In the side room of the left wing of the Nanhua Temple, outside Jinling City.
After Ding Yun had finished handling matters related to brewing, artificial incubation of poultry, and purchasing young livestock to prepare for establishing a breeding base, she returned to Nanhua Temple.
As soon as she arrived,
She was pulled into the side room by the female Taoist priest Yunxi, who teased her, “You are now renowned throughout the Xuanmen. His Majesty and several ministers are protecting you, and you’ve even been bestowed the title of ‘Yuanjun of Supreme Benevolence and Virtue.’ Do I have to salute you now?”
The female Taoist priest Yunxi had become a nun to avoid trouble, so she wasn’t particularly concerned with the hierarchies and honorifics within Taoism, which is why she spoke so casually. If it were someone who had been a nun since childhood, she would absolutely have to perform a grand ceremony when seeing Ding Yun.
The title of ‘Yuanjun’ in Taoism is no less than that of ‘Tianshi.’ It is generally bestowed upon deities in legends, and very rarely upon actual individuals.
However, Ding Yun genuinely didn’t care about it. If the other party suddenly became formal and bowed, she would feel awkward. Therefore, she immediately replied with a smile, “Please don’t tease me. This is just an honorary title bestowed by His Majesty. It hasn’t been recognized by the Taoist sect. Besides, what is our relationship? Although we don’t have the formal title of master and disciple, we do have the substance of it. So please don’t say such things again; they make me feel guilty. It’s best if we continue to interact as usual.”
“It was my fault. It’s just that this title of ‘Yuanjun’ is the first time I’ve ever seen it. In previous years, those who received imperial decrees were mostly Tianshi or the like. The few Yuanjuns that were granted titles were all goddesses and immortal ladies from ancient myths and legends; there were no actual individuals. At least, based on the information I have, you are the first female Taoist priest to receive the title of Yuanjun in three to five hundred years. This truly brings great honor to us female Taoist priests! If it weren’t for the fear of being too ostentatious, I would have wanted to organize a grand ceremony for you!”
Seeing that Ding Yun’s attitude hadn’t changed, the female Taoist priest Yunxi immediately relaxed and her demeanor and tone returned to their original state. Clearly, she had been testing Ding Yun, and Ding Yun’s response had determined her future attitude.
“You’re making me blush. Oh, right, when you came last time, I wanted to ask, but something came up and I forgot. How has the yield been for those farmers who took the superior seeds to plant? They should have planted two or three seasons by now. Has there been no news because the results weren’t good?”
Ding Yun really didn’t want to dwell on this so-called honorary title of Yuanjun, so she abruptly changed the subject, asking about something she had almost forgotten but had recently recalled. It was about the batch of grain she had given to the female Taoist priest Yunxi a year and a half ago. Had anything come of planting it yet?
Upon hearing Ding Yun’s question, the female Taoist priest Yunxi suddenly sighed and shook her head helplessly: “I don’t know if the results are good or bad. When the first crop was planted using the grain you gave me as seeds, the yield was indeed quite high. In previous years, even with the most meticulous care, an acre of land would yield at most over two hundred catties of grain. However, using the grain you provided as seeds produced over eight hundred catties. As soon as the results came out, some nearby villagers rushed to get seeds. The farmers who planted first made a fortune just by selling seeds. But by the second season, the yield per acre dropped to about four hundred catties. Furthermore, the villagers who had planted two seasons on the same land found that the fertility of their land had significantly decreased, and it was even showing signs of falling from its original high-grade status to medium-grade. This was undoubtedly frightening. The difference between high-grade and medium-grade land is immense, in terms of both price and normal yield. So, at that time, they started to panic. Some even came to me demanding compensation. Although I gave them some compensation, I also clearly stated that I didn’t know what the final outcome would be with these seeds, so they shouldn’t come to me again if any future accidents occurred. If the seeds consume too much fertility, then rotate the crops. As for whether they listened, I don’t know. A while ago, the specific yield for the third season also came out, still around four hundred catties. Only those planted on lower-grade land had a lower yield, about less than three hundred catties. However, the problem of soil fertility depletion still existed. This season, many villagers had already planted for two consecutive seasons, so this situation was even more pronounced. While an increase in yield is a good thing, if the price is greatly depleted soil fertility, I feel it’s a bit like draining the pond to catch fish, ultimately not worth the loss. A while ago, some villagers came to demand compensation again, but I sent them all away. I had people notify them about the specific situation more than half a year ago. They still insisted on planting, so why should they blame me and come to me for compensation? Alas, the human heart is truly unfathomable!”
By the end, the female Taoist priest Yunxi's emotions were a little low, feeling a sense of disappointment that good intentions had not been rewarded.
Ding Yun, after a moment of thought, said, “It seems that even with some degeneration, those grain seeds can still maintain a yield of over four hundred catties. However, yield cannot increase without reason; it does require some depletion of soil fertility. To maintain this yield and reduce soil fertility depletion, one would either have to choose crop rotation or increase fertility supply, opting for deep plowing and fertilization. True Person, I have some techniques for composting and some techniques for making homemade fertilizers. I will write them down for you later. You can do whatever you wish with them, whether you keep them for yourself or pass them on to others. Fertilizing with ample amounts using these two techniques should have a considerably better effect, and perhaps the yield per acre could even increase to some extent. As for the specifics, you can decide later!”
With a little thought, Ding Yun understood that the reason for the decrease in yield per acre, besides the slight degeneration of the seeds, was more importantly due to insufficient nutrients. The same seeds, one with abundant fertilizer irrigation and one without, or with only a little, would have vastly different yields. It could even be a difference of one to two. Therefore, both the decline in grain yield and the decrease in soil fertility were entirely normal and reasonable phenomena.
Ding Yun did not have an immediate solution for this. She could only offer some techniques for making fertilizer. Internally, she quietly added a small new plan to her future endeavors: after building large-scale poultry and livestock farms, she would also build some fertilizer factories to process the manure produced during the poultry and livestock breeding process, creating rural fertilizer factories. This would undoubtedly increase crop yields and form a relatively benign agricultural cycle.