The third stop is the potato field.
Cheng Er squatted on the ground, pushed aside the soil, and dug out a potato. "Brother Xuan, the potatoes are ripe. I'll ask you to use the first shovel later."
The emperor nodded, took a large yellow-skinned potato and observed it.
In fact, there are two types of potatoes in the potato field, one is yellow-skinned and the other is purple-skinned.
Yellow-skinned potatoes have high yields, while purple-skinned potatoes have high nutrition.
The emperor took a large shovel from Cheng Er and dug diagonally toward a potato seedling at his feet. When it was not deep enough, he stepped on the shovel again.
He was particularly skilled in this action, and every spring the royal family held a "plowing ceremony".
The emperor used all his strength to push down the wooden handle, tilt up the shovel, and turn over the soil.
Finally, a potato seedling was dug up with its roots.
Cheng Er squatted down, pushed aside some soil, and picked up the potato leaves with both hands.
The emperor was shocked when he saw a dozen large potatoes hanging on a bunch.
This bunch weighs at least seven or eight pounds.
Shen Hong couldn't help but be stunned.
The emperor pulled the potato leaf so hard that he almost let go.
Cheng Er took a scale, picked a dozen potatoes, and put them all on the scale holder.
Both the emperor and Shen Hong waited quietly for the results.
"A total of eight pounds and two taels."
"Okay!" The emperor shouted loudly, almost dancing with joy.
The fifth stop, super rice.
Standing on the ridge of the field, looking at the more than ten acres of green rice that had already grown ears, the smile on the emperor's face never disappeared.
He knelt down, treating it as a priceless treasure, and gently stroked the plump and healthy ears of grain.
"Cheng Laoer, how long will it take
for this rice to mature?" "It won't mature until early August."
"Okay."
...
After leaving the First Zhuangzi, Shen Hong and Cheng Er took the emperor to the Second Zhuangzi.
The emperor saw the peanut and cotton crops. Because they were ripe, he also pulled up a peanut tree and picked a few cotton flowers.
He also brought these things back to the palace and praised Cheng Jinmiao before going back.
Cheng Jinmiao couldn't sleep all night long, so he deliberately wrote this incident in his diary.
Of course he wanted to record such a big thing and leave it to his children in the future.
The emperor took the potatoes and peanuts back to the palace, followed the recipe given by Shen Hong, and asked the imperial kitchen to prepare a table of delicacies. He also called the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother, the Prince and the Eleventh Prince to have dinner together.
Potato chips, French fries, mashed potatoes, fried potato slices, wolf tooth
potato egg pancakes, stir-fried shredded potatoes, braised potato chicken, golden potato pancakes, fried potato shreds...
boiled peanuts in salted water, fried peanuts, fried peanuts Frosted peanuts, honey crispy peanuts, peanut salty pork ribs porridge, peanut shortbread
braised pig's trotters, vinegar peanuts, red dates and peanuts stewed chicken feet soup, peanut mung bean paste glutinous rice balls, peanut dew...
"Your Majesty, what is this? The taste is quite good." The Queen Mother was not angry at the table of ordinary-looking meals with no delicacies. Instead, she was very interested.
Especially after tasting it, she liked it even more. It was completely new to her and made her appetite whet her appetite.
The weather has been hot recently, and I often don't want to eat or drink.
"Yes, it tastes really good." The Queen also liked today's dinner very much.
"Father, are these also donated by Master Shen? Are they the same as the corn and sausages from the past few days?"
Xuan Liyu suddenly understood the twists and turns. "These dishes for dinner are as delicious as the corn from the past few days. Father, I like eating these very much. Can I eat
them every day?"
Living on grilled sausages and corn, my weight gained five pounds.
The emperor smiled and said: "These are indeed sent to the palace by Master Shen. These are called potatoes. The yield per mu is ten thousand catties. These are peanuts, which can be eaten and squeezed for oil. The yield per mu is fifteen hundred catties."
He couldn't let them. Knowing that I sneaked into the suburbs today.
"Ten thousand jin per mu? Father——" Xuan Liyu suddenly stood up from the chair, with an expression of shock and suspicion on his face.
This plant called potato can actually produce 10,000 kilograms per mu.
It's incredible!
He tasted that potatoes, a plant that could be used as a staple food, contained a lot of starch, and might even be processed into other foods, such as dry noodles from wheat and dry vermicelli from rice.
"Yu'er, what are you doing?" The Queen Mother and the Empress were a little surprised by his reaction. "Imperial grandmother and queen mother, do you know what the yield of ten thousand catties per mu means?" Xuan Liyu calmed down, sat on a chair, and looked at them.
I saw them shaking their heads.
"Do you know that the rice yield in Dai Viet country is only four to five hundred kilograms per mu?"
"Yes."
"If every household in Dai Viet country planted this kind of crop called potatoes, the yield of ten thousand kilograms per mu would be enough to provide for the whole family for a year. "Rations."
Xuan Liyu became excited. Assuming that one person needs five kilograms of potatoes as rations per day, a family of six people would need thirty kilograms, and three hundred and sixty-five days a year, that would be ten thousand nine hundred and fifty kilograms. Potato.
Half of the rice planted that year can be paid as tax and half can be exchanged for money.
The people will have extra money in their hands, and their lives will get better and better.
Only then did Xuan Liye understand this truth.
Hearing this, the emperor applauded and said with a smile: "As expected of the prince, there is a successor to the Kingdom of Dayue."
"Father, you must have something to hide from us?" Xuan Liyu raised a sly smile at the corner of his mouth.
The smile on the emperor's face suddenly froze for a second, then he quickly recovered and pretended that there was no problem.
"You guessed it. Do you know how many kilograms of corn you ate a few days ago?"
"Ten thousand kilograms?" Xuan Liye raised his hand and spoke excitedly.
The emperor did not shake his head or nod, he smiled and said nothing.
"Isn't it?" Xuan Liye was a little disappointed.
"Five thousand catties?" Xuan Liyu made a bold guess.
"About, between four thousand and five thousand kilograms." The emperor looked unfazed, as if he knew everything and knew all the answers.
Xuan Liyu nodded and pursed his lips with a smile: "It's almost as I guessed. When I ate corn for the first time, I felt that it was a crop that could be used as food rations."
"Father, I know you are smart about promoting these crops . , I will leave it to you to take full responsibility.
Master Shen and Cheng Sinong have planted 25 acres of corn, 15 acres of potatoes, and 10 acres of peanuts in Zhuangzi in the suburbs. It is now the harvest season. You can record it in two days. Data, seed inventory, put into the treasury."
The emperor waved his sleeves and handed over this important task to Xuan Liyu, which was also suitable for him to exercise.
"Yes, father, I will live up to my expectations." Xuan Liyu agreed directly. He was already fifteen years old and should take on this responsibility.
If you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight.
"Yu'er, Grandma Huang believes you can do it, come on." The Queen Mother cheered Xuan Liyu, she had confidence in him.
The queen did not speak, but smiled tenderly at her eldest son.
In the past few months, she had been hearing her eldest nephew Chu Jingyi mention the little princess in the General's Mansion. At first she thought the child was talking nonsense, but now she thought about it, and it was really nice to come to the General's Mansion.
Whatever delicious food is available is brought to the palace, thinking about the emperor, the court and the people.
"Your Majesty, Lord Shen has made great contributions this time, so you must reward him well." The Queen Mother took the opportunity to repay Shen Hong's kindness.
Since she got a magical elixir last year, she has not only survived well, her body has become healthier, and her appearance and skin have also become younger.
She is clearly sixty years old, but her appearance and figure look like she is thirty.
Could she not be grateful to Shen Hong?
If she hadn't cared about the emperor, she would have adopted Shen Hong as her adopted son and given him all the glory and wealth in the world.
"Okay, once the seeds are spread across the country, Lord Shen will be canonized and rewarded immediately." The emperor has always been very generous. Last year, Shen Hong made several great achievements. He had the idea of canonizing him, but Shen Hong rejected them all.
The Queen Mother was very satisfied.
"Father, I also want to help with my eldest brother, can I?" Xuan Liye ran to the emperor, holding his arm and acting coquettishly.
He wanted to take the opportunity to go out of the palace to play, and he could also go to the general's mansion to find the little princess.
"..." The emperor hesitated, worried about the danger of leaving the palace, but he also loved Lao Shiyi very much.
Xuan Liyu helped to say good things: "Father, I will take good care of my eleventh brother. My brother has a good appetite recently. Look at the fat on his face."
"Yes, Father, do you think I am okay? " How about fat? There has been a lot of food from Mr. Shen these days, and my son has always been full. He was always hungry before."
Xuan Liye flattened his mouth and held his stomach to show pity.
This made the Queen Mother and the Queen very distressed.
"The Aijia sees that Shiyi has put on a lot of weight, his skin is even red, and he is a lot more energetic. Your Majesty, please follow his wishes. The Aijia sees that he and Mr. Shen are quite destined, maybe ..."
The Queen Mother suddenly stopped speaking and glanced at the Emperor with an unclear look.
The emperor understood instantly, but did not agree immediately.
"Your Majesty, please let Ye'er go there just once and treat it as exercise." The Queen also advised.
She loves this little son the most. He has been frail and sick since he was a child. Even the imperial doctor and the imperial master said that he would not live to be eighteen years old.
How can a mother bear to watch her child die? Since the child's lifespan cannot be extended, then in these eighteen years, the child can play as he wants and be as happy as he wants.