Chapter 230 [VIP]
It's clear that Lord Wen takes great care of potatoes. This tenant field is located on the westernmost side, closest to the river.
Although the land is somewhat cracked, it is much better than other land, and its proximity to a water source makes irrigation convenient.
The next day, Wang Ying instructed two subordinates to lead dozens of tenant farmers to start turning the soil and fertilizing. The most basic fertilizer, wood ash, would suffice. Potatoes don't have high requirements for soil, and simple fertilization can increase potato yield and quality.
The potato tubers planted in the experimental field have matured. They were grown at five times the speed in just three days, and they're perfect for seed production.
Wang Ying sent people to transport the potatoes to the fields. The farmers stood around the cart, scratching their heads. They had been farming for most of their lives and this was the first time they had ever seen such a thing. They didn't know how to start.
Wang Ying began to teach them how to breed potatoes. Potatoes are not simple, but the most important steps are breeding and virus removal.
Because potatoes are prone to accumulating pests and diseases during the breeding process, leading to seed degeneration and a decline in product quality, virus removal technology is particularly important.
Virus-free potato seeds have the characteristics of short dormancy period, early emergence, fast growth rate, concentrated tuber formation and excellent quality.
The first step was to cut the potatoes into pieces. The farmers held the small knives that had been distributed to them, gesturing at the potatoes, unsure of where to begin.
Wang Ying first gave a demonstration: "Select potatoes with large eyes and cut them into two-inch pieces."
The chopped potato chunks need to be washed with water, dried, and then buried in sand to sprout. Since it is already late July, although the planting time is much later, the temperature is suitable and the potatoes sprout in almost two days.
Once the potato sprouts have grown to six or seven centimeters, dig them up and start planting. Generally, furrow planting is used, and the planting depth should be controlled between 6 and 8 centimeters. After planting, cover with soil and compact it in time.
After the seedlings have fully grown, apply fertilizer for the second time, mainly using farmyard manure. After applying the fertilizer, irrigate promptly to ensure soil moisture.
After all that work, it was already August, and not a single drop of rain had fallen. The Fuhe River on the outskirts of Beijing had dried up, but at least the potatoes had been planted.
This was Wang Ying's first time farming outside the village in many years since she left Chenjiazhuang. Unlike the experimental field, the temperature, humidity, and various pests and diseases could not be controlled outside. In addition, the sowing time was a little late, so she was really unsure of herself.
Working from dawn till dusk every day, I would go out with the farmers to record data in the fields, getting my skin tanned dark, as if I had returned to the days of experimental fields in my previous life.
Fortunately, with careful care, the potatoes blossomed on time.
*
In late September, news of total crop failures came from six northern prefectures.
Tax revenue in the south was less than a third of what it used to be, and the tax coupons issued by the Ministry of Revenue had little effect. In the capital, the price of rice had risen to 300 wen per dou (a unit of dry measure), and it looked like the common people were about to go hungry.
To make matters worse, the Prince of Zhennan was reportedly plotting something and had stationed troops in Yongzhou to assert his authority.
The imperial court was in an unprecedented crisis, and Emperor Wuping was so worried that he couldn't sleep at night. He issued seven or eight imperial edicts in succession, summoning Prince Zhennan back to the capital. However, Prince Zhennan kept claiming illness and refused to return, which indirectly confirmed that he wanted to rebel.
Now is not a good time for war. We just finished fighting the Turks a few years ago, and our resources are almost depleted. If we start fighting now, we might not even be able to supply enough food. If we fall into civil war, tens of millions of people will be displaced, starving or killed in battle...
Just then, Shanzhou, Liangzhou, and Xizhou, which had been neglected by the imperial court, sent life-saving grain.
In recent years, Wang Ying's composting technology has spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, gradually spreading throughout Northwest China. Coupled with the promotion of new wheat varieties, the grain output in the originally scarce Northwest has increased year by year.
In addition, the drought this year has not had a significant impact on the Northwest, where rainfall is already scarce and irrigation relies on snowmelt from the mountains. Therefore, this year's grain harvest is similar to that of previous years.
Several prefectures combined purchased 1.8 million shi of tax vouchers, which relieved the court's urgent need for grain!
Meanwhile, good news came from the Ministry of Agriculture: the potatoes are almost ready for harvest!
A week earlier, Wang Ying had already instructed the tenant farmers to press down the seedlings. Pressing down the seedlings means rolling the plants down with a roller a week before harvest to cause minor damage, allowing the nutrients in the stems and leaves to be quickly transferred to the tubers, thus promoting ripening and increasing yield.
Because potatoes were planted later this year, if they were planted at the normal time, you could simply cut the vines.
Early in the morning, Wang Ying got up, changed into a short outfit and long boots, tied her hair neatly back, and put on a straw hat, looking no different from the men in the fields.
Seeing his attire, Chen Qingyan asked curiously, "Are you going to work in the fields again today?"
"Today is the potato harvest, and I have to dig them up myself."
"Have the potatoes grown?"
Wang Ying nodded, "I dug one up yesterday. The potato has already grown to the size of a fist. It will basically stop growing after the first frost. I pressed down the vines a while ago, so I'm harvesting it early to avoid frost damage."
After breakfast, the couple each got into their carriages to go to their shifts.
Wang Ying had just finished drawing the map and was about to go to her office when she bumped into the Grand Minister of Agriculture. "Wang Ying, why are you here so early today?"
Wang Ying stepped forward and said, "Greetings, sir. The potatoes planted in the field are ripe and ready to be harvested today. I need to go and keep an eye on them."
"Oh? I'll go take a look when I have some free time." After saying that, he hurried off to court.
Around 7:00 AM, Wang Ying arrived at the tenant fields by carriage from the Ministry of Agriculture. Yang Zhi and more than 30 tenant farmers were already waiting in the fields, along with tools such as rakes for digging and ox-drawn plows for traversing the land.
The weather was sunny and the breeze was gentle, perfect for the harvest season.
Yang Zhi stepped forward and said, "Lord Wang, everything you instructed has been arranged. May we begin?"
"Let me take a look first." Wang Ying put on her homemade gloves and went into the field. She pulled out the withered potato vines and, because the soil was soft, pulled out three or four fist-sized potatoes.
The potatoes are in perfect condition, without any wormholes, uniform in size, and firm in texture. The skin of the yellowish-brown potatoes falls off easily with a gentle pinch, revealing the fresh flesh inside.
It truly lives up to its reputation as a top-tier potato developed in later generations; even when grown using the most primitive methods in ancient times, it still produces excellent potatoes.
"It's time to harvest. Let's pull up the seedlings first."
"Yes." The tenant farmers split into several teams and began pulling out potato vines along the furrows.
Wang Ying also worked alongside them. After being busy for so long, the joy of the harvest filled her with energy.
Around 9:00 AM, many more people arrived at the edge of the field. They were all officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, and some of them came to observe the potato harvest.
Another group came to laugh at them, such as Zang Mingsheng and others. They'd never even heard of potatoes or groundnuts, let alone claimed they could be eaten as staple food—it was utterly delusional.
"To be honest, this Wang Dianshi is indeed quite capable in agricultural matters, but let's forget about cultivating new crops. This land under our feet has been used for thousands of years without any other grains. It's not like he can just change it whenever he wants."
The person next to him chimed in, "That's right, and these potatoes look like stones, they must taste terrible. Could they be some kind of clay or something?"
In the past, when natural disasters struck, people had no food and resorted to soil to stave off hunger. One type of white soil was called Guanyin soil.
Because it didn't taste like other types of soil that were hard to swallow, the disaster victims used it to fill their stomachs. But soil is still soil, how can it be eaten as food? In the end, it piled up in their stomachs and they couldn't get rid of it, and they died from being stuffed.
Yu Xin retorted, "I've already eaten these potatoes. They're not made of mud. They taste somewhat similar to cassava, but the texture is more delicate. They're indeed good for filling your stomach."
"I've noticed that Lord Yu and Clerk Wang have a particularly good relationship. We should know that no matter how much we admire them, we should keep our composure, since he is a married man."
"What nonsense are you spouting?!"
Zang Mingsheng said with a forced smile, "Don't be angry, I was just giving you a heads-up."
"Incomprehensible!" Yu Xin's face turned red, and he flicked his sleeves and turned to leave.
With more people working, the work was done quickly. Before long, half of the rice seedlings in the field had been pulled up, and each seedling could produce four or five potatoes. The harvest looked pretty good.
The elderly manager stroked his beard and said, "It looks like an acre of land can produce about two or three bushels, which is not bad."
Zang Mingsheng immediately chimed in, "Two or three bushels are not as good as planting millet. Who knows if this kind of thing will cause disease?"
The old steward did not express his opinion, but he felt that this young Master Wang's abilities were more than that.
At 3:45 AM, a four-horse carriage drove from the capital, followed by dozens of cavalrymen, and behind the cavalrymen were many carriages of civil and military officials.
The person who arrived was none other than the current Emperor Wuping.
The reason for this was that during the morning court session, the Grand Minister of Agriculture casually mentioned to the Emperor that the potatoes were ripe. The Emperor's curiosity was piqued. Although the grain sent from the Northwest had solved the immediate problem, there would still be a big issue next spring. Therefore, Emperor Wuping placed great hopes on these potatoes.
After court, he simply led all the civil and military officials out of the city to visit the tenant fields.
Along the way, Emperor Wuping couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the parched land. He was not an emperor who was ignorant of the five grains. When he was young, his father was very strict with his children. He not only made them learn literature and martial arts, but also had to understand some agricultural matters. He had even worked in the fields with his father.
He still remembered his father holding the seeds and asking them, "Do you know what the people's heaven is?"
Emperor Wuping said, "Imperial power is the heaven of the people."
The Emperor shook his head solemnly, “Food is the most important thing for the people. Only when the people are well-fed can the country be stable. If the people are not well-fed, chaos will break out. Whoever can feed the people is the most important person for them.”
At the time, he nodded as if he understood, but now that he is older, he understands even more how important food is to the people.
Internal and external troubles had left the emperor, who was already over fifty, exhausted. He leaned back on the cushions and sighed deeply, "Father, it's just too difficult to be a wise ruler..."
The carriage slowly came to a stop. "Your Majesty, we have arrived."
Emperor Wuping roused himself, straightened his clothes, and stepped down from the carriage. The people from the Ministry of Agriculture were not expected by the emperor to come suddenly, and hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed.
Emperor Wuping raised his hand, "Get up, all of you. How's the potato harvest going?"
The Grand Minister of Agriculture stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Wang Ying is currently leading people to harvest in the fields."
The Emperor looked up and saw piles of potatoes in the field. He was curious. Was this the staple food that the Grand Minister of Agriculture had mentioned? It didn't seem to be very high in yield, much less than he had imagined.
Wang Ying and the others were unaware that the Emperor had arrived. Dozens of people were bent over, weeding the seedlings in the field. They were about to finish weeding and start harvesting the potatoes.
After harnessing the ox to the plow, Wang Ying demonstrated how to turn the soil, saying, "When turning the soil, pay attention to the depth and position, and don't break the potatoes."
"Yes." Since oxen and plows were limited, most people used rakes and hoes to dig potatoes out.
As more and more potatoes were dug out of the ground, the people standing at a distance gradually widened their eyes. There were so many potatoes in the ground?!
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