There are such delicious foods in the world!

It must be said that the Song Dynasty scholars and officials who ate roasted sweet potatoes for the first time felt as if their entire lives had been elevated.

This thing looks really dark, even darker than Bao Zheng!

But once you peel it open, the meat inside is surprisingly sweet!

She's absolutely gorgeous!

While Xu Churen, Shi Ziming, and others were still indulging in their pleasure, Tang Ke, the Vice Chancellor, was biting and nibbling away, swallowing the food in just a few bites. It was so hot that he kept panting, but he couldn't resist wanting to put more in his mouth.

Zhao Huan couldn't help but laugh at the way his ministers were behaving.

After they finished eating, the emperor asked, "How was it? Don't you feel warm all over?"

"Your Majesty, how long does it take for a sweet potato to mature from planting?"

"About two and a half months."

The ministers were all slightly taken aback; so fast!

It's important to know that rice, even early rice, takes more than three months to grow, while late rice takes more than half a year.

Xu Churen seemed to have realized something. According to this timeline, the seeds the emperor had given him would soon be ripe.

"Your Majesty, I am ignorant; where did these sweet potatoes come from?"

"It was Shen Lang who brought it back to me from Japan."

The ministers then realized that when Shen Lang left, no one in the court or the public paid any attention to him, thinking he was just an unknown nobody.

In retrospect, this man's contributions will be remembered for generations to come.

"Your Majesty, are those seeds still available?"

"Master Xu, this sweet potato is growing a second time, so it doesn't need seeds; its vines can be planted!"

The minister was taken aback again; it was so easy to spread and cultivate this stuff!

Wouldn't it be great to promote this!

"I summoned you here so that you could taste this sweet potato yourselves. If there are no problems, we can start promoting it nationwide. What do you say?"

The ministers bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise; this will alleviate the food shortage."

Unbeknownst to the ministers, the emperor had already secretly planned to unleash a sweet potato feast in the capital city of Tokyo.

This tastes best when eaten in winter.

Moreover, they were unaware that not only would sweet potatoes soon appear on the streets of Tokyo, but something called corn would also soon emerge.

When everyone finds it novel, red chili peppers end up being served at hot pot restaurants.

What surprised the ministers even more was that the emperor had already bought land in the northwest and started raising cattle and sheep privately, waiting for the right opportunity.

Taking advantage of this, the Ministry of Agriculture began to develop a plan to promote sweet potatoes in official fields.

Clearly, Xu Churen wanted to make a lot of money for the imperial court by using sweet potatoes as a new food.

Moreover, the Hanlin Academy began to include sweet potatoes in its textbooks.

Tang Ke wouldn't think like them. He shamelessly asked the emperor for more, and then went back to roast and eat them himself.

Xu Churen, who was already in his seventies, suddenly became very enthusiastic. He was filled with ambition and vowed to make a good fortune with this product before promoting it to the general public.

They made money and alleviated people's livelihood problems.

That's killing two birds with one stone!

The next day, on a cool autumn morning, the first Yongle Grain Shop opened in Tokyo.

On the day the grain shop opened, many people came to buy grain.

But not a single penny was sold.

Because the grains in their house were all deformed, like rats.

It looks pretty scary!

The opening of Yongle Grain Shop was like a small stone thrown into a vast ocean, without causing the slightest ripple.

But as evening approached and the sun set, the stoves at Yongle Grain Shop were ready. They set up the stoves, placed the roasted sweet potatoes on the iron plate, sealed it, and began roasting.

Soon, a rich aroma wafted through the streets.

A fair-skinned, pretty little girl held her mother's hand and said in a childish voice, "Mommy! It smells so good, I'm so hungry! It's wafting from over there!"

As soon as she said that, everyone around her looked in the direction she was pointing with her little finger.

Because everyone could smell the fragrance.

"Yes, what smells so good!"

"Go and take a look!"

Ye Chong was standing at the shop entrance. When he saw the customers arrive, he quickly smiled and said, "Dear guests, our shop is newly opened. Our boss said there are no discounts, so don't even think about it."

His words were incredibly flamboyant; you couldn't find anyone else who could say them except Zhao Huan.

Everyone was immediately displeased upon hearing this.

What kind of business is this? You act like you're keeping us at arm's length, as if we're begging you to sell to us!

"I'm not buying! Even if I starve to death, I won't buy your grain!" Several people were indignant and turned to leave. In this day and age, business people are so arrogant.

"Exactly! We didn't say we wanted to haggle, and we don't even know what you're selling!"

"I was here this morning, they sell rats!"

"Rat! How disgusting!"

"We need to report this to the authorities!"

"..."

The little girl said, "Mommy, I want to eat."

"What are you eating? You're going to eat rats too? Be careful, or a rat will bite your belly off!"

The little girl started crying. She didn't know anything about these things; she just thought the roasted sweet potato smelled so good that she couldn't control herself.

"Mom, I want to eat it! I want to eat it! It's not a rat!"

"You don't believe me? Come on, boss, take it out and let me see, see if it's a roasted rat!"

Ye Chong was speechless. How could it be roasted rats? These people...

He then had someone bring out a freshly roasted sweet potato. As soon as the sweet potato came out of the oven, its aroma became even more intense and enticing.

But it looked really unpresentable; it was dark and looked dirty and ugly.

In the Song Dynasty, which valued aesthetics, this was truly...

"Look, this is a burnt rat!"

"Mommy, that's not a mouse, please buy me one!" the little girl cried anxiously.

"Okay, okay, I'll buy one. How much is one?"

Ye Chongdao said, "Two coins each."

"This is cheap, give me one."

"No! That's a dead rat! You can't eat it!"

"Yes, yes! You can't eat it!"

...

The woman thought it was cheap anyway, so she took one and Ye Chong helped the little girl peel it.

The moment Ye Chong peeled off the skin of the roasted sweet potato, the yellow flesh was revealed, and the aroma rose with the steam.

"Here you go, be careful it's hot."

The little girl took it with her small hands, took a careful bite, and without saying a word, started taking a second bite.

The expressions on the faces of those around him were as if they had seen a monster; their eyes were wide open, as if to say, "Little friend, don't eat random things! Throw it away!"

Hurry! There's still time!

When the little girl's mother saw that it wasn't a roasted rat, she became curious and took a bite.

The people around her were staring at her, as if to say, "Are you crazy?! You'll get poisoned!"

Without saying a word, the woman took out her money and said, "I want ten!"

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