Take the farm down to earth

Chapter 157
That day Shi Zhongkui came home from the yamen, just after dinner, the housekeeper Yu Shun reported that Fang Lishun asked to see him.

Shi Zhongkui smiled, it seems that the matter should be done.

After the tenants were seated in the study, Fang Lishun reported, "My lord, after Fan Dao wrote the scriptures, he ordered someone to dig up the floor tiles in the tribute courtyard without waiting for the reply.

Even in order to facilitate drainage, it is planned to dig a few new culverts in the Gongyuan. "

Shi Zhongkui smiled, "Leave him alone, when the money issued by the Ministry of Rites is used up, but the project is not completed, it is natural that someone will make trouble for him."

Fang Lishun heaved a sigh of relief, he didn't need to personally attend the Fan Dao Book, so he wouldn't expose himself.

As for those craftsmen, it is not a problem to raise opinions, but to change the layout of the Gongyuan without the approval of the Ministry of Rites, it is self-assessment.

To put it bluntly, Sanbeum Road destroys the feng shui of Gongyuan and affects the cultural atmosphere of Gyeonggi only slightly.

Not to mention the delayed construction period, it is tantamount to delaying the preparations for the township examination.

The Ministry of Rites can't spare him, all the scholars who will take the provincial examination next year, but those who fail will all hate him to death.

In the next few days, as the repair projects undertaken by other Jinshi began to be completed, 500 taels of silver were suddenly not enough.

The head of the Ministry of Rites, who got the news, saw the newly dug drainage canal in the Gongyuan, and his mind was a little buzzing.

After the matter was reported back to the Ministry of Rites, instead of Shi Zhongkui looking for someone, some officials started looking for trouble.

These officials who are also Jinshi backgrounds, of course know that Zi does not speak strange words.

But if you replace the destruction of Fengshui with the culture of the Gongyuan, no one will object.

And there is no need for the Ministry of Rites to shirk responsibility. Fan Dao's self-assertion was not only witnessed by craftsmen, but also many Jinshi of the same discipline who worked with him had heard of his improvement plan for the drainage system of the Gongyuan in these days.

However, the Ministry of Rites did not approve him to start the construction, and it was immediately confirmed that he was making his own decisions.

There is no need for Shi Zhongkui to let people spread this matter, some people spontaneously spread it as gossip.

There is still no result in the court, and the scholars who will participate in the Shuntianfu Township Examination next year are suddenly excited.

Not to mention those old scholars who have been in the exam for many years and don't have much confidence in themselves, even the outstanding talents who are favored will inevitably feel uneasy.

It is really a world of difference between a scholar and a person, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it can change your life.
-
Shi Zhongkui was in his official hall that day, looking at the various expenditure tables of the Imperial Academy in August, and was having a headache about how to make some money in a legitimate way.

Yu Tongfu walked in with a roll of residence newspaper with a smile.

Spread out more than a dozen newspapers on Shi Zhongkui's case, "Bo Qian, these are articles posted by various literary societies in Gyeonggi to denounce Fan Dao."

Shi Zhongkui just cast a glance and lost interest.

No matter how the folks said that Fan Dao had ruined the feng shui of the Gongyuan, the court would only use him to change the repair plan without authorization and slow down the preparations for the township examination as a crime.

This crime may seem trivial, but to Fan Dao who has not really obtained official status, it is like taking a step backwards before he even started.

And this step back is tantamount to falling into the abyss.

In addition, countless scholars in Gyeonggi denounced the Ministry of Rites, let alone Fan Dao was wrong.

Even if he is right, he will be pushed out as a scapegoat.

Seeing that he didn't care, Yu Tongfu suddenly asked a little boringly, "Don't we take this opportunity to step on Fan Dao?"

Shi Zhongkui raised his head, and said angrily, "It won't take a few days for this matter to happen, and someone will definitely guess that Fan Dao was tricked by me.

At this time, if you join in again, doesn't it mean that this guess is confirmed? "

When Yu Tongfu thought about it, it seemed that this was really the case.

Whoever made Fan Dao really offend was Shi Zhongkui.

"It's the guy surnamed Fan who is a bit cheap."

Shi Zhongkui smiled and shook his head, "I remember when Fan Dao roared outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony back then, it was because the eunuch Dai Quan perfunctorily avoided it by forcing me to accept the order.

You said that if there were rumors that Fan Dao and Dai Quan had a very good relationship, how would Shilin react? "

Yu Tongfu's pupils shrank, and he said with some fear, "Bo Qian, you are really vicious, you are going to dig someone's ancestral grave."

Outsiders would not believe that it was just a coincidence that Dai Quan escaped punishment for Fan Dao.

More people's first reaction must be that Fan Dao might already be Dai Quan's godson.

If a Jinshi bears this reputation, it is basically tantamount to cutting himself off from the scholars, and he will definitely be scolded to death by scholars all over the world.

There are even down-and-out scholars who will write this matter into miscellaneous notes, interesting talks, and publicize it.

After seeing it, later generations will think that Fan Dao recognized the thief as his father, which is no different from digging Fan Dao's ancestral grave.

When Yu Tongfu hurriedly went out to spread rumors, Shi Zhongkui called Yu Shun after thinking for a while, and asked him to invite Jia Lian and Jia Rong, his uncles and nephews, to come over for a drink.

When Jia Rong's daughter-in-law Qin Keqing died of illness, Jia Zhen spent 200 taels of silver for her son Jia Rong to donate the official body of a five-rank dragon guard for some ulterior motives.

Qin Keqing was able to be buried with honor as a fifth-rank imperial order.

And the person who handled the matter of donating officials was Dai Quan.

When Dai Quan first heard someone say that Fan Dao was his godson, he was quite happy in his heart, and even thought about just pulling Fan Dao again, so that he would have a real person of his own in the future.

But he is not stupid, taking this kind of rat that everyone shouts and beats as his subordinate is simply asking for trouble for himself.

But let him stand up and clarify the rumors, he is unwilling again.

Because Dai Quan knows very well that sometimes the more he denies it, the more others believe him, and the more he scolds him.

It even gets darker and darker.

Jia Lian and Jia Rong went to Shi Zhongkui's house, and the next day they brought a silver note of 1 taels to invite Dai Quan to drink.

Jia Lian recounted Shi Zhongkui's words that "my father-in-law doesn't worry about Shilin's criticism for too long, and it will make the emperor unhappy", which immediately made Dai Quan hesitate.

After seeing the bank note that Jia Rong took out from his sleeve, he immediately understood that Shi Zhongkui had plotted it secretly.

Putting away the banknotes, Dai Quan said with a smile, "Duke Liu Yuan really holds grudges."

Jia Lian laughed, "It's not a gentleman not to take revenge if you have a grudge, and don't father-in-law want to buy a few acres of newly reclaimed fertile land for retirement?"

After hearing this, Dai Quan immediately became excited.

"I'm afraid Liu Yuangong might misunderstand our family."

"Don't worry, father-in-law." Jia Rong walked up to Dai Quan and said in a low voice, "My son's second uncle is so smart, how could he not understand the principle of being carried in a sedan chair?"

Dai Quan stared at Jia Rong with a smile, "You monkey, you didn't lie to me."

When Dai Quan and Jia Zhen were discussing about buying an official, in front of Jia Zhen, he said that Jia Rong was his child.

Seeing that the relationship between the old eunuch and the Jia family is indeed very good.

"How dare you?" Jia Rong said sternly, "And my second uncle is Liu Yuangong. If a person of this status says anything, it's like splashing water. How could he use such things to deceive you."

"That's good." Dai Quan laughed loudly, "Our family is waiting for your filial piety."

Afterwards, having enough food and wine, one went back to Longshou Palace, and the other two went to Shi Zhongkui's house of course.

In a few days, Fan Dao had an extra charge of slandering the inner court.

This is tantamount to driving Fan Dao into the abyss, and he was directly taken into prison by Dali Temple.

Even if he was not deprived of his fame in the end, it would have delayed his observation of politics, and no one in the Six Departments was willing to accept him.

If there is no accident in three years, he will definitely be given a grade and let him stay in Hou Que in the capital.

Some people have waited for more than ten years, but have not waited for a real shortage. No matter how rich Fan Dao's family is, it will be exhausted.
-
After Jia Lian, Jia Rong and Dai Quan separated, they went straight to Shi Zhongkui's house.

The two of them were only halfway there, and the Chinchilla who followed them started to report first.

Shi Zhongkui was relieved when he heard that no one was following Jia Lian and the three of them.

After waiting for a short time, I saw Jia Lian and Jia Rong in the main hall of the middle courtyard.

Casually rewarding Jia Rong with a jar of ten catties of eight-treasure wine, Jia Rong immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed in joy.

"A worthless thing", Shi Zhongkui scolded with a smile, but stood up and helped Jia Rong up himself.

Don't look at the eight-treasure wine that has been fried to a catty of a hundred taels of silver, but this thing is a consumable.

Those who have beautiful wives and concubines at home can't help but drink.

So Shi Zhongkui didn't worry at all that the wine he sent out would affect the price.

But for Jia Rong, ten catties of Babao wine is equal to 1000 taels of silver. This is the first time he has bought so much money when he grows up. How can he not be excited.

Jia Lian didn't care about the ten-jin eight-treasure wine, after all, he and Xue Pan were responsible for the wine.

Although he and Xue Pan could only get 30 taels of silver per catty, they could sell a thousand catties for 1.5 taels of silver.

And there is no need to worry about the money being taken away by the family, you can use it however you want.

So much so that in the recent period, both myself and Xue Pan have tried it once, the top card in the Land of Wind and Flowers all over the capital.

Suddenly a little powerless.

After driving Jia Rong out of the main hall, Jia Lian asked with a smile, "Brother, I don't want much for my brother, just the kind of medicinal wine in twos and fives."

How could Shi Zhongkui give Jia Lian medicinal wine added with spirit peach wine?

"That kind of wine is used to save lives, but it's a bit older and the effect is similar, but it can be given to the second brother half a catty."

Jia Lian secretly thought it was a pity, but he believed it when he heard that it was used to save lives.

And since Shi Zhongkui also said that the medicinal wine with a different age has the same effect, it must be much better than the Eight Treasures Wine.

After sending Jia Lian and Jia Rong away, Shi Zhongkui shook his head with a smile, half a catty of Chenghuang Medicinal Wine can actually only be made into five catties of Babao Wine.

In other words, in fact, Jia Lian did not get as much as Jia Rong.

However, this thing is ten times stronger than the medicine, but it doesn't need to drink ten times the strong alcohol. The effect is indeed obvious.

That night, Jia Lian threw away Wang Xifeng's armor again, and the couple couldn't help but feel satisfied.
-
Before you knew it, it was early autumn and early September. Shi Zhongkui asked for leave from Yuan Donggang, the top leader of the Imperial Academy, and has been staring at the 1.6 mu of rice fields under the name of the Tuntian Division in Daxing and Wanping.

The land masters of Daxing and Wanping cared more about the bumper harvest of the 1.6 mu of paddy fields in Tuntian than he did.

In addition to the good harvest, I will definitely benefit, but also because the two of them spent most of their time in the past few months taking care of the 1.6 mu of rice fields after they planted the rice seedlings.

After working all morning, Shi Zhongkui was relieved after harvesting and weighing the [-] mu of rice fields.

Although the yield per mu was lower than that of the ten mu experimental field in Shan Guo Gongfu last year, it still reached 3.4 shi.

Compared with Tuntian Division's output in previous years, it has almost doubled directly.

"My lord", Yan Guixiang, the governor of the Daxing capital, led a group of officials, large and small, from the Tuntian Division, and after saluting to Shi Zhongkui in an orderly manner,

Hui reported, “Xiaguan and others estimated that Daxing this year’s 11000 mu of paddy fields should increase [-] shi of rice.

Moreover, these paddy fields have changed from middle fields to upper fields because of the opening of fish canals and the repair of ditches.

As for rice flower fish, the yield per mu should be around 120 catties. "

Rice with a yield of 3.4 shi per mu is indeed an excellent paddy field.

As for the rice flower fish, compared with the 150 catties per mu produced by Shan Guogong last year, it is a little less, but everyone present understands.

[-] acres of extensive cultivation and breeding are definitely not comparable to the output of ten acres of intensive cultivation.

Even just losing 30 catties is already beyond the expectations of most people.

It took three days to rush to harvest, and the 2.3-mu paddy field finally harvested 276 shi, which is [-] million catties of rice.

As for the rice flower fish, it is almost seven thousand stones, or 84 catties.

And 2.3 shi of rice is nothing in the eyes of everyone, but 84 catties of fish were slaughtered by 1.5 field soldiers in Daxing and spread on countless bamboo poles to smoke.

That scene directly left countless squires and officials speechless in shock.

This is real meat, and after being smoked, most of the fishy smell can be eliminated, and it is better to preserve it with some salt.

According to last year's price, after adding salt, one stone can definitely sell for 3 taels of silver.

It is equivalent to doubling the income of rice fields.

Moreover, after successful large-scale breeding, it is equivalent to large-scale acquisition and sale.

It is not difficult to transport it to the northwest or the grassland, and it will not be difficult to increase it by three or five times.

More than a dozen officials and merchants from Jindi really wished to directly help Shi Zhongkui operate and become the prefect of Jindi.

It's a pity that these people also understand that unless he is a chief envoy or a governor, it is impossible for Shi Zhongkui to be a fourth-rank magistrate.

But if Shi Zhongkui knew what these people were thinking, maybe he would really be moved.

Because just the bumper harvest of the 7 mu of rice fields in Daxing brought him [-] points of merit.

The number of merits in the space farm suddenly broke through to 13111 points.

After the merit exceeded 1 for the first time, the Space Farm, which never actively reminded him, actually reminded him to upgrade the space as soon as possible and develop the ranch.

Seeing the consumption of one thousand merits, Shi Zhongkui only thought about it for three seconds before developing the ranch without hesitation.

The new ranch was just like the original farm, only 10 by 10 in size.

And it's also ten catties a day.

But animals gain 10 catties a day, even if the meat they can get is only half, it is definitely better than melons, fruits and grain.

What excited Shi Zhongkui the most was.

When trying to collect the chinchilla into the space of the ranch, although the ranch prompts that the chinchilla is a spiritual creature, the ranch needs to be upgraded.

But the first upgrade only needs 10 points of merit, so Shi Zhongkui decided to upgrade without even thinking about it.

Then, to his surprise, the Chinchilla not only practiced twice as fast in the ranch, but was also taken over by the ranch as its exclusive property.

(End of this chapter)