Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 224 Production, prepare a big gift for Li Er!
Cen Wenben looked at the peeled rice that Li Yuanji handed over to him, and looked at it carefully for a long time before putting it into his mouth to taste it carefully.

Cen Wenben closed his eyes and chewed very slowly, frowning from time to time, as if he was savoring the food and comparing it with the previous rice.

Li Yuanji looked at Cen Wenben's expression and immediately laughed. He really didn't expect that after tasting a grain of hybrid rice, Cen Wenben would have such an expression. Then he peeled a grain himself, put it in his mouth and started eating.

Li Yuanji couldn't taste much difference until he swallowed it, except that the taste was slightly better, and that was it.

Cen Wenben next to him held the rice and smelled it. After a while, he looked at Li Yuanji.

"My king, this new rice smells slightly better than the previous one. It tastes more sticky and sweet. The grains are also much larger than the previous one. This is good rice!"

Li Yuanji looked at Cen Wenben with a suspicious look on his face. How come he didn't notice these things? Could it be that what he ate was fake?

Li Yuanji, who didn't believe it, didn't say anything. He just peeled a grain and put it into his mouth and started eating. However, when he opened his eyes, he was confused. Could it be that he and Cen Wenben were eating two different kinds of rice?

Li Yuanji looked at Cen Wenben suspiciously.

"Jingren, how did you taste this?"

Cen Wenben smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you don't know that every time there is a harvest, I will come to inspect and peel a few grains of rice to taste them. I can taste what the rice tasted like before with my eyes closed.

I can still taste the difference in the new rice that Your Majesty has planted this time. Your Majesty may not care, so it is normal that you cannot taste it."

Li Yuanji looked at the pretentious Cen Wenben and didn't want to pay any attention to him. He could tell from the taste that his taste was really good.

From these words, Li Yuanji also heard how much Cen Wenben valued the grain harvest. The fact that he came in person every time spoke volumes.

Seeing that Li Yuanji did not speak, Cen Wenben continued to smile and said, "In the past, every time there was a harvest, I would also do what the king did, picking some rice from the rice ears and rubbing them with my hands.

In the past, a lot of rice had empty husks, almost half of it. When there was a flood the year before last, the empty husks even reached more than half.

The rice grains are not only fuller, but also larger than before, the ears are taller, and there are fewer empty husks. This year's new rice harvest will surely be excellent."

Li Yuanji was extremely happy when he heard this. After all, he spent so many contribution points to make this hybrid rice. It would be strange if it was not even as good as the original rice.

"Okay, I know all this myself. Now that you know the importance of rice, have someone prepare this rice field as I just said. Now let's go to another rice field."

Li Yuanji planted this hybrid rice in various places. Besides here, the other three places were Guangzhou Prefecture, Nanzhou Prefecture, and Luzhou Prefecture.

The rice here can only be planted for one season, Guangzhou Prefecture can plant it for two seasons, Nanzhou Prefecture can plant it for two to three seasons, and Luzhou Prefecture and Songzhou Prefecture can directly plant it for three seasons.

Li Yuanji wanted to know whether the yields of these places would be different, as well as the growth conditions of rice, by planting them separately, so as to decide the area to promote them first.

Now he still has too few seeds. It is impossible to roll them out all at once without several years. He can only prioritize promotion in places where they can be planted for more than two seasons, and then promote them to other places.

Cen Wenben rearranged the affairs here, and then followed Li Yuanji to another place where hybrid rice was grown.

The places chosen for growing hybrid rice are all places with fertile soil and easy irrigation and drainage.

In this rice field, there are also many people waiting here, waiting for orders to harvest.

Li Yuanji came to the edge of the field and observed the rice field. He looked at the soil of the rice field with his naked eyes, but could not see any moisture. Li Yuanji stepped on it, but it did not sink. This was enough to show that there had been no water for many days and there was not much moisture under the rice field.

“How many days has this rice field been without water?”

A thin man who was in charge of this rice field stood up.

"Your Majesty, including today, it is exactly the tenth day."

Hearing this, Li Yuanji finally smiled, and then checked the empty shell rate again. It was not much different from the rice field just now, and then looked at Cen Wenben.

"Jingren, tell them to start harvesting immediately. Harvest all the rice fields today. Keep a record and see how much rice is produced per acre."

Cen Wenben immediately went down and asked people to start harvesting. Li Yuanji directly found a relatively flat place to sit down. Looking at the clothes he was wearing, the material was not very good, but it was made by Wu Mei and Wu Shun in three days after all. In the end, he found a wooden stool and sat down.

Taking advantage of the break time, while eating, he opened the system and started to check it. Now the contribution points in his hand have reached 3,165 points, and Li Yuanji is very happy.

As for the task, it has not been completed yet. The speed of population migration is not fast. Although it is gradually increasing, it still takes a lot of time. It is estimated that it will be completed in about one or two months.

Thinking about the completion of this task and the receipt of another 100,000 contribution points, Li Yuanji became a little distracted. He was thinking about what he should exchange for them when the time comes.

As he was thinking, he accidentally fell asleep. After a long time, when he opened his eyes again, he saw Cen Wenben and a few others holding account books and looking at something. After a while, he saw Cen Wenben walking towards him excitedly.

"My king, good news, good news! Do you know the yield of this rice?"

Li Yuanji looked at Cen Wenben's excited face, even dancing with joy, and immediately began to have great expectations. He knew the yield of hybrid rice, but under the current circumstances, that yield certainly could not be taken seriously.

He was also very curious about how many there were exactly.

"Jingren, don't keep me in suspense. What's the yield per mu? Tell me now."

Li Yuanji was so anxious, but Cen Benwen was still standing there smiling, waiting for him to guess, but he guessed nothing.

Cen Wenben no longer concealed the truth and said excitedly, "My lord, the yield of this rice is as high as 788 kilograms! Compared with the previous rice, the yield has doubled! As long as this rice is promoted and planted, we won't have to worry about running out of food!"

Li Yuanji's eyes widened, and he was a little stunned for a moment. Seven hundred and eighty-eight kilograms? He was not stunned by the high yield, but the yield was too low in his opinion. If this hybrid rice is put in modern times, any kind of it will have a yield of more than a thousand kilograms. If you choose a good rice field and take good care of it, the yield will be more than twice the current yield.

Li Yuanji was mentally prepared. Although it was hybrid rice, the yield would certainly not meet that requirement. But he did not expect the gap to be so big. In his opinion, at the very least, it should be around 800 to 900 kilograms, right?
That's the result? Less than 800 kilograms, the difference is huge in an instant.

Li Yuanji came back to his senses and looked at Cen Wenben who was still excited. He really couldn't resonate with him. That's it? What was there to be happy about?
Li Yuanji was not in high spirits, and Cen Wenben soon noticed something unusual. He couldn't help but admire Li Yuanji even more. This was what it meant to remain calm in the face of adversity. Look, his king was not excited at all when he heard about the output, and he completely controlled his emotions.

Cen Wenben then began to adjust his mentality, but no matter how he adjusted, he still couldn't control his inner joy. Cen Wenben couldn't help but admire Li Yuanji even more.

In the past, the highest rice yield was between 300 and 400 kilograms, which was the best time.

If the weather is bad, the output cannot be achieved and there will be a reduction in production.

In the Tang Dynasty, the main food is corn and wheat. Rice cultivation has not yet been fully promoted. The highest wheat output is between 300 and 500 kilograms (recorded in Zizhi Tongjian and Taiyuanji), and the corn output is between 200 and 350 kilograms.

This is the highest yield, but it is not achieved every year or in every region. If the weather is bad, such as continuous sunny days and water shortage, or continuous rain or too much rain, it will have a huge impact.

Therefore, the normal output on weekdays is lower than the maximum output, and it is difficult to reach the optimal output.

However, looking at the yield of this hybrid rice now, it is no wonder that Cen Wenben is so excited. Li Yuanji did not know these data and thought the yield was low, but Cen Wenben, who knew the yield of the Tang Dynasty well, knew very well how incredible the current yield of 788 kilograms was.

After calming down a little, Cen Wenben asked Li Yuanji.

"My king, are you still not satisfied with this output?"

Li Yuanji glanced at Cen Wenben and nodded helplessly. He was indeed not satisfied with the yield. Although he did not have chemical fertilizers, he thought he had done very well in other aspects. And most importantly, the soil at this time was definitely the most fertile among the fertile.

Even if there are no fertilizers and pesticides, the difference shouldn't be that big, right?

After hearing this, Cen Wenben smiled and said softly, "I wonder if Your Majesty has any information about the current production of corn, wheat, and rice in the Tang Dynasty?"

Seeing that Li Yuanji was looking at him seriously, Cen Wenben told Li Yuanji about the grain production of the Tang Dynasty.

After hearing this, Li Yuanji was surprised, but also expected it. In ancient dynasties, there had never been a real abundance of food. Even later, before the emergence of hybrid rice, conservation was the norm.

Even after hybrid rice came out, people have been advocating conservation for many years.

Now in the Tang Dynasty, even at its peak, there was not enough food for everyone. It was just that the upper class was prosperous and the people were indeed much better off than before.

After thinking this through, Li Yuanji's expression finally improved. He was not afraid of comparison, but was afraid of different ways of comparison. When compared with the current output of the Tang Dynasty, the output of this hybrid rice immediately showed its absolute advantage.

Li Yuanji smiled slightly and then spoke slowly.

"Jingren is right, I was greedy, this output is indeed very impressive.

However, we should not be happy too soon. We need to continue to pay attention to the yield of this new rice, especially in Nanzhou, Luzhou and Songzhou. These places can be planted for two or three seasons, and we must pay attention to the yield at all times.

The same goes for this. We need to pay attention next year as well to see if the output will decrease. As for an increase, I no longer think about it, but we must pay attention. Once there is a reduction, the amount of the reduction must be recorded in the book. At the same time, we must also record which places have higher outputs.

As for the rice field we visited earlier, please summarize the yield after the harvest and show it to me.”

Now that the output is considerable, Li Yuanji no longer thinks about it. He just hopes that the production will not be reduced too much in the future.

Now the yield here can only be used as a reference. It is impossible for the yield in every place to be the same every time it is planted. There must be more or less. As for how much, he really has no idea. He just hopes that it won't be too little.

Then he told Cen Wenben how to store the rice. These rices are not edible and must all be stored for planting next year so that the hybrid rice can be rolled out as soon as possible.

After all these were done and they had dinner, it was already afternoon. Li Yuanji took Cen Wenben to the Ironware Bureau again.

The director of the Ironware Inspectorate is now assigned to the East Island, and the rest of the places are branch inspectors.

The Ironware Inspectorate now covers an area of ​​thousands of acres and is very large in scale. It was originally expanded in order to speed up the replacement of the army's equipment.

When they arrived at the Ironware Bureau, Liu San took Li Yuanji and Cen Wenben in.

"Your Majesty, this is the copper coin we smelted. It is exactly the same as the one currently in circulation in the Tang Dynasty. You can't tell the difference at all."

What Li Yuanji came to see was the forging of copper coins, which he had asked the Ironware Bureau to start forging long ago. He had a lot of copper, and now he had discovered two copper mines in Jiaozhou Prefecture and Zhenla.

As for minting copper coins, it means he wants to give money to Li Er, which is a real gift of money. However, it depends on whether Li Er has the ability to absorb and digest it.

As for whether Li Yuanji had the power to mint coins?
I'm sorry, but the two coin casting molds that Li Yuan gave to Li Yuanji are now of great use. Li Yuanji directly copied many of them in order to smelt copper into copper coins.

As for Li Er? Why care about his feelings? Besides, Li Yuanji was going to give Li Er money this time, so Li Er should be grateful to him.

Li Yuanji took a smelted copper coin and then took out the copper coins currently in circulation in the Tang Dynasty. He looked at them repeatedly and weighed them. There was no difference at all.

Seeing this scene, Li Yuanji immediately laughed, and laughed very happily.

'Li Er, Li Er, I'm about to give you a big gift. I hope you can accept it. You have to hold on. If you collapse all of a sudden, it won't be fun at all!'

(End of this chapter)