Xu Di cherished the things he brought back along the way. He said that some of these things were already being grown in the south, but because people were not very familiar with the growth habits of these plants, many people did not grow them very well, and they did not know the correct way to use them.

A lively welcome dinner was prepared for the Zhang family. After dinner, the Xu family of three settled in and talked in the bedroom of the main house.

Zhang Zhaoci grabbed a handful of corn kernels from the bag, looked at them, sighed, and said, "Look at these corn kernels, they're so shriveled, how can they be used as seeds? Even if they were planted in the ground, what kind of crops would grow?"

Xu Rao looked at the sacks of sweet potatoes and potatoes and said, "I remember that sweet potatoes and potatoes are first sprouted, and then the sprouts are buried in the soil. They are not picky about the plot of land and can be planted and grow anywhere."

Xu Di placed small bags of seeds on the table and said, "Actually, I don't know what kind of seeds these are. I only know that there are spinach seeds in them. I don't know what other seeds are in them. Let's plant a variety together and see."

Xu Rao said, "I remember that spinach can be planted in the ground when the weather is very cold. That year, when we went to conduct research in the early spring, we were digging spinach in a wheat field. The spinach was about the same height as the wheat, so it must have been sown when it was about the same height as the wheat."

Zhang Zhaoci said, "When I was a child, I saw people planting wheat in my rural hometown. It's already past the time to plant wheat. Can we still plant it in the fields now? Besides, the climate here is too cold. We only have this many seeds. I'm afraid that if they freeze to death, we won't have any more seeds."

Xu Di said, "How about we get a few seeds first and plant them in some ceramic pots? I think the temperature in this room is okay, and we can get some sunshine during the day, just like a greenhouse for vegetables."

Xu Rao said, "Let's try it inside first. As for other things, we can talk about them next spring. It's getting cold recently, and the situation at Yanmen Pass is a bit tense. We've also stepped up our patrols here."

After talking about the plants, Xu Di began to tell his parents about his experiences over the past few days.

Zhang Zhaozhi traveled south from Hexi, not simply rushing along the way. He passed through several counties and prefectures, buying up any suitable goods he could find. He carried these goods south, gradually disposing of what he had along the way. He continued his journey, trading and selling, and even though he didn't rest much, it took him more than a month to reach Guangzhou in the south.

I took a boat from Guangzhou and actually arrived at Hainan Island, but it's not called Hainan Island anymore, it's called Yazhou.

This area is not part of Daliang's territory now, but is autonomous. Otherwise, the Zhang family wouldn't have come here. The eldest son of the Zhang family has been trading here for many years and knows the island's leader. When he brought his whole family here back then, it was thanks to the old friendship that the islanders were able to find a place for the Zhang family to live in seclusion. Later, the islanders relied on the Zhang family to develop maritime trade, exchanging goods imported from overseas with Daliang merchants. Over the years, they have helped the island earn a lot of money.

After meeting his maternal grandparents and his uncle's family, Xu Di stayed on the island for a few days before going out to sea with his uncle.

Because typhoons often occur at sea in the summer, the ships did not go far, but instead went to several nearby small countries to exchange goods. After Xu Di went there, he specifically asked a translator to help him find local plant seeds. These things brought back were all brought back from those small countries.

After returning, Grandpa Zhang arranged for his uncles to come over. He and Grandma Zhang were too old to travel such a long distance, so they asked their uncles to make sure they saw their daughter properly and that she should visit them when she had the chance. As people get old, they don't know how many more days they have left, and they always want to see their children as much as possible, especially for daughters like Zhang Zhaoci who have married out of the family. After more than ten years apart, they really miss them terribly.

Xu Di stayed at the Zhang family's house for a few more days, and then, together with his four uncles, they took the goods they had brought back from overseas and sailed back to Guangzhou. After visiting several trading companies in Guangzhou, they took the remaining goods to Yuhang.

The Zhang family had their own trading company in Yuhang, which specialized in handling goods brought back from overseas. After storing the goods in the trading company and purchasing some silk fabrics from Yuhang, they hurried to Hexi.

Xu Di really gained a lot of knowledge and broadened his horizons along the way. Most importantly, he gained a completely new understanding of many places. He found a piece of paper and marked some place names from south to north. Although it was a bit rudimentary, it still gave Xu Rao and Zhang Zhaoci a fairly intuitive understanding of the country they were in.

The first snowfall wasn't heavy; there was only a thin layer on the ground when I woke up in the morning. The old woman in charge of light sweeping had already swept the yard clean early in the morning. When Xu Zhi arrived in the yard dressed like a little ball, she could only see some glistening white snowflakes on the roof tiles.

After breakfast, the four Zhang brothers chatted with Zhang Zhaoci for a while before going outside for a stroll. Accompanying them were several servants, Zhang Zhaoci's eldest brother Zhang Zhaocheng's son, and Zhang Zhaochong's second brother's daughter, who were Xu Zhi's eldest and second cousins. Zhang Zhaocheng had an eldest daughter who was already married. Zhang Zhaochong's eldest daughter was the second in the Zhang family, so she was Xu Zhi's second cousin.

Zhang Zhaocheng's son is named Zhang Yu'an, who is sixteen years old, and Zhang Zhaocheng's daughter is named Zhang Yulan, who is twelve years old. The two of them not only came from the south to the north, but it is said that they also went out to sea on a ship, so they are both quite lively.

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