The eldest daughter of the emperor, she began to build a city wildly

Chapter 5 Potatoes
And the woman in the veiled hat in their mouths was silently drifting past them.

"Master, now the common people are boasting that you are favored by the heavens, that scene is like casting a spell." Yingyue whispered next to Su Tang.

"It's just God's favor." Su Tang didn't deny it, and there will be more weird things in the future. If you don't make an excuse sooner, you will be exhausted just explaining it later.

Walking out of the city gate, even though the city gate has been cleared and buried, you can still smell the pungent smell of oil into your nose.

Smelling this scent and recalling yesterday's scene, Su Tang quickened his pace and asked Wang Dong beside him, "How much do you know about the bandits in Lingyun Mountain?"

"Not many, I only know that there are quite a few bandit villages inside. The prefect also sent people to sneak in to find out the news. As a result, many people failed to come back, and some of them brought limited news." Wang Dong replied respectfully.

Although the prefect didn't tell him the identity of this woman, he also knew that she was a nobleman from the capital, so he didn't dare to neglect her.

"Didn't you think of a way to deal with them?" Su Tang thought, the court shouldn't just let such a big disaster happen.

"The prefect has reported to the police, but each time he said that the imperial court's troops are on the front line, and there is no time to deal with these bandits. Prefect Lin and the prefect of Linqi City next door also cooperated to suppress the bandits. However, they occupy a large area and there are so many people. We have no choice but to let them be arrogant."

Su Tang sighed, it seems that this group of bandits will not be resolved in a while, let's focus on the immediate matter first.

The wheat in the fields outside the city had already been harvested, leaving rows of yellow straw.

The climate here is similar to that of the Central Plains, with hot summers and snowy winters. It is now the end of June, and soon they will plant seeds for the next season.

There are not many cultivated fields, and far away from the city, a large area of ​​good land is abandoned. Now Leng'an is suffering from internal and external troubles, and the people are dying and fleeing. Especially in such an unstable border, there are no left How many people are there.

Su Tang and the others went around all over the place, and the soil was fairly fertile, so it wasn't a big problem to plant some crops.

Originally, I thought about changing some high-yield seeds such as corn and wheat for the people, but when I walked to the river south of Yanyang City, I had some new ideas.

This river is extremely spacious, and the people of Yanyang City rely on this river for water and farming.

The land around the river bank is sandy land, because it is not fertile enough, no people are willing to grow crops here.

But this kind of land is very suitable for growing potatoes.

As the fourth largest food crop, potatoes have a very high yield. One mu of land can produce three to five thousand catties, and two seasons can be planted in a year. This is perfect for Yanyang City, which is now hungry.

At that time, the common people can sell their own potatoes if they can’t finish them. In this way, the common people can also save some money in their own hands. Second, the cultivation of potatoes will gradually spread, and more people will be able to eat enough. .

And there are many ways to eat potatoes, both as a staple food and as a vegetable.

A few people shuttled between the fields, and from time to time, they picked up a handful of soil and picked it up to check, which aroused the curiosity of the people digging in the fields.

"You two girls don't go out of the city if you have nothing to do. It's not safe. If you want to plant flowers, ask someone to carry two bags of soil back for you." An old man shouted at them.

Su Tang and the others are dressed in low-key colors, but the fabrics look like girls from rich families. No matter how poor Yanyang City is, there are still some people who are in business, and the family has a small income.

I just thought they were young ladies from some family who came out to dig soil and plant flowers.

"We're not digging the soil to plant flowers, we're here to see the land and how we plan to plant it in the future." Su Tang replied politely.

Then he continued to ask, "What are you going to plant next?"

The old man secretly sighed that it is rare for a rich woman to go to the field to inspect in person, and said in a slower tone, "Planting beans."

Shu is also a soybean plant.

Su Tang asked again, "How good are the harvests in recent years?"

"God open my eyes, one mu of land can harvest three or four stones, but it's a pity, there are very few grains that can go into my stomach." The old man's tone was vicissitudes.

It seems that they have long been accustomed to such a situation. Fortunately, they can still grow a la carte, do some handicrafts and sell some money, and with the wild vegetables all over the mountains, they can still make a living.

Seeing the helpless look on the old man's face, Su Tang thought that it had only been a day, and the food she asked Lin Qing to distribute to them should not have had time to implement it.

When they received the food, they didn't know how happy they were, but thinking of this, Su Tang's mood improved a lot.

It is too little to harvest three or four stones for only one mu of land. In modern measurement units, it is only three or four hundred catties. Those modern fields can harvest about a thousand catties.

One year is worth what they planted for two or three years.

"Old man, do you think the land by the river is suitable for growing crops?" Su Tang was going to ask the people for their opinions, so as to sum up and see what problems there are.

"The land over there is not fertile and there are too many sands and gravels, so nothing can be grown." The old man waved his hand, thinking that a girl is just a girl, don't underestimate planting crops, it is learned.

Su Tang smiled and said, "I heard that the prefect recently acquired a new plant, which is very suitable for planting in such loose sand and gravel land. I also heard that one mu of land can produce three to fifty stones."

Lin Qing said that for their safety, she asked Su Tang to keep a low profile and keep a low profile so that those bandits would not come back to seek revenge. As a weak woman, she has no strength to protect herself.

Lin Qing concealed the fact that the new city lord of Yanyang City had arrived, so Su Tang could only act in the name of the prefect.

"You don't need to deceive us, you girl, how can there be crops with an yield of [-] to [-] shi per mu." The old man and the villagers who came to watch obviously didn't believe it.

"I didn't lie to you. The prefect also said that he knew that the people would not believe it, so any family who wanted to plant it would go to the river to reclaim wasteland. The reclaimed wasteland belonged to the people's own private land, and free seedlings were provided for trial planting."

Su Tang said it in a serious manner, and Wang Dong's mouth twitched as he stood by and listened. He knew very well that the prefect had never said such a thing.

When the common people heard that it was a free seed, they were a little moved. Seeds are very precious things. If they are free, it’s okay to put in some effort and try planting them. The prefect will never lie to others.

"Why haven't we heard the prefect promulgate this decree?" Someone asked.

It is inevitable that they will be more cautious when it comes to their livelihood, Su Tang explained, "It will be announced in the afternoon, and I got the news in advance to share with you."

Only the old man pondered over and over again, "That kind of land is not fertile, and no crops can grow well."

Su Tang thought for a while. Potatoes like fertile soil with good drainage. They need to be fertilized more to grow better. Fertilizers are essential, but the fertilizers here are generally manure and plant ash. If you don't raise large livestock , these things are not many.

"Now that I've talked about this, I might as well tell you another method." Su Tang said, "You dig some big ponds in the field, and you can throw manure, grass, straw, dead branches and leaves into it, and then put them in Some water goes in for retting, and the retting fertilizer is very useful.”

Su Tang has read in books before that the nutrients of this kind of fertilizer are more easily absorbed by the soil, and the fertilizer effect is longer and more stable, which can well alleviate the problem of land not being fertile.

"Can dead branches and rotten leaves be used as fertilizer?"

"Yes, can it work?"

"You'll know if it works, just try it, anyway, it doesn't take much effort." Su Tang said.

This method teaches them that if it works well, it will be passed on to more people.

On the way back, Wang Dong followed Su Tang for a long time, but he still said, "The eunuch never said such a thing."

"Yes, is there really such a high output?" Yingyue was also very puzzled, never heard of it.

(End of this chapter)