Since the beginning of summer, except for two or three scattered light rains, there has hardly been rain. Although it is not as good as the great drought in the northeast, if there is no locust plague, it is very likely that the output will drop sharply, and in some places it may even be lost.

The trees on the west hill that were eaten by locusts and only had their branches left were dry and dead. If it doesn't rain again, I'm afraid that all the plants and trees will die. Even the streams that flow down from the West Mountains all year round have been cut off. The pond behind the Yu family's old house was only one-tenth of its original size, and the mud at the bottom of the pond was sunburned to the point that it cracked a thumb-wide gap, and occasionally a dead fish lay in the crack, emitting a rotting fishy smell.

The water level of the well behind the old house has also dropped a lot, and the rope on the bucket has been replaced with a longer one again. The wells of the Yu family are quite good, they are relatively deep, and the wells of many families in the village have dried up, and drinking water has become a problem!

Just when the people in the disaster area were becoming more and more desperate, finally one night in late autumn, a freezing rain fell, leaving strings of transparent ice on the branches of trees and roofs. At noon, the ice melts into droplets and falls to the ground, and the autumn rain is still falling, and the parched earth is moistened by the rain. And those nasty locusts were also frozen to death in the freezing rain. The rain was timely, not only alleviating the drought, but also solving the locust plague. Next year's spring planting should not be affected too much.

The freezing rain alleviated the disaster, but it also brought disaster to the Yu family's vegetables. Autumn vegetables such as cabbage and radish are fine, and vegetables such as greens and lettuce are all frozen overnight. If it weren't for Yu Xiaocao's frequent watering of the vegetables with spiritual stone water, it is estimated that he would have frozen to death long ago.

The autumn rain continued, and this autumn rain has been falling for ten days. In the past ten days, the Yu family braved the rain to collect all the vegetables into the warehouse, in order to reduce some losses. After selling this trip, the autumn vegetables are almost ready to be harvested.

Cabbage, radish, green onions...... There were not many types of autumn vegetables in this era. In the west courtyard of the Yu family, all the vegetables planted are autumn vegetables, which is enough for the Yu family to eat for a whole winter, which is more than enough. The cabbage was cut from the ground one by one, dried for a little water, and then received in the cellar of the west courtyard. The cellar in the east courtyard has been converted into an ice cellar.

Radishes are pulled out of the ground, and some tender radish seedlings can also be used as cold dishes. Pulling turnips was a hard job, and it was contracted by the men of the family. The women and the children chopped cabbage and plucked green onions.

After ten days of hard work, the autumn vegetables were all collected in the cellar. The excess autumn vegetables were contracted at a high price by Zhenyulou. Since the beginning of the summer locust plague, except for the Yu family, which planted autumn vegetables, it is not that no vegetable farmers have tried to plant radish and cabbage, but they have been ravaged by locusts soon after they sprout. Many wealthy families in the town bought potions from Yu Xiaocao, but they didn't grow enough to eat for themselves, so how could they sell them out. People are not short of the money from selling vegetables.

The restaurant in the entire Tanggu Town can also eat some fresh vegetables in the Zhenyu Restaurant. Other time-honored restaurants also buy vegetables from the south, but the price is higher, and the vegetables are not very fresh after being transported over long distances.

The vegetables, taste and texture of the Yu family are recognized by the entire Tang Ancient Town. There have also been people who have explored the difference between Yu's vegetables and other people's vegetables, and the reasons for their formation. In the end, it was concluded that the well behind the house was a high-quality mountain spring, which could not be found anywhere else.

Not a month after the autumn rains, the temperature plummeted and snow fell. Winter is coming before you know it. The entire Dongshan Village has entered the time of the cat winter. This year's winter is not as good as usual, although every grain will be brought back from the south at a low price, but there is nothing else except dried vegetables and sea fish and shellfish.

Last year, the villagers of Dongshan Village had a lot of money in their hands, and the winter was still relatively moist. Now, many families can't even maintain food and clothing.

However, for the Yu family, the impact is not great.

After the winter, the king of Yangjun and his guards had already returned to Beijing on a mission. He did a good job in the disaster relief errand, the affordable grain arrived in a relatively timely manner, and the people in the disaster area were grateful to the emperor and the king of Yangjun, and the prestige of the imperial court was unprecedentedly high among the people.

In the year of King Yangjun, because of the high-yield grain seeds brought from overseas, he cultivated corn with a yield of 1,000 catties per mu and potatoes with a yield of 5,000 catties per mu. The disaster relief has been done relatively well. The emperor gave a rich reward. If it weren't for the fact that he had just been crowned the king of the county, it would be very likely that he would be crowned a prince and at the same level as his father!

followed the king of Yangjun to the sea and Fang Xun, who was in charge of purchasing, also gave the official a knight, and the official position won two levels in a row, not only in charge of the Royal Forest Army, but also the title of Protector. At a young age, he is already a member of the second grade, can it not make people greedy? However, they are also looking at it dryly, who told Fang Xun to enter the eyes of the king of Yangjun and be promoted again and again!

King Yangjun has become synonymous with the celebrity in front of the emperor. There is such a news circulating in the officialdom of the capital in private: "Follow the king of Yangjun, and it is guaranteed to be added to the rank of knight!" This news is not unfounded. The emperor trusts this little cousin, and any important work is entrusted to him. With such a person, it is easy to get results. Moreover, King Yangjun never took the credit of others, no, at the court meeting, he asked for credit for the people who helped him grow corn and potatoes!

"Your Majesty, this Yu family planted ten acres of land and harvested 10,000 catties of corn. Planting one acre of potatoes has a yield of 5,000 catties. If corn and potatoes spread in the Northland, why worry about the people of the world not being able to live and work contentment? The minister thought that the Yu family had meritorious service in the society and should be rewarded! "Zhu Junyang has a book.

Liu Shangshu of the household department seconded: "Your Majesty, such a talent should be recruited to the household department exceptionally!" The minister calculated, if it weren't for the locust plague, the experimental field under the household department, the yield of corn per mu could be six or seven hundred catties, which was already a very good yield. The minister also looked at the corn planted by the Yu family, and the grains were full and even. The potatoes are also huge! The minister thinks that the Yu family is a rare planting talent, and it should be reused! ”

Other civil and military officials, listening to Liu Shangshu's words in the household department, secretly measured in their hearts. The experimental fields under the household department are all fertile and fertile fields, and they are carefully served by special personnel, and only six or seven hundred catties can be produced per acre of land. Dongshan Village is said to be mostly mountainous or barren sandy land, but the yield of one acre of land is more than 1,000 catties.

What is this concept? Either the Yu family did not contribute all the planting methods, or the Yu family must have an amazing planting talent. With Zhu Junyang, the cold-faced county king, staring at him, the Yu family will definitely not dare to hide his secrets, which means that 90% of them may be the latter.

Nowadays, what is the Ming Dynasty lacking most? Food! The land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River is good, the climate is suitable for planting, there are more fertile fields, and the yield of two seasons a year is not bad. At least the common people can fill their stomachs. However, north of the Yangtze River, especially in the bitterly cold northeast and northwest, due to climatic reasons, only one crop can be planted a year. Although the emperor has repeatedly reduced or exempted agricultural taxes, the grain production in the north is too low, and it is good that many ordinary people can eat half full.

I heard that corn and potatoes are not very picky about the soil and climate, and they are easy to grow in the north. The most important thing is that people have a high output! One crop is equivalent to two or even three crops of other crops. If each acre of land can reach a yield of 1,000 catties per mu, why worry about the people not having enough to eat?

Flour made from ground corn is made into steamed buns and dough. Although it is not as sweet as white flour, it tastes good compared to other coarse grains such as millet noodles and bean noodles. The cooking method of potatoes was also circulated by officials, and some even borrowed and copied a copy. After all, the cooking method is not difficult, and if potatoes become more popular in the future, there will be many more dishes on the table in winter.

In the minds of civil and military officials, it has long been decided that corn and potatoes should be planted in large quantities. This year, with 10,000 catties of improved seeds, next year, we will be able to plant thousands of acres of corn, and we will be able to harvest millions of catties of seeds in autumn...... In this way, in three to five years, corn will be widely planted in the Northland!

With such a planting talent, I believe that no one will object to his exceptional promotion!

The meaning of the Hubu Shangshu is that he hopes that the emperor can give the Yu family a petty official of the seventh grade and serve the court in the Hubu. No objections were raised by other officials.

The emperor, who sat on the dragon throne, smiled silently. Hubu Shangshu was a little anxious, he thought that the emperor disagreed, and just about to say something, the emperor spoke: "King Yangjun, you have the most contact with the Yu family, and you have the most right to speak." Do you think the credit of the Yu family should be counted on whose head? ”

Hubu Shangshu has personally been to Dongshan Village, and the Yu family is all women and children except for Yu Hai. It's not that he looks down on women and children, women and children are good at doing housework at home, and of course farming is the business of the old man? Who else can be credited, of course, Yu Hai, the head of the family.

Zhu Junyang glanced at his cousin, who seemed to be smiling, and told the truth: "According to Weichen's observation, the planting methods of corn and potatoes are all summarized by Yu Xiaocao, the daughter of Yu Hai. ”

Yu Xiaocao has seen it, and his impression is just a thin little girl. He couldn't help frowning and retorted, "King Yangjun, a little girl who is more than ten years old, how capable can she be?" From the old man's point of view, the corn was taken care of by Yu Hai and his brother-in-law's family......"

King Yangjun glanced at him coldly and said, "It doesn't matter who takes care of the field, the key is who is the commander and who is the implementer. The emperor, Weichen lived in Dongshan Village for more than three months, and all he saw was Yu Xiaocao commanding behind his back, and Yu Hai's family worked together to have a bumper harvest of corn. ”

Seeing that King Yangjun didn't seem to be joking, his brows were still furrowed, and he said in a low voice: "This Yu Xiaocao, is it really so powerful?" ”

King Yangjun ignored him and continued: "Your Majesty, you also saw it during your last private visit. In the year of the locust plague, Yu Xiaocao, based on his understanding of medicinal properties, worked with Dr. Sun of Tongrentang to develop a potion that could eliminate locusts. It's a pity that the medicinal materials needed for the potion are relatively rare, and the cost is too high to produce in large quantities. However, the vegetables grown by the remaining grass with potion were not spoiled by the locusts at all. It shows its intelligence! If she can grow vegetables in the year of the locust plague, why is it difficult for her to grow corn? The minister thinks that meritorious service will be rewarded, and if there is a mistake, it will be punished, which is the Ming government pursued by the emperor! ”