Chapter 632: Request

Editor: Atlas Studios

The entire Central Camp was complaining. Initially, when everyone heard about the arena, they were overjoyed and came to join in the fun. In the end, the Prince only sent half of his personal guards and everyone was feeling tortured enough already.

Even if several generals went up against the Prince together, they were still no match for him at all.

After all, Qi Haoran had been practicing martial arts since he was young. These bandits were all amateurs, so they naturally could not compare to him. Even if they had been leaders before, at this moment, everyone was suppressed by Qi Haoran.

If it was in the past, Qi Haoran would have let them off with a smile. However, he was in a fit of anger. After knocking them down, he mocked them. “How dare you go to the battlefield like this? You can only show off when you encounter weak commoners. If you encounter the Jin soldiers or West Xia soldiers, you’d have died ten times over.”

One could imagine that the bandit leaders weren’t docile folks. These words instantly angered everyone. They originally wanted to lie down and pretend to be dead, but at this moment, they wanted to get up even if they had to crawl. Qi Haoran continued to torture them until they could not speak. Only then did the anger in his heart dissipate a little.

This matter got to Fan Zijin’s ears. In the afternoon, he took the time to come over. When Qi Haoran got off the stage, he followed him back to the tent. “Why did Sister-in-law send your food to me? Did you really quarrel? Since she has already sent you food, it can be considered that she has given in. Just forgive her.”

“Who said I quarreled with Ah Ling? She listens to everything I say and we’re such a loving couple. What’s there to quarrel about?”

“Oh, I misunderstood.” Fan Zijin opened his eyes and looked at him. He supported her head and sat at the side to look at him, then asked, “Then why are you angry? Do you have to implicate the entire army?”

Qi Haoran’s anger rose as he told him what he had accidentally discovered. “I always thought that the Central Camp’s discipline was not bad, so I lived in the city without worry. But now, it seems that they were clearly putting on a show previously, while still making merry at night as they please. I went to inspect their training today. Damn it, it’s like they’ve been messing around for the past two months. It’s only been a few days since I checked on them, and they’ve all relaxed.”

Fan Zijin frowned. “Don’t tell me they have ulterior motives for gathering so late at night?”

Qi Haoran waved his hand and said, “I’ve already gotten someone to investigate. It’s just that the people below want to have some fun and feel that the discipline is too strict.”

Fan Zijin heaved a sigh of relief. “But if they don’t listen to orders now, I’m afraid they’ll rebel in the future if anything happens.”

Qi Haoran nodded. “There are many people in the Central Camp, so I want to train them first before dealing with the East Camp and the West Camp. However, we can’t just let them be. Let’s find Liu Dahei and the others first and find something for them to do. Otherwise, there will be chaos.”

However, there were no battles at the borders at this time, and they could not take the initiative to start a war. If they were lazy about training troops, what else was there for them to do?

Qi Haoran was vexed.

As Mu Yangling had just obtained Qi Haoran’s stipend land, she went to the field to take a look. The previously connected land had already been divided into many pieces. When Xu Zhi got someone to bring them to see their land, she saw that Qi Haoran was assigned three mountains.

Mu Yangling asked, “Can these three mountains be used to build terraced fields?”

Xu Zhi was silent for a moment before shaking his head. “It’s difficult.”

Mu Yangling understood implicitly that it couldn’t be done.

Mu Yangling looked at the three mountains and turned around to say to Zhu Liang, “I’ll get an old farmer to go up the mountain to take a look and see what is suited for planting.”

Xu Zhi waited for Zhu Liang to leave before asking, “What does Her Highness plan to plant on these fields?” Seeing that Mu Yangling seemed to be very interested in farming, he couldn’t help but want to ask.

Smiling, Mu Yangling asked, “Governor Xu, what do you suggest?”

Xu Zhi thought for a moment and replied, “Buckwheat is a good choice.”

As buckwheat wasn’t exactly a delicious grain, Mu Yangling raised her eyebrows.

Xu Zhi hurriedly added, “Two of the fields have good fertility and soil, and you may grow rice on them. However, it’s difficult to plant rice elsewhere. Seeing as the weather this winter is a little abnormal, I wonder what it will be like next year.”

Mu Yangling fell into deep thought. It was already the end of autumn this year, but the weather was still a little stuffy and hot. It was only right before entering winter that the temperature began to slowly drop. Mu Yangling originally thought that this was because there were tall mountains on all sides, but now, it seemed that the situation was indeed abnormal.

When Mu Yangling returned to the residence, she found Zhu Liang and said, “The corn planted in Jiangnan this year is being harvested now, right? Get Wang Quan to buy as much as possible. Pick out those that can be used as seeds and stock up on some in each branch. Send the rest to Qiannan and send a letter to the North to get them to transport over more Dry Rice No. 1 seeds.”

“Your Highness, how should we allocate the stipend land next year?”

“Let’s get someone to look at every plot of land first. We’ll divide the land into different grades before I make a decision.”

Zhu Liang noted down her instructions one by one. Just as the two of them finished speaking, Spring came in from outside and reported, “Her Highness, Mrs. Chen and Miss Jinhua from the Miao stockade are here.”

“Hanlan?” Mu Yangling tilted her head and waved her hand to dismiss Zhu Liang. “Let them in.”

Hanlan was here to deliver clothes to Little Bear, so Mu Yangling said with a smile, “Thank you for your trouble. He hasn’t yet worn what you sent the last time.”

Hanlan said with a smile, “It’s just a token of our appreciation. These fabrics are the only decent gifts our Miao stockade can offer you.”

“You’re just being humble. I heard that the herbs in your Miao stockade are excellent, too. Isn’t the General planning to let you plant herbs?”

Hanlan replied with a bitter smile, “Medicinal herbs aren’t so easy to grow. We Miao people have always only dug up wild medicinal herbs and no one has ever planted them, so no one dares to grow them. Moreover, herbs are used to treat illnesses and no one would eat it often for no reason.” After a pause, Hanlan continued with a smile, “I heard that Your Highness knows a kind of divine crop that has high production yield, which allows the commoners to fill their stomachs. I heard that the planting has already begun in Jiangnan.”

Stunned, Mu Yangling asked, “You mean corn?”

Hanlan nodded repeatedly as hope flashed across her eyes. “I heard that that thing is easy to grow and has a high yield. Please take pity on us, Your Highness.”

Mu Yangling said with a smile, “That thing isn’t as good as you think, but the yield is indeed higher than rice and wheat. If you serve the high-grade land well, and the heavens decide to be good to you, it shouldn’t be a problem to achieve a yield of 500 to 600 catties per acre. Even when planted on low-grade land, one can get about 300 catties.”

Hanlan could not help but get excited. Considering the Miao people were not very good at farming, it was already not bad for an acre of high-grade land to harvest 300 catties of grains a year. Even if corn was not delicious, it would at least be better than chaff and buckwheat, right?

At least everyone would have more staple food.

Hanlan looked at Mu Yangling with bright eyes.

Mu Yangling did not use this to negotiate with them. She only said, “The seeds should arrive here before spring. When the time comes, I will open grain stores in two or three places in Qiannan. If anyone wants to buy them, just go to the grain store with your household registration and title deed.”

Hanlan hesitated. “I wonder if the price…”

“It won’t be very expensive. If you don’t have money, you can even owe on credit. You can repay me when it’s time to harvest. There will be someone in charge of that. Mrs. Chen, don’t worry.”

Hanlan heaved a sigh of relief.

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