Shen Xi remained calm.
"Xiuwen, Aqiao, both of you use your brains and see if potatoes can be a staple food?"
The crowd, which had been excited just moments before, suddenly fell silent.
Yes, if it can't be used as a staple food, what's the point of having a high yield?
Staple foods are the only true food.
If grain production cannot increase dramatically, most people will be forced to work on the land, and adults will struggle to fill their stomachs, leaving them with no time or inclination to do anything else.
All creative inventions and spiritual needs must be met by paying for food.
Just like the tea in Shenxi today, which is purchased by a few aristocratic families, but that is just very ordinary tea in later generations.
To this day, the people of Bian'ai County can only eat coarse grains, and they can only eat until they are more than half full.
As expected of an expert in agriculture, Bai Qiao was the first to figure it out.
"Sir, is it because the potatoes have too much moisture that they can't be stored for long?"
Shenxi nodded; this was one of the factors.
"Think again, what other factors are there?"
Qi Xiuwen then considered another problem: "Since there is a lot of moisture, the weight will be greatly reduced. I wonder how many kilograms the potatoes will weigh after drying?"
Shenxi knew: "They can probably get about 30%."
Thirty percent? That's quite a lot.
"Isn't it good to store them after drying?"
Chenxi smiled bitterly: "Dried potatoes taste very bad and are not suitable as a staple food. Potatoes can be used as a temporary staple food during famine years."
Potatoes are not suitable for long-term storage as a staple food, mainly because of their high water content.
They can only be stored in a cellar for about six months. If stored longer, they will grow sprouts, and potatoes with sprouts are poisonous.
Everyone knows that it's poisonous; the first few people who ate it died.
"In other words, these can be used as staple food, but they cannot be used as national reserve food."
With a single sentence from Chenxi, the status of potatoes was determined.
It's perfectly acceptable for ordinary people to grow potatoes. They can be eaten as a staple food or as a vegetable, regardless of the season.
However, the country's grain reserves still need other sources.
Potatoes can solve the problem of food and clothing for ordinary people, but they cannot solve the problem of grain reserves.
If food reserves are insufficient, and natural disasters or man-made calamities occur, disaster relief will be impossible, and chaos will still ensue.
Moreover, storing grain is also necessary for fighting wars.
The army cannot use potatoes, which are high in moisture and easily spoil, as military rations for an extended period of time.
Even so, it was enough to make everyone happy.
When people have food to eat, they will settle down. As long as some land is planted with potatoes, it can solve the large-scale famine. The rest can be used to plant wheat, rice and other crops.
Moreover, potato planting does not affect winter wheat planting.
It can produce two crops a year.
Furthermore, potatoes can still be harvested even on some low-quality land.
In this way, the problem of famine can be truly solved.
Once everyone understood this point, they stopped considering anything else and began discussing how to ensure there were enough potato seeds for the people to grow.
With just over 200 kilograms of potatoes now, and two crops a year, how many more years would it take to achieve widespread cultivation?
Chen Xi gave the order: "We still need to actively search for the crops in the catalog, including finding more potato seeds."
For several months in a row, he had failed to bring back sweet potatoes and corn, which made Zang Huatian extremely depressed.
I rushed back this time to participate in digging potatoes.
When I saw the actual yield, I remembered what the leader had said before: only when sweet potatoes and corn could be widely planted would the food problem be truly solved.
Given the war in northern Xinjiang and the fact that even the locals are struggling to get enough to eat, where would sweet potatoes and corn be transported out?
Ma Zhigang had long ago prohibited merchants within his jurisdiction from transporting grain out of the area.
Sweet potatoes originated in the southern barbarian lands, specifically the area around Xinyi Prefecture. That place was separated by mountains and rivers, and it was also occupied by Lu Daxu, the King of Xiangnan. Going there would be suicide.
Moreover, the distance is far, and with the dangers on the road, it would take several months to make the round trip.
Everyone was excited and happy, but Zang Huatian secretly made up his mind that next time he would definitely bring back the sweet potatoes, corn and other seeds that the leader wanted.
Shenxi was indeed happy. Regardless of whether potatoes were suitable for national grain reserves, if more were planted in the future, the people could be fed for the time being, instead of being mostly half-fed as they are now.
Besides, potatoes taste much better than the coarse grains we have now.
Bai Qiao asked softly, "Sir, could we try these potatoes first?"
Chenxi was also craving potatoes. After arriving, she had only been thinking about their taste and hadn't actually been able to eat them.
But looking at the potatoes, which weighed only a little over 200 pounds, I suddenly felt a pang of heartache.
I'm so reluctant to part with it!
These are all seeds, all hope. Eating some means one less potato.
Seeing the way everyone was staring at her, she gritted her teeth and said, "I can only eat it, um..."
A dozen or so people followed, each carrying a potato. That's more than a dozen of them; one potato probably wouldn't be enough...
Finally, Chen Xi gritted her teeth and said ruthlessly, "One medium-sized potato for each person, no more."
Everyone looked at each other, all thinking the same thing: "Our leader is really stingy."
Shenxi understood everyone's expressions, but still didn't change her mind.
We have no choice but to be frugal; food security is a matter of great importance and far-reaching significance.
Finally, everyone looked at the remaining potatoes and ordered Chenxi to put them away carefully and not let anyone touch them.
Even Chenxi himself didn't make any special exceptions; he was just a potato.
Shenxi had already told Li Qin how to eat potatoes.
Li Qin personally took charge of cooking, following the method taught by Shen Xi. Shen Xi, afraid that she would ruin the potatoes that he had reluctantly allowed her to eat, supervised her from the side.
Spicy shredded potatoes, beef stew with potato chunks, cumin-flavored crispy potato, pan-fried potato and chicken cubes, and candied potatoes—that's all I can make, since there aren't enough potatoes.
The portions of each item were small, just enough for everyone to have a taste.
The chili peppers arrived just yesterday.
Ge Congshan kept his word and delivered a large bag of chili peppers.
Of course, another message was also sent: Ge Congshan would not send troops to support the Third Prince.
This huge bag of chili peppers was used in a dish for the first time by Shenxi today; she had been craving it for ages.
Li Qin also made many other dishes, adding chili peppers to everything that could be made spicy.
Of course, the chili seeds weren't used; the seeds were removed, and only the chili skins were used, which were spicy enough.
Chenxi plans to build a small greenhouse so that chili seeds can be grown even in winter.
Then, experiment with a small batch of potatoes to see if they can grow in winter. If they can be grown in winter, then there will be more potato seeds available.
After all the dishes were served, Shenxi was the first to pick up her chopsticks.
The first one was spicy shredded potatoes. I've been craving it for so long, and I finally got to eat it for the first time.
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