Chapter 1114: Future

Mu Yangling’s Harvest Grain Store had already become the largest grain store in Great Qi. It had the most complete, the best, and the latest collection of grain seeds in Great Qi. It also boasted of the largest grain storage capacity and transactional value. All of this was thanks to the experimental farm.

Only seeds that passed the experiments could enter the market and be sold to the Imperial Court and farmers.

She had experimental farms in Lingnan, Guangdong, Jiangnan, the north, and even Qiongzhou, but these farms were not as important as the one in Chenggu Garrison.

That was because the seed experiments and the development of planting techniques started from this farm. Every year, Mu Yangling invested the most in this experimental farm.

The grain store was one of the three major businesses of the Prince’s estate. Although its profitability could not compare to the glass factory and the watch factory, its annual profit was more than three times that of the two factories combined. After all, Great Qi was vast and had a large population. Furthermore, it was an agricultural country. Now, eight out of ten people farming used seeds bought from the Harvest Grain Store.

Ultimately, the farmers who took seeds from the Harvest Grain Store on credit would sell their grains back to them. In addition, the grain prices offered by Harvest Grain Store had always been fair, thus they collected a lot of grains from the farmers. And because of their good reputation, most of the commoners were willing to buy grains from their grain store even when their prices were similar to their competitors.

As the largest grain store in Great Qi, the Harvest Grain Store not only brought massive profits to the Prince’s estate, but it also played the role of adjusting the world’s grain prices.

In recent years, the weather had been good and it had been a bumper harvest for grains. Due to this, many grain stores offered a lower acquiring price to the farmers. Only the Harvest Grain Store’s grain price had decreased by less than five copper coins per stone, forcing the other grain stores to buy at a normal price. In the past few years, natural disasters had been frequent everywhere. Although they had not caused a huge calamity, local disasters were inevitable. According to past experience, the grain price in these regions would definitely rise sharply. Even if it didn’t make the grain merchants rich overnight, they could at least make a huge profit.

However, the Harvest Grain Stores were spread all over Great Qi. Even when there was a disaster, the grain price would not increase by five copper coins per stone.

Because the Harvest Grain Store had an abundant grain reserve and was backed by influential people, they were not afraid of the competitors joining forces to deal with them at all. In the end, the competitors could only grit their teeth and increase the price by only five copper coins.

Because of these things, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue would squeeze out a smile every time they saw Qi Haoran.

As the reserve base of the grain store, Mu Yangling naturally attached special importance to it. The second thing she did when she returned this time was to patrol the place.

The experimental field was not big, only about 200 acres divided into several plots. There were all kinds of crops planted there. Some were full of vitality, and some were weak, as if they would wither in the next moment. Many long-term workers walked about in the field.

As the person in charge of the experimental farm, Liu Ting walked beside Mu Yangling and introduced her to the various crops in the farm and their main research direction recently.

Chen Sanzhu and Xu Jian, who had started working for Mu Yangling early on, also ran over and knelt down excitedly to bow to her.

In the past, one of them was a refugee, and the other was a short-term worker who had no choice but to flee his hometown because of debts. But now, they were already quite rich. Extremely grateful to Mu Yangling, the duo looked at her with burning eyes and wished they could lick her boots.

Qi Haoran frowned slightly when he saw this. Although he knew that the two of them had no ulterior motives, he was still very displeased.

Qi Haoran took a step forward to block their line of sight. He casually pointed at the crop at the side and asked, “What is this? Why does it look like grass?”

Liu Ting smiled and said, “Your Highness, you have good eyesight. This is indeed grass.”

Qi Haoran: “…”

Mu Yangling burst out laughing and asked, “Is this pasture?”

“Yes, didn’t you write to me to pay more attention to the pastures? North of Hanzhong was previously occupied by the Jin people. Although the Jin people have retreated now, the habit of grazing can’t be changed for the time being. However, it’s too wasteful to use farmland to graze. Therefore, I want to try to see if I can plant pastures that grow quickly and are suitable for cows and sheep. However, despite trying for two years, I haven’t had much success with it.”

Mu Yangling encouraged him. “As long as you persevere, there will be results. If it still doesn’t work, consult the shepherds. They herd animals all over the world, so they must know more about this than us.”

Liu Ting nodded and brought them to the experimental fields of rice and wheat. As staple food, these two seeds were still the focus of their research.

When Mu Yangling saw two people in official uniforms in the middle of the experimental field from afar, she couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Who are they?”

“They are the two lords of the Department of Agriculture. These two officials have been living on site for the past six months, saying that they want to learn how to develop new seeds from us.” When Liu Ting said this, he looked a little helpless. “However, they are also very impressive. They designed two types of farming tools that are very useful…”

The two officials also saw this group of people and guessed the identities of the two people surrounded in the middle. The two of them hesitated for a moment, but in the end, they only cupped their hands and bowed before leaving.

Qi Haoran raised his eyebrows and had a much better impression of them.

Afterwards, he said to Mu Yangling, “Although these people who farm don’t know how to curry favor with people, it’s what makes them lovable.”

“That’s because they’re pure-hearted.” Mu Yangling said with a sigh, “How many such people do you think there are? My farm has always far surpassed the experimental fields of the Department of Agriculture, but how many people can lower themselves to study in my farm? In the end, they still look down on peasant farmers.”

“Uncle Liu has contributed greatly to agriculture all these years. Have you never thought of seeking an official position for him?” Qi Haoran took the opportunity to suggest. “Why don’t we take this opportunity to bring about cooperation between the Department of Agriculture and our farm? Although the Department of Agriculture’s performance has always been inferior to your farm, they are still knowledgeable in agriculture after all, and have strengths that Uncle Liu and the others do not possess. If both sides cooperate, advancement in agriculture will only speed up in the future.”

Seeing that Mu Yangling was tempted, Qi Haoran said, “If you agree, I’ll help Uncle Liu and the others seek official positions in the Department of Agriculture. Should they have official positions, you won’t have to worry about them being bullied.”

It was not that Mu Yangling had never thought of seeking an official position for Liu Ting. With his contributions in agriculture, it was not difficult for the Emperor to grant him an official position. However, after becoming an official, it meant that he had to enter the Department of Agriculture. Considering Liu Ting did not enter the Department of Agriculture via the Imperial Examination and had not even studied the most basic four books, she feared he would be bullied by his colleagues. Moreover, his subordinates were all illiterate farmers.

Scholars had always been proud and arrogant, which was why Mu Yangling had never thought of seeking official positions for Liu Ting and the rest. In her opinion, they could produce results by doing research on their own without being restrained.

Qi Haoran continued, “The four occupations ranked: Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce. Ranked above scholars are the officials. Ah Ling, becoming an official means bringing honor to one’s ancestors. If you can’t make up your mind, why don’t you ask Uncle for his opinion?”

Liu Ting widened his eyes in shock and stuttered, “C—can farmers become official?”

Smiling, Mu Yangling said, “Well, the Department of Agriculture studies farming. Who in Great Qi can compare to you in farming now?”

Liu Ting swallowed nervously and asked hesitantly, “Ah Ling, don’t tell me you’re using your influence as the Princess Consort to get me an official position? We mustn’t do such a thing. You’ll be criticized for it.”

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