Chapter 70: Vegetable Experiment
“How’s the income from the sewing workshop lately?” Yang Zhengshan asked as he returned to his office in the official residence.
“The income has decreased, especially after the news of the defeat outside the pass. The city gates have been closed, and we haven’t been able to sell our shoes!” Old Li said, handing Yang Zhengshan the account book and silver box.
Before leaving the pass, Yang Zhengshan had taken several orders for sewing clothes, although the profit wasn’t high, it was still a decent income.
As for the shoes, since the soldiers had gone to war, almost all the military men inside the city had followed, affecting the shoe business.
Yang Zhengshan flipped through the account book before putting it down.
“Don’t stop the sewing workshop, even if the shoes aren’t selling. Just store them for now and sell them later!”
“Let’s change the pattern from now on. Instead of waiting for the shoes to sell before giving everyone their silver, let’s give them their silver every month!”
Yang Zhengshan thought for a moment before speaking.
The sewing workshop still had some silver, which technically belonged to Yang Zhengshan, but he hadn’t kept it for himself. Instead, he used it to subsidize the military households.
After giving a few simple instructions, Yang Zhengshan went back to rest.
When he was outside the pass, they had all been on high alert, without a good night’s sleep. Now that he was back, Yang Zhengshan’s spirit finally relaxed, and he could get a good night’s sleep.
He woke up early the next morning, before dawn. Lying on the grass mattress, he turned to look out the window and saw the dark sky. His spirit stirred, and he immersed himself in the Spirit Spring space.
After leaving the pass, he had hardly paid attention to the changes in the Spirit Spring space, except for using its water. It had been over a month since he last entered the space.
In that month, the Spirit Spring space had expanded significantly. The original one-finger-wide black soil had expanded to over a meter wide.
The black soil surrounded the stone pool, covering an area of about ten square meters.
Yang Zhengshan squatted down, holding the black soil, deep in thought.
Could this soil be used for farming?
He had suspected this before, but hadn’t had the time to experiment.
Now that he had some free time, he decided to give it a try.
Since it was an experiment, he needed a reference point.
Thinking this, Yang Zhengshan immediately took action.
He got up, dressed, and washed his face before going to the miscellaneous room in the official residence to fetch some vegetable seeds.
The official residence had previously purchased a batch of vegetable seeds from the city, including Chinese cabbage, radishes, scallions, beans, and gourds.
Yang Zhengshan took a few of each and planted them in the Spirit Spring space.
To compare, he divided the Spirit Spring space’s soil into two parts, watering one part with river water and the other with the Spirit Spring’s water.
The Spirit Spring water had nourishing effects on humans and animals, but he had never used it on plants before.
In the past, the Spirit Spring water had been scarce, so he had to conserve it. Now that there was more, he could afford to be more extravagant.
After busying himself for half a morning, Yang Zhengshan finally finished planting all the seeds.
Just then, everyone returned from their morning training, and the women had already prepared breakfast.
Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengzhao, and the others didn’t have families in the Lin Guan Fortress, so Yang Zhengshan didn’t arrange separate courtyards for them. Instead, they lived in the collective dormitory.
The collective dormitory was behind the official residence, a large courtyard with a room for each person. Although simple, it gave them some private space.
Everyone ate and trained together, and to save them time on daily chores, Yang Zhengshan had hired a few women to manage the food.
Yang Zhengshan’s meals were also with them.
Breakfast was simple: a bowl of millet porridge, an egg, a few dishes of vegetables, and a piece of preserved meat.
Everyone was hungry, and they quickly devoured their food.
After breakfast, they all began their busy day.
They had just returned and had a lot to handle.
As Yang Zhengshan walked out of the official residence, he smelled a strong, unpleasant odor.
It was really hard to bear, almost making him vomit up the breakfast he had just eaten.
Yesterday, they had brought back over 300 head of cattle, but the stables in the fortress couldn’t hold them, so they had to temporarily tie them up in the training ground.
After one night, the cattle had left a mess, and the air was filled with the smell of dung and urine.
Looking at the rows of rice carts and the cattle in the training ground, Yang Zhengshan couldn’t help but feel a headache.
Yesterday, he had been overjoyed when they brought back the cattle and grain.
This was definitely a substantial amount of wealth.
But today, it was a real hassle.
The things were in his hands, but he could use them as he pleased, but the problem was that they didn’t belong to him.
The grain belonged to the Left Vanguard of the Prefectural Banner, and they could eat it without issue, but they couldn’t sell it.
The cattle and carts belonged to the Metropolitan Prefecture Office, and they could use them temporarily, but eventually, they would have to report back to the office.
At that time, he could fake the numbers a bit, but he couldn’t keep everything in the fortress.
“Old Li, Old Li!” Yang Zhengshan shouted, standing in front of the official residence.
“Yes, sir!” Old Li quickly emerged from the official residence.
“Are the granaries full?” Yang Zhengshan asked.
“Yes, they’re all full, sir!” Old Li looked at the rows of rice carts, his face beaming with joy.
They had too much grain, and the granaries couldn’t hold it all.
Not only that, but they had hardly stored any of it.
“Go, give each household three dou of grain as a reward for their efforts!”
“And find people to build more stables and cattle pens!”
Yang Zhengshan gave the orders generously.
He had already thought it through: he would give half the grain to Zhou Lan, and keep the other half. As for the cattle, he would keep twenty head, and the rest would be handed over to Zhou Lan to handle.
The cattle were a burden, eating and drinking every day, and consuming a lot of hay.
The Lin Guan Fortress couldn’t afford to keep them.
“Got it, sir! I’ll take care of it!” Old Li replied, pleased.
Although Old Li didn’t have an official position in the Lin Guan Fortress, Yang Zhengshan had always treated him as a majordomo. Even Yang Minghao followed him around.
Old Li’s abilities were quite impressive, especially in managing miscellaneous tasks, but his legs were weak, and he limped when walking.
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