Chapter 877 Playing with Children

Chapter 877: Playing with Children Chapter 877: Playing with Children Editor: Atlas Studios Little An came over with a small bundle of grains.

Right as he saw the limestone slab under his feet, he accidentally tossed it out with a whoosh.

Not tied tightly to begin with, the grains scattered and plenty landed on his head and face.

But he merely nonchalantly shook his head and continued running towards the field.

Little Madam Xia watched in shock, surprised at her son’s transformation.

During these two months, she’d been feeling sleepy and dazed all the time.

And now, her son, who used to insist on changing his clothes with a straight face even if there was just a little dust on his clothes, had become so carefree.

If not for his face, she almost thought that it was Tiger Head or Little Lion who had thrown the grains just now.

Nanny Xia, however, was very gratified as she felt that children should be like this.

Mu Yangling and the five children harvested the crops on all six plots of land.

Then, they dried the grains before weighing them for comparison.

Not quite interested in this, the three little ones held hands and rushed off to the street to play.

Only Little Treasure and Little Bear squatted beside Mu Yangling and watched her record the data.

Little Treasure asked, “Fourth Aunt, can our farmstead plant rice for a second season?” “Yes.” Mu Yangling pointed at the notebook and said, “But we still have to experiment for another two years to decide if we’re going to plant it.” Little Bear stared at her with wide eyes.

“Why?” “Because the land also needs to rest.” Mu Yangling explained to him, “For example, you’ll have to rest at night after a busy day of studying.

Only then will you have the energy to continue learning and practicing martial arts the next day.

It’s the same for the land.

It’ll have to rest in the second half of the year after nourishing crops for the first half of the year.” “But didn’t the farmer uncles say that the more a plot of land is farmed, the more fertile it becomes?” When the two children went to the farmstead to play, they often heard people gossip about lazy farmers who caused their long-cultivated land to turn into uncultivated land.

According to them, the more they planted a plot of land, the more fertile it would become.

If they left the fields untended to like this, the land would lose its fertility.

Smiling, Mu Yangling explained, “There has to be a limit to this.

For example, when you study and are suddenly given half a year off, your attention and brainpower will become scattered.

If you’re asked to study again, you’ll find it very difficult.

It’s the same for the land.

If you don’t farm for a long time, it will lose its fertility.

However, if you farm too much, it will consume too much of its fertility, too.

We have to find a balance somewhere in the middle.

Perhaps we can do something to replenish its fertility.

This isn’t something that can be achieved in a year or two, so we’ve got to be patient.” In her previous life, the reason why land could be planted all year round was due to things like fertilizer.

However, in this life, not to mention that she couldn’t create fertilizer, she wouldn’t even if she could.

At this moment, the population density in the country was not high.

There were still many barren lands outside the more populated areas, not to mention the forest.

Even without fertilizer, as long as there were sufficient seeds and irrigation, the people could live well.

Mu Yangling’s goal had always been to improve the quality of the seeds and farming techniques.

As for the water conservancy project, that was up to the Imperial Court to work on.

She had never thought of producing fertilizer.

“I haven’t decided if I should plant the rice for a second season, but I think that Zhancheng Rice can be planted on a large scale.

Now that the seeds have stabilized, we should be reaping results from the experiment in the north.” Mu Yangling pinched Little Treasure’s face and smiled.

“Great Qi now has another variety of high-yielding seeds.” Little Treasure and Little Bear were confused.

When Little Bear realized that he wasn’t interested in this topic, he simply tossed it aside.

However, Little Treasure remembered it in his heart.

When he returned at night, he told his Royal Father about this and asked, “Royal Father, are there different varieties of rice?

Then what type is planted in our farmstead?” How could Qi Xiuyuan know what grain seeds were planted in their farmstead?

He had used his private savings to buy that small farmstead for his son, for education and research purposes.

He had handed it to the steward to manage.

As the ruler of a country, why would he pay attention to this?

Therefore, he said, “I don’t know either.

If you want to know, you can ask the steward tomorrow.” Then, he asked, “Your Fourth Aunt said that the Zhancheng Rice has stabilized and is ready for planting?” Little Treasure nodded.

Qi Xiuyuan couldn’t help but feel happy.

The autumn tax collected this year was not bad.

The reason was not only because the weather was good everywhere, but also because grains were high-yielding.

There were new varieties of corn, rice, and even wheat.

The first two had a considerable increase in production, so the farmers had harvested a lot of grains.

The number of refugees everywhere had greatly decreased.

Hence, the Imperial Court only needed to take out another batch of grains to provide relief to the refugees and get them to settle down locally.

It was believed that in less than three years, there would not be more than a hundred refugees gathered in the entire Great Qi.

Every time there was chaos in the Imperial Court, the cause could always be traced back to refugees.

By taking care of this group, Great Qi’s national strength would increase greatly.

Qi Xiuyuan happily asked someone to bring wine over.

Seeing that he was happy, the Empress smiled and asked, “Your Majesty, do you want to invite Fourth Brother and the others into the palace to celebrate?” Qi Xiuyuan shook his head and said, “Forget it.

He’s been in a bad mood recently.

I’d better not see him.” “If Fourth Brother has been in a bad mood, that’s all the more reason for Your Majesty to talk him out of it.” The Empress looked at him reproachfully and turned to ask Little Treasure, “Did your Fourth Uncle look grumpy when he went home today?” Little Treasure was trying his best to dig apples for his younger siblings to eat.

When he heard this, he shook his head and said, “No, Fourth Uncle was in high spirits.

He even carried Tiger Head, Little Lion, me, and the others around his neck and strolled around the garden.

He even held Little Bear up and fly him around using his qinggong.

It was very fun…” The Empress looked at her son suspiciously.

“Did your Fourth Uncle hold you up and fly you around too?” With an embarrassed smile, Little Treasure dug out a large piece of apple and stuffed it into his second brother’s mouth.

When Mingzhu saw this, she shouted indignantly, “Brother Crown Prince, I want one too.” The Second Prince was only a year old.

When he heard this, he sat down beside Little Treasure and opened his mouth wide at him, waiting to be fed.

Little Treasure closed his mouth and said, “Finish chewing the food in your mouth first.” Then, he cut off a large piece with a spoon and stuffed it into his younger sister’s mouth.

As the Empress took the apple out of her daughter’s mouth, she lectured him.

“You shouldn’t play the flying game again in the future.

It’s so dangerous.” Hearing this, Qi Xiuyuan said, “Haoran knows what he’s doing.

He won’t let Little Treasure fall.

It’s fine for a boy to be more mischievous.” Then, he said, “I don’t expect him to become a martial arts expert, but he needs to be good at horse riding at least.

As a ruler, he has to be able to command the entire army.

It’s good to let his Fourth Uncle train his courage.” Even though Little Bear was a year younger than Little Treasure, not only could he cultivate internal energy, but his footsteps were also light.

He had even learned some qinggong, as well as a set of impressive-looking fist techniques.

Meanwhile, Little Treasure was still doing physical exercise to strengthen his health.

It was impossible for Qi Xiuyuan not to be disappointed.

Although Qi Xiuyuan wasn’t as talented in martial arts as Qi Haoran, he wasn’t too bad either.

Moreover, he was a general on horseback.

If he were to fight the enemy on horseback, there were only five people in the world who could defeat him.

Little Treasure was going to be the Emperor in the future.

Even if Little Bear assisted him in the army, he couldn’t be ignorant in these areas.

At the very least, he had to know some martial arts on horseback.

Li Jinghua understood Qi Xiuyuan’s unfinished words and nodded in agreement.

She only muttered softly, “Didn’t you say that Fourth Brother is in a bad mood?

Why is he still in the mood to play with the children?” Qi Xiuyuan’s lips twitched.

“Do you think he’s playing with the children?

He’s treating the children as toys.” At this moment, Mu Yangling was angrily throwing the four children who were pestering Qi Haoran to fly them around into the basin to shower.

She turned around and glared at Qi Haoran.

“If you dare to play with them like this again, I won’t let you into the house.

You best believe I’d make good that promise.” Qi Haoran touched his nose and resigned himself to his fate, then went to bathe the four children.

The four children, who did not know that they had been treated as toys, were splashing water about in the basin.

“Father, fly us around after we’re done showering.

I want to fly to the tallest tree.” “Fourth Uncle, I want to fly on the lake.

Bring me there…”

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