After the first batch of trial potatoes were harvested, Gu Yunji personally instructed the cooks, made a "whole potato banquet" with the methods of his previous life, and invited the prefect Yan Zhengqian and his fellow governor Chen Xunzhou to the government office and invited them to taste this novel Amerika crop.

In the history of the previous life, in addition to the restrictions on planting conditions and the inconvenience of information dissemination, the slow promotion of potatoes also had an important reason that the local people in China were not used to eating this foreign crop at all, and they did not know how to eat it, and it took many years to explore the appropriate way to eat it.

This is naturally not a problem for Gu Yunji, what fried shredded potatoes, roasted chicken with potatoes, potato cakes, and mashed potatoes with minced meat...... And so on, there are meat and vegetarian dishes, there are soups and vegetables, there are more than a dozen dishes, and a large table full of dazzling dishes is set up.

Looking at the table full of potato delicacies, Yan Zhengqian sniffed, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "This is the artichoke you are talking about?" There are so many ways to eat? ”

Chen Xunzhou was also hooked by this aroma, and couldn't wait to put a chopstick into his mouth, taste it carefully, and exclaimed: "Well-it tastes good!" I never thought that this diced chicken and artichoke would match so well. ”

Yan Zhengqian was also amazed after tasting it: "The fried shredded artichoke has a crispy taste, and the meat foam artichoke puree is delicate and soft, and it is really strange that the same thing can be cooked in different ways to present such a completely different effect." ”

Although the two did not support Gu Yunji when he tried to grow potatoes, but when he saw that he was harvesting, he also knew that a banquet was specially set up to entertain him, and the two felt full respect, and they were ironed in their hearts for a while, and their attitudes were also very warm and polite.

Yan Zhengqian looked at the dishes on the table and asked Gu Yunji: "I see that this table has to use a lot of artichoke to make it, right?" Master Gu doesn't have many seeds in his hands, is it enough for us to eat? ”

Gu Yunji said with a smile: "Lord Yan, don't worry, although there are not many seeds, it is enough to cook a meal for the two adults, not to mention this table of dishes, even if there are ten more tables of dishes, it is no problem." ”

Chen Xunzhou raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "Lord Gu's mouth is not small, it seems that he has gained a lot of potatoes this time?" ”

Gu Yunji said modestly: "It's not much, it's just a thousand catties." ”

The two of them were shocked: "How many?!" ”

Yan Zhengqian was dumbfounded, and was speechless for a while: "One ...... A thousand pounds? Really? Master Gu, don't coax me. ”

Gu Yunji said: "Of course it's true, if Lord Yan doesn't believe it, you can ask these officials in the palace that they personally brought back the artichoke, and they know best if there is a thousand catties." ”

A servant stepped forward at the right time and said, "Lord Yuyan, Lord Chen, there are more than 980 catties of artichokes that Lord Gu entrusted to harvest on Zhang Xiuying's field, and there are 80 catties planted by Lord Gu's own family, which adds up to 1,000 catties. ”

Chen Xunzhou was shocked by this number and doubted his life: "I remember...... Master Gu only had more than 100 catties of artichoke in his hand at the beginning, right? In just two or three months, so many have been planted? ”

Yan Zhengqian's eyes were distracted, and he muttered: "Half an acre of land can produce nearly 1,000 catties, and the yield of an acre of land is afraid to go straight to 2,000 catties, and there are really crops in the world that yield 1,000 catties...... If this is promoted, will there be no more hunger in the world? ”

"Exactly."

Saying that, Gu Yunji suddenly stood up and saluted the two of them, and said: "The two adults also saw it, it's not that I brag, the artichoke can indeed reach a yield of 1,000 catties per mu." Therefore, I would like to promote the planting of this crop throughout the Xuzhou Prefecture, and I hope that the two adults will support it. ”

Yan Zhengqian took a deep breath, calmed down his excitement, and said slowly: "I didn't know the specific situation before, and I had never heard of a novel crop, so I didn't dare to take risks. Now that I have seen the high yield of artichoke and tasted its taste, it is indeed a crop that can be promoted, so I naturally have no reason not to support it. ”

Chen Xunzhou also nodded and said: "Yes, although the current grain collection by the imperial court can only be wheat or rice, and artichoke cannot be used as the basis for paying grain, it is also a great achievement to let the people eat enough to avoid starvation." I don't know much about artichoke planting, and I don't know much about it, but this matter is mainly led by Lord Gu, although Lord Gu lets it go, he just opens his mouth if he needs anything. ”

The smile on Gu Yunji's face brightened, and his posture became more and more polite: "With Lord Chen's words, I am relieved." It just so happens that I really want to say something to Lord Chen and Lord Yan. ”

Yan Zhengqian didn't expect this little artichoke to really play a big role, and his attitude was much more serious for a while: "Lord Gu, please speak." ”

Gu Yunji said: "If you want to promote artichoke on a large scale, you must select and breed good seeds, and the artichoke in my hand that can be called a good seed is only about 300 catties, which is enough to plant an acre of land." And our entire Xuzhou government has a population of nearly 300,000, and this seed is simply not enough, and I don't know if it will be promoted to the whole province until the Year of the Monkey. ”

"So I would like to ask the government to approve a sum of money to directly buy a batch of improved seeds and send them to the village chiefs first, and then distribute the second-generation seeds to the villagers after they harvest. In this way, the speed should be much faster, from the point to the surface. ”

Chen Xunzhou asked: "Then where to buy good seeds?" ”

Gu Yunji replied: "Through the traders in the coastal and inland areas, we buy good varieties from the Francophone people. I have already found a trader in the middle, it is a big businessman of the Hui sect, named Fan Li. ”

"We have negotiated the price and transportation channels of the artichoke-related trade, and we only need to wait for the two adults to approve the payment, and we can immediately let the Francophile transport the improved varieties directly from America to the coast, and Fan Li will transport them back to Xuzhou from the coast."

Yan Zhengqian and Chen Xunzhou exchanged glances and looked back at Gu Yunji: "How much does it cost to buy good seeds?" ”

Gu Yunji muttered: "I'm going to buy only 50,000 catties of good seeds for the time being, which is almost 5,000 taels of silver. ”

"How much?"

"Five thousand taels."

"Five thousand taels? Master Gu can really open his mouth. Chen Xunzhou's face sank suddenly, and he sneered, "Our financial reserve for the whole year of Xuzhou Mansion does not exceed 20,000 taels at most, and Lord Gu will ask for a quarter of it for one mouth. ”

"All aspects of the military, government and people's livelihood in Xuzhou Mansion need money, and the government, hospital, and county trials held every year cost money, right? You have to ask for money to pay officials big and small, right? All kinds of engineering repairs and dock maintenance cost money, right? The treasury only had a total of so much silver, and gave Master Gu five thousand taels, and there was less in other places. ”

"Dare to ask Master Gu, where to deduct it? Do you have a fortune? It's a pity that you can't deduct 5,000 taels for ten years! ”

Chen Xunzhou said this mercilessly, and the atmosphere at the banquet was a little embarrassing for a while.