Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 154 Have you ever seen hands rubbing rice ears? The rice bucket appears, and Cen Wenben bows down

While Ning Chun was watching with Cen Wenben and others, Li Yuanji had already brought people from the palace to the farmland. They were originally planning to start harvesting tomorrow, but the sky suddenly cleared up, so the rice harvesting started early today.

In the rice field, Li Yuanji, wearing a linen shirt, sat on the edge of the field to rest. After harvesting with a sickle for half an hour, Li Yuanji felt some pain in his waist. Harvesting rice is not a hard job, but it is torturous as one needs to keep hunched over.

People with weak waists really can't do this job. Look at the endless rice fields. Fortunately, there are many people harvesting. If there aren't so many people, forget about completing the harvest in a few days.

When harvesting rice, you have to consider the weather. It is best to harvest when the weather is clear. It is not good on cloudy days. After the rice comes out, it needs to be dried in the sun. Otherwise, it will become damp over time and some may sprout again. The moisture in the rice must be dried as soon as possible.

Yang Qingwan came over in plain clothes and poured Li Yuanji a glass of cold water with ice cubes in it. On such a hot day, most people could not enjoy it. Only the royal palace had an ice storage to store ice, but the quantity was not much, just enough for the palace to use. Occasionally, Li Yuanji would reward some to his subordinates.

After drinking a glass of cold water, Li Yuanji suddenly felt energetic and refreshed.

The appearance of Li Yuanji and Yang Qingwan at this moment is really no different from that of ordinary people. To be precise, Li Yuanji is not much different. Yang Qingwan's temperament cannot be concealed even in plain clothes and can be seen at a glance.

At this moment, someone came over with a basket of harvested rice straw. They picked up the harvested rice from the field and began to rub it with their hands. When Li Yuanji saw this scene, he was stunned for a moment. After a moment of reaction, he said something to Yang Qingwan and walked over.

"What are you doing? Where's the rice bucket? Bring it up. Why do you need to rub it with your hands like this? How long will it take you to rub so much rice?"

Li Yuanji was speechless. He really couldn't understand why these people rubbed the rice with their hands when they had rice buckets. How could rubbing with hands be faster than rubbing with rice buckets? He was almost mad to death.

After Li Yuanji finished speaking, these people were all confused.

"My lord, what is a rice bucket? We have never heard of it. We have always harvested rice by rubbing the rice grains off like this."

These people were very confused for a while. Rice bucket? What is this thing? Not to mention seeing it, they have never even heard of it. It was only when Li Yuanji mentioned it that they first knew about it.

Li Yuanji was also stunned after hearing this. There is no rice bucket now? All depends on rubbing with hands? He looked at the rice field again. How long will it take to rub it with hands?

In fact, it is not Li Yuanji's fault. In the past, there was no such thing as a rice bucket. Although the rice bucket looks simple and can be made with a few pieces of wood, it is very difficult to create something that does not exist, no matter how simple it is.

Li Yuanji had no choice but to call for help.

"Now hurry up and find some planks, wider and longer ones, go quickly."

"Tell the others to stop rubbing the rice with their hands. I will teach you how to do it later. The extra hands should all go to harvest the rice now."

Everyone quickly started to act. After a while, a group of people came over with wooden boards. Li Yuanji immediately directed the carpenters to start working. They found a longer and thicker piece of wood and made them all the same length.

Then the carpenter was asked to make grooves on the two sides, and then the wooden boards were inserted and put together. Soon a larger combined wooden board was spliced ​​out, and then the wooden boards were inlaid from the top. After a while, a square rice bucket was successfully made.

Li Yuanji wiped the sweat off his face and then looked at the people around him.

"Now, watch me carefully. I will teach you how to use it. First, pick up the rice and hold it tightly with both hands. Don't let your hands loose. Hold it tightly with both hands. Then lift the rice over your shoulders and smash it down hard. Watch carefully."

Li Yuanji immediately began to demonstrate. With a loud bang, the rice grains fell off the rice bucket.

Li Yuanji spoke again.

"You see, if you do this, the rice grains will naturally fall into the rice bucket. When the rice bucket is half full, you can put it into the basket and take it back to dry in the sun.

But you must remember, after smashing it down, you must shake it like this to prevent the rice grains from falling out, but not falling into the rice bucket. You need to shake it to make the rice fall out.

Then start repeating again until all the rice grains in your hand fall into the rice basket. If there are still rice grains on the rice in the center, turn the rice in the middle to the outside and do it again as before.

When the rice grains have fallen, throw the straw aside. The straw cannot be thrown away randomly, as it still has many uses later.

Now you guys start doing it right away, and I’ll watch from the sidelines.”

Li Yuanji watched these people operate from the side and pointed out who had problems with their movements. It was a very simple movement and soon everyone could do it. Li Yuanji then asked these people to start teaching others.

After a while, Yang Qingwan came to Li Yuanji and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"My husband actually has such a deep knowledge of these farm works. He is really very talented and has hidden his talents."

Li Yuanji laughed out loud after hearing this.

"Of course. Otherwise, do you really think that I came to Lingnan without any preparation? Also, what am I not good at? Do you want me to show you something tonight?"

Li Yuanji burst into laughter as soon as he said this. Yang Qingwan's cheeks immediately turned red. She rolled her eyes at Li Yuanji and twisted his waist with her little hands. Li Yuanji endured it tightly. After all, he had already taken advantage of the argument, so the worst that could happen was that he would just endure some pain.

As time passed, a large area of ​​rice fields were harvested, but there were even more that had not been harvested. Li Yuanji took a look and thought that even with so many people, it would take at least seven or eight days to finish the work. These were only a part of the rice fields, and there were several others. Although some of them were smaller in scale, they also required manpower and time.

Li Yuanji immediately joined the team, packed the rice, and then began to tie up the straw and stand it on the rice field. Others also followed suit. It was all simple work and there was no difficulty at all.

Ning Chun, Cen Wenben and others also came here. They looked at Li Yuanji who was busy from afar and were very surprised for a moment, especially Wei Ting.

What kind of person was Li Yuanji before? He was extremely luxurious, with fine clothes and delicious food. He had never done any work, let alone farm work. However, seeing this scene, Wei Ting almost thought that Li Yuanji had been replaced by someone else. How could Li Yuanji do this?

However, the facts were right in front of him, and after seeing a series of shocking things, Wei Ting could only say that Li Yuanji had changed amazingly and had completely transformed.

Cen Wenben didn't think too much about it and immediately walked over quickly, because he found a rice basket he had never seen before. Cen Wenben believed that this simple-looking rice basket was definitely not simple.

Seeing this, Ning Chun followed Cen Wenben closely and soon came in front of Li Yuanji.

"Your Majesty, this is the angel sent by the saint, Cen Wenben." When Cen Wenben saw Li Yuanji, he immediately saluted.

"Meet the King of Qi."

Li Yuanji looked at Cen Wenben in front of him, and immediately smiled after helping him up.

"Jingren, I know you. I think everyone knows your deeds. But I was sorry that I didn't meet you when you went to Jingzhou. But now I didn't expect that the saint would let you come as an angel. This time I can see the real person."

At this time, Wei Ting and others also came to Li Yuanji, and Li Yuanji began to greet them one by one.

"Duke Ying, I didn't expect you to be here too. You must have suffered a lot along the way, right?"

"Greetings, King Qi. Fortunately, my old bones are still able to hold on. Fortunately, we will take a boat later, which saves us a long way. Thank you, King Qi."

"Zhengping, it's been a long time since we last met. Did my elder brother bring you back to Chang'an? That's great news. You won't have to live such a hard life anymore."

"Greetings to the King of Qi. I am deeply grateful for the Crown Prince's kindness. Now that I meet the King of Qi again, the King of Qi really surprises me."

"Wan Che, you are here too. You came just in time. I have just formed a new army. When you have nothing to do, go and train them for me and teach them well."

"Don't worry, my king. I will definitely train a strong army for you."

Li Yuanji greeted several people, and they all responded briefly and let Cen Wenben speak. After all, Cen Wenben was now an angel and the leader of their group. Wei Ting and Xue Wanche, in particular, had no status at all and could not interrupt.

Then Li Yuanji also turned his gaze to Cen Wenben.

Cen Wenben then spoke.

“King Qi praised me. Some issues have been resolved. Thank you King Qi for your concern. The Saint valued me and sent me to Jingzhou. I thought I would live up to the Emperor’s grace and govern Jingzhou. Now that I have come here and seen how King Qi governs the place, I feel extremely ashamed.

I only regret that I did not meet the king before I went to Jingzhou. Fortunately, the saint has sent me as an envoy to Lingnan, so I can see the amazing scenes of the King of Qi. The King of Qi is our role model. The Tang Dynasty is lucky to have the King of Qi. "

Li Yuanji laughed when he heard what Cen Wenben said. He laughed very happily. From what Cen Wenben said and what he claimed, he knew that Cen Wenben had a good impression of him. At this moment, he felt that it was worth it to let Ning Chun put down what he was doing and take Cen Wenben for such a long tour.

It was precisely because of what Cen Wenben saw that he had such thoughts.

In fact, the things that I took Cen Wenben to see were not planned, except for the route which was arranged and the time had to be estimated, but everything else was real. There was no prior notice at all, which made it seem more real.

At this moment, Li Yuanji was overjoyed, mainly because of Cen Wenben's praise. In terms of status, this man had become the prime minister, which was beyond reach. He also had extremely high attainments in literature and had a profound influence, especially the line "Master Cen" in Li Bai's poem "Drinking Wine", which was enough to show the importance of Cen Wenben.

Praise from such people is truly gratifying, especially when it is sincere.

"Haha, Jingren, you are praising me too much. Lingnan is now my fiefdom. It is my responsibility to develop this place and lead the people here to become more prosperous. I have no choice but to do it. No need to praise me.

As for the other tools, I have no other choice. There is nothing here. I can only think of ways to make them. Fortunately, the books I read and the preparations I made in Chang'an were not in vain. I finally got these results.

Okay, let's not talk about this for now. I'm really busy here since you're here today. I think you must be hungry, so let's go eat first."

Li Yuanji was just about to pack up and leave, and Cen Wenben immediately became a little anxious. He also wanted to know about the rice bucket next to Li Yuanji.

"Your Majesty, we can eat later. May I ask what this is? What is its function?"

Nowadays, rice is collected from the rice bucket and put into the outer basket. Cen Wenben really can't see what this is used for. Is it just for storage? Cen Wenben directly rejected it. He has seen too many miracles here, and saw another one he had never seen before. He firmly believes that this thing is not that simple.

At this time, Yang Qingwan also packed up her things and came over. Seeing this, everyone bowed to her. After Yang Qingwan responded, she went downstairs with the maid beside her.

Only then did Li Yuanji look at Cen Wenben.

"Haha, Jingren, you have a good eye. This is called a rice bucket. Before, when harvesting rice, people would rub the rice grains with their hands. This was too slow and a waste of time.

I just thought of this idea. Anyone can make this rice bucket, which can easily knock the rice off the rice ears. "

Li Yuanji then demonstrated it again to Cen Wenben and others, which amazed Cen Wenben.

“The King of Qi is truly a man of talent. He only needs this rice bucket to solve such a big problem. It is so simple that no one could have thought of it. I admire him very much.

Now that the King of Qi has invented these things, the people of the world are really blessed. It is really a blessing for the Tang Dynasty. The King of Qi should not have come to Lingnan. If he had presided over the affairs in Chang'an and promoted these things, I don't know how many people in the world would have lived."

Cen Wenben said it unintentionally, but Wei Ting took it seriously. Hearing these words, Wei Ting broke out in a cold sweat. If Li Yuanji was really in Chang'an, and had created these things and was in charge of agricultural affairs throughout the country, Wei Ting couldn't even imagine how high Li Yuanji's reputation would be at that time.

This will not only benefit the common people, but also all the clans in the world. Which clan will not benefit? These clans have a lot of land. With these, the people who benefit the most are the clans in the world. By then, Li Yuanji's reputation will only be higher. By then, no matter whether it is Li Jiancheng or Li Yuanji, I am afraid they will not be able to compare.

Wei Ting had made up his mind that he must not let Li Yuanji return to Chang'an. This was simply too terrible. By then, Li Yuanji, with his reputation, would immediately become a strong contender for that position. It was terrifying to think about it.

Li Yuanji laughed after listening to this. He had indeed never thought of hiding these things, but it would not be easy to promote them in the territory of the Tang Dynasty. He had to let the people of the world know that these were all done by him, Li Yuanji, and that the people of the world benefited from him, Li Yuanji.

He doesn't want anyone else to take over such a chance to make a name for himself and enhance his reputation.

If these things could not be agreed upon in advance, he would never let them leak out. Just think about it, the technology would belong to him, but the person the world would thank would be someone else. Even Li Yuanji would not be able to accept this, not even Li Yuan.

If it were Li Jiancheng or Li Shimin, he would go even crazier.

(End of this chapter)