Ming Dynasty: Zhu Biao's younger brother, the most rebellious son in history

Chapter 50: Not much, about to dan per mu
He glared at Zhu Kai unhappily, and Zhu Kai made an expression that said "I know nothing" and looked at Zhu Biao with a chuckle.

Zhu Biao was too lazy to care about him, and immediately asked: "Second brother, you have been staying at Second Uncle's place for so many days, what's the matter?"

Zhu Kai replied: "It's nothing serious. I just asked my second uncle to help me grow some food, and it's almost done."

"Growing things?"

Zhu Biao was stunned, then looked at Li Zhen: "Second uncle, what are you planting?"

Li Zhen smiled, revealing his two golden front teeth: "It brings good fortune to our Ming Dynasty."

Auspicious?

Before Zhu Biao could ask more, Li Zhen explained, "Kai'er gave me sweet potato, potato and corn seeds, saying they were from foreign countries and that if they were grown, the grain production of the Ming Dynasty would increase by more than twenty times... I was a bit stupid, and failed to grow them twice, and they died... This time they have grown, and Kai'er and I are waiting for them to mature."

More than twenty times?
Where in the world can we find such food?

Zhu Biao felt that Zhu Kai was talking nonsense. The sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corns he mentioned were probably seeds that Zhu Kai found from somewhere and wanted to grow them to satisfy his appetite.

But if you think about it carefully, Zhu Kai never makes empty promises. He will do what he says sooner or later. Moreover, Li Zhen just said that he has experimented twice before and this is the third time.

The grain yield increased more than twenty times... Zhu Biao suddenly felt his breathing heavy. This meant that one acre of land could feed more than twenty more people!
Thinking of this, Zhu Biao's breathing immediately became heavy, and he looked at Zhu Kai:
"Second brother, are you telling the truth? Can one acre of land really multiply more than twenty times?"

"That is the yield per mu that can only be achieved after the planting technology is successful. Now potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes have not yet left the experimental fields, how can there be so much? And not all of them have increased by more than 20 times. Probably only potatoes and sweet potatoes can do that."

Zhu Kai shook his head and then said:

"However, it is still possible to increase it tenfold."

The information Zhu Kai collected from the super ocean-going freighter mentioned the average per-acre yield in the Ming Dynasty.

"Hejian Zhi" records that in the Ming Dynasty, the yield per mu in the north was one and a half dan of grain, and there were about three dan of grain in spring and autumn; the south was slightly better, but only about four dan of grain.

One stone of grain, converted into later measurement methods, is about 120 kilograms.

In other words, after deducting taxes, a person needs about ten acres of land to support himself.

It takes ten acres of land to grow wheat and rice, but what about potatoes and sweet potatoes?
One acre of potato land can produce between 3000 and 5000 kilograms; one acre of sweet potato land can produce about 6000 kilograms; corn produces less, only about kilograms. But corn can be made into a staple food after all, and it does not require much land. As long as these three varieties are promoted in the Ming Dynasty, the population will show signs of a surge.

As for the origin of these seeds, needless to say, they are on super ocean-going freighters. Super ocean-going freighters sail on the sea and stop at many ports. These seeds are most likely sold to Africa.

There are more than ten containers of "Jinkela" fertilizers, but Zhu Kai did not take them out.

There is no need to use chemical fertilizers. It is much better to eat green and pure ecological food.

Besides, if the Ming Dynasty doesn’t have enough land in the future, it can expand outward.

Fertilizers can only hinder the expansion of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Kai got these seeds when he first entered the space of the super ocean freighter, but he did not take them out at once. If he planted them all and failed, it would be troublesome. When Li Zhen succeeded in planting, he could promote them on a large scale.

After Zhu Kai told Zhu Biao the per-acre yield of sweet potatoes and beans, Zhu Biao stood up excitedly, pointed at Zhu Kai with heavy breathing, but could not utter a word and his eyes turned red.

I rack my brains every day in the East Palace to think of ways to get food, but here in Zhu Kai, can the food problem be solved by just finding a merchant from a foreign country?

This……

Zhu Biao couldn't help but think of a sentence Zhu Kai said:

Comparing people with others will lead to death, and comparing goods with goods will lead to throwing away!
Compared with Zhu Kai, it seems that I am not as good as Zhu Kai in anything.

"Brother? What's wrong with you?" Zhu Kai looked at Zhu Biao and said with a smile: "Brother, isn't it just some food? Why are you so excited?"

"What nonsense! This is not just about food. This is about the lives of our people!"

Zhu Biao shook off Zhu Kai's arm and complained to him, "You bastard, why didn't you tell me earlier that there was such a high yield of grain? I've been driven crazy by the lack of grain these days."

In ancient times, the most critical issue was food.

Now, it still is.

Zhu Kai rolled his eyes helplessly: "Brother, you think too much. Even if these grains are grown, they can't immediately become the staple food on the people's table. There are only so many seeds, and it is impossible to immediately put them into large-scale production. Think about it... The grown grains need to be promoted, right? Where is suitable to grow what, where is not suitable to grow what, we need to promote the planting of potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes according to local conditions. If we do these things, how long will it take to complete? At least three years. Do you think these things can immediately serve as military rations to meet the needs of the Northern Expedition?"

Seeing Zhu Biao gradually calm down, Zhu Kai smiled and said, "We can't fight this year. We can talk about it when we have food. Anyway, the food in the Ming Dynasty will increase in the future, and it will be more convenient to fight in the future."

Zhu Biao admitted that what Zhu Kai said made sense, but he also sighed: "Who says it's not true? But you don't know, second brother, our Ming Dynasty has been dealing with things year after year. If we don't solve the remnant Yuan outside, how can we solve our own problems behind closed doors?"

Then, Zhu Biao was about to count on his fingers to tell Zhu Kai what had happened in the Ming Dynasty, but Zhu Kai didn't want to listen. Instead, he looked at Zhu Biao in a puzzled manner: "Brother, why do I feel like I've heard these words before?"

Zhu Kai was asking a question even though he already knew the answer. What Zhu Biao said now was the same thing Zhu Yuanzhang said when he set a trap for Zhu Kai to fall into. Except for the different things he said, the other general frameworks were different.

The essence of human beings is a repeater, nothing more than that.

"...You brat!"

Zhu Biao was exposed by Zhu Kai as a repeater in front of him. He covered up his embarrassment by scolding Zhu Kai, and then changed the subject: "Second brother, when can we harvest these grains that you said can increase the yield by more than ten times per mu?"

Zhu Kai had never farmed before, so how could he know exactly when the crops would be ripe? He thought for a moment and said, "These few days will be enough. Second uncle is an expert in farming. When he says it will be ripe, then it will be ripe."

After hearing what Zhu Kai said, Zhu Biao immediately turned his gaze to Li Zhen. Li Zhen showed his gold-studded front teeth and said with a smile, "It will only take two days. It will be done soon. Prince, please don't disbelieve me. In the second round of experiments, we grew eight or nine hundred kilograms of failed varieties. It's just that the variety is not good and can't be used as seeds, so we have to give up."

(End of this chapter)