People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 382 Farming
The situation in the world is changing rapidly. Although a life-and-death battle was interrupted by the plague, the impact of the war is far from over. Instead, it brings shocking news one after another.

Even Xu Chen couldn't help but sigh when he saw the news.

In the field, Xu Chen wiped the sweat from his head with a sweat towel, then wiped the mud off his body, and walked towards the ridge of the field while holding the information that had just been delivered in his hand.

At this time, in the open space above the field, a woman was sitting under the arbour with a baby in her arms. There was a food basket on the small table next to her, and cold tea was placed outside the basket. It was obvious that she had been waiting here for a long time.

When she saw Xu Chen coming here after finishing his work, she went to greet him holding the baby in her arms.

"My dear husband, please take a rest. You don't do much farm work on weekdays. Don't get too tired when you suddenly go to the fields. I have prepared some delicious food. You can eat and drink."

This woman was naturally Xuanxia's Prime Minister's wife Cai Yan. Seeing that Xu Chen's linen clothes were covered with sweat, Cai Yan felt a little distressed for a moment.

Then he handed the baby to the female worker next to him, and then he took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat and mud off Xu Chen while talking.

Feeling Cai Yan's care, Xu Chen felt warm in his heart and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Madam."

Cai Yan shook her head helplessly, and said angrily: "Farming is the foundation of the country. It is right for my husband to pay attention to it, but each business has its own responsibilities. The prime minister's focus is on the people's livelihood, not these two or three acres of land. Even if the emperor is fiddling with the land, it is just to follow etiquette. How can my husband take it so seriously?"

Xu Chen chuckled and pulled Cai Yan back to the shed. He first teased Xu Xuan who was in the hands of the hired worker, then sat down and drank the herbal tea in one gulp.

"Madam is right. I don't have to pretend to be close to the grassroots, but this time is different. Isn't there another breakthrough in grain cultivation? I naturally have to take a closer look. This is a matter of great concern to people's livelihood."

“So that’s how it is”

After hearing the reason, Cai Yan finally understood, and the hint of anger she had just felt disappeared.

After that, she also sighed: "Xuan Xia's students are indeed different from the usual scholars. They delve deeply into their studies and produce various results that even I am ashamed of myself."

Xu Chen laughed and nodded. He was quite proud of this. It could be said that these talents of the new era were the greatest achievement and significance of his journey through time.

Without the replacement of talents with new and old knowledge systems, even if one travels through time and brings advanced technology, it will eventually be lost in the long river of time.

And when new talents completely replace old talents and new knowledge systems replace old knowledge systems, they will be able to develop on their own even without any starting technology.

By now, Xu Chen can say with confidence that the world has truly changed.

From the grassroots education system, to the scientific research system at the top, and then to the teaching and scientific examination assessment system, the completely traditional Confucian system can no longer survive in Xuanxia.

The talents needed for the industrial society in the future must be those under the new education system, and the scientific examinations for official careers will firmly control the direction and determine the most fundamental ideology.

It won’t take too long. As long as Xuan Xia can replace a few generations in this way, there will be no possibility of regression.

But this alone is not enough, Xu Chen still hopes to speed up this process. He looked at the young students who were still busy in the field and couldn't help but smile. "The shipbuilding project of the Institute of Engineering has made considerable progress. The students just told me that they want to start ocean voyages to find new continents. I am very pleased."

"But didn't my husband say before that ocean voyages are very dangerous? Wouldn't it be more convenient if we waited until the steam engine matured and had a new power source?"

While speaking, Cai Yan not only looked puzzled, but also served food to Xu Chen as she spoke.

As the most talented woman in the Han Dynasty, Cai Yan was naturally an extremely smart woman. She didn't even need to learn anything special. Just spending several years with Xu Chen day and night could make her understand many things about Xuan Xia.

Currently, the two most important projects of Xuanxia Engineering Institute are the motor generator and the steam engine. She is familiar with both. As long as there is a breakthrough in either of them, it will bring about an innovation in productivity. The significance of this cannot be overstated.

However, there are also many technical difficulties. Although the Institute of Engineering always says that it will be soon every time we ask about the progress, many years have passed and this soon has never come.

Anyway, Cai Yan felt that this was not something that would produce results in a short period of time.

As for the discovery of new continents through ocean voyages, that was something Xu Chen was thinking about every day. Cai Yan was certainly no stranger to it. Now that Xu Chen talked about it, she could also join in the conversation.

"If there were steam-powered ships, that would be even better, but time waits for no one. Who knows when that will happen? Although today's ships have much poorer sailing capabilities, they may not be incapable of ocean voyages. At least we can try. How many things in this world can wait until everything is ready?"

As Xu Chen was speaking, he thought of the shipbuilding project of the Institute of Engineering, in which the development of seagoing ships had achieved considerable results. In Xu Chen's opinion, even if it was not as good as the treasure ships of the Ming Dynasty, it would not be much worse. If Zheng He could sail on the ocean, there was no reason why Xuan Xia could not do so.

As long as the fleet is large enough and you have accumulated more sailing experience in offshore areas, it is worth a try.

Cai Yan was a little worried. She knew that Xu Chen was always steady, but in this case, he seemed a little abnormal: "Isn't it a bit forced to act so hastily?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Chen was slightly stunned, and then he smiled.

Is it urgent? It is urgent. I have to be anxious. Life is short and there is no time for that. I am already over 30 years old. If I don’t hurry up to do many things, I may not see the results until I die.
"Ten thousand years is too long, we must seize the day." Xu Chen smiled at Cai Yan, then buried his head in eating and drinking.

When Cai Wenji heard this, her eyes suddenly lit up. She felt that this sentence was of extraordinary spirit and was an excellent sentence.

After all, she is a talented woman, so she can naturally feel the meaning behind it.

But before she could make a judgement, footsteps were heard. It was Tian Shitou who came over and said, "Master, my army has returned. We have also returned with the Han Emperor Liu Xie. He will arrive in Beiping today."

Xu Chen paused with the chopsticks in his hand, and suddenly looked at a piece of intelligence he had put aside: "I wonder how the Emperor of the Han Dynasty would feel if he knew that his former subjects had established their own kingdoms."

After quickly finishing the rest of the meal, Xu Chen stood up and said, "In that case, let's go meet the Emperor of Han."

(End of this chapter)