Chapter 124 The importance of farming

Sweet potatoes are of great significance. During famine years, sweet potatoes are a lifeline. It's not that Ying Yi doesn't understand this.

In this era, sweet potatoes were introduced to China not long ago through Hongyi. It’s not that the imperial court didn’t think about promoting it, but it is said that oranges grown in Huainan are called tangerines, and those grown in Huaibei are called tangerines. The sweet potatoes that have just taken root in the land of China are in the process of adapting to the environment and are far from reaching their later yields.

Sweet potatoes have strong vitality and strong adaptability. They are different from oranges and tangerines, but after all, they need a process of adaptation.

In the original history, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were able to feed hundreds of millions of people, not because the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were so powerful, but because of the high-yielding exotic crops that, after an adaptation period in the late Ming Dynasty, blossomed into their glory during the Manchu and Qing Dynasties.

If Ming Dynasty can survive this disaster, Ying Yi has reason to believe that Ming Dynasty can feed more people.

This is the significance of a group of exotic high-yielding crops such as sweet potatoes.

However, sweet potato is a crop that has no comparison with traditional grains except for its high yield after adapting to the environment.

If you eat too much sweet potatoes, people will become yellow and thin. In terms of nutrition, they are far inferior to traditional grains.

Furthermore, the breeding of sweet potatoes is different from that of rice and wheat. It is bred through root germination.

Ying Yi relies on the civilian Yuanqi branch of the Yuanqi branch under Yingyi's Yuanqi plan. Plant breeding transforms Yuanqi. Although it is not the time to sow wheat in the traditional sense, he can make wheat through the transformation of Yuanqi. Shorten the growth cycle, etc.

A breeding and transformation device can transform and breed more wheat at once than sweet potatoes.

This is the main reason why Ying Yi chose Maizi.

Besides that, there is another reason. That is, the wheat has been tested for a long time, but the sweet potato has just taken root. If Ying Yi demanded that all 600,000 acres of land be planted with sweet potatoes, the people would probably not be so happy and would resist.

Although Zheng Yunzhi and Sun Xiucai were somewhat confident due to the many miracles that Ying Yi brought, the difficulties were still great.

Sun Xiucai said: "My lord, if you plant sweet potatoes, you only need to take seedling cuttings. But if you plant wheat, 600,000 acres of land require a lot of seeds."

Zheng Yunzhi nodded and agreed.

Ying Yi smiled and nodded. It is very easy to plant sweet potatoes at this time. For example, you only need to pick seedlings from the sweet potato field outside Xiaowangzhuang and then take cuttings. It is convenient and can significantly reduce costs. But this is also a factor that was denied by Ying Yi.

He wants to modify crops, preferably starting from seeds. Sweet potatoes do not fit the bill at this time.

He understood the thoughts of Sun Xiucai and Zheng Yunzhi - July was not the right time to plant sweet potatoes. But as long as it can be planted and survive, the stems and leaves will be a satiating food. Sweet potatoes have a higher survival rate than wheat, especially in the current climate.

As for the other concern, Ying Yi also understands it.

The 600,000 acres of land are all planted with wheat. According to the convention, one acre of land counts ten catties of seeds, and the seeds cost six million catties.

Six million catties! One hundred and twenty kilograms of one stone is equivalent to fifty thousand stones.

This is no small amount.

"Fifty thousand dan of wheat can now be sold for ten taels of silver per dan. It costs five hundred thousand taels of silver." Zheng Yunzhi said seriously, twirling his beard.

Ying Yi said: "Silver is not a problem. If you can't eat the silver, what's the use of putting it there? My father-in-law, scholar, as long as the seeds arrive, everything will not be a problem."

After a pause, he said: "How much more wheat can we squeeze out now?"

Sun Xiucai immediately said: "About thirty thousand dan. The rest are other grains."

Right now, Ying Yi still has a lot of food in his hands. The 200,000 stones stored in Ye County at the beginning now still have 150,000 stones. After killing Zuo Liangyu, Liu Zongmin, Hao Yaoqi, etc., plus Yuzhou's reserves and seizures, there were more than 100,000 stones.

But there was not much wheat, only 30,000 shi, and the rest were rice, beans, sorghum and other types of grains.

"Thirty thousand stones...there is still twenty thousand stones left." Ying Yi said: "Can Zheng's Trading Company purchase it within ten days?"

Zheng Yunzhi thought for a while: "The time is too short and it is a bit difficult. From Nanyang to the south, rice is mainly grown among the people. The reserves of wheat in Huguang are not large."

Ying Yi frowned: "You can buy it at a high price."

It's not like he hasn't thought about mixing in some rice seeds, but now that there's a drought, wheat is a dryland crop, but rice is not.

Although it can be modified, Ying Yi has not yet used plant modification tools, and he does not know whether he can transform rice into a crop that can adapt to arid environments.

But he thought for a while: "Just in case, prepare another 20,000 stone rice seeds. We will take a two-pronged approach, and purchasing wheat seeds is one of them. If there are not enough, we have to use rice seeds instead."

Sun Xiucai and Zheng Yunzhi both nodded.

Then Ying Yi said: "Sowing in early July, there is less than half a month left. First transport 30,000 stones of wheat seeds to Crescent Valley, and the remaining 20,000 stones must be prepared within ten days. If not, Just use rice seeds instead. Make sure there are enough seeds for sowing in early July."

Agriculture is the foundation of the country. Paying attention to farming is the focus of those in power in any era. The three counties currently occupied by Ying Yi are really in ruins. Farming in July is the prerequisite for all industries to prosper.

Ying Yi attached great importance to this matter as much as military operations against intruders. Even pay more attention to it.

"Don't worry about those landowners for the time being." Then when talking about the landlords in the three counties, Ying Yi waved his hand and said, "They will naturally ask for help when the time comes."

Nanyang was ravaged by bandits. Although the land was white for thousands of miles, there were still landlords who survived. These years have been marked by poor growth and natural and man-made disasters, and the landlords have their own ways to save their lives.

The most common method is to build a fort to defend yourself.

Landowners are often local overlords, occupying large areas of land and hoarding a lot of food. They build forts, gather people, and form servants and militias. Even rogue thieves can do nothing to them for a while.

Small groups of thieves can't beat them, but large groups of thieves think it's not worthwhile.

In order to protect their own property, these landowners often dared to fight tooth and nail when encountering bandits. In fact, these landowners were more afraid of bandits than the official army. Therefore, many landowners survived.

But many of these sitters are not good things. With its Wubao as the center, all the best land has been taken away by these landless tigers. It will be difficult for Ying Yi to get these lands back.

Zheng Yunzhi and Sun Xiucai had no advantage in fighting with these local bullies. Unless troops are sent to attack, oil and salt will not advance.

But Ying Yi believed that the crops he had modified must be the key to solving this problem.

So he is not in a hurry.

"Let's just cultivate our own land, as long as they don't disturb us." Ying Yi said, "If someone messes around, wouldn't my knife be harmful?"

Sun Xiucai and Zheng Yunzhi nodded slightly.

At present, cultivating 600,000 acres of land is the top priority, and fighting with landlords should really be put aside for the time being.