Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

The first rain of spring fell steadily for three days.

The rain washed away the winter's chill and nourished the parched land.

The water level of the Baishui River rose, and the newly built irrigation canals were filled with turbid water, flowing all the way to the distant farmland.

The fields outside Hanyuan City were already bustling with activity.

The people drove their oxen and guided their newly made curved plows, turning deep furrows in the thawing land.

The children followed behind, picking up the grass roots and stones they had turned over.

The elderly people carried buckets of water to water the newly sown seeds.

But Xiao Chen stood on the edge of the field with a slight frown on his brow.

"Your Highness, is there something wrong?" Uncle Chen asked cautiously, leaning on his hoe.

Xiao Chen bent down, grabbed a handful of soil, and rubbed it between his fingers.

The soil is yellowish-brown, with coarse particles, and makes a rustling sound when you squeeze it in your hand.

This type of soil is called "sandy loam" in agronomy. It has good air permeability but poor water and fertilizer retention capacity.

Growing drought-resistant crops like frost-resistant wheat is manageable, but achieving high yields is difficult.

"Uncle Chen, this land is too barren," Xiao Chen said.

Uncle Chen smiled wryly: "Your Highness, all the land in the Northern Border is like this. It's good enough if crops can grow at all, let alone pick and choose between fertile and lean soil."

"Barren land can be fattened up."

Xiao Chen threw away the soil in his hand. "I'll teach you a method called 'composting'."

"Compost?" Uncle Chen and several other elderly farmers around him looked at each other in bewilderment.

They had never heard of this word before.

Xiao Chen didn't explain further and took action immediately.

He chose a vacant spot by the field and had more than a dozen large vats brought over—the ones Scarface Liu used to store wine in the past, and now that they were empty, they came in handy.

"The first layer is made of dry grass and fallen leaves."

Xiao Chen demonstrated, "It needs to be laid thickly and firmly."

Several young people quickly laid out a layer of dry grass.

"The second layer is manure."

Xiao Chen pointed to the cattle pen not far away, "Cow dung, horse dung, pig dung, anything is fine. It has to be fresh, the fresher the better."

Now someone frowned.

"Your Highness, this...this excrement is so dirty..."

"Dirty?"

Xiao Chen smiled, "Crops love this. Manure contains fertilizer, which helps crops grow strong."

The people were skeptical, but they did as instructed.

Baskets of fresh cow and horse dung were poured on top, and the stench filled the air, causing many people to cover their noses.

"The third layer is made of wood ash."

Xiao Chen continued, "Collect all the ashes left in the stove and spread them on top."

Everyone can understand this.

Wood ash can be used to fertilize fields; this is an experience passed down from our elders.

"The fourth layer is river mud."

Xiao Chen pointed to the irrigation ditch, "Dig out the silt at the bottom of the ditch and spread it on top."

After the four layers were laid, the large vat was already full.

"And so it goes, a layer of dry straw, a layer of manure, a layer of ash, a layer of mud. Layer by layer, until it's full."

Xiao Chen clapped his hands. "Cover it up, seal it, and cover it tightly with mud. Then, wait."

"How long will it take?"

"One month."

Xiao Chen said, "Open it and take a look in a month."

The people were skeptical, but they did as instructed.

Anyway, hay, manure, ash, and mud are all readily available and cost nothing.

It just takes a bit of effort.

Soon, hundreds of large vats were placed along the edge of the field, resembling bloated giants.

Xiao Chen then had labels affixed to each vat, specifying the date, ingredients, and person in charge.

He wants to conduct a comparative experiment to see which ratio is best.

With these things in place, the people can feel at ease and settle down.

"Your Highness," Murong Xue hesitated for a moment, "there is something I would like to tell you."

"explain."

"I...I want to open a medicinal herb garden next to the clinic."

Murong Xue said, "Many medicinal herbs have to be bought from Yulin Town, which is expensive and not fresh. It's better to grow them ourselves. Although the northern border is cold, some medicinal herbs are suitable for growing in cold places and have better medicinal properties."

"OK."

Xiao Chen nodded. "Tell Uncle Chen what you need. Land, tools, seeds, everything is yours."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Murong Xue's eyes lit up.

After leaving the greenhouse, Xiao Chen went to the school.

The school has been open for a month now, and all thirty children are learning very diligently.

The introductory textbooks compiled by Xiao Chen are simple and practical, and the children are making rapid progress.

I can now recognize more than a hundred characters and do simple addition and subtraction.

The children listened with great interest to Han Lie's teachings on the geography of the northern border and the customs of the tribes.

They learned where they lived, who was around them, what dangers they faced, and what opportunities they had.

This is what education should be like.

Xiao Chen stood outside the window, looking at the children inside who were listening attentively to the lesson, and felt a surge of emotion.

These children are the future of Hanyuan.

They were literate, understood principles, and knew the world.

In the future, they will become the backbone of Hanyuan.

"Your Highness."

Uncle Fu rushed over, "Something's happened at the composting site..."

"What is it?"

"Someone...someone smashed the jar."

Xiao Chen's face darkened: "Who?"

"It's...it's Li Laosi from Dongfang."

Uncle Fu said with a bitter face, "He said that the vat smelled bad and was making his house stink, so in a fit of anger, he smashed three vats."

Xiao Chen turned and left.

A crowd had already gathered at the composting site.

The three large vats were smashed to pieces, and the excrement, grass, ash, and mud inside were scattered all over the ground, creating a terrible stench.

Li Laosi was being held down by several young men, and he was still cursing.

"Let me go! You peasants! That jar stinks so badly, you won't even let me smash it?!"

"The Prince has arrived!"

The crowd parted, and Xiao Chen went inside.

Upon seeing Xiao Chen, Li Laosi's arrogance immediately diminished by three points, but he still stubbornly insisted, "Your Highness, that vat stank so badly that my house was uninhabitable! I smashed it, so what?!"

Xiao Chen looked at the three smashed vats, then at Li Laosi.

"Is this tank your responsibility?"

"Yes...it's my responsibility, what's wrong?"

"The label says that the fertilizer in these three vats is for your ten acres of land."

Xiao Chen said slowly, "Now that you've smashed it, your land won't be fertile anymore. At harvest time, other people's yields will be one and a half shi per mu, while yours will be seven or eight dou per mu. Don't blame others."

Li Laosi was taken aback.

"Furthermore," Xiao Chen continued, "you smashed the vat, causing sewage to overflow and polluting the water source. According to the Provisional Regulations of Hanyuan, anyone who pollutes a water source shall be punished with twenty strokes of the cane and ten days of hard labor. Uncle Fu, carry out the punishment."

"Yes!" Uncle Fu waved his hand, and two security guards stepped forward and pinned Li Laosi to the ground.

"Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me! I know I was wrong!" Li Laosi panicked.

"Hit." Xiao Chen said only one word.

A crackling sound rang out, and Li Laosi screamed repeatedly.

After twenty strokes, Li Laosi's buttocks were bruised and bleeding, and he lay on the ground groaning.

"Take him to the clinic for treatment."

Xiao Chen said, "Once he recovers, he will be sentenced to ten days of hard labor to dig irrigation ditches. In addition, the loss of the three vats will be deducted from his family's work points."

"Yes."

After dealing with Li Laosi, Xiao Chen looked at the onlookers.

"Composting is for everyone's benefit. When the soil is fertile, the crops grow well, and everyone has food to eat. Don't like the smell? When you're starving, even excrement smells good!"

Rough words are not rough.

The people laughed, but they all listened.

"From now on, anyone who dares to damage public property will face this consequence!" Xiao Chen raised his voice. "Disperse, go about your business."

The crowd dispersed, and discussions arose.

"Your Highness is right. So what if it smells a little bad? As long as it means more grain!"

"That's right, Li Laosi, that scoundrel, deserves it!"

"Let's go, let's hurry up and get to the compost, don't delay."

The composting work continued, and no one dared to cause any more trouble.

A month later, the day to open the tank arrived.

A crowd had gathered along the edge of the field. The people all wanted to know if this "compost" was actually effective.

Xiao Chen personally opened the first vat.

As soon as the jar was opened, a strange smell wafted out—not a foul odor, but a slightly sour smell mixed with soil and humus.

The contents of the jar have changed.

Hay, manure, ash, and mud were completely mixed together, turning into a dark brown, loose, and moist mass.

It feels soft and oily in your hand, like crushed black sesame paste.

"It's done." Xiao Chen smiled.

"Your Highness, this...this can be used?" Uncle Chen grabbed a handful and examined it closely.

"It works."

Xiao Chen said, "Spread it on the ground and plow it in. It retains water and fertilizer, and also loosens the soil."

"Then... shall we give it a try?"

"try!"

All one hundred vats were opened, and the black, oily fertilizer was transported to the field and spread evenly.

The oxen pull the plow, turning the fertilizer into the soil.

A few days later, in the field where fertilizer had been applied, the wheat seedlings grew noticeably stronger.

The leaves are greener, the stems are thicker, and they sway in the spring breeze, full of vitality.

In fields where no fertilizer was applied, the wheat seedlings were much sparser, and the leaves were more yellow.

The contrast is too obvious.

The people were in an uproar.

"Amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

"Your Highness is truly a reincarnation of Shennong!"

"Our land will be fertile from now on!"

"Quickly, quickly, pile up more fertilizer!"

Composting has been widely adopted in Hanyuan.

Large vats were placed along the edges of the fields, in the courtyards, and even on the rooftops.

Hay, manure, ash, and mud became the most precious things.

The first thing the children do after school is to collect manure and gather grass.

The elderly people sat at the doorway, carefully collecting the ashes from the plant.

A faint scent, tinged with hope, wafts through the air of Hanyuan City.

Standing on the city wall, Xiao Chen looked at the lush green fields outside the city, his heart filled with hope.

Spring has truly arrived in Hanyuan.