Chronicles of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 268, Section 267: Mulberry Picking and Wheat Field
Hearing about such extreme enjoyment for the first time left Qin Shi with a somewhat lingering sense of unease.

However, in this era, extravagance and debauchery were not only the right of emperors, but could be enjoyed to varying degrees by all nobles and powerful families.

She mustered immense courage, knowing full well that Ji Heng's mind was made up, and still rashly decided to vie for the position of queen six months ahead of schedule...

Isn't the goal to minimize such incidents in the future?
So after a brief stop, she continued walking slowly inside—she had never seen such a unique greenhouse before, and it was full of southern plants; perhaps she could find one or two new ones there?

Unaware of the Queen's change in mood, Wu Zi considerately replied, "Your Majesty, this servant is not well-versed in the plants of the South. Perhaps we should have the official come and explain them to you one by one?"

Qin Shi looked around—because the queen had come to admire the flowers, all the crudely dressed servants and slaves who were serving her had retreated, leaving only her and a row of people serving behind her.

"When I arrived, I saw a woman working in the flowerbed outside. Let's invite her in."

Wu Zi was taken aback: "Yes. But most of them are illiterate and can't name the flowers and plants here."

"That's alright," Qin Shi said with a smile. She was just browsing casually and wasn't going to write a paper.

The woman outside was quickly brought in.

When she looked up, she was older than Qin Shi had imagined; her temples were already gray.

Qin Shi was taken aback: "What's your name?"

“Your Majesty,” the other person bowed and said, “this servant is picking mulberry leaves.”

"Picking mulberry leaves".

As Qin Shi murmured the name, he imagined what a beautiful and graceful woman she must have been in her youth:
"Cai Sang, have you been staying at Shanglin Garden all this time?"

"Your Majesty, I used to work in Xianyang Palace. Later, as I grew old, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department transferred us to Shanglin Garden to do some menial work. It has been six years now."

As I get older, doing manual labor is a bit tiring, but it's better than being impolite in front of important people. Besides, these important people are less likely to hold grudges against lowly servants, so it's more peaceful here.

Qin Shi nodded: "Since it has been 6 years, you must know a little about these flowers and plants. So, just pick out what you know to explain."

"Here."

Despite her advanced age, she was not slow in her movements and spoke with remarkable clarity.

From the bell-shaped flowering trees hanging to one side, to the unidentified taro with broad, large leaves in front, and the orchids unique to the south... Although I don't know their names, I can describe their general characteristics, making it sound like an agricultural encyclopedia.

"It's quite interesting."

Qin Shi strolled around the greenhouse, quickly forgetting the half hour Wu Zi had given him, and continued walking forward.

Although the flowers in Shanglin Garden are meant to have a wild and natural feel, they are not uncarefully arranged. The distribution of each color is very particular, and even the colors are divided into different zones.

Some are planted with red, yellow, green and purple colors respectively, while others are large areas of transitional colors in varying shades.

Because planting and heating technologies are still rudimentary, there are not many flowers blooming nowadays; they are mostly described in the context of mulberry picking.

But after looking around, I couldn't find any familiar plants. Even those that were there were only flowering plants.

Qin then asked, "Is grain grown in the Shanglin Garden?"

She thought she was carefree, but her emotions were out of control.

In winter, admiring these flowers that require countless efforts is never as reassuring as looking at something edible.

As for food? Of course, there is.

Cai Sang earnestly replied, "This place is close to Jianzhang Palace, so it's not ideal for growing crops. We need to cross this area and walk another 500 steps to find a large area of ​​farmland."

However, in this winter, most of the fields are abandoned, except for one wheat field that is waiting to overwinter.

Qin Shi became interested: "Let's go take a look."

She has never seen wheat as it is today! She wonders how the wheat seedlings of thousands of years ago differ from those of later generations.

Seeing that the Queen was interested, no one wanted to spoil the mood by mentioning anything about time or distance, and the group quickly moved on.

Qin Shi then asked, "Since there is wheat in Shanglin Garden, do you usually eat more wheat or millet?"

Wheat is not mainstream nowadays, and its price is relatively low. It is only because all the ingredients in Xianyang Palace are carefully processed that they appear precious.

For example, the wheat flour from Xianyang Palace has already undergone careful selection, and it is about 85% pure wheat flour—that is, 100 catties of wheat yields 85 catties of flour.

This would have been bought in later generations to make coarse grain steamed buns, but now it is considered the finest wheat flour in the palace.

Cai Sang replied, "Food."

"The wheat grown in Shanglin Garden is selected for the best quality and presented to the palace, while the inferior quality is eaten by us servants."

However, they didn't just eat inferior food; they pounded the wheat directly and then cooked it into wheat porridge.

Because wheat yields are low and it is not as drought-resistant or tolerant of poor soil as millet, if the husks had to be carefully sifted out, they would not only not have enough to eat, but the quantity would be so small that they could not even fill their stomachs.

Such wheat porridge contains not only bran but also broken husks, making it difficult to swallow even after prolonged cooking.

Qin Shi sighed.

When she first used flour in the Xianyang Palace, she thought she could promote it and enrich everyone's staple food. But after a few days, she realized that it was too unrealistic.

Before the people's basic needs for food and clothing are met, millet will continue to be the main crop grown throughout the country.

I only hope that her Millet Manor, just like its name suggests, will yield a good harvest of millet.

Thinking of this, Qin Shi lost all interest in looking at the flowers and plants.

Since she was already there, she took a quick look at the small-scale winter wheat planted there—the wheat seedlings, though green, were not green enough and looked rather weak.

She vaguely remembered that in later generations, when planting wheat for winter, the wheat seedlings needed to be flattened before the ground froze...

"Why?"

When it comes to food, everyone is always very concerned. I've heard that the Queen is a celestial being from Kunlun, so what she says must be true.

Qin Shi thought for a moment: "Putting the wheat seedlings on the ground can help retain moisture and increase temperature."

"Secondly, after being flattened, the roots will sense the danger of lodging and then try to spread deeper. This way, the wheat seedlings will be less likely to lodging the following year. With deeper roots, they can withstand a drought for a while."

"And then... the wheat seedlings will eventually bear fruit. Therefore, the soil must accumulate fertility to support its fruit production, rather than allowing it to grow tall and straight now, or for it to sprout even thinner and weaker leaves from its roots..."

Simply put, it means reducing tillering and inhibiting excessive growth.

Cai Sang seemed to understand but not quite what she was saying.

She spent six years in Shanglinyuan, and although she had done planting in various places, she did not have a systematic understanding of it.

But the one who said these words was the Queen!

They're talking about the Kunlun secret method for increasing grain production again!
She hesitated: "The ground is not frozen yet. If we follow the Queen's instructions, would it be better for me to tamp these wheat seedlings down?"

Qin Shi looked at her—her face was covered with wrinkles, her hair was gray, and even her back was slightly hunched; she was indeed very old.

But now, upon hearing these words, the eagerness in his eyes was genuine.

It is clear that food is a matter of concern for every person at the bottom of society.

Qin Shi nodded: "Go and tread on this wheat field in front of us. I will ask the King to give this land to me to take care of for a year."

　Coming!
　　(End of this chapter)