Section 23: Forced to get rich

Rumors are like the wind. If there is a small crack, they will find their way in, and then become a very large force. Within two days, the news that the Lantian Marquis intended to become a farmer spread throughout Yushan. Not only did everyone in the academy know, but even the peasants knew.

Mrs. Cheng, who did not know who had told her, sent the housekeeper to visit Yun Hou with a famous doctor from Chang’an. She hinted that Yun Hou might have lost his mind. Because the reputation of the Marquis and Sun Simiao was too great, the doctor did not dare to take the Marquis’ pulse, but only kept looking at his face.

Yun Ye has been writing textbooks day and night these few days, and he looks a little haggard. The look of his two dark circles under his eyes only confirms the rumors that the marquis is mentally ill. As soon as the butler returned, the Cheng family spread the word that Yun Hou was just tired from working day and night and had momentarily lost his mind. Whoever dared to say that the marquis was crazy would be at odds with the Cheng family.

Now it’s over. No one is saying it openly, but they are whispering in secret chambers and hiding in their beds, turning a perfectly healthy Yun Ye into a half-wit, and adding countless magical or strange episodes.

For a time, Yun Hou’s fame was second to none. Everyone in Chang’an, both those who knew him and those who didn’t, sent their housekeepers to bring him countless calming and soothing medicines. Even the Eastern Palace sent a huge silver ingot, saying that the crown prince had ordered it. Yun Hou would immediately feel better as soon as he saw the ingot.

After accepting the ingot, Yun Ye drove the person who brought it away with a stick, because he was so curious.

Only Sun Simiao happily accepted all the medicinal herbs, saying that they would be very useful for the secret formula he was researching. The marquis might as well get sick for a few more days, so that he could get some more secret medicinal herbs from the imperial palace.

And he put his words into practice. Whenever the powerful and wealthy asked him about Yun Ye’s illness, he would sigh, shake his head, and look despondent.

Now no one in the village of Man Zhuangzi likes Yun Ye. The old man sighs when he looks at the village head running around in the village of Man Zhuangzi. The old lady is sniffling and crying, saying that life is impossible. The adult male children look gloomy, even more so than the black sky The sky is even blacker than the clouds, and there are no more children to tickle Wangcai’s fur. Wangcai always goes to the children, and when the children who can’t resist the temptation are about to go forward, they are slapped by the adults and taken home crying, which makes Wangcai feel very hurt.

The farmers are hardworking. As long as the land can be cultivated, it is full of crops. The wheat seedlings are knee-high, and the rapeseed is just about to bloom. It is full of vitality in the drizzling rain. It is not as vigorous as the wheat I saw on the farm before, nor is it as neatly cut as a knife.

The wheat here is of different heights and sizes, and the leaves show a weak yellowish color. The fields are not fertilized at all, and the straw is simply burned, leaving the ash as fertilizer.

Two to three hundred catties of grain per mu is already a good year with favorable weather and good harvests. If locusts come this year, Yun Ye can’t even imagine what a disaster it will be.

He was too utilitarian, and Yun Ye regretted it. He should have started earlier, and now it was a bit too late. Li Er’s inaction made him furious. Fine, you don’t care about your people, but I care about my peasants.

Yin Ye looked at the sky and muttered, “What do you think a locust plague is? I gave you a solution, but you ignored it. The best time to eliminate locusts is when they haven’t yet taken flight. Li Er, do you think that storing grain in Chang’an will solve the problem? You have no idea how terrifying a swarm of locusts can be. The video of the African locust plague in later generations made my hands and feet go numb. Is the power of your Tang Dynasty already surpassing Kenya 1,400 years later? You can’t even spray them with pesticides, so you’re going to catch them by hand? I’d like to see how many locusts you can sell me. I’ll take them even if I have to break my home. I don’t need them for medicine. I’ll just feed them to my pigs and chickens.

It’s a pity that all the crops on the ground have to be fed to the locusts.

The crop fields are hopeless, and the only hope is to produce by-products. This is Yun Ye’s last resort. He wants to escape the locust plague, which puts him in a dangerous situation, but he finds that there is nowhere to escape. The powerful inertia of history binds him to the chariot and rolls forward.

Lao Qian bought a lot of chickens, ducks, and geese from Chang’an, as well as a dozen carts of piglets. This was almost all the chickens, ducks, geese, and piglets that could be bought in Chang’an.

He ordered that each family be given five chickens, two ducks, one goose, and two pigs. He told the farmers that the marquis liked to eat eggs, all kinds of eggs, and pork, so the whole village had to raise them, and whoever didn’t raise them would be fined.

This is how tyrannical he is. Yun Ye could not say anything about the locusts, so he had to lower his face and be unreasonable.

There was a lot of crying in the village. A few old men found Yun’s family and knelt on the ground, knocking their heads against the ground, hoping that the marquis would withdraw his order.

As long as they are peasants, they hope that their families have so many livestock, and they dream of it. But when the harvest is not in, where can they find the food to feed these creatures? The bran at home is for human consumption, and there is simply nothing to feed them.

Yun Ye stood in front of the door, clutching his hands in pain and said, “Listen, these poultry and pigs are your rent for this year. As long as you feed them well, after a month, you will have something to feed them. Now, there is still a month and a half before the harvest. There is not that much labor in the fields, so they all go to the mountains to dig worms and find grass seeds. If that doesn’t work, they raise chickens and ducks like sheep. The children and the elderly all go to release chickens, ducks, and pigs. In this way, they don’t need much food. After a month, I guarantee that there will be food for them after a month.”

Promises are not easily made in the Tang Dynasty. Once a promise is made, it must be fulfilled at all costs. Otherwise, not only will one not be able to live as a human, but one will not even be able to live as a pig.

The farmers left with worried faces. Since the landlord had promised and given them a way out, they had no choice but to do their best. The landlord would not gain any benefit from this. He had spent money on livestock and given them to the farmers for free. If there was a loss, it would be his family’s.

The prodigal son, the number one prodigal son, from then on the farmers looked at Yun Ye’s eyes very strangely. Yun Ye had heard more than once that people were discussing whether he was mentally healthy or not.

In order to completely ruin the family, he bought another batch and continued to send them out.

The tragic farming industry in Yun’s village began to operate.

There was not a single idle person in the entire village. Early in the morning, there were already sniveling children being chased out of their homes, yelling at chickens, ducks and geese, holding pigs by the hand, looking for food everywhere. Even the eighty-year-old old lady was using a cane to tie the pig with a straw rope to find fresh grass. As a result, it was not she who was letting the pig out, but the pig that was letting her out, being dragged all over the mountain, miserable.

The six members of the Yun family’s lime kiln worked day and night to burn stones, accumulating a large amount of lime. They didn’t know what the marquis wanted to do with it. This stuff can’t be stored, and it’s useless if it absorbs moisture. After a batch of lime had been burned, the clumsy kiln worker was busy feeding the pigs and forgot to open the kiln. As a result, the raging fire melted all the stones in the kiln, and one of them did not turn white, but just turned into water. After the kiln cooled down, it turned into a green crystal. After the housekeeper showed it to Yun Ye, he didn’t say anything, but just let the housekeeper reward the kiln worker 500 coins.

“Is this glass?” The old lady looked carefully at the greenish thing.

“Yes, the potter put a piece of stone that was not suitable for burning into the kiln, and then forgot to open the kiln. After burning for half a day, he made this thing. As long as you figure out why the stone was burned like this, you will be able to burn glass. I heard that this is a royal patent, and ordinary people who burn it will be beheaded.”

The old lady’s hand trembled, and she almost dropped the stone on the ground.

“Ye’er, we don’t want this thing in our house. You should sleep well and forget about it. Don’t waste your time on it. Just think of it as a stone. Grandma knows you’re smart. If you want to know, you’ll figure it out. We don’t need this kind of business that will get you killed. Just be stupid for once and listen to Grandma.” Grandma was almost begging. She was really afraid of anything related to the royal family.

“Your grandson is now famous for being a spendthrift and a fool within a hundred miles. Do you still need to dress up?”

I’m still bothered by it. Am I now a fool? Today, Li Gang also asked, “Yun Hou has the spirit of the ancient Meng Chang, and I admire him. However, it is not appropriate to get rich like this. I heard rumors that you have recently lost your mind. Is that true?”

Yun Ye wanted to beat him up. He had spread the rumor that Yun Ye had lost his mind recently, and he had even said that it was to spread Yun Ye’s fame and raise his popularity. He had secretly intended to force himself to go to Liangshan, but he had never thought that it would be distorted by someone with malicious intent. The old man was now somewhat ashamed. It could be seen that he thought that Yun Ye’s repeated blunders were caused by public opinion, but he did not know that Yun Ye had a strong defense system, which was the thick face brought from the future. I’m used to seeing people attacked by public opinion, and there are not one or two people who don’t care if their bed photos are revealed. What does it matter if it’s said that I, Yun Hou, have lost my mind? Is this a big deal?

“Sir, you worry too much. The boy has not lost his mind. After two months, he will understand. He just did things a little too quickly. Although there are some flaws, the results are remarkable. Zhuangzi has no time to waste. Do you know that the wealth of the world comes from labor? As long as you do effective labor, you will naturally create wealth. Will the boy be like Meng Changjun, who is ignorant and reckless, who values himself and is afraid of death, and who sees small profits and forgets about life?”

Old Li’s eyes were shining with brilliance: “Why are you in a hurry? This is not your usual lazy personality. Is there anything that I don’t know?”

Yun Ye smiled sadly and said nothing. Li Er had already issued a gag order on the locust plague. The last time he went to the palace to ask about it, Li Er forced him back with his eyes. He wanted to make a big deal out of the locust plague, but he didn’t know who would be destroyed along with the locust plague.

Even if Lao Li is a very reliable person, it is better not to tell him about this matter that concerns the lives of the whole family. Otherwise, with his temper, he will definitely stir up a storm in the court. Once the arrangement of Li Er is ruined, it is hard to say whether Li Gang can keep his integrity. The old man is a good person, and I don’t want him to be unlucky.

Li Gang saw that Yun Ye was silent, sighed, looked somewhat depressed, turned and left, waving his hands as he walked, saying, “I’m old, I’m not useful anymore, I can’t manage it, I can’t manage it from the way you look, I won’t ask, I won’t ask, kid, you try to do things well, don’t lose your conscience…”