After receiving the contract, Yan Jiu briefly scanned it and then let out a sigh of relief.
Yan's clan had always relied on martial prowess, and his literary skills were only rudimentary, but fortunately, he recognized all the characters in the contract. He then cleared his throat and began to speak slowly:
"Everyone, you must have heard that your former master, Lord Rong, has passed away. Now, these fields and manors of the Rong Family have been purchased by our Yunying Caravan."
Upon hearing this, the tenant farmers remained impassive, their faces downcast, their hands crossed in front of them, their backs slightly hunched.
To them, it didn't matter who the master was; they still had to hand over half of their harvest. However, their ingrained sense of humility, built up over years, compelled them to stand obediently, despite their impatience with having to listen to this speech.
In their hearts, they prayed, "Please make it brief! We still need to go home and pull some weeds."
Seeing the tenant farmers standing like wooden posts on the steps below, Yan Jiu felt awkward and scratched his nose. He raised the contract and announced loudly, "I have good news for everyone! Our master of the Yunying Caravan is benevolent. From now on, you only need to pay two-tenths of the harvest!"
The tenant farmers were dumbfounded.
They rubbed their ears again, wondering if their poverty had driven them to hallucinate.
Looking at the tenant farmers, who were as still as wooden chickens, Yan Jiu turned the new contract written by the prince himself and held it up to them, repeating, "From now on, you only need to pay two-tenths of your harvest from the fields!"
This time, the tenant farmers listened carefully.
Yan Jiu's words thundered in their ears like a bolt of lightning.
After regaining their senses, they whispered to each other, their faces beaming with joy.
Hearing their hearty laughter and excited discussions, Qi Huan couldn't help but smile as well.
She tugged gently at Li Shuchen's sleeve, and when he looked at her, she gave him a thumbs-up.
In an instant, their eyes met, and they exchanged smiles.
Originally, the tenant farmers had to pay three-tenths of their harvest as tax, and of the remaining seven-tenths, five-tenths went to the master, leaving them with only two-tenths. Now, the situation was reversed, and they only had to give two-tenths to the master while keeping half for themselves.
They spoke excitedly, laughing, with some even showing tears glistening in their eyes, which they quickly brushed away with their sleeves.
Although Yan Jiu did not explicitly mention who their new master was, they looked at the extraordinary aura of the man and woman standing in the center and thought to themselves, "A master with such a compassionate heart must look like them."
The tenant farmers spontaneously knelt down, bowing to Li Shuchen while exclaiming, "Thank you, master! Thank you, living Buddha!"
Although Li Shuchen's expression remained calm and aloof, a hint of warmth could be seen in his long eyes.
"Get up, all of you."
Those simple words carried a commanding presence.
The tenant farmers rose, dusting off the dirt from their knees, and gazed at him expectantly, awaiting his instructions.
"I have already gained a basic understanding of the situation with the fields and manors. Since the Rong Family did not provide you with seeds, you selected the better portion of your own grain and sowed it. The grain you used will be replenished by the Yunying Caravan."
Since this season's tenant grain belonged to the Yunying Caravan, it was only reasonable for them to provide some seed grain.
Glancing at the smiling person beside him, he continued, "As for the remaining two hundred acres that have not been sown, we will plant potatoes this year."
"Potatoes?" the tenant farmers exclaimed in surprise.
"How do you plant potatoes?"
As the tenant farmers discussed among themselves, Qi Huan stepped forward calmly and said, "Everyone, please be quiet for a moment. We have brought potato seeds with us today. Why don't we move to the fields, and I'll show you how to plant them?"
In her previous life, the director's mother had built a small vegetable garden against the wall behind the welfare institute, where she had grown potatoes. Qi Huan and her friends had gathered around to help, and the beautiful childhood memories kept resurfacing, becoming more vivid the more she recalled them.
After reminiscing for a while, Qi Huan turned to Yan Jiu and said, "Could you please help me find a knife, get some wood ash, and bring a bucket of water to the fields?"
"Yes!" Yan Jiu obeyed.
As he responded, he thought to himself, "Miss Qi is able to ride with the prince, so she must be one of his people."
Yan Jiu did not dare to be negligent and quickly relayed the instructions to the village chief.
Once everything was ready, Li Shuchen and Qi Huan walked side by side at the front, followed by the caravan and the tenant farmers.
The village chief Liu walked a step or two behind them, leading the way, "Master, go straight ahead. The field in front was leased to Liu Erzhuang. His family has many children, and they barely have enough food, so they ground all the grain into flour as soon as they harvested it, without saving any seeds.
They were just waiting for the Rong Family to provide them.
Little did they expect that old Lord Rong would suddenly pass away without any notice.
Alas! This field was left unsown for the time being."
As they conversed, the group unknowingly reached the edge of Liu Erzhuang's field.
The village chief Liu turned around and shouted, "Erzhuang!"
A thin man emerged from the crowd, nervously twisting the hem of his clothes and stammering, "Yes..."
The village chief said, "This is your family's field. You should plant it. As for how to plant, just listen to Miss Qi's instructions."
"Okay, okay," Liu Erzhuang hurried into the field and began digging holes with a hoe handed to him by Yan Jiu.
Although he was poor, he was diligent and had tended the fields he leased very well.
After digging the holes, Liu Erzhuang randomly picked up a potato from the bamboo basket on the ridge and looked towards Qi Huan, stuttering, "Miss Qi, should I just throw... throw it in?"
Seeing the anxiety on his tanned face, Qi Huan gave him a reassuring smile and stepped into the field as well.
She took the potato, cut off the sprouting eyes along with a piece of the potato, and held it up high to explain to everyone, "When the potato sprouts, cut off the eyes and the flesh together, and bury them in the soil."
"But before burying them, we need to coat the cut surface with wood ash to prevent it from rotting."
As she spoke, she placed the potato pieces in a bamboo basket filled with wood ash and let them absorb some.
After coating them, she walked over to the hole Liu Erzhuang had dug.
The hole in front of her was almost large enough to bury a person, and Qi Huan shook her head inwardly. Liu Erzhuang had used too much force, making the hole too big.
She was about to grab the hoe and make an effort when Li Shuchen took hold of the handle.
"Let me do it. How big should the hole be?"
Qi Huan pointed to the potato pieces placed nearby, "Just make small holes slightly larger than these."
After Li Shuchen dug the appropriate holes, she carefully placed the potato pieces in them, with the eyes facing upward, and covered them with a thin layer of soil.
Then, she repeated the process, planting a few more pieces.
Each piece was spaced about five or six inches apart, leaving enough room for the potatoes to grow.
After planting for a while, Qi Huan stood up and walked to the ridge. She scooped up a ladle of water from the bucket and watered each section in turn.
For each plot, she only poured a little water, just enough to moisten the soil slightly.
Too dry or too soaked would not work. How much water to pour depended on the soil conditions in the field. However, the tenant farmers were experienced hands at farming and should be able to grasp the knack quickly.
With two hundred mu of land and the superior potato seed varieties from modern times, at least some of it was bound to thrive, and perhaps even grow well. As long as the tenants tended to the crops diligently, the harvest would surely be bountiful.
Qi Huan carefully explained some cultivation techniques she knew, and the tenant farmers listened attentively.
Although some of them had already planted spring wheat this year, learning a bit more never hurt.
They resolved to observe how Liu Erzhuang's potato crop fared at harvest time. If the yield was good, they would consider planting some potatoes next year as well.
At the same time, their impression of Qi Huan had changed.
Initially, they had thought her merely an inquisitive young lady, never imagining she would take matters into her own hands.
Not only did she not mind the dirty fields, but she went straight into them and got her hands dirty, not even blinking an eye at the soil on her hands.
The tenant farmers spontaneously applauded her.
Even the usually shy Liu Erzhuang whispered to those around him, "The new... landlord's sis...sister is a good... person!"
Overhearing this, Li Shuchen cast him a disdainful glance, perplexed inwardly: For someone so young, why does he have such an unsavory look?
