Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 926: Chapter 50: Swamp Prefecture’s Development Plan

Spring plowing has begun in Lingnan.

Spring plowing in the inland areas doesn’t start until mid-April, but due to the warm climate in Lingnan, it begins a month earlier. This climate also allows Lingnan to grow two to three seasons of rice.

Zhao Yao places great importance on spring plowing. Before the plowing started, he first created an improved version of the curved plow, then developed terraces suitable for mountainous areas, introduced new fertilizers, and then had the Ministry of Industry produce water wheels.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry finally produced ox-powered water wheels, horse-powered water wheels, and donkey-powered water wheels.

Zhao Yao ordered water wheels to be built in many places, which delighted the people greatly. Although Lingnan does not lack rainfall, it can experience temporary droughts in summer or autumn. With water wheels, there is no need to worry about irrigation issues. Furthermore, the ox, horse, and donkey water wheels do not require manual labor. When farmers irrigate their rice fields using water wheels, they save a lot of effort, and the process is very convenient.

These past few days, Zhao Yao, the Prince himself, personally went down to the fields to plow, attracting many people from Swamp Prefecture to watch. They initially thought that the Prince plowing the fields was just for show and wouldn’t actually plow. Moreover, the Prince was raised in luxury, so how could he possibly plow the fields? However, they were taken aback when Zhao Yao actually did plow the fields and did it very well.

No joke, before coming to Swamp Prefecture, Zhao Yao would plow the fields every spring with the Emperor, planting seedlings. In autumn, he would also go down to harvest and thresh the rice. Besides him, several other Princes did the same.

When the late Emperor was alive, he always emphasized that the Zhao family came from a farming background. Even though they became rulers of the world, they must not forget their roots. Working in the fields and growing crops is something every farmer knows how to do, and the children of Lao Zhao family must know as well.

Previously mentioned, the Emperor has his own piece of land where he plants crops every year. Zhao Yao and the other Princes also have their own fields, and every year they must plant food grains. When autumn comes, the Emperor will inspect if their harvest is bountiful. The most important thing is that when they farm, they must personally work in the fields and can’t delegate the task to others.

Leaving aside this rule of the Lao Zhao family, Zhao Yao himself is very interested in farming. Most importantly, like the Emperor, he places great importance on food, otherwise, he wouldn’t have created beneficial farming tools like the curved plow, fertilizers, and water wheels.

To ensure that every household can farm properly, after creating the improved curved plow, Zhao Yao decreed the Ministry of Industry to mass-produce them and distributed the improved plows to every household for free.

Worried that the people wouldn’t know how to use the improved curved plow, Zhao Yao sent people to personally teach them. Moreover, if the new plow encounters any problems during use, it can be taken directly to the Ministry of Industry for free repairs.

The people of Swamp Prefecture, seeing that the Prince truly knows how to farm, have a better impression of him.

With the new curved plow, the people of Swamp Prefecture find this year’s spring plowing much easier, and the plowed fields are better than in previous years.

Although spring plowing has just begun, the people of Swamp Prefecture are filled with anticipation for this year’s harvest. Firstly, because the Prince has created many things beneficial for farming. Secondly, because Zhao Yao has exempted all taxes this year, meaning aside from the grains handed over to the court, the remaining grains are the people’s own and they no longer need to hand them over to the Prince.

After leading by example and demonstrating spring plowing, Zhao Yao went around to inspect how the people were plowing and to ask if they encountered any difficulties during the process.

Uncle Gao noticed Zhao Yao had disappeared again and felt the Han Prince Mansion had become an ornament.

"General, why do I feel this isn’t the Han Prince Mansion but rather your General Mansion?" Zhao Yao spends less time at the Han Prince Mansion than He Lianfang.

"Why, do you miss him?" He Lianfang teased, "If you miss him, I’ll send someone to bring him back."

"That’s not what I meant. Didn’t the Prince finish plowing the fields? How come he’s missing again?" He’s been back for a while but has seen the Prince very few times.

"He’s gone to inspect the farming situation of the people."

"Is it necessary for the Prince to personally oversee such matters?"

"He has always valued grains, otherwise he wouldn’t have created so many things beneficial for farming," He Lianfang said, "When the late Emperor and the master were alive, they often emphasized that their roots were in farming and they must know how to farm. Over these years, Zhao Zheng has done well in this matter, and except for the youngest, the other Princes can farm and grow crops as well."