Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

It is the most difficult to accept the favor of a beauty. When Zhu Youxiao was in trouble, his savior suddenly arrived.

I saw Yutong running towards me, shouting loudly.

"Your Majesty! Urgent military report! Urgent military report!"

Chapter 452 Is this old man sure he is not pretending?

"What's going on?"

When Zhu Youxiao heard the word "military report", he instantly became nervous.

Youtong supported himself on his knees with his hands and stopped panting, but before he could say anything, he slapped himself in the face.

"I made a mistake. It's not a military report. It's, it's, it's a good news..."

Zhu Youxiao looked back at the departing Concubine Cheng and kicked her.

"If you dare to make such a fuss again, I will castrate you again!"

"Tell me, what's going on!"

After bowing and nodding for a while, Yutong took out a letter from his bosom and said with a flattering smile, "Your Majesty, this is the good news sent back by Lord Song from Tongzhou!"

Tongzhou?

Song Yingxing?

Zhu Youxiao took the letter, opened it, took a look at it, and then put it away.

"deliver an imperial order!"

"I want to go to Tongzhou!"

"Order Prince Xin and Wen Tiren to accompany you!"

"Yes!"

Youtong bowed respectfully, then called two Jinyiwei to make preparations.

A stick of incense later, more than 300 riders rushed out of the Forbidden City and galloped towards Tongzhou.

Wen Tihen and Prince Xin followed Zhu Youxiao, but both of them looked confused and had no idea what was going on.

It was only fifty miles from the Forbidden City to Tongzhou, and the team stopped after more than an hour.

In the farmlands beside the official road, countless people were busy working.

After staying in Shaanxi for a month or two, what Zhu Youxiao saw most were cracked fields and dry riverbeds.

But in Tongzhou, the fields are lush green.

The sound of horse hooves startled the people working in the fields. A middle-aged man covered in mud saw this scene and immediately came over with his men.

"Your humble servant Song Yingxing pays respect to Your Majesty!"

"I didn't know Your Majesty was coming. I'm sorry for not welcoming you. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!"

The people nearby were shocked when they heard this, and they immediately stopped what they were doing and gathered around.

"Welcome to His Majesty! Long live His Majesty!"

"Hahahaha, everyone get up!"

Zhu Youxiao smiled, jumped off the horse, ignored Song Yingxing, and strode towards the field.

Looking at the green potato vines in front of me, the corners of my mouth couldn't help but curl up.

Sweet potato, a good harvest!

In a year of great disaster, there was a good harvest!

He bent down, casually pushed aside a potato vine, looked at the cracked earth ridge, and said to King Xin.

"Brother, come quickly! Help me dig this out!"

Prince Xin was still confused, but when he heard this, he immediately ran over.

Then, the two brothers stuck their butts out and started digging sweet potatoes in the field.

The sweet potatoes at that time could not be compared with the improved varieties of later generations.

Soon, the first sweet potato was dug out.

This sweet potato is not big, only about one pound at most, and the surface is dry and rough, not round at all.

In later times, it would probably just be material for feeding pigs.

If you put it on the market, no one will buy it.

But even so, the joy on Zhu Youxiao's face was still hard to contain.

Because this is not just food, it is also the hope of the people of Ming Dynasty!

If he remembered correctly, the Ming Dynasty was plagued by natural disasters in the following decades.

With this thing, people can fill their stomachs!

Sweet potato noodles, sweet potato buns, we can’t live without sweet potatoes.

He heard these words from the older generation in his previous life, and they were talking about the new China around 58.

At that time, New China had 400 million people, and they could all survive on sweet potatoes. So could the Ming Dynasty where he lived!

Wen Tiren stood by and watched the two brothers dig out pieces of sweet potatoes from the ground, and he understood everything in his heart.

Looking around, there is no end to this potato field, and it is at least a thousand acres.

Just from one potato, he dug up five sweet potatoes, four large and two small. So, how many would there be in all these fields combined?

"Go, pick up some firewood for me!"

"Get another iron hook!"

Zhu Youxiao had stood up at some point and gave orders to Sun Kangwang who was standing beside him.

After the iron hook was brought over, it only took a blink of an eye for Zhu Youxiao to dig out a smokeless stove.

This was a skill he learned from the people in the kitchen when he went to the army to test out guns.

"It's OK, I haven't lost my skills."

Under the confused gazes of the people around him, he carefully placed the five sweet potatoes in the stove.

Prince Xin rubbed the mud on his hands, came up to him and asked curiously: "Brother, what are you doing......"

Zhu Youxiao smiled and patted him on the shoulder twice: "You will know in a moment!"

After saying that, he told Youtong to keep an eye on the stove, then turned to look at Song Yingxing.

"I received your good news early in the morning. When I learned that the harvest would begin today, I rushed here without stopping. I did delay your work."

"How about it? Are there any detailed data now? Given the soil fertility in the north, how many sweet potatoes can be produced per acre?"

Song Yingxing had been standing there with his eyes wide open for a while. When he heard him ask this, he quickly bowed and answered.

"Your Majesty, the specific production volume has not yet been calculated."

"But conservatively speaking, one acre of land can produce at least 25 shi!"

"Tell me again, how much can it produce?"

Wen Tiren's eyes suddenly widened, and he grabbed Song Yingxing by the collar, spitting saliva out of his mouth with excitement.

Song Yingxing was speechless. He raised his sleeve to wipe his face: "Twenty-twenty-five stones..."

Wen Tiren was stunned.

He knew the output would be large, but he never imagined it would be as much as twenty and a half stone!

That’s three thousand kilograms!

In the vicinity of the capital, wheat and beans were usually planted in rotation. Even in a good year, the total yield for the two seasons was only 400 kilograms.

If you plant millet, the yield will be even less!

But this sweet potato, one acre of land can yield 3,000 kilograms?

His face turned red unconsciously, his eyes scanned the surroundings, and suddenly walked out of the crowd.

When he came back, there was an old man in his sixties by his side.

"I am asking you on behalf of His Majesty. You must tell the truth."

“How many sweet potatoes are planted on this acre of land?”

"How much fertilizer was applied? How many times was the soil watered and turned over in a year?"

“How much manpower was used to weed and catch insects?”

The old man had never experienced such a scene before. He was so frightened that his legs went limp. He fell to his knees with a thud and began to confess everything.

"Reply to His Majesty!"

"If I remember correctly, I planted three thousand seedlings on this acre of land."

"We only sprinkled some wood ash when the potato seedlings were planted, but never added manure."

"As for watering, there is no way I can even start to water it. You can see that at my age, I can't even carry water..."

Having said this, his expression became a little hesitant.

Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao smiled at him and said, "Just say whatever you want to say. Don't hesitate. I'm here. There's nothing to be afraid of."

The old man hesitated for a long time, and finally said through gritted teeth.

"Your Majesty! Before the sweet potatoes were planted, Lord Song said that the yield would be good, but no one dared to take it seriously."

"Right now, one acre of land actually produces several thousand kilograms, and ordinary people are worried..."

"Now that the frost has passed, if we can't pull them back in time, they will freeze to death in the fields."

"Your Majesty, I feel so sorry for you!"

Zhu Youxiao:.........

Wen Tiren:.........

Prince Xin:.........

Damn, is this old guy sure he isn’t pretending?

Chapter 453 Congratulations to Mr. Song on his promotion

The two areas of Shaanxi and Shan are now in a tragic state of thousands of miles of barren land.

But thousands of miles away in Tongzhou, people were worried that there were too many sweet potatoes to transport back.

If this news were to get out, it would definitely shock the government and the public!

Although this old man may be showing off, the weather is getting colder day by day. Once these sweet potatoes are frozen, it will affect their germination next year.

Facing this old man who seemed to be showing off, Zhu Youxiao looked at Song Yingxing speechlessly.

Song Yingxing hurried forward and scolded the old man with a smile: "Alright, I won't let you take credit for me!"

"I told you when the sweet potatoes were planted. After the harvest, the Ministry of Revenue will buy them back."

"Sweet potatoes cost three cents a pound, and potato vines cost fifty cents an acre."

"So, you just need to dig out these sweet potatoes. As for taking them home, do you dare to try to touch a piece?"

The old man then changed his sad expression and grinned happily.

"Yes, yes, look at my poor memory. I really forgot about it."

Listening to their conversation, Zhu Youxiao looked at Song Yingxing's hand.

He is just over forty years old, but now his hands are as weak as dead wood.

The cracked skin and rough calluses are almost unbearable to look at.

The cracks between his fingernails were filled with mud, and he looked completely different from the officials in the court.

These are the officials that the Ming Dynasty needs.