidently, "What is frost?"

“Frost refers to excessively cold weather that damages crops. There are two types of frost: spring frost and autumn frost,” Xu Tian quickly replied.

Then it was Xu Tian's turn to ask a question: "Now I'll ask you how to cultivate these potatoes?"

"Potatoes?" The man was taken aback. He had obviously never heard of potatoes before, or perhaps he had heard of them but didn't know how to grow them.

Seeing him stammer, Xu Tian guessed that he didn't know how to cultivate the potatoes, so he smiled and said, "The potatoes are more important. First, cut them into pieces, leaving the eyes for sprouting, and then dry them in the sun for a day before burying them in the soil."

The man gritted his teeth. Although he was still somewhat unwilling to give up, Xu Tian was more knowledgeable than him when it came to potatoes alone.

There was no other way; if he didn't want to lose face any further, he had no choice but to admit defeat.

Before he even admitted defeat, many people around him cheered for Xu Tian.

"Grand Tutor, excellent! Truly wise!"

"Indeed, the Grand Tutor truly lives up to his reputation!"

......

Xu Tian simply smiled when he heard these words.

If anyone lived in the 21st century, an era of information explosion and rapid development, they would probably know this too.

Meanwhile, some commoners whispered among themselves, "This man's knowledge is inferior to Grand Tutor Xu's, and his magnanimity is also inferior to Grand Tutor Xu's. How dare he continue to compare himself to the Grand Tutor?"

Hearing this only fueled people's resentment towards Xu Tian, ​​but if he continued, he would only lose more badly. So he simply slunk away from the school, even ignoring the apology he had made at the beginning.

Xu Tian made no comment upon seeing this.

He simply couldn't be bothered with these people; after all this time, he had faced criticism from more than just this one person.

At this moment, the border general noticed that the man had slunk away, so he smiled and said, "Congratulations to Grand Tutor Xu on this victory!"

"Alright, they've all run away, there's no need to bring this up anymore," Xu Tian said.

This commotion caused a lot of time to pass, and many people still had to go back to farming.

Xu Tian glanced at the sky and said helplessly, "Let's stop here for today and continue another day."

The people were somewhat disappointed upon hearing this, but they still let Xu Tian leave, and did not forget to say to him, "Grand Tutor, you should take more rest."

Xu Tianyi agreed to all of them.