Thinking of the scene of a great harvest, Mu Nianzhi eagerly ordered five thousand soldiers to sow the grains.
After a day, all five thousand soldiers were exhausted.
Mu Nianzhi was full of anticipation and went to witness the miracle as soon as day broke the next morning.
It was barely dawn and the sea breeze was coming in, Mu Nianzhi seemed to have already smelled the fragrance released when the crops sprouted.
In the vast farmland, there was not even a hint of green, let alone sprouting crops.
Mu Nianzhi thought he saw wrong and looked again very carefully, across hundreds of acres, not a single crop had grown.
Mu Nianzhi couldn’t believe it and waited another day, but until the next day, the barren field was still barren.
Under the blazing sun, cold sweat started streaming down Mu Nianzhi forehead.
He immediately had the soldiers continue farming, the same seeds, the same land, planting again.
The third day, the fourth day... several days passed.
Mu Nianzhi thought there was a problem with the seeds, so he went to the market and bought another batch of seeds to plant.
But in the fields of Xinqi Village, let alone a bumper harvest, not even a wild plant grew.
He didn’t wait for a great harvest, but Mu Nianzhi did wait for the tax officer from the Ministry of Revenue.
"General Mu, this year’s taxes for Xinqi Village have not yet been submitted. Based on their past monthly production, they should pay a hundred thousand stones in taxes."
The tax officer said respectfully beside him.
Mu Nianzhi was in a mess and became even more upset upon seeing the tax officer from the Ministry of Revenue.
"General Mu, every year at the end of summer and beginning of autumn, every region has to pay taxes. Minister Dugu calculated Xinqi Village’s taxes for this year based on the average yield per acre, which is a hundred thousand stones."
A hundred thousand stones!
Mu Nianzhi sat paralyzed on the field ridge, feeling as if the sky was about to collapse.
The tax officer from the Ministry of Revenue, having not received the taxes, went back to report to Ministry of Revenue.
"No harvest from Xinqi Village?"
Dugu Wu put down the document he was holding.
He had also been paying attention to the situation in Xinqi Village.
He noticed Feng Bailing has been very busy these days and completely uninterested in Mu Family’s Farm.
This made Dugu Wu feel it odd.
What sort of person was Feng Bailing? Meticulous in her dealings, such a good piece of land was taken, and she, without saying anything, cheerfully went to count money?
"The officer visited there, there is not even wild grass in the fields. General Mu said that the people of Xinqi Village were deceiving, claiming to produce grains within a few days were all fraud, and he is even clamoring to file a complaint to the Emperor."
The tax officer was also completely baffled.
"It is impossible for the villagers of Xinqi Village to fake it, their two batches of military provisions were personally verified by the Ministry of Revenue, no other place in the country could suddenly contribute so much food."
This point was exactly what baffled Dugu Wu.
Five thousand soldiers farming the fields of Xinqi Village, yet not a single sprout could be grown?
That night, Dugu Wu returned to Prince Shun’s Mansion, where Feng Bailing and two children were having dinner, a rich aroma of chicken soup floated from the dining hall.
Dugu Wu felt a bit hungry.
Feng Zao had noticed this for a while, since the Princess Consort returned, the Prince’s time to return to the Prince Manor had been getting earlier. Before, the Prince hardly ever dined at Prince Shun’s, only managing to eat a few bites casually.
Dugu Wu was not one to lust for flavors, but ever since meeting Feng Bailing, this woman had been creating a variety of dishes, all sorts of strange and bizarre dishes, and the flavor, truly wasn’t bad.
Seeing Dugu Wu, Feng Bailing had Chun Liu also prepare a set of bowls and chopsticks for him.
Tonight in the mansion, they were having wild ginseng chicken soup besides wild chicken and wild ginseng, the soup was also enhanced with various kinds of mushrooms, all collected by Feng Bailing with her two children from the mountains of Xinqi Village.