The Harvester

Xiao Ge couldn't be more satisfied with Zhao Ruxi's choice to go to the Ministry of Works.

No one who is still sitting on the dragon throne and in good health would want their son to covet the position below them, not even if they only have one adult prince left.

Zhao Ruxi's decision to go to the Ministry of Works shows that Xiao Lingyan remains indifferent to fame and fortune and has no intention of seizing power from him. This makes Xiao Ge feel extremely relieved and he is even more eager for Xiao Lingyan to fully recover so that he can make him the crown prince.

At the same time, he also had high expectations for Zhao Ruxi.

Not only Xiao Ge, but also the ministers in the court were all eagerly waiting.

Although some people have reservations about women's participation in politics, they admire Zhao Ruxi's talent.

Leaving aside the fact that there's one top scholar every three years, no one in history, except for Zhao Ruxi, has ever been known to achieve this feat after only two years of studying. Not to mention Zhao Ruxi's talents in painting, calligraphy, and mechanical engineering.

The lock on the safe that no one could open was Zhao Ruxi's idea, as was the amazing spinning machine. She also conceived of two farm tools and her ingeniously improved elevated waterwheel. Now she's volunteering to go to the Ministry of Works, and she'll be tinkering with the mechanisms there, which only fuels our anticipation.

Zhao Ruxi did not disappoint them. More than twenty days later, she told Gong Cheng that she had made a harvester that would make harvesting grain less strenuous. However, it was still in the experimental stage, and it was unknown whether it would be successful.

"What? A combine harvester?" Gong Cheng was overjoyed to hear those three words.

As an official of the Ministry of Works, he was no stranger to grain cultivation. Whether it was wheat or rice, from planting to harvesting, it all required manual labor, and the hardship involved was unimaginable to those who did not farm.

"Yes, I'm planning to take the machine to the estate to test it out. Would you like to come and take a look?" Zhao Ruxi asked.

"Go, go, go," Gong Cheng said, then, remembering something, quickly added, "The Emperor knows you've had these things done, and he's very concerned. He asks about the progress every two days. Do you think we should report this to the Emperor?"

Zhao Ruxi had no objection and nodded, saying, "Okay."

Xiao Ge was very eager to see the harvester made by Zhao Ruxi.

This is a large-scale agricultural tool that is more effective and saves more manpower than the two other agricultural implements. If it works well and can be widely used, the cultivated area of Great Jin can be expanded significantly.

However, the emperor leaving the palace was no small matter; it involved security issues, required a large-scale military operation, and wasted resources and manpower.

He could only instruct Eunuch Xie: "Go and take a good look for me, and come back and tell me."

"Yes," Eunuch Xie replied, bowing.

So, in addition to the dozen or so officials from the Ministry of Ministry of Works, Eunuch Xie and the two eunuchs and one Imperial Guards who accompanied him to the estate also joined Zhao Ruxi.

Zhao Ruxi originally intended to test the combine harvester on her own estate. But seeing this scene, she first took the harvester to the field for a trial run before sending someone to inform the magistrate of Beining County, asking him to recruit thirty strong and experienced farmers.

When the appointed day arrived, she had the craftsmen from the Ministry of Ministry of Works install and set up the harvester. Qi Xugu and Zhao Jingli then appeared at the estate with Eunuch Xie and the others.

Gong Cheng and Zhao Ruxi hurriedly went to greet him, exchanged a few words with Eunuch Xie, and then turned to ask Qi Xugu, "Lord Qi, what brings you here?"

"Hehe, I just came to watch the fun." Qi Xugu waved his hand with a chuckle, "You guys continue, just pretend I'm not here."

As he spoke, his eyes remained fixed on the harvester.

Eunuch Xie said, "The improvement of agricultural tools is crucial to the grain situation of the Great Jin, so it's only natural that Lord Qi would want to come and take a look."

He smiled and said to Zhao Ruxi, "Your Majesty, if you are ready, let's begin."

Zhao Ruxi nodded and instructed Zhou Chun to give instructions to both sides. She then explained to Eunuch Xie and Qi Xugu, "To compare the efficiency of the harvesters, I specifically asked County Magistrate Wang to find thirty experienced farmers to work together and see how it goes."

Eunuch Xie, Gong Cheng, and Qi Xugu had long heard of Zhao Ruxi's remarkable achievements in Nanyang using newly made farming tools. Now, hearing her recount these stories, their interest was piqued even more.

Eunuch Xie said, "His Majesty would like to come and see, but it's inconvenient. If he knew that Your Majesty was going to hold such a competition, he would be even more eager to participate."

"Hahaha..." Qi Xugu was an old minister who knew Xiao Ge's personality all too well, and spoke casually, "His Majesty loves to watch the excitement and enjoy novelty."

At this moment, Zhou Chun returned and reported, "Your Majesty, everything is ready on both sides, and the area has been measured by the officials from the Ministry of Works."

Everyone was standing on the edge of the paddy field. Looking up, they saw that the paddy field to their right had been divided in two with ropes, and it appeared that both sides were the same size.

The farmers recruited by County Magistrate Wang stood in the distance. They were all strong men in their twenties and thirties, with burly figures and bulging muscles on their arms, clearly skilled at farm work.

People couldn't help but cast strange glances at County Magistrate Wang.

If Zhao Ruxi were still the same Lord Zhao she used to be, even if her harvester lost the competition, it would only be a loss of face.

But she is now the Consort of the Prince of Qi, which not only concerns the face of the Prince of Qi, but also represents the royal family.

If her harvesting skills are inferior to those men in the competition, where will the royal family's reputation be? Wouldn't Prince of Qi's reputation suffer a great blow? Wouldn't the Emperor be angry with them because of this?

This County Magistrate Wang is utterly incompetent. Consort of the Prince of Qi told him to find some farmers, couldn't he have just found people from one village? There would have been a mix of old and young, strong and weak; at least that would have been fairer, wouldn't it?

Is he deliberately picking these strong men, each one capable of taking on two men, to ensure that Consort of the Prince of Qi loses the competition and humiliates herself?

When County Magistrate Wang saw everyone looking at him like that, his mind raced, and he quickly understood what they meant. He immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

He quickly explained, "Her Majesty instructed me to find thirty strong men. I don't know what Her Majesty needs these men for. Since Her Majesty has given the order, how could I not do it properly? So I carefully selected these men..."

As he spoke, his voice grew softer and softer, and even though it was autumn and everyone was wearing light jackets, his forehead was still covered in sweat.

What he didn't say was that he not only personally selected the strong men, but also worried that they wouldn't have the strength to work, so he fed them well for two days.

Zhao Ruxi quickly smiled and said, "I asked County Magistrate Wang to find the people. That's how you show off the harvester's efficiency, isn't it? It's alright, it's alright."

She asked Eunuch Xie, "They are all ready. You represent the Emperor, why don't you say it's time to begin?"

Eunuch Xie nodded and said, "Alright."

He called out to everyone, "Ready?"

The burly men responded in unison, "Ready!" Their voices were extremely loud.

"Then... let's begin."

At Eunuch Xie's command, thirty strong men began to cut rice with swift, sweeping movements.

County Magistrate Wang brought them here and only ordered them to work diligently. They didn't know what kind of officials these people behind them were, but since County Magistrate Wang could only bow and scrape before them, it was clear that they were all high-ranking officials.

County Magistrate Wang treated them to good food and drink, so they couldn't afford to lose face for County Magistrate Wang. Therefore, they rolled up their sleeves and worked with all their might, trying their best to impress these high-ranking officials. With a swish, swish, swish, as the sickles swung, rows of rice stalks fell, and in no time the men had advanced a meter or two.

On the other side of the rope, which was closer to everyone, stood two rather unattractive draft horses, three men, and a cart with a large roller. As soon as Eunuch Xie shouted "Start," they began to move.

However, horses need to be controlled by people, and the person sitting in the carriage cracked the whip for a while before the two horses moved forward a few steps, pulling the large roller.

Looking at the slow-motion scene over there, and then at how the burly men had widened the gap again, Eunuch Xie, Qi Xugu, and the others were all sweating bullets for Zhao Ruxi. Zhao Jingli was even more anxious.

"Ah, look! It's harvested! It's harvested!"

The officials from the Ministry of Works, standing not far from Eunuch Xie and the others, cheered joyfully.

Everyone perked up as the carriage slowly moved forward. The strong men standing on both sides of the carriage gripped the levers and shook them vigorously. The rollers rotated with their shaking and the pull of the horses. The rice along the way was pressed into the rollers as they rotated, and then cut off. The rice ears and stalks were all rolled into the machine.

The machine behind was turned by the joystick, and the rice grains that had been sucked in were successfully separated from the stalks, and each grain was separated into a sack trailing behind.

The two horses moved forward slowly at a steady pace, and soon harvested a large field of rice. In less than a quarter of an hour, the horses overtook the strong men and continued onward.

"Ah, that's more than enough!" The officials from the Ministry of Works became even more excited.