Upon hearing Han Yiyi's words, Emperor Beichen was so startled that he stood up abruptly, knocking over the table in front of him.
"How many times did you say it? Say it again!" Upon hearing Han Yiyi's words, Emperor Beichen's eyes widened as he stared intently at Han Yiyi, his voice filled with disbelief.
Hearing the commotion inside the palace, Yun Xiao, who was outside the Imperial Study, was startled and frowned deeply. He was about to go in when he was stopped by the guards at the door. Even Han Yi was startled by Emperor Beichen's reaction and held her chest before speaking.
"Because of this sweet potato, the villagers of Zhushan Village planted it after the flood. When everyone harvested it a few days ago, the minimum yield was over eight or nine thousand catties..."
"Good, good, good! With this, the people of Beichen will no longer have to worry about starving. No wonder, no wonder Nan Jing was willing to sign a hundred-year peace treaty with Beichen and even send a princess here for a marriage alliance because of a sweet potato!"
Only then did Han Yiyi realize why the envoy from Nanjing had specifically requested sweet potatoes. However, Han Yiyi was still puzzled. Sweet potatoes hadn't even been widely promoted in Beichen yet, so how did Nanjing find out about them so quickly? So she asked.
"We only dug these sweet potatoes last month. How could Nanjing know about them and send envoys so quickly?"
Upon hearing Han Yiyi's words, a cold glint flashed in Emperor Beichen's eyes. Worried about frightening Han Yiyi, who was his precious treasure, he quickly composed himself before speaking.
"It seems that Dongli, with its treacherous intentions, wants to take advantage of our empty treasury and the lack of food after the floods to launch another war against us. However, they were defeated by us too badly before and dare not send troops against us alone again. So they thought of instigating Nan Jing and Bei Chao to join forces. The reason I asked Nangong Yuan to go to the border as soon as possible was because of this."
Emperor Beichen was always trying to win over Nangong Yuan in front of Han Yiyi, but seeing that the person opposite him didn't react when Nangong Yuan was mentioned, he continued.
"However, the King of Nan Jing is a meticulous man and probably did not completely believe what the Dong Li people said. That's why he thought of secretly sending spies to Bei Chen to investigate the situation and see if we were really facing a nationwide food shortage. As a result, the spies discovered sweet potatoes and even calculated the approximate yield per mu. This made him abandon his idea of attacking Bei Chen and instead asked us to sign an agreement."
It must be said that Emperor Beichen was quite intelligent, as he guessed everything correctly.
After Emperor Beichen finished speaking, he looked at Han Yiyi again, his eyes filled with gratitude. He knew that if the spies from Nanjing had not discovered the sweet potato, they would have joined forces with the Dongli people to launch an attack. At that time, Beichen would be in grave danger!
Upon hearing Emperor Beichen's words, Han Yiyi suddenly remembered what Aunt Zhang had told her before: it seemed that Widow Liu's sweet potatoes had been stolen, and that Widow Liu had been cursing around the village for several days because of it!
Han Yiyi was initially puzzled as to why anyone would steal sweet potatoes from every household in Zhushan Village. It seems that the sweet potatoes that Widow Liu lost were actually stolen by people from Nanjing.
"Are these sweet potatoes grown from seeds? In which month of the year are they planted? How long does it take to harvest them?"
"The best time to plant is in April or May each year. It can usually be harvested in three months. The sweet potato leaves and seedlings can also be eaten. As for the seeds, these sweet potatoes are the seeds. Once they sprout, they can be planted in the ground. Of course, you can also exchange for sweet potato seedlings directly in the system of the common people. This way, the survival rate will be higher!" Han Yi paused, looked up at Emperor Beichen, and then continued.
"However, Your Majesty, as you know, my system requires something to be exchanged for it to get what it wants!"
Emperor Beichen didn't pay much attention to what Han Yiyi said next. After all, he had seized a lot of good things from the Yun family and several other unscrupulous merchants who had raised grain prices after the flood. However, when he heard Han Yiyi say that the sweet potato was just a seed that could be planted in the ground once it sprouted, his brows furrowed.
"You mean, once these sweet potatoes sprout, they can be planted directly in the field? Doesn't that mean the sweet potatoes that Nanjing stole can be used directly as seeds? What about that agreement?!"
"Your Majesty need not worry about this. It seems that Nanjing does not know how to grow sweet potatoes, which is why they sent an envoy here. Besides, sweet potatoes do not sprout in a short time. Moreover, the sweet potatoes that Nanjing stole were only a little over a hundred catties, and they will probably be eaten before they even sprout!"
It has to be said that Han Yiyi was right. Inside the Nanjing Imperial Palace, upon hearing from the imperial kitchen staff that the sweet potatoes brought back by the spies had been eaten, the Nanjing King flew into a rage, believing that the imperial kitchen staff had stolen them.
After hearing Han Yiyi's words, Emperor Beichen felt slightly relieved.
"Does His Majesty intend to sign this agreement with them?"
"Of course we have to sign it. But since this stuff will be planted next April or May, then we'll have them send people over to collect the sweet potato seedlings then. As long as you need it, just go to the national treasury and pick whatever you want. I want every household in Beichen to plant this sweet potato next year. As for Nanjing, give them a hundred seedlings, and I'll tell them how to plant and save the seeds later!"
It must be said that Emperor Beichen is quite shrewd. Given the size of the territory in Nan Jing, it would take at least three years to promote sweet potatoes throughout the country. By then, Beichen would have already recovered its national strength, so even if they wanted to attack Beichen again, Beichen would not be afraid.
Furthermore, Dongli's reckless actions have greatly annoyed Emperor Beichen. However, Beichen is indeed unscrupulous and not suitable for war. This is why Emperor Beichen plans to have every household in Beichen plant sweet potatoes next year. He believes that when the harvest is ready, Dongli will be destroyed.
Since Emperor Beichen had said so, Han Yiyi said no more. But before leaving, she couldn't help but look at the multi-treasure pavilion next to her.
Emperor Beichen naturally noticed Han Yiyi's little expression and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Take it if you want it. Consider it my way of thanking you for bringing out this sweet potato, which saved Beichen from a crisis!"
Upon hearing Emperor Beichen's words, Han Yiyi's eyes lit up. Without bothering to bow and express her gratitude, she quickly ran towards the Treasure Pavilion.
Looking at where Han Yiyi reached out, Emperor Beichen couldn't help but twitch his lips, thinking to himself, "She really has no manners, only taking the valuable items."
In fact, Han Yiyi naturally didn't know which one was valuable and which one wasn't. She just chose the one with the higher points, as the system said!
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