Daiyu of the Red Chamber raised a cat

Chapter 128

Hearing Zhou Hang asked her to say it again, Daiyu couldn't help being stunned for a moment, her head went blank for a while, she pursed her lips after thinking about it.

"I said, it would be great if the grain output could be higher, and the people would no longer suffer from hunger and hunger."

Zhou Hang clapped his hands and said, "Exactly this sentence!"

Daiyu frowned, thinking that this sentence is easy to say, but it is even more difficult to realize it.Fields are limited, and it is impossible to create new ones out of thin air.Even if there is wasteland available for reclamation, there are not so many people to develop it. How can we increase production?Even if there are extra fields, if there is a disaster year, the crops will still not be harvested, so what can be done?

However, seeing that Zhou Hang was very excited at the moment, she was too embarrassed to hit him.

"What's wrong with this sentence?" She asked in a more gentle tone.

"Good Yu'er, you are really my lucky star!" She was quite excited.

When he was excited, his subconscious action was to step forward, wanting to hug Daiyu, but Daiyu avoided it with a blushing face.He was stunned for a moment, not at all discouraged, and said with a chuckle: "As far as I know, Shandong grows wheat, sows it in autumn and harvests it in summer. It takes more than half a year for a season, and the yield per mu is less than [-] catties. A farmer with a family of eight, At least [-] mu of land must be planted to make ends meet. This is only when the harvest is good, and if the harvest is not good, even food and clothing will be insufficient.”

The Lin family has a large collection of books, many of which are related to agriculture, and Daiyu has also dabbled in it, so of course he knows about it.Hearing this, Daiyu nodded, looked at Zhou Hang, and beckoned him to continue.

"After the wheat harvest, the common people mostly grow vegetables, soybeans, sorghum, barley and so on, and the yield of these crops is even lower. I am thinking that if a food crop with a very high yield is introduced, it will not be able to solve the problem of starvation. problem?"

Daiyu asked, "What kind of high-yield grain?"

Zhou Hangdao: "Sweet potato."

"Sweet potato?" Daiyu repeated, frowning and thinking hard, "This thing... I heard my father mentioned a few words by chance, it was introduced from overseas countries. It is planted in some places, but the yield is not high, and it is not as good as rice, so the common people are unwilling to plant it.”

Zhou Hang had never seen sweet potatoes in the world of the Red Chamber, and thought that this crop had not been introduced during the Red Chamber period.Hearing what Daiyu said today, she couldn't help being surprised and said, "Do we have sweet potatoes here?"

Daiyu nodded, "Yes!"

Zhou Hang asked again: "Are there any potatoes?"

Daiyu shook her head, "This... I haven't heard of it. Brother Hang, you should ask Qing Si Nong."

Si Nongqing is in charge of mulberry farming, water conservancy, famine relief, etc. He is the most familiar with how many kinds of crops there are in the country, and where new varieties have been introduced.

After returning, Zhou Hang asked Si Nongqing to inquire.We know that as early as 20 years ago, people in the south near the coast introduced two food crops, sweet potatoes and potatoes.But because the output is very low and it is not easy to survive, most farmers do not buy it, and only a very small number of people are willing to grow these two things.There are also some expensive species that are early adopters, and the area is not large.

Compared with potatoes, sweet potatoes are sweeter and more delicious, but they are quite popular. The planting area has increased in the past two years.But they are also rich farmers who plant them as a kind of fruit to eat.Ordinary farmers still mainly grow wheat and rice in order to make a living.

Although Zhou Hang came from a wealthy family, he is not a young master who does not know the grain.When he was young, he often went to the countryside to experience life with his mother.As far as he knows, in the 21st century, the yield of sweet potatoes per mu can reach [-] to [-] kilograms.Sweet potato is a crop that is very adaptable to conditions and has low requirements for land and other fields. It can be grown in both the south and the north.Even if the ancient planting technology is underdeveloped, the yield per mu should not be too low, at least not less than [-] kilograms.We must know that in the turbulent period after the founding of New China, the common people could not eat, but they all survived on sweet potatoes.

As for potatoes, the yield will not be lower than that of sweet potatoes.

But both Lin Daiyu and Sinongqing said that the common people were unwilling to plant because of the low yield, and there must be something he overlooked.

Zhou Hang then asked the common people how to grow sweet potatoes and potatoes, and realized that the reason for the low yield was the wrong season for planting.Ordinary people are still planting rice and wheat, sowing in autumn and harvesting in summer, naturally it will not work.

Although I understand in my heart that this is the reason why the yield of sweet potatoes and potatoes is low.

But Zhou Hang couldn't bring it up hastily, otherwise it would be hard to explain the reason.After all, he has never been in contact with agriculture. Even if he tells it, others may not believe it, and they will think that he is talking nonsense to justify himself.

However, others can't tell, but your biological father can still talk about it.

Zhou Hang told Li Zhao when he went back.

Li Zhao frowned for a while after hearing this, not knowing what he was thinking.After a while, he asked Zhou Hang how he knew.Zhou Hang took it for granted, "My mother and I planted sweet potatoes and potatoes. We planted them in May and June, and we could harvest them in two or three months. The timing is just right, and it won't affect the autumn sowing of wheat. Why isn't Father here?" Shandong implementation? There’s no harm in trying, isn’t it?”

Li Zhao has long been familiar with the fact that Zhou Hang called his mother his mother instead of his mother or queen mother.

"Just like your mother, you always have many weird ideas in your head..."

Speaking of this, he smiled, with nostalgia in his eyes and a little happiness.This is hard to see on him, and Zhou Hang couldn't help being stunned.After a long while, he sighed again, and said: "It's not difficult to promote it, but it's not easy to let the people grow these two things willingly..."

People will always have some kind of resistance of unknown origin to new things, which Zhou Hang can understand.He is also convinced that once the common people discover the benefits of planting sweet potatoes and potatoes, they will willingly plant them without the supervision of the court.

But isn't it that far yet?

The benefits have not been brought to the light, and the common people will not pay for things they have not seen.

The matter was put on hold just like that, and when Zhou Hang was anxious like an ant on a hot pot, overwhelmed by this matter, Si Nongqing suddenly asked to see him, saying that he had something important to report.

Zhou Hang immediately ordered to send——

Sinongqing is a middle-aged man in his forties, a Jinshi background, with a refined appearance and a goatee.

He told Zhou Hang that he had received the latest letter from Lingnan, saying that Yunzhou County had grown more than 2000 catties of sweet potatoes per mu.Zhou Han hurriedly asked what was going on, and then Sinongqing spoke eloquently.It turned out that after harvesting rice last year, an ordinary farmer's family planted soybeans in the field, and the beans were about to grow. Unexpectedly, a large local family was going to be a mage, and people and horses came and went, trampling a lot.

The big family lost money afterwards, and the amount of money they lost far exceeded the amount of beans they trampled on.Farmers are naturally happy to borrow money, but they also feel distressed when they see the crops that have been trampled. However, the season has passed and it is too late to plant soybeans.It would be a pity to leave the fields barren without planting them.After thinking about it, I planted some sweet potatoes, thinking that it would be better to harvest some, and it would be fine if I couldn't.Who knew that when it was time to harvest, the yield of sweet potatoes far exceeded that of the past, reaching more than 2000 catties per mu.

People who are well-known far and near are surprised to see it, and they all say that they will plant some next year.

Unknowingly, this incident spread more and more widely, and later it reached the ears of the local county magistrate.After a long period of fermentation, even the officials of the state government knew about it, so some officials reported it to Secretary Nong, asking him to go to the imperial court to promote the cultivation of sweet potatoes.

When Zhou Hang heard it, it was a good thing, it was raining in time!

Immediately took Si Nongqing to face the saint and explained the reason.Li Zhao was overjoyed when he heard that, and asked which farmer was the first to discover the season suitable for planting sweet potatoes. This was a great achievement, and he wanted to reward it.Now that it has been confirmed that sweet potato is a high-yielding crop, and the season does not conflict with rice and wheat.Li Zhao immediately decided to vigorously promote it in Shandong, with Zhou Hang personally at the helm to formulate the promotion measures, assisted by Lin Ruhai and Sinongqing.

As for the farmer, Li Zhao hurriedly sent someone to invite him over.

This move is in line with Zhou Hang's intention.He was worried that if it was just empty talk, the people in Shandong might not believe it, and it might be useful to have the farmer come forward to explain it.

In the evening, Zhou Hang sneaked to the Lin Mansion again, and told Daiyu that the emperor had decided to vigorously promote the cultivation of sweet potatoes in Shandong.Daiyu thought for a while and said, "The people in Shandong have been planting wheat in autumn and five grains in summer for generations. Now the imperial court suddenly asks them to plant a crop that is completely unfamiliar to them. They may not be willing."

Zhou Hang was also worrying about this matter, upon hearing this, he nodded and said, "Exactly."

Daiyu tilted her head, and said again: "As far as I know, the main reason why the common people don't want to grow sweet potatoes is because of the low yield, and secondly, the way to eat sweet potatoes is too monotonous, except raw or boiled, the taste is bad after all. Some. Look at this, in addition to letting the people know that sweet potatoes are not as low-yield as they thought, but also let them know that sweet potatoes can actually be eaten in different ways.”

Zhou Hang thought so, and thought to himself, Sister Lin is indeed Sister Lin. Although she is in a deep boudoir, she has extraordinary insight, and she has a flexible mind and quick thinking.If he was born as a man, he should be able to create a career in ancient society.

"Also..." Daiyu said again, "The common people have the idea of ​​following the crowd. If there is a big family who takes the initiative to stand up and support sweet potatoes and plant more sweet potatoes, the common people will follow suit when they see it. Take a lot of effort."

"You mean..." Zhou Hang said.

"Do you still remember Hanyan?" Daiyu raised her eyebrows and asked.

Zhou Hang nodded, his eyes flashed with sudden emotion, he looked at Daiyu, and Daiyu was also looking at him.The two looked at each other and smiled, knowing that they both wanted to go together.Both of them thought of Mrs. Lu Guogong, whose ancestral home was in Shandong. He was a leading wealthy family in the area, owning many farms and land.Mrs. Tai is also a benevolent person. She has a good way to save the people of Shandong from fire and water. She should refuse to accept it.

Besides, Daiyu is kind to Hanyan, for this reason, if Daiyu asks for help, she will help.

If this happens, it will be a great good deed, and Mrs. Yu Tai is also very good.

"Yu'er, you have helped me a lot."

After Daiyu finished speaking, she did it casually on a piece of grass, pulling the grass on the ground every now and then.Zhou Hang wanted to go forward and sit next to her, but he just walked over.Suddenly, the fish ball called "meow meow meow meow meow" three times in succession from outside the space, it means someone is coming.

Daiyu also came back to her senses, released her spiritual sense to sense it, and knew that it was her father who was coming, and gave Zhou Hang a wink to signal him to come out together.