No matter if you are a human or an immortal, you can still farm for me after traveling through time!

In a few days, Ji Qingyue will return to the Northwest. He has to prepare for the return journey and start picking cotton. At this time, the Northwest is gradually getting colder. He is really reluctant to leave the pleasant climate in the south of the Yangtze River, but he still has to return to the Northwest to grow cotton.

Expanding cotton planting requires more seeds, and we must prepare as many cotton seeds as possible to take a solid first step in promoting cotton next year.

Ji Qingyue temporarily gave up his job of growing rice and wheat, and for a long time he was busy with the routine of clearing land, raising seedlings, and transplanting cotton, becoming a ruthless cotton-growing machine.

The hillside that is not visible in the picture, except for the slope that was originally planted with fruit trees and designated as homestead, a large area has been reclaimed into cotton fields. From left to right, the closer the field is to the house, the earlier it was reclaimed, and the earlier the cotton planted, the more mature it is. Now there are about seven or eight acres of land.

This has reached Ji Qingyue's limit.

If he had enough time, he could have picked the fresh cotton, but now it was too late. After each crop of cotton matured, he had to use a sickle to cut off the dried cotton together with the branches and store them in the warehouse.

In order to store the huge amount of cotton with branches, Ji Qingyue built more than a dozen thatched huts. The huts were very simple and sloppy. He cut a few pieces of wood to build a wooden frame and covered it with thatch to make it a temporary warehouse, where he just piled cotton into it.

Ji Qingyue calculated that one mu of land could produce about 600 jin of seed cotton, including more than 300 jin of cotton seeds and more than 200 jin of cotton husk. He was still used to using the unit of measurement of one jin equaling 10 liang, and one jin here was equal to 16 liang. After conversion, he had to tell Magistrate Hong that the yield per mu was less than 400 jin, less than 200 jin of cotton seeds, and more than 100 jin of cotton.

In this way, the cotton seeds produced from one acre of land can be used to plant about two hundred acres of land. These days he has accumulated thousands of kilograms of seeds, enough to plant thousands of acres of land.

One thing to note is that the crops grown on the magical land are of excellent quality. If the seeds continue to be planted in the painting, they can continue to maintain this excellent level. However, once they are taken out for sowing, even if the improved high-quality seeds have been sown repeatedly, the next generation will gradually be inferior to the previous generation and gradually lose their characteristics as high-quality seeds.

In order to maintain the characteristics, seed selection and seedling cultivation before each planting are particularly important. Combined with scientific planting methods and continuous elimination of inferior seeds, there is a high probability that the excellence of the seeds can be maintained for a long time.

Before returning, Ji Qingyue had to go back to his old business - growing vegetables for supply. During this trip, he had spent almost all of his savings on building a new house, so it was time to go back and make money.

In order to make up for the shortage of goods for Tai'an House, Ji Qingyue planted vegetables on four plots of land near the stream that were originally planted with rice and wheat. He planted two acres of cabbage as the main crop and another two acres of other vegetables. By then, the cabbage harvested would be about 7,000 to 8,000 kilograms. The owner of Tai'an House said that no matter how much goods he had, he could take them and just plant them when he wanted.

The reason why Ji Qingyue suddenly became so anxious was because of this kind of thing. The person he wanted to kill was not an ordinary person. If he succeeded, there would be chaos in the society. When he thought about having no money and food when the chaos broke out, his heart was in turmoil and he was so anxious that he couldn't eat.

These days, not only was Ji Qingyue busy planting vegetables and harvesting cotton, but Li Erlang was also nowhere to be seen.

After another busy day, Ji Qingyue wiped the sweat from his head, put a large pile of freshly cut cotton branches into the thatched cottage, and then walked back to the new house to prepare dinner.

The new house faces south, facing the stream and backed by a slope. The windows are all very large, providing excellent lighting and ventilation. There is no need to turn on the lights before the sun sets. In winter, when it snows and the kang is heated, the unnecessary windows are sealed with water retaining boards, leaving only a few windows to let in light.

The newly built bamboo pipe leads water from under the waterfall all the way to the water tank in the kitchen. The bathroom is next door. When the water is not in use, the mouth of the bamboo pipe can be blocked. When getting water, just pull out the plug. It is very convenient.

Ji Qingyue scooped up a handful of water and washed away the dust and dead leaves on his face and neck. Only after he was done, he went to wash rice and cook in a relaxed manner.

The fire on the stove was burning very brightly, and the burning ashes floated down the chimney to the pine forest behind the house, rising into the air and dispersing. He returned to the bedroom, intending to change into clean clothes and wait for Li Erlang to come back before cooking.

When passing by the desk, Ji Qingyue stopped and stared at the scroll unfolded on the table in a trance.

This scroll was exactly the painting that the rich businessman wanted to present to the governor. On the second day after the banquet, Li Erlang immediately went to Zhao's house to get it. Fortunately, he went early and the scroll had not been thrown away by the servants. Zhao Luguang also found another painting by a famous artist, saying that it was the reward that the governor asked to compensate Li Erlang when he left.

The painting on the table had been soaked in water, and after drying, the paper had become wrinkled beyond recognition. Just as Li Erlang had said, both the words and the painting were blurred. The painting still had some outlines, but the words were completely unrecognizable. Only a bright red cinnabar Buddhist seal had not faded.

Next to the painting was a half-open scroll, which was a calligraphy scroll brought back from the Sutra Library of Qiling Temple, and the "Thatched Cottage in a Pine Forest" where Ji Qingyue was. The two had studied it and found that the marks on the three scrolls were exactly the same. Except for one that was blurry, the handwriting on the other two paintings was very similar. The last signature at the end of the inscription was "Bai Qingshan Monk", so there was a high probability that these paintings and calligraphy were from the same person.

Who is this Baiqingshan monk? I have to go to Baiqingshan Temple to find out.

After changing his clothes, Ji Qingyue threw the dirty clothes into the bucket and got up to go to the kitchen to prepare food.

The two puppies, soy milk and fried dough sticks, were not brought along, and without the chasing and fighting of the puppies, the poultry in the painting finally found some peace and quiet, eating and drinking without any worries, and growing fat and strong.

As for the chickens, ducks and geese, Ji Qingyue had no idea of ​​raising them through the New Year. Instead, he ate them whenever he wanted. There were plenty of fish in the stream, and he could just catch one and cook it when he was washing clothes, fetching water or watering the fields. Now the lambs had grown into adults, and the sheep pen had been expanded several times. When he was cleaning the sheep pen a few days ago, he noticed that the ewes had become pregnant without him noticing. Their bellies were swollen, and he didn't know when they became pregnant. He would have to ask the old man to help take a look when he got back.

Ji Qingyue killed a chicken and planned to make a simple and quick boiled chicken dish in the evening.

Li Erlang went out in the morning, saying he was going to visit someone. It’s almost time for dinner, so why hasn’t he come back yet?

Just when he picked up the cooked chicken, he heard a series of footsteps coming up the stairs outside. It sounded like Li Erlang had returned.

"Yue Lang, is there any work for me to do?"

So Ji Qingyue jumped out of the picture holding a whole chicken that was still steaming, "You chop the chicken into small pieces, I'll go back to cook the sauce and stir-fry some vegetables, and then we'll have dinner." He didn't ask where Li Erlang had gone, because they would always talk about it during the meal anyway.

Li Erlang took the kitchen knife and wooden board handed to him by Ji Qingyue and went downstairs to find a place to chop the chicken.

It is best to wait until the boiled chicken is cool before chopping it, but we can’t wait now.

Ji Qingyue's decision to eat boiled chicken today was not a spur of the moment decision, but he had wanted to eat it for a long time. He had made boiled chicken when he was in the northwest, but it was not authentic at that time, as it always lacked an important seasoning - sand ginger.

Sand ginger, also known as galangal, is the soul of boiled chicken. Without sand ginger, the chicken would be dead in vain.

When Ji Qingyue was strolling in Yuezhou City, he accidentally discovered this kind of galangal, which is unique to the Lingnan region. In an instant, he thought that poached chicken cannot be without galangal, so he immediately bought a small handful and planted it in the vegetable garden as soon as he returned.

Heat the pan, add oil, add soy sauce, stir-fry until fragrant, then add chopped galangal and ginger, season with salt, and sprinkle with a handful of chopped green onions when serving.

Ji Qingyue quickly stir-fried some vegetables, and when he took the meal out, Li Erlang had already chopped the chicken.

"Is this the sauce that Yue Lang has been thinking about?" Li Erlang covered his nose silently, just like Ji Qingyue couldn't accept the smell of sheep at the beginning. Forgive him for not being able to accept this pungent smell for a while.

"If you're not used to it, I made another dipping sauce without galangal." Ji Qingyue pushed the sauce over, picked up a piece of chicken, added some galangal sauce and put it in his mouth.

When you taste the flavors in your memory, you feel like your soul is returning.

When Ji Qingyue made boiled chicken for the first time, he always felt that something was wrong. The chicken was young and raised just right, not too fat or too thin, but the taste was not right. The rooster meat was tough and tough to chew.

He kept thinking about what went wrong, and finally when he saw farmers castrating pigs, he suddenly realized that chickens also had to be castrated to be delicious.

At this moment, he suddenly understood why a chicken has so many different names. A rooster is not called a rooster, but a "line chicken". It turns out that it is a rooster that has been castrated.

Later, he found a pig castrator and asked the castrator to help castrate a chicken. The castrator was confused. He had been castrating pigs for decades, but had never castrated a chicken. What if the chicken died? The two discussed for a long time. Ji Qingyue patted his chest and promised that he would not cause trouble even if it failed. Only then was the castrator willing to help.

During that period, Ji Qingyue and the Li family ate chicken so many times that when the topic of chicken was mentioned, the Li family members turned their heads and waved their hands.

If you don’t want to eat, don’t eat.

The meat of the chicken is more tender after being castrated. As a free-range chicken, its quality is excellent. If it were in modern times, it would definitely be very popular.

Ji Qingyue was very satisfied with the meal and even ate the chicken feet.

While gnawing on chicken feet, he asked Li Erlang who he had visited today.

"I received the painting from Mr. Zhao two days ago, and I asked him about the identity of the merchant who presented the painting. After inquiring, Mr. Zhao told me that the man was one of the merchants who cooperated with his company."

"Are you visiting that businessman today?"

"That's right." The two had just finished eating a chicken. Li Erlang picked up the clay pot, scraped the leftovers in the pot, mixed them with sauce, and cleaned up the last few dishes on the table. "It's a great harvest."

Ji Qingyue raised his eyebrows, signaling him to keep it a secret.

"The merchant's surname is Zheng. He wanted to curry favor with the governor by presenting him a painting, but he never expected the situation to turn out like this. Everyone at the banquet got drunk and the painting was destroyed." Li Erlang put down his bowl and chopsticks and went to the basin to wash his hands. Ji Qingyue's gaze followed him silently.

"This painting was bought by businessman Zheng by chance from a monk who was dismissed from Qiling Temple two years ago. The monk wanted to sell the painting to earn money for his journey, so he talked about the ingenuity of the painting to induce businessman Zheng to buy it." As he spoke, Li Erlang picked up a handkerchief from the shelf to dry his hands, and motioned Ji Qingyue to follow him.

Ji Qingyue stood up holding the chicken claw, and followed Li Erlang to the long table under the window, on which was placed the painting that Ji Qingyue had taken out.

Li Erlang identified the blurry picture, then pointed to a place and said, "It's here. You can't see it during the day, but you can see it at night."

I saw that there was a faint red dot exactly where Li Erlang was pointing, vaguely visible and almost invisible.

"Merchant Zheng said that the position of the red dot in the stone window on top of the tower is different every day. The first day is at the top and the thirtieth day is at the bottom. It circles from bottom to top every month."

Hearing Li Erlang say this, Ji Qingyue instantly understood what the red dot was: "That's the light from the incense stick hanging on the top of the tower when it burns at night."

Li Erlang nodded: "If that's the case, then it makes sense. There are people burning incense and worshiping Buddha on the top of the tower. This is exactly what the poem is talking about."

"what?"

"The green hairpin is now near the house, into the cliffs. The mist rolls up the yellow silk cape, and the clouds carve the white jade crown. The wild smoke makes the creek cave cold, and the moonlight in the forest makes the stone bridge cold. In the quiet night, the wind blows under the pines, and I pay homage to the Temple of Heaven." Li Erlang pointed his finger at the blurred inscription on the painting, and moved it word by word. When he had memorized the entire inscription, his fingertip moved one column to the left and pointed to the last sentence: "—Bai Qingshan Monk."

It’s this monk again.

Ji Qingyue carefully analyzed the meaning of this poem: "This poem seems to be about praying to the gods and worshipping Buddha?"

"Exactly."

In order to seek immortality and worship Buddha, a woman resolutely gave up everything and hid in the cold mountains to worship heaven and earth devoutly.

Of course, this is just an illusion to cover up the real purpose.

"The poem still doesn't mention where the scenery in the painting is." Ji Qingyue continued to gnaw on another chicken claw. He suddenly thought of a question: "Erlang, have you asked Zheng the merchant why he offered the painting to the governor instead of something else?"

Li Erlang looked at Ji Qingyue approvingly: "Of course I asked."

"It turns out that the governor doesn't like paintings. Zheng Shangren presented the painting because he heard that the governor was looking for some bizarre paintings." At this point, Li Erlang sighed: "The governor doesn't like paintings but is looking for them because the emperor likes them."

After searching layer by layer for the reason, it turned out to be because of the emperor!

When Ji Qingyue heard this, the action of gnawing on the chicken feet froze instantly, and he didn't know how to react.

I want to see the emperor, but I don't want to see him as a half-human, half-ghost.

Since ancient times, those who pretend to be gods have never had a good end. To put it bluntly, Ji Qingyue did not believe in the emperor.

Li Erlang carefully observed Ji Qingyue's expression: "Does Yuelang want to see the official?"

Ji Qingyue shook his head decisively, struggling to say what he had always wanted to say: "If... we still can't save the emperor in the end, can we leave the northwest and go to Jiangnan or Lingnan..."

"If that time comes, I will send you to Jiangnan and Lingnan..." and then return to the northwest.

The atmosphere in the bedroom was heavy. Li Erlang sighed inwardly, took the half-eaten chicken feet from Ji Qingyue's hand, pulled the stern-faced man to the basin, and gently washed his hands.

Ji Qingyue knew that he could not convince Li Erlang to give up fighting on the battlefield. After all, the monk can escape but the temple cannot. The old and the young can think of ways to leave, but the young and the middle-aged cannot.

Seeing the young man, who was a head taller than him, bending over with his head down, gently washing and wiping his hands, Ji Qingyue's heart softened instantly. He couldn't get angry even if he wanted to. He only hated the difficulties of the world, hated that the enemies hid too deeply, and hated that they were too powerless.

The two of them ended their previous topic tacitly and talked about the preparations for the return trip. They would leave in two days after the pass was provided.

When they return to the Northwest, there are still many things waiting for them.