"What does the Patriarch mean?" Old An raised an eyebrow and asked in a low voice.

"Humph, if those noble families refuse to accept the price increase, then our Zuoqiu Family will sell the Jade Finger Wheat seeds and Five-Spice Rice seeds to Longzuo County, taking the opportunity to suppress Changning Wang Family’s grain sales." Zuoqiu Guanyu pointed at the map and said, "Our Zuoqiu Family is now at a turning point for transformation, it’s time to change some conservative strategies. Starting next year, we need to expand the scale and production of our grain bases and not be limited to the small Qeng’an County anymore."

"But Patriarch..." Old An said with some concern, "Increasing the scale of the grain bases firstly requires maintaining more premium farmland, and secondly needs to train more agricultural masters. Previously, to keep our techniques from leaking, the agricultural masters trained by our family were all core members of the Zuoqiu Family~ they are all loyal..."

"We can expand the target group for selecting and training agricultural masters to reliable collateral members, and strengthen management." Zuoqiu Guanyu said confidently, "As for premium farmland, we can buy farms from noble families at a premium. In short, for the development of the Zuoqiu Family, this expansion is now inevitable."

"Yes, Patriarch." A trace of worry flashed in Old An’s eyes.

However, since the Patriarch has made such a decision, it must be that he has already communicated with the Elder Council.

Now, it is no longer something that a mere Chief Steward can influence.

The order of the Zuoqiu Family’s patriarch quickly spread throughout Qeng’an County, and grain warehouses in various places began to faithfully execute the patriarch’s orders.

However, the development of the situation was completely different from what Zuoqiu Guanyu anticipated.

Although the grain seeds previously sold by the Wang Family were indeed Wang’s No. 19 rice seeds and Wang’s No. 23 wheat seeds, the sequence of grain seeds cultivated by the Wang Family was actually much ahead of this.

This time, the Wang Family released several wheat varieties that are mature species cultivated over many years, able to adapt to various regional environments, while also catering to the different needs of each family.

And due to the Wang Family’s early layout, many small and medium noble families in Qeng’an County had already tasted the sweetness of Wang’s high-yield grain seeds and secretly purchased Wang’s wheat seeds.

Initially, although many families secretly learned about Wang’s high-yield grain seeds, they had hesitated to order Wang’s wheat seeds due to years of cooperation with the Zuoqiu Family. Instead, they chose to order the Zuoqiu Family’s wheat seeds.

As a result, the price increase of Zuoqiu’s wheat seeds caused those families who were still waiting and watching to become unwilling.

Zuoqiu’s grain seeds were already not cheap, and this price increase would greatly compress their family’s profits, which was only slightly higher than buying ordinary grain seeds sold by the Saint Land Academy.

Immediately, many families, in a fit of anger, canceled their orders for Zuoqiu’s wheat seeds and secretly purchased Wang’s high-yield wheat seeds.

And as this trend formed, even those families that originally stood firmly with the Zuoqiu Family couldn’t sit still.

Other families were planting Wang’s high-yield grain seeds, making a fortune, while they were still planting Zuoqiu’s grain seeds. What if their competitiveness weakened in the future and they couldn’t sell their grain?

Unconsciously, the number of families purchasing Wang’s wheat seeds gradually grew and began to sweep through the entire Qeng’an County.

...

More than a month later.

Zuoqiu Guanyu had completed his copied version of "Pointing at the Mountains and Rivers" painting, brewed a pot of tea, and was happily admiring his artwork.

As one of the Celestial Human Realm Purple Mansion species of the family and the esteemed patriarch, he naturally had expectations for the future. This copied painting contained his ambitions and hopes.

"Patriarch, Patriarch, something bad has happened."

Old An hurriedly rushed into the study to report, looking panicked: "All the grain warehouses in various places have sent messages, many families are refusing to purchase our premium-priced wheat seeds. The warehouse can’t be cleared, and the Five-Spice Rice seeds can’t be stored."

"What?" Zuoqiu Guanyu frowned slightly, "Impossible, although there should indeed be some families resisting stubbornly, it’s almost past the best winter wheat planting period. Are those families crazy, are they all planting ordinary grain seeds?"

"It’s not like that." Old An said with a pale face, "Previously, some families refused to purchase, and I already sent people to investigate. Now the matter is clear, several new types of wheat seeds have appeared on the market at some unknown time, called No. 27 wheat seeds, No. 43 wheat seeds, No. 59 wheat seeds! Each has its own advantages, but rumors say that each has at least 30% higher yield than our [Jade Finger Wheat]!"

"30% higher? At least..." Zuoqiu Guanyu jumped up in disbelief, "How could this be?"

Suddenly, something seemed to flash through his mind.

His heart skipped a beat: "Wait, why do these wheat seed names sound so familiar?"

A sense of foreboding rose at the back of Zuoqiu Guanyu’s mind, feeling chills.

...