Chapter 881: Prioritize Agriculture

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lan Ruozhu would be excited whenever he could do something for the people and the country. When he became the emperor, he spent the night reviewing memorials and looking at the situation in various parts of the country.

He even had a headache because the situation was worse than he had imagined.

Only Dingzhou to the border prefecture did well. In other places, countless commoners lost their lives or were severely injured by the princes of various provinces. The commoners did not even have enough to eat.

Therefore, Lan Ruozhu immediately issued an order to reduce taxes, encourage farming and land reclamation, and even distribute seeds to everyone. He also encouraged the people to have more children.

If there were more children, the county government would allocate more land and seeds to the families. Lan Ruozhu wanted to increase Chu Country’s population. After all, there was more land than people in ancient times.

He believed he could make the country prosper as long as he worked hard. “Sister, opening more academies will be beneficial. With more knowledge, people could distinguish right from wrong.

“If people are more knowledgeable, they can have better jobs, buy healthier food, and wear warm clothes during winter. The students might even invent things, just like the cement you mentioned.”

Lan Ruozhu was in awe of the cement as it would solve many problems. He could reinforce the city walls with it and rebuild the roads in Dingzhou. He could even make them spacious and beautiful. Then, the ground would not be muddy when it rained or snowed.

After they built the cement roads, the citizens ran to the streets to check it out. Everyone was curious.

“You’re right, Brother. The more knowledge everyone gains, the more talented people will emerge from all walks of life. I suggest we open an agricultural research department to recruit some talent. We’ll train them to specialize in agricultural farming.

“We can divide these talents into small teams. They can then visit various places to teach the people how to grow crops more efficiently every year during spring plowing.”

There were no such things as imports in this era. The food grown by each country was self-sufficient. If they wanted to get food from other countries,

others would be in control of them.

It might also expose the lack of food in a country, which would quickly lead to war. Therefore, every country on this continent attached great importance to agriculture.

Still, the Imperial Court did not take any effective measures despite the importance of agriculture. For example, how to encourage farming, land reclamation, and how to improve crops.

Everyone used old-fashioned methods of growing food without improvements. However, the people cultivated the land around Dingzhou and Teng County with newer methods that Su Binglan had taught them.

She had arranged for her people to teach everyone how to farm and apply fertilizer more efficiently. She had also distributed high-yield seeds to everyone.

Most importantly, Lan Ruozhu had set up a factory in the prefecture to make all the farming tools Su Binglan had designed. He even distributed them to the farmers, which significantly reduced the farmers’ labor.

Everyone praised their new farming tools. The villagers valued their cows because they could plow the land. Without cows, they would have to plow the land manually, which was exhausting.

Sometimes, the villagers would go home and lie down immediately after working for only half a day. Their backs would ache so much that they could not move.

They no longer suffered that much after using Su Binglan’s newly designed farming tools. Even if the villagers did not have cows, her farming tools still helped them.

Lan Ruozhu considered his sister’s words. He knew establishing the Ministry of Agriculture would be beneficial to Chu Country’s farming, significantly if a genius appeared.

If someone could develop high-yield seeds, it would be an outstanding achievement. Ultimately, it would increase the yield on one acre of land.

“I’ll do as you say, Sister,” Lan Ruozhu said, “I’ll set up a new department in the Imperial Court and call it the Ministry of Agriculture.”

“It doesn’t have to be similar to the Ministry of Works and Personnel. You can establish it separately and manage it yourself. Agriculture is the foundation, so you should still control it.

“The officials in the Imperial Court have their rules and systems. They’re separate entities. The person in charge of the agricultural research department only needs to report to you.

“They must focus on their research and not care about official matters. They don’t even have to participate.” Su Binglan felt those who specialized in research were not good at dealing with interpersonal government relationships.

“You’re right.” Lan Ruozhu nodded. “We still need to nurture more talents.”

He realized Su Binglan had many things on her mind but did not have any agricultural talents yet. Although he knew his sister was an all-rounded talent, he did not want her to do everything.

Since Lan Ruozhu only had one sibling, he would treat her like a treasure. He even hoped Su Binglan could enjoy the life of a princess. Nonetheless, she was beyond her years, and others would not understand her plans.

Lan Ruozhu enjoyed discussing things with his sister because she could teach him a lot, which benefitted him greatly. He also knew about the rumor about Su Binglan being a guardian angel who had descended from the heavens to save the people.

Sometimes, he genuinely believed those rumors. Otherwise, Su Binglan would not be so knowledgeable. Everything she did and every idea she proposed was for the people and country’s benefit.

Lan Ruozhu could imagine Chu Country being the most prosperous country on this continent when the holidays arrived.

Su Binglan realized Lan Ruozhu seemed somewhat distracted, so she waved a hand before his face. “Brother? Brother, are you with me?”

Lan Ruozhu returned to his senses and asked, “Huh? What was that?”

Su Binglan silently checked her brother’s wrist pulse. After confirming that he was okay, she sighed in relief. “You seemed a little distracted just now. You must be tired.’

“No, I feel healthy and energetic.” Lan Ruozhu smiled.

Su Binglan knew it was the effect of the spiritual spring water. She had added it to her brother’s water tank to strengthen his body.

“By the way, Brother, you said we should train more talents, right? We can train a lot more by setting up free schools in various places..”

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