Yang Xian stroked his half-scorched beard and smiled. "This manure can enrich the soil, but if fresh dung is spread over the fields, it won't make them fertile. Instead, it'll burn the seedlings. Before manure can be applied, the dung must be left to sit for a while. Daoist Lü was the one who discovered this."
Having sorted out his thoughts, Lü Yue stepped forward as well. "At the time, I reasoned that ordinary weeds couldn't enrich the soil; only rotted vegetation could. In that case, dung would surely need to rot as well."
"Dig a large pit like this, put human dung and dung from the West Garden's livestock inside, then add wood ash. Any animal bones left over from meals at home can also be burned to ash and added, along with chopped-up stalks. Pour in the urine from your chamber pots regularly, too..."
"After several days, both the solid residue and the liquid can improve the soil's fertility. Moreover, from what I've observed, ordinary insects don't dare approach it. It even repels pests."
His great belly protruding and his mouth still working, Zhu Zizhen tossed a pig's trotter he had gnawed down to the bone into the pit.
I put in plenty of work, too. Half those animal bones came from this old pig!
As Zi Shou listened, he retched again.
For the sake of merit, Lü Yue really has thrown every scrap of dignity away. All that bragging about being the foremost disciple of the Interception Sect, and now you're doing this.
The consequences of manure fertilizer entering the world occurred to Zi Shou, giving him an immediate fright.
Like paper, manure fertilizer was cheap. It couldn't be banned.
Zi Shou was even a little worried. Wheat and rice cultivation were being vigorously promoted at Chentang