Chapter 399 (1/2)

Planting The Thousand Grain Gold

The weather had turned cold. The air was humid but soon faded after the sun rose.

Shao Xuan brought his small pouch of grains down the hill in search of people to talk to at the designated farm plots.

He had talked to the old lady experienced in farming and today he was going to bring his grains to the old lady for her opinion.

Shao Xuan knew how to farm but there were many plants that he did not recognise in this world because they never appeared on the other side. He had spent the past few years working hard to memorise the herbs and plants of this world only to find himself a beginner once again after arriving on this side. Although he knew a few, the main crops and their characteristics differed from the ones on the other side. All he could do was talk to the experienced farmers.

The farmlands extended from the middle to the foot of the hill. These plots of land were divided, every square shared by several families. However, the tribe did not control who got what, it was up to them to decide.

Shao Xuan arrived at the plot near the foot of the hill. There was an old lady with a full head of grey hair called Qi Qi. Her mother was from the Taihe tribe, who specialised in planting crops. They had a vast knowledge of farming so Qi Qi was also good at it herself. Many people often came to her if they had questions.

“You’re here.” Qi Qi hurriedly stood up when Shao Xuan came. Many people treated the leaders with respect, although it was a casual setting.

Qi Qi obviously thought it was more appropriate for her to stand up and bow but Shao Xuan stopped her once she stood up.

He did not say much other than showing her the pouch and poured a few grains out. “Could you take a look at these?”

Qi Qi looked at the dark golden grains. She had not seen anything like them before.

After studying them, she shook her head. “This is my first time seeing a grain like that. You said it’s called Thousand Grain Gold?”

“Yep, this is it.”

Shao Xuan told her where he found this. After some thought, she suggested he find somewhere similar to the spot he discovered the plant to be safe. No one knew what kind of environment it liked. Some plants like sun, some liked the shade, some like humidity, some liked arid lands. They could not be generalised.

“But you can also plant a little in every spot. Then you can observe where it grows best. Then we will plant it there…” However, she remembered Shao Xuan told her they were precious and rare so she stopped.

However, Shao Xuan was an Elder and these were rare grains. It was not appropriate to ask for them.

Noticing her gaze, Shao Xuan counted a hundred grains from his one thousand and gave them to Qi Qi. “If you have the time, could you please help me plant them?”

Qi Qi was an experienced farmer. With her help, it would save Shao Xuan a lot of effort. It would be much better than him experimenting on his own too.

When she heard him, she answered hurriedly, “Yes, yes! Don’t worry, I’ll do my best!”

As she spoke, she took out a cloth pouch and put the one hundred grains inside. She decided to talk to her farmer friends and make a plan. If it succeeded, Shao Xuan would definitely reward her. However, to her, the most important thing was the sense of accomplishment to be able to experiment on such rare plants.

After giving her the grains, Shao Xuan looked at the people busy working on the fields. They used many types of tools for raking the soil, watering the crops, harvesting etc. Many techniques were learned from the slave masters of the great six. They were useful for loosening the soil, planting, farming, processing etc. Most of these tools were a combination of wood and stone. They heard the slave masters were using metal tools but that was too expensive. Stone and bone were not bad replacements at all.

After a while, Shao Xuan got some materials to improve their farming tools, even making them plows for them to develop the land easier.

Due to limitations in materials, the plow was simpler than planned. It was made with wood and stone and after several rounds of modifications, the plow was made lighter and could twist its head. It was flexible and had many uses. The efficiency of farming would increase with its help.

After this, Shao Xuan demonstrated how to use it to the farmers.