EBE Chapter 27 Spring has arrived, and all things are reviving.
Chapter 27 Spring has arrived, and all things are reviving.
It is said that the plan for the day is made in the morning, and the plan for the year is made in the spring. Spring is here, all things are reviving, and it's time again... Goodness, I almost accidentally switched to Zhao Zhongxiang's Animal World. In short, spring is here, and spring plowing is about to begin. In order to prevent his sons from becoming lazy, ignorant of farming, and easily fooled, Emperor Kangxi decided on a whim to take all the princes in the Imperial Study who were over ten years old to the imperial estates outside the city to earn farming experience points.
As the saying goes, the people are the foundation of the nation, and food is the most important thing for the people. No matter the era, people's livelihood is a crucial issue. Therefore, the annual spring plowing naturally becomes a top priority. Emperor Kangxi always attached great importance to the livelihood of the people and the education of his princes. Not only would he personally hold the plowing ceremony at the Temple of Agriculture on the day of the Pig in the lunar calendar on the day of the Beginning of Spring, he would also take time to take his adult princes to the imperial estates outside the city to experience the hard work of farming firsthand, so that they would understand that every grain of rice and every bowl of porridge should be cherished.
"Sigh, in previous years, Father only brought the eldest, second, and third brothers, who were all adults, to the Imperial Estate. Why did he bring us this year, and even our ten-year-old eighth brother? By the way, fourth brother, do you know how to plant rice?"
No wonder Yinzhuo had such questions. According to the Qing Dynasty regulations, princes were considered adults at the age of fifteen (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning). In previous years, such matters would not have been theirs. What was wrong with his father this year?
"I don't know how, but I can learn. I advise you to study hard later and not try to cheat. Father Khan always attaches great importance to spring plowing. If you make a mistake at this time, even if you are usually favored by him, you will not get good results."
Since Empress Tong, in just over half a year, Yinzhen has become visibly more composed, and even his expression has become more reserved. Yinzuo often criticizes him in private, feeling that he is becoming more and more like the cold-faced king in history.
Fortunately, although Yinzhen seemed cold and aloof, he was genuinely good to his younger brother Yinzuo. As for Yinzuo, although he was intelligent and ambitious, seemingly always studying hard, he was, after all, a playful and silly person on the outside. Although he didn't commit any major offenses in the Imperial Study, he constantly made small mistakes.
If it weren't for his consistently excellent academic performance over the past few years, and the fact that his elder brother Yinzhen was there to clean up his messes, his tutors in the study would have probably complained about him to Emperor Kangxi countless times.
"How could I dare not study hard? Even my second brother, the Crown Prince, has to work hard in the fields, planting rice seedlings. If I dare to slack off, I don't think my father will punish me; my brothers will definitely not let me off the hook."
Yinzhu thought that these princes, who were used to being pampered, had never experienced such hardship. After they arrived at the imperial estate and worked in the fields for a while, their resentment would probably be greater than that of Sadako. If he dared to slack off, wouldn't he definitely be reported? Besides, his father was still watching. Even if he was exhausted, he had to perform well.
The idea is good, but putting it into practice is somewhat difficult. Just now, the Sixth Prince, who boasted that he would work himself to death, quickly proved with his actions that such bold words are not something to be spoken lightly.
Because there were quite a few princes with him this year, most of whom had no farming experience, Kangxi gathered them together after arriving at the imperial estate and had them given pre-exam tutoring.
"My lords, next I will explain to you the key points of rice cultivation. There is a lot to learn about rice cultivation. The first step before transplanting rice seedlings is to ventilate and harden them off. This step is to help the seedlings adapt to the external natural environment as soon as possible and prepare them for transplanting."
The person Kangxi arranged for the princes to receive pre-job training was the steward of the imperial estate, who was also an experienced farmer. He could talk about every single plot of land in the fields with ease. He led Yinzhuo and the others on a tour of the fields, carefully explaining each step of rice cultivation to them.
"After completing the first step, the second water control and seedling hardening should be carried out three or four days before rice transplanting. This step will keep the seedlings in a state where they are not wilted but urgently need water replenishment, so that the seedlings can quickly absorb the nutrients in the water and fertilizer after transplanting and recover quickly."
"Today, my lords, what you need to do is transplant these seedlings that have been soaked in water into the prepared paddy fields. So, next, I will focus on explaining to you how to transplant the seedlings. There are quite a few things to consider when transplanting seedlings. The depth should be about half a finger's width. Too deep or too shallow will not work. If it is too shallow, the seedlings will easily scatter, fall over, float, or even become stunted. In the later stages, the rice ears will be small and not wind-resistant. But if it is too deep, it will cause late tillering and poor tillering, which will affect the harvest later..."
After the theoretical lessons were over, it was time for practice. Those with experience, such as the eldest prince Yinti, the crown prince Yinreng, and even the third prince Yinzhi, had already taken off their shoes and socks, rolled up their trousers, and gone into the fields. Those without experience, such as Yinzhen, Yinqi, and even Yinyou and Yinsi, had begun to tentatively go into the fields. Only Yinzuo was left standing barefoot on the edge of the field, looking conflicted.
"Yinzhuo, what are you dawdling about instead of going down there?"
Good heavens, they were saying they'd work hard to avoid attracting Emperor Kangxi's attention, but it turns out they've been targeted from the very beginning.
"Nothing, Father, I'm going down now."
The reason why Yinzhu didn't go down was not because he thought it was dirty, but because he suddenly remembered a popular science article he had read somewhere before, which said that there are usually leeches in these paddy fields. Although being bitten by them may not be very painful, they suck people's blood. Moreover, just thinking about those soft things sucking on his body made Yinzhu feel uncomfortable all over.
But even though it was uncomfortable, he had to get out of the ground. It would be a huge loss if he were to be blamed by Emperor Kangxi for these mere leeches. Despite being mentally prepared, the moment he stepped into the soft, muddy ground, Yinzhuo still got goosebumps all over his body. To distract himself from the feeling under his feet, Yinzhuo simply picked up the seedlings and headed towards the area that Emperor Kangxi had assigned him. With something to do, he wouldn't think about the insects in the ground anymore.
As a novice rice planter, Yinzhuo could hardly be said to have any talent in this area, which further proved that having the brain and having the hands are two completely different things. Not only did he plant the rice seedlings sparsely and crookedly, but many of them also floated away.
"Sigh, when I was watching others plant rice seedlings just now, I thought I would definitely be fine. But in such a short time, reality has taught me a lesson. Indeed, arrogance and complacency are no good. Fourth Brother, how did you manage to plant rice seedlings so well on your first try?"
Seeing his younger brother's pained expression and pleading for help, what could Yinzhen do? Resigned, he put down his work and laboriously moved over to Yinzuo to begin teaching him step by step.