"Gong-gong … Gongzi, are you serious?"
Zhang Munian finally lost his composure.
The reason why he was imprisoned and embezzled more than twenty thousand gold taels was because there was no one who could support him. If he had sufficient wealth and authority, how could he have ended up in such a state?
To Zhang Munian, Wang Chong's suggestion moved him greatly. In fact, it instantly overcame the unease he felt from having his secret exposed.
"Of course. If not to help you, I wouldn't have saved you in the first place. "
Wang Chong said impassively.
Be it in his previous life or this one, there weren't many rumors about Zhang Munian. Wang Chong only knew that some of the paddy crops that he created after his death had slowly spread.
Even though he wasn't able to change the fate of the Central Plains or the Tang dynasty, at the very least, Wang Chong knew that there was a person named Zhang Munian who had been contributing to the Central Plains with his own strength.
But at the very least, Wang Chong knew that there was a person named Zhang Munian who was silently contributing his strength to the nation.
But at the very least, Wang Chong knew that there was a person named Zhang Munian who had been contributing to the Central Plains with his own strength.
But to this world, their contributions were immense. From Shang to Xia, Zhou to Han, and finally Sui and Tang, the reason why humans were able to break away from hunting and increase their population was due to people like Zhang Munian.
It was their silent contributions that created the current Central Plains.
Xia's grain production exceeded Shang's, Zhou's exceeded Xia's, and Han's exceeded Zhou's … By the time the Tang dynasty came into power, it had already far surpassed any of the previous dynasties.
Just that, to Wang Chong, this bit of grain production was far from enough. It was far from enough to support the rapidly expanding Central Plains.
Wang Chong's goal was to raise the grain production of the Central Plains to a whole new level. It was impossible for Wang Chong to achieve this with just his martial arts.
There was nothing in this world that could achieve this.
Wang Chong could only rely on his knowledge and experience from the other world.
"Great! Wang gongzi, as long as you can give me sufficient support … I will definitely … I will definitely be able to breed a grain with a higher yield than what we have now! "
On the other hand, Zhang Munian didn't think too much into it. He had no idea what Wang Chong was up to. Hearing that he was truly willing to support her, she was incomparably excited.
"Mr. Zhang!"
As Wang Chong poured a cup of tea for Zhang Munian, he pondered over how he should break the news to him.
"… You've worked in the Ministry of Agriculture for so long, I'm not sure if you've noticed. Some grains had a very high yield per plant. Is it even more productive than other grains? "
"Of course!"
Taken aback, Zhang Munian was taken aback. Wang Chong, a young master from a wealthy family, actually knew about grains. However, when he thought about how Wang Chong was willing to support him, he naturally had some understanding.
"Our Ministry of Agriculture's job is to find these high-yielding plants. Then, he would collect their seeds and think of ways to expand their cultivation. But it was useless. When these seeds were found, they might have a high yield. But when we planted it, it became a very ordinary plant. Some crops don't even bear fruit. "
"Out of a hundred thousand experiments, it's already not bad if we can find a single high-yielding crop and maintain it."
Throughout the generations, the mission of the Ministry of Agriculture was to search the paddy fields one by one. Through the vast field of paddy fields, they had to search for those that had a high yield.
However, due to the uncertainties in the genetics of grains, the first generation of a crop might have a high yield, the second generation would have a high yield, and the third generation would have a low yield. Perhaps, it might only be the fourth generation that the crop would have a high yield again.
But that would be meaningless. After all, when the yield was low, people might have already starved to death.
It would already be fortunate for the fourth generation to have a high yield again.
From this, it could be imagined how difficult it was for the Ministry of Agriculture to filter out the seeds.
Zhang Munian had grown up in the fields, and under the influence of his family, he had devoted his entire life to filtering out the seeds.
Because of this, he was imprisoned and nearly lost his life.
"So the gold that disappeared was used by you to subsidize the farmers there, right?"
Wang Chong said.
"Yes!"
Before Wang Chong, there was no need for Zhang Munian to hide the truth. There was a huge risk involved in the filtering of the seeds. The farmers who planted their own paddy fields only to have a low yield or even no harvest at all had to be compensated. Only then could the experiment continue.
Zhang Munian's twenty thousand gold taels wasn't spent in a single day. Unknowingly, it had been spent bit by bit over the past twenty years.
All of the gold was used to subsidize the farmers.
"Mister Zhang, have you ever thought about those high-yielding crops? Why are some of them able to maintain their yield while others can't? "
Wang Chong pondered as he carefully imparted his opinion to Zhang Munian.
"Ah?"
Zhang Munian was taken aback. He had never thought about this before. His filtering work wasn't any different from the others. He was already used to the instability of the crop's yield generation after generation.
He had never thought about why or what the problem was.
"This, I've never thought about it before."
Zhang Munian shook his head. This was the first time someone had raised this question to him.
"Then, Mister Zhang, have you ever thought about the possibility that these grains might be similar to humans? There's a male sterile line and a male maintainer line. This would explain why a high-yielding crop might not reap a single harvest the next year. "
Wang Chong finally revealed his opinion.
Zhang Munian stared at the young man before him as though he had seen a ghost. He had never heard of such a theory in his entire life before. You must be joking to know that plants could be divided into males and females.
However, Wang Chong's words had opened up his train of thought. Furthermore, it wasn't entirely unreasonable.
This was indeed a brand new way of thinking in the filtering of paddy fields.
"This, I've never thought about it before."
Zhang Munian fell into deep contemplation. He didn't reject Wang Chong's theory.
Whoosh!
Wang Chong had been staring at Zhang Munian's eyes the entire time. Upon seeing that the other party didn't reject his suggestion, he heaved a long sigh of relief. It was a brand new theory, a theory that was ahead of its time. The biggest problem was that it could not be accepted by others.
Clearly, Zhang Munian wasn't such a person.
He had found the right person.
"Mister Zhang, I'm thinking that if we can find the male sterile line and maintainer line of this crop and differentiate them separately, wouldn't it be helpful for future planting and seed production?"
"Besides, paddy fields are different from humans. Humans have male and female, but the 'male and female' of paddy fields might not be the same as humans. Since there's a male sterile line, perhaps there's a recovery line that can turn these paddy fields back into maintainer lines? "
Wang Chong finally revealed his' Three Systems Method of Paddy Fields'.
In the other world, the 'Three Systems Method of Paddy Fields' was the essence of 'hybrid rice'. Even though it was just a theory, its effects were epoch-making.
At times, only by knowing the direction could one exert the right effort. If one were to face the ground, it was only a matter of time before one found water.
On the other hand, if one were to dig a well in the sky, one could forget about drinking water for the rest of one's life.
Wang Chong didn't have any 'hybrid rice', so he couldn't provide any seeds. As for the problem of farming and filtering, Wang Chong knew nothing about it.
And the Three Systems Method of Paddy Fields was all that Wang Chong knew.
Left with no other choice, Wang Chong could only find a way to nurture a high-yielding 'hybrid rice' in this world bit by bit. And Zhang Munian was the best candidate that Wang Chong could think of to accomplish all of this.
As long as Zhang Munian could find three different types of paddy fields, the quality of the food of the Tang dynasty would soar. Food is the heaven of the people. This is the foundation of the future.
Regardless of whether it was the continuous wars or the fight against the powerful foreign invaders, these were the foundations that Wang Chong relied on.
"I need to think about it carefully. Gongzi's words are truly unheard of. I've never heard of such a concept in my entire life. However, I'm willing to give it a try. "
Zhang Munian said gravely. Wang Chong's Three Systems Method of Paddy Fields made his heart pound in agitation. If he could figure out why the high-yielding properties of paddy fields couldn't be maintained, he might just be able to create a true high-yielding paddy field.
"Gongzi, can you give me a plot of land? I'm willing to do my best to give it a try. "
Zhang Munian lifted his head, and a bizarre glint flashed across his eyes.
"Hahaha, of course. However, it won't be here, but somewhere else. I've already arranged the location for you. That will be the best place for you to conduct your experiments. "
Wang Chong smiled.
"Oh?"
Zhang Munian lifted his head in astonishment, "May I know which place gongzi is referring to?"
"Jiaozhi!"
Wang Chong smiled.
The paddy fields in Jiaozhi had three harvests in a year. Furthermore, there was a huge amount of manpower there. If Zhang Munian wanted to conduct his experiments on paddy fields, that would be the best place.
Furthermore, three harvests in a year would shorten the time required for Zhang Munian to conduct his experiments on 'hybrid rice' in the shortest time possible.
Zhang Munian soon left.
Along with him were a hundred thousand gold taels and fifty guards that Wang Chong had mobilized from Big Uncle Wang Gen, the Wang Clan, Elder Ye, and Duke of Hu.
The group of people didn't alert anyone, and they quietly headed towards the south.
At the same time, the two letters Wang Chong wrote had also reached the hands of Big Uncle Wang Gen and The King of Song, Li Chengqi.
For a small matter like demarcating a plot of land in Jiaozhi for Zhang Munian to conduct his experiments, Big Uncle Wang Gen and The King of Song could handle it.
The Yao Clan and King Qi probably wouldn't care about something as distant as Jiaozhi.
"I've already given you all that I can. Whether the Tang dynasty will be able to survive the calamity will depend on you! "
Sitting in the study, gazing in the direction where Zhang Munian left, Wang Chong muttered to himself.
No one knew better than him whether the Tang dynasty would be able to survive the calamity and whether the Central Plains would be able to survive wasn't dependent on him.
Rather, it was on a fifty-year-old agriculture official.
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