Chapter 127: The Sage Emerged

Xiao Fei felt secretly pleased earlier, but now, after hearing Fang Jifan’s words, he felt rather confused!

Did this count as a success?

But Fang Jifan had already accepted the sweet potato with a smile. He inspected it carefully to ensure it wasn’t moldy and showed no signs of disease, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. There was no time to waste—not a single second could be spared!

Now that he had gotten what he wanted, Fang Jifan naturally had no interest in dealing with the Hu merchant anymore. After sending the merchant away, he immediately sent for Wang Jinyuan: “Hurry and find a vat, and also, have someone build a greenhouse right away.”

Since he had the sweet potato, he needed to figure out how to make it sprout and bear fruit. But…

How should he plant the sweet potato?

First… he had to make it sprout. The water cultivation method seemed risky, so Fang Jifan decided to play it safe.

Thus, he had to find a dark and humid place where he could create the right environment inside the vat. At the same time, the temperature had to be maintained between twenty and thirty degrees.

After a lot of effort, the sweet potato was finally carefully placed inside a newly built greenhouse!

This greenhouse… was actually Wang Jinyuan’s bedroom. Since Wang Jinyuan often needed to stay and keep watch, he had someone build him a small house made of blue bricks and red tiles—quite different from the usual rammed-earth structures, and much more refined. Additionally, they used smokeless coal for heating and installed a temporary flue just in case. Even a tiny amount of gas, Fang Jifan wanted to make sure it was completely vented.

Inside the vat, they placed some soil and watered it to create a moist environment. The sweet potato was then placed inside the vat.

After finishing all this, Fang Jifan finally had the mind to check on Wang Jinyuan, only to find the man looking at him with a rather resentful expression.

Fang Jifan, of course, paid him no mind. All he could think about now was hoping the sweet potato would sprout successfully.

If it really sprouted and could be cultivated experimentally…

Just thinking about it was both thrilling and daunting. The sweet potato wasn’t just incredibly high-yielding; its true advantage went even further. It was an extremely adaptable crop!

Crops like rice were too delicate, requiring large amounts of water and highly fertile soil. But the sweet potato was different—it could grow and reproduce even in harsh conditions and in what people usually called ‘poor land.’

If this really succeeded, then… it would benefit the entire world!

The population of the Great Ming had remained around several tens of millions. Even with this number, there were still many refugees because the land couldn’t support everyone. But by the time of the Qing Dynasty, the population increased tenfold, reaching four hundred million, and they still managed to barely support that tenfold population.

This achievement was largely thanks to the sweet potato.

Now, Fang Jifan went to the Western Hills almost every day.

But from then on, he wasn’t alone.

Tang Yin was a man of talent and sentiment. Fang Jifan treated him particularly well, naturally letting him stay at home to focus on studying—and, most importantly, painting.

As for his other disciples, he wasn’t so polite. The three—Ouyang Zhi and the others—were practically forced into labor. Their Mentor dragged them to the Western Hills to till the land. Xu Jing, however, was different from Ouyang Zhi and the other two. His injuries had healed, and he showed great interest in the Western Hills, even bringing his Luopan along.

Once they arrived at the Western Hills, he started chattering incessantly about the mountain’s topography, acting like a feng shui master.

Fang Jifan detested feng shui masters more than anything, so he couldn’t resist kicking Xu Jing: “Stop all this mystical nonsense. It’s annoying!”

“Mentor…” Xu Jing’s Luopan fell, but he quickly bent down to pick it up. After making sure it was undamaged, he sighed in relief and said pitifully, “Mentor, I have some knowledge of geography, so I couldn’t help… wanting to observe the mountain and water formations here…”

This reminded Fang Jifan—it must be a family trait. Xu Jing’s grandson was Xu Xiake, the foremost geographer of the Great Ming. This surely had something to do with family influence.

The Xu Family was a prominent clan with countless books in their collection. Likely, Xu Jing had a strong interest in landscapes, having read numerous ancient texts, and thus had a deep understanding of geography.

“Then tell me, what’s the terrain like around the Western Hills?” Fang Jifan decided to test him.

Ouyang Zhi and the other two, meanwhile, pitifully shouldered their hoes and joined the labor force of Zhang Xin and the other Imperial Guard Commandants. They had arrived wearing scholars’ scarves and Confucian robes, which made their work quite inconvenient and clumsy.

Seeing his three senior fellow disciples in such an undignified state, Xu Jing’s heart sank. He hurriedly said, “From the moment I left the capital, after five li, I saw the mountains beginning to open up. After another li, the mountains gradually closed in again. Along the way, streams circled and rocks reflected, making it quite picturesque. This mountain has no distinct peaks…”

“Speak plainly!” Fang Jifan felt a headache coming on from all the classical language.

So Xu Jing said, “The terrain of this mountain is quite ordinary, but the mountains in the Northern Region are mostly rocky. Hmm… I can’t explain it clearly right now. How about… I survey the area for you, Mentor, and draw a Military Map.”

Fang Jifan’s eyes lit up in surprise. “Oh, you can draw Military Maps too?”

What was called a Military Map was simply a map. Drawing an accurate map was actually quite challenging. Without a good map, many tasks would be inconvenient—such as building kilns for making glass or planning land use.

“When my father was alive, he was most skilled in this. I learned a lot from him.”

“Then I’ll leave this task to you.” Fang Jifan nodded happily.

As the Tuntian Captain, there were many tasks to handle. On one hand, they needed to make glass; on the other, they had to build a brick kiln. To construct greenhouses on a large scale, they needed bricks to make them sturdy. Additionally, they needed to build a special greenhouse for nurturing seedlings and, of course, taking care of Fang Jifan’s ‘treasure.’

In Fang Jifan’s view, nothing in the world was more important now than that sweet potato sprouting.

But after observing it for several days, there still seemed to be no signs of sprouting, which frustrated Fang Jifan and made him increasingly anxious.

One day, as usual, after instructing his disciples and the people of the Western Hills Military Agricultural Colony to start cultivating, Fang Jifan slipped into the greenhouse again, only to emerge disappointed. Outside, Wang Jinyuan said, “Young Master, there’s been a strange person lurking around here these past few days.”

“A strange person?” Fang Jifan was taken aback and looked questioningly at Wang Jinyuan.

“That person is dressed as a Scholar. His age… probably not yet thirty. He comes early in the morning, doesn’t say a word, just squats by the newly plowed wasteland, watching people work. He stays completely still, squatting for hours on end.”

“Since he’s a Scholar, I felt it wasn’t right to chase him away. But aside from our Xishan Coal Industry and the Military Agricultural Colony, there’s no one else around. At noon, initially, he brought his own dry rations to eat. Later, I felt sorry for him, so I invited him to join us for a simple meal. Since then, he hasn’t brought any food. He comes every morning, squats and watches motionless like a wooden stake, eats with us at mealtime, and leaves in the evening.”

Fang Jifan listened, dumbfounded. This situation… someone was actually mooching meals off him, Fang Jifan?

“Let’s go take a look.”

So Wang Jinyuan led Fang Jifan a couple of li away from the Military Agricultural Colony. There, Commandants were digging flues and tilling the land, sweating profusely from the hard work.

They had never endured such hardship in their lives, but after these days, they had become much stronger and tanner. Sweat poured from their bodies, veins bulged on their arms, and even Zhang Xin no longer had his fair, delicate appearance.

Sure enough, not far away, a man who looked like a Scholar was squatting on the ground, intently watching the Commandants working vigorously. He pursed his lips, deep in thought, so much so that he didn’t even notice Fang Jifan approaching.

Fang Jifan, however, was not polite. From behind, he lifted his foot and aimed a kick at the man’s lower back.

This was a habitual move of his. This guy coming here for free food was one thing—Fang Jifan wasn’t actually a stingy person—but he looked more like a spy. Could he be here to uncover the secrets of the Western Hills?

But… the moment his foot swung out, the squatting Scholar seemed to sense it instantly. He turned around and dodged with surprising speed.

Fang Jifan missed completely, stumbled, and was about to fall face-first when the Scholar, swift as a snake, steadied him firmly.

Whoosh…

Fang Jifan’s face paled slightly from embarrassment.

The Scholar took a step back and bowed to Fang Jifan. “This student is Wang Shouren. I have come here presumptuously and hope you will not take offense.”

Wang Shouren…

How could Fang Jifan not know Wang Shouren? This guy… knew martial arts too?

But then Fang Jifan quickly remembered—Wang Shouren had studied Military Manuals since childhood and was skilled in Archery and Horsemanship. In later generations, many only remembered his identity as a Great Scholar and his achievements in suppressing Prince Ning’s rebellion, overlooking that he was also a master of martial arts.

His movement just now was extremely quick and astonishingly fast; his martial skills were likely not weak at all.

Fang Jifan also knew that Wang Shouren had placed fourth in this year’s Metropolitan Examination. However, Fang Jifan had no intention of befriending him. For one, there didn’t seem to be any benefit, and for another, his father Wang Hua, when facing him at the House of the Crown Prince, always had an expression as if Fang Jifan owed him a million taels of silver.

“What are you doing here?” Fang Jifan naturally wasn’t going to be polite.

Wang Shouren, looking every bit the refined Scholar, pursed his lips and said, “This student is engaged in the Investigation of Things.”

“Investigation of Things…” Fang Jifan didn’t understand!

Wang Shouren patiently explained, “That is, studying the principles of things. For example, how Young Master Fang grew his melons.”

Uh… truly having nothing better to do.

Fang Jifan could only say, “Oh, I see.”

He couldn’t beat him in a fight, and should he gather a group to gang up on him?

Fine, he’d just ignore him.