Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 647: Late Night (2)

Lou Qianyu looked at her with suspicion, "What’s the matter? Sister-in-law, please speak freely."

"Isn’t it about the sericulture?"

"Does sister-in-law mean that we should work on this together?" Lou Qianyu came back to his senses and asked tentatively.

Feng Xuxu nodded, "Indeed, I can provide the silver, and you can provide the land. We’ll split the profits evenly."

Lou Qianyu turned and sat in his chair, silently thinking so quietly that one could hear a pin drop in the hallway. Feng Xuxu remained silent for a long while, and so did Lou Qianyu. Finally, after weighing the pros and cons, he nodded in agreement, "Sister-in-law, I agree."

Feng Xuxu’s anxious heart relaxed, "Great, I’ll not only provide the silver but also the technology. I can not only breed white silkworms, but I can also breed rainbow silkworms, whose silk is all different."

Lou Qianyu was even more shocked. He hadn’t expected the Empress to possess such skills. He nodded, dumbfounded. If he had chosen not to cooperate and gone solo, just with the Empress’ rainbow silk, he wouldn’t have been able to compete. The thought alone was frightening.

"Now that we’ve come to this, there’s another matter we could discuss." Lou Qianyu was now completely settled in his chair, no longer in a rush to go back and arrange for his people to attend the class. Instead, he was even more composed than before. Today, his heart had already been through immense surprises, astonishment, and disbelief.

"Sister-in-law, go ahead."

Feng Xuxu glanced at him, noticing how different he seemed, completely opposite from the excitement he had shown earlier. She couldn’t detect even a hint of excitement in his demeanor. Doubtful for a moment, she continued, "I’m very fond of the seafood from the Sunset Kingdom. How about this, let’s see if we can open up a sea route to transport your fresh seafood to my country. Sea transportation is faster than land, and a ship can carry more than land carriages. It wouldn’t take long to make round trips."

Lou Qianyu thought for a moment and nodded, agreeing that it was as she had said. Regarding the sea... Lou Qianyu let out a soft sigh.

"Is there a problem with the Sunset Kingdom?" She had sharply caught his sigh.

Lou Qianyu admitted with difficulty, "Sister-in-law, the sea routes are fraught with difficulties and also carry great dangers. I’m afraid..."

"In that case, if there’s a glimmer of hope, I want to fight for it," Feng Xuxu said. "Moreover, if the sea route is not viable, then I would have to transport these goods to my country as semi-finished products." Feng Xuxu had also considered the dangers of the sea, which is why she had a second plan—to make various dried fish. After drying them well, they could be transported back without having to cooperate with Lou Qianyu.

Lou Qianyu clearly understood the subtleties as well, but remembering how the country’s treasury was indeed short on silver, he decided to take the chance. After making up his mind, he looked at the Empress, who was lounging in her chair, "Sister-in-law, I’ll have someone try it and get back to you in a few days."

"That’s fine. You can just let me know before I leave."

"If there’s nothing else, sister-in-law, then I will go down to arrange for someone now. I may be slightly late, and Qianyu will bring them over to disturb your rest later," Lou Qianyu said, seeing her nod with a smile. He glanced at Zhenzhen, who was sitting in the chair silently, smiled at her, then turned and left.

Feng Xuxu watched him leave, then stood up and returned to her bedroom, sitting at the small round table. Holding the writing materials that Yingsu had already prepared, she went over in her mind what she had learned in the past. Once the recollections were complete, she picked up her brush and wrote down several schemes. Half an hour passed, and Yingsu watched as her mistress kept writing swiftly, with a stack of completed papers beside her. After a while, Yingsu saw the Empress put down her brush.

Feng Xuxu picked up the several schemes she had written, page by page, comparing them. After checking them all, she handed them to Yingsu, "Keep these safe and hand them to me later."

Yingsu complied, securing the papers her mistress had handed her before cleaning up the table.

Just as she caught her breath, Lou Qianyu arrived at the door with several people. Feng Xuxu stepped outside to see them, and couldn’t deny that each one seemed as sharp as the next.

Feng Xuxu led them to the small garden outside and ordered them to clear the plants, kneeling on the ground as she drew diagrams and explained.

"This saline-alkali soil has ’desalination’ and ’salinization’ seasons. The ’desalination’ season is during summer rains, due to heavy and concentrated rainwater... This is called ’desalination’. Conversely, the spring season is the ’salinization’ season, due to the evaporation from the soil surface... So, looking at the places with less mirabilite now, there are several measures: first engineering measures, second agricultural measures, third biological measures, fourth chemical measures, and fifth, planting salt-tolerant crops. If saline-alkali soil truly cannot be transformed, then we must plant salt-tolerant crops. Not only can it improve the soil, but it can also yield a harvest. The last, and the one I want to emphasize most, is the third option—biological measures, which involve livestock manure or planting certain grass, pulling it out periodically, constantly rotating between planting and uprooting. This will change the soil quality, especially if combined with decaying leaves from the forest, speeding up the soil improvement," she paused, seeing they were listening intently before continuing, "Do you understand?"

"Empress, does that mean we should start turning over the soil now, use the decaying leaves from the forest as fertilizer, and then plant that kind of grass that can change the soil? Once it sprouts, we pull it out, then plant it again, repeatedly, until the white crust no longer forms on the ground, then we can start planting crops."

Feng Xuxu was quite impressed with him and praised, "Yes, exactly. Such grasses are quite common, like Star Grass and Alkali-covering Grass. They are very familiar."

"Sister-in-law, so can we start planting now?"

Feng Xuxu looked at the anxious Lou Qianyu and shook her head, "Now we can only turn over the soil, fertilize, and plant the grass, but it’s winter now, and the surface is frozen. With the current weather, we have to wait until spring to proceed."