Ch 34: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

Once the five representatives from the other villages had each finished copying one book, Jiang Ji stopped them from continuing.

The men were puzzled.

“But we haven’t finished copying!” one of them said anxiously. “Our village chief said we have to take a full copy back.”

Another man, still holding his brush, also looked flustered. “Yeah, why won’t you let us finish? You said we could copy them!”

Jiang Ji smiled. “Don’t worry. Copying like this is too slow. There are still many more books to make, and lots of other villages that’ll need them. At this rate, how long do you think it’ll take to finish? I’m taking these to the town this afternoon to have them printed. When they’re ready, your village can just pay a little for the printing cost to get copies. Or, if you’ve got time, you can borrow from one another later—since you’re all copying different sections anyway.”

Hearing that there would be printed versions, the men lost their enthusiasm for copying. It was a tedious task, and none of them had studied much—among them, they were simply the least illiterate ones in their villages, and their handwriting wasn’t exactly elegant.

After getting approval from their village chiefs, everyone went home to wait for the printed versions. When they came out, each household could just pay a few coins to buy one.

After the villagers left, another man hurried in—it was the village chief from Tupo Village, several li away.

As soon as he saw Jiang Ji, he asked, “I’m the village chief from Tupo Village. I heard you’ve got new rice seeds and sweet potatoes and all that. Do you still have any left? Can you sell some to my villagers?”

These villages were all connected through marriages and kinship, so news spread fast. Not only this chief—several villagers from other nearby settlements had already come to ask.

Jiang Ji smiled. “No need to worry, Uncle. There will be. The county office will be notifying all the village chiefs to come for a meeting the day after tomorrow. They’ll announce everything there, so just be sure to attend.”

“So that means we’ll be able to buy the high-yield rice seeds too?”

“Yes. There’s plenty of rice seed. You’ll see when you come.”

“Good, good, I’ll be there on time.”

After sending off the village chief, Jiang Yan took a sheet from the stack of registration lists on the table and handed it to Jiang Ji.

“This was delivered by Steward Lin from the Lin estate this morning. Take a look.”

Jiang Ji accepted it, a little surprised. “Steward Lin came in person?”

“Yes.”

“Did he say anything?”

Jiang Yan shook his head. “Not much. Just chatted a bit. Said that his master and mistress really liked the sweet potatoes and the other foods. Since you weren’t home, he just dropped off the order and left.”

Jiang Ji nodded and looked over the list.

Standing beside him, Jiang Yan said, “Based on the quantities they ordered, it’s enough to plant close to eight hundred mu of farmland.”

Jiang Ji looked up at him in surprise. “Eight hundred mu? That much? Steward Lin said yesterday their estate had only a few hundred mu of land—are they planning to plant every bit of it?”

“It could be an overestimate,” Jiang Yan said, “or it could even be an understatement. Hard to say which.”

Jiang Ji frowned slightly as he looked down at the order list. Jiang Yan asked, “What’s wrong? Worried?”

“Worried about what?”

“Jealousy.”

“There’ll definitely be jealousy,” Jiang Ji said with a raised brow. “But that’s fine—we’ve got Magistrate Xu backing us. I’m just thinking about something else.”

“What is it?” Jiang Yan asked.

Jiang Ji looked at him thoughtfully. “Do you think we should open a shop in town—one with a big warehouse—to sell seeds? The house here’s too small. When it’s time to distribute the seeds, there won’t be enough space, and with people coming and going through the village, it’s not ideal.”

Jiang Yan, who knew full well that no one was actually delivering seeds, reminded him, “But there are even more people in town—and more eyes watching.”

Jiang Ji scratched his head. “Yeah, there are more people, but still… we don’t have enough space here. Look, the Lin estate alone ordered that much seed.”

He stopped what he was doing, glanced at Jiang Yan, and blinked. “You…”

He trailed off. He had almost asked whether Jiang Yan already knew that he was somehow conjuring these seeds out of thin air, but after a second thought, he kept quiet.

Jiang Yan waited for him to finish, then raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Jiang Ji shook his head. “Nothing. I’ll tell you later.”

After a brief pause, Jiang Yan said, “We don’t need to rent a shop. Those are expensive anyway. And don’t go into town. Let’s look around the outskirts instead—see if we can rent a large warehouse or a small manor, somewhere more remote and less crowded.”

“When all the seeds are ready, we’ll store them in the warehouse first, and then tell the magistrate. That way, everything goes straight from there—no one in town will know how much you’re moving. We can just sell the seeds at the warehouse itself. Hold a few concentrated sale days so no one can guess how much stock we really have. I’ll go with you, and at night, we can ask the magistrate to send a few constables to stand guard. I’m sure he’ll agree.”

Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up. He clapped Jiang Yan on the shoulder, delighted. “Jiang Yan, you’re brilliant!”

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. “Alright. Once the village meetings are done and the numbers are in, we’ll find a big warehouse or a small manor and handle everything there. That’ll lower the risk.”

“Mm.” Jiang Yan nodded. “Only problem is, it might be hard to find that kind of manor.”

“We’ll look anyway. Maybe someone’s selling one. I’ll stop by the broker’s office when I go to town later. If I can’t find one, I’ll ask the magistrate if any of his acquaintances have a spare estate we could borrow.”

After settling that, Jiang Yan opened the book on rice cultivation to the last page and asked, “What’s this part about two different kinds of rice seeds?”

“What do you mean?”

Jiang Ji took a look. The page read: Hybrid rice has high yield but unstable traits; saving its seed will lead to reduced yield the following year. Seeds must be repurchased annually. Conventional rice yields less than hybrid rice but can be self-saved.

This was a note Jiang Ji had written for himself as a reminder.

“Why’d you copy this part too?” he asked.

Jiang Yan frowned. “Was I not supposed to include it? Should I tear out the page and rewrite it?”

“No, it’s fine to include.” Jiang Ji waved a hand.

Jiang Yan pointed to the line about hybrid rice. “What does it mean that you can’t save the seed?”

Jiang Ji scratched his head, trying to explain. “Well, hybrid rice is—well, hybrid. You know what hybrid means, right? Like a mule—it’s a cross between a horse and a donkey, but it can’t reproduce. Hybrid rice is kind of like that. The first year, it yields really well, but if the farmer keeps the seeds to replant, the yield drops the next year, and keeps dropping the more it’s replanted. So you have to buy fresh seed each year.”

Jiang Yan nodded. “And this other one isn’t hybrid, so you can save the seed yourself?”

“Exactly.”

“How much does the regular rice yield per mu?”

“Compared to what people get now, it’s about double.”

Jiang Yan looked thoughtful. “So which type have you been telling everyone about?”

“Both are fine,” Jiang Ji said seriously. “For promoting it nationwide, we’re selling the conventional rice. But honestly, if they can afford it, hybrid rice gives the best yield.”

He had thought of this at the last minute when he was setting up the reward items, hurriedly changing the hybrid rice seeds to conventional ones so the distribution could spread faster.

Fortunately, he had also overestimated the required planting amount earlier, which conveniently covered this gap now.

The system’s seeds were of top quality, with guaranteed germination rates.

Jiang Yan understood his reasoning. “I see.”

Then Jiang Ji asked, “Jiang Yan, do you think the wealthy households would be interested in planting hybrid rice? It’s a little pricier, but they’re not short on money.”

“That depends on whether they want to sell rice or sell seeds,” Jiang Yan replied. “But you can just ask them—let them choose.”

“Alright, I’ll bring it up with them.” Jiang Ji nodded, though he still looked uneasy. “I just worry that if someone gets greedy later and starts selling hybrid rice grains as seed, that’ll hurt people.”

Seed grain would naturally sell for more money.

Seeing his concern, Jiang Yan said, “If you’re worried, then hold off for a couple of years. Once everyone has their own seed reserves, they’ll only be able to sell rice anyway.”

Jiang Ji smiled. “Fair enough.”

After lunch, he hurried off to town again, taking with him several finished crop cultivation manuals for printing—while Jiang Yan stayed behind, still copying out the others.

He first went to the bookstore to ask about the cost of printing, then headed to the county office to see Magistrate Xu.

Magistrate Xu looked up in surprise. “Back again already? What is it this time?”

Jiang Ji placed several bound booklets from his bundle onto the magistrate’s desk. “They’re copying way too slowly, so printing would be faster. Sir, could your office take this job?”

The magistrate paused, speechless. “This is the county office, not a printing house.”

Jiang Ji blinked. “Oh, but printing at the bookstore is really expensive. These are only a few volumes now, but there’ll be many more later. The villagers would have to pay a lot extra, and they’ll need the books soon.”

The magistrate raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you say you were teaching everyone for free?”

“I am—it’s free!” Jiang Ji nodded earnestly, then added, “But surely I’m not expected to pay for the paper and ink myself, right?”

The magistrate stared at him for a moment, sighed, and said, “Fine, I’ll have them printed. We’ll issue them through the county office. The county will purchase your planting manuals. How much do you want per copy?”

“For our county, it can be distributed for free,” Jiang Ji said, then tilted his head. “But what about other counties and prefectures later?”

The magistrate looked at him. “You actually plan to make money from this too?”

“Why not?”

Magistrate Xu stroked his beard, half amused, half exasperated. “If your planting methods prove effective, I’ll submit them to the court. The imperial regulations say that such manuals are to be printed and distributed nationwide by the government, free of charge. So I’ll purchase the rights from you under the county’s name.”

“The imperial court distributes them for free?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Ji opened his mouth, then sighed. “So I can’t make money from other counties, huh? There are so many counties and villages in the whole country…”

Magistrate Xu tapped him lightly on the head. “Stop thinking only about money.”

“I just thought maybe we could earn the county office a little profit,” Jiang Ji said with a sheepish grin.

“Alright then,” the magistrate said, resigned. “How much do you want per book?”

Jiang Ji thought for a moment, then raised one finger.

The magistrate frowned. “Ten taels a book?”

Jiang Ji blinked. “No, one tael.”

The magistrate looked genuinely surprised. “One tael? Weren’t you just trying to make money?”

“I’m willing to present the planting methods to the court for free. The one tael is just for Jiang Yan’s hard work—he copied them all by hand. Oh, and after you’re done with these booklets, I’ll need them back. I plan to take them home.”

“Alright,” the magistrate agreed.

Then Jiang Ji’s eyes lit up as he remembered something. “Oh, right—sir, could you help me find a large warehouse or an estate west of the city? My house is too small. I need a place to store the seeds for a few days while selling them. I don’t have any connections, but I can pay rent if needed.”

The magistrate asked, “Why not sell in town?”

“The town’s too crowded, and transportation’s inconvenient,” Jiang Ji explained.

The magistrate thought of Jiang Ji’s small house—it really was cramped and impractical for trade. “Where are your seeds stored now?”

Jiang Ji blinked innocently. “The merchant hasn’t delivered them yet. They’ll arrive in about seven or eight days.” That was about when the villages would have their registrations finished.

“…” The magistrate asked, “How large an estate do you need?”

“Big enough to hold all the seeds for the county. Sweet potatoes and potatoes take up a lot of space, so it needs multiple rooms.”

After a brief pause, the magistrate nodded. “Alright. I’ll have someone find one for you.”

Jiang Ji didn’t stop there. “Oh, and sir, could I borrow a few constables to help maintain order and watch the place?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll come by to check on things myself.”

Jiang Ji shook his head. “I mean at night too—just in case.”

“Fine,” the magistrate agreed. He didn’t want anything happening to the seeds either.

Hearing that, Jiang Ji broke into a wide grin. “Thank you so much, sir!”

The magistrate gave him a helpless look. “Anything else? Say it all at once.”

Jiang Ji thought for a bit. “That’s all for now.”

“…Go on, then.” The magistrate wrote out a note and waved him off. “Take it to the accountant and collect your payment, then go home.”

“Got it, sir. See you later.”

Grinning ear to ear, Jiang Ji took the silver and went home, feeling quite pleased that the warehouse problem was now in the magistrate’s hands.

When he got back, he handed the silver to Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan looked puzzled. “What’s this?”

“Your copying fee! I gave the planting manuals to the magistrate, so I asked for a little compensation for your hard work.”

Jiang Yan said quietly, “You should keep it.”

Jiang Ji shoved the silver into his hand, beaming. “Jiang Yan, we don’t need to search for a warehouse anymore—the magistrate’s helping us.”

“What do you mean?” Jiang Yan asked. “What did you two discuss?”

Jiang Ji told him everything that had happened, then added with some amazement, “Turns out the imperial court actually distributes agricultural manuals for free.”

“You sound disappointed,” Jiang Yan remarked, raising an eyebrow.

Jiang Ji shook his head. “No, not really. I wasn’t planning to make money off it anyway. I just didn’t realize the court took farming this seriously.”

“As they should,” Jiang Yan said calmly. “Food is the people’s heaven.”

“True. I just hope the regent stays this wise.”

“The regent?” Jiang Yan frowned slightly.

Seeing his confusion, Jiang Ji remembered his amnesia and explained, “Oh, right—you don’t remember. The current emperor was only seven when he ascended the throne, and he’s still just ten now. So, before the late emperor passed, he appointed a regent to govern on the young emperor’s behalf. They say the Regent, Lu Huaizhou, is extremely capable—both scholarly and martial. In just three years, he’s cleaned up the entire court. Quite remarkable, really.”

All this Jiang Ji had learned from the memories of his body’s original owner. When the young emperor ascended, an imperial edict had been posted across the land—and the name Lu Huaizhou had spread everywhere along with it.

The regent—what a powerful figure!

To even catch a glimpse of him once would make this whole journey through time worthwhile.

Jiang Yan’s brows furrowed. For some reason, when Jiang Ji mentioned the regent, something stirred in his mind, as if he had heard that name before.

Seeing his strange expression, Jiang Ji grew concerned. “Jiang Yan, what’s wrong?”

Jiang Yan lifted his gaze, hesitated, and said, “I feel like I’ve heard of the regent before.”

Jiang Ji blinked. “Everyone in the country’s heard of him. It’s not strange that you have.”

Jiang Yan thought for a moment. “True.”

“But still,” Jiang Ji said, looking at him curiously, “you actually feel a sense of familiarity? Do you get that with other things—when you write or draw, do you ever get a feeling like you’ve done it before?”

Jiang Yan shook his head. “No.”

Jiang Ji rubbed his chin. “That’s odd. Maybe writing and drawing are too ordinary, or too familiar to trigger anything. But how come hearing ‘the regent’ makes you feel that way?”

Jiang Yan couldn’t explain it either.

“Did any image flash through your mind?” Jiang Ji guided him. “Even just a glimpse?”

“No. I just felt… those three words were familiar.”

“…” Jiang Ji thought for a bit, then smacked his thigh. “Wait—maybe you were a little fan of the regent! Why else would hearing his name feel so familiar?”

“A little what?” Jiang Yan looked confused.

Jiang Ji explained, “I mean, the regent’s such an impressive person. Maybe you really admired him before—worshipped him, even. The impression was so deep that now, when you hear his name, it feels familiar.”

Jiang Yan frowned. “That can’t be it… can it?”

“Of course it can! You don’t know how powerful the pull of an idol can be,” Jiang Ji said excitedly. “Otherwise how do you explain it?”

Jiang Yan had no answer.

Jiang Ji suggested, “When we go to the county office the day after tomorrow, after the meeting, let’s ask the magistrate a bit about the regent. Maybe it’ll trigger your memory.”

Jiang Yan nodded. “Alright.”

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾