Poor but talented scholar

Chapter 39 Seeds

Lu Chuan's lips curled into a confident smile as he said softly, "Dad, did you think those beans were worthless and just bury them all in the mud under the rocks?"

Lu Shouye slapped the back of his head: "Oh, right, back then the pharmacy owner only accepted the large ones, and I felt it was a waste to throw away the remaining small ones, so I stuffed them all back into the pit and covered them with a layer of withered leaves. I think they've all rotted by now."

"It won't rot. After this spring rain, it's at its most vibrant." Lu Chuan stood up, his eyes clear. "Buying seeds in the county town is not only expensive, but the seeds we buy might not even be suitable for the mountain climate here. The wild pinellia in those rocky beaches is native to us. It's tough and has strong medicinal properties. These are all gifts from God."

Lu Shouye felt a surge of heat rising within him, wishing he could immediately grab a basket and rush into the deep mountains: "Then what are we waiting for? While it's still early, I'll take some men to dig it up."

"Dad, no rush, we need to prepare a bit." Lu Chuan stopped his father.

Lu Chuan also asked Lu Shou to find a few people.

The four of them, each carrying a bamboo basket, trudged into the depths of the back mountain.

Lu Shouye led the way, wielding his machete to cut through the overgrown thorns.

After walking for about an hour, a mudflat piled with rocks came into view.

"This is it!" Lu Shouye stopped and pointed to a crevice in the rock covered with withered leaves.

Lu Chuan stepped forward and gently parted the thick leaves. In the dry soil, he saw that the tiny, milky-white Pinellia ternata seeds, about the size of broad beans, were lying quietly, with tiny white tips about the size of sesame seeds already emerging from the buds.

"Good heavens! They're all alive!" Lu Dashan's eyes gleamed with greed. "If we dug all of them back up, wouldn't our land be completely filled?"

"Don't move yet." Lu Chuan squatted down and carefully observed the surrounding environment. "Uncle, Dad, look, this place is shady, near water, and the soil is full of rotten leaves. This is what the Master called 'advantageous terrain.' When we dig, we have to bring back 30% of the soil from here and mix it into our own plot. This is called 'drawing qi.'"

For the entire morning, the four of them carefully dug up five or six baskets of wild Pinellia ternata seeds, as if they were digging for gold in the soil.

As the sun set, Lu Shouye and Lu Dashan carried heavy baskets back to the construction site on the back mountain, and all the men who were working there gathered around them.

"Maintaining the family business, is that the seed?"

"He's incredibly handsome, even more robust than the pharmacist in the county town!"

Standing on the bluestone slab, Lu Chuan said loudly, "Uncles and elders, these are the first batch of seedlings for our Liutang Village. From today onwards, we must not only plant them, but also learn how to save the seeds."

"Okay! We'll listen to Chuan'er!" The men's enthusiasm was completely ignited.

Normally, at this hour, the farmers who have been busy all day should be finishing up and going back to the village to eat corn porridge, but at this moment, not a single person moves.

"Village head, what are we waiting for? Let's plant these treasures while the soil is still soft!" Someone shouted, and the whole mountain echoed in response.

"Yes! Plant them! I'll only feel at ease when I see them buried in the soil."

Lu Deshou looked at Lu Chuan with a questioning look in his eyes.

Lu Chuan glanced at the sky and nodded: "Let's plant the seeds while the ground is still warm."

"Uncle Shan, please take a few people to be in charge of dividing the seeds. Five catties per square, not an ounce more or less."

"Dad, you take a few people to cover the soil. Each shovelful should only cover about three fingers' thickness, and you need to apply even pressure when compacting it."

As Lu Chuan gave the order, the once noisy hillside became orderly.

Torches were lit, and pine torches were stuck between the rocks, illuminating the entire medicinal field as if it were daytime.

Lu Chuan was not idle; he held a thin bamboo pole with measurements carved into it.

It wasn't until late at night that the last wild Pinellia ternata seed finally found a home.

The villagers dispersed in twos and threes, their laughter echoing in the empty valley.

"Chuan'er," Lu Shouye said excitedly, "my hands were shaking when I was digging for seeds on the rocky beach today. Tell me, if we hadn't gone to sell that basket of herbs last month, if we hadn't discovered that treasure trove, would we still be worrying about buying seeds right now?"

Looking at the dark mountain road ahead, Lu Chuan replied, "Dad, there are no 'what ifs' in this world. We were able to discover the rocky beach because we dared to venture deep into the mountains; we were able to cultivate this land because we were willing to put in the hard work."

Lu Shouye remained silent for a long time, then suddenly sighed: "I used to think that studying was just for passing the imperial examinations and becoming an official. But seeing those men following your orders today, and seeing this barren mountain transformed, I realize that your studies were worthwhile."

Lu Chuan smiled but didn't reply. In the lower echelons of this feudal dynasty, going it alone was always a dead end; the only way was to lock down everyone's interests.

When I got home, the oil lamp in the main room was still lit.

Mother Lu hurried over, carrying a bowl of warm water that had been sitting on the stove: "Quickly wash your face, look at all the mud you're covered in. Chuan'er, you must be exhausted!"

Lu Chuan took the handkerchief and wiped his face; the steam hit him.

He was thinking about something else.

The scale of land reclamation in Liutang Village was truly enormous.

In Qingyang County, the business of Pinellia ternata, a highly sought-after medicinal herb, has always been an unspoken, private domain for the major pharmacies in the county town.

In the past, when the Lu family father and son went into the mountains to dig up some wild products to sell, it was just a small-scale operation that no one paid attention to. But once this hundred acres of fertile land takes shape, the eyes of people like Baicaotang and Ji'antang will probably be on their heels like wolves.

Lu Chuan sat on the threshold, looking at the starlight in the distance. "I need to go find Master Zhao and ask for a name."

"A designation?" Lu Shouye was taken aback. "We're just farming our land, what kind of designation do we need?"

"If we don't have the reputation of a scholar to protect us when we reclaim this wasteland, once these medicinal seedlings grow, the taxes from the county government and the extortion from local thugs will probably skin us alive."

Lu Shouye stood to the side, feeling a chill run down his spine as he listened.

He thought that once the medicinal herbs grew in the ground, his good days would be over, but he forgot that the world is full of wicked people who are greedy for money.

“Master Zhao is a proper scholar, and he’s even registered in the county government.” Lu Chuan’s gaze was deep. “What we’re doing isn’t called privately growing medicinal herbs; it’s called investigating things to acquire knowledge, and using agriculture to benefit the people. As long as Master Zhao gives his approval, this back hill is his field for investigating things. Anyone who touches us is touching scholars.”

As night deepened, Lu Chuan sat under the oil lamp, sketching on rough yellow paper by the dim light.

He was writing a detailed treatise on the cultivation and research of medicinal plants.

He planned to bring this letter back to the school first thing tomorrow morning.

He wanted to write down the depth of every grid line on the back mountain and the proportion of every load of wood ash.