Chapter 20

This year, Anqiu County planted 31,000 mu of rapeseed. While the cultivation was not meticulously intensive, all necessary fertilization was completed. By the Mid-Autumn Festival, the crop had entered its maturation stage. During this period, the pods develop, seeds form, and the oil content begins to accumulate. In about half a month, it would be ready for harvest. If staple grains determine whether the local populace can eat their fill, the rapeseed harvest determines whether they can eat well. For this reason, Ji Chu kept the entire yamen on alert to prevent any mishaps.

While Ji Chu braced himself for the task, the people of Anqiu County had already taken to the streets to shop. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, and rarely having had a reason to celebrate with such joy, they were keen to purchase goods and enjoy the holiday properly. Only by refreshing their spirits would they be ready for the rapeseed harvest.

The shopkeepers in the county were the first to notice the change in the people. In the past, customers would always pick the cheapest items. Now, while they weren't necessarily buying the best, they were choosing what was most suitable. Furthermore, the local masons were receiving numerous requests to repair houses. With a little extra silver in their pockets this year, the people could finally mend their dilapidated homes to ensure they would be warm throughout the coming winter. The pastry shops also saw an increase in business, as people bought mooncakes to celebrate the festival. In more prosperous regions, these things would be unremarkable, but in Anqiu County, it was a different story—no one had done such things in years. Ultimately, it was because of the bumper harvest and the fact that land taxes were not as heavy as before; the entire county seemed to have come back to life, and life had become significantly easier.

"What will happen once the rapeseed is harvested?"
"It depends on the price of the rapeseed. The merchants who buy it arrived long ago, but they were taken away by the yamen after trying to negotiate prices with the farmers."
"Taken away by the yamen?"
As businessmen themselves, everyone instantly understood. Ji Chu was intervening to prevent the merchants from suppressing prices, ensuring a unified market price for the county. The merchants probably hadn't expected the yamen to be watching so closely, and they had to slink off to receive their "instructions."

If it was expected that honey would sell well, the popularity of rapeseed was even more certain. In this era, regardless of whether it was animal fat or vegetable oil, any form of oil was a precious commodity. Therefore, without Anqiu County needing to promote it, merchants were already watching closely. Large swathes of rapeseed fields could not be hidden, and the Anqiu County yamen had long since inquired about the current market price of rapeseed to ensure the farmers would not be taken advantage of. While the commoners bustled about preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival, the yamen officials were engaged in heated debates over the pricing.

A young scholar who had returned from studying in another region was the most deeply moved. He had begun his studies at age five, and his teacher had noted his great talent, but his family had no money, forcing a break in his education. Eventually, a relative from elsewhere took pity on him and brought him along to continue his studies. However, throughout Quxia Prefecture, land taxes were heavy everywhere, and life at his relative's home had not been easy. Upon hearing that the local county school offered free tuition and boarding, he had returned immediately. He had been anxious upon his return, fearing the county was deceiving people or that his family could not support him. After all, he had heard outside that Anqiu County’s yield per mu was low this year, while other places had enjoyed massive harvests.

But upon arriving home and seeing the steaming buns his family had prepared for him, he burst into tears, crying, "Father, Mother, Brother, Sister-in-law, why go to such expense?" Only after his family insisted and showed him their well-stocked granary did he stop his tears. Rumors claimed Anqiu County was dirt poor, but that was not the case; in fact, things were better than in previous years. When the honey harvest also proved successful and he could even afford sweets while studying, he marveled, "Is this still my home?" During his breaks, he helped in the rapeseed fields, and looking at the golden flowers, he felt that life was truly different from before.

During this time, classmates wrote to him, mentioning that people were traveling hundreds of miles from Anqiu County to sell honey and sugar, mocking the county for being destitute and asking if the free schooling was a scam. He heard from an elder in his family who worked in the Household Department that the officials there feared Anqiu County would not be able to pay the remaining taxes for the year. The young scholar’s eyes shifted, and he replied with a non-committal answer. Though he had never met the new magistrate, he had already grasped Magistrate Ji's intent. Let them talk! It was the tangible benefits that the people of Anqiu County actually received that mattered.

By the end of the eighth month, the scholar changed into old clothes and went to the fields to harvest the rapeseed. Not just his family, but the entire county was busy. Compared to the summer, which was mainly for harvesting wheat, the autumn harvest was diverse—from the traditional local pasture grasses to red beans, mung beans, and the spring wheat planted by the diligent. Coupled with the newly introduced rapeseed this year, one could feel the essence of a bumper harvest upon entering the fields. This was the final bounty before the harsh northwestern winter.

The yamen was also busy, tasked with calculating the harvest and preventing farmers from selling their rapeseed at low prices, which would disrupt the market. They also had to guard against grain merchants attempting to swindle the people. There was one source of relief, however: they did not need to worry about bandits seizing the grain. It was said that before winter arrived, the slightly wealthier neighboring counties were always plagued by bandits, and the garrison had to send troops to assist them. It was solely because of Anqiu County’s reputation for poverty that they were ignored. Ji Chu found this both amusing and helpless.

The autumn harvest ran from the 20th of the eighth month to early in the ninth month. The rapeseed harvest was a pleasant surprise, proving that Ji Chu’s carefully selected crop was indeed suitable for the local area. Even when planted on newly reclaimed land, it grew well. According to statistics, the yield ranged from 150 jin per mu at the lowest to 310 jin at the highest. Secretary Li said happily, "With 31,000 mu of rapeseed in the county and an average yield of 204 jin, based on the current market price of 43 wen per jin, we can definitely pay off the taxes owed to the Household Department this year. Furthermore, the people will have more silver in their hands."

Unlike staple grains, after keeping seeds and enough for their own consumption, the rest of the rapeseed could be sold. This meant almost all of it counted as income—income that belonged entirely to the farmers. Ji Chu breathed a sigh of relief. Pushing for rapeseed cultivation at the start of the year was a gamble; if it had failed, it would have been his fault. Now that he knew the harvest was good, he could finally rest easy.

While Ji Chu felt relieved, the people were beaming. The scholar calculated carefully and said excitedly, "Our family planted four mu of rapeseed. After deducting taxes, seeds, and what we kept for ourselves, we will have about 23 taels of silver left!" How much?! The whole family was stunned. Twenty-three taels! Earned by their own hands! How many years had it been since they had seen such profit? The hard work of the entire year was finally worth it. It had been a grueling year, working in the fields from dawn to dusk. They had expected only to have enough to eat, but now they were told they had not only eaten their fill but also had silver to spare. While the honey had only benefited a few, the rapeseed income directly raised the prosperity of everyone. The wealthy families who had previously resisted planting rapeseed were now ready to call Magistrate Ji the "God of Wealth." How had he known that rapeseed would yield such profits? One family even set off firecrackers to celebrate their new income.

The entire Anqiu County cheered once more. Across the fields, farmers called out to one another: "How was your rapeseed harvest?" "My family's was great, how about yours?" "Did anyone suppress your price?" "Who would dare! We’re all listening to Magistrate Ji!" Who could have imagined that during the same harvest season last year, the people of Anqiu were wondering how to survive the winter and borrow money for seeds? In less than a year, the entire county had undergone a transformative change.

Life was truly improving. The scent of oil wafted from every household. Those who used to be sparing with oil when cooking now did things differently—they used the oil to fry white flour pancakes! Ji Chu returned from the fields, his stomach growling. It was no surprise; with the new wheat milled into flour and paired with rapeseed oil for pancakes, the aroma was irresistible. Even the poorest families could now afford such meals due to the reduced land tax and increased harvest. Such a life felt almost unreal.

Back at the yamen, Ji Chu made an entry in the ledger for land reclamation. The rapeseed harvest proved that these 31,000 mu were no longer wasteland. The actual cultivated land in Anqiu County had increased from 160,000 mu to 191,000 mu, still 119,000 mu short of the 310,000 mu on the books. He believed that with this year's bumper harvest, more people would choose to reclaim land for rapeseed, and those figures would soon be filled. This was more than just a number; it was a better life for the local people. When that day came, the local land tax would return to normal levels, and life would only get better. Ji Chu looked forward to that day.

"No time to be idle!" he thought. "Time to plan for winter planting and spring plowing! How many beekeepers, how much staple grain, and how much land for rapeseed? We can't keep adding water when there's too much flour, or flour when there's too much water."

While Ji Chu buried himself in work, a rumor outside caused an uproar. A merchant from the prefectural city who had come to buy rapeseed remarked casually, "I heard the prefectural yamen thinks your magistrate isn't doing a good job and wants to remove him." It was just idle gossip, and the merchant hadn't thought much of it—after all, commoners rarely cared who their magistrate was. But to everyone's surprise, the farmers broke into an outcry: "What?! They want to remove our magistrate?! On what grounds?"

The news spread through the county, and everyone who heard it looked on in disbelief. How could those above treat Magistrate Ji this way? He couldn't leave! Anyone else could go, but not their magistrate! What was the prefectural yamen thinking? Were they blind? When the news reached the yamen, Secretaries Li and Fan knew it had to be false. As a local magistrate, unless there was a major failure, one would not be easily removed within three years. But it proved one thing: the merchants from the prefecture knew that the higher-ups were dissatisfied with Magistrate Ji. Why? It was obviously because of the insufficient summer tax.

Now, not only were the people panicked, but the yamen officials were anxious to collect the autumn tax to make up the deficit. They had enough in the autumn tax to cover it, so money wasn't the issue. The people were panicked because they feared losing their magistrate, while the yamen was panicked because of the upcoming year-end assessment. How could they have almost forgotten about that? Thinking of Magistrate Ji’s standing with his superiors, Secretary Li felt a sense of dread. Ji Chu himself reflected: he hadn't paid a formal visit upon taking office, the summer yield was the lowest in the prefecture, and there had been a delay in tax payments. If he were the superior, his impression of himself wouldn't be very good either.