A group of people looked at each other in confusion, looking at Zhu Ying who looked confused.
In this era, whether it is princes, generals or ordinary people, agriculture is a top priority.
Take Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and Prince Zhu Biao as an example. They would find a time every year to plant crops in person with great fanfare, which shows the importance of agriculture in this era.
Therefore, in the eyes of this group of people, the disadvantages of growing sweet potatoes are just making a fuss out of a molehill.
Zhu Ying didn't understand or figure it out, but he continued to explain.
"Of course, if you can accept these, it doesn't matter. Apart from these, it also has an extremely obvious shortcoming."
"That is, it is extremely difficult to store, and it easily rots and deteriorates. Therefore, this characteristic also determines that it cannot be a substitute."
After Zhu Ying finished speaking, everyone nodded.
They have long memorized the four indispensable characteristics of Ming Dynasty treasure banknote anchors. Therefore, although the previous disadvantages can be ignored, the disadvantage of being difficult to store must be taken seriously.
Although sweet potatoes have the highest yield per acre, they are difficult to store because they contain a lot of water and sugar.
Not to mention this era, in the 21st century, this stuff is not easy to store. At most, it can be used as a raw material to make other foods.
"If it doesn't work, then can potatoes?"
Now that sweet potatoes have been eliminated, everyone's focus has instantly shifted to potatoes, which have the second highest yield per acre.
"Compared with sweet potatoes, potatoes are indeed easier to store, but once the potatoes go bad, it is easy to kill people, because the bad potatoes are poisonous."
Zhu Ying shook her head and returned slowly.
Although potatoes are easier to store than sweet potatoes, they are also easier to sprout.
Potatoes that have sprouted cannot be eaten as they can cause poisoning.
"This thing is poisonous? Then why plant it?"
Zhu Biao frowned when he heard this and said without thinking.
In Zhu Biao's heart, sweet potatoes are already a sacred animal. As long as they have sweet potatoes, they can completely solve the famine problem, and the other two crops will seem very secondary.
Therefore, although sweet potatoes are not easy to store, they cannot sustain extremely high yields!
"It's superficial, isn't it?"
"Compared with the other two crops, potatoes must not only be planted, but also in multiple varieties. It is best to plant them throughout the entire Ming Dynasty!"
Hearing this, Zhu Ying shook her head again.
Although it is easy to spoil and cause poisoning, the advantages of potatoes are also extremely obvious.
First of all, in terms of nutrition, sweet potatoes are far inferior to potatoes.
In addition, when planting, you don’t need to worry too much, just find a place to bury it.
"If that's the case, why can't it be used as an anchor?" Wu Lin didn't understand very much.
At this time, although there was a lot of land in the north of the Ming Dynasty, the fertile land was far less fertile than in the south. Therefore, compared with sweet potatoes, which have extremely high land requirements, this potato is indeed more convenient for nationwide promotion.
"Yes, these potatoes have higher nutritional value than sweet potatoes, are easier to preserve than sweet potatoes, and have more yields than corn. Why not?"
Li Shanchang also asked very puzzledly.
Zhu Ying smiled and continued to explain.
Corn is easier to store than potatoes, and its nutrition is higher than the former two.
Even the whole body of corn is treasure, and even the corn stalks are edible.
Once there is no harvest due to natural disasters or man-made disasters, the preserved corn can also be made into cornmeal.
As long as the mature corn is dried and placed in a ventilated and cool place, it will not deteriorate even if it is stored for three to five years.
Not only simple, but also convenient.
Therefore, compared with the other two crops, corn is the most suitable choice.
"That's good, that's good. As long as we have three kinds of crops, our Ming Dynasty's granaries don't have to worry about running out of grain. As long as we have enough grain in stock, our army can expand its recruitment and even be completely self-sufficient!"
"Yes, as long as the food supply is sufficient, we don't have to worry about the population of the Ming Dynasty. When the population increases, the number of soldiers will naturally increase."
"Give us some time, our Ming Dynasty will definitely become the most powerful country, and those Tatars will be nothing to worry about."
At this time, when everyone thought about the huge impact of these crops, they couldn't help but become excited again.
"When the time comes, I will definitely lead my troops and kill all those Tatars!"
Even Xu Da was full of excitement at this time.
The core members of Ming Dynasty are all full of expectations at this time.
As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally thought more comprehensively.
For thousands of years in China, no matter which dynasty it was, its control over the north was extremely weak.
The fundamental reason is not that the Han people are not good at fighting, but that the land in those places is not fertile. For the Han people, their efforts are not proportional to their gains.
During the Han and Tang dynasties, the Han people once conquered the entire northern Xinjiang and western regions.
But apart from being a highlight in the history books, these two dynasties spent countless manpower, material and financial resources to manage those two places, which was really not worth the gain.
Therefore, no matter what dynasty it is, even if it occupies the north and brings those nomadic tribes under its command, it will not be as concerned about the Central Plains as it is about the Central Plains. At most, it will just leave some small troops to symbolically tell others that this is my
territory.
Most of the time, just like the nomads, they plundered and then fled.
Therefore, there was basically no relatively large political power in the entire north.
This also caused the nomadic people to be like weeds, inexhaustible for burning, and they could be beaten and robbed before running away.
Now that there are these crops suitable for planting in the north, it is completely different.
Except for sweet potatoes, which have extremely high land requirements, the remaining corn and potatoes can be widely grown in the north, and their requirements for land and climate are not high.
What the Ming Dynasty has to do now is to accumulate strength, give those Tatars a head-on blow, take back the north, and then promote planting.
Not only can it make the treasury more abundant, but it can also build on the past and completely rule the north.
Zhu Yuanzhang had already begun to outline the first five-year plan for the future of Ming Dynasty.
We have even thought about the candidates, our fourth child is the best at killing people!
Especially when it comes to cutting down Tartars. Every time I go to the prairie to cut down Tartars, our fourth child feels like he’s been shot with chicken blood!
Yes, this difficult task can be left to our fourth child!
After cutting down those Tartars, let Lao Si lead his people to vigorously promote the cultivation of these sacred objects in the north!
Why worry about our Ming Dynasty not being prosperous then?
It is completely achievable for generations to come!
As long as Lao Si is willing, he can fight all the way to the end of the world to get food and people!
