After eating three different breakfasts, Emperor Zhengde burped and then asked:

"Lord Equestria, I have tasted the three ways to eat sweet potatoes, and they are indeed good. However, what you said about the yield of 1,000 catties or even 2,000 catties per mu is true or false? If it is true, it will really be a blessing to my people! ”

The ministers also nodded, if it was really like what Marin said, who would be hungry in the future? In Daming, the poorest families also have a few acres of thin land. According to Ma Lin, even if the land is thin, the yield per mu is more than 1,000 catties. 5 acres of thin land, wouldn't it be necessary to produce at least 5,000 catties of sweet potatoes? Even if half of it is used to pay rent and taxes, there are still 2,500 catties left, which is definitely enough for a family of five to eat.

The most unbelievable thing is that Ma Lin actually said that the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi is also very suitable for growing sweet potatoes. This is a big deal, northern Shaanxi belongs to the trilateral governorate, and it is one of the worst areas of agriculture in the Ming Dynasty.

In one sentence, northern Shaanxi is described as "poor mountains and bad waters". Because the loess is barren, wheat is basically not grown there, but millet. Mainly, irrigation is difficult there, making it difficult to grow wheat that requires a lot of water.

However, the yield per mu of millet is low, and the loess is barren, and the general yield per mu in northern Shaanxi is only about 100 catties. Even if the family has 20 acres of land, it is still very poor.

If sweet potatoes are really suitable for planting in the loess high-slope area of northern Shaanxi, even if it is a thousand catties per mu, 20 acres of dry land can produce 20,000 catties, which will definitely keep the locals away from hunger.

Therefore, not only Zhengde, but also other people do not believe that sweet potatoes have such a high yield per mu. Moreover, everyone suspected Marlin of bragging......

……

Marin thought about it, and now it has just entered the late sixth month of the lunar calendar, and it is summer. In later generations, sweet potatoes had a branch, called autumn sweet potatoes (according to the harvest period), or summer sweet potatoes (according to the planting period). Autumn sweet potatoes are planted in July and harvested in October and November.

So, Marin replied directly:

"Your Majesty, the minister can personally take charge of planting and show everyone the effect!"

"Planting now? Is it too late? Zhengde hesitated, there is still a month to go into autumn, it seems that there is not enough time.

"It's not too late, the sweet potato growth period is short, up to 4 months, plant it now, just right!"

Then, Marin found hundreds of catties of fresh sweet potatoes, washed them, put them in a hot and humid environment, and let them sprout......

When you see a piece of sweet potato that is starting to sprout, you cut it off and grow it separately as a seed of a plant......

Then, the sprouted sweet potatoes are planted in the soil and fertilized......

The place where Marin planted sweet potatoes was arranged on the "one acre and three points of land" used by the emperor for show cultivation......

The so-called "one acre and three points of land" originally referred to the small field that the emperor personally cultivated when he presided over the spring ploughing ceremony in front of the ploughing platform near the Xiannongtan in Beijing. Of course, the emperor's ploughing was only symbolic, so he made four trips back and forth, and then flashed people and taught them to full-time farmers to farm.

In order to express the importance of sweet potatoes, Emperor Zhengde asked the farmers who usually manage "one acre and three points of land" to free up three points of land to plant autumn sweet potatoes for Marin.

Marin then became a professional farmer, cultivating sweet potatoes to sprout and having people plough the land so that the sprouted sweet potatoes could be planted in the ground......

After planting the field, Marin did not relax, but was busy. In order to guarantee the yield of sweet potatoes, the most basic manure is essential. There is also plant ash, as a soil potassium fertilizer, which must not be deleted.

The only thing that makes Marin nerve-wracking is that phosphate fertilizer is not easy to handle, even if it is a local phosphate fertilizer......

For a long time, agriculture in ancient China was very developed, and the use of manure began to be popular in the Han Dynasty, resulting in high grain production. Later, it was discovered that potassium-containing plant ash could also fertilize fields.

Therefore, although Chinese farmers do not know what is called "complete three fertilizers", they have also learned to apply nitrogen fertilizer (manure) and potassium fertilizer (plant ash) by mistake, only phosphorus fertilizer.

But phosphate fertilizer is really rare, except for phosphate rock in nature, there is only bone meal or something with a little phosphorus......

Phosphate fertilizer has a great effect, which can shorten the growth cycle of crops, increase crop yields, improve crop quality, and so on......

But Marin didn't want to reveal the secret of phosphate fertilizer to Daming, because the Ming officials couldn't hide things in their hearts, there were some good things, and they must be in a hurry to show off, and they especially liked to "tell the world".

The people of the Ming Dynasty knew these secrets and Ma Lin was not worried, after all, agriculture in the Ming Dynasty was already developed. But it wouldn't be good if Europeans knew about this......

Marin's ability to become a top wealthy prince in Europe who can afford to raise an army of 60,000 has a lot to do with his use of advanced agricultural technology that other countries don't know about.

If he told the Ming Dynasty these tricks, if other countries accidentally obtained these technologies from the Ming Dynasty in the future, it would definitely trigger a revolution in European agriculture.

For example, the Netherlands in history did not engage in some kind of "agricultural revolution" in the 17th century. The reason why the Dutch engaged in an "agricultural revolution" in their homeland was that after occupying Taiwan Island, they learned a lot of oriental agricultural techniques through the Han immigrants who wanted to be in Tainan, and promoted the great development of Dutch agriculture......

Of course, now the island of Taiwan belongs to Marin. As for the Dutch, where to go cool......

The Portuguese had contradictions with the Ming Dynasty, and the invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Malacca, the younger brother of the Ming Dynasty, happened to cause the dissatisfaction of the Ming monarchs and ministers, and they could not have good contact with the Ming Dynasty for a long time. And this time is the most precious for Marin. As long as you get through this time, you will have enough money to make by then......

Moreover, the use of manure and plant ash in the Ming Dynasty was already very mature, and he could not say no, but should pay attention to the use of manure and plant ash.

However, if no phosphate fertilizer is applied, it will be exactly the beginning of November from the fourth month of the seventh lunar month. At that time, it was already early winter, which was very unfavorable for the growth and development of crops.

Therefore, in order for the sweet potatoes to bear fruit smoothly, Marin must hurry. And the way to grasp it is naturally to find alternatives to phosphate fertilizers. Otherwise, the growth will be slow, and it is estimated that the Manchu monarchs and ministers will not be able to see the harvest of sweet potatoes.

Eventually, Marin finally came up with a way to get the mud out of the fish-filled ponds......

In rivers where fish live, when the fish die, the bones must sink to the bottom of the river and merge with the silt. In this way, the silt at the bottom of the river with many fish must have a high phosphorus content. Although it is far less than the normal phosphate fertilizer, it will definitely be fine if you catch more. After all, river mud is not like a cost, and it burns heels if you use too much......

So, Ma Lin began to ask Liu Jin to ask Jinyiwei to help inquire which river in the capital had more fish. Then, send people to dig up river mud as phosphate fertilizer for the sweet potatoes on the "one acre and three points of land". Although the phosphorus content is low, there are no side effects in the river mud......

At the same time, manure (treated) and plant ash are also on a large amount. Anyway, they are all natural green fertilizers, so they are not afraid to use more. Unlike chemical fertilizers, it is easy to burn the roots if you use too much......

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