Chapter 17 High-yield grain varieties [Jinjiang genuine exclusive release · It's not a flower, it's...
Seeing the emperor's eldest grandson burping and staring at him with complicated eyes, Li Si felt a little helpless and subconsciously cast a confused look at the emperor.
The First Emperor's long eyelashes trembled slightly, because he heard the strange "zizizizi" sound in his mind again. Ying was now staring at the Minister of Justice. Could it be that Xuanniao said something about Li Si to his grandson again?
Ying Zheng pondered inwardly, then smiled and reached out his right hand to gently touch the back of the little baby's round head. After attracting the little one's attention, he raised the small transparent bag between his slender fingers and asked his eldest grandson curiously:
"Ying, can you understand the words written on this bag?"
Qin Ying grinned and nodded her head.
The First Emperor raised his eyebrows in slight surprise:
"Is this also what Xuanniao taught Ying in the dream?"
"Yeah." Qin Ying nodded happily again.
"This... Your Majesty, the Emperor's eldest grandson is truly extraordinary!"
Seeing this, Xu Wang couldn't help but look at the baby in surprise and praised him. Seeing the baby looking at him, he asked the baby impatiently:
"I wonder if His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, could tell me what kind of seeds these are and what their effects are?"
"Aiya!"
After Qin Ying understood Xu Wang's question, she subconsciously answered.
Xu Wang blinked in confusion. What on earth was this Saint Sun talking about? He couldn't understand baby talk at all.
Zhao Gao, who had just disappeared, also walked over quickly, carrying a small square table with blank bamboo slips and writing brushes and ink. He knelt down beside the First Emperor quietly and picked up the brush, obviously preparing to take notes.
The First Emperor caught a glimpse of Zhao Gao's movements, then he lowered his head to look at his grandson and said with a gentle smile:
"Ying, this is Xu Wang, the Minister of Grain Administration of the Great Qin."
"Why don't you stop busying yourself with sorting the seeds and tell me their names. I'll relay your thoughts to the other nobles, okay?"
After hearing the words of His Majesty the Emperor, Xu Wang looked at the Emperor's eldest grandson expectantly, pretending to be humbly asking for advice and listening attentively.
Qin Ying blinked her eyes, and immediately took out a small bag from the piles of small seeds she had sorted out around her, just like drawing cards. She slapped it on the wooden floor and quickly extracted the seed information in a baby voice to tell her grandfather.
The First Emperor also became a professional "baby language simultaneous interpreter". Every time his grandson babbled a sentence, he translated it word for word, and Zhao Gao also waved the brush in his hand quickly to take notes.
Li Si, Xu Wang and Meng Yi stretched their necks to observe.
“Aa ...
"Remember! This packet of seeds is called 'Tomato'. It's an annual plant. When it grows up, it's bright red. It's a sweet and sour summer fruit."
“Aa ...
"Remember! This packet of seeds is called 'cucumber'. It's an annual climbing plant. Like tomatoes, it's a refreshing green summer vegetable."
“Ah#…@!”
"This packet of seeds is called 'Beans', a vegetable with a very high yield in summer..."
"Oh……"
"This packet of seeds is called 'Pumpkin.' It's a high-yielding climbing vegetable that can produce 1,000 kilograms per mu. Every part of it is a treasure... If farmers take good care of it, a single pumpkin can grow to weigh dozens of kilograms. The pumpkin flowers, flesh, stems, leaves, vines, seeds, and even the tender skin are all edible!"
If the three seeds of tomatoes, cucumbers and beans mentioned above could still keep the adults present seated, the appearance of the pumpkin instantly stunned everyone present.
Even when Ying Zheng was translating his grandson's baby language, the tone of his translation couldn't help but rise higher and higher after hearing the pumpkin's message.
Xu Wang, who had worked in agriculture all his life, was so surprised when he heard about the excellent properties of pumpkin that his face turned red as the sun. He couldn't hide his shock and shouted to His Majesty the Emperor:
"Oh my God! Your Majesty! How can there be such a wonderful seed in the world! Yielding a thousand kilograms per mu! And the whole thing is edible! This, Your Majesty, this pumpkin seed is the national treasure of my Great Qin! A national treasure seed!"
The First Emperor nodded in approval, lowered his gaze, and looked at the pumpkin seed bag that his grandson was holding in his little hands with his bright eyes.
Li Si also smiled happily and said:
"Your Majesty, what the Minister of Grain said is correct. In my opinion, this pumpkin is truly a blessing bestowed upon our Great Qin by the Black Bird! If pumpkin seeds are truly as easy to grow as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince claims, wouldn't it be possible for ordinary people to simply plant two seedlings in front of or behind their houses in the summer, and that would be enough to feed a family of four for the entire summer?"
The First Emperor took the pumpkin seeds from his grandson with a smile, lowered his head and stroked the soft texture of the bag with his fingers, then smiled at Li Si with deep emotion:
"Mr. Si is right. These pumpkin seeds are truly extraordinary. Starting this year, we must diligently cultivate and plant them. We must ensure that within ten years, one-third of Daqin's territory is covered in pumpkins!"
When Li Si and Xu Wang heard His Majesty's words, they hurriedly bowed and said, "Yes!"
Meng Yi, who was kneeling beside the two, picked up another small transparent bag and handed it to the royal grandparents, asking curiously:
"Your Majesty, Young Master Ying, I noticed that the words written on this small transparent bag are somewhat similar to those on these pumpkin seeds. Could this also be a pumpkin seed?"
When Qin Ying saw the bag of seeds that Meng Yi handed to her, her eyes lit up and she immediately waved her little hands and babbled happily to her grandfather.
After hearing his grandson's words, the First Emperor's eyes became brighter, and he smiled and explained to Meng Yi:
"Yi, the seed you're holding is called 'winter melon.' Like pumpkins, it's a large, climbing melon that can produce thousands of kilograms per mu. Ying said that if you take good care of a winter melon, it can easily grow into dozens of kilograms!"
When Meng Yi heard that the tiny melon seed in his hand could actually grow into a large melon weighing dozens of kilograms, he felt his palm sink, and then it was empty.
Xu Wang snatched the winter melon seeds from Meng Yi's hand, carefully held them in his palm, and said with tears in his eyes:
"God bless the Great Qin! Only God bless the Great Qin that these two high-yield melon varieties were sent down at once!"
Seeing the white-bearded old man Zhisul Neishi shouting happily and sobbing in front of her, Qin Ying's originally happy mood could not help but be tinged with a hint of complexity.
Among the hundreds of schools of thought today, the scholars who truly care about the lives of the common people are from the agricultural school.
Seeing that Xu Wang, the little old man with a white beard, was truly moved to tears, and thinking about his identity as a big farmer and the fact that the common people were hungry all day, the bright smile on Qin Ying's face slowly faded. She pursed her lips, looked around for a moment, then stretched out her two little hands and picked up a large red-skinned tuber beside her, babbling to herself, attracting everyone's attention back to her.
The First Emperor was just feeling overwhelmed with joy over the large and high-yielding pumpkins and winter melons. However, upon hearing the information about the large red-skinned tubers introduced by his eldest grandson in a baby voice, he gasped and looked at the more than twenty large red-skinned tubers lying on the wooden floor. His lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a word for a long time.
Seeing His Majesty staring at the red tuber in shock and speechless, Xu Wang sniffed and raised his sleeve to wipe away tears of joy. Li Si, Meng Yi, and even Zhao Gao, who was in charge of recording, felt as if they had a kitten in their arms, their hearts itching to see the emperor, and they all stared at His Majesty the Emperor.
Seeing His Majesty staring at the large red tuber with his eyes blazing but not speaking for a long time, the anxious Xu Wang could not help but look at the First Emperor and urged him:
"Your Majesty, please tell us quickly, what exactly is that red thing that Young Master Ying is holding in his arms?!"
The impatient voice of Zhi Su Nei Shi drew the First Emperor's gaze away from the red tubers with great difficulty. Ying Zheng felt that the joy in his heart was about to burst out like a volcano. He looked at several important officials and laughed loudly as they translated:
"My lords, Ying has told me that this red-skinned thing is called 'sweet potato'. It's a plant tuber that grows in the soil. The leaves, stems, and tubers are all edible. The peeled sweet potato skins, cooked in a large pot, are also great for feeding livestock. The tubers can be planted, and even the stems they grow can continue to reproduce after being planted in the soil. Like pumpkins and winter melons, sweet potatoes are high-yield crops, yielding thousands of kilograms per mu. However, the sweet potato has an even greater advantage in that it can be steamed or boiled and eaten as a staple food! It's very filling!"
The comment "sweet potatoes can be eaten as a staple food" instantly made everyone present feel as if they were hit by ten thousand taels of gold! After coming to their senses, they all widened their eyes in shock and breathed rapidly, as if they had seen a god with their own eyes. With flushed faces, they looked at the large tuber that looked very plump and juicy, and then looked at the emperor's eldest grandson who was barely half a year old.
Xu Wang was so happy that he wanted to get up from the wooden floor and dance on the spot.
Although Li Si was also delighted, he couldn't help but look at the emperor's eldest grandson with complicated eyes. He thought to himself that if the baby was the emperor's prince instead of the emperor's grandson, he would be qualified to compete for the throne just based on this bag of seeds. Admittedly, he was very dissatisfied with the eldest son's temperament, but he was indeed lucky to have given birth to such a blessed son.
Qin Ying, who had no idea that Li Si had already developed a subtle affection for him, started asking and answering questions quickly in the next two quarters of an hour.
"Young Master Ying, what kind of seeds are these?" Meng Yi raised a small packet of transparent seeds and looked at the emperor's eldest grandson expectantly and asked.
“Aaaaaah!”
"…It's grapes, a sweet and sour fruit tree…"
"Your Highness, where is this packet of seeds?"
"babble……"
"It's garlic..."
"this……?"
"ah……"
"It's sesame... it can be used to make oil..."
“…”
"This is peanuts..."
“…”
"This seed is called pomegranate... It is a fruit tree like grapes."
"Your Majesty, may I ask His Royal Highness Changsun what kind of seeds these two packets contain?"
"Yi, Ying said the two packets you took were flower seeds. The one on the left is called 'Rose' and the one on the right is called 'Jasmine'. The petals can be used to make tea."
"Hey, these are actually flowers." Meng Yi couldn't help but scratch his head in surprise after hearing the answer.
The First Emperor turned his head and casually instructed Zhao Gao, who was in charge of recording:
"Zhao Gao, take note of these two packets of flower seeds. Send them to the Rose Palace and have the gardeners there cultivate them."
Qin Ying understood what he said. Her grandfather was a real pragmatist. He only liked high-yield, edible seeds and had no interest in cultivating flower seeds.
"Your Majesty, Young Master Ying, what is this tuber with a yellowish-brown skin? Is it a sweet potato?"
Seeing that there were only two kinds of seeds left without asking, Xu Wang could not help but pick up a yellow-brown tuber with care, his eyes bright and his face flushed, looking at the emperor's eldest grandson with great anticipation.
Qin Ying shook her head slightly, pointed at the thing in Xu Wang's hand with her little finger, and babbled:
“Aa ...
His Majesty also followed suit and translated simultaneously:
"Xu Qing, Ying said that what you have is called potatoes. Like sweet potatoes, they are plant tubers that can produce thousands of kilograms per mu. Potatoes can be eaten as a staple food when steamed or boiled, but they must be rotated and cannot be planted every year."
Upon hearing that there was another high-yield grain variety that could be eaten as a staple food, Xu Wang was so excited that he slapped his thighs and laughed out loud with his head tilted back.
Li Si also became addicted to asking questions. He picked up the last unknown seed and asked the baby curiously:
"Your Highness, what kind of seed is this? I see it's so small, could it be a flower seed?"
After Qin Ying saw the words clearly on the small transparent bag in Li Si's hand, she couldn't help but open her mouth in surprise and said "Ahhhhhhh" quickly.
When the First Emperor heard his grandson's words, he was also surprised. He looked at the seeds in Li Si's hand and frowned as he translated:
"Si Qing, Ying said that the seed you are holding is not a flower, but a grass."
"Grass? Your Majesty, why did the Xuanniao give grass seeds to the Qin Dynasty?" Meng Yi was immediately shocked and stunned when he heard this unexpected answer.
Li Si was also stunned. Although he had heard His Majesty repeat the words of the Emperor's eldest grandson, saying that the bag of celestial seeds bestowed by the Xuanniao contained a mixture of four types of seeds: "grain seeds, vegetable seeds, flower seeds, and grass seeds," after seeing the dozens of bags of identical grass seeds in front of him, as the Minister of Justice of the Great Qin, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Guanzhong is a mountainous region. As soon as summer arrives, the mountains and plains outside Xianyang City are covered in grass. Even if the common people try their best to pull out the weeds growing in the fields, they still can't finish it all! Why did the Black Bird send grass seeds specifically to the Qin people?
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