Ninghe Prefecture was a big prefecture in Yanzhou Province. The reason why Ninghe Prefecture was called Ninghe Prefecture was that Ninghe River passed by Ninghe Prefecture. The surging water of Ninghe River flowed across Yanzhou Province and made two huge loops covering over 1,000 miles in the southeast of Yanzhou Province like a huge dragon rolling over the vast land of Yanzhou Province. Like an uncanny craftsmanship and an unrestrained painting, the surging water of Ninghe River became meandering and finally surged towards the east …
The wind was gentle, and the river was sentimental. The huge whirlpool of Ninghe River had irrigated thousands of miles of fertile land and made the entire Ninghe Prefecture prosperous.
Ninghe Prefecture was called the granary of Yanzhou Province. The entire Ninghe Prefecture was famous for its grains. The reputation of Ninghe Prefecture's grains not only spread across Youzhou Province and Northeast Military Region, but also ranked among the famous grain producing areas across Taixia Country. Among them, the best grains in Ninghe Prefecture would be purchased by officials of the Imperial Financial Bureau of Xuanyuan Hill each year as an imperial tribute for the dignitaries in the emperor's imperial city and the imperial palace of Xuanyuan Hill.
The friendship of Ninghe River water and the grains produced by the ointment of black soil also created Ninghe Daqu, one of the top 10 most famous liquors in Taixia Country.
Ninghe Daqu was brewed with the winter wheat in Ninghe Prefecture. The winter wheat in Ninghe Prefecture would be sown in late September each year and start to ripen at the end of May next year. At the time of harvest each year, the entire land of Ninghe Prefecture would be covered with a boundless golden color, which was the reward of the land and brought hope to numerous people.
Previously, at the end of May each year, when the winter wheat in Ninghe Prefecture started to harvest, a lot of airships and airboats would arrive here. Of course, they were not here for harvesting; instead, they were here for enjoying the scenery.
Sitting in an airboat or airship, Zhang Tie felt that the land within 600 miles was covered with a golden carpet. When the breeze blew, the golden carpet would sway like sea water, which was a magnificent scenery.
At this moment, some airboats were suspending above a wheat field in the main grain producing area of Ninghe Prefecture. However, being different than that in the past, they were not here for enjoying the scenery. All the people on the airboats were standing on the ground. From afar, they saw hundreds of people in cyan, red, purple and blue clothes gathering on the edge of a golden wheat field.
Cyan, red, purple and blue clothes were the official uniforms of officials of different ranks in Taixia Country. At this moment, all the officials in the Governor's Mansion, Yanzhou Provincial Governor's Mansion and Ninghe Prefecture had gathered here. In the past, such a scene could only be seen on special days when Commander Cheng hosted banquets in the Governor's Mansion. Commander Cheng liked feasts, especially fine liquors. Therefore, he always hosted banquets and drinks. Today, all the officials who could barely see each other in the wheat field of Ninghe Prefecture had gathered here.
A breeze blew over the fields, carrying a bit of heat in the midday. However, the atmosphere in the place where these officials gathered was as cold as ice. Many officials, especially those from Ninghe Prefecture, looked pale and their legs trembled. The cold sweat on their temples and backs directly made their bright official robes wet and stick to their bodies.
Nobody dared utter any sound. Even the Yanzhou Provincial Governor was standing on one side of the wheat field with a cold look while tightly clenching his fists.
At this moment, Commander Cheng was completely like an old farmer. Squatting on one side of a wheat field, he stretched out his palm and broke off a handful of ears of wheat. Closely after that, he rubbed his palms and peeled off all the ears of wheat. There was nothing inside the peeled ears of wheat. Commander Cheng then clapped his palms, causing a piece of wheat bran to drift away in the breeze.
After a few more attempts, he still got the same result.
All the ears of wheat were empty. There was not a single grain of wheat in them.
Watching the peeled ears flying away in Commander Cheng's palms, some officials in the surroundings felt that it was their bodies and souls that were being peeled off by Commander Cheng's palms.
"Dong!" A white-haired official wearing an eighth-ranked official uniform couldn't bear the shock. His face reddened as he closed his eyes and fainted on the ridge of the wheat field.
If it was in ordinary days, some officials had long come to support him; however, at this moment, all the officials dared not even breathe heavily. Nobody dared even move.
'What's the big deal about passing out at this moment? If Commander Cheng became furious, many officials would be beheaded and thrown into the hell.'
Commander Cheng stood up as his face turned darker and colder. Everyone could see a strong killing intent from his frowning eyebrows.
After taking in a deep breath, Commander Cheng looked at those officials in the surroundings as he asked calmly, "Where's Liu Yuntao, the governor of Ninghe Prefecture?"
"I'm here!" After hearing Commander Cheng's call, a 60-odd honest official quivered once. Closely after that, he walked out of the crowd and bowed towards Commander Cheng.
"Are all the wheat in Ninghe Prefecture like this?"
"All … all of them …" The governor of Ninghe Prefecture quivered all over.
"How much is the loss this time?"
"Ninghe Prefecture has planted 167.85 million mu of wheat this year. Because the land of Ninghe Prefecture is fertile and is irrigated by Ninghe River, the output of wheat in the prefecture is very high. On average, it's 920 kg per mu. If we calculate the loss, the loss of wheat in this summer harvest is over 154 billion kg …" Although the prefectural magistrate of Ninghe Prefecture was nervous, he could easily talk about these figures.
Ninghe Prefecture was a big agricultural prefecture. The prefectural magistrate used to be a farming teacher. After that, he became an agricultural official from a farming teacher. Finally, he was appreciated by Zhu Tong, the provincial governor of Yanzhou Province, who promoted him to the prefectural magistrate of Ninghe Prefecture. Therefore, he was very familiar with agricultural affairs.
"Over 154 billion kg. If we use it sparingly, it could feed 400 million people for one year …" Commander Cheng let out a deep sigh as he glanced at the flurried prefectural magistrate of Ninghe Prefecture for a short while. Closely after that, Commander Cheng became a bit reassured, "As an agricultural master, you're very proficient in farming. In your opinion, are you confident about the harvest of autumn grains and summer grains in Ninghe Prefecture?"
After hearing Commander Cheng's question, the prefectural magistrate of Ninghe Prefecture's face turned pale at once. Raising his head, he threw a glance at those provincial officials and officials in the Governor's Mansion as he stammered, "I … I don't know …"
Commander Cheng's relaxed eye light turned sharp at once, "As the governor of Ninghe Prefecture, if you don't even know this, what's the use of you?"
The governor of Ninghe Prefecture replied with a bitter look, "It … it's really out of my control …"
"Why?"
"I dare not say it …"
"You can say it!"
The governor of Ninghe Prefecture gritted his teeth as he raised his head at once, "Now that Commander Cheng wants me to say it, I will put it straight. This year, Ninghe Prefecture would definitely have a bumper harvest in terms of farmland, farming season, weather, irrigation, disease prevention and pest prevention. However, this year, all the winter wheat in the prefecture failed. Such a great loss is definitely not caused by common plant diseases and pests or the weather. There's only one reason — — all the wheat in Ninghe Prefecture has been demonized. Only demonized plant seeds could cause such a failure!"
Everybody at present listened to him quietly, including Commander Cheng. The governor of Ninghe Prefecture had completely lost his temper as his face turned red and his voice turned louder.
"However, the winter wheat seeds in Ninghe Prefecture didn't come from one family or clan. Many agricultural seeds were kept by farmers themselves. In this case, people could still plant demonized seeds unconsciously. That is to say, the farmlands in Ninghe Prefecture might have been contaminated by demonized seeds dozens of years ago. Only after generations of demonized seeds were contaminated and spread over these years could none of the farmers escape. As a result, there's no pure land in Ninghe Prefecture anymore. If so, Ninghe Prefecture might not be able to harvest summer grains this year; in the future, no other grains could be planted in the land of Ninghe Prefecture anymore!"
Commander Cheng's face turned as black as ink as he asked, "Even if it's not demonized seeds?"
"Commander Cheng, you're wise. The contamination of demonized seeds is genetic. Take this farmlands as an instance, if demonized seeds are planted in the neighboring farmlands, even if the other farmlands are planted with good seeds, the pollination between plants, farming tools, transportation tools, even the same water source and the same soil would lead to genetic drift and contamination. As a result, the demonized genes of the demonized seeds would spread to the next generation of those good seeds. As a result, the next generation of wheat seeds would be demonized unconsciously. When the next generation of wheat seeds is sown, it would be more contaminated. Besides the mutual contamination between plants, after humans or livestock eat those demonized grains, some contamination of genes would also remain in the farm manure. As a result, the farmlands would not be able to grow good crops anymore!" The prefectural magistrate of Ninghe Prefecture revealed a bitter smile as he continued, "Given the current situation in Ninghe Prefecture, if such demonized pollution has lasted for dozens of years, the 167.85 million mu farmlands in Ninghe Prefecture might have been contaminated together with the soil. As a result, nobody could guarantee the harvest in the future. That's why I don't know the autumn grains and next year's harvest in Ninghe Prefecture!"
"Is there any method to eliminate the contamination of the soil?"
"If it's in the lab, in order to ensure that the demonic plants wouldn't cause gene drift and pollution, all the materials in the lab have to be deactivated before being taken out of the lab. All the demonic plants have to be burned. Even the soil in the lab has to be fumigated in a boiler at high temperature before being taken out of the lab. Therefore, unless all the soil in the entire Ninghe Prefecture can be fumigated in a boiler at high temperature, otherwise …" (To be continued)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
