Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 53

Volume 02

"We're not selling. We still need to keep them as seeds for next year's planting. Am I right, Young Master?" The leader of the residents rejected his proposal without even thinking about it, and turned his head to ask Zhang Xiao'bao.

The other cooks also agreed with this. They really couldn't sell it. In the past, land that was capable of producing three picul of grains per mu was already considered to be top-quality land. Now, their highest crop yield was five piculs per mu, and the lowest was over two picul per mu. All of this was money. What was in the fields was no longer just food, but seeds.

Usually a dou of millet was worth four or five coins, and a dou of rice was worth nearly 20 coins. Although the rice has not been dehulled yet, the price they offered was still too low. What do they mean by offering a high price for it? Who are they trying to trick?

Zhang Xiao'bao already knew what to do at this time, but he couldn't be the one to say this aloud. He could only pretend to be dumb. He smiled and looked at the people around him and said, "I don't know, I'll go home and ask the housekeeper."

As he said this, he pulled Wang Juan and ran home.

At this time, that boss, Lai'zi and the others knew that the two little children were the children of the master of the manor. No wonder so many people were guarding them, especially against Lai'zi. He was still terrified after almost getting himself into trouble. He bullied their little children while he was in their manor. The residents could beat him up, send him to the authorities and still win the lawsuit.

After Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan ran away, the twelve people didn't know what to do. They intended to find out about the price first. After all, other than for a few drought-stricken places, there were good harvests everywhere else, so the price of grains would definitely be low. Giving ten coins for one dou of rice with the hulls on it was a lot.

They didn't expect that the residents were not stupid and knew that good rice should be reserved as seeds. This was troublesome.

The twelve people felt awkward being watched by the cooks, The boss broke the ice, "The price is negotiable. Your manor is nice, can I go around and look?"

The residents did not continue to pay attention to the group of people, and turned around and went back to continue cooking. At this time, it was almost dark. People in the fields were transporting the cut crops out of the fields, and once they were done, they would come over here to eat dinner. They didn't have the time to waste on these people.

"Crippled Sis, give me a bowl of water first. I'm thirsty. Hmm, let me smell it. This meat is so fragrant. From the looks of it, you must be the one that made it." Those that finished work earlier came over, and among them was a young man in his twenties. The young man yelled out from a distance.

"Thirsty? All you do is laze around. Here, drink it. After you drink, you won't be able to eat anymore." The lady with the crippled leg poured out a bowl of water, and slammed it on the table as she scolded. Then, she went back to work.

"He called you a cripple." Lai'zi was the kind of person who would incite drama whenever presented with a chance. When he heard what the other person said, he thought that he was given an opportunity. He pretended to be a good person and brought this to her attention.

"Shut up, what do you know? Crippled Sis was protecting her parents-in-law from a tree that was blown over by the wind. The tree fell on to her leg, causing her to break her leg and become a cripple. Who in this manor doesn't know that she's the best daughter-in-law? Who are you? Where did you come from?"

The young man glared with dissatisfaction at Lai'zi. He said a few words and questioned him. He rolled up his sleeves and was prepared to charge forward.

"Lai'zi, get back here. If it weren't because of your older sister, I would have kicked you out a long time ago. All you do is cause me trouble." At this time, the boss wanted to kick Lai'zi all the way back home. He glared at Lai'zi and shouted at him.

As soon as Lai'zi came back, he was slapped in the face. After the boss was done slapping him, the boss spoke to the residents, "Lai'zi was not disciplined properly. Young man, do what you need to do, don't mind us, we're just here to look around and to buy some grains. Young man, why aren't all of you going home, why did you all come here instead??"

"Why would we go back home? Our master takes care of our meals. You should leave quickly. Our manor is different from other places. We won't sell grains to you."

Although he felt like there was nothing odd about the words he said, the twelve people who were listening felt that his words were abnormal. Other manors would usually only provide their residents with a meal after the harvesting period came to an end. They didn't expect that this manor would provide their residents with food during the harvest, and the food included meat and other various dishes. They also weren't given millet, but glistening white fluffy rice. The smell of the food made all of them feel hungry.

*

"Hurry up, Xiao'bao. Do you think we should sell to them or not? I can't believe we're being targeted. I wonder where that buyer came from? Could it be that he's backed by a prince? "

While running home with Zhang Xiao'bao, Wang Juan spoke to him with a hint of worry in her voice.

"What prince? Do you think those princes are stupid? Whose territory does this place belong to? Li Chengyi's. And his son is still living next to us, so which prince would set their eyes on our manor so directly? If it is really a prince, he would definitely go to the Li Manor first, and then get the people from the Li Manor to represent him.

It seems that someone knows about our output. This is a good thing. Originally, I didn't want to sell it, and just keep it for ourselves, but now I've decided to sell it. I'll sell it to anyone who want to buys it. Later, I'll get the housekeeper to tell them. We don't need to harvest the wheat anymore, and we can get the residents to work in the mountains. We just need to keep enough to plant for next year "

Zhang Xiao'bao ran a bit too quickly, and he spoke in between breaths. They were only over ten meters away from their yard, and were about to arrive soon.

When Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan ran to the door, the gatekeeper, who was standing on the second floor of the observation tower,had already seen them and he hurried down to open the door. He ran out and looked behind Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang with cautious eyes. He shouted, "Young Master, hurry up, I'll block them off."

"Who are you blocking? We just ran back, no one is chasing us. Since you think Juan'juan and I are in danger, why didn't you ring the bell? You must remember that no matter whether your judgment is correct or not, you must ring the bell if you think there is danger. Even if there's nothing, the guards will have to come out and build up this habit. Bring the housekeeper over."

Zhang Xiao'bao ran to the front and saw the nervous look on the gatekeeper's face. Although he was emotionally touched, he was also a little angry. The guards were created for a reason. How could he not use the bells and try to handle the dangers himself?

The gatekeeper bowed his head and listened to the Young Master's words. He smiled and turned and ran to the housekeeper.

"Nothing happened. I have some orders for you. It's good now that we will have less work to do." Zhang Xiao'bao waved his hand to indicate that he was really okay, and told Housekeeper Zhang about his plan.

As Housekeeper Zhang listened, his mouth gaped open and his eyes lost focus. He waited for Zhang Xiao'bao to finish speaking, and then he asked, "Young Master, you really want to do this? It's a bit too trappy."

"Just do what we tell you to do. Who are we tricking? It's nothing more than making them do manual labor once. People are the cutest when they do manual labor. Do you understand?" Before Zhang Xiao'bao could speak, Wang Juan chimed in.

"Yes, I will make arrangements and let the people at the market tonight know, especially the places that sell foods and drinks. Young Master, my son doesn't have much to do all day, how about you let him follow you."

Housekeeper Zhang agreed, and then recommended his son to Zhang Xiao'bao.

"How could he have nothing to do? He should study first, and it would be easier for me to make use of him later on. Housekeeper Zhang, your family has always been the Zhang family's housekeeper, so we will always treat your family well in the future." Zhang Xiao'bao reassured Housekeeper Zhang.

"I understand, Young Master. I'll leave now." Housekeeper Zhang received Zhang Xiao'bao's promise, and finally was relieved that his son could continue to be a housekeeper in the future. It was a blessing reaped from eight generations to be able to work for the Young Master.

"Xiao'bao, is it too expensive for a catty of seeds to be sold for a hundred coins? Usually the residents would keep the seeds themselves. Even if they plant our seeds, it would be impossible for them to produce four piculs of grains per mu of land like us. First, the seeds were germinated in sterilized conditions, and the seedlings were thrown into the fields. We used good fertilizer and we added mai'fan stones to the soil. These are the important factors."

When Wang Juan heard what Zhang Xiao'bao said, she was a little worried. If they did this, they would earn a little too much. According to the weight of one catty, one picul of rice will be about eighty catties. The two manors had over 3,000 mu of land, and the average crop yield was three picul per mu, and that two fifths of the crops was rice, then it would cost 10.4 to 10.5 K taels of silver. This was too frightening.

The most important thing was that Zhang Xiao'bao intended to sell the rice with the hull on. But then again, if it was dehulled already, people wouldn't buy it.

"I know what you're thinking of. What you're thinking of is hypothetical. Theories are usually used by crooks to deceive people. How could it be possible to sell so many, at this price and at this time? One catty of seeds can be used to plant how much land? Isn't more earned from a bountiful harvest? Our seeds can produce four picul of grain per mu of land."

Zhang Xiao'bao smiled and said to Wang Juan, and he even winked his eyes at her.

Wang Juan curled her lips. "Don't tell me that. Are you trying to trick ghosts by burning newspaper instead of incense paper1? Your land can produce four picul per mu, but does it mean that the seeds will have a crop yield of four piculs per mu? Then planting the seeds at other places will lead to a yield of six piculs per mu, right? If that's true, then why would hybrid rice be needed?"

"What if the seeds mutate? You can't deny this, right? Let's go to the swimming pool in the back to take a bath. After we nap for a bit, we need to get up to study. Where did we leave off? I think we're studying the Spring and Autumn Annals now. My brain hurts thinking about it."

Zhang Xiao'bao ranted and then walked to the swimming pool at the back. At this time, the temperature of the water there was just right for him and Wang Juan to bathe in.

"That's nothing. I heard that we have to learn the Book of Changes. I know about this book, but remember that when this book first came out, it was just a picture--- a picture of the Earlier Heavens Ba'gua2. How come I didn't see anything from it?"

"Hearing you say that, I remember now. In my opinion, I think this was something passed down from an alien civilization. Look at the ba'gua---it is nothing more than broken lines and unbroken lines. Broken lines indicate an open circuit, while unbroken lines indicate a closed circuit. Two unbroken lines and one broken line means alternating current, one unbroken line and two broken lines is direct current, and three unbroken lines is of course a 380 volts battery. If it's one unbroken, one broken then one unbroken, then the ground wire was not placed. If it's one broken, one unbroken..."

Zhang Xiao'bao explained to Wang Juan with a serious face, and Wang Juan held her belly as she laughed.

Translator's Notes

1. Are you trying to trick ghosts by burning newspaper instead of incense paper?

This means trying to trick others.

Normally, yellow incense paper are burned as an offering to the deceased, but since ghosts can't see what is being burned, burning inexpensive newspaper is a way to trick the ghost.

2. Earlier Heavens Ba'gua

A ba'gua consists of eight symbols used in Taoist cosmology that represent the fundamental principles of reality. It is usually presented as an octagonal trigram that consists of broken and unbroken lines. There are different arrangements and types of symbols on the ba'gua and the "Earlier Heavens" is oen of the several configurations. (Wiki)