Min Yueqing said to the jailer, "First, have them dig a half-inch deep planting hole at intervals, then sprinkle half a hole of wood ash, then sprinkle a thin layer of soil to cover the wood ash, and then they can plant potato tubers. Plant one every two inches with the bud facing up, and finally cover it with a thin layer of soil to cover the potato tubers."

After saying that, Min Yueqing emphasized again, "There must be a distance of about two inches between each two potato pieces, otherwise the potato seedlings will compete with each other for nutrients in the soil, which will not only waste the seeds, but also affect the yield of potatoes."

After hearing this series of events, the jailer could only remember the details of digging a pit, covering it with soil, and separating it. He looked at Pei Han for help.

With such a dull subordinate, Pei Han had no right to speak. He took a few steps forward and led the jailer away. Once they were in the field, he slowly repeated Min Yueqing's words to him and personally watched as he led his men to begin the experiment on a small plot of land.

Pei Han silently rejoiced that the patrol office had a large number of people, and the cook in the kitchen was a thrifty person who couldn't bear to waste even the wood ash produced every day. Instead, he dumped it all into a pit not far from the patrol office. Otherwise, they really wouldn't have been able to supply so much wood ash.

Digging planting holes is the first and most time-consuming step in planting potatoes. Pei Han said to his attendant, "Go and tell the prison guards in charge to dig a planting hole half an inch deep at intervals, and to make it as straight as possible."

The attendant immediately obeyed and left.

Before long, the prisoners got to work. There were many of them, and they worked quite efficiently. Under the urging of the guards' whips, they did their work carefully and did not dare to slack off.

Min Yueqing led Xuanfeng slowly along the mountainside, and saw that the bandits were digging pits quite skillfully.

Pei Ji, holding Min Yueqing's hand, also inspected the area. At this moment, he asked, "Mother, can these tiny potato pieces really grow into potatoes?"

Min Yueqing answered confidently, "As long as we take good care of them and water and fertilize them regularly, they will grow potatoes, and a lot of them will grow."

Fertilization was a completely new concept to Pei Ji, who was a very inquisitive child. He immediately asked, "Mommy, what is fertilization?"

This time, Shi Tou, who was standing next to Min Yueqing, answered first, "It's about pouring fertilizer into the ground."

For Shitou, a boy born and raised in the countryside, once the adults in his family started fertilizing, it meant that he and his friends would have to endure the stench for a long time.

Pei Ji then asked, "So what is fertilizer?"

Min Yueqing listened with a smile, remaining silent and waiting for Shi Tou to continue answering.

Shi Tou frowned, reluctant to answer the question, but seeing Pei Ji looking at him, he quickly compromised as usual and replied, "Fertilizer is formed by piling up a lot of things together, like straw, weeds and fallen leaves, then watering it with urine and manure, and then leaving it in a pit for a while."

When the topic turned to urine and feces, Shi Tou couldn't help but show the disgust he had felt when he smelled the stench that used to permeate the village.

Stone had heard his grandfather talk about the role of fertilizer, so he knew that fertilizing was very good for crops and would provide him with food, but unfortunately, he couldn't control his physiological reactions.

Pei Ji was utterly shocked upon hearing this. He asked incredulously, "Pour manure into the ground? Will the potatoes still be edible?"

Stone replied matter-of-factly, "Of course! The rice and vegetables we eat are fertilized when they are grown, so they don't taste strange at all."

Pei Ji's small world was greatly impacted, and he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Min Yueqing had mentioned composting to Pei Han a long time ago, and Pei Han must have already arranged for someone to do it. Once the fertilizer is composted, it will be about the time when the potatoes need to be fertilized.

The common people of this dynasty have long had experience in composting fertilizer, and they are no strangers to fertilization. Even Pei Han, a scion of a noble family who has hardly ever worked in the fields, has learned about this process from agricultural books.

After dismounting, Min Yueqing put Xiao Wei on the ground. The little tiger was having a great time wandering around the flat area halfway up the mountain. Every now and then, it would dart into the shallow pit that the bandits had dug and stay there for a while, then wriggle out with its short legs when it got bored.

So while Min Yueqing and the others were still full of energy, Xiao Wei was exhausted. As soon as he returned to Min Yueqing's feet, he started whimpering like a spoiled child.

Min Yueqing knew it was probably hungry from running, so she took the water bag and its special food bowl off the saddle, poured a bowl of milk and placed it in front of it.

Little Wei happily circled Min Yueqing's legs twice, then wagged its tail and went to drink its milk contentedly.

The bandit closest to this place was on the verge of tears. He had been working in the fields all morning under the scorching sun and hadn't even had a sip of water, while that little kitten next to him had already started drinking. Can you believe how infuriating that was?

Fortunately, the bandit dared not speak out, otherwise, if Xiao Wei knew that he had been treated like a kitten and had been subtly insulted, he would probably have started howling again.

Min Yueqing had been loitering around the potato field for so long that many prison guards had gone to the jailer for instructions, which inadvertently relaxed the supervision of the bandits. Many of the bandits had caught a glimpse of her face.

The bandits' inner thoughts were basically the same: they were unwilling to accept defeat.

Why did such a beautiful woman, who looks like an angel, have to appear when they are in such a sorry state?

If this beauty had come to their Sanping County earlier, they would have been confident they could have found her no matter which mountain villager's house she hid in. Then, by encouraging the chief to snatch her back, wouldn't they have been able to get something out of her? Maybe when the chief got tired of her, he could even dump her on them for some amusement.

The bandits secretly beat their chests in frustration, and then, seeing the exquisitely handsome Pei Ji beside Min Yueqing, they gritted their teeth in anger.

Such a good-looking child, if we caught him and sold him, we could make a lot of money, enough for the whole village to live a carefree life for a while.

However, their resentment did not last long. The reason was obvious: they were too tired, and even lust and greed had to temporarily take a back seat.

Pei Han had been supervising the prison warden's training of the guards, and only after the guards had mastered the method of planting potatoes did he quickly catch up with Min Yueqing and the others.

Along the way, Pei Han naturally noticed the mountain bandits spying on him and the unusual small-scale commotion. He couldn't help but snort coldly, thinking to himself that a leopard can't change its spots.

Even though he's already in jail, his mind is still so restless. It seems the current punishment is too lenient.

If these people cannot truly repent and reform, then they should stay in prison and do farm work for the rest of their lives, and give back the grain they grow to the mountain people of Sanping County. That would be their atonement.

The bandits secretly glimpsed Pei Han running straight to Min Yueqing's side, and there was an indescribable intimacy between the two in their conversation and actions. They immediately knew that Min Yueqing and that child were not people they could mess with.

Having eaten prison food for so many days, the bandits naturally knew that anyone who could make the jailer and guards bow and scrape was no ordinary person; he was probably a high-ranking official.

Unless they want to go back to prison after they get out, and even then, it's uncertain whether they'll survive.