Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1316: Chapter 1269: Superior Crops Begin with Peas

Chen Xi rolled his eyes at Liu Bei’s words, dismissing them. How could he have the cheek to talk about others?

”Forget it, Lord Xuande, how is your examination coming along?” Chen Xi decisively changed the topic to avoid lowering the tone with Liu Bei.

”It’s alright. The subjects on Math, Law, and Politics were set by Wen Ru. I feel I might pass if I take the exam,” Liu Bei said, looking up at the beams of the house.

”Oh, what kind of questions are set for the Politics subject?” Chen Xi asked curiously.

”Qin fell because of the law, Former Han fell because of Outer Relatives. Now there are Yellow Turbans first, then Dong Zhuo. The situation of the country is muddled—why is this? How do we resolve it?” Liu Bei said with a sense of melancholy while looking at Chen Xi.

”Is Wen Ru trying to make sure most people fail with this question?” Chen Xi asked Liu Bei, this question essentially asking them to rely on the two previous points and the current chaos to answer why the current state is as it is, and how it should be resolved.

This question is open-ended; the first ’why’ is enough to make most people surrender, and adding ’how to solve it,’ whoever can resolve it, Liu Bei should ask thrice.

Back then, Zhuge Liang’s Longzhong Plan only answered the first question, during implementation of the second, even Zhuge Liang found himself in a tough spot.

Similarly, Lub Su’s plan on the couch also answered the first question, but during implementation of the second, it directly failed.

It’s unavoidable; solving this issue, combining all of Liu Bei’s Civil Officials plus Chen Xi, could only be a temporary solution, a long-term solve remains elusive. Has Chen Xi not also been searching for methods, testament written in history comes without standard answers?

”The intention of Wen Ru is to deliver the Law and Politics exams together, Politics worth seventy points, Law thirty points. Politics is just one question, Law has two hundred questions, and the scoring system for Law doesn’t account for scores, only deductions, each wrong answer minus a point, blank sheets are not penalized,” Liu Bei said, spiritedly.

”So, the total score is actually seventy for Politics, mistakes in Law become negatives, and then affect the Political score?” Chen Xi felt like Li Youu was getting further down the road of torturing recruits beyond repair; this game theory shouldn’t be taught to Li Youu, his talent in this area is undeniable.

”No, only if you’re confident; completely correct answers for Law give thirty points. Of course, a single error results in negative scoring, and if Law is entirely correct, unanswered second questions in Politics further deduct points,” Liu Bei said with an authoritative look at Chen Xi.

”...” Chen Xi felt his face twitch in response, ”Wen Ru really is planning to weed out these first batch examinees, isn’t he?”

”I do find it somewhat overly harsh,” Liu Bei nodded. ”In my view, under this exam style, the correct approach is to solely answer Politics.”

”Oh, let me calculate the greatest benefit if Zijing were to take the exam,” Chen Xi began using mathematical models to solve this ridiculous game theory scenario.

What Chen Xi calculated didn’t seem too off, but overall it wasn’t too odd. Li Youu apparently aimed for full scores in Law, and just the first question in Politics answered, achieving a total score of seventy, which is a perfect score.

”Who is recruiting for Law and Politics?” Chen Xi turned to ask.

”Wen Ru himself,” Liu Bei said, looking at Chen Xi.

”Then there’s no problem; it seems Wen Ru wants to recruit someone with solid fundamentals and their own viewpoint,” Chen Xi seemed to understand Li Youu’s idea. With this recruitment process, having a success or two would be considered Li Youu’s good fortune.

However, Li Youu generally handles his own tasks independently. Not having an assistant wouldn’t be a severe issue, aiming for quality over quantity, probably.

”Yet barely anyone applies for Agriculture and Engineering, while Medicine has many sign-ups, thanks to Physician Hua and Dr. Zhang,” Liu Bei sighed, realizing that after Qu Qi, it became clear that farming indeed should be approached scientifically.

”It will get better over time; when there’s a shortage of people, we can guide some orphans we nurtured,” Chen Xi sighed and said, feeling helpless about solving such discrimination. It made him worry about Qu Qi’s situation in Chang’an.

As Chen Xi was worrying about Qu Qi, Qu Qi was re-educating Zao Zhi, with the dialectical debate between them already concluded, it was purely Qu Qi dominating Zao Zhi.

Although Zao Zhi is also a professional farmer, compared to someone like Qu Qi who has passion, ambition, and money for experimentation, there’s no comparison. At least, Qu Qi had successfully created a series of innovations using Chen Xi’s research direction, while Zao Zhi remained at surface level.

Naturally, Zao Zhi had been thoroughly outmatched by Qu Qi, with absolutely no ability to retaliate. Of course, the main reason is Zao Zhi is determined and practical, not unreasonable, allowing Qu Qi to provide numerous instances leaving Zao Zhi utterly convinced.

”Hanmou really is talented,” Zao Zhi said with admiration, convinced that with what Qu Qi was discussing, even if the yield doesn’t reach five stone per mu, the difference wouldn’t be much. This was the dawn of a revolution.

”This is not much at all,” Qu Qi shook his head and said, ”What was discussed earlier is all just external influences like fertilizers, fallow, and intercropping, which are important but not the most crucial. Just like millet can never yield more than wheat, seeds are extremely important.”

Zao Zhi, over several days of exchange with Qu Qi, went from skepticism to utter conviction. Unexpectedly, Qu Qi had more secret tricks; this really seemed like the revolutionizing the agricultural landscape, maybe five stone yield wasn’t just talk!

”Kindly share more!” Zao Zhi bowed deeply, understanding fully the value of grains, expressing utmost respect in his gesture towards Qu Qi.

”Let’s start with peas...” Qu Qi, here to disseminate scientific farming practices, was generous in sharing his knowledge, believing that saving individuals benefitted the broader society.

Qu Qi meticulously explained the story of Mendel’s pea experiments taught by Chen Xi to Zao Zhi, emphasizing the initial defiance he felt, dedicating immense time to growing peas in greenhouses, recklessly using his Spirit Talent to prematurely witness the results.

Ultimately, Qu Qi reached a conclusion: the strengths of the same species could be concentrated on a single plant and inherited perfectly. Although this required significant time and numerous experiments, repeatedly growing and searching for wild variations.

Were it not for Qu Qi’s Spiritual Talent, foretelling the future result from interventions in personally grown plants, he couldn’t have invented this breed with amalgamated superior Attributes of the species in such a short period.

Ordinarily, achieving what Qu Qi managed would require endless years of planting, planting, and more planting—potentially driving one to madness.