YM778.TV Chapter 14 - 12 Spices as Precious as Gold Dust
Chapter 14: Chapter 12 Spices as Precious as Gold Dust
The meal had ended, and although no one wanted to leave, it was only early spring and even the sturdy People of Yatun couldn\'t afford to be out in the cold wind at night.
Bailuo asked everyone to go back first and to come again tomorrow morning to discuss and decide what and how to plant.
The Yatun Clan was not large to begin with, and now that dawn was breaking with the promise of hope, everyone wanted to do their bit for the tribe.
"You\'ve worked hard."
Uncle patted Bailuo on the shoulder.
"Are you tired?"
"Go rest for a while."
Bailuo\'s legs hadn\'t healed, and he had been standing all night long, unable to bear it any longer.
"Brother, will there be this white rice porridge to drink tomorrow too?"
Inya had developed a taste for the delicious white porridge and was eagerly looking forward to the next meal.
"There will be, we won\'t go hungry from now on."
"That\'s great!"
Life had been difficult for the People of Yatun over the years; although their constitution was stronger than average people\'s, their consumption was relatively higher.
Especially for the grown members of the Yatun Clan, they wouldn\'t starve with two meals a day.
But to truly develop their strength and unleash their full potential, they needed to consume at least three times more food than an average person daily.
You can imagine how hard life had been for the People of Yadun over the years.
Now, with the Initial Sprout Holy Pouch, the People of Yatun could finally eat their fill, and once well-fed, they could be the elite of the elite, capable of taking on ten or even a hundred opponents on their own.
"I had such a full meal today, so happy..."
Inya had a big heart; full from the meal, she went straight to sleep.
The word \'woman,\' didn\'t bring out any charm in her, only endless disappointment.
It\'s hard to believe she and her sister shared kinship when looking at her.
One was a goddess with a lofty demeanor, while the other was a messy tomboy, making one wonder if Inya was just a freebie from topping up.
"Uncle, you should get some rest early too, our days will only get better."
Bailuo was sleepy too. He shared a room with Inya, sleeping in separate beds.
In the middle of the night, Bailuo was awakened by Inya\'s teeth grinding.
The quilts of the Yatun people were not thick, and many slept in their clothes, so Bailuo turned his head and saw Inya completely unguarded.
But her sleeping posture was utterly unrecognizable.
"I can\'t eat anymore..."
"Hehehe."
"I really can\'t eat anymore."
In her sleep, Inya started talking in her dreams.
Despite her appearance, she knew restraint, so she held herself back and only drank four bowls of porridge, letting others have the rest.
"She\'s actually a beautiful girl, what a pity, disillusioned."
Fortunately, Bailuo only saw her as a sister: "Indeed, my sister is the face of our Yatun."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Bailuo sensed something and quietly looked out the window towards the yard.
He noticed a figure sitting at the bottom of the steps, smoking.
It was Uncle Saros.
"Uncle, what are you..."
Bailuo came out of the door and, guided by the moonlight, approached Uncle: "What\'s wrong?"
"Couldn\'t sleep, so I came out to look at the moon."
Bailuo looked up; it was pitch black and there wasn\'t much moonlight to be seen.
"And you?"
Uncle looked down, silently smoking: "Woken up by the girl again?"
"It\'s not the first time, I\'m used to it now."
Bailuo didn\'t have a fondness for smoking, so he just sat beside Uncle.
Indeed, Bailuo had guessed Uncle\'s state of mind tonight – the sudden miracle had made Uncle anxious, hence he stayed up specifically to watch over Bailuo and Inya.
Whenever there was unease, Uncle always silently protected his children like this.
He always wanted to be the most vigilant one.
"Uncle..."
"Couldn\'t sleep, so I came out for a walk."
Uncle: "Don\'t worry, rest easy, I\'m here."
Bailuo had lived two lifetimes, but in his previous life and this one, he only ever had Uncle as an elder.
In his previous life, Bailuo was an orphan, and his parents in this life died early.
Only the old man before him had always taught him, cared for him, nurtured him.
"Actually, I have a few questions I want to ask."
Bailuo was no longer sleepy, which was just as well to accompany Uncle through the night. However, before that, the two went to Uncle\'s room and lit a lamp.
The door was left open, directly facing Bailuo\'s room.
In the past, it was the father protecting the children, now it was the father and brother together, protecting the younger sister in the house.
"What questions?"
"The time should be about right now."
Bailuo spoke as such, took out the Initial Sprout Holy Pouch, and then turned it upside down, and indeed, something fell out of the pouch.
"These are soybeans, these are red beans and mung beans."
"These two, one is the seed of a potato (potatoes also have seeds, but tubers are more suitable for planting), and the other is the seed of a sweet potato."
"This is wheat, and this, this is the rice we ate before, which is to say, rice."
"All are crops from the world I saw in my dreams."
Bailuo poured out crop by crop, those that only existed in his previous world, then laid them out in a row in front of his uncle: "My question is, how are these supposed to be grown?"
"So many?"
Obviously surprised, the uncle picked up the beans, then the potato and sweet potato seeds, followed by the wheat, and also the rice he had observed earlier.
"Our village fields are indeed somewhat barren."
Yatun Village, situated in the mountains, has hard soil that is not suitable for the growth of crops.
"However, I don\'t really understand much about farming."
This statement was true, as Bailuo had not farmed in his previous life, and he was even unclear about how these crops were cultivated: "The only thing I do know is that rice needs a paddy to grow."
Paddies require proximity to a water source, and well water alone is far from sufficient.
The geographical location of Yatun Village is actually not bad, there is a river not far away, but unfortunately the riverside is all rocks, with no value for cultivation.
And moving the water to the farmland would require the collective efforts of the villagers.
"We\'ve never planted these kinds of crops before."
The uncle pondered carefully, but Bailuo knew that he must already have some ideas.
The staple crop of the People of Yatun was Jinzhui Wheat, which didn\'t require a paddy, so the People of Yatun had no precedent for cultivating paddies since ancient times.
But similar crops existed in this world, and the uncle, having seen much of the world, could always find analogous techniques.
"I don\'t really recommend this rice, as this particular rice is quite uncommon, but other types of rice should be no problem."
About hybrid rice, Bailuo from his previous life also heard that it couldn\'t reproduce, but whether the power of the pouch could solve this problem, he was unsure.
After listening to Bailuo\'s explanation, the uncle said, "Since we already have the final product, breeding it is just a matter of time. Conduct more experiments, if not in one year, then five, if five years won\'t do, then ten years."
"Hmm."
Bailuo felt that made sense: "Then there are these two, potatoes and sweet potatoes, plus this, this is corn."
The variety of seeds Bailuo poured out were, without exception, modern crops that had been cultivated for hundreds, even thousands of years, absolutely superior.
"These are extremely high-yield crops."
"Very high yield, how high?"
"Taking this crop called a potato for example, its yield per acre is between 3,000 to 5,000 jin, with appropriate fertilizer, it can even reach as high as 8,000 jin."
"Cough! Cough cough..."
The uncle looked at Bailuo with a face as if he were listening to a mythological tale: "How much did you say?!"
"The highest is eight thousand jin."
Hearing this number, the uncle almost bit through his pipe: "Xiao Luo, are you serious?"
"Hmm!"
"Although there might be some differences, and perhaps with insufficient fertilizer it might not reach that high, but in my dreams, there truly were such high yields."
This statement pretty much resolved the uncle\'s doubts.
Because no one can be sure of the power of miracles. Although the uncle didn\'t believe much in it, he unquestionably trusted Bailuo.
Moreover, Bailuo was now the new chieftain of the Yatun Clan.
Since Bailuo had ideas, the uncle would definitely support him wholeheartedly, and if all else failed, they would find another way together.
The People of Yatun had been oppressed by the Iron Eagle Kingdom for 200 years without being annihilated, so they weren\'t afraid of enduring another year or two.
"Let me study it first."
Bailuo had no expertise in farming; the uncle was the expert. He examined the seeds one by one under the light and said, "What about the cycle, how long does it take to harvest once?"
Bailuo himself was not very clear, since memories from his previous life were beginning to blur, he could only hazily state: "Some once a year, some twice a year, and some might have three seasons a year, the specifics, I\'m not certain."
"No problem, we can research it slowly."
The People of Yatun had time, and the uncle had made quite a few preparations for this moment.
"You said that you can pour out the crops you\'ve eaten from the pouch, right?"
After the uncle finished speaking, he rummaged around the house, then found some blackish powder, and Bailuo\'s eyes lit up when he saw it: "Pepper powder!"
"I understand!"
Bailuo realized the essence of the uncle\'s previous question.
He was telling Bailuo that though the pouch could support the agriculture of the People of Yatun, it would take a long time.
And before that, they must solve the fundamental problem of the People of Yatun — food shortage.
A daily output of 100 kilograms would certainly prevent the People of Yatun from starving to death.
But to have everyone grow strong and bring out the utmost potential of the Yatun Constitution, it was definitely not enough.
Moreover, it would be extremely foolish to consume all the grains poured out every day.
Planting potatoes, sweet potatoes has nothing to do with how many seeds Bailuo pours out each day.
It requires time.
At least about half a year is needed before harvest can occur.
So, what to do for this half year?
Yatun needs a significant amount of resources to develop, and this is very important.
The power of the Initial Sprout Holy Pouch lies in building up momentum in preparation for a rapid release.
So the uncle reminded Bailuo that they could pour out very valuable seeds and fruits to sell, then buy back grain with the money.
Not just grain, but also iron for making weapons, and even more strategic resources.