Because Han Yiyi had promised the two little ones that she would visit them in Kyoto after the sweet potato harvest, the two of them took some sweet potatoes with them and headed to Kyoto.
Since the carriage couldn't hold much, Han Yi put some in her spatial storage, which weighed about 500 jin. Of course, she also wanted Emperor Beichen to see the sweet potatoes and encourage the people around the capital to plant them next year.
Given Beichen's land area, it would take at least three years to spread sweet potatoes from Ping'an Town to the whole country. Han Yiyi naturally wanted to help farmers across the country escape the predicament of hunger.
Another reason Han Yiyi wanted to go to Kyoto as soon as possible was that she couldn't stand eating only sweet potatoes every day these days, and she had used all the points in the system to exchange for eggs and rice for Wang Yan'er, so she couldn't exchange anything from the system now.
She had money, but nowhere to use it, so she thought of asking Emperor Beichen for some treasures in exchange for points so that she could eat something different every day.
Don't say Han Yiyi is selfish. Say that other people can eat sweet potatoes every day just to survive, so why can't she? She has a system, so why force herself to suffer?
The weather in October was very comfortable, with a cool breeze in the fresh air and warm but not glaring sunshine. Han Yi and her companion were not in a hurry to travel, so they strolled along the way, stopping and enjoying the scenery as they made their way to Kyoto.
The two of them leisurely enjoyed the scenery along the way, while Emperor Beichen on the other side was dumbfounded.
Looking at the letter sent by the envoy of the King of Nan Jing, Emperor Bei Chen frowned deeply. Seeing the envoy's respectful expression and expectant look, he had no choice but to first order someone to take him away and make him comfortable. Then he had someone summon the Minister of Agriculture.
When the farmer saw the letter from the King of Nanjing, he was stunned and blurted out a question.
"What is this sweet potato?"
Upon hearing Nong Zheng's words, Emperor Beichen rolled his eyes at him.
"You are the Minister of Agriculture, why are you asking me this?"
Upon hearing Emperor Beichen's reprimand, Nong Zheng shrank back, but he had indeed not heard anything about sweet potatoes or yields of several thousand catties per mu!
It turns out that the King of Nan Jing, in order to ensure that his people could also eat sweet potatoes and no longer go hungry, voluntarily sent a princess to Bei Chen for a marriage alliance and was willing to sign a century-long peace treaty.
Because of what happened last time, Emperor Beichen was naturally not interested in any princesses. However, he was very tempted by this century-long peace treaty. The reason was that the spies had reported that Dongli was suspected of causing trouble and wanted to unite with the other two countries to send troops against Beichen, which gave him a big headache.
Therefore, seeing the letter from Nan Jing now, if the two countries could sign such a treaty, Emperor Bei Chen would naturally be overjoyed. However, their condition is that sweet potatoes be introduced to Nan Jing.
Seeing that Nong Zheng still looked completely bewildered, Emperor Beichen was so angry that his heart ached. His own country had such a good thing, but they didn't know it, while other countries found out first. He couldn't help but curse.
"Useless thing, what are you standing here for? Get down here and investigate for me!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down, Your Majesty, please calm down. Your humble servant will go and investigate immediately..."
Two days passed, and the envoy from Nan Jing became increasingly anxious as Emperor Bei Chen, despite being treated well, had not given him a reply.
Before he set off, the King of Nanjiang repeatedly instructed him to make sure that the matter was accomplished.
At first, the envoy could not understand the idea of sending a princess to marry a foreign ruler for the sake of a sweet potato. In his view, the strength of Nanjing was no weaker than that of Beichen. Although Beichen later produced a brave and skilled warrior named Nangong Yuan, there was no need for such a humble attitude.
The King of Nanjing naturally saw through the envoy's thoughts and worried that his state of mind would ruin the peace talks. So he ordered someone to roast a sweet potato that the two spies had "stolen" and give to the envoy, and told him that this kind of thing could yield at least 5,000 catties per mu.
The envoy was so shocked that his jaw dropped—literally dropped—because his mouth was so wide open that his jaw dislocated.
Later, after he tasted the sweet potato, he suddenly felt that sending a princess to marry the emperor seemed a bit too little. He thought, why not send him to Beichen as well? That's why he was so respectful when he met the Emperor of Beichen before.
Another day passed, and there was still no response from Emperor Beichen. At dinner, seeing that the palace servants had once again brought him a feast of fish and meat, the envoy frowned and spoke up.
“Sir, I usually prefer light food. Could you please…”
Upon hearing the envoy's words, the palace maid was startled. This was someone Emperor Beichen had repeatedly instructed to take good care of. Fearing she might neglect him, she quickly responded.
"Yes, yes, it's my fault. I didn't consider your preferences. I'll go and get you a replacement right away..."
"No, no, not today. We'll switch to something lighter starting tomorrow..."
Actually, Qiu Jin didn't want anything light; he wanted sweet potatoes, but he was too embarrassed to say so directly. That's why he said he wanted something light. After all, the King of Nanjing only ordered someone to roast one sweet potato for him to taste, and the King of Nanjing even took half of it!
The next day, when Qiu Jin saw a table full of vegetables without a single meat dish and still no sweet potatoes, his lips twitched involuntarily. But he couldn't say anything, since he himself had said he preferred to eat lighter food.
After being a rabbit for two days, and still receiving no news from Emperor Beichen, Qiu Jin was getting impatient. However, remembering the instructions from the King of Nan Jing before he arrived, and considering the taste and yield of the sweet potatoes, he dared not get angry. So, when the palace servants brought the meal again, he asked.
"I wonder if Qiu might eat some of the local common food for lunch?"
"Of course, sir. What would you like to eat?"
Seeing the palace servant agree so readily, Qiu Jin was overjoyed and quickly spoke up.
"Nothing complicated is needed, just roast three or five sweet potatoes!"
The palace maid was visibly taken aback when she heard Qiu Jin's words, clearly unaware of what sweet potatoes were. She wondered to herself, "Could this be a newly popular food among the common people?" So she quickly replied with a smile.
"Yes, I understand. I will go and inform the Imperial Kitchen to prepare roasted sweet potatoes for you at noon."
When the imperial kitchen staff heard what the palace servants had said, they were all completely dumbfounded. Not to mention asking them to cook it, they had never even heard of this sweet potato before. What kind of thing was it?
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