The previous emperors of the Great Liang Dynasty focused their energy on expanding the territory. After Emperor Cheng of Liang ascended the throne, the country had stabilized. The next task was to allow the country to recuperate and recover as soon as possible, so increasing the population and the output of food from the land were urgent matters.

Receiving the memorial from the heir of the Marquis of Jingbei gave Emperor Liang Cheng hope, but he was also somewhat dissatisfied with Xu Rao's current location. Hexi County was a small border town that could be harassed by nomadic tribes outside Yanmen Pass at any time. If the experimental grains were stolen by those people, wouldn't it all be a waste of effort?

Emperor Liang Cheng pondered for a whole night and decided to send people from the court. He heard that winter wheat and corn had already been tested separately, so he would bring back the seeds of these grains and conduct experiments at the imperial estates near the capital. If the experiments were successful, they would be promoted nationwide as soon as possible. Of course, Xu Rao's contributions should still be properly recorded. He was a second-class Jinshi in the palace examination last year, a protégé of the emperor, and it was said that he came from the Yongning Marquis's family. This respect should still be given.

Therefore, Lord Jin came with a mission: to thoroughly understand how to cultivate these two things, and then take the seeds back to the imperial estate in the suburbs of Beijing for trial planting.

Xu Rao naturally understood what was going on. Since this matter was also for the sake of ensuring that the people of the world could have enough to eat, Xu Rao did not hold back and told him everything he knew. Seeing that there was anything that Lord Jin did not understand, he invited the old farmer who helped plant the winter wheat over to explain it to him in detail.

The heir of the Marquis of Jingbei specially ordered a meal made with corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes, following Professor Xu Di's method, to welcome Eunuch Zhao and the other officials.

The corn was ground into flour, mixed with some wheat flour, and after the dough was fermented, cornmeal pancakes were made. Cornmeal porridge was cooked, sweet potatoes were boiled, and candied sweet potatoes were made. Potato shreds, stewed potatoes, and stir-fried potato slices were also made. A whole table full of dishes were made.

Eunuch Zhao was surprised by the abundance of the meal, and the dishes tasted delicious. He hoped that the trial planting of the grain would be successful, and that the grain could be distributed so that more people could enjoy it.