Hu Da Niu, leading the farming team, was preparing new experimental plots next to the existing ones.
Every morning, the first thing he did upon starting work was to get down on his hands and knees, sticking his eyeballs close to the ground, looking for any tiny sprouts pushing through the sand and soil.
He had planted crops for many years before, but never had he waited for a seed to sprout with such anticipation.
Perhaps it was the drought, which had left the desert in a desolate silence that filled him with despair. Or perhaps it was the important task assigned by the Madam, which made these few experimental fields seem extraordinary, like his own children, filled with expectation.
Beside the experimental plots, a simple thatched pavilion had been erected. Underneath it, a small table and a few small wooden stools were placed.
Ji Cheng He had been sitting there for the past few days, observing and recording at any time.
He was more patient than Hu Da Niu, waiting for the sprouts to emerge while sipping tea and writing the first draft of his agricultural book. When he had spare time, he even taught Hu Da Niu and the women working nearby a few characters.
He was truly a multi-tasker, an invincible "workaholic."
Within a few days, he had gained a following of female admirers.
As they grew more familiar, some of the women enthusiastically asked him why, with such good conditions, he was still unmarried in his early twenties.
Ji Cheng He smiled calmly, "My achievements are not yet complete, so I have not yet married." He would never tell them it was because he was too poor to afford a wife.
The women chuckled, "Then, what kind of girl does Master Ji like?"
What kind of girl? Master Ji asked himself this question as well. Suddenly, the figure hidden deep in his heart flashed before him.
Forget it, he had only met her briefly. She might already be married with children.
"It's easy to say what kind of person I like, but it's only when you see and interact with them that you truly know," Ji Cheng He's face turned a little red, but it was so dark that no one could possibly see his blushing face.
The women chuckled again, their hearts stirring with the desire to introduce a girl to Master Ji. However, they remembered that Master Ji was a scholar and a seventh-rank official. The girls they knew were all from poor farming families, and Master Ji would surely not be interested in them.
They could only forcibly suppress their meddling hearts.
Finally, on the morning of the seventh day, Hu Da Niu discovered the tiny sprouts emerging in the experimental field.
Those sprouts were barely a millimeter long, very inconspicuous hidden in the cracks of the sandy soil, but Hu Da Niu's not-so-large eyes managed to spot them.
He let out a series of excited cries and then ran back quickly, intending to deliver this earth-shattering good news to their Madam.
"Madam! The crops in the experimental field have sprouted! They've really grown! They've sprouted!" Hu Da Niu shouted all the way, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Oh, really? Come, let's go take a look!" Bai Sheng had expected the seeds to sprout. The efficacy of the spiritual spring water was no joke, so she wasn't surprised. However, seeing how excited Hu Da Niu was, she had to play along. Otherwise, it would dampen his enthusiasm for farming.
"Hey, Madam, slow down, please slow down," Hu Da Niu saw that the Madam's belly was already quite noticeable and was afraid that her excitement might cause her any trouble.
A crowd had gathered around the experimental field, all with joyful expressions, enthusiastically discussing the sprouting seeds.
Seeing Bai Sheng arrive, everyone respectfully called out, "Young Madam of the Proprietor."
Bai Sheng smiled and nodded at them, then bent down to look at the experimental field. She blinked several times before finding her visual target. Indeed, tiny sprouts had emerged.
Da Niu's eyes were truly sharp; he could spot such small things.
Ji Cheng He walked to Bai Sheng's side with a face full of joy, "Sister Sheng, the crops have indeed been planted. But I see that your soil mixture contains forty percent pure soil.
If we want to expand the planting area, where will we get so much soil?
Even if we get it, transportation is also a problem. It takes too long and the cost is too high."
Bai Sheng smiled calmly, "The issue that Brother Ji has raised is indeed the biggest challenge we will face in expanding our planting area in the future.
But for now, it's still in the experimental stage. If four-tenths of pure soil can grow crops, then what about three-tenths, two-tenths, or even one-tenth?
We will continue to experiment immediately. At the same time, we will actively seek methods to plant in sandy soil without using any soil."
Hu Da Niu pointed to the newly prepared experimental plots, "For Experimental Plot No. 2, we plan to mix in thirty percent soil; for Experimental Plot No. 3, two-tenths soil; for Experimental Plot No. 4, one-tenth. For Experimental Plot No. 5, all other operations will be the same, except that the planting soil will be entirely sandy soil."
Upon hearing this, Ji Cheng He quickly sat down to take notes. Bai Sheng sat down opposite him at the wooden table and said with a smile, "We've set up so many experimental plots precisely to understand under what conditions the seeds thrive best and under what conditions they can survive. Of course, we aim to find planting methods that use little to no added soil."
"Sister Sheng, speak slowly. Let me finish writing," Ji Cheng He wrote rapidly.
Hu Da Niu squatted to the side, listening attentively.
The other women also squatted to the side, tilting their heads, squinting their eyes to watch Bai Sheng speak, and Ji Cheng He record.
Bai Sheng poured a cup of water to moisten her throat and then continued in a gentle voice, "If it is necessary to add soil to grow crops better, then we will transport soil from elsewhere. No matter how difficult, we must persevere.
Transforming the desert is inherently difficult, but if we succeed, our Tasha Commandery will have millions more mu of arable land, and the people will not starve.
Our generation will do as much as we can. If we can't finish it, the next generation will. Just like silkworms eating mulberry leaves, we will slowly consume the desert, and one day we will cover the entire desert with green."
Ji Cheng He's heart was stirred with emotion. The hand holding the pen trembled slightly. Sister Sheng's resilience and perseverance were perhaps something many men could not match.
The light in Hu Da Niu's and the women's eyes grew brighter. No one had ever spoken such inspiring words to them.
Bai Sheng continued, "In addition to mixing pure soil, other decomposed organic matter can also substitute for pure soil, such as rotten wood, fallen leaves, and withered grass.
Many plants can survive in the desert, such as red willows, poplar trees, sea buckthorn, cacti, and camel thorns. We can plant them on a large scale, then cut them down and ferment them, which can also replace pure soil when mixed with sandy soil.
The fundamental purpose of improving sandy land is to enhance its water retention and fertility, and these decomposed organic matters possess both."
Ji Cheng He's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "This is a good idea. We won't need to seek soil from far away."
Bai Sheng actually had a bold premonition. She hesitated for a moment and said, "I once read in a strange book that as long as a place's vegetation coverage reaches a certain level, it can form a virtuous climate cycle and change the local climate environment. For example, it might rain regularly and cause temperature changes.
If it rains frequently, many plants will grow in the desert. The withered branches and leaves will fall onto the desert, and over time, the sandy soil will be improved.
In the early stages, we may have to work very hard, but once the desert is pushed into a virtuous climate cycle, no human effort will be needed, and we can enjoy the natural conditions of favorable climate and geography."
Ji Cheng He heard a very novel term and was somewhat confused, "What does 'virtuous climate cycle' refer to?"