A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Liu Bang and Wei Ping walked hand in hand into the Yan Marquis's residence, arriving at the place where Wei Ping specially cultivated world-class gourd varieties.

Liu Bang bent down and carefully examined the heavy ears of wheat, which were about half again as large as ordinary ears of wheat.

Parting the wheat field, one could indeed see crisscrossing gullies.

Liu Bang, who was well-versed in agriculture, also discovered that the soil quality of this land was not very good; it was only of medium quality.

This means that nearly half of the land in the Han Dynasty could grow such large ears of wheat.

"Waaaaah!"

Liu Bang's close attendants knelt before the wheat field, weeping bitterly.

"Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, Sister, and all my younger siblings, you died so tragically!"

The eunuch, who was usually the most observant and cautious, forgot everything, forgot that the emperor was right there, and was overwhelmed with emotion by the heavy ears of wheat.

Many ministers, led by the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, also arrived at the Marquis of Yan's residence, where they were greeted by golden wheat fields.

At first, they did not believe that there were wheat fields that could yield four shi per mu, but they had no choice but to come because of Liu Bang's orders.

Seeing such large ears of wheat, everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

These ears of wheat looked much bigger than theirs, and not just one or two, but all of them were this big.

That's absolutely terrifying!

"Your Majesty, shall we begin the harvest?"

Wei Ping approached Liu Bang and asked softly.

"Start the harvest!"

"Start harvesting now!"

"His Majesty commands: Begin the harvest!"

Beside him, the hundreds of tenants that Wei Ping had arranged had already rolled up their sleeves and were carrying sickles.

At Wei Ping's command, they wielded their sickles and, with all their might and passion, harvested the plump ears of wheat.

"History of Zhi Su Nei."

Wei Ping waved his hand, and the Minister of Grain Supply came running over eagerly.

"You and the men from the Imperial Household Department will measure the land together, ensuring that not a single plot is off!"

With the officials from the Imperial Household Department and the Minister of Agriculture in charge of grain measurement working together, and with Liu Bang overseeing the process, no one would doubt the accuracy of the land's size.

We are now in the founding period of the nation, and many of our founding fathers and generals rose from the very bottom.

The land was their lifeline. A quick glance told them that this was a standard acre of land, with little to no discrepancy.

One group of people was responsible for harvesting, and another group was responsible for moving the harvested crops to the drying ground that Wei Ping had prepared.

The last group used an ancient method of pounding to extract the golden grains of wheat from the ears of wheat.

They were placed into pre-prepared standard containers.

1 liters.

1 dou (a unit of dry measure).

1 stones.

2 stones.

4 stones.

6 stones.

10 stones.

25 stones.

As the sun sets, the golden rays of the setting sun fall upon the equally golden ears of wheat, and all the wheat is collected into containers.

The officials of the Imperial Household Department, the Minister of Grain Supply, the tenant farmers of the Marquis of Yan's residence, Xiao He, and all the nobles and high-ranking officials were all silently calculating.

Soon, the people from the Imperial Household Department were the first to provide an answer.

"The five mu of land yielded a total of 26 shi, 6 dou, and 6 sheng of wheat!"

Following closely behind, the tenants of the Imperial Grain Commissioner and the Marquis of Yan's residence also provided the same data: a total of 26 shi, 6 dou, and 6 sheng of wheat were harvested from the five mu of land!

Xiao He and many other nobles all received the same answer.

On average, that's 5 shi, 3 dou, 3 sheng, and 2 he of grain per mu!

The entire Yanhou Mansion fell into a deathly silence.

The five mu of land yielded a total of 26 shi, 6 dou, and 6 sheng of wheat!

On average, each mu (unit of land area) yields 5 shi, 3 dou, 3 sheng, and 2 he of grain!

In ancient times, when people starved to death every day, and in the early Han Dynasty, when the world was in constant turmoil for hundreds of years, this number was like a bolt from the blue, bringing an unprecedented shock to the Han Dynasty.

This means that current grain production could nearly double!

It can support one more adult man!

The potential benefits involved are virtually limitless!

Xiao He, with his full head of white hair, was the first to recover from the shock. He pushed away his son who was supporting him, ran to the edge of the field in three steps, picked up a clump of soil, smelled it gently, and examined it carefully.

"This is Nakata."

Nakata!

The crowd, who had just come to their senses, were shocked again. Nakata's output was only about 90% of Ueda's. If it were Ueda, wouldn't that be close to 6 koku of output?

The sharp-eyed Xiao He also noticed the crisscrossing ditches in the fields, and he observed that all the wheat was planted in the ditches.

"Lord Yan, what's the significance of the ravines and trenches in this land?"

Xiao He pointed to the ditch in the ground and asked Wei Ping.

Wei Ping didn't speak, but looked at Liu Bang.

He understood leadership and gave the opportunity to shine in front of the leader.

Liu Bang understood Wei Ping's implication and did not refuse; even in his old age, he still liked to show off.

"I know."

"This is the Shirota Law."

"Three 'ditches' and three 'ridges' are dug on one acre of land. The positions of the ditches and ridges are rotated annually for crop rotation."

"Sowing seeds in furrows allows seedlings to receive more water and reduces wind damage, which is beneficial for seed growth."

"More importantly, the annual rotation of ridges and furrows allows the land to rest and effectively restores soil fertility. In other words, land using the alternating field method does not require rotation!"

If the benefits of reducing wind damage are negligible, then changing the system so that land does not need to be rotated is extremely important!

It should be noted that land cultivation techniques were not very advanced during the pre-Qin period. Apart from the main fields, almost all the land needed to be rotated for rest.

In the Han Dynasty, without fertilizers and other such things, once the soil's fertility was depleted, it could no longer be planted. Planting could only continue once the soil's fertility was restored.

This results in some years when there is no harvest.

The Shirota method can make up for this shortcoming and double the land's output!

It is important to know that at this time in the early Han Dynasty, there was a saying: those who cultivate the land for one year are considered to have good fields; those who rest for one year are considered to have medium fields; those who rest for two years are considered to have bad fields; and those who rest for three years are considered to have good fields.

The translation is as follows: land cultivated every year is called "unusual land", land that is cultivated for one year and left fallow for one year is called "one-time land", and land that is cultivated for one year and left fallow for two years is called "two-time land". The cultivated areas are rotated every three years, and farmers can choose to adjust their fields themselves.

There weren't many fields in the Han Dynasty.

Most of them are Nakata and Shimoda.

It is easy to imagine how much this agricultural method helped the Han Dynasty.

Even if the land doesn't need to be fallow, using the alternate field method to increase soil fertility can indirectly increase yields.

This caused a large group of veteran officials to kneel on the ground, weeping uncontrollably.

I don't know if it's genuine or not, but even if it's an act, I have to pretend.

Today's scene will certainly be recorded in history books and described in great detail.

History books may only record that many ministers were moved to tears, without specifically identifying who they were.

However, it will certainly be recorded that only a certain minister remained unmoved, turning a blind eye to the interests of the people and showing no concern for their livelihood; his crime deserved to be punished.

They were nailed to the pillar of historical shame.