When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 689 - 647 Wheat Breeding
Just as Lorenzo had predicted, although in newspapers and among some merchants, the doctrines of the Holy Path faction were discussed in terms of subversion and rationality.
But to outsiders, especially those in the more distant areas of the Golden Plains, due to distorted information spread and the "rebellious" stance of the Thousand River Valley itself, what they heard was that the people of Thousand River Valley had gone mad, they wanted to establish a new Papacy.
To citizens and nobles, a tiny cultural backwater undertaking a religious reformation movement seemed ridiculously overwhelming.
Yet within the confines of Thousand River Valley, because of official encouragement, amidst the increasingly chilly north winds and the decaying and withering flora, the sparks of thought continued to spread.
If the theme of October was "What it means to be human," then the theme of November was "What is the world."
The former addressed the issue of life views, urging people to bravely pursue happiness in the present world rather than maintain the status quo.
The latter resolved the issue of world views, telling people that the world is a stage for humanity to achieve happiness and progress, not a trial designed for suffering or salvation in the afterlife.
In just two short months, the intellectual centers of Shelley City and Rapids City began to spread their influence in all directions.
By December, not only were the surrounding towns of Shelley City and Rapids City seeing monks waving the Truth Newspaper and handing out flyers, but even the streets of towns in Hotam County were witnessing this phenomenon.
Even due to the need for the endorsement of freedom in perpetual lease rights reform, this stream of thought began to flow from the Priestly Order into one winter village after another.
Monks, influenced by the ideological movement, exploded with unprecedented zeal for conversion.
A large number of monks began to advocate for the Holy Path faction within the monastery, even going as far as teaming up with companions to criticize the Abbot, engaging in face-to-face debates.
With fervor for church reform, more monks stepped out of the monastery.
Some went to cities to begin associating and proselytizing with other monks, while more accepted employment from teachers of Horn's literacy classes, with the help of the Hundred Households Captain, teaching adults and children literacy.
From the perspective of daily life, it seemed as if nothing had changed.
But the actions of these monks lay as hidden undercurrents, continuously transforming the foundation of the citizens of Thousand River Valley in places unseen beneath the surface.
The people of Thousand River Valley, who underwent ideological transformation, began to markedly differ from the common notion of "people" within the Empire.
Most monks believed that at this time, they should capitalize on their victory and continue to relentlessly strike at traditional theism.
However, after proposing these two topics, Horn did not continue to expand on new concepts, but instead began to patch these two doctrines.
The most important thing was introducing completely new terms and concepts.
So during this period, the content of the Truth Newspaper revolved around "What is reason? I think, therefore I am!" "How to understand free will?"
Aside from perspectives on nature, the core theories of Holy Path administration, such as "demon banishment," "holy war judgement," "labor and exchange," "labor and surplus labor outcomes," were frequently featured in the newspaper.
The Theodora Printing House swiftly collected these articles and, after monks added numerous examples and metaphors, published a book titled "Holy Path Salvation Teaching Concise Encyclopedia," which quickly received acclaim from a large number of citizens.
Not continuing to expand new concepts in December wasn't due to Horn's lack of ideas, but rather he hoped monks themselves could reach the final realization.
Under the theories of the Holy Path, both world views and life views were already established, so values were becoming evidently apparent.
Besides the ideological considerations, another factor was that some thugs and schemers, whether intentionally or unintentionally, started to profit from this enthusiasm.
This led to Horn welcoming a new batch of trainees in the Trinity Education Team within the ry Court Barracks before the New Year Festival.
No matter how tumultuous it was outside, it remained peaceful within the ry Court Barracks.
After Ascension Day on December 1st, Horn received good news, that with Catherine's help, the experimental field at Saint Plow Monastery on Autumn Dusk Island finally bore results.
In this glass-roofed conservatory, peat dissipated heat throughout the room via chimneys, making the space warm as spring despite it being winter outside.
To conduct agricultural experiments year-round, Saint Plow Monastery had invested a fortune in purchasing these large pieces of semi-transparent glass.
Even the windows of Horn's Holy Seat Mansion used quite a few scraps from this conservatory. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Inside the conservatory were six plots, planted with wheat, rice fruit, soybeans, root vegetables, along with two blank experimental sets.
These four crops were essentially the major food crops of Thousand River Valley, and the breakthrough crop this time was wheat.
Looking at the wheat on the left plot and then at the wheat on the right plot, Horn immediately noticed the difference.
As an old farmer, he immediately smiled and asked Catherine: "Did you breed wheat seeds with more ears?"
"To be precise, I bred wheat seeds that are more sensitive to manure." Catherine, with silk-gloved hands, brushed over the wheat ears, "This merely unlocked its inherent potential."
To Catherine, breeding was quite a simple task. With her ability to manipulate plant growth, others might need decades of field observation and hybrid backcrossing to breed suitable varieties.
The most outrageous point was that the effect of Catherine's accelerated maturation in plants almost equaled that of typical plants growing naturally, just requiring some extra magic power to sustain.
Take breeding seeds resistant to moisture as an example.
Normally, it's necessary to find wild wheat in moist areas or directly sow wheat in swamps, employing stress selection to pick more adaptable plants, then backcrossing them with high-yield plants.
Under current technological conditions, this process might take decades or even hundreds of years.
But for Catherine, she only needs to forcibly mature the plants a few times in a moist environment, and generally three generations later, the plants' progeny will inherently possess traits resistant to moisture.
Of course, if Catherine doesn't intervene, the progeny will immediately degrade, but it doesn't hinder progeny from crossbreeding with other varieties.
Nonetheless, this requires the tidy Catherine to crawl around in the fields, something she can accept yet still harbors minor resentment.
"Through this method, we've bred wheat varieties that are more sensitive to fertilizer and resistant to rust disease, estimated to yield around 110 to 120 pounds per acre.
With adequate fertilizer and alchemical pest control, it's estimated the yield could pile up to between 130 and 150 pounds per acre."
This was nearly a doubling compared to the previous yield of 80 to 90 pounds per acre.
Even without sufficient fertilizer and alchemical insecticides, yields on the original basis increased by about 20%.
"After breeding wheat varieties more sensitive to irrigation and fertilization, we encountered a problem that wheat stalks averaged over a meter tall, and overly plump grains and bountiful ears were too heavy, causing the stalks to be pulled down." Catherine continued, "Then, we drew inspiration from you."
"Drew inspiration from me?"
"Yes, we bred wheat stalks only about 70 to 80 centimeters tall. With a lower center of gravity, even the biggest heads wouldn't topple the stalks."
Horn's face darkened abruptly, saying blandly, "As expected of an old friend from the church, I trust your work. Next, steer towards developing resistance to diseases."
Having said that, Horn immediately chose to disengage, turning around to leave the conservatory without giving Catherine any chance to retort.
