Chapter 167: Chapter 166: Inquiring about Planting Experience Chapter 167: Chapter 166: Inquiring about Planting Experience Hongji, as the host, personally welcomed the casually dressed County Magistrate and led the visiting delegation.

The so-called grand procession, this crowd of several hundred people, consisted of the highest capable individuals in the county.

These included wealthy tycoons, village chiefs from every village, as well as town mayors, and even the security teams from each town sent personnel to protect the esteemed government officials.

The government officials, after running around all night, nevertheless braced themselves with vigor as the group entered the estate, with the first observation naturally being the watermelon field.

Although many watermelons had already been picked and sold, and people brought by the noble lady had also harvested some, this did not mean there were no watermelons left in the field.

In the watermelon field, each plant bore several large fruits, and no matter if you picked one, another would immediately ripen, and after many people had picked watermelons, the plants began to bloom again and grow new fruits.

It was like the never-fading watermelon, large and round, with each one weighing over ten pounds, and cutting one open could feed more than ten people.

The visiting group, comprised of dozens of people, naturally enjoyed the watermelons, all of which were thirsty, and the tasting served as the perfect way to quench their thirst.

Some even spotted green cucumbers, yellow cucumbers, or large red papayas in the field; these fruits could all be eaten as a treat and tasted quite delightful.

Some had set out early in the morning at the break of dawn and were feeling a bit hungry by now, so the estate’s fruits served to satiate their hunger and also quench their thirst.

County Magistrate Meng had already tasted the watermelons, lychees, and even vegetables sent from the Tang Family at home.

In his mind, he could never have imagined such a perfect scene; seeing such an abundance of fruits and vegetables on the estate, he stroked his goatee, feeling that bringing everyone along for the visit had been the right decision.

He wanted to show everyone that even farmers could get wealthy through planting, instead of constantly hearing complaints about their poverty and inability to pay taxes.

How could there be a chance for wealth without hard work? They wanted subsidies and assistance funds from him, yet complained about not being able to pay the salaries of the town mayors and village chiefs.

So, let them see that the farmers of Bushen Village could get wealthy through cultivation, and even lead many villagers to prosperity as well.

It wasn’t just the rich men who could employ long-term workers; once ordinary citizens, now they could also afford to hire workers, right?

County Magistrate Meng asked Hongji to introduce to everyone the amount of land used for planting melons, rice, vegetables, or the fruit trees on the mountains.

Hongji provided a detailed introduction for everyone and modestly claimed that the yield was much less than it actually was.

After hearing Hongji’s introduction, everyone was astonished. They glanced at the rice field’s seedlings, already heavy with full and rich grains, suggesting that each acre could yield at least 800 pounds–a speculation based on their experience as farmers.

The village chiefs from neighboring towns, especially those with numerous rice fields and abundant paddy fields, were inspired.

They considered if fruit cultivation was successful, it should mean even better yields for grain cultivation.

As farmers, even without vegetables to eat, they could still pick wild greens; having more cultivated vegetables was one issue, but selling them was another. Grain, on the other hand, was always the focus of farming.

In towns where the terrain was hilly with few paddy fields, particularly in places with only mountains and no rice fields, and an abundance of rocks, it was even harder.

Forget about planting rice; even growing fruit trees was challenging, leading to the cultivation of cold-resistant fruits like plum trees for making preserved plums.

And like the peach trees and plum trees that could be picked as flowers and were cold-resistant.

Lychee trees and longan trees like those at Ye Manor could be planted as well, with their planting practices being worthy of study.

Logically, these farmers from the town should have far more experience in planting fruit trees than those of us who specialize in growing rice, yet looking at their mountains full of fruit trees thriving so well.

Look at the age of those fruit trees, aren’t these the saplings that were just planted a little more than a year ago? Bearing fruit in the second year is truly remarkable.

Hongji, leading so many people, had finished touring the estate’s paddy fields, and then went on to visit the mountain.

The sight of so many chickens, ducks, and geese under the fruit trees revealed a purely natural farming base, and even bees could be seen flying among the trees.

This truly was a geomantic treasure spot. Someone noticed that the mountain fruit trees were irrigated by using bamboo, which completely explained why there wasn’t a drought on the hilltop in such torrid weather.

Another person was wondering, with the water channels at the foot of the mountain being so much lower than the water pond on the hill, how was water drawn up to the mountain’s pond?

It wasn’t until the visiting group climbed up to the mountain’s summit that they understood why the water source could flow down from the top.

It turned out that on the other side of the small mountain, separated only by a narrow road, there stood a taller mountain, and the water source came from a stream running down from it.

To ensure the smaller mountain had a water supply, they used bamboo pipes to channel water from the opposite mountain’s source to a pond on the summit, which then flowed to every corner of the orchard below.

In the new county, the water irrigation was rather good. Water could be channeled from a reservoir far away, strengthening the village’s water supply.

Even in dry and cold weather, the paddy fields here would not lack water for irrigation.

The paddy fields here were mostly terraced, but this didn’t interfere with farming.

As long as one worked hard, it was possible to be well-fed. This was also why the people of the village could just be a little more industrious, clear the land and grow enough miscellaneous grains to eat their fill.

The County Magistrate led everyone to visit Bushen Village, which had the best-managed estate.

At first, everyone was envious, filled with enthusiasm, thinking of learning and copying the practices they saw during the visit once they returned.

But someone with a keen eye noticed that Bushen Village had more than one estate. Several hills near the village had both estates and fruit trees.

Compared to the yellowing, barely alive crops in their own estates and the fruit trees on the mountains, the contrast was stark.

Such a big contrast once again sent people into deep thought–what kind of techniques did Ye’s estate possess?

This was precisely the secret the farmers wanted to know, so some began to inquire, with someone first asking Hongji about farming techniques.

Hongji wasn’t much involved in managing the estate and simply shared a bit of his experience as a farmer.

Listening, others felt that these were just common experiences, known to any farmer who had grown rice or vegetables.

It appeared that the boss was keeping the secret techniques to himself, holding back information from them.

So, someone went to ask the long-term workers, whose accounts were similar to the boss’s–just ordinary planting followed by fertilizing and irrigation.

The group then asked what kind of fertilizer was used for planting so many fruit trees, as well as the various melons and vegetables.

The long-term workers replied that human excrement and urine, along with livestock urine and feces, especially those from chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs, were most effective for growing vegetables and fruits.

Those listening, experienced farmers themselves, always used these in their planting and saw nothing special about it; it was all standard farming practice. So why their estates were thriving so luxuriantly remained a puzzle.