After Zhu Gaochi finished patting the dirt on Zhu Gaochu's body, Zhu Di said: "Chi'er, you take your brother out to play first, my father wants to discuss some things with Mr. He." ”

"Okay, goodbye father, goodbye teacher!"

Zhu Gaochi politely bowed to Zhu Di and He Qiu, and then took Zhu Gaochu's hand and walked out.

When the two children left, Zhu Di looked at He Qiu and said, "Mr. He, I heard that you have planted a new food crop, can you let the widow see it?" ”

He Qiu pointed to the string of freshly washed sweet potatoes and said, "Oh, that's it, it's called sweet potatoes, and it can barely be used as a food crop." ”

Zhu Di glanced at the sweet potato and asked in a daze, "Is this ...... Is this grain? How to eat this? ”

The grain of the Ming Dynasty was still mainly wheat and rice, and it was naturally a little difficult to accept the sudden sight of sweet potatoes, a grain crop grown in the ground.

He Qiu said with a smile: "Of course this is food, there are many ways to eat it, you can eat it raw, you can also eat it steamed, boiled, baked, fried, and you can also make potato chips and fries!" ”

As he spoke, He Qiu's own saliva almost flowed.

Zhu Di picked up a sweet potato and looked at it carefully, and asked with some hesitation: "Is this...... Can this still be eaten raw? ”

He Qiu raised his eyebrows and said: "Can you eat it raw, you won't know if you take two bites, the taste is absolutely sweet!" ”

Zhu Di nodded and said, "What Mr. said is the same, then the king is welcome!" ”

After speaking, Zhu Di directly stuffed the sweet potato to his mouth and took a big bite.

Then, Zhu Di's eyes lit up: "It's so sweet, like fruit, delicious, so delicious!" ”

He Qiu wanted to laugh a little when he heard it.

In fact, the sweetness of the freshly picked sweet potatoes is not high, and Zhu Di feels very sweet because he eats it for the first time and is guided by He Qiu's words.

"Mr. He, this sweet potato is so delicious, and there are so many ways to eat it, it must be very rare!"

Zhu Di asked He Qiu while eating sweet potatoes.

He Qiu shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's really quite rare, and that's all there is to it at the moment!" ”

"Alas!"

Zhu Di sighed and said: "It's a pity, this king still wants to promote this thing to benefit the people, but now it seems that it won't work!" ”

As a member of the royal family, Zhu Di still has a heart for the world.

He Qiu pouted and said: "What's wrong with this, it's just relatively rare at this time, and it can be promoted and mass-produced in the future!" ”

Zhu Di's eyes widened instantly: "Can this thing really be promoted?" What is its yield per acre? ”

He Qiu scratched his head and said, "If I'm not mistaken, its yield per mu should be around four or five thousand catties!" ”

"Four...... Four or five thousand pounds? ”

Zhu Di was stunned.

Such a delicious grain crop can actually yield four or five thousand catties per mu!

You must know that the rice with the highest yield per mu is only a few hundred catties, and four or five thousand catties of grain crops are simply incredible.

"Ho...... Mr. Ho, you ...... You're not kidding this king, are you? ”

Zhu Di stammered and asked He Qiu, obviously shocked to the extreme.

"It's useless for me to lie to you!"

He Qiu said impatiently: "This sweet potato plant has just been dug out of the ground, the planting area is so large, and there are so many fruits per plant, don't you know how to tell them yourself?" ”

Zhu Di didn't say a word, ran directly to the vegetable garden, and began to study the small soil pit that was dug when he had just dug sweet potatoes.

Although Zhu Di is now a vassal king, he also lived a hard life when he was a child, and he also has a certain understanding of agricultural planting.

Through the study of the soil pit, it is completely possible to determine the range of sweet potato planting area.

"The planting area of this single plant is really not large!"

Zhu Di stood up and muttered to himself in a trance.

The scene in front of him was a bit too shocking to his three views.

Such a small soil pit can grow seven or eight huge sweet potatoes, which is almost like a miracle.

"Mr. Ho, it'...... Can it grow so many fruits in a single plant? ”

Zhu Di is still a little skeptical.

He Qiu was a little helpless.

It's really hard to explain something to the ancients.

"Lao Zhu, if you really don't believe it, I'll get you a few sweet potato seedlings another day, and you can find someone to plant them and see if it has so much yield per plant!"

After He Qiu finished speaking, he directly picked up two sweet potatoes and walked towards the kitchen.

Zhu Di hurriedly followed He Qiu, and said with a smile: "Mr. He, don't change the day, you can give me the sweet potato seedlings today, this king is really curious about its yield, if you plant early, you can see the results earlier, what do you say!" ”

The future Yongle Emperor, speaking in such a humble tone, did give He Qiu enough face.

"Okay, I'll get you the sweet potatoes later!"

He Qiu agreed, and then walked into the kitchen.

Zhu Di's face was full of excitement.

If the yield of this sweet potato per mu can really reach four or five thousand catties, it can completely replace rice and wheat and quickly become the staple food on the people's table.

It is now the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and the people's lives are relatively ordinary, and the phenomenon of lack of food and clothing often occurs.

The people in the affluent areas can still keep some surplus grain to live on after paying the tax and grain.

But the people in those barren areas, let alone pay taxes and grain, even the daily food at home is not enough.

Zhu Yuanzhang understands the suffering of the people very well, and he also wants to exempt the people in those barren areas from taxes and grain.

But at this time, the world was not completely stable, the imperial court was operating, storing the army, and everywhere needed money and food, so it had to collect taxes.

However, sweet potatoes can completely change that.

The yield per mu is so high, even after paying the tax and grain completely, there will still be surplus grain for the family to eat.

When the time comes, the people will not worry about eating and drinking, and the Daming country will naturally be extremely stable.

"Mr. He, if this sweet potato can really yield 1,000 catties per mu, then the king of Ben will thank you for your merits on behalf of all the people in the world!"

After Zhu Di finished speaking, he bowed directly at He Qiu, and his posture was very sincere.

"Okay, okay, got it!"

He Qiu replied rather perfunctorily, and then moved a large pot on the stove to the side and put two sweet potatoes on the inside edge of the stove.

He was anxious to eat roasted sweet potatoes now, and he didn't have the heart to chat with Zhu Di at all.

Zhu Di was not annoyed, but just leaned over to He Qiu's side and asked curiously, "Mr. He, what are you doing here?" ”

"What else can I do, of course, it's baked sweet potatoes!"

He Qiu said, moved the cauldron back and pressed it against the stove.

Zhu Di said a little confused: "This ...... Doesn't this burn sweet potatoes? Mr. Ho, are you a little too hasty? ”

He Qiu squinted at Zhu Di and said, "Don't worry, there is a lot of moisture in sweet potatoes, as long as the time is well controlled, they will definitely not be burned!" ”

Zhu Di nodded as if he didn't understand......