The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 536 - 525: Agriculture

Chapter 536: Chapter 525: Agriculture

"Exempted, exempted for one year," Manbao said, "At that time, there were also people in our county who did not want to petition for tax exemption. It was County Magistrate Fu who advocated for us, and that’s how we managed to get an exemption tailing Yizhou. Otherwise, our village’s days would have been tough indeed."

The farmer slapped his thigh and said, "Ah, you’re really lucky to have encountered such a good official. Our county—let alone tax exemption—increase two levies last year, claiming that the roads and waterworks were destroyed by floodwaters and needed money for repairs. All the expenses were distributed onto our shoulders, otherwise, my family wouldn’t be unable to repay those two bags of grain."

Manbao was no longer the six- or seven-year-old child she once was. She now knew more and thought more. Although she still firmly remembered the incident of County Magistrate Fu increasing the city entrance fee, she also considered what her teacher had said.

"To evaluate a person, one cannot only remember one thing they have done. One must list what they should have done and what they have done, then can one truly understand the person."

County Magistrate Fu had been in Luojiang County for many years yet only visited Qili Village twice; he would never go to Qili Village when encouraging the cultivation of mulberry trees and farming;

In six years, he had only added one levy;

Every year he ordered labor for the repair of waterworks and roads and even renovated the county governmental office;

Collected the city gate fee;

He petitioned to have their taxes exempted;

Summing it up, that’s only a few things. But because of her mother’s influence, Manbao took a liking to Taoism and, over the past two years, also read Zhuangzi, slowly understanding that sometimes, not acting is the right thing to do.

Of course, she preferred the current County Magistrate Yang even more.

Because every year, when encouraging the cultivation of mulberry trees and farming, he would visit Qili Village, and not just Qili Village—County Magistrate Yang would tour every single village under Luojiang County;

Nearly every year, he would take a portion of money from the county governmental office to purchase seeds, farming tools, or oxen, distributing them to families or land officers to assist the poor and the weak;

If a family had a newborn or acquired property, the land officers would be more attentive than before. Sometimes, without the villagers having to approach them, the land officers themselves would come knocking to check the records and report upwards;

Heshu too would issue labor orders, but he would schedule tasks after the busy farming season ended within ten days, not like County Magistrate Fu, who was sometimes early and sometimes late, either just at the end of the farming season or at the coldest times of the year;

Heshu did not collect city gate fees and even restrained the idlers in the county town, not allowing them to harass the small vendors;

He would also help the merchants in the city connect with merchants outside, expanding their business...

Therefore, not only to Li Erlang, who clearly did not reveal his true identity, but to any common person who asked her opinion on the two county magistrates, she could not say County Magistrate Fu was bad, only that she preferred County Magistrate Yang.

Li Erlang, however, shifted his focus and asked the farmer about the additional levy and the disaster situation in their county two years prior.

But what could the farmer know about the entire county? He could only speak of the disaster situation in his own and a few nearby villages.

Still, this information was enough for Li Erlang to infer the situation of their county.

Bai Shanbao also joined the conversation; both his grandmother and teacher had said that, should he become an official in the future, these were things he needed to understand.

Furthermore, he wanted to see how others conducted themselves as officials and hear what the common people had to say about them.

Li Erlang asked about the farming harvest, "Do you know how last year’s harvest was, how many bushels per acre?"

"Haven’t really counted that, but a good acre of wheat can yield three and a half bags, and a poor one still nearly gets three bags. The harvest wasn’t bad."

Li Erlang frowned, remembering something, then turned to ask Bai Shanbao, "You come from Luojiang County, do you know what the yield was like there?"

After pondering, Bai Shanbao said, "Only the county governmental office would have the data for the whole county, but last autumn in our Little Manor, wheat yielded five bushels per acre, while the rice was much less, only about three per acre."

Li Erlang looked at him skeptically, "Wheat yields can be that high?"

The rice yield was normal, but the wheat seemed exceptional; generally, it would be around three bushels per acre. Even if the land was fertile, managing to harvest four was considered top-grade.

Yet Bai Shanbao smiled and said, "We used a new variety of wheat seed, so our yield is somewhat higher than others."

Originally, the small farmstead and Zhou Family had the best varieties of wheat seed, and after each season’s harvest, they would select the strongest plants with the best ears to keep as seeds.

Whether these varieties had adapted to the present times, the advantageous qualities of these wheat seeds were slowly being realized, or adjusted—anyway, the yield had been good for the past two years.

And it was higher than the yields of Zhou Family’s fields.

Every harvest time was when the story of Manbao being the reincarnation of a fairy spread even wider.

Because the villagers believed that since Manbao’s family didn’t seem to tend to the fields much, yet their yields were always higher than theirs—it must have been due to divine blessing.

What else could it be? They knew the land on the ridge was not extremely fertile, so a harvest like this could only mean the gods were looking out for them.

While the villagers thought this way, Bai Shanbao didn’t think so. In managing the farmstead, they simply did not do the physical labor themselves, but the decision-making was all theirs.

Only they knew how many people they hired each year to compost manure, how much fertilizer they spread, and how many people they needed to carry water from the main canal to irrigate the fields...

He believed that these high yields were deserved and not due to the blessings of deities.

Yet, despite listening to him, the villagers still believed more in divine favor.

Now, as he discussed farming matters, Bai Shanbao couldn’t help but ask the farmer a few more questions, "Do you only grow spring wheat, and does it always catch the rain during the heading stage?"

"It’s not like we can negotiate with the heavens; it’s always off by a few days or even ten," replied the farmer, "but it’s not a big problem."

"It is a big problem," Bai Shanbao said, "If the rain coincided with the heading stage, the wheat grains would be plumper and the ears longer."

"But we can’t make the heavens rain on command, can we?"

"That’s why you need to irrigate," said Bai Shanbao.

Li Erlang couldn’t help but look at Bai Shanbao.

The farmer gave an ’oy’ and said, "With so much land, how can we manage to water it all? Plus, during the wheat milking stage, that’s when the weeds grow dense in the field. If we don’t take care of the weeds then, the harvest will suffer even more."

Manbao said, "In the end, it’s still a problem of manpower. Without the ability to cultivate in detail, it would be good to have a few more oxen."

"A few more oxen," the farmer scoffed. "There’s hardly a household in our village with even one ox, and you"—he glanced at Manbao’s attire, which seemed quite ordinary, but then at the horse tied outside—chuckled and said, "the little lord and lady from a wealthy family wouldn’t know about our hardships out here."

"I do know; my family used to be very poor as well."

The farmer didn’t believe her for a second. "How could a poor person afford education? Especially for a girl."

"That’s because our teacher is kind. I don’t have to pay to study, and what’s wrong with being a girl? I was the first in our family to study, and then my nephews and nieces followed," Manbao defended. "Since manpower is scarce and animal power is insufficient for now, why don’t you switch to a new variety of wheat seed?"