It took a whole day to dig out all the sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Zhang Deshui was anxious to know the yield per mu.
After calculation, the yield of sweet potatoes and potatoes per mu planted in this field is not as high as that of sweet potatoes and potatoes grown in greenhouse vegetable fields.
The average yield is over 4,800 jin per mu.
However, the villagers were not upset about the lower yield per mu; on the contrary, they were very happy.
As everyone knows, this field has poor soil and a high sand content.
Despite this, the individual sweet potatoes and potatoes are much larger.
"Lanzhen, I've discovered that sweet potatoes and potatoes do indeed thrive in sandy soil."
Moreover, the sweet potatoes grown in this sandy soil are sweeter and have a sandy texture than those grown in vegetable greenhouses.
"Without drinking water, just eating these boiled sweet potatoes and potatoes is making me choke and stretch my neck."
His words made everyone laugh.
Absolutely! Whether boiled or roasted, the sweet potato flesh is sandy, sweet, and glutinous.
The same goes for potatoes; they're sweet and crumbly after peeling.
Even more eager than Zhang Deshui to know the yield per mu of sweet potatoes and potatoes were the three officials from the Ministry of Revenue.
They went into the fields to dig up sweet potatoes and potatoes, weighed and counted them themselves, and the final yield figures per acre shocked, delighted, and relieved them!
Li Lanzhen watched their expressions, which changed like the weather in spring, and secretly found it amusing.
"Minister Du, do you think the yield per mu of sweet potatoes and potatoes is not bad?"
When this land was cultivated and developed, you all saw that the soil was barren.
Therefore, sweet potatoes and potatoes are not picky about their growing environment.
In our Le Dynasty, every village has relatively barren, desertified land.
These lands are not suitable for growing wheat or rice, but they are suitable for growing sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Moreover, their yield per acre is relatively high. As long as everyone can grow barley, there shouldn't be a problem eating enough to be about 80% full.
The three men nodded vigorously, their eyes fixed on Li Lanzhen as if she were a priceless treasure.
Vice Minister Du grabbed Li Lanzhen's hand.
"Aunt Lanzhen, you are a great hero of our Li Dynasty!"
I must report this to the Emperor immediately, so that His Majesty may also be pleased!
Li Lanzhen quickly pulled her hand away from his.
Then, with his hands behind his back, he gave an awkward laugh. This is a bit too unrestrained, isn't it? Is this someone from ancient times?
"Fine, how you handle it is your business."
Du Yanqing then realized his abruptness, blushed, and said to Li Lanzhen.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Lanzhen, I was just too happy and I apologize for being so abrupt!"
Li Lanzhen shook her head.
"Aunt Lanzhen, I'd like to discuss something with you. Could you give us all of this batch of sweet potatoes and potatoes?"
We plan to take it back and promote it.
Li Lanzhen turned her head and stared at him with a mocking look.
You wish! I'll entrust the entire promotion to you, and let's see what you say then! If you dare not offer a single penny, you can take my sweet potatoes and potatoes with you. Just you wait!
Du Yanqing also felt that he had not explained things clearly.
"Oh, is that so? When we came, the Emperor had already given instructions to buy all the sweet potatoes and potatoes from your place at the market price for coarse grains."
Then it will be distributed as seeds. Aunt Lanzhen, what do you think?
She dared not accept the honorific "you" used in the formal way.
Buying at the price of coarse grains is not bad, as long as the villagers in Peach Blossom Spring don't suffer losses.
"Okay, but we need to sort out a portion of them, and pick out all the damaged and small sweet potatoes and potatoes."
I plan to make these into vermicelli.
Fatty Pang, with his keen sense of smell, immediately grasped the word "vermicelli" and thought that it must be something delicious!
He immediately stepped forward and asked, "Auntie, is this vermicelli a delicious delicacy?"
Du Yanqing glared at him.
Pang the Fat Man ignored everything and stared at Li Lanzhen expectantly, wanting an explanation.
Li Lanzhen chuckled, her hands behind her back.
"Yes, it is a delicious food. It is not only easy to store, but also very convenient to eat, making it suitable for long-distance transportation."
Just like noodles, you can cook them in boiling water, add vegetables or make soup, and they're ready to eat. Most importantly, they're filling!
Du Yanqing immediately grasped these key words.
She pulled Pang Pang away, "Auntie, when will this kind of food you're talking about be made?"
Li Lanzhen frowned and calculated, "I probably won't have time for a while."
We'll start harvesting wheat tomorrow. After that, we'll harvest rice, and finally, we'll harvest corn.
Crops not only need to be harvested, but also dried, threshed, and stored.
I can only make vermicelli when I have free time.
Seeing their somewhat disappointed expressions, Li Lanzhen chuckled.
"You don't need to rush. You will have to wait until all the crops in Peach Blossom Spring have been harvested this autumn before you can take the information back to the court to report."
So there's always time to eat rice noodles.
The village organized the children to sort sweet potatoes and potatoes.
All the other able-bodied men went into the wheat fields to harvest the wheat.
The weather has been very nice lately.
The original plan was to complete the wheat harvest in ten days.
But on the evening of the eighth day, people dragged their tired bodies back to the dining hall for dinner under the moonlight.
Zhang Deshui told everyone that he had noticed a change in the weather.
There should be strong winds or light rain by tomorrow morning at the latest.
When everyone heard this, they were shocked to learn that there was still wheat left to harvest.
When strong winds come, wheat will fall over, let alone when it rains. If mature wheat grains are rained on and the weather is hot, the wheat will sprout.
Not only is sprouted wheat unpalatable, but reduced production is inevitable.
So the village committee decided that after dinner, everyone would work harder, gather torches, build a bonfire at the edge of the field, and work through the night to rush the harvest.
Li Lanzhen summoned Xue Bao and Sanwang, asking them to return to Lishu Village and bring everyone who could come, except for the children and the elderly, to help harvest the wheat.
Su Chen and Han Yinan were summoned, and the three of them, including Gou Dan, went to the training camp.
Tell Xuan Shen to bring all the people they can from their area to join the harvesting effort!
After eating, everyone rested for a while before taking their sickles back into the fields.
The village committee arranged for several elderly people to take all the children under eight years old home to sleep.
But none of them listened, and they all went into the wheat field.
When we first entered the wheat field, the moon was still very bright in the sky.
Beside the unharvested wheat field, a campfire and torches illuminated the field.
Before the wheat harvest, the village committee was divided into several groups.
Each group has a group leader. Each group is responsible not only for harvesting the wheat in the field, but also for bundling the wheat and sending it to the drying ground to be spread out to dry.
There was a special group of people on the wheat drying ground who drove horse-drawn stone rollers to crush the wheat ears.
Another group used three-pronged or four-pronged wooden forks to stick all the wheat stalks out and pile them around the threshing ground.
In this way, only wheat grains remain on the drying ground, along with sections of wheat stalks crushed by the stone rollers.
Another group, taking advantage of the wind, used wooden shovels to scoop up the wheat grains and toss them high into the air.
Let the wind blow all the straw fragments out of the wheat ears.
The wheat grains, cleaned by the wind, were then packed into large sacks and transported by horse-drawn carts, oxcarts, and donkey carts to the granary next door.
So for now, we should just grab the remaining wheat in the fields.
Han Shunde instructed the group leaders to organize their personnel, with some harvesting wheat and others bundling it.
Then the bundled wheat was carried directly to the granary for storage.
When the weather is nice, take them out to dry and then crush them with a stone roller.
Maybe it's at night, or maybe everyone knows they have to fight for food during windy or rainy weather.
Neither adults nor children spoke; they put all their energy into it and got to work!
During the wheat harvest, all you could hear was the slicing sound of sickles cutting through the wheat stalks.
All that could be seen was the shimmering light of the moonlight and firelight reflected on the silver sickle.
In the moonlight and firelight, I saw people coming and going, carrying loads and shuttling between the wheat fields and the granary.
This night is destined to be anything but peaceful!
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