On harvest day, many farmers came to help.
Li Guang first ordered his men to cut off the vines from the sweet potatoes, as these vines could be used as animal feed.
As long as the villagers are willing, they can take it back.
Most villagers raised livestock and poultry, and green fodder became scarce at this time.
Having these sweet potato stems and leaves as fodder did solve some problems, so the villagers transported the sweet potato vines back home.
We spent a whole day clearing away the sweet potato vines, and now the ground is full of sweet potatoes.
Li Guang was very excited to see such a large area of sweet potato fields.
It's getting late, so let's start harvesting sweet potatoes tomorrow.
Early the next morning, almost the entire village came to help. This was the first time the villagers had ever been in contact with sweet potatoes, and they were very curious about this crop.
I've heard that sweet potatoes are delicious, sweet and tasty, and can replace staple foods. They also have a high yield, so the villagers plan to plant some next year.
Harvesting sweet potatoes is a major event in the village, and the village head attaches great importance to it. He personally came to direct and help Li Guang dig up the sweet potatoes.
To improve labor efficiency, the village head suggested using oxen to help. First, use a plow to turn over the sweet potatoes in the field, and then just pick them up.
Li Guang thought this method was good and worth a try. If they relied entirely on manpower to dig, he didn't know how long it would take.
Several oxen arrived quickly, and the village headman had several skilled plowmen from the village turn the soil. As the plow swept across the land, all the sweet potatoes were turned up.
The sweet potatoes were big and red, and looked very appealing. People cheered and started picking them up with baskets in hand.
Sweet potatoes were everywhere on the ground. The village head's suggestion was indeed good. Harvesting sweet potatoes in this way greatly improved labor efficiency.
Soon, the sweet potatoes on the open ground were piled up like mountains, and some people began to transport them, carrying them on their backs and shoulder poles, with the sweet potatoes from the field being transported to the farm in a steady stream.
Soon, the sweet potatoes filled more than a dozen rooms in the farm, but more sweet potatoes kept being transported from the fields, so Li Guang had no choice but to pile them up in the middle of the farm's courtyard.
Fortunately, the farm's yard is big enough to hold even a lot of sweet potatoes.
Xiao Hei was overjoyed to see so many sweet potatoes.
We also harvested some sweet potatoes when we dug up the mother plant of the sweet potato plant.
Because Xiao Hei has a big appetite, Li Guang was a little reluctant to let Xiao Hei eat as much as it wanted, so he only gave it a few sweet potatoes every day.
A few sweet potatoes weren't enough to satisfy his craving, but now the situation was different. Sweet potatoes were piled up like a mountain, and Xiao Hei didn't care anymore. He plunged into the pile of sweet potatoes and started eating.
Li Guang didn't care about anything else, so he let Xiao Hei eat to its heart's content first, and then he would store the sweet potatoes in the cellar later, so that it wouldn't eat them so recklessly.
Most of the harvested sweet potatoes will be used as seedlings for large-scale promotion.
It took three whole days to harvest the sweet potatoes from 1,000 acres of land.
Only then did Li Guang realize what it meant to be piled up like a mountain. So many sweet potatoes were piled up in the yard, and you could see them from outside the yard.
Li Guang roughly calculated that there were three to four million catties of sweet potatoes, and estimated that there were still nearly a million catties of sweet potatoes buried in the soil.
If you want to continue digging, it won't be easy. You have to dig the ground several times before you can harvest it. Even if you get the whole village to help, it won't be finished in ten days.
The village head came over and asked Li Guang what to do with the remaining sweet potatoes. Li Guang discussed it with Zhao Xian and decided to give up the remaining sweet potatoes and let the villagers dig them up. Whoever dug them up could keep them.
The news brought great joy to the villagers, and almost the entire village turned out, bringing their families to dig sweet potatoes.
Soon, people from several surrounding villages found out and rushed over to join the sweet potato digging team.
Although the villagers were a little unhappy, Li Guang didn't say anything, and they couldn't stop him.
There are indeed quite a few sweet potatoes left in the field. They are not only large but also very intact, so they will be fine as seedlings next year.
Some sweet potatoes were already incomplete when they were dug up, but it was still fine to take them home and eat them.
For more than ten days, villagers from both the village and neighboring villages worked tirelessly, and the sweet potatoes in the fields were basically all dug up.
The villagers had a good harvest; some dug up several thousand kilograms, while others dug up several hundred kilograms, which basically solved their food problem for the year.
Li Guang was overjoyed. He had never imagined that sweet potato yields would be so high. If sweet potato cultivation were to be promoted in the Northern Dynasty, there would be no more famine.
Next, Li Guang began to consider storing these sweet potatoes in cellars. Some time ago, he asked people to dig several cellars, all of which were used to store potatoes.
With so many sweet potatoes to store this time, it's not something that can be solved simply by digging a few cellars.
If a large cellar were to be dug, it would have to be built with bricks, and if the cellar were dug too deep, it would easily accumulate water, which would be detrimental to the storage of sweet potatoes. Li Guang could not find a good solution for the time being.
Just then, Zhao Xiaosheng arrived at the farm with several people, who were local farmers.
“Li Guang, these people are villagers from the neighborhood. They want to buy sweet potatoes to use as seedlings next year. I wonder if you have any plans to sell sweet potatoes?” Zhao Xiaosheng asked.
"Sell sweet potatoes." Li Guang was taken aback; he really hadn't thought of selling sweet potatoes.
"How did you come here to buy sweet potatoes?" Li Guang turned to look at the farmers who had come to buy sweet potatoes.
At this moment, the group of people seemed to be possessed, and were so surprised that they involuntarily walked towards the mountain of sweet potatoes piled up in the middle of the yard.
"Li Guang, don't you know? Sweet potatoes are selling like hotcakes in the market."
Some time ago, the villagers dug up a lot of sweet potatoes in the sweet potato field. After keeping enough seedlings, they took the extra sweet potatoes to the market to sell.
Surprisingly, sweet potatoes sold exceptionally well. Some people bought them to eat, but many more bought them as seedlings.
Soon, people learned that sweet potatoes were not only delicious but also highly productive. Planting one acre of sweet potatoes could basically solve a family's food needs for a year.
As a result, more and more people went to the market to buy sweet potatoes. At first, sweet potatoes only cost a few coins each, but later the price kept rising.
In just a few days, sweet potatoes have grown to cost 100 coins each, and the price is expected to rise further. At such a high price, many people can no longer afford them.
Some people heard that the farm had a large quantity of sweet potatoes and came to buy some.
They were wandering around outside when I ran into them. After asking them what happened, I found out what was going on and brought them inside.
So that's what happened. Li Guang was shocked and felt that this was not a good omen. If this matter was not handled properly, it might cause trouble.
The looks the others had given him earlier told him that what was in front of him was no longer sweet potatoes, but a pile of gleaming silver.
According to market prices, ten sweet potatoes are worth one tael of silver. How much silver must this mountain of sweet potatoes be worth?
With so many sweet potatoes on the farm, it's possible that some unscrupulous individuals might take the risk. It seems the farm needs to be on guard during this period.
At this moment, several people started circling around the large pile of sweet potatoes, and Li Guang quickly came up with a solution.
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