The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 218

Zhang Xiucai quickly stopped Niu Er and said, "Village chief, he is saying that even if he goes back, it won't implicate our village."

Xu Tian nodded and gave the scholar an approving look.

"Do you know the saying, 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime'?"

Upon hearing this, the scholar felt somewhat discouraged.

"I am truly concerned for you. Although the terrain here is not suitable for growing hybrid rice, it has unique hills. Do you know what is most suitable for growing on hilly terrain?"

Niu Er immediately became furious and said, "If it were really easy to grow, would I need you to teach me? Everyone here knows more about farming than you do."

Xu Tian shook his head and said, "Before this, you must have inquired about my affairs and knew that you probably knew more about the farmland in the border region than I did. So you used this as an excuse to kidnap me. You have a good plan. In order for the villagers to survive, you did not hesitate to kidnap an official of the imperial court. I admire you for this!"

If I hadn't grown potatoes, would you have even heard of them before?

Niu Er nodded and said, "This time, I'll use you to exchange for five cartloads of potatoes."

Xu Tian was somewhat speechless: "If you finish eating these ten cartloads of grain, are you planning to kidnap me again? This is the principle of 'give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.'"

Niu Er was taken aback at first, then gritted his teeth and said, "Then what else do you think we can grow here?"

Xu Tian rotated his wrist, and Niu Er helped him untie the rope from his wrist, which had left a bruise around his wrist.

Niu Er couldn't help but say, "This is our village, you can't run away even if you want to! Don't even think about running away."

Xu Tian nodded and said, "I was just about to tell you that if we pay attention to the prickly pear trees and hawthorn trees here, they will definitely survive."

Niu Er immediately tilted his burly body to the side, craning his neck like a child, and said, "We hadn't thought of these pear and fruit trees, but you have a good idea. How can we fill our stomachs with these hawthorn and pear trees?"

Unexpectedly, as soon as Niu Er finished speaking, the scholar beside him was so excited that his eyes were shining: "Thank you, Grand Tutor. I am truly ashamed of my own shortcomings. I have wasted my time studying the classics."

Xu Tian shook his head. It wasn't their fault, but in the context of big data in society, some people go hungry, so naturally they'll take risks.

The scholar reminded him from the side: "Brother Niu, have you forgotten that there is a village nearby that does not produce the food for its own village, but sells its own village's food to other places and uses the money to buy grain?"

Although the soil here is not as good as that in the border areas, and the soil in the village is not suitable for growing crops, we can still grow trees.

This way, not only can we improve the soil quality, but we can also use the money earned from planting trees to buy food, so that our village can become self-sufficient in the future.

Unexpectedly, Niu Er sneered upon hearing this: "You're just a scholar, you're thinking too simply. If it were that simple, would I have kidnapped them? Do you know how long it takes to grow prickly pear and hawthorn trees? It takes at least three to five years for a fruit tree to grow to maturity. We can't wait that long."

“I have a method of plant grafting that can make fruit trees grow quickly. I see that most of the trees here are willows. I can graft the fruits of prickly pear and hawthorn onto the willows.”

Upon hearing this, Niu Er's eyes widened in surprise: "You can do that?"

Xu Tian nodded, then picked up a branch from a pear tree and a hawthorn tree, and peeled off a piece of bark from a willow tree to tie the branch to the willow branch.

"If we keep the willow tree warm for three months, it will sprout branches, and the fruit will fall onto the branches of the prickly pear and hawthorn trees. Large-scale planting will definitely help us overcome the current difficulties."

"Moreover, from my observation, although some places are all rocky, other places are not all the same. If you can grow some vegetables, your village can get through the winter temporarily. Vegetables don't have roots as deep as grains; they only need a layer of soil on the surface."

The scholar was somewhat incredulous: "Grand Tutor, how can vegetables be grown in the dead of winter?"

Xu Tian thought to herself, "This kind of technology is so common for a modern person like me, what else can I do? Of course, I'll use greenhouses."