Chapter 7087 Agricultural Foundations

Chapter 7087 Agricultural Foundations
When Chen Xi woke up, it was already noon. After having some hangover soup and some light porridge, Chen Xi sneaked out of the inner courtyard. When he came out, he saw Chen Qian leading a group of younger boys in a snowball fight.

"Shoot him on the head!" Chen Yu commanded his younger brother Cai Chen and his cousin Chen Tai to launch a fierce attack on the group led by Zhao Tong, Zhang Bao, and others.

Cai Chen, who had stockpiled a bunch of snowballs early on, handed them to his two older brothers. After enduring several waves of beatings from Zhang Bao, Chen Yu and Chen Tai launched a fierce attack and quickly turned the tide, sending Zhang Bao, Zhao Tong, and Lü Shao running all over the snow.

"Hit him!" Cai Chen shouted arrogantly at this moment, holding a snowball and following behind Zhang Bao. Wherever Zhang Bao ran, he would chase after him, which made Chen Xi speechless. Because of the strong attack from Chen Yu and Chen Tai, Zhang Bao had no way to fight back against Cai Chen, who posed the least threat to him, and could only be chased and killed by the three brothers.

"Hmph! We won!" Chen Qian looked at Chen Yu, who had driven away the other group, and patted her hands, which were now ice-cold from playing in the snow, with great satisfaction. "Very good, from now on you are the Great General!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi turned her head to look at Chen Lan, who was staring at the group of people, and saw that Chen Lan was also secretly laughing.

"What about me, sister? What about me?" Chen Tai quickly caught up and asked. Chen Yu was already a general, so shouldn't he also become a general?

Although he is Chen Qun's child, since Chen Qun went to Kandahar, the child has been raised by Chen Xi, and Chen Xi also helped with his education. So over time, he has become like half a son to Chen Xi. Chen Qian has always thought that Chen Tai and Cai Chen are the same as her little brother.

"You could be a general!" Chen Qian looked at her tall and strong younger brother, who already had some fighting ability and had shown his fighting spirit and selflessness in protecting his sister during the snowball fight, and said that this kid had to be given a role.

"Yay! I am General of the Cavalry!" Chen Tai said excitedly. It was worth it for him to beat up Lü Shao and Zhao Tong. He didn't know what those two bastards ate to grow up, as they both had internal energy. Fortunately, Chen Tai was more skilled and successfully defeated them, protecting his older sister and younger brother!
"Sister, sister, where am I? Where am I!" Cai Chen threw the snowball aside and, without chasing after Zhang Bao and the others who had already run outside the door, quickly ran over to ask.

"You could be the head of logistics in the Imperial Household Department! You made snowballs so fast, Chenchen!" Chen Qian grabbed Cai Chen's face and pulled it hard, making Cai Chen chatter away. "Even though you didn't deal any damage, you made a lot of snowballs, allowing your two brothers to send Zhang Bao and the others flying in one go during their final counterattack. You were awesome!"

"Oh oh oh!" Although Chen Qian was pulling his face, Cai Chen was obviously very happy. Although he didn't hit a single snowball, he made a lot of snowballs. During the last counterattack, all the snowballs in the snow nest were made by Cai Chen alone, who secretly squatted in the corner.

"Speaking of which, why were we beaten up by Zhang Bao and his gang and brought to our house?" Chen Qian suddenly asked. Her three younger brothers looked at each other, wondering why.

"Never mind, we won anyway." Chen Yu thought for a moment, but couldn't remember exactly what happened. His memory was still stuck on a moment when he was chased by a dog, and because he couldn't beat it, he was chased all the way home, and then a counterattack broke out. He won the fight with the help of his older and younger brothers. Anyway, he won, and it felt great!

“That’s right, come on, I’ll have Auntie make you some hot soup, have some snacks, and then we’ll go chase after Zhang Bao and his gang and beat them up in their house.” Chen Qian’s eyes darted around as she said with a grin. Chen Yu called out loudly, and the four of them cheered and skipped from the front yard to the inner yard. It was at this moment that these kids finally saw Chen Xi.

"Father, I have defeated Zhang Bao and the others again!" Chen Yu saw Chen Xi and immediately charged at him with a headbutt. Fortunately, Chen Xi caught it and lifted Chen Yu up. Then, he carried Chen Yu over with one hand and also hoisted Cai Chen and Chen Tai up.

"Father..." Chen Qian looked at Chen Xi with a forced smile.

"Stop teasing your brother. Go and call Zhang Bao and the others in too," Chen Xi said to Chen Qian. To be honest, it was good that the Divine Realm had been rebuilt. At least Chen Xi's power was much stronger when necessary, and having three children wouldn't be a problem.

"Hehehe." Chen Qian chuckled and quickly ran out, bringing back a bunch of kids. It was obvious that Chen Yu getting hit by a snowball was Chen Qian's doing.

"Alright, let's have a snowball fight. Don't take off your clothes if you get hot. I'll take you to get something to eat to warm you up. After that, let's have fun together and not fight..." Chen Xi said, bending down to a large group of children. It's only now that things are like this. In a few years, when each of these people has their own group of followers, it will be difficult for them to be together like this.

So while they can still play together carefree, let them create more memories together. That way, if conflicts arise in the future, it will be easier to resolve them.

Chen Xi was well aware that the friendships of the older generation might not be successfully passed on to the younger generation, but if possible, he still hoped that these kids could form a deep enough bond.

"Thank you, Uncle!" a bunch of kids shouted noisily. Then Chen Xi called Chen Lan over, thinking that it was better not to leave this matter to Chen Qian, but to let Chen Lan help keep an eye on things.

"Alright, you all come with your aunt." Chen Lan smiled and took over the job. She was very good at taking care of children. Although she wasn't very good at teaching children, she could raise them to be chubby and strong.

"Chen Zichuan, are you home? Are you awake!" After seeing off the group of kids, shouts came from outside. To be honest, there were only a few people who would greet Chen Xi like that. Chen Xi shook his head when he heard this. My old man's yard is so big, and I just happen to be in the outer yard, so I can hear it. But I'll go back and change my clothes first. I can't see Qu Qi in these clothes.

The gatekeeper, seeing it was Quqi, didn't stop her and led her directly into the main hall. When Chen Xi came out after changing her clothes, she saw Quqi eating sunflower seeds in her own main hall.

"It's rare to see you like this. I didn't see you all night, and you came all this morning." Chen Xi asked casually as she sat down on a chair.

Given Cookie's status, if she had gone last night, she could at least have gotten a seat of honor, which would have been next to Chen Xi. However, Cookie didn't go at all last night.

"What are we going there for? To see how the other lords are putting on their show?" Cookie said irritably. "It's not like we're serious. I'm just going to eat and drink. Besides, it's afternoon now."

"Only you would dare say that. If it were anyone else, would they dare to say it?" Chen Xi said with a laugh.

Many people can guess that it's a compliance test, but very few dare to treat it as a test and completely ignore it. Even Huangfu Song couldn't ignore it, but Quqi can. Quqi can pretend she knows nothing.

It's not that Qu Qi has a higher status than Huangfu Song, but rather that their foundations are different. Qu Qi is considered a veteran of Liu Bei's faction, but like Chen Xi, he has gone beyond the scope of Liu Bei's faction. As long as no one jumps out to obstruct him, he is essentially in agreement. Huangfu Song lost because he wasn't one of their own.

"Stop talking nonsense. My father-in-law came over to thank me this morning." Cookie was too lazy to dwell on that and went straight to the point. "He said that you ordered his company as one of the thirteen major livestock companies in Australia. He said he needed to get the documents from Zijing. He said he was in Chang'an, so he came over to thank me first. I said I didn't participate, so I could come over and make it up to you. That's why I came over."

Although the Ji clan is not exactly human, it is no joke that they have lived for over a thousand years. Moreover, Ji Zhong himself is the patriarch of a powerful clan, so how could he not know what happened?

Zhou Yu said that he wanted Ji Zhong to pay respects to Lu Su, but he was actually implying that the Ji family was able to get this thing because of their powerful backers. But if you think about it carefully, the Ji family has more than just Lu Su as a backer in Chang'an. There is another backer who is normally unusable and is like a background figure. But you can't think that he doesn't exist. Qu Qi's wife, Ji Xue, is the current legitimate daughter of the Ji family.

Considering that Zhuge Jin and Cai Mao both had a future prime minister as their backers in Chang'an, and only the two families received one share, while I, a useless person, received one share, does that imply that I have two backers? Upon closer reflection, yes, I do have two backers, but the other one is always just a background figure, truly invisible, so I overlooked it somewhat.

No matter how much you overlook it, you have to admit that Ji Xue is indeed the legitimate daughter of the Ji family, and even has a purer bloodline than Ji Xiang. This is because Ji Xiang was originally the chief priest of Xuanyuan, but was later removed from the position because the previous chief priest of Xuanyuan did not die. Ji Zhong had to bite the bullet and snatch Xu Ning's husband in order to compensate Ji Xiang.

So, after Ji Zhong finished the meeting, he went to see Qu Qi to check on his daughter. He chatted with Qu Qi for a while. Qu Qi didn't have any particular feelings about this, because Ji Zhong hadn't bothered Qu Qi since his daughter got married. Qu Qi felt a sense of distance and security from this kind of father-in-law, so she didn't think much of his casual chat.

After Ji Zhong tossed her a packet of kidney-tonifying and aphrodisiac herbs and left, Qu Qi realized that her father-in-law seemed to be saying that Chen Zichuan had done something for their family, as if it was because of her.

Cookie still believed in her own reputation, after all, it was indeed very important.

But what Cookie wanted to say was that he didn't know what was going on, how he suddenly had his own affairs. Oh well, he'd ask Chen Zichuan. Even if he'd been carried out, he should be awake by now.

"The argument is a bit strange, but it's fine. Without you and Zijing, the Ji family certainly wouldn't have this thing." Chen Xi said calmly. The reason for targeting the Ji family, apart from needing a visible spies as Zhou Yu said, was entirely based on personal connections.

However, as I said before, even if Chen Xi doesn't give the Ji family a share, Zhou Yu still has to give the Ji family a share, otherwise, it would really be disrespectful to Chang'an.

Although Lu Su has stepped down, as I said before, it's my business if I, Chen Xi, hit Lu Su. Do you want to die if you hit Lu Su?

No matter what, Lu Su is one of the elders. Even if he is guilty, as long as he is not dead, he should at least have some dignity. How could you guys possibly touch him?
"I heard a bit about Australia from my father-in-law, and it seems alright. But you just rented it out to Jiangdong like that?" Cookie asked casually while cracking sunflower seeds. Once he confirmed that there was indeed something wrong with the matter, taking back his father-in-law's things wouldn't be such a hot potato anymore.

"If we don't give it to Jiangdong, who will we give it to?" Chen Xi said calmly. "You know the current situation in the Central Plains better than I do. Don't be fooled by how loudly Yi Ji, the governor of Yanzhou, talks. He is actually looking at the problem from a very high level. As one of the high-ranking officials who have traveled to various places, you should know very well the true situation of the Han people now."

Cookie thought about it for a moment and then she could understand to some extent.

“In truly impoverished areas, people are indeed constantly looking for solutions; this is what is meant by ‘poverty breeds change.’ But in slightly better areas, such as Liaodong, northern Bingzhou, and northern Jizhou, which are considered harsh and cold places, the people simply don’t want to change. Go to factories? Become workers? You’ve been there; do you think they want to go?” Chen Xi asked with a hint of exasperation.

"Go to hell! I'll take the Mangshan Road. That area was incredibly poor. The first time I went there, I was almost robbed. Luckily, Anguo protected me. The next few times I passed through, their lives gradually improved. When I last passed through there in the eighth year of Yuanfeng, they were clearly quite wealthy." Qu Qi said with a sneer, "As things stand, there's no difference between a monthly income of 600 coins back home and 1200 coins a month working."

"Being content with what you have is a good thing, and I've always thought so. But the people on this land seem to have a very low level of contentment," Chen Xi said with a hint of weariness. "They're satisfied with having food to eat, rice with a few pieces of meat in it, clothes to wear, and a house to live in. So they stay comfortably in their hometowns."

The idea that people are less valuable when they leave their hometown truly existed in that era, and it actually existed in later generations as well, although in later generations this idea was weakened considerably.

“Less than one in a hundred people are willing to leave their hometowns to work hard,” Cookie nodded and concluded. “Especially after we got the volcanic ash from Leijitai and Jiangdong, we can make a good living by farming.”

The improved varieties of cookie seeds have brought the land's yield to four shi, which means that one mu of land can produce 240 jin. Chen Xi's tax rate has been consolidated, and all the exorbitant taxes have been completely eliminated. Now, as long as you don't owe the state for agricultural machinery or rent, you only need to pay about 50 jin per mu.

To be fair, this ratio was actually several times higher than the one-thirtieth tax rate set by the Han Dynasty, which was truly abnormal. However, Chen Xi integrated almost all taxes related to agriculture and population, as well as labor service, corvée labor, poll tax, and tax on taxes.

Furthermore, Chen Xi almost completely eliminated corvée labor and instead began to hire professionals to lead ordinary people in building water conservancy networks. The state funded the recruitment of manpower, replacing the previously inefficient corvée labor. Overall, Chen Xi's extravagant taxation was actually a truly good policy.

Later, with the establishment of the Leiji Terrace, the yield per mu could reach five shi (a unit of dry measure), but Chen Xi still had to pay fifty jin (another unit of dry measure), which is about eight dou (another unit of dry measure). This is because the improvement in agricultural cultivation level naturally led to a decrease in the tax rate...

Liu Ye and others thought this approach was actually wrong, because you can't fix the harvest of eight bushels of grain per mu. You have to follow the proportions, since there are famine years. But Chen Xi said that the poll tax and tax you set up are fixed. I just converted it into grain to save trouble.

Moreover, the poll tax itself is 120 coins, which, if converted into grain, would be almost two shi (a unit of dry measure) at the current real grain price, not to mention other taxes.

After these words were spoken, Liu Ye and the others really had no way to refute them, and in the end, the matter was left as it was. Fixed taxes were not good, but the progress of agricultural science made the actual rate of fixed taxes continuously decrease.

The most advanced agricultural technology at present is that with improved seeds, thunderclap, volcanic ash, and compost, one mu of land can stably produce six shi (a unit of dry measure). Three hundred and sixty jin (a unit of weight) per mu may not sound like much, but in ancient times, such a mu, along with some wild vegetables, would have been enough for one person to survive for a year.

This is also the basis for why the Jiangdong aristocratic families could make money selling volcanic ash, since no one ever complains about having too much grain.

In the past two years, the Han Dynasty's grain production has exploded, and the actual price of grain has fallen below fifty wen per shi. Chen Xi has been quietly observing for two years, and then he plans to start large-scale production of maltose in the eleventh year of Yuanfeng. He also plans to gamble on the existing small-scale starch gelatinization processing plant to decompose starch into glucose, syrup, etc. Most importantly, he plans to gamble on a starch gelatinization fermentation route that Chen Xi doesn't quite understand, but which does have this technical route, to mass-produce antibiotics.

While theoretically, corn starch is the fermentation substrate for almost all antibiotics, including penicillin, cephalosporins, tetracyclines, and streptomycin, in the pharmaceutical field—starch is transformed into antibiotic raw materials through industrial microbial fermentation and extraction processes, supporting the basic production system of the global pharmaceutical industry—in reality, all types of starch can be used as a base simply by adjusting the process.

Chen Xi had always known about this thing, but he didn't understand the process. The encyclopedia did mention it, but the volume on medicine left him completely confused, so he only knew the general idea.

Therefore, Chen Xi could only provide a technical route for this thing. The next step was to repeatedly verify it, replicate it at the Academy of Medical Sciences first, and then start large-scale production using food. After all, antibiotics are a serious problem if misused, but if it can save lives, then we should save lives first.

We'll talk about the rest later.

This is also why Chen Xi always held the attitude that the more grain the Han Dynasty produced, the better, because there was plenty of land that could be used up, and if there was too much, it could be used to produce ethanol or even gasoline.

The evolutionary history of corn:
Stop asking why the author isn't including corn. Here are some pictures. Early corn had husks, and its ancestor was called bulrush. Based on what we've dug up so far, around 4,000 years ago, a single ear of corn only had about 50 kernels. The reason corn has evolved into what it is today is because it underwent eight mutations, transforming from a grass into what it is today. In my memory, North American Native Americans mainly did three things: pumpkins, potatoes, and corn. And at this point in my book, if I remember correctly, potatoes and corn hadn't been domesticated yet. So don't ask me why there's no corn or potatoes, because they really weren't domesticated yet, especially corn. Don't count on it. Heaven knows how those eight mutations that were so significant for humanity came about. It's impossible to achieve with technology; it's all about luck. And by the end of the month, please vote!