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Chapter 87 The arrival of sweet potatoes

In the third year of Chongzhen, March 28th.

Su He and Wang Wenjun were waiting at the Han River Ferry south of Hanzhong City.

Wang Wenjun changed into women's clothes and silk Hanfu, which made her look even more beautiful and fragrant.

She put on women's clothes and went out with Su He for the first time.

This bold move is very eye-catching in this era.

Passers-by looked at them furtively.

Wang Wenjun was a little shy and kept rubbing the corners of his clothes with his hands.

She was full of expectations, waiting for the return of her eldest brother Wang Bonuo.

Li Qingmu had already sent a clipper to notify Wang Bonuo in advance that he would come back with more than a dozen ships.

The ship's draft is very deep and its sailing speed is also slow. It is one day slower than the speed ship.

Su He stood on the shore and looked out. He had already seen the navy's warships piloting the ship.

A dozen large ships followed.

These boats have deep drafts, and you can tell at a glance that they are nearly fully loaded.

Wang Wenjun showed a happy smile and waved to the ship that was slowly approaching the shore.

During this time, she has been worried about her eldest brother Wang Bonuo.

The second brother Wang Zhongce must have been a thorn in the Ming Dynasty's side when he became the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

If the Ming Dynasty gets the news, it will send Jin Yiwei to capture the eldest brother Wang Bonuo.

That was a huge blow to their family.

Fortunately, my eldest brother Wang Bonuo has returned safely.

The ship docks at the port.

Suhe has already arranged people in advance, all of whom are workers preparing to transport sweet potatoes.

Wang Bonuo led people off the boat, carrying a basket of sweet potatoes in his hand.

The first thing he saw was Wang Wenjun standing next to Su He.

The last time Wang Bonuo saw Wang Wenjun wearing women's clothing was when she was eleven years old.

When Wang Bonuo saw Su He and Wang Wenjun standing together, he understood the reason.

Their family has been married to the Su family.

This is also a good result for my sister.

Su Heji has the ability, and his sister is still his wife.

When Wang Bonuo's fleet first entered Hu Guang

I heard from merchants that the Hanzhong yellow-robed thieves had defeated more than 100,000 Ming Dynasty soldiers and wiped them out.

Suhe is now gaining momentum. Looking at this development momentum, it may not be able to dominate the world in the future. At worst, it will be a separatist force.

Su He saw that Wang Bonuo's body was covered with dirt and his hair was messed up.

He looked very tired from the long voyage.

"Wang Bonuo, thank you for your hard work."

When Wang Bonuo heard what Su He said, he smiled.

“It’s not hard, I’ve often run this route before.

The purchase of sweet potatoes went very smoothly this time, from Fujian.

Nowadays, sweet potatoes are grown on a large scale, and as long as you have money, you can buy them at will.

I was afraid that there were different varieties of sweet potatoes, so I went to several places to buy more types of sweet potatoes.

A total of 60,000 stones of sweet potato seeds were purchased, and there will be some losses during the voyage.

I asked experienced farmers to estimate that the number of viable sweet potato seeds would cost at least 50,000 dan."

Wang Bonuo knew that what Su He cared about most was sweet potato seeds.

He immediately introduced the number of sweet potato seeds to Su He.

Workers had already begun transporting sweet potato seeds from the ship at this time.

These sweet potato seeds all have green buds growing on them.

Pointing to these sweet potatoes with fine buds, Wang Bonuo said: "Sweet potatoes planted in spring need to be nursed two months in advance."

"In order to plant it directly after transporting it, I hired many farmers and cultivated seedlings on the ship.

Otherwise, these sweet potatoes can be transported by several ships."

Su He was very happy after hearing this. He made the right choice by choosing Wang Boce to buy sweet potatoes.

He didn't even know that sweet potato seedlings need to be raised before planting.

Su He looked at the farmers getting off the boat, as if he were seeing a rare treasure.

With these farmers who know how to grow sweet potatoes, they can quickly popularize sweet potato planting technology.

"Let's not blow the cold wind here at the port and go into the city to rest."

Wang Wenjun saw his brother and Su He standing motionless on the harbor and immediately made suggestions.

Wang Bonuo nodded after hearing this and said, "Mr. Wang, take the villagers and teach them to check the condition of the sweet potato seeds.

Pick out the bad ones and save the good ones.”

Su He took Wang Bonuo to the back house of the palace.

The guards brought several cups of good tea, and Su He took care of Wang Bonuo.

Su He asked Wang Bonuo seriously about his experience in Fujian and the situation of sweet potato cultivation there.

Wang Bonuo talked endlessly about his experiences along the way.

There was a clerk next to him, holding a pencil and recording what Wang Bonuo said.

Someone specializes in recording local roads, customs and customs.

Someone specially recorded the situation related to planting sweet potatoes.

Wang Bonuo talked in detail about things related to sweet potato planting.

Sweet potatoes don’t have to pick the ground and are very easy to grow.

When the sweet potato roots sprout, just cut the roots and plant them in the ground.

Sweet potatoes require much less water than wheat during their growth.

In mountainous and arid areas, it can survive with just a little water.

As long as the soil is not so dry that it has dried out and there is no water at all, sweet potatoes can survive.

The yield of sweet potatoes is very high, and its yield is closely related to the amount of water and fertilizer.

The land is dry and there is insufficient water and fertilizer.

In the first year of sweet potatoes, the yield per mu is about 15 shi.

Afterwards, the fertility of the land will gradually be exhausted, and the yield per acre will become less and less.

When planting sweet potatoes, sufficient water and fertilizer are applied, and the sweet potato yield exceeds 35 shi per mu.

For hilly areas or arid land that is not dry and cracked, just make sure there is no shortage of water and fertilizer.

The yield of sweet potatoes is about 25 shi per mu.

Su He finished listening to Wang Bonuo's words.

He is very satisfied with the yield of sweet potatoes, and now there are no chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

The yield of rice per mu is only about 5 shi, which is 600 kilograms.

This is fertile farmland, carefully cared for, with sufficient water and fertilizer, a good harvest, and no natural disasters.

The average sweet potato yield per mu can reach 25 kilograms, which is 3,000 kilograms per mu.

Today's sweet potatoes cannot be compared with those of later generations, where the sweet potato yield per mu exceeded 10,000 jins.

But in this era, sweet potatoes are already an extremely excellent crop.

What's more, sweet potatoes don't have to be picky at all and can be grown on hillside areas and arid lands in northern Shaanxi.

When Wang Wenjun heard about the sweet potato yield per acre, her eyes widened in surprise.

“The yield per mu of sweet potatoes is so high.

Planting on hillside areas can achieve a yield of 3,000 kilograms per mu.

There are not many paddy fields in Hanzhong Prefecture, but there are many hillside areas.

We used to grow medicinal herbs or mulberry trees, and yes, we also grew some vegetables and beans.

It would be great if it could be used to grow food."

Wang Bonuo took a sip of tea and said: "Sweet potatoes still have shortcomings. When rice and wheat are abundant, sweet potatoes will not become the staple food.

Eating sweet potatoes for a long time will cause belly bloating, so try not to eat them every day.

Sweet potatoes still need to be eaten with some rice and wheat.

Sweet potatoes are very watery and very filling, but they are not as hungry as rice.

It's probably a little more than a pound of sweet potatoes, which is comparable to a pound of rice.

Under normal circumstances, one pound of rice can make more than two pounds of rice.

From here it can be inferred that two pounds of sweet potatoes can be compared with one pound of rice.

Sweet potatoes consume more soil than rice and wheat.

Sweet potatoes prefer fertilizer. When planting sweet potatoes, you can use less water but sufficient fertilizer.

In Fujian, where sweet potatoes are grown all year round, farmyard manure and plant ash are used.

Sweet potato planting and management do not require intensive cultivation, but if you really leave it alone, the yield will not be too high."

Su He knew that the calories of sweet potatoes were a little lower than that of rice, about ten percent lower.

Wang Bonuo's statement is basically accurate.

But the yield of sweet potatoes is so high that this is not a disadvantage at all.

The planting conditions are completely different. With extensive management, the yield of sweet potato far exceeds that of rice.

The most important thing is that sweet potatoes do not compete with rice and wheat for land.

Where rice and wheat were grown before, rice and wheat will continue to be grown, and their status as the staple food is irreplaceable.

Sweet potatoes only need to be planted on hillside areas or dry areas.

The food produced by growing sweet potatoes is completely additional food production.

This is of great significance and can feed many people.

During the Qing Dynasty, we still had not emerged from the Little Ice Age.

However, the population has exploded, relying entirely on sweet potatoes and other food crops that do not compete with staple foods for land.

It provides extra food to feed extra people.

They were drinking tea when the guard came over to report.

Wang Zhongce is waiting in the Wenhua Hall and has something to report.

Su He immediately asked the guards to bring Wang Zhongce here.


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