You should know that one catty in the Ming Dynasty was sixteen taels, which is equivalent to one and a half catties in later times. A rough estimate shows that the potato yield of this acre of land is equivalent to about 2,600 catties in later times.
What does this mean?
This means that one acre of land can produce 2,600 kilograms of grain.
You should know that in the Ming Dynasty, one acre of good irrigated land could only produce about 300 to 400 kilograms of rice, which is equivalent to the yield in later generations.
Today, the output has increased five or six times, and the fruit can be eaten right away without being shelled.
Although the land in the imperial farm is relatively fertile and the crops are carefully cared for, such a high yield can be achieved. It may not be possible to achieve such a high yield outside, but it doesn't matter. As long as it can reach more than 1,500 kilograms, or around 2,000 kilograms, that's enough.
Such output can feed many extra people and help the entire Ming Dynasty survive this disaster year.
Thinking of this, how could Zhu Youxiao not be excited?
He laughed and said, "Well done, very well done! You have a reward, everyone has a reward!"
Zhu Youxiao turned to Xu Guangqi beside him and said, "Report your achievements later."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Xu Guangqi agreed quickly.
He was also very happy in his heart. He knew very well what it meant to him to accomplish this task.
While Zhu Youxiao was happy, Xu Guangqi said, "Your Majesty, there are other things over there. Do you want to go and see them?"
Zhu Youxiao nodded and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll go take a look."
You should know that this is the experimental field of Huangzhuang. Not only potatoes are grown here, but also sweet potatoes, some other fresh species, and vegetables. These are all good things.
But sweet potatoes are not good enough now, and the yield is not as good as potatoes.
However, after Zhu Youxiao took a stroll, he still felt a sense of wanting more.
This is the fundamental point. Only when we have solved the problem of food and clothing and increased grain production can we talk about industry and commerce.
Otherwise, a country will not have enough food, and everything it does will be a castle in the air.
Only when there is enough food can we move away from the agricultural economy, lower the price of land, and make land no longer the main means of production. Zhu Youxiao understood this.
After visiting for about a morning, Zhu Youxiao returned to Xiyuan.
Of course, he did not leave empty-handed. Zhu Youxiao took two large baskets of potatoes back and asked Chen Hong to prepare a cart to transport them to the palace. On the one hand, it was for the palace to eat, and on the other hand, it was for promotion.
After Zhu Youxiao returned to Xiyuan, he went directly to Empress Zhang.
Chen Hong asked someone to cook potatoes.
As for how to cook it, the chefs will research it themselves.
Zhu Youxiao instructed that he should stir-fry shredded potatoes and make potato-stirred chicken nuggets, and eat them with rice in the evening.
Seeing her Majesty return so happily, Empress Zhang also smiled and went straight to greet him, saying with a playful smile, "Your Majesty seems so happy, but what good news is there?"
"Of course there is good news." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, while reaching out to hold Empress Zhang.
After pulling Empress Zhang to sit down, Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "Today I went to the imperial farm, and Xu Guangqi got the job done. What happened at the imperial farm makes me happy!"
As he spoke, Zhu Youxiao told Empress Zhang about the trial planting at the imperial farm.
Empress Zhang's face was filled with excitement as she said in disbelief, "Can so much grain be produced? Then no one in the world will go hungry anymore. That would be great!"
Zhu Youxiao also nodded and said with a smile: "I also want to promote potatoes as soon as possible. Let's plant the land around the capital first and let the nobles and relatives of the nobles grow them."
"It just so happens that Baozhu is about to have her birthday, so I plan to hold a grand banquet for all the ministers in the palace to celebrate the Queen's birthday. In addition, Baozhu can summon some of the ministers' wives to the harem. As for food, we can only have potatoes."
Empress Zhang smiled and said shyly, "Your Majesty, this is inappropriate, isn't it? Celebrating my birthday would make a big fuss. Besides, I'm still young, and I'm afraid I'll cause criticism."
"Who dares?" Zhu Youxiao said domineeringly: "Baozhu is beautiful and intelligent. This is what you deserve. Just accept it with peace of mind."
Seeing His Majesty's firm attitude, Empress Zhang said nothing more.
Zhu Youxiao was still looking forward to the upcoming banquet. As long as the news could get out, he should be able to make a fortune.
Zhu Youxiao planned to sell potato seeds at a higher price and make some money from his ministers and nobles.
This is a high-yield grain seed. I would be embarrassed to sell it cheaply. Just give some to the ministers, and let the Ministry of Internal Affairs sell the rest. The price will definitely not be low.
Moreover, seeds are something that you can cultivate yourself later. It’s just a one-time transaction, but it should be enough to make you a lot of money.
The news spread quickly that His Majesty was going to celebrate the Queen's birthday and was preparing to hold a grand banquet for all the ministers in the palace.
After the news spread, some people wrote letters of opposition, but of course, they were only a small minority. Most people kept silent. Everyone knew that His Majesty favored the Queen, and if anyone jumped out to stir up trouble at this time, His Majesty would definitely remember it.
You know, there were emperors in the Ming Dynasty who loved their queens.
Emperor Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty loved his Empress Zhang very much. He was the only emperor in the Ming Dynasty who had only one empress. He was truly monogamous and there were no other women at all.
Therefore, the ministers were still very calm about the fact that the current emperor favored Empress Zhang. At least he did not favor a woman as old as Concubine Wan like Emperor Chenghua did.
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