"What's good about Shanyin's Liu Clan?" Chen Shi muttered, "Each and every one of them is arrogant and full of schemes. In my opinion..."
Shanyin's Liu Clan and Shanyang Gongsun Clan were only separated by a single Longji Mountain, and Longji Mountain was rich in resources and had mineral deposits. The two families had a lot of friction and their relationship was far from harmonious.
"Enough You old lady, the marriage between Wang Clan and Liu Clan, how can you casually discuss it?" Gongsun Mo couldn't sit still anymore and hurriedly stood up, shouting, "Gong Sun Qiang, help your mother back to rest, I still have some words to say to Shoujie."
Gong Sun Qiang quickly helped the still chattering old lady walk away, and Gong Sunhui also said, "Shoujie, you accompany your grandfather and have a good chat, I'll go talk to my mother for a bit."
Gong Sunhui had already achieved her goal today, and with her identity, participating in Gongsun Mo and Wang Shoujie's conversation would be inappropriate. So, she pulled Wang Luojing's small hand and left together.
After everyone left, Wang Shoujie finally bowed to Gongsun Mo, saying, "Shoujie pays respects to Grandfather."
"No need for so much courtesy, come, try some of the spirit tea and fruit that I've personally planted." Gongsun Mo had long been prepared for Wang Shoujie's arrival and immediately ordered someone to serve the spirit tea and fruit.
Spirit tea and fruit were luxury goods in the Martial Clan, and could only be planted in spirit fields. Spirit fields were also an important strategic resource for each family. Gongsun Mo had only a few acres of spirit fields, which were specifically used to entertain esteemed guests.
As for Ping'an Wang Clan, they currently only had spirit fields planting White Jade Spirit Rice, which wasn't enough for the clan's consumption. They naturally wouldn't use it to plant spirit tea and fruit, which had a lower economic value.
The spirit jade carving tea cup was filled with a reddish-brown tea, which had a subtle fragrance that was refreshing and calming. After taking a sip, a slight bitterness spread through his mouth, but in the next instant, a cool sensation filled his brain, making Wang Shoujie feel refreshed and clearing his mind of some gloomy thoughts.
"Good tea." Wang Shoujie couldn't help but praise, "This spirit tea is rich and fragrant, with a long aftertaste. It also helps to calm the mind and wash away distractions."
"Haha, I didn't expect you to be a connoisseur of tea as well." Gongsun Mo was delighted, feeling that his efforts had not been in vain, and proudly introduced, "This tea is called Shanyang Small Spirit Tea, which I discovered by chance in the depths of Longji Mountain when I was young. After decades of careful cultivation, it can now stably produce over a pound each year, and even our two elderly ancestors at home are very fond of it. I'll give you some every year."
When mentioning giving one or two pounds, Gongsun Mo's mouth twitched imperceptibly, clearly showing some reluctance. It was no wonder, as planting spirit tea was not like planting White Jade Spirit Rice, and it was not like planting tea on Earth, where it could be densely planted.
Usually, only a few spirit tea plants could be cultivated in an acre of spirit field, and meticulous care and maintenance were necessary. The processes of harvesting, rolling, and fermenting were also extremely particular.
Therefore, even the cost of one or two pounds of spirit tea was extremely high.
"Thank you, Grandfather, I'm grateful." Wang Shoujie knew that Gongsun Mo was willing to support him and naturally wouldn't refuse.
Currently, in Wang Clan, only Wang Shoujie was worth Gongsun Mo's investment, just like when Gongsun Mo had married his daughter to Wang Dingyue as a continuation of their family line. If one day Wang Shoujie could ascend to the Spirit Realm, he would certainly remember this favor.
More importantly, Gongsun Mo and his wife loved Gong Sunhui very much. Wang Shoujie was also Gong Sunhui's biological son, and could be said to be her reliance in Wang Clan in the future. Therefore, looking at his daughter's face, Gongsun Mo would also think of ways to squeeze out some resources to support his grandson Wang Shoujie.
Of course, all of this was based on Wang Shoujie having decent potential and a good relationship with Gong Sunhui.
If Wang Shoujie was an ungrateful person who didn't know his place, Gongsun Mo would naturally not bother. If Wang Clan completely declined, it wouldn't be a big deal to take his daughter and granddaughter back to Gongsun Clan.
After the two exchanged some pleasantries, they finally got down to the main topic.
After Gongsun Mo had a cup of tea, his expression gradually became more serious: "Shoujie, after receiving the letter you sent this morning, I had some doubts at first. But after personally going to the farm to investigate and discussing with the experienced farmers in the clan, I finally confirmed that what you said is true. There is a high possibility of an aphid disaster this year, which may result in a production decrease of over 60% compared to last year. Shoujie, on behalf of the Gong Sun Clan..."
"Grandfather, please don't speak so formally." Wang Shoujie interrupted, "Even if I didn't issue the warning, given the rapid outbreak of aphids in the past two days, all the clans will become aware of it, at the latest by tomorrow or the day after."
The initial signs of aphid infestation are not obvious, and there is always some degree of aphid impact on production every year. So when a few aphids first appear, the farmers are usually accustomed to it. But once an outbreak occurs, the aphid eggs buried in the soil will crawl out in a very short time, catching people off guard.
"That is not true," Gongsun Mo shook his head, "The Shanyang Gong Sun Clan has a total of 16,000 mu (approximately 2,667 acres) of fertile farmland. Calculating the winter wheat harvest this season at 15 large copper coins per mu, that amounts to 240,000 large copper coins, which is equivalent to 2,400 gold. Even if the production is reduced by 20% due to the aphid outbreak, that is still a loss of 400-500 gold that can be recovered. Moreover, I heard that you have already arranged for clan members and retainers to go to the mountains to capture lacewings and nine-star insects."
Lacewings, nine-star insects, even the insect king, are still just ordinary creatures, not even reaching the level of low-grade spiritual insects. In the deep mountains of the Shanyang region, at least some can still be found.
While they were talking, a retainer came to report that the first batch of lacewings and nine-star insects had been captured and brought back.
"In that case, let's not delay any further. Please have your trusted retainers accompany us," Wang Shoujie stood up and said, "Disaster relief is like fighting a fire, it cannot be delayed even for a moment."
Soon, the maidservants went to call Gong Sunhui and Wang Luojing back, and they all rode horses together to the largest farm of the Gong Sun Clan, which was a massive farm of 7,000 mu (approximately 1,167 acres) of fertile farmland.
This shows the strong foundation of the Shanyang Gong Sun Clan, far exceeding that of the Ping'an Wang Clan.
All the tenant farmers in the entire farm were already frantically working, using traditional wood ash solution mixed with double the amount of insecticide powder to exterminate the insects. This method was quite effective, and if they had enough insecticide powder, they might be able to contain the insect outbreak.
Unfortunately, the Gong Sun Clan had only stockpiled a small amount of insecticide powder, which was like a drop in the bucket and insufficient to control the situation.
"Fourth Brother~" After more than a day's effort, Wang Luojing had tamed three lacewing kings and one Nine-Star Insect King, but she looked very exhausted, "Due to the time constraint, I could only give these insect kings a basic training, barely enough to command them to release the wild lacewings and nine-star insects."
"Luo Jing, you've really worked hard." Wang Shoujie said sympathetically, patting her head, and took out a spiritual fruit from his pocket, "Have this first to regain your strength. Disaster relief cannot be delayed."
"Don't worry, Fourth Brother." Wang Luojing obediently nodded, and after eating the spiritual fruit, her energy was restored considerably, "As long as I can control the insect kings, those lacewings and nine-star insects won't run wild. But getting them to self-assemble the smaller insects and then return is not possible."
Subsequently, Wang Luojing tried her best to command the insect kings and insects to enter the thousands of mu of wheat fields. By the time they were done, it was already dark.
At this time, Gongsun Mo arrived on the scene, bringing along cooks and many spiritual foods, and they prepared a dinner right there in the farm. A room was set up for the clan leader, the junior clan leader, and a clan member named Gong Sun Zhong and his wife Wang Liu Yu.
Wang Liu Yu was from the Wang Clan, and she should be around 40 years old now, but due to good maintenance, she looked only in her early 30s. Her attire and lifestyle seemed quite comfortable.
"Shoujie pays respects to Third Aunt and Third Uncle." Wang Shoujie first bowed respectfully.
"This, this, Shoujie is too polite." Gong Sun Zhong, who was rather dark-skinned, was said to be in charge of the clan's mining operations and had a high status among the direct lineage members, but he was rather simple and not very sociable.
Wang Liu Yu also returned the greetings repeatedly, showing great respect for Wang Shoujie. Although her generation was one above Wang Shoujie's, Wang Shoujie was the direct heir, the clan leader of the Wang Clan.
It was Wang Luojing who suddenly rushed into Wang Liu Yu's arms, sweetly calling her "Aunt."
Compared to blood relations, Wang Liu Yu was the second daughter of Fourth Elder Wang Xiaozhi. She was Wang Luojing's true aunt, so their relationship was naturally intimate.
[Heartfelt thankyou for the support! SlaySaga]