The joy of a good harvest!
The old emperor gave each farmer an acre of land to plant potatoes, just to facilitate their experiments.
Most farmers were also informed of this.
Later, until the potatoes matured in early July, countless reports flew to the old emperor's desk.
Area A, 24, watered the potatoes too frequently, and on the day of harvest, the potatoes were as big as pigeon eggs. Failure.
Area C, 31, planted potatoes with chicken manure, which bred thorny grass insects, and the potatoes that grew out had pits and pits, and were bitten and looked ugly. It was barely a failure. Area
B, 09, when the potatoes were harvested, they were dug with a shovel and some damage was found. Used a four-pronged fork instead, and found that the damage was reduced. Contribution.
Area D, 12: Seven days after harvest, the potatoes sprouted and shrank. After multiple investigations, it was found that they were stored in a vegetable cellar and overheated. Failed.
Area E, 26: A brilliant idea: potatoes were found to be very sticky after cooking, so they were mixed with mud and made into bricks. After drying, the bricks were hard. The
old emperor: "..."
The old emperor: "This... also reward."
After all, potatoes are relatively easy to obtain. The people can slowly accumulate potato bricks and buy a brick house for their own home. It is warmer than a mud house.
He asked again: "Is the potato and sweet potato cabin on the ship really hopeless?"
Xie Luoshui and the general both lowered their heads, feeling very sorry for the Chinese people.
The general slapped his thigh and said, "I will go to the Paraguayan tribe again. This time I know the route. It won't take two years. I will go and get some potato and sweet potato seeds. This time I will not put them together!"
When they were transported back, the other cabins were separated, but there was one cabin where they were mixed. Who would have thought that potatoes and sweet potatoes could not be mixed together, otherwise the sweet potatoes would become hard and the potatoes would sprout.
In short, that cabin was useless.
- It is true that potatoes do not affect planting after they sprout, but it was at sea at that time.
The old emperor nodded and said, "It doesn't matter. When new varieties appear, we always have to try to grow them. It's normal to waste them. This time, we divided a hundred acres of land to plant potatoes. The problems that occurred in a few months were compiled into a book, which is as many as five booklets. But everything is difficult at the beginning. As long as we get through the beginning, life will be easier in the future."
The general and Xie Luoshui nodded in unison.
The old emperor suddenly took out a scroll of painting and spread it on the table: "Come, look, this is a painting of me harvesting potatoes in person."
- He really harvested them in person. He also divided a small part of the land for himself. He planted, watered, fertilized, and took care of the potato seedlings every day. When the potatoes were ripe, he dug them himself without letting any agricultural officials interfere.
The general and Xie Luoshui looked over and saw a sturdy old man in his sixties with gray hair, carrying a fork on his shoulder and a pile of freshly dug potatoes with mud on his feet. He was wearing a linen shirt and trousers, with black and red skin, white teeth and a bright smile.
The whole painting exuded a sense of joy of harvest.
Xie Luoshui and the general said in unison: "This is a beautiful painting!"
They can especially appreciate this kind of painting.
The old emperor laughed: "It's beautiful, but I'm old. I'm almost exhausted after planting only half an acre of land. Don't think I look energetic in the painting. I've been exposed to the sun for the past few months and my waist and hands are sore now."
But it's good that the potatoes can be planted.
Once the potatoes are planted, there will be more seeds, and these old farmers can return to their hometowns to plant potatoes.
There is no need to promote it specifically. As long as the farmers find that their neighbor who went to the capital has returned to his hometown and planted a new crop that can be used as the staple food, which is sufficient for all, with high yields on acres and can be planted on mountainous land, they will naturally be curious and ask for seeds.
This is more useful than the government's active promotion.
However, the sweet potatoes have not been harvested yet, so there is no need to rush.
*
Xu Yanmiao chopped the turkey into pieces and put it in the pot, stir-fried it with mushroom slices and diced onions, and finally added spinach. Various seasonings were also sprinkled in during the cooking process, and soon a large stew was out of the pot.
As soon as it was served on the table, the lion cat, who was cooling off by the ice basin, jumped onto Xu Yanmiao's knees and stared at him with a pair of big eyes. Xu Yanmiao gently stroked its back with his hand.
——The fur is cool and smooth, it must be well-fed.
He said solemnly: "No, dear, this is what I want to eat."
Then, he picked up the chopsticks devoutly, put the turkey into his mouth, and chewed.
"..."
Chewing...
"..."
Xu Yanmiao swallowed the turkey with an expressionless face.
Inwardly, he screamed: [How can there be meat that is more dry than chicken breast! ! ! ]
[It's like eating toilet paper. ]
Xu Yanmiao stared at the dish for a long time.
[Food cannot be wasted...]
[But it really tastes bad...]
[But wasting food is also really shameful...]
[Wait! I get it!]
A light bulb lit up on Xu Lang's head. He quickly picked out the turkey with chopsticks and put it on an empty plate, and took it to the next door: "Grandma! Grandma! Help me!"
The grandma next door opened the door and asked in a gentle voice: "What help?"
Xu Yanmiao raised the plate: "Grandma, can you help me mash it into a paste."
——The chef in his family had already gone home at this time, so he could only ask for help from others. If
it is mashed into a paste, it should be easier to eat, right?
Grandma said happily: "Sure, come and get it in a quarter of an hour."
"Thank you, grandma!"
"Hey!"
*
Grandma turned around and put the plate of turkey in the kitchen, and then went to find her own tools for mashing meat.
As soon as he turned around, the deputy commander of the Left Army secretly looked out, stretched out his hand, and quickly replaced a piece of meat.
What was put into the plate was a piece of chicken, or chicken leg meat, and he took away the turkey. And ran to a corner far away from the kitchen.
"Let me see, how hard this meat is..."
"Ugh——"
...
Yongchang Hou climbed over the wall into the courtyard and secretly took away a piece of turkey. Then he put down a piece of duck meat.
He muttered to himself: Is it really that bad?
"Grrrl"
...
'I don't believe that meat tastes like paper!'
The deputy governor of the front army put down a piece of rabbit meat and quickly took away a piece of turkey meat.
"Grrrl"
...
"Finally found it."
The mother-in-law returned to the kitchen with the meat pounding tool. When she saw the plate of meat, she was stunned for a moment.
Why did she feel... as if there was something wrong with this meat?
Then she thought she was overthinking, poured the meat into the washed meat pounding tool, pounded it into a paste, and poured it back into the plate. A quarter of an hour later, Xu Yanmiao arrived on time: "Thank you, grandma!"
Grandma's face was full of smiles: "You're welcome, you're welcome."
Xu Yanmiao took the "turkey" home, closed his eyes and made up his mind, and ate a spoonful.
[Huh? ]
[Why does it feel like it tastes better? Is it true that anything that turns into paste is not bad? ]
[Great! ]
He is so smart!
Xu Yanmiao happily finished a bowl of "turkey paste", but he didn't plan to eat the rest of the meat.
"Good boy, come and eat!"
Xu Yanmiao put the turkey into the pot and boiled it with water. It was cooked without any seasoning and tore into the cat's bowl.
"Daddy doesn't want to eat this meat, so I'll give it to you."
The kitten made an inexperienced sound and buried its head in the food bowl.
Then,
it quickly raised its head and jumped to the side, away from the plate of turkey.
＊
[Speaking of which, the potatoes are ripe. Should I ask the prince for some potatoes to study how to fry French fries? ]
This was the first thing Xu Yanmiao said when he went to court the next day.
The prince was distracted, but suddenly heard his own address. He came back to his senses, recalled what Xu Yanmiao had just said, and was immediately shocked.
French fries... I don't know what they are. Are they delicious?
[Speaking of the crown prince...] Xu Yanmiao's thoughts jumped: [Speaking of which, I always felt that the old emperor's practice of exiling people to Yungui and then bringing them back to show favor after the crown prince ascended the throne was very familiar. I must have seen it somewhere... where?]
Xu Yanmiao fell into deep thought again.
His distraction was particularly obvious. From the emperor to the historian, no one noticed.
Then, they tacitly took this opportunity to talk about business.
The old emperor: "Gao Huachun, come out and talk about the memorial you submitted yesterday. Why do you want to change the tax collection based on in-kind to the tax collection based on silver?"
In the court, some officials were stunned for a moment, recalling who Gao Huachun was. It was not
until Princess Wanshou came out that they remembered that this was Princess Wanshou's nickname.
Princess Wanshou bowed and said, "Your Majesty, there are now more than 30 million taels of silver in the Taicang Bank..."
The old emperor: "How much?!"
Princess Wanshou: "More than 30 million taels of silver.
" The old emperor: "Where does so much silver come from?"
Princess Wanshou: "Your Majesty, in the past, the silver reserves in our bank came from the mining of domestic silver mines and from tributes from other countries, such as Japan, Jiaozhi, Myanmar, and Goryeo... The annual tribute was no more than 300,000 taels of silver. Now, all the silver mines in Japan are in the hands of Daxia, and the mines mined every year are at least 5 million taels of silver. And because of maritime trade..."
Princess Wanshou was tactful and tactful.
It was called maritime trade, but in fact, it was selling relic products abroad.
But even though this was done, it cannot be said openly. After all, the people who went out directly disguised the relic products as precious items and made a fortune. This is not in line with the image of a country of etiquette and a country of heaven.
- Parentheses, relic products made of chicken bones, parentheses end.
"Oh oh." The old emperor suddenly realized: "You continue."
Princess Wanshou: "The silver in the treasury is piled up like a mountain, but if it can't be exchanged for food and cloth, it will eventually be scrap iron."
Princess Wanshou: "I think that if the tax is changed to be mainly in silver, and the government and the people all use silver, and rent, labor, and tribute are all collected in silver, the 30 million taels of silver in the treasury can be put into use."
An official came out and asked: "The silver is stored in the treasury and will not run away, why do we need to move it? On the contrary, if the tax is mainly in silver, the people need to exchange rice and wheat for silver first, and then pay the silver to the government. There will be more ways to
pay taxes. In the past, many people have lost their homes and property because of this. I don’t know what the princess’s intention is!” Princess Wanshou said calmly: “Taking silver as tax is more convenient for people to transport than using real goods as tax. Moreover, I did not say that all land taxes should be paid in silver. People can still pay grain, raw silk, raw cotton and fabrics according to their needs and requirements.”
Princess Wanshou bowed to the old emperor again and decided to use a very intuitive number to express why changing grain tax to silver tax can facilitate transportation and reduce corvée - because transportation tax also needs to be levied on people to transport.