Ch 32: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

Going village by village would be far too slow, so Jiang Ji decided to hold a single talk for three to five villages at once—it would save time and effort.

Besides, he didn’t want to go door to door himself. The right way was to contact each village chief and have them inform their people of the meeting time.

He even asked Uncle Tu Gen to go into town and notify the county magistrate that there would be a seed promotion meeting tomorrow. If the magistrate was interested, he could come and see for himself.

The commotion from his own village’s seed purchase had been quite noticeable, and the neighboring villages had all heard about it. Many had asked around and were envious that his village had access to these new seeds.

Rumors, at times like this, were incredibly useful.

Carrying a basket filled with sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, as well as rice seeds and cotton seeds, Jiang Ji first went to the next village down the road—the one where Jiang Nan and the others went to school.

This village was close by, and the news about Shanqian Village’s “new crops” had already spread. A few households here had even bought sweet potatoes and potatoes from them and seen the results themselves. They’d all heard bits and pieces about the seeds but had no way to get any.

Some people had already come to Jiang Ji’s house asking before, and he’d told them to wait. Now, at last, they were hearing that he was ready to sell seeds.

When the local chief learned of Jiang Ji’s visit, he immediately called in several village elders.

Jiang Ji personally showed them the new crops—sweet potatoes, rice seeds, and cotton seeds.

“Tomorrow, around mid-morning, I’ll be giving a talk in front of our ancestral hall,” he said. “Please spread the word—anyone interested in learning about the new crops or buying seeds is welcome to come.”

The village chief was excited. “So every household can buy some?”

“As long as they’re willing to plant with me, there’s enough for everyone,” Jiang Ji replied. “We’ll also introduce a few new cooperation options so people can choose what suits them.”

“Good, good! I’ll notify everyone right away so they can come listen to you tomorrow.”

“If your relatives or friends are interested, they’re welcome too. Anyone who wants seeds can come.”

At this point in time, word of mouth was the best advertisement. Starting from his own village and spreading outward, bit by bit—that was his ideal plan.

After finishing with the first three villages, Jiang Ji and the chief visited two more behind the hills. By the time they’d made the rounds, the sun was already setting.

They returned home, and Jiang Ji invited the chief to stay for dinner so they could discuss a few details.

The chief and the elders had previously been told by the magistrate to fully support Jiang Ji’s crop promotion, so the chief was happy to help—but he still had a small worry.

“If too many people start planting,” he asked, “won’t the prices for sweet potatoes and corn drop later?”

“Don’t worry, Chief,” Jiang Ji reassured him. “It won’t just be our county buying—neighboring counties will too. No one needs to fear losing buyers or dropping prices, at least not this year.”

That eased the chief’s mind.

Jiang Ji also asked him to remind their own villagers to attend tomorrow’s meeting—he would be talking about both rice and cotton seeds. The chief agreed.

That night, Jiang Ji and Jiang Yan drew up the planting contracts. He even showed them to his livestream audience—some of whom studied law—and they helped him patch up several loopholes in the wording.

The next morning, Jiang Ji’s household steamed a big pot of sweet potatoes, corn, and rice. With so many people coming, it would be impossible for everyone to get a full serving like before in his own village, but the point was simply to show that the new crops were edible—and tasty.

He wasn’t worried about attendance anyway. The promise of high-yield rice and sweet potatoes was lure enough; people would come.

After breakfast, villagers from the other villages began arriving at Shanqian Village in groups—some even brought their own stools. Once they found out where the ancestral hall was, they headed that way.

Jiang Ji’s courtyard couldn’t possibly hold that many people, so he and the village chief arranged to use the open space in front of the ancestral hall, where village meetings were normally held.

Three tables were set up in front, and Jiang Ji, the chief, and several young men helped organize the crowd, seating them by village to keep order. Each of the five village chiefs oversaw their own people.

By the time the meeting was about to begin, the clearing was packed. Those with stools sat; others stood or simply squatted on the ground.

Suddenly, a stir ran through the crowd. A group of strong young men were escorting several middle-aged men in long robes—the kind only worn by people of status.

“Who are they? Such a big entourage?”

“Are they landlords?”

“It’s not—wait, the man in the middle… isn’t that the county magistrate?”

“What? The magistrate? That can’t be right—why would he come here?”

“I heard from folks in their village that the magistrate visited a few days ago, went to Jiang Ji’s house to see their sweet potato seedlings.”

Hearing the commotion behind him, Jiang Ji turned and spotted the county magistrate among the crowd—along with the assistant magistrate and the clerk. Overjoyed, he hurried to call the village chief and went up to greet them.

“Honorable sirs, you’ve come. This humble one—”

He was just about to bow deeply when the magistrate quickly reached out to stop him. “We came today in plain clothes, not in our official robes. There’s no need for such formalities.”

Jiang Ji straightened up with a smile. “Understood, then please, this way.”

He led the officials to the front and seated them. The village chiefs and elders, realizing the county officials were present, all came forward to pay their respects and stayed by their side.

The villagers behind were buzzing with excitement.

“It really is the magistrate!”
“The magistrate actually came here!”
“Why would he come?”

Everyone was curious.

When the time came to start, Jiang Ji stepped forward to speak.

With so many people, those in the back might not hear him clearly, so he rolled up a piece of stiff paper into a makeshift megaphone and began.

“Uncles, aunts, and fellow villagers—my name is Jiang Ji, from Shanqian Village. Today’s gathering was arranged with the help of the village chiefs. As they’ve told you, I’m here to talk about new high-yield rice seeds and other new crops.”

At the mention of high-yield rice and new varieties, the crowd began murmuring with interest.

Jiang Ji clapped his hands to draw attention and continued, “As you’ve probably seen, our honorable Magistrate Xu truly cares for the people and has taken great interest in crop improvement. He, Assistant Magistrate Zhou, and Clerk Wu are all here with us today.”

The crowd turned toward the front, staring in awe at the officials.

Magistrate Xu smiled and shook his head, recognizing that Jiang Ji was borrowing his name for credibility—but he didn’t mind. He had expected as much. Rising to his feet, he faced the villagers; the assistant magistrate and clerk followed his lead.

As the crowd began to kneel, Magistrate Xu raised his hand and called out, “Good people, there’s no need for ceremony. Please, everyone, sit. We’re here today to observe the promotion of these new seeds. If you have questions later, you may ask Jiang Ji directly.”

Hearing this, the villagers felt reassured and sat back down, their confidence in the project greatly strengthened.

If the magistrate himself had come, then it had to be real.

Jiang Ji smiled. “I believe everyone has heard by now about our village buying sweet potatoes and potatoes, yes?”

He gestured to the table. “Here, you can see them—sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn. I obtained them from southern merchants…”

He then began introducing the crops just as he had done in his own village—explaining their yields and uses, and inviting representatives from each village to come up and taste them: some tried the sweet potatoes, others the corn, and so on.

“Well? How do they taste?”

“They’re delicious! You can really eat these sweet potatoes!”
“This rice tastes better than what we grow now!”
“The corn’s a little sweet—not bad at all.”
“And this thing called ‘potato,’ it’s edible too! That’s what matters!”

After everyone had sampled the food, Jiang Ji explained each crop’s benefits and potential profits.

“In short,” he said, “you don’t have to worry about not knowing how to plant them. I’ve already written down the full cultivation methods. Each village can send someone to copy a set, and when it’s time for sowing and seedling care, you can send people to learn. If you run into problems, you can come to me.”

After a round of murmured discussion, he took a sip of water and continued, “That covers sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and rice. Now, let’s talk about cotton.”

The crowd quieted, all eyes turning toward him.

“Right now, not many of us grow cotton, and even those who do only plant a little. Can anyone tell me why?”

Someone called out, “Because the yield’s too low. A whole acre barely gives any cotton—it’s not worth it.”

“Yeah, we can’t even fill our stomachs, who’s got land to waste on cotton?”

Jiang Ji chuckled. “That’s because the seeds we use are poor, and we haven’t mastered the right methods. That’s why yields are so low. But actually, cotton sells for a high price. Doesn’t anyone here want to plant it?”

The villagers looked at each other. One man finally said, “If the yield were higher, of course we’d want to! Who doesn’t want to earn more money, right everyone?”

“Right—but the cotton just doesn’t form bolls properly. You might plant a big field and harvest only a few baskets. And since it’s light, you don’t earn much—less than planting other crops.”

Jiang Ji smiled. “The seeds I brought can yield at least fifty to sixty jin of cotton per acre—some fields can reach seventy to eighty jin. Do you believe that?”

“At least fifty or sixty jin? No way!”
“I heard the best farmer around only gets twenty jin per acre, and he’s been growing for years!”
“Is that really possible?”
“You’re not tricking us, are you?”

Even Magistrate Xu looked surprised. He thought to himself, If what this young man says is true, the people could not only eat well but also keep warm.

The fifty-to-eighty-jin yield Jiang Ji mentioned was already his conservative estimate, considering they lacked fertilizer and pesticides here.

He raised his hand to quiet the crowd again. “So, you don’t believe me?”

“Not really.”
“Hard to believe without trying.”

Jiang Ji expected that. He lifted his voice. “Alright then—if anyone is willing to plant cotton with me this year, you can buy the seeds on credit. And I’ll sign a contract with you to guarantee it.”

“What kind of contract?”

“A cotton-planting contract,” Jiang Ji explained. “I’ll loan you the cotton seeds first and teach you the cultivation methods. You’ll plant according to my instructions. When harvest time comes, I’ll buy all your cotton at the market price—three hundred twenty wen per jin.”

“I guarantee that each acre will yield at least twenty jin of cotton. If it doesn’t, I’ll compensate you three taels of silver per acre, and the cotton will still belong to me. If it does, you’ll earn at least six taels of silver per acre. Isn’t that a good deal?”

“But,” he added, “you must sell all the cotton to me. You can’t sell it to anyone else.”

The crowd was stunned—including the two officials and the clerk.

Someone asked, “You mean we haven’t even planted yet, and you want us to sign a contract promising to sell all the cotton to you later?”

Jiang Ji nodded. “Exactly. We sign in advance, so you won’t have to worry about finding buyers later. If you fail to harvest twenty jin per acre, I’ll pay you three taels of silver as compensation. Normally, even a good vegetable plot might only earn three taels per acre, right? So you won’t lose anything.”

“This…”

“Is that really true?”

“Three taels per acre is already a lot—you can’t get that much selling vegetables.”

When the discussion grew noisy, Jiang Ji clapped his hands and said, “Let me remind everyone—this offer and price are only valid this year. Next year, they won’t be.”

“Huh? Why only this year?”

“Yeah, why’s that?”

Jiang Ji smiled. “Because I’ll be promoting cotton throughout the whole county. Next year, there’ll be more cotton, so the price will naturally drop—not just here, but across the whole prefecture, even the entire country.”

“Uncles and aunties, whether it’s sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, cotton, or rice, I’m going to spread them all far and wide. This year will definitely be the most profitable year. As more people start planting, prices will fall. Whether you seize the chance to make money this year—that’s up to you.”

The villagers were stunned. No one had expected Jiang Ji to propose such a contract. They all began discussing whether it was worth it, firing off questions one after another, which Jiang Ji patiently answered.

Finally, he announced, “Anyone interested in buying seeds, go register with your village chief. Each chief has the prices listed. And cotton seeds will only be sold to those willing to sign the planting contract with me. This is a deal where you absolutely can’t lose—first come, first served.”

His words hit the villagers like a hammer. Even if their cotton yield didn’t reach twenty jin per acre, they’d still get three taels of silver; and if it did, at three hundred twenty wen per jin, they could earn six taels per acre.

Six taels!

Everyone began calculating in their heads.

By noon, the meeting was over and the villagers dispersed. Jiang Ji invited the officials home for lunch.

Magistrate Xu asked curiously, “Jiang Ji, isn’t this cotton contract of yours a bit ambitious? Are you sure you won’t lose money?”

Jiang Ji replied confidently, “As long as they follow my planting methods, I won’t lose a thing.”

“You plan to use all that cotton for weaving—or sell it elsewhere?”

“For my own use,” Jiang Ji said, meeting his gaze. “I want to open a textile workshop. It’ll provide plenty of jobs for the common folk.”

Even if the workshop couldn’t use it all, he could always sell the extra elsewhere.

He explained his full plan—cotton planting, textile production, and fabric sales—and how it could boost Changping County’s economy.

Magistrate Xu’s eyes brightened. “That’s a fine idea. If it works, it’ll be a great boon to the people.”

Jiang Ji took the opportunity to add, “Then, Sir, may I ask a favor?”

“Go ahead.”

“I’d like to invite a few wealthy landowners from the county to meet and discuss cooperation. Could I ask you to attend as well?”

The magistrate gave him a knowing smile. “So you’re trying to rope me in too, eh?”

“Yes, I hope you’ll lend a hand.”

After a brief thought, Magistrate Xu nodded. “Alright, I’ll make an appearance.”

“That’s wonderful!”

Just then, Jiang Nan came running in. “Brother! There’s someone outside—a steward from a certain Lin family in town—he says he wants to see you.”

“Oh?” Magistrate Xu perked up at that. “There’s only one Lin family in town with that surname, and I happen to know them. They own a great deal of land.”

Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up. “Please, invite him in.”

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