Su He sent Wang Zhongce out to find out in advance the farmers' willingness to plant sweet potatoes.
Historically, Xu Guangqi and others of the Ming Dynasty have been promoting sweet potato cultivation.
Xu Guangqi entered the cabinet, but he failed to promote it successfully.
There must be a lot of resistance among the people.
Su He had previously guessed that the gentry was blocking the promotion of sweet potatoes for the sake of profit.
But this is just a guess, and people need to be sent to find out more specifically what the farmers really think.
Wang Zhongce came to the room soon. Su He invited Wang Zhongce to sit across from him and asked the guard to pour him a cup of tea.
"You brothers should catch up on old times first. We have been apart for a long time. You should have a lot to say."
Wang Zhongce glanced at his elder brother Wang Bonuo. He had many things to say to him, but the occasion was inappropriate now.
"Commander Su, let's talk about family matters after we get home. Farming matters are more important.
If sweet potatoes are planted out of season, there will be less food for a year."
When Su He saw Wang Zhongce say this, he was no longer polite.
"How was the situation in the countryside this time?"
Wang Zhongce took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and told about his research trip to the countryside.
In the countryside of Baoji County, where wheat cannot be grown, farmers are very willing to try it.
But they are very worried. They are worried that the sweet potatoes will not taste good, and they are even more worried that the sweet potatoes will not survive.
The situation in Hanzhong Mansion is not optimistic.
Farmers have never heard of sweet potatoes.
They are unwilling to plant it, fearing that there will be no harvest.
When planting rice and wheat, when the farming season is busy, I can’t wait to work in the morning before dawn.
Farmers have no spare time to plant another crop.
When Su He heard what Wang Zhongce said, he understood the problem of sweet potato planting.
The most difficult part is the first promotion.
Farmers did not see sweet potatoes, did not eat sweet potatoes, and did not understand the yield of sweet potatoes.
They dare not invest manpower and material resources to grow sweet potatoes.
The small-scale peasant economy was too fragile and was previously dependent on the gentry.
They do not control the means of production, and even if they are allocated land, they do not have seeds or farming tools.
Nowadays, most farmers borrow seeds, cattle and farm tools to carry out agricultural production.
Farmers in Hanzhong Prefecture have a choice.
In this case, farmers will not take any risks and plant an unfamiliar crop.
Sweet potatoes can only be grown on farms owned by the Tongling Prefecture and on dry land in Baoji County.
Su He looked at Wang Bonuo and asked: "Wang Bonuo, how many seeds are needed to grow sweet potatoes per acre of land.
How long does it take for sweet potatoes to mature?"
Wang Bonuo touched his head and smiled awkwardly.
"I forgot to mention this just now.
Each acre of land requires half a stone of sweet potato seeds, which is 60 kilograms.
The ripening time of sweet potatoes is related to the weather and type, and is about four to six months.
I bring you these sweet potato varieties that are delicious and relatively high-yielding. They mature in about six months.
We are planting sweet potatoes now and will be able to harvest them in October."
“October is fine, it’s autumn, and wheat and rice are harvested in this season.
Every acre of land requires half a stone of seeds.
Now these sweet potato seeds are not enough for Baoji County."
Su He immediately made arrangements, and the sweet potato seeds were distributed at the rate of 50,000 dan.
Forty thousand shi will be allocated to Baoji County, and 10,000 shi will be allocated to farms on the hillside of Hanzhong Prefecture.
If there are too many seeds, the extra seeds will be distributed to Baoji County.
If there are not enough seeds, give some to Hanzhongfu Farm.
When Wang Zhongce heard this allocation, he felt it was reasonable.
In Baoji County, most of the land cannot grow wheat due to drought, so sweet potatoes must be planted first.
We should also plant some here in Hanzhong Prefecture to see how the sweet potatoes are grown on the hillside.
The guard brought over a plate of roasted sweet potatoes. These were the sweet potatoes Wang Bonuo was holding. These were not sweet potato seeds.
The aroma of roasted sweet potatoes has filled the room.
Su He looked at the sweet potatoes, which had red skin and yellow hearts.
He took a bite and it was very sweet, just like the taste in his memory.
Wang Wenjun broke open a small piece of sweet potato, put it in his mouth and tasted it carefully.
“Sweet and delicious.
Sweet potatoes are not unpalatable at all, and the yield is still so high, which is really a blessing for the people."
Su He agreed with Wang Wenjun's words. Even with sweet potatoes, everyone cannot reach the food and clothing line.
But it would at least allow tens of millions of people to survive.
…
All the sweet potato seeds were unloaded from the ship, and the intact sweet potato seeds totaled 53,600 shi.
Sweet potatoes and sweet potato seeds were immediately transported to various villages.
Sweet potatoes do not need to be transported carefully and can reach various villages faster, allowing farmers to have a taste.
Su He immediately began to arrange for farmers from Fujian to cooperate with Wang Bonuo to write a pamphlet on sweet potato cultivation.
The township chiefs are all literate, and they learn how to grow sweet potatoes through manuals, and then pass on the knowledge they have learned to farmers.
Suhe originally planned to assign these farmers from Fujian to various counties to guide the planting of sweet potatoes.
But the dialect they spoke was completely incomprehensible to Su He.
Here in Shaanxi, very few people can understand their dialect.
Only Wang Bonuo, who knew the local dialects, acted as a translator, so everyone could barely understand what these people meant.
Because of language problems, we cannot communicate with each other.
They can only express their experiences through paintings by painters.
This kind of brochure must have some imperfections.
This all depends on the township head’s learning ability and teaching ability.
Even if you don't learn well, as long as the survival of sweet potatoes is not a problem, the yield will be lower.
For other issues, we can only sum up our experience and solve them next year.
…
Han Cuibai, the head of Yimen Township, drove a mule cart to transport sweet potato seeds distributed by Yimen Township from Baoji County.
On the way, he read a pamphlet about sweet potato cultivation.
Write down every step carefully, and I will teach farmers how to grow sweet potatoes later.
As long as autumn comes, there will be a bumper harvest of sweet potatoes.
There is no problem at all for him to be promoted to another level.
He was a minor official in Hanzhong Mansion. At that time, many of his colleagues accepted Wang Zhongce's invitation.
Now these people have become high officials.
He was hesitant at the time and did not seek refuge. It was only when news of the great victory came that he took the initiative to apply for a job.
There is no good position anymore, the only option is to become a township head and be promoted through meritorious service.
This sweet potato planting is the opportunity that Han Cuibai wants to seize.
Yimen Township has 20,000 acres of land, of which 5,000 acres are fertile farmland that can receive irrigation from the Qingjiang River.
These fields are now planted with wheat.
The flow of the Qingjiang River is not large, and the remaining land cannot be irrigated.
In Yimen Township, they only distributed 3,000 shi of sweet potato seeds.
With so few sweet potato seeds, it is impossible to plant the entire land.
It can only be guaranteed that each family will be allocated at least three acres of seeds.
As soon as the mule team arrived at the township office, villagers from various villages who had been waiting here immediately surrounded it.
"I just said Commander Su can't let us go hungry.
I have no objection to allocating paddy fields to military families.
The youngest son of Li Dayan's family just delivered the relics a few days ago.
The ashes were enshrined in the Martyrs Pavilion in Baoji County."
"Mr. Han, how do you grow this sweet potato? It can really produce 25 shi per acre of land as you advertised."
"Repay 25 stones, don't dream about it.
You didn't eat sweet potatoes yesterday. Such fragrant food is only available in our poor land.
If you can get 2 shi of grain per acre, it will be good for you to survive this disaster year."
Han Cuibai saw the farmers coming around, including those whose families had not been allocated the fields by the river.
They were afraid that others would take away the sweet potato seeds.
These people were a little skeptical, but they already regarded sweet potatoes as life-saving straw.
Han Cuibai immediately distributed the sweet potato seeds and taught the villagers to grow sweet potatoes according to the knowledge in the booklet.
The location where Han Cuibai demonstrated was an open space in front of the Yimen Township Office.
Cut the sweet potato seeds into pieces, making sure there are green sprouts on each piece.
The land that has been plowed has small holes dug in it.
The villagers fetched water from the Qingjiang River in the distance and filled the small pit with water.
At the same time, there is fermented manure nearby. Use a wooden shovel to shovel a little bit and put it into the puddle.
The stool has been fermented for two years, and the fermented stool has no smell at all.
When Han Cuibai came to be the head of the township, he realized that manure could not be applied directly to the fields.
If unfermented manure is applied to the fields, the smell will be too strong, and the crops will be prone to disease.
Apply fertilizer to the puddle and wait until the water inside has completely seeped out, then place the cut sweet potato pieces in the pit.
Cover the top with loose soil and step on it with your feet.
Every two days, water a small amount until the sweet potatoes grow.
The method of growing sweet potatoes is very simple. Farmers are all experienced farmers and can learn it quickly.
They took the sweet potato seeds they were given home to plant in the fields.
As long as the yield per acre is 2 shi, or even 1 shi, they can survive on three acres of land.