Great Tang Idyll

Zhang Xiao'bao didn't like eating garlic but Wang Juan did. Later they found out that the people here liked eating garlic so much that when they went to restaurants, they would first ask if there was garlic. If there was, they would dine there but if there wasn't, they would turn around and leave.

During New Year's, Wang Juan roasted some garlic and after roasting them, they became soft. They were slightly spicy in the mouth but more so, they had a certain fragrance. For the sake of his physical health, he was persuaded by Wang Juan to eat some. After trying some, he discovered that he still didn't love eating them.

Zhang Xiao'bao's response to garlic chives was slightly better. He was willing to eat stir-fried chives or chive soup. He even got some raw ones to gnaw his teeth on.

Under the recommendation of Wang Juan, the two of them went to the back of their own personal little yard. That place had an area covered with cloth; the cloth was the one used last time to protect the good omen over at that place. After it was used, it was never thrown away and Song Jing'gong brought them all back. Conveniently, they can now use it again.

This place was where they planted the garlic chives. After the garlic skins were peeled off, theyweren't directly planted in the soil, instead they were placed in a shallow wooden trough. Fine sand was place at the bottom of the trough and each clove was positioned neatly. The outer peel of sorghum stalks were threaded through to separate the cloves from one another and then water was poured on top.

They were planted several days ago and within the last few days, they sprouted. A furnace was placed in the centre of this fenced area so each day, the garlic chives grew by a great length.

"Hmm, they can be eaten now. There would be enough soup for the farmers to drink if one tenth of the chive stems ‘ length were cut off. The soup can also fight off the cold if some eggs and a lot of ginger were added. These people certainly did not want to live anymore. The water was so cold yet they mixed it with the fertilizer on the land they were tillaging. Every single one of them did not take care of themselves; they will become sickly by the time they turn old."

Wang Juan used her hands to touch the garlic chives as she lamented. She was more than satisfied with these farmers; they all fought for work on the farm. After releasing the six thousand chickens, the farmers followed right behind them. They waited for the chicken to eat the larvae buried in the soil, the farmers then immediately poured some water and fertilizer onto the ground, and continued to plough the soil.

Thinking of those chickens made Wang Yuan feel extremely happy. The chickens were eating something that they loved so they didn't have to worry that the chicken won't be able to find the larvae buried in the soil. Every single one of them used their feet to scratch at the soil. Not only did the chickens get to eat well, the number of larvae were reduced, and the digging loosened up the soil. Every chicken grew to be larger than normal chickens.

In the winter, there are no bugs to eat and the earthworms were still reproducing. These chickens ate the fish, shrimps, bone meal and grains that Shi'liu brought. By the look of it, in just another month or so, the chickens will lay eggs. This was a few days quicker than the six month waiting period from before.

When that time comes, Ying'tao can pick a few eggs to let hatch and give them to the farmers to raise. They wouldn't have to worry about eggs anymore when autumn came and more chicken meat could appear on the farmers' dinner table.

Zhang Xiao'bao went into deep thought after hearing Wang Juan's words. After a while, he shook his head and sighed, "It's such a pity. There was no way to refine petroleum, and rubber trees can't be found here, or else some rubber boots can be made for them. That would have been quite useful. When we eat dinner in the evening, tell the farmers to not extinguish the fire in the furnace just yet. When they return at night, they should all use hot water to warm their feet. Get someone to call the doctor over to have a look at them. It's best to provide early treatment to those with poor health."

"Hmm, good idea. We should find two of them and let them stay at the farm. One of them can be responsible for treating humans and the other one can treat animals. When the cow gives birth, let's secretly hide one and raise it up. Don't report it to the higher ups. When the time comes, we can eat beef."

Wang Yuan agreed and added more onto his idea.

After the two of them finished discussing, one of them used a small scissors to cut the garlic chives. Not long after, enough was cut for today's meal. They hugged onto the chives and after they brought them outside, they found some servants to bring the chives to the kitchen. Now, they had to deal with maifan stones.

After they were done eating, Er'niu and the other two were called over by Zhang Xiao'bao. He instructed them, "Er'niu, since you were the ones that lugged the stones back, then you guys can finish the rest of the job. Smash the stones into bits for me. Pick out the ones with nice colours and place the remaining ones in a pile. After you're done, tell us."

"Young Master, leave it to us. We will do a good job." Er'niu nodded his head in agreement even though he still had no idea what the rocks were used for.

After the three of them left, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Yuan began to exercise and the dusk sky slowly arrived.

The sun on the east side hid behind the mountains, leaving behind crimson clouds, which covered the entire sky, to fluctuate with the wind.

Inside a workshop in the county town of San'shui, Song Jing'gong and Zhou Xi'hu waited for each curved ploughs1to be made. When enough were made, Song Jing'gong could go to the the county's administrative office to find the magistrate. It was important to choose the perfect timing. If he delivered too early, then not too many ploughs have been made yet so not a lot of money can be earned. However, if he delivered too late, the spring tillage would be over and the ploughs cannot be used until next year.

"Make them more quickly. The more that is made, the more money that is earned. If you guys can make 2000 ploughs before midnight today, I will treat you guys to a late night meal." Zhou Xi'hu hollered to the 200 people that were working busily. These groups of people were formed by ironsmiths and carpenters; he gathered them from all over the place. The number of experts weren't enough, so they brought their students with them to work together. This made the people that were tillaging other farms grit their teeth in anger since there were no one to fix their ploughs if they broke.

Zhang Xi'hu thought that this was a great idea since it was his intention to decrease the number of usable ploughs at the other farms. How else will he find people to buy these ploughs. Every single time he thought of this, he would proudly repeat it to Song Jing'gong again.

These workers knew what type of person Mister Zhou was. Seeing that there was money to be made and that they couldn't get on his bad side, every one of them worked much harder. They knew clearly what they were working on, but the students only knew that they were making new ploughs; they had no idea how much better these new ploughs were compared to the old one. At most, they just knew that the new plough had a bowed thill and the old one was straight.

However, the older workers did not think like this. They have worked on many things before so they were able to understand the advantages of a new design after having a couple looks at it. When they were working on it, everyone wondered who was the genius that designed such plough and how much easier it would be for the farmers to use it

Seeing that their students weren't able to see the benefits of the new design, the old workers explained to them as they worked. It was a way to educate their students; they pointed out each structure and explained the purpose of each structural arrangement.

The students listened with their eyes wide but they did not slow down their work at hand. In the end, everyone was clear that this curved plough had so many strengths. They began to idolize the one that designed this plough. Some of them couldn't hold back their curiosity and decided to ask Zhou Xi'hu.

Normally, Zhou Xi'hu would not care about these kinds of questions, but he was in a good mood today since he landed another business deal. When people asked, he would answer, but no matter how he answered, he would not mention the Zhang family's farm as Song Jing'gong reminded him not to. Of course, Zhou Xi'hu also did not know exactly who was the one that designed it.

When midnight came, the workers actually managed to make 2000 ploughs. Without any hesitation, Zhou Xi'hu immediately ordered people to prepare food to treat the workers with a good meal.

At this time, Song Jing'gong took her leave and brought one of the original curved plough with him to the county's administrative office. After knocking on the door at the back yard, he asked the door guard to send a message. The door guard was actually sleeping during that time, and since it was in the middle of night, he planned to decline. However, when he saw that the person was Song Jing'gong, he immediately went in to report his arrival. The Lord had instructed that no matter what time the Mister Gong came, the Lord must be informed.

By the time Song Jing'gong arrived at the living room, the Magistrate, Cheng Ling'xiang was already properly dressed and was sitting there waiting while trying to force his sleepy eyes open. Tea was also already prepared by someone. Seeing that Song Jing'gong had lugged over such of a heavy item over, he yawned while he curiously asked, "Zi'jin, why did you bring that item over here in the middle of the night. Come, sit down and have some tea. Judging by how you look, it seems like you haven't had sleep yet."

Magistrate Cheng got Song Jing'gong to sit on a chair beside the side. In fact, it was Song Jing'gong that told him how to make this chair. Originally, he only sat on a bench or a mat; both were nowhere as close to being comfortable as this type of chair.

"My Lord is very wise. The moment I arrived, you knew that I came here because of the item in my hands. My Lord, this is a plough that is used to tillage the soil. Because it has a curved thill, I decided to call it the curved plough. Compared to the straight plough, the curved plough can be used to tillage the ground more quickly and more easily. Even if a person were to pull the plough, the result will not be too different from using livestock to pull the straight plough."

Song Jing'gong knew that now was not a time to be modest. He knew that the curved plough was important in determining if the farmland will be taken back and if more benefits can be reaped. He believed that the Magistate understood how many political achievements he would be awarded because of this curved plough.

As expected, the moment Song Jing'gong finished talking, the magistrate, who was fixed onto his seat just now, suddenly stood up and locked his eyes on the plough that he has never seen before. He voice shook as he asked, "Zi'jin, are you speaking truthfully? Are you not saying that to please me? What a good item, even a person can pull it as fast as livestock; that's such a huge accomplishment. As for the credit…?"

"My Lord, don't rush and listen to me slowly explain. Ever since the good omen has appeared in the County of San'sui, you have spent the days and nights thinking about how to bring on more benefits for the civilians of San'sui county so that the farmers could have a better harvest. You weren't able to drink tea without worry or eat with a good appetite. You even lost weight from being so tired. ‘Like how nature never stops moving with vigor, a gentleman must unceasingly strengthen himself'2. Because of your hard work, you finally thought of it. In order to have a good harvest in the autumn, the spring tillage must be done well too. You knew that it was too late to work on the seeds so the only choice left was to find ways to improve the process of ploughing the land.The Heavens does not let down those that worked hard. My Lord's hair has turned white quite a bit from thinking hard and worrying. The idea finally came to my Lord that in order to understand the processes of ploughing, he needed to consult those that worked on the land. Thus, my Lord worked with a farm, and under your instructions, the farm suddenly came up with an idea. After a few days of brainstorming and experimenting, they were finally able to produce the curved plough that my Lord wanted. After testing the plough on the land, all of the farmers praised the incredibleness of my Lord. As requested by the farmers, I have brought one to show my Lord. My Lord, have a look, are there any places that need to be adjusted?" After Song Jing'gong finished saying a bunch of chaotic nonsense, he smiled and looked at Magistrate Cheng.

Figure 1. An image showing two cows pulling on two types of ploughs. Top: Straight-thill plough. Bottom: Curved-thill plough.(Baidu Baike)

Translator's notes:

1. Curved plough/ Qu Yuan Li (lit trans. curved-thill plough).

The curved plough was invented near the Tang dynasty by labor workers and this invention was crucial for the advancement of agriculture during this era. The curved plough was much more efficient and lightweight compared to the original straight-thill plough (look at Fig. 1 for a visual comparison of the two).

2. ‘Like how nature never stops moving with vigor, a gentleman must unceasingly strengthen himself'

This line appeared in a passage called "Yi Zhuan" written by Confucious and is found in the book called "Zhou Yi".

The full line is "天行健，君子以自强不息；地势坤，君子以厚德载物", meaning that "the sky and nature moves with powerful vigor; correspondingly, when a gentleman handles matters, he must be like the sky and demand himself to improve, to be determined and resilient, to strive ahead and never rest. The manners of the earth was thick and gentle so a gentleman must increase his virtues and be accepting of all things in life."