Chapter 55: Planting Beans and Playing with Spring and Summer

Chapter 55: Planting Beans and Playing with Spring and Summer
Following Chunfengxiayu to the woodshed, Ye Xuan saw a pile of potatoes that he was very familiar with.

The bright yellow little potatoes are neatly stacked in the corner, and perhaps in the eyes of others they are just a pile of ugly things.

But in Ye Xuan's eyes, it is more attractive than a pile of gold.

According to the original historical trajectory, potatoes were not introduced to the Ming Dynasty until the Wanli period, when they were secretly brought back from the back of a horse by Chen Zhenglong, a Chinese overseas in Southeast Asia.

However, due to too few seeds, the cultivation was slow. In addition, the Ming Dynasty lacked awareness of the high yield and easy survival of potatoes, and only a small amount of them were planted in the southeast coastal area. Therefore, it ultimately failed to shine in Ming Dynasty agriculture.

But now that Ye Xuan has potatoes, how could he not make good use of potatoes, which are known as the "famine savior"?
Besides, he has missed potato chips, fried potatoes and potato towers for too long!

Of course, the main reason that prompted Ye Xuan's enthusiasm for potatoes was that the farmers of that era were so miserable.

As a glorious Chinese citizen, there is no reason to give up as long as there is a chance to change the course of history.

Today's Ming Dynasty is in ruins and everything is in decline.

The land cultivation rate is seriously insufficient, and the current main crops are still low-yield crops such as wheat and rice.

After paying taxes and land rents, people often have less food left than is needed to feed themselves.

But everything is different if you have a high-yield crop like potatoes.

In later generations, the highest potato yield per mu was recorded at more than 3,000 kilograms per mu.

Even in the absence of various modern fertilizers, it is easy to produce 1,000 kilograms per mu!

What is this concept?
According to Xu Guangqi's "Complete Book of Agricultural Administration", the wheat yield per mu was only one dan, which is about 120 jin.

The per-acre yield of rice is also not high. According to the records in the Complete Book of Agricultural Administration, even in the fertile soil and water like the Jiangnan region, the yield per acre is only three stones.

This has ensured that the Jiangnan region has been firmly established as a land of fish and rice for thousands of years.

The yield of potatoes is far superior to theirs. Most importantly, both wheat and rice have very high requirements for the soil quality of the planting soil.

Compared with them, potatoes are simply the epitome of being not picky about where they grow!
Whether it is mountains or plains, as long as there is soil, it can be planted.

Cultivation is also very simple. Once it sprouts, just cut a piece and bury it in the soil.

For the Ming Dynasty, which was still an agricultural country, this was a world-changing event!
Looking at the potatoes in front of him that had already begun to sprout, Ye Xuan was ecstatic.

This means he doesn't have to wait and can start planting directly.

Of course, he had thought about giving the potatoes directly to Zhu Yuanzhang, so that the emperor could promote them on a large scale across the country in the name of the court.

But words are not enough. If he wants Zhu Yuanzhang to believe that this pile of dirt in front of him can really have such a high yield per mu, he must first plant a batch himself and let the facts speak for themselves!
"Chunfeng, Xiayu, you guys hurry up and reclaim the land in the backyard. This young master wants to farm!" Ye Xuan said excitedly.

As he spoke, he took out a knife and started cutting the sprouted potatoes.

The children looked at Ye Xuan's expression and were suddenly confused.

"Master, do you want to plant this?" Xia Yu asked.

Ye Xuan nodded, glanced at the two girls with a smile, and saw that they were a little reluctant.

He patted their little hooves with his big hands and pretended to threaten them: "You are not obedient, are you? Do you believe that I will sell you to the Music Bureau?"

"Ah, Master, don't."

"We will listen to you, Master. Don't sell us out!"

Seeing the two girls' frightened eyes, Ye Xuan couldn't help laughing and said, "As long as you behave yourself, the young master won't be willing to sell you off."

The two girls were relieved and hurriedly took the hoe and other tools to the backyard to open up the wasteland. As long as Ye Xuan didn't sell them out, they could do anything.

In the next few days, Yingtian Prefecture was unusually peaceful.

It seemed that with Yang Xian's fall, everything was settled.

But Ye Xuan knew in his heart that this was only a brief period of peace.

But he was also happy to have a few days of peace and quiet. Every day he either enjoyed the spring breeze and summer rain, or planted potatoes and applied fertilizers. His life was so comfortable.

"Chunfeng, be careful, don't break the bud!"

Ye Xuan lay lazily on the armchair, eating oranges picked by Xia Yu while directing the spring breeze to fertilize the potatoes.

In the small backyard, the flowers and plants that were usually planted have now all disappeared.

Instead, there was a large, newly cultivated potato field.

The newly turned soil exudes the fragrance of soil, which brings a different feeling to the soil.

However, Chunfeng obviously didn't think so. Even though he wrapped his little face with three layers of handkerchiefs inside and outside, it still couldn't block out the smell of the "fertilizer".

Hearing this, she stamped her feet and said coquettishly, "Master, you are biased!"

Ye Xuan chuckled when he heard this and said, "Young Master, are you partial to me?"

Chun Feng twisted her waist and walked to Ye Xuan, squatting down. She pulled Ye Xuan's thigh with her small hands and said, "You asked Xia Yu to peel the oranges, but asked me to apply fertilizer. The stink is almost killing me."

Upon hearing this, Xia Yu immediately retorted: "Who told you that your cooking is not as delicious as mine? If I go to fertilize now, will the young master be able to eat the food I cook later?"

Chun Feng said unwillingly: "But I also want to give the young master a massage. If I get my hands dirty, won't the young master think it's dirty?"

Seeing that the two women were about to quarrel, Ye Xuan quickly stuffed a slice of orange into each of their mouths and said with a smile: "This young master is not partial to either of you, you two go and apply fertilizer together!"

Chunfeng smiled happily when she heard that. It didn't matter whether she could be lazy or not. As long as there was someone around her who suffered with her, she would feel much more balanced.

But now it was Xia Yu's turn to be dissatisfied.

Xia Yu just lay on Ye Xuan, shaking her body coquettishly, which made Ye Xuan suddenly angry.

"Master, don't let me fertilize you! At worst, how about Xia Yu giving you a massage at night?"

When Xia Yu said this, her eyes were full of charm and affection.

Ye Xuan was sure that as long as he agreed.

The massage tonight was definitely what he had in mind.

Looking at the pretty face of the little girl, who was about sixteen or seventeen years old, Ye Xuan couldn't help but feel a little moved.

But at this time, Chunfeng couldn't stop anymore. He hugged Ye Xuan's thighs in his arms and shook them around coquettishly.

"Master, don't believe her. I am a professional when it comes to massage!"

Xia Yu is a few months older than Chunfeng, so he naturally knows how to be grateful.

Hearing this, he immediately laughed out loud and teased, "You little girl, do you know what a real massage is?"

"I don't understand, do you understand?"

(End of this chapter)