Chapter 871 - 874: Righteousness
Gu Ben Can agreed to everything the old lady said, occasionally chiming in with a few reminders of his own.
Taking advantage of a pause in their conversation, Gu Benluo subtly reminded him, "Remember what Father told us before. If there’s anything you don’t understand when you arrive in Shangjing, remember to ask him."
"Don’t worry, Benluo, I remember it all," Gu Ben Can replied obediently. "With Father and me away, I’ll leave everything here in your hands."
Jin Qianqian rubbed her fingers, her hands itching to do something. "Being away from home isn’t like being here. Not everyone will indulge you like your mother does."
Gu Ben Can thought, "Mother, I would have believed you if you weren’t rubbing your hands together." In the end, he didn’t dare speak out of turn in front of everyone and simply nodded obediently.
Since everyone was anxious to return and report back on their mission, they ate a quick meal before Mao Bingyan immediately ordered their departure. The Agricultural Officer and the soldiers who had arrived earlier left alongside them, and the entire village instantly fell quiet.
"I’m really not used to this," Liang Xiaojun said, smacking his lips. "It was hard enough to earn some silver. I’m afraid there won’t be another opportunity like this in the future."
Over the past few days, the elderly and children in the families had all mobilized to help cook for the soldiers. Not only did they sell all the vegetables from their fields, but they also nearly depleted their household grain reserves. However, the rewards had been enormous. It was far more profitable than working outside the village for an entire year.
"Alright, stop sighing here. It’s still early in the day. I need to take a trip into town; we’ve run out of a lot of things at home," Liu Heizi said. He was already prepared and had even driven his ox cart over.
Having endured hardship before, they liked to hoard a little extra of everything. Otherwise, their household supplies truly wouldn’t have lasted the nearly two months they had spent without leaving the village this time.
"Don’t go yet, wait for me. I’ll go with you," Liang Xiaojun said as he quickly hopped onto the ox cart. Suddenly, he remembered that he hadn’t brought anything with him. "Did you bring extra silver? My pockets are completely empty.
"You should have given me a heads-up. Otherwise, I would have brought my boy along, too."
"You’re the only one who doesn’t think ahead," Liu Heizi said, pointing around them. Carriages from the village were already steadily appearing at the village entrance, as everyone wanted to restock their supplies as early as possible.
Liang Xiaojun was speechless.
Watching so many people rush out of the village together, Jin Qianqian couldn’t help but smile. "Fu County is going to be bustling today."
She, on the other hand, wasn’t lacking anything, because Hu Dong delivered several carts of supplies every couple of days. Occasionally, if a family in the village found themselves short on something, they would also borrow from her.
Traveling at top speed, Mao Bingyan rarely rested along the way, finally arriving in Shangjing just before sunset on the second day.
As soon as they reached the palace gates, the guarding soldiers didn’t even need to announce their arrival, immediately letting their party pass.
"How is it? How was the harvest?" Before they could even perform the customary bows between sovereign and subjects, Hua Zhang asked urgently.
"Holy Emperor, the yield reached one thousand six hundred and twenty-three catties per mu. However, it hasn’t been dried or husked yet, so there will likely be some loss in weight." Mao Bingyan naturally understood the immense importance of this task and had calculated every detail with precision.
Hearing this number, Hua Zhang lost some of his composure. Even if it hadn’t been dried yet, he had seen this crop before and knew that the actual weight came from the Mili on it. Moreover, this crop did not require fertile land. Even newly reclaimed soil on the mountains could produce such a yield, which was undoubtedly a tremendous advantage.
The people of the Rong Dynasty were not afraid of hardship or exhaustion; their only fear was going hungry. Now that they had this crop, every household could reclaim a few mu of land and never have to worry about food again.
"Good, excellent! This is a great omen for the world. Heaven blesses our Rong Dynasty." Having such an auspicious sign appear during the very first year of his reign felt exactly like divine assistance.
The sovereign and his subject exchanged a few more words about the daily affairs of the past two days before Hua Zhang finally turned his gaze to the boy standing behind Mao Bingyan.
To think that such a dark and scrawny little boy could actually be Gu Wenheng’s son? The father was fair and plump, so how could the son be so dark and skinny? The father and son were at two complete extremes.
Noticing the Emperor looking his way, Gu Ben Can stood there even more respectfully, keeping his eyes lowered.
"Are you Mr. Gu’s second son?"
"Replying to the Holy Emperor, yes, I am." Gu Ben Can was just about to kneel when Hua Zhang caught him by the arms to support him.
He patted Gu Ben Can’s shoulder approvingly. "You’re a good lad. You’ve made a monumental contribution this time.
"I will reward you handsomely. Tell me, what kind of reward do you want?"
Gu Ben Can wasn’t foolish enough to ask for something directly. "This was merely what I ought to do."
"You’re certainly more humble than your father." Being in high spirits over the joyous occasion, Hua Zhang spoke in a very gentle tone. "I heard that you tended to these crops all by yourself. What made you think of doing the manual labor personally?"
*Here it comes,* Gu Ben Can thought, knowing this was the moment he would be tested. With an earnest expression, he said, "Ever since I was young, I haven’t been very interested in the Confucian classics and the like. Instead, I preferred reading bizarre tales and strange theories. My greatest wish has always been to travel across the land.
"Whenever rare goods came in from the sea trade, my mother, knowing my hobbies, would always let me take my pick first.
"Upon hearing that this item was a staple food from foreign lands, I was filled with curiosity and wanted to give it a try.
"Furthermore, I cannot claim to have done everything myself. Several of my older cousins are excellent at farming, and they provided a great deal of help.
"I asked them about many things I didn’t understand, and we slowly figured out how to cultivate it together."
"Oh? Was it really just out of curiosity?" Hua Zhang asked impassively.
Gu Ben Can glanced around before offering a sheepish smile. "When our family returned to Gaoling Village, my father would always assign my brother and me a lot of coursework whenever he had free time.
"Among those tasks, learning about agricultural affairs was one of them. Like the other villagers, my brother and I had to tend to our family’s fields and the vegetable patch in our backyard. Honestly, I just wanted to slack off a bit. Using the excuse of observing this crop, I joined my cousins in reclaiming land on the back mountain."
Everyone present felt a pang of understanding. Who didn’t want their descendants to be successful? Their own families were only stricter with their children than Gu Wenheng was with his. If it had been them, they never would have agreed to let their children mess around like this.
"Your father actually made you go farm?" Hua Zhang’s pupils contracted slightly. "Your mother didn’t stop him?"
Gu Ben Can shook his head. "My parents said that spring plowing, summer weeding, autumn harvesting, and winter storing—if none of these four miss their proper time, then the five grains will never fail. Agriculture is the great strategy of the nation and the livelihood of the people.
"Holy Emperor, having spent these past days farming, I too have gained a profound understanding of this."
"Good! Gu Aiqing is truly righteous!" Hua Zhang declared.
Hua Zhang was thoroughly pleased. With them teaching such words, there was absolutely no need to doubt Gu Wenheng and his wife’s dedication to the country and the people. Even if Gu Wenheng was sometimes a bit stubborn and liked to argue with him in court, none of that mattered anymore.
Beside them, Mao Bingyan and Xiao Liwei were also astonished. If it were the boys in their own families, they would be eager to whip them into academic progress every single day; there was no way they would let them dabble in farming.
Earlier, they had been somewhat envious that such a young boy had achieved such tremendous merit. Now it seemed they were just too narrow-minded. Mr. Gu was truly righteous!