In ancient times, I just wanted to be a salted fish

Chapter 144 Planting Sweet Potatoes

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye it is mid-March, by which time the potatoes have been planted.

Chen Ruotong has already started the work of raising sweet potato seedlings. She instructs the tenant farmers to place the sweet potatoes one by one on the ground covered with a thin layer of soil, and then spray water evenly to keep the environment warm and moist.

After just a few days, the sweet potatoes began to sprout. More than ten sprouts grew on each sweet potato. As time went by, these tender green sprouts gradually grew larger, and after more than ten days, they grew into tall green seedlings. The next step is to transplant the sweet potato seedlings.

First, small holes are dug in the fields and then filled with water. The tenant farmers carefully break off the green seedlings from the sweet potatoes and plant them in the small holes filled with water. Each sweet potato seedling is carefully cared for to ensure that they can thrive.

This year, she took out all the sweet potatoes in the space and used them as seeds to plant a total of six acres of land.

Compared with planting potatoes, planting sweet potato seedlings is much more complicated. Not only does it require careful soil preparation, but also attention to details such as watering and soil cultivation. But for Chen Ruotong, it is all worth the effort because she knows that only in this way can she reap rich fruits.

At the same time, the pepper seedlings, watermelon seedlings, and tomato seedlings have grown up and can be planted in the ground, so Chen Ruotong's entire farm is busy and everyone is tired and happy.

Old Man Chen's farm and several other small farms also started spring plowing and sowing in the paddy and dry fields at the same time.

During this period of time, everyone in the Chen family, from top to bottom, was extremely busy, as if they could not stop for a moment.

Chen Ruotong is deeply aware that the manpower currently on hand is clearly insufficient.

Especially when she planned to go to Beijing to purchase property and open a store, she not only needed to bring some experienced old employees with her, but also urgently needed to introduce a group of new forces to enrich the team. Only in this way could she ensure the smooth progress of various affairs.

So, Old Man Chen personally wrote a letter and sent it to Chenjiabao, asking the old patriarch Chen to help find a few smart, literate and good at arithmetic young men to come and work.

And they promised to give them generous remuneration, believing that this way, they could effectively stimulate the enthusiasm of the villagers in Chenjiabao and push the entire village gradually towards prosperity.

After careful consideration, Old Man Chen and Chen Ruotong reached a consensus: when the potatoes and sweet potatoes have a bumper harvest this year, they will save them all and properly preserve them as seeds.

Next year, we will send more high-quality seeds to Chenjiabao and encourage villagers to take the lead in trying to grow potatoes and sweet potatoes, two high-yield crops. We hope that this measure will help everyone achieve the goal of getting rid of poverty and becoming rich as soon as possible.

Zhang Zhifu was a good official who worked diligently and wholeheartedly for the people. He knew the importance of people's livelihood, so he often went to the people without any hesitation to personally explore the details of people's lives.

On this day, Magistrate Zhang came to the countryside in casual clothes and with a small entourage.

He strolled along the ridges of the fields and had cordial conversations with the hardworking old farmers who sat together in harmony, like a family.

Magistrate Zhang carefully inquired about this year's sowing progress and the growth of crops. He bent down from time to time, touched the tender green seedlings with his own hands, and felt the vitality of the earth.

Of course, this time, Magistrate Zhang also had an important mission - to inspect Chen Ruotong's large manor.

He wanted to find out what crops were grown on the farm, especially how many acres of the much-anticipated potatoes were planted. In addition, he was even more curious about the new and exotic crop, sweet potatoes, which were said to have a very high yield, and was eager to know what it looked like.

Only after thoroughly understanding the situation could Magistrate Zhang safely pass the message to Lord Zhen Yu, and then have it conveyed to His Majesty through Zhen Yu.

Because this information not only concerns the people's food and clothing, but may also affect the country's agricultural development plans.

Therefore, no matter how hard and tiring it was, Magistrate Zhang felt that it was his duty and he must go all out to complete this arduous yet glorious task.

Chen Ruotong took out five or six sweet potatoes from the space and showed them to Prefect Zhang. "Uncle Zhang, these sweet potatoes were brought back by my overseas friend this year. There are not many. In addition to the seeds, I have left more than 30 of them, waiting for you to come. I will make a sweet potato feast for you so that you can taste the sweet potato in advance!"

"Guchuan, please don't. This thing is precious. We can't bear to eat it now. Let's eat it together after the autumn harvest! Then can you give this seed to Uncle Zhang? Can you send someone to plant it on my farm in the government office? Isn't it a little late to plant it now?"

"It's not too late, just a little later during the autumn harvest!"

Chen Ruotong took out the more than 30 sweet potatoes in the space, and called the busy Chen Dahai over, asking him to take a few people to the yamen farm to raise seedlings, and then be responsible for planting the sweet potato seedlings.

One sweet potato can produce about 15 seedlings, and more than 30 sweet potatoes can probably produce more than 500 seedlings. Wow, that's a lot! It's estimated that more than 3,000 sweet potatoes can be produced. This is the power of reproduction!

So soon, potatoes and sweet potatoes will be everywhere in the Daliang Dynasty.

After hearing Chen Ruotong's calculations, Prefect Zhang clapped his hands and smiled from ear to ear, "If this is true, Daliang will prosper. Hahahaha..."

"Uncle Zhang, next year everything will be fine. We can plant all the crops on this farm on a large scale! There will be more seeds next year! Our Daliang will become more and more prosperous!"

"Okay, that's great. I have to report this happy event to His Majesty so that he can rest assured and wait for the autumn harvest. His Majesty is still thinking about your vegetables and fruits! Hahaha..."

Chen Ruotong saw the smiling handsome man with charming peach blossom eyes. She couldn't help but sigh, "Your Majesty is a wise ruler. He cares about the suffering of his people and values ​​agriculture and commerce. By the way, can we get any reward for the sweet potato harvest? Hehehe..."

Prefect Zhang patted Chen Ruotong on the shoulder and laughed heartily, "Guchuan, you are a little money-grubber. You want to take credit for your achievements? However, the emperor is not a stingy person. You should still give me rewards! Hahaha..."

Chen Ruotong thought: I don't care about money anymore, it would be even better if I could confer a title on Grandpa...

Chen Ruotong is daydreaming again. I didn’t expect that she is also a fan of officials!

Just as Chen Ruotong and Magistrate Zhang were chatting about potatoes and sweet potatoes, a servant came running over to report, "Master Zhang, Fourth Young Master, Master Zhen is here and is waiting for you and Master at the manor house!"

Chen Ruotong and Magistrate Zhang looked at each other and smiled. It really is better to arrive at the right time than to arrive at the right time!

The two of them hurried to see Zhen Yu together!