The news of this year's record-breaking early rice yield of eight shi per mu spread throughout the country, even shaking the northern regions. Yelü Lili, in particular, was extremely envious of the auspicious land in the south. If only the northern regions had been the first to occupy Tianjing two years ago, they wouldn't have to watch their neighbors' bumper harvest with envy and resentment now.
The South is naturally rainy and warm, making it an ideal place to grow rice two to three times a year.
Grain production has consistently been ahead of other regions. Even if other regions produced six shi (a unit of dry measure), it would never achieve the same average grain yield per mu (a unit of land area) as the south, ensuring stable grain production.
The harvest is bountiful. Even the experimental fields are enough to give every household hope for a bumper late-season rice harvest in the second half of the year.
Furthermore, His Highness Fengning has issued an order prohibiting the arbitrary price increases of lime powder among the common people. Anyone who dares to raise prices arbitrarily can be arrested and imprisoned by the government, thus fundamentally eliminating the small merchants who want to take advantage of the situation to make money.
Big merchants wouldn't bother with it, but every ordinary household needed three bags of lime powder. With a base of millions of households, the amount of lime powder needed was naturally enormous. A mere ten copper coins' increase would make them rich.
But with Prince Feng Ning watching, no one dared to take advantage of the situation to make a fortune.
Lime powder is everywhere; all we need to do is send someone to collect it.
Even without raising prices, small business owners can make a fortune with just labor and transportation costs.
Thus, a craze for buying lime swept through the people, and agricultural officials went door-to-door to provide guidance and teach the people how to prepare the new fertilizer.
The lime powder craze sweeping across the country is even more enthusiastic than the sweet potato planting season. Sweet potatoes also had a bumper harvest this year, but their popularity paled in comparison to the staple food, rice.
Some people still remember the benefits of sweet potatoes. If it weren't for sweet potatoes, many people wouldn't have been able to survive until the beginning of the year. Now that new fertilizers have been discovered and another rice harvest is planned for the end of the year, many families will probably be able to have a meal of white rice.
A single meal of white rice was enough to fill the people with hope. Those who had escaped the famine began to offer sweet potatoes to the Dragon King and the God of Grain, hoping for another bumper harvest the following year.
In fact, as long as the south remains stable, recovers, and resumes production, it will eventually become prosperous. As a land of plenty, the people of the south will live better lives than those in other places.
Xie's army continued to expand into key locations in the south and strengthen their defenses.
However, sending troops directly from the Xie family was far from enough. The young men who joined the army from Jiujin were conservative and almost exclusively joined the army under Si Xitong.
The troop strength was insufficient for the South as a whole.
The Xie family's military camp was open to people of other surnames, and those who entered the camp could receive three dou of grain. Three dou of grain, or eighteen jin, could barely last a month.
People from Jin, far from Tianjing, flocked to Xie's army camp, just for a meal.
This expansion directly added 100,000 men. In addition, the 100,000 able-bodied men recruited from the Southern Region have now become the border guards of the Southern Region.
The total number of Xie Jun's troops has now expanded to 700,000.
Of the 700,000 troops, only the Xie family's 300,000 or so were truly capable of fighting. The majority were in logistics, and the fact that each person only ate one jin of grain a day also increased the burden on military supplies.
These new recruits are now being trained in the fields for only a few days before being pulled into the fields to help with the planting of late-season rice and transplanting seedlings.
By the end of the day, there were more people than rice seedlings in most of the fields in each county. The rice seedlings were transplanted within two days, and once they grew taller, new fertilizer could be applied.
When this news reached Xie Lanzhi's ears, she once again witnessed the advantage of having many people and that it is easier to get things done in a group.
Si Xitong's mind has been entirely focused on agriculture lately, because after the bumper harvest of sweet potatoes, another crop has also made a move: peanuts. The peanuts were supposed to be harvested next month, but the agricultural official inspected the fields and harvested five mu (approximately 0.33 acres) half a month early. The harvested peanuts were then washed and sent to Lanzhang Palace.
She and Lanzhi shelled all the peanut seeds for this batch. It holds extraordinary significance.
The agricultural official also sent over a jar of peanut oil.
Si Xitong lifted the lid and gently sniffed. The natural aroma of peanuts filled her nostrils. She figured that stir-fried vegetables would surely allow Lan Zhi to absorb more of something called vitamins.
"Lanzhi, you said that peanuts can be pressed into oil, so I had my men try it. They steamed the peanuts, put them in an insulated container, and pressed them to extract some oil."
Xie Lanzhi brought the oil bottle closer and smelled it. It was pure, natural peanut oil, with a golden hue, and it smelled almost like it had a meaty aroma. She swallowed hard and suddenly wanted to use this peanut oil to cook something; she was already tired of the soybean oil, vegetable oil, and lard she usually ate.
"Let's use this to cook lunch today."
"Yes, make more vegetarian dishes."
Xie Lanzhi: "We're eating grass today!"
As a carnivore, and seeing his wife's expectant face, he had no choice but to swallow his words. It seemed there would be more vegetables than meat for lunch. She would just treat it as a vegetarian meal today.
The chefs in the imperial kitchen received the recipes and peanut oil from their masters and began to show off their skills.
Soon the entire kitchen was filled with the aroma of peanut oil. The cooks, who had been working for decades, had never smelled such fragrant oil before. They thought lard and vegetable oil were already quite good, but peanut oil was an eye-opener for them.
He even got carried away with his cooking, stir-frying a lot of vegetarian dishes without adding any meat, thinking that the smooth, shiny, and fragrant vegetarian dishes must be even more delicious than meat.
At noon, Xie Lanzhi devoured five plates of vegetarian dishes and the only fish her wife allowed her to eat, and because it tasted so good, she ate an extra bowl of rice.
As expected, vegetarian dishes aren't that hard to eat; it's still a matter of oil.
Si Xitong put down her chopsticks and wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. She had eaten two bowls of rice at the table and had a big appetite. She ate one more bowl of rice than usual today.
Peanut oil was very popular with the masters of Lanzhang Palace.
Officials in the capital flocked to inquire about peanut oil, spending a fortune to buy half a jar from the Minister of Agriculture to fry at home, and thus fell completely in love with it. Because peanut oil was not yet produced in large quantities, it was temporarily only available to the upper classes.
A businessman was fortunate enough to taste a dish made with peanuts, so he began to inquire everywhere and even bribed people just to get a small bottle of peanut oil.
The officials pressed a total of 300 catties of peanut oil, of which 100 catties were sent to the imperial kitchen. Of the remaining 200 catties, the adults took 50 catties, Xie took 50 catties, Si took 50 catties, leaving only 50 catties. They dared not give it to others, but they never expected that the master of Lanzhang Palace would allow them to use the remaining 50 catties themselves.
In other words, you can handle it yourself.
The farmers each sold ten catties to the merchants at a high price. The merchants tasted success and learned that the peanuts were growing well, so they were sure to make a good profit next month and would definitely harvest oil then. This was a lucrative business, so they signed a contract to reserve five hundred catties.
The officials in charge of agriculture dared not make a decision. At this moment, Granny Xie came over and specifically reminded the officials that they could make purchases in advance, which was the will of Prince Fengning.
The officials then signed the oil permit and received one hundred taels of gold from the merchant.
When the merchant received one hundred taels of gold, it caught Xie Lanzhi's attention. Si Xitong then used the hundred taels as bait to ensnare him.
She said, "Lanzhi, look at these rich people, they are willing to spend so much money even just for a little bit of food."
Xie Lanzhi chuckled and replied, "You are the richest person in the world."
"Who would complain about having too little silver?" Si Xitong blinked, her mind full of calculations. Even without her saying it, Xie Lanzhi could guess what she was referring to. It was the commercial tax that Little Phoenix had mentioned before. Increase the revenue from commercial taxes; this time it's commercial taxes, but if it continues, it will probably be taxes paid by everyone. Even officials will be no exception.
She didn't point it out, but waited for her to proceed step by step. The more adept she became, the more experience she accumulated, and eventually she could break free from her dependence on her.
Just as she matured at eighteen, she also needs to become more adept at political maneuvering early on.
"You do it, leave the military to me," Xie Lanzhi assured her. She knew very well that even in chaotic times, the aristocratic families, with their strong class biases, wouldn't hold onto any interests. Even if a dynasty was on the verge of collapse, most people would only think about their own future, or fantasize about inviting foreign tribes into the country and finding a new ruler. In her view, once a country was destroyed, establishing a new ruler wouldn't change the fate of those who served a fallen nation—it was simply laughable.
Emperor Xicheng had considered collecting taxes from the upper classes while he was still alive, but before he could implement it, he was impeached. Because his interests were threatened, the lower classes refused to cooperate, and Emperor Xicheng's orders could not be passed on to the lower classes. In the end, the matter was shelved and left for later. But no one expected that in the end, his wish would not be fulfilled and would become a regret.
Now that his father has passed away, Si Xitong not only avenges his father but also fulfills his father's lifelong wish.
Chapter 98 She was full of shrewd calculations
The Lanzhang Palace allowed pre-sales, which allowed the farmers to reap a considerable harvest of oil permits. Before the farmers could even savor the initial success, the Military Council sent someone to say that they would take over the oil permits, and the farmers only needed to produce oil.
Once the benefits are realized, countless people want to share them.
Some merchants took the risk of pre-ordering, while others watched from the sidelines, feeling that things weren't so simple. But the red seal on the oil permit was indeed stamped by the government and couldn't be faked, which reassured the merchants.
Nowadays, in addition to the emerging peanut oil business, there are also businesses selling ice and fruit, and many peddlers are making money from Xie Lanzhi's pockets.
Xie Lanzhi sold off all the surplus tribute fruits in the palace and increased the amount of fruit available for sale. The vassal states would send tribute every season, and she would reward them with some grain and cloth.
Grain and cloth have always been sought after by small countries, so they give away their specialties cheaply. They give this and that, and before they know it, quite a lot of fruit has piled up.
A year ago, people were barely able to get enough to eat, let alone fruit. Most people had rarely even seen an apple. As a tribute fruit, apples were only served to high-ranking officials and nobles. It was already a blessing for ordinary people to be able to eat some wild fruits.
Now, a small country is shipping tons and tons of apples, all of which end up in the hands of ordinary people. Merchants then resell them, and to sell them, they need manpower. They need to hire people, which requires tools and labor costs. Layer by layer, once the profit chain of the royal tribute fruit is fully established, the transaction volume is even greater than that of ice.
This led to apples becoming cheaper than sweet potatoes, prompting people to rush to try them. Soon, the Shi Kingdom's government sent over a large quantity of tangerines. The rest, which was reserved for the imperial palace, was sold off. Each household in the countryside received an average of two apples and one tangerine.
After the fruit filled the entire market, the Xie family guards of Tianjing welcomed a special agricultural official, known as the "Pig-Raising Official." He carried the deputy token of the Lan Zhang Palace master, making him no ordinary agricultural official.
The Xie guards quickly let the people in, and then the Minister of Agriculture drove thousands of pigs through the gate. Xie's soldiers surrounded both sides to help drive the pigs to the pigsty in the western suburbs of Tianjing.
The streets along the way were covered in stinking excrement. Right now, the new fertilizer needed the excrement, and many people were scrambling to collect it.
However, the people were puzzled by the pigs: "These don't seem to be tribute pigs offered by a small country."
"I heard it was raised by His Highness."
"Oh! Your Highness raises pigs? Even the royal family raises these things?"
"That sounds so familiar. His Highness also raises pigs, and the Fourth Prince even grew sweet potatoes."
"We've long known that Your Highness loves the people like your own children. We never expected that you would personally handle such a small matter. We've truly caught up with a wise ruler."
I wonder if His Highness can finish eating all those pigs? Many people speculate that they're raised for Marshal Xie, whose love of meat is well-known. Actually, who doesn't love meat? It's just that most people don't have the means. If they had the means, who wouldn't want to eat meat every day?
A thousand pigs were herded into the pigpen. Each pig weighed about two hundred pounds, had white hair, and pink skin. They were the famous prolific pigs of the West. Mr. Spohr had a wide circle of friends all over the world, and these prolific pigs were imported from a Western merchant.
It is said that these piglets are a superior breed developed by the West. Western merchants sent five hundred piglets to Weidu, and Weidu, following Si Xitong's orders, began to raise these pigs in enclosures. They were also vaccinated. Now, after a full year, they have produced five thousand piglets.
The reason we are sending a thousand heads to Tianjing now is for the year-end inspection.
This official in charge of agriculture was named Gao Yin. He was from Tianjing and served as the special commissioner of agriculture and protector of the capital, having risen through the ranks of the military.
When news of Gao sending pigs to the western suburbs of Tianjing reached Xie Lanzhi's ears, she almost forgot that her wife had received imported agricultural products from Si Bogong a year ago, including piglets.
It's harvest season now, and not only are there new fertilizers for sweet potatoes and rice, but piglets have also been successfully bred.
Even she had to sigh and say, "The Empress's aura."
Looking back at the numerous firearm designs he had provided to the Ministry of Works, none of them were successful, and those that were made were either not very powerful or inaccurate. The only firearm based on the flintlock musket could not be mass-produced in the short term.
A thousand pigs are enough to serve as breeding stock in Tianjing.
"Little Phoenix, our local black-haired pigs are also quite good." Xie Lanzhi thought that the black-haired pigs had more fat and meat, and the oil they fried was very fragrant.
She had heard of the deliciousness of Dongpo pork before, and she asked the imperial kitchen to recreate it. The chef used black-haired pigs, which have a lot of fat and taste good.
Si Xitong checked Gao Yin's daily records of the pigs' growth and condition, which were written very concisely and were easy to read.
As expected, she made the right choice. Although it might seem wasteful to send a captain to raise pigs, Lanzhi had said that the rear is also a battlefield. Therefore, logistics are absolutely crucial to the army's ability to achieve victory in war.
Most importantly, someone wants to eat lean meat.
On the desk piled high with memorials, Si Xitong rested her chin on one hand and flipped through a notebook with the other. Her gaze would occasionally fall on someone, and she said to her, "A year ago, I heard someone say that fatty meat is good, but it's too greasy and makes you gain fat. When we eat hot pot and barbecue, they think that lean meat is chewier and less greasy."
Xie Lanzhi blushed as she said that. Well, it was just a casual remark, but she didn't expect her wife to remember every word she said so clearly, and even be able to recall every single word she uttered.
He's so gifted that he can even remember her nonsense.
She covered her mouth and coughed lightly: "So, the fact that Little Phoenix raises lean white pigs has something to do with me."
Si Xitong said, "In the past, pork was mostly fatty meat. People liked fatty meat because it could be rendered into lard. In families that were often hungry and cold, they could not even see meat all year round, so lard was a good substitute."
"So I asked my uncle to find out about peanuts, which are said to produce oil in foreign countries. If we use peanuts to replace some of our oil intake..."
The current high price of peanuts is only due to low initial yields. As peanut cultivation becomes more widespread and production increases, the price will naturally decrease, and peanut oil production will also rise. The selling price will then be much lower than it is now.