[centre][h2]The Logs of the King’s Council - To Nurture a Paddy[/h2][/centre]


[right][u]57 years after the founding of His Majesty’s holy city, Talemon, Garden of Late Spring, 7th day - His Royal Highness Anu’s city of Talemon.[/u][/right]

[indent][i]I confess improving the effectiveness of the rice paddies has proven to be a larger task than I initially thought. Earlier experiments incorporated additional water in the paddies, but this seemed not to have a noticeable effect beyond making the harvest considerably harder for the shorter pygmies. Subsequent experiments attempted to increase the nutrient content of the water in the paddies. Leftover rice was added to stimulate growth, but this delivered insufficient results. It was later removed again after the smell of rot and alcohol filled the experimental paddy. 

However, lately, we have stumbled upon a possible solution to our issue: A few weeks back, a farmer came to me telling stories of fish in his paddies. Initially, he had seem them gnawing on the stalks of his riceweed and had decided to fish them out of there before they ate his plants; however, as he observed the fish closer, he found that they were not at all eating the plants.

They were eating the parasites on them.

We have thus concluded that the fish at the very least seem beneficial to the riceweed. If we are fortunate, the Beihese fish and rice may exist symbiotically if His Lordship wills it.[/i][/indent]

[indent][indent][i]Zhu Rongyuan, His Majesty Anu’s secretary of state.[/i][/indent][/indent]

[hr]

[right][u]57 years after the founding of His Majesty’s holy city, Talemon, Garden of the First Flood, 6th day - His Royal Highness Anu’s city of Talemon.[/u][/right]

[indent][i]Eureka! The experiment has been a success! Opening the paddies to the river and allowing fish to swim in has provided great leaps in growth. It has been roughly a whole garden since the introduction of fish, and the results are noticeable against all odds. Already under the Garden of the First Flood, we are beginning to see grain sprout. While harvest is still several gardens off, growth such as this is unprecedented! 

The fish, too, seem to be prospering, their growth is unheard of - violent, even. We have held the fishermen back for now - it is possible that any damage to the stock may impact the god-given growth we have witnessed up to this point.

On a relevant note, a farmer came to me yesterday and pleaded that I should follow him to his paddy. A gruesome development had occurred. I shall investigate this tomorrow at dawn.[/i][/indent]

[indent][indent][i]Zhu Rongyuan, His Majesty Anu’s secretary of state.[/i][/indent][/indent]

[hr]

[right][u]57 years after the founding of His Majesty’s holy city, Talemon, Garden of the First Flood, 9th day - His Royal Highness Anu’s city of Talemon.[/u][/right]

[indent][i]
Oh, blackest bile of cruelest fate! I knew it was too good to be true! The farmer of three days past, whom I have learned is named Abegunde, brought me to his paddy today, and from half a li away I could tell what had befallen it. The paddy rank of rotten fish long before we arrived, and when we arrived, I found that algae had outgrown the rice and killed the farmer’s field. Yesterday was spent salvaging what remained of it. The farmer and his family will naturally be compensated for their sacrifice for the good of the nation. As befit a family of five like his, they will receive twenty quarter chips for the granary. That should last them until the next sowing season and then some.

Still, the source of this algae explosion remains largely a mystery. All the officials I sent out today came back and confirmed that there is indeed algae in other paddies, but nothing as dire as this. Tomorrow, I will return to the Abegunde’s farm and investigate.[/i][/indent]

[indent][indent][i]Zhu Rongyuan, His Majesty Anu’s secretary of state.
[/i][/indent][/indent]

[hr]

[right][u]57 years after the founding of His Majesty’s holy city, Talemon, Garden of the First Flood, 10th day - His Royal Highness Anu’s city of Talemon.[/u][/right]

[indent][i]
Nothing. 

What remained in Abegunde’s fields did not satisfy any of the hypotheses:

The other paddies experienced no bloom similar to this, so it cannot have been the river itself.
Detailed accounts from Abegunde’s family, as well as his neighbours, revealed no hidden plot of fraud with the intention of receiving rations from the King’s Granary. 
The algae had not been planted nor brought from the river. 

I confess I am at a loss. It pains me to admit it as a scholar, but it’s the truth. There is a distinct possibility that it was the presence of the fish that triggered the bloom, but the issue has not spread to other paddies yet. 

Truly, I am without guidance. I will return to this research at a later date, but for now, the fish will be culled to a bare minimum required to keep the parasites off the rice. The Pygmies, at least, will feast on the river’s bounty over the next weeks. Let that be a joy in this otherwise bitter series of events.[/i][/indent]

[indent][indent][i]Zhu Rongyuan, His Majesty Anu’s secretary of state.
[/i][/indent][/indent]

[hider=SummaREEEE!]
Zhu Rongyuan logs his attempts to increase rice yields. At first, he finds that fish in the paddies eat parasites off the plants and encourages farmers to have fish in their paddies. However, he later comes across a paddy that has been swallowed by algae that have killed both the plants and fish. The owners of the farm are reimbursed with rice from the Granary, but Zhu struggles to find the reason behind the paddies. He drops the experiments until a later date.
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[hider=Prestige]
Siwen, the King’s Council start: 5
+1 role minoris
+1 role majoris
End: 7
[/hider]