"This ......"

Huang Zongxi was speechless for a while, although Wang Fuchen's analogy is superficial, but it is exactly the truth of governing a big country like cooking a small fresh, since ancient times, it is difficult to change the law is not difficult to go to the sky, if Wang Kefan is really out of seriousness, he is not in a hurry to promote the reform of Guantian, and the hope of success is greater.

However, Wang Kefan, a young warlord leader, will have such a heart and insight?

Everyone was speechless for a while, and when they saw that Wang Kefan and Zhu Ji had already gone away, they urged their mounts to rush forward. Huang Zongxi's movements were a little slow, falling behind everyone, and he inadvertently swept his eyes, but saw that the field next to him was covered with a large grass curtain, which looked a little strange.

"What is this?" He asked.

"This is a sweet potato for the winter, and the straw curtain is covered to protect it from the cold." Tang Yonggang is very competent in this county order, at least very familiar with agricultural production, Huang Zongxi asked what he opened his mouth and replied: "Sweet potatoes are drought tolerant, the most suitable for cultivation in mountainous areas, this county has introduced rattan seedlings and planting methods from Fujian, and a season has been harvested at the end of autumn this year, and the income per mu is ......around 1,000 catties."

"Really? This sweet potato can yield thousands of catties per mu?! ”

Huang Zongxi turned over and jumped off the big green horse, galloped to the ground quickly, squatted down and lifted the grass curtain to take a closer look, but there were only yellow vines as far as the eye could see, and the shriveled surface was stained with mud, which seemed to be dead things.

Others also followed, Tang Yonggang introduced: "This is the wintering sweet potato vine, it can only sprout after spring, Mr. Lizhou should not underestimate this sweet potato, this thing is sweet in the mouth, can replace the grain and rice belly, the poor people in this county are taking this as rations, and there is no need to worry about green and yellow." ”

"It turns out that this thing is a sweet potato. I've seen it in the "Compendium of Materia Medica". Gu Yanwu said with a smile: "I tried and failed many times back then, so I looked for some miscellaneous books to read, and I remember that this thing is highly recommended in the "Compendium of Materia Medica". Roots, stems, leaves, and vines can be used in medicine, but the taste of the fruit is not recorded in the book. ”

Sweet potato is sweet potato, it can also be called sweet potato, sweet potato, sweet potato, etc., are the same kind of crop collectively, sweet potato is a very typical high-yield and stable crop, in later generations in the application of chemical fertilizers, scientific breeding conditions. It is very simple to reach 5,000 catties per mu, and many can even exceed 10,000 catties, and the yield of sweet potatoes per mu in Yongning County is about a few hundred catties to 1,000 catties. It is simply faceless in the later generations, but it was a great harvest at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

As early as the Wanli period, sweet potatoes were introduced to Fujian, China by sea, and they came with corn and potatoes. But in ancient times when information was closed. The diffusion of new things is slow. The common people are more accustomed to planting and eating traditional rice grains, do not know how to eat sweet potatoes, do not know how to plant sweet potatoes, until the Kangqian period, sweet potatoes are gradually promoted to the whole country, and corn, potatoes together opened the famous Kang Yongqian "cereals of cereals".

Gu Yanwu thought that the fruit of the sweet potato was edible, so he made a little joke, but Tang Yonggang did not laugh at it. He also explained: "Mr. Tinglin doesn't know anything. Sweet potatoes are a strange thing, the fruit can't be eaten, what can be eaten is the rhizome buried in the ground. Oh, and the fresh sweet potato vine leaves are also very delicious, and they can be used as vegetables to accompany meals, and the sweet potato vines were eaten yesterday, but unfortunately the leafy vegetables cannot be stored in the cellar for a long time, so they can only eat the sweet potato leaves when they come back next year. ”

Sweet potatoes are a new thing, the eating method is still being studied and explored, and the sweet potato vines that no one has eaten in later generations have been treated as treasures by Tang Yonggang, and they have been carefully stored in the cellar after pickling, and can only be enjoyed by distinguished guests.

"Hey, what's the matter if it tastes good, people are so hungry that they even eat tree bark! My father and my mother ate Guanyin soil back then, and they couldn't pull out and were suffocated to death......" Wang Fuchen hurriedly interjected, but stopped in the middle of speaking, but his snort was a little rapid.

Seeing that his unsparing temperament moved his feelings, everyone was silent for a while.

"Alas! If sweet potatoes can really yield thousands of catties per mu, they should have been promoted to various places a long time ago! After a while, Huang Zongxi finally spoke, sighing with emotion: "It's only twenty years!" As long as I plant this sweet potato in the morning for 20 years, I will be hungry everywhere, and there will be smoke everywhere! ”

The level of agricultural production in the Ming Dynasty was very low, the paddy fields in the south were two crops a year, but the output was only about three to five hundred pounds of rice, the wheat yield in the north was even lower, and the yield of one hundred pounds per mu was a big mark, and the Chongzhen Dynasty caught up with the cold Xiaoice period, various natural disasters continued, and the famine of Yan zhòng lasted for more than ten years, which was also an important reason for the sudden demise of the Ming Dynasty.

If the spread of sweet potatoes, corn and potatoes had been promoted a hundred years earlier, the Ming Dynasty might not have perished.

After seeing the sweet potato vines, everyone got back on their horses and chased forward.

Wang Kefan was waiting in front, and after Huang Zongxi saw him, he clasped his fists on horseback and saluted, with a solemn expression: "Wang Junmen is a martial artist, the merit is in Sheji, and Huang Lizhou is obedient!" ”

……

Leaving this valley, I walked more than ten miles of mountain roads, the terrain gradually got higher, and I have entered the hinterland of Jinggang Mountain, surrounded by continuous mountains, which seem to be boundless. To Wang Fuchen's surprise, the mountain road here was very wide and very smooth, which could be used for large vehicles to pass and even for the army to pass through Guò, and it seemed that there had always been someone to maintain it.

After asking Tang Yonggang, I found out that there was a Chu army's military camp in Dajing Village not far ahead, and there were two or three thousand people including their families, so this road was built so well.

Wang Fuchen was very surprised, urged the horse to catch up with Wang Kefan, and asked: "The last general is abrupt, may I ask Wang Junmen, why is the barracks set up in the ravine?" Is there enough rice to eat? If they were all brought in from outside, the cost would be too great! ”

Wang Kefan deliberately kept his distance along the way, and let Gu Yanwu and the others go to see and think about it by themselves, but Wang Fuchen took the initiative to approach him, of course, he was more welcome, and said with a smile: "These children in the barracks are used to being wild, and staying in the ravine is just to collect their temperament. In addition, Dajing is a big village, firstly, there is no shortage of fields around, and secondly, the soldiers cut down forests and tun fields, and the food is enough to be self-sufficient. ”

In addition to the barracks, there were some other Chu army units in Dajing Village, but Wang Kefan did not mention them.

Wang Fuchen was even more confused, where did the children come from in the barracks?

"Who? Hold it! ”

In the midst of doubt, five or six soldiers in strong suits suddenly appeared in the woods beside the road, with cold and vigilant expressions, all holding single knives in their hands, ready to fight at any time. Although the number of people was much smaller than Wang Kefan's entourage, they were not afraid at all, and there was a soldier in the distance in the woods, looking this way, holding the military horn to his mouth at the other hand, ready to blow the trumpet to warn at any time.

"Good soldier!" Wang Fuchen secretly screamed in his heart.

He is a natural general, and at a glance he knows that these soldiers are elite who can go into battle, although there are only four or five people, but they have the momentum of being a man who is not allowed to pass, and they are not brave and strategic, there is still a hidden stake behind them, even if they can't stop a large number of incoming enemies, they will not be wiped out, at least they can issue an alarm in time.

Strangely, these soldiers were not very old, they looked like they were not even twenty years old, and two of them still had a bit of childishness on their tender faces, like a group of baby soldiers.

"I'm Wang Kefan, the waist card is here, please check." Wang Kefan was very polite to this group of baby soldiers, asked Li Yushi to take out the waist card, and asked with a smile on the horse: "I'm here for a surprise inspection, don't notify Wang Jing first, okay?" ”

Dajing is an important base of the Chu army, although it is located in the hinterland of the rear, it has always been closely checked, and it is still five miles away from the village, and Wang Kefan and his party encountered the sentry.

"It turned out to be Wang Junmen!"

Of course, the soldiers of the Chu army knew Wang Kefan's name, and the soldier at the head couldn't help but be taken aback, looked at everyone, and saw that after Tang Yonggang, the commander of Yongning County, he had already believed nine out of nine, but insisted on checking the waist card, and then hugged his fists and said: "Please forgive the military gate, mark the duty, and report to Mr. Wang before you can be released." ”

"It's okay, the guest is as he pleases, and he will do it according to your rules." Wang Kefan touched a soft nail, but he was not angry, and said with a smile: "This town is waiting here." ”

The dignified commander Cao Jiang, the supreme commander of the Chu army, was stopped before he even touched the edge of Dajing Village, and a sentry dared to refuse Wang Kefan's request, Gu Yanwu, Huang Zongxi and Wang Fuchen were all very surprised, or showed a look of respect, or fell into thought, with different expressions.

The soldier pulled out a war horse from the woods, rode back to the village, and after a short time, he returned with two more people, the first one was Wang Jing, the head of the Jinggangshan Repair Station, and the supreme commander of the Dajing base.

When he came to Wang Kefan's horse, Wang Jing rolled the saddle and dismounted, and apologized: "Humble Wang Jing, meet Wang Junmen, I don't know that the military gate has arrived, and I can't meet you from afar, so please follow me into the village." ”

"Okay, there's a disturbance." Wang Kefan picked up Wang Jing and walked to Dajing Village together.

The roads in the village are neater and cleaner, with brick and stone nullahs flowing with clear water on one side and stone culverts on the other, which drain sewage. These two ditches, one bright and one dark, are comparable to the infrastructure of Fucheng Luling, and with this alone, we know that Dajing Village is extremely rich.

Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu looked at each other while walking, looking happy, and bowing their heads slightly from time to time.

In front of and behind the farmer's house, you can see cow pens and chicken coops, sheep houses and pigsties, trees that have lost their leaves in winter, and stacks of conical thatch, which can be used as fuel, and bamboo granaries that are taller than the houses, are full of them.

Compared with the farmers in other places, the people here are healthier and cleaner, their faces are ruddy, and the clothes on their bodies are much thicker.

After this piece of dwelling, a few big houses flashed in front, surrounded by a wall made of mountain stones outside, but the sound of reading came out loud inside, Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu couldn't help but be stunned.

Is this a private school or a righteous school? Listening to the voice, there are at least 100 people reading, how can there be such a large scale of rural righteousness? (To be continued......)