Lord Yao nodded and said:
"I have come to Shuixian Village this time to promote sweet potatoes and potatoes. After you have kept enough seedlings, the remaining ones will be purchased by the imperial court at market price and distributed throughout the country for promotion."
With the imperial court's involvement, the promotion of sweet potatoes and potatoes will be completed quickly.
"That's wonderful! In this way, within two years, sweet potatoes and potatoes will be everywhere in the Great Northern Dynasty, and the people will no longer suffer from famine," Li Guang said excitedly.
"There's another piece of good news. Last year, the princess went to the border and brought some sweet potatoes with her. Thanks to the efforts of the locals, the sweet potatoes were successfully planted and are growing well. The harvest is expected to be quite good."
This is indeed good news, as the border area can grow a large number of sweet potatoes, which can alleviate the pressure on the army's logistics.
Every year, the imperial court had to transport a large amount of military supplies to the border, mainly grain and fodder. If the border areas could produce sweet potatoes themselves, they could solve part of the food supply problem.
At this moment, Li Guang remembered something and asked:
“The princess went to the border last year, and it has been more than a year since then before she came to Narcissus Village. I feel that something is wrong. I wonder what happened during this time.”
I've also heard that the foreign kingdoms, in alliance with the Luo and Jin kingdoms, intend to invade our Great Northern Dynasty. The princess should be aware of this, but I wonder if it's true.
Li Xue nodded and said:
"That's true. At the border, Marshal Han sent spies to the foreign countries and learned some information."
The alliance of the three kingdoms to invade the Great Northern Dynasty is a foregone conclusion, but an agreement has not yet been reached on the method of sending troops.
The three kingdoms initially planned to launch a joint military campaign, with the vassal state in charge. However, the other two kingdoms harbored their own ulterior motives and feared that problems would arise in the distribution of benefits, which would be detrimental to them.
They then planned to send troops to divide up the Great Northern Dynasty, with whoever gained the spoils keeping them.
This presents a problem: since Luo and Jin do not border the Great Northern Dynasty, their troops must pass through foreign countries to reach them, which makes the foreign countries unwilling to comply.
So after so much time, they still haven't reached a conclusion.
However, some time ago, news came that the three countries had reached an agreement and were preparing to send troops together.
At first, the imperial court was actively preparing for war, but after so much time, the things people were worried about did not happen.
Since this message was brought to me from the front lines, and so much time has passed with no further developments.
Some people questioned the news I brought, believing it to be unreliable and that the court's mobilization of such a large force was a waste of resources and manpower.
But I always believe that, regardless of whether war breaks out in the future, we should be prepared for danger in times of peace and take precautions before things happen.
Lord Yao is currently accelerating the promotion of high-yield crops to increase grain production in the Northern Dynasty, which is also a preparation for future wars.
Li Guang understood that the news the princess brought back from the border had been questioned by some people in the court, who believed that Li Xue had brought false information and attacked her.
Therefore, Li Xue's life was not easy during this period. So whether the war broke out or not, it was a torment for Li Xue.
Lord Yao looked at Li Xue and said:
"Your Highness has done a great deal for the court this past year, and the Emperor has seen and remembered it. Your Highness should not stoop to the level of those short-sighted people."
During your visit to Narcissus Village, Your Highness, please take a good rest. I have already made arrangements for promoting sweet potatoes.
Once the sweet potatoes are harvested, they will be centrally purchased.
After the purchase was completed, people from various places transported the sweet potatoes away. The rest was no longer our responsibility; local officials would then be in charge of promoting and cultivating the sweet potatoes.
Upon hearing this, Li Xue laughed and said, "In that case, I will stay in Narcissus Village for a while longer and prepare to return to the capital for the New Year."
Upon hearing this, Li Guang immediately became excited.
“Princess, you’ve come at just the right time. We’re planning to harvest the sweet potatoes in the next couple of days, so now you’ll have something to do.”
Last year when we harvested sweet potatoes, we asked the whole village to help us, but we don't need to today.
We have three thousand soldiers; if they all go into battle, they can finish harvesting the sweet potatoes in just a few days.
"Really? Three thousand people harvesting sweet potatoes at the same time, that must be quite a sight. We'll really be able to see something amazing!" Li Xue said excitedly.
Currently, the farmers in the surrounding area are all watching Li Guang closely. They will harvest their sweet potatoes whenever Li Guang harvests them.
Therefore, Lord Yao still has some important things to do, which is to issue an announcement first.
First, all farmers should be informed that after harvesting sweet potatoes, they should keep enough seedlings and sell the rest to the imperial court.
The imperial court arranged for personnel to set up a purchasing point in Shuixian Village to purchase goods at market prices.
There's also good news: the government won't levy taxes on sweet potatoes planted this year, which means people can sell them for money as soon as they dig them up.
This thrilled the farmers, as they never dreamed they could grow sweet potatoes without paying taxes.
For farmers, earning a living from the land is extremely difficult. Taxes are often a heavy burden for them, and under normal circumstances, after deducting various exorbitant taxes and levies, there is very little left.
People spread the news, as this was the first time in the more than 100 years since the founding of the Great Northern Dynasty.
After Lord Yao issued the notice, the sweet potato harvest truly began.
To ensure the smooth operation of the sweet potato purchasing, Yao Daren found an open space in the village and arranged for people to purchase sweet potatoes there.
The villagers don't own much land; most of them only grow a few acres of sweet potatoes.
Once the sweet potatoes were harvested, they were quickly sent to the purchasing point, weighed, and then people received a hefty sum of money.
Li Guang had three thousand acres of sweet potato fields next to the military camp. All the oxen were put to use. After the sweet potatoes were turned over, the three thousand soldiers began to pick them up, creating a spectacular scene.
After Li Guang had enough seedlings, he piled the remaining sweet potatoes on an open ground, intending to sell them to the imperial court.
Three thousand acres is indeed a large area. Although more than three thousand people worked non-stop, it still took three or four days to harvest all the sweet potatoes in the field.
This year's harvest was good, with a total of over ten million catties of sweet potatoes harvested. It is estimated that there are still at least two million catties of sweet potatoes left in the ground that have not been dug up.
Li Guang planned to sell all the sweet potatoes, then dig them up from the ground and transport them all back to the farm. He didn't intend to sell them anymore, as both his family and the army camp needed them.
The price the imperial court paid for sweet potatoes this time was quite good, and Li Guang received a large sum of money, which would all be used for military expenses.
Although the imperial court provided funds for this army, it was only for 3,000 men. If they wanted to expand the army, they would need a large amount of military funds.
Zhao Xian's businesses are very profitable, but they are definitely not enough to support a large army. He still needs to find a way.
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