Turning his head to give Tang Lu a look, Tang Lu understood, turned around and took a sack of watermelon seeds from the carriage they came from and put them in front of everyone.

Opening the mouth of the sack, Tang Xiu grabbed a handful of melon seeds from it and came out, and then raised his head and said loudly to the tenant farmers below: "In the future, our Tang family's 100 acres of land will grow watermelons in spring and vegetables in autumn, and as for vulgar things such as corn, don't plant them anymore." ”

"These are the seeds of watermelons, Wang Laosan will be responsible for distributing them for a while, and from today onwards, all these seeds will be planted in the fields, as for the method of sowing, someone will come over to teach you later."

Most of the people below nodded their heads blankly, they hadn't even heard of what a watermelon was, but since the owner had already made up his mind, as long as it didn't shorten their wages, they could plant it.

"Young Dongjia, this watermelon you are talking about, but it is a cold melon transported from Xiya?" Chen Lixian asked out with some hesitation.

"Yes, Uncle Chen has heard of it?"

Tang Xiu couldn't help but turn his head to Chen Lixian, this old man is afraid that he really has some origins, you must know that this watermelon is not known very much among the ordinary residents of Chang'an City, how could this Chen Lixian be an ordinary tenant farmer who knows what watermelons are, and also know another nickname for watermelons?

"I've heard a little." Chen Lixian said softly: "Watermelon is a tribute to the imperial tribute, every year there will be a special person from the Xizai country to transport a batch back for the emperor to eat, if the owner wants to plant this kind of watermelon, or listen to the little old man's advice, don't waste your mind." As early as many years ago, some people have tried to grow watermelons in the Tang Dynasty, but all of them have failed, and the owner is only doing this in vain. ”

Yo, Tang Xiu's eyebrows raised, and he looked Chen Lixian up and down seriously, but he didn't expect that this old man not only knew, but also knew a lot, this kind of insight and experience is definitely not something that an ordinary tenant farmer can have.

In fact, it is not just an ordinary tenant farmer, such a relatively out-of-the-way thing as a watermelon, even some people of insight who have read poetry and books may not be able to know it so clearly. This old man was very interesting, but he didn't expect that there was a little bit of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the tenant farmers under their Tang Mansion.

"Uncle Chen has extraordinary knowledge, and the kid admires it." For those who really have some ability, Tang Xiu did not hesitate to show some respect on his surface, arched his hand at Chen Lixian, and then said: "However, what others can't do doesn't mean that I, Tang Xiu, can't do it, Tang Lu, take down the things in the carriage and show it to Uncle Chen." ”

Tang Xiu turned around and instructed Tang Lu, if it weren't for the rare encounter with a person who knew the goods, Tang Xiu really didn't want to expose the watermelon in the carriage in advance, for these ordinary tenant farmers, what they had never even heard of, it was the same whether they saw it or not, and showing it to them was just playing the piano to the cow, and they didn't know what a fresh watermelon meant.

But now, this Chen Lixian made him feel different, whether it was showing off or showing off, anyway, Tang Xiu now had a trace of impulse in his heart to deter the old man in front of him.

It's like a piece of priceless jade, and for those who know the goods, it's really precious, and it's worth tens of thousands of gold. But for those who don't know the goods, it's just a useless stone, and at best it's a little better looking than the other stones.

Tang Lu took out a watermelon from the carriage and got down, Chen Lixian saw the watermelon for the first time, both eyes became straight, and his shriveled and wrinkled old face showed a look of deep surprise.

"How is this possible? How is this possible?! Chen Lixian's mouth kept chattering: "It's only April now, and the watermelon hasn't reached the ripe season, that is, in the Western Regions, at this time, the melon vines have not yet grown, and it is impossible to produce such a big watermelon, how did this happen, is it completely unreasonable?" ”

Chen Lixian's voice was not loud, but according to Tang Xiu's current ear power at the peak of Ming Jin, he could easily hear it clearly.

This old man really knows a lot, and he seems to know all the habits of watermelons and the season of sowing and harvesting, which is not simple.

"See?" Holding the watermelon in his hand, Tang Lu looked at Chen Lixian with a proud face, and said, "This is the watermelon that the young master planted in the backyard of the mansion, I just picked it today, look at the melons in the back are still fresh." ”

Tang Lu freed up a hand to point to the root of the watermelon, and the melon with one finger was fresh and green, without any traces of dryness and yellowing. Chen Lixian's gaze swept over the trend, and the look of surprise on his face became even more obvious.

It's true that it just took off, but how is this possible? Could it be that at this time in Datang, watermelons can really be successfully grown?

"Big is big enough, I just don't know what it tastes like. There have been many people who have grown watermelons before, but the watermelons grown are either not small in size, or the taste is inaccurate, and it is difficult to swallow. Saying that, Chen Lixian couldn't help but look up at Tang Xiu, "Young owner, I don't know if the villain can ......."

"Old man Chen, you have such a big breath, can you afford this watermelon?!" Without waiting for Tang Xiu to answer, Tang Lu reprimanded Chen Lixian loudly, "The price of this watermelon is ten yuan a catty, you want to eat it when you open your mouth, and you don't see what your identity is, do you think you can afford it?" ”

"Ten pounds, one pound?"

The price in Tang Lu's mouth was obviously shocking to all the tenant farmers present, is this thing made of gold, and it can be sold for such an expensive price? Well, a pound of watermelons is almost as good as their previous harvest in the past three years, which is crazy.

"Even the watermelons shipped from the Western Regions are not worth the price, right?" Chen Lixian's face was full of disbelief, and he asked Tang Lu softly: "Ten pounds of watermelon, are you sure that someone will be willing to buy it?" ”

Watermelon is a tribute to the royal tribute, and it is understandable that it is not cheap, but the price of ten yuan a pound is too outrageous, even the royal relatives are estimated not to be so extravagant to buy such an expensive watermelon.

Tang Lu glanced at the group of dirt buns in front of him disdainfully, and said proudly: "Who said no, hundreds of catties have been sold in a row these days!" If it weren't for the young master's unwillingness to sell it on a large scale, thousands of catties would have been sold long ago! ”

"Huh?"

Seeing that Tang Lu said it with convincing, it seems that there is really such a thing, Chen Lixian and the others are all dumbfounded, could it be that people are really stupid enough to buy such an expensive watermelon? This is simply a loser even worse than their owner!

"It's a special watermelon, so it's a little more expensive." Tang Xiu raised his hand to stop Tang Lu from continuing to brag, and explained softly to Chen Lixian, "But now it is much more common for you to plant these, and at most it will be one or two hundred wen or even one or twenty wen a catty." ”

"I hope that in two months, when the watermelons are ripe, there will be no self-theft among the villagers, otherwise they can only be escorted to the government for theft!"

Even if it is only one or twenty yuan a catty, a watermelon is worth one or two hundred yuan, so Tang Xiu felt that it was necessary to give these tenant farmers some warnings in advance, lest there really be a matter of self-theft by guards in the future.

"As for this watermelon," Tang Xiu pointed to the watermelon in Tang Lu's hand, glanced at Chen Lixian next to him, and said lightly: "If anyone can tell the exact origin of the watermelon and its growth characteristics, it is not impossible to separate a piece." Believe me, the taste of this watermelon will definitely exceed your imagination. ”

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