The ship's doctor managed to save the native girl from death. Everyone was very excited, especially the natives, who bowed to them even more.
The corn harvest was completed quickly. While Zhao Li and his colleagues were waiting for the corn to dry in the sun, they were also waiting for the sweet potato harvest season.
Corn is easy to store, just dry it. Sweet potatoes are more difficult, as they require a certain humidity and temperature, and are also very easy to rot.
Bringing sweet potato seeds back to the Song Dynasty from here is not difficult. First of all, we must prevent them from losing water, and also prevent them from freezing, and also maintain a certain amount of air circulation.
To this end, the Dragon Boat An, following Zhao Huan's advice, built several cabins specifically for storing sweet potatoes. Whether they could be safely transported to the Song Dynasty, no one knew.
Fortunately, the crew had come all the way here by traversing the ocean, feeling their way across the river. Returning was much simpler; they simply had to follow their original plan. They knew exactly where the reefs and dangers lay, and where they could get fresh water on shore.
As long as there is no disaster on the return route, such as tsunamis or storms, it should be relatively safe.
Zhao Li tried his best to pass on his cultural science and technology to these natives so that they could make some progress in the fields of science and technology and culture.
But this was easier said than done. The first problem was the language barrier. Although Zhao Li had Japanese and Kievan Rus interpreters on board, the American continent had no contact with these countries, and no one could understand their native languages.
Without language communication, many things could not be taught, so Zhao Li could only teach them simple things, such as how to make a wheelbarrow, how to build a stone house, and how to improve archery skills.
The arrowheads of the natives' bows and arrows are mostly made of animal bones. Although the natives have mastered smelting technology, the number of iron arrowheads is still very small.
However, the iron ore here was very rich, so the crew taught the natives some simple smelting techniques. Eventually, the natives began to master iron smelting and were able to make iron arrowheads themselves.
It is impossible to teach the God's Arm Crossbow and the Red Cannon due to the lack of language communication. Besides, even if you teach them, the natives will not be able to learn them.
However, the things that Zhao Li and others taught did greatly improve the lives of the indigenous people.
Bags of corn were loaded onto the ship, and these corn seeds would eventually flourish throughout the Song Dynasty. As long as the dragon boats could reach the Song Dynasty, this grain would be enough to change the entire economic landscape of the Song Dynasty.
Chief Yumi brought Zhao Li to their warehouse, which was built on the hillside.
There was a huge cave on the mountainside. The entrance was large and the interior was even more spacious, able to accommodate a thousand people. The air here was dry, making it an ideal place to store food.
The natives stored the food in this cave.
There are dozens of natives guarding the cave entrance, and more animals, including cats.
Caves are granaries for storing food. Although the indigenous people make a living by hunting and fishing, they still grow as much food as possible because food is the foundation of their survival.
Zhao Li and others were shocked after entering the cave. The people of the Corn Tribe had stored so much food, and there was even leftover corn.
While the people of the Song Dynasty were still struggling to get enough to eat, the natives here were actually very wealthy. However, apart from food, they were very backward in everything else.
Suddenly, several things attracted Zhao Li's attention. In addition to corn, there were also peanuts, potatoes, peppers, sunflowers, tobacco and other crops.
It has to be said that the American continent is indeed a granary and treasure trove. All the plants that were introduced to China in later generations came from the American continent.
Zhao Li had ordered the crew to take away some local vegetable seeds, such as tomatoes, but he did not expect that there were also peanuts and potatoes here.
Peanuts can be used to extract oil and can also be used to fill stomachs, but potatoes are even more amazing.
Potatoes are easy to grow and produce huge quantities. Like sweet potatoes, they are a food that can cause a population explosion.
Some people believe that the population explosion in Europe and the late Ming and early Qing dynasties was due to the introduction of cash crops such as sweet potatoes.
I don't know whether this is the reason or not, but if these things pass through the Song Dynasty, it will be a great achievement.
Zhao Li, Pan Bufeng and others had come here through many ups and downs, and they had set foot on this land. What they saw and heard along the way broadened their horizons.
So when they encountered barren-resistant corn and high-yield sweet potatoes, they didn't show much surprise. Because they knew that this was a foreign land far away from the Song Dynasty, a place they had never been to before, so they were no longer particularly surprised when they encountered any strange things here.
If they had not come here and were still in the Song Dynasty, they would have gone crazy when they saw the plants with such horrific yields.
Zhao Li had seen tobacco before; many natives would roll it up into a large chimney and puff out clouds of smoke. However, His Majesty had once told him that if he went overseas, he must bring back anything that the Song Dynasty didn't have, except tobacco.
Zhao Huan also smoked before he traveled through time. Although he was not an old smoker, he would occasionally smoke a cigarette after a meal, which was as good as being a living god.
But after traveling to the Song Dynasty, Zhao Huan quit smoking. He had to, because there was no tobacco in the Song Dynasty.
After quitting smoking, Zhao Huan knew that it was harmful and had no benefits. He also knew that tobacco was a crop in America. Although he was itching to stop it, Zhao Huan decided not to let tobacco flow into the Song Dynasty. So he told Zhao Li that he could bring other things but not tobacco.
Zhao Li gestured to express that he wanted the seeds of these crops, and the chief hurriedly nodded in agreement.
Truckloads of peanut and potato seeds were loaded onto the ship, along with seeds of tomatoes, sunflowers, chili peppers, and other crops.
The sweet potatoes are finally ripe. They're full of treasures. During famine years, the leaves can be cooked. The tender leaves, especially when cooked with mixed grain rice, are surprisingly delicious.
The huge yield of sweet potatoes made the crew even more excited. They were delicious whether roasted or boiled, but eating too much could easily cause acid reflux. It seemed that sweet potatoes couldn't be a staple food, but they were perfectly fine when mixed with other staple foods.
The Sweet Potato Tribe had to climb several mountains to reach the shore, but fortunately, they had wheelbarrows. While this saved some manpower, the journey was still long. It took more than twenty carts to finally reach the shore with three boatloads of sweet potatoes.
Zhao Li and his men still had more than twenty ships left. Apart from the huge main ship, the others were ships with small carrying capacity, and there were only seven ships that could carry cargo.
The seven dragon boats were all loaded with crops, porcelain, silk, tea, and other items. There were also some seeds of native Song plants, which Zhao Li left with the natives. As for whether the natives could plant and promote them, that was unknown.
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