"When will this wheat be ready for harvest?"
After admiring his handiwork for a while, Emperor Yuyuan turned to the former gardener, now serving as the Emperor's personal agricultural consultant, and asked.
"Your Majesty, it will be ready in five days.
There's a folk saying: 'Harvest at ninety percent ripeness, lose ten percent.' If we wait until the wheat is fully ripe, the grains on the ear will be lost, and about ten percent will be lost after harvesting.
This would be a great loss for the common people.
Of course, if Your Majesty is not in a hurry, we could wait until the wheat is fully ripe."
The gardener answered truthfully.
"Since the folk custom is to harvest at ninety percent ripeness, let's stick to that. The harvesting and threshing tools must be prepared in advance. I will personally handle the harvesting."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Five days passed quickly. After five sunrises and sunsets, the day arrived. Emperor Yuyuan had barely slept the night before. He woke up at three in the morning and, unable to contain his excitement after four o'clock, lit lanterns and began harvesting.
To describe it, it was as if dozens of palace maids and eunuchs, carrying large lanterns, surrounded the small plot of land.
Emperor Yuyuan, however, forbade anyone from helping.
He diligently harvested it himself.
He also did not entrust the threshing and winnowing to anyone else after harvesting. Even the final weighing was done by him personally. The final weight was 270 jin, and considering it was only a third of a mu, the calculated yield per mu was around 900 jin.
"Hahaha, nine hundred jin, nine hundred jin!
Ancestors bless us, Shennong protect us, nine hundred jin!"
As soon as the yield was calculated, Emperor Yuyuan burst into ecstatic laughter. His laughter was so exaggerated that those serving him nearby worried he might lose his mind, like Fan Jin in his imperial examination success, becoming delirious with joy.
Fortunately, as the Emperor,
He was not so easily overwhelmed.
After a few minutes of laughter, he immediately ordered:
"Someone, bring these baskets of wheat.
We will take them to court!"
With that, he strode proudly out of the imperial garden, ready for court. However, his harvesting and threshing had indeed taken up a significant amount of time.
So, by the time he reached the imperial court hall,
The officials had been waiting for him for nearly half an hour.
At the same time, a remonstrance official immediately stepped forward to impeach, not to accuse other officials, but simply to point out that Emperor Yuyuan had arrived too late and was not diligent.
He even quoted a poem about a king who does not attend morning court.
In normal times, even if Emperor Yuyuan was angry, he would have to suppress it. For the sake of his reputation as a wise and sagacious ruler, he could not overly reprimand the remonstrance officials. But today was different; today he was delayed by important matters.
Matters that were a hundred times more important than attending court.
So, he cleared his throat and immediately said with a smile:
"My lateness to court today was not a waste of time or an intentional slight. I woke before dawn and began working by lamplight as soon as I was awake.
I harvested all the wheat I planted in the imperial garden, threshed it, and weighed it.
I have also experienced the hardships of farmers.
Bring those baskets of wheat!"
"These are the fruits of my own labor.
I did not entrust any part of it to others!"
As Emperor Yuyuan finished speaking, the eunuchs waiting outside quickly brought the wheat he had personally harvested into the center. At the same time, the remonstrance officials could not say anything more. After all, food is the paramount concern of the people, and agriculture is the foundation of the nation. The Emperor personally farming, harvesting, and threshing was the best possible way to encourage agriculture.
How could they criticize when they should be praising?
Officials who knew about the presentation of the improved seeds six months prior, seeing Emperor Yuyuan's joyous expression, immediately guessed that the extremely high yield mentioned in the memorial from the Governor of Jinling Prefecture was likely true.
Therefore, they either offered their congratulations directly,
Or inquired about the specific yield.
Emperor Yuyuan, seeing this, happily sat on his dragon throne and spoke to the officials below about his recent hardships, the difficulties faced by farmers, and the specific yield. He also mentioned that he had sent the remaining seeds to the imperial farm for cultivation and invited the officials to visit the imperial farm after court to personally experience the harvesting of the improved seeds.
This would then pave the way for the promotion of the improved seed varieties.
Following this, of course, came the congratulations from the officials.
Some called it an auspicious omen, others attributed it to divine blessing and the Emperor's wisdom. In short, under their effusive praise, the contributions of Ding Yun and others were relegated to secondary importance.
Fortunately, Emperor Yuyuan was not completely overwhelmed by the flattery.
After a period of joy, he began to draft an imperial edict, primarily to reward Yun Qi, Ding Yun, and her fictional mother. Ding Yun's deceased mother received the highest reward.
She was directly conferred the honor of being enshrined in the Shennong Temple,
Meaning a grand hall would be erected for her in Shennong Temples across the land, where she would be deified and receive offerings from the people.
Yun Qi was elevated to the title of Yuan Jun.
And bestowed with vast estates of fertile land and other privileges.
As for Ding Yun, since there was no further title to bestow without venturing into the realm of "Empress Mother," she was instead granted more gold, silver, and jewels, as well as special privileges such as not needing to bow before the Emperor and a death exemption token.
As the recipients of the rewards were all women, and the rewards did not involve titles like marquis or minister, the officials had no objections and unanimously approved. Thus, Emperor Yuyuan's imperial edict was finalized.
Following this, the officials dispersed from court,
Heading to the imperial farm to jointly witness the harvesting of the high-yield grain seeds.
The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict rode his horse at full speed to deliver the corresponding rewards and imperial decree to the recipients. He was also responsible for finalizing the edict for Ding Yun's mother to be enshrined in the Shennong Temple.
However, due to the relatively long distances and Ding Yun's somewhat elusive whereabouts, Yun Qi, the Daoist priestess, received her imperial decree and rewards within five days. Ding Yun, on the other hand, did not receive hers until more than a month later.
For Ding Yun and her companion,
This matter did not necessarily bring immense joy. At most, it felt like the matter they had undertaken six months ago had finally reached a conclusion.
They no longer had to worry about it constantly.
Everything else was essentially of little consequence.
After accepting the imperial decree and rewards, the two of them continued their lives, busy with their respective tasks as before.
However, the common people throughout the land discussed the matter extensively.
Most people, upon learning of the situation, first expressed their gratitude, then eagerly inquired about where to buy the high-yield grain seeds. Beyond that, the incense offerings at the Daoist temples increased significantly.
After all, everyone knew that the high-yield grain seeds were developed by two female Daoist priestesses. As their own temples were too far away for ordinary people to travel to and offer incense, they could only show their appreciation by visiting nearby temples, hence the surge in incense offerings.
Of course, this was for people from other regions.
In Jinling itself, crowds nearly overwhelmed the Nanhua Temple. It was only after Yun Qi, the Daoist priestess, ceased to appear due to the constant disturbances that the situation somewhat eased.
But regardless,
The entire Daoist sect greatly benefited from this.
Those Daoist priests who were initially displeased with the two women being conferred the title of Daoist Yuan Jun now dared not utter any sour remarks. After all, they had achieved a great feat that could truly feed the people of the world and save millions of lives. Why should they not be granted the title of Yuan Jun?
Even if the imperial court did not bestow the title,
The people of the world would likely have worshipped them willingly.
After this event, Ding Yun and Yun Qi, the Daoist priestesses, truly became famous throughout the land. Without any unforeseen circumstances, it was highly likely they would be remembered in history.