While everyone was busy threshing, Mr. Zhan came over and talked to Prince Rui about the yield per mu.
"Since the previous dynasty, as the population of the South grew, the per-acre yield in the South gradually surpassed that in the North.
"According to records, during the previous dynasty, an acre of cultivated land in the south yielded about two dan per acre, while in the north it could only yield about one dan per acre.
“Of course, this is also related to the continuous wars in the north during the previous dynasty.
"People are living in poverty, have no food to eat, and don't have the energy to properly tend to the crops.
"Until this dynasty, the war was quelled and grain production in the north gradually increased.
“However, due to the climate, the per-acre yield is still not as high as in the south.
"According to records from the past few years, in extremely good years, one mu of cultivated land in the south could produce up to three dan of grain, while the most in the north was currently two dan and three dou.
"Now it depends on whether the Ye family can break this record."
Upon hearing this, Prince Rui asked, "Then according to your estimate, how many are there?"
Don't think he didn't see it. When everyone was busy harvesting, Mr. Zhan had secretly taken a few rice ears tied with red ropes to be weighed.
Mr. Zhan actually already had a rough estimate in his mind.
But this is just a rough estimate based on his many years of experience, and it will definitely differ from the final actual data.
He calculated it himself to have a rough idea in mind, but he didn't dare say it in front of Prince Rui.
Old Master Zhan chuckled and said, "Right now, we can only say that breaking the per-acre yield record in the north shouldn't be a problem, but whether we can maintain our position as the grain king is harder to say."
Prince Rui was obviously dissatisfied with this ambiguous answer, but since he would get the result today, he did not ask any further questions.
At this time, only people from Prince Rui's Palace and the Ministry of Agriculture were busy in the threshing ground. The other onlookers were all stopped outside by the guards of the palace and were not allowed to go in and cause trouble, so as not to disrupt the final result.
All the threshed grains are winnowed several times with a winnowing basket to remove impurities and unfilled grains, and finally poured into the wicker basket that has been prepared long ago.
Seeing that the food filled one basket and started to pour into the second one, the Ye family members became nervous.
One basket can hold about one stone of grain, and we will soon know how much it will hold in the end.
While everyone was nervous, the second basket was also filled up.
At this time, even Mr. Zhan didn't bother to say anything. He ran directly into the threshing ground and directed several clerks from the Ministry of Agriculture to pick up all the plump grains that had fallen on the ground, not wanting to let go of even a single one.
The threshing ground was eerily quiet at this time. The only sounds could be heard were the sound of grain being swayed by winnowing baskets and the rustling sound of grain being poured into baskets.
Mrs. Ye Er swallowed nervously and held Ye Laoer's arm tightly with both hands.
Ye Laoer didn't feel any pain either, all his attention was focused on the last basket.
"Halfway! Half of the basket is full!" Qingtian shouted first.
More than half of the third basket is filled, which basically means the output is about two and a half stones.
It has exceeded the recorded per-acre yield in the north.
There was a sudden burst of joy in the threshing ground.
Prince Rui also showed a look of joy on his face.
This was the first time this year that he took over the task assigned by his brother, and he achieved a breakthrough in per-acre yield.
For Prince Rui, it is a great joy regardless of whether Ye Lao Er can become the King of Grain.
It would be better if Ye Lao Er was the grain king.
If there is a higher yield per mu than his, it would be even more joyful.
Prince Rui was satisfied, but the others were still very nervous. Everyone turned their eyes to the last two clerks who were still winnowing the grain.
Although these two people often do this kind of work, they have never done it under the comments of so many people.
What's more, it wasn't just the local officials and people from the Ministry of Agriculture who were staring at them at this time, there was also the big Buddha statue of Prince Rui standing there.
One of them was so nervous that his hands were shaking and he couldn't hold the winnowing basket properly, so the grains were scattered all over the floor.
Mr. Zhan was so angry that he almost cursed on the spot.
"If you can't even winnow a little grain properly, what else can you do?"
The clerk who made the mistake in his haste was so frightened that he fell to the ground. He used his hands to pick up the spilled grains little by little into the winnowing basket, wiped his sweaty face, got up and continued to winnow.
Old Master Zhan glanced at Prince Rui who was standing on a high place, and swallowed the curse that was on the tip of his tongue.
Another basket of grains had been poured into the basket, and now only the top layer of the basket was empty.
Everyone's eyes were focused on the last person.
He only felt the pressure grow stronger, his hands tightly gripping the edge of the dustpan.
If he spills it again, he will have no choice but to apologize.
He gritted his teeth and winnowed the last bit of rice, then took a few steps forward and carefully poured the rice in the winnowing basket into the basket.
As the last grain of rice escaped from the winnowing basket, it rolled into the pile of rice in the basket.
Everyone sighed, some softly and some heavily.
In the end, it was still a little short of filling the last basket.
Although in the north, two stone and nine dou is already a very remarkable yield per mu.
But it was just a little short of the three-bowl mark, which made people feel regretful.
Mr. Zhan was also a little disappointed. He had originally estimated it to be three stones, but he didn't expect the difference to be so small, not even half a dou.
Ye Laoer also felt a little regretful at first, but then he thought, his original goal was not three stones!
Today's production has far exceeded our target, so what is there to regret?
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