Chapter 100: Improving the Soil
The main gate of Gao Family Fortress buzzed with activity.
Large convoys of carts arrived from the county town in an endless stream.
Liang Shixian had personally promised, "Not a single grain of food will be embezzled," so his attention to the matter was exceptionally high.
Today was the first day of grain transport, and he personally rode his horse, accompanied by his scribe and constables, arriving with the convoy. He stood right at the gate of Gao Family Fortress, watching cart after cart enter, load up with flour, and then drive out.
"The strength of this Li family is simply unfathomable," the scribe whispered beside him. "This is already the thirtieth cart of flour. It's terrifying."
Liang Shixian nodded, thinking, *As descendants of the Tang imperial family, a clan spanning a thousand years, is it any wonder they possess such power? To receive help from such an eminent family, I must have stumbled into incredible luck. Otherwise, I would surely have stepped into a death trap and been killed by the Eunuch Party.*
Only after a full forty carts of flour had departed did San Shier emerge from the fortress. He cupped his hands in a respectful salute to Liang Shixian and smiled, "Your Excellency, the Magistrate, the forty carts of flour our Li family promised you have been fully dispatched today. What remains is to see your methods for people's relief."
Liang Shixian returned the salute with a solemn expression. "This official will personally oversee these provisions. If anyone dares to embezzle even a single grain, they will be executed without mercy."
San Shier smiled. "The eyes of countless common folk in Chengcheng County will be watching. If Your Excellency is an honest official, you will naturally win the love and respect of the people. But if... heh..."
San Shier clasped his hands again. "Then I shall leave it to your capable hands."
Liang Shixian reined in his horse with a proud gesture and followed the grain convoy away.
Meanwhile, Li Daoxuan was engrossed in researching winter wheat.
Gao Family Village was about to plant winter wheat, and as an "urban kid" utterly ignorant of agriculture, he found the whole process of sowing incredibly fascinating.
The diorama box's field of view had already been adjusted to hover above the wheat fields, a cluster of cameras, big and small, aimed through the glass at the scene below.
Opening his computer, he searched for information on planting winter wheat, reading it word for word: "Oh, so first, you need to deep plow the land..."
He turned to look at the little people in the box and saw Gao Chuwu helping his parents plow the field. The young man's strength was immense, and the soil churned and flew as he worked.
"It seems farmers understand basic knowledge like deep plowing a hundred times better than I do. I don't need to teach them," Li Daoxuan said, slapping himself on the forehead with a laugh. "This is called 'preaching to the choir.'"
*Damn it, San Shier's verbal tic has infected me! I'm doomed!*
He then returned to the information on his computer, skipping over all the traditional knowledge—after all, he certainly didn't know as much as the farmers. It was only when he reached the section on chemical fertilizers that he began to read carefully again.
"The soil pH level needs to be around 6.5? Holy cow, how am I supposed to figure that out?"
He quickly searched for more information, and sure enough, he found it: gardening supply stores sold instruments for testing soil pH.
To change the soil's pH, he'd need to use potassium sulfate, monopotassium phosphate, sheep manure, beneficial microbes, and all sorts of other chemical fertilizers.
This immediately left him utterly bewildered.
"Damn it, this is bad!" he cursed. "Last time, the villagers wished for a few more bushels of grain this year, and I thought I could easily solve it by just getting them some fertilizer. Now it seems using the wrong fertilizer would be a disaster! If I can't deliver on a promise, I'm no man."
Li Daoxuan's manly resolve blazed fiercely. He absolutely could not go back on his word today.
Read the information!
Watch videos!
Call his relatives back in his rural hometown!
Post questions on historical military forums... *Damn it, forget that one; it would just be useless replies anyway.*
After much struggle and effort, it was the advice from his rural relatives that proved most reliable. After all, only the working people were the true warriors on the front lines of labor; their experience was the most valuable.
Li Daoxuan took the "pH probe" he'd bought from the flower market and, aiming at the soil in the diorama box, plunged it down...
At that moment, Gao Chuwu and his family were furiously plowing their field when, suddenly, a massive, long silver rod descended from the heavens, plunging with a thud into their land.
Gao Chuwu and his family all stared blankly. "Huh?"
Fortunately, they were Gao Family Village folk, accustomed to strange things inexplicably falling from the sky. Otherwise, that single event would have scared them half to death.
Gao Chuwu craned his neck. "Heavenly Lord, what are you playing with? Is this giant rod the Ruyi Jingu Bang you borrowed from Sun Wukong?"
His parents quickly clapped a hand over his mouth. "You fool! How dare you speak to the Heavenly Lord like that? You have no manners at all."
Li Daoxuan didn't explain. Gao Yiye wasn't there, so explanations were useless, and they couldn't hear him speak anyway. His eyes were fixed on the LCD screen of the probe, which displayed: pH 7.5.
He quickly sent this reading to his rural relatives, along with a description of the field's condition, the surrounding environment, water sources, and other various details.
After thinking for a moment, his rural relatives provided a lengthy explanation, listing solutions, fertilizer dosages, and so on.
Li Daoxuan calculated the size of Gao Chuwu's family field, determined the correct dosage, and then called Gao Yiye over. "Here is some fertilizer. Have Gao Chuwu's family weigh out two jin from it, no more and no less. Dissolve it in water and pour it onto the soil. This year's winter wheat harvest will surely be abundant."
Gao Yiye was overjoyed and quickly ran to Gao Chuwu's home. "Chuwu, Chuwu! The Heavenly Lord has bestowed celestial fertilizer upon your family, saying it will ensure your abundant harvest this year!"
Gao Chuwu's father was overjoyed. "Many thanks, Heavenly Lord!"
In the eyes of this middle-aged farmer, an abundant harvest in his own fields gave him more confidence than anything else.
Good, one family's field taken care of. Time for the next family.
Li Daoxuan pulled out the probe with a swoosh, and Gao Chuwu's family watched with wide eyes as the "Ruyi Jingu Bang" flew into the air, then plunged with another thud into another family's field.
A moment later, Gao Yiye ran to that family. "The Heavenly Lord commands that you take three jin of this celestial fertilizer, dissolve it in water, and evenly pour it onto your fields. Do you understand?"
That family, too, was overwhelmed with joy and hastily thanked the Heavenly Lord for His profound grace.
All the fields in Gao Family Village underwent soil pH modification...
Meanwhile, the villagers who had come from Zhengjia Village, Wangjia Village, Zhongjia Village, and other surrounding hamlets watched eagerly as the magical big rod flew from one place to another, envy gleaming in their eyes. "The villagers of Gao Family Village truly have it good," one sighed. "They have fields to plant. Our villages, now... it still hasn't rained, alas."
Hearing their comments, Li Daoxuan's hand movements involuntarily stiffened. He sighed inwardly: *What a pity, the field of view hasn't extended to your villages yet...*
No sooner had he thought this than he suddenly noticed the "Salvation Index" outside the diorama box jumping rapidly. In the blink of an eye, it had increased by 5 points in a row.
Li Daoxuan instantly realized: Liang Shixian had begun distributing gruel to aid the populace.
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