Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 304 Well done

   It's finally time to see the real chapter!

  Actually, Fang Jifan was a little nervous. Although the potatoes had undergone a round of breeding, Fang Jifan knew that the potatoes of this era were obviously far different from those of later generations.

  Fang Jifan rolled up his sleeves himself, and the school captains also looked fierce, sharpening their knives.

   Zhang Xin looked solemn, and personally ordered someone to dismantle the greenhouse, and an acre of potato fields appeared before his eyes.

  Emperor Hongzhi looked at this lush green field with deep eyes.

  Someone whispered behind him, as if they were somewhat suspicious of the potato field.

  This... is really a staple food?

  At this time, someone has moved the large scale, and at the same time, there are scribes from the Qianhu Office to prepare the records.

  Everything was ready, Fang Jifan didn't intend to be a spectator, he squatted down and dug out the first potato plant from the ground.

   This is a bunch of fruits that are bigger than eggs. After gently digging out, the captain on the side immediately took it from Fang Jifan, holding it with both hands, and slowly went to the other side.

  The scribe began to drop the scale: "Three catties and six taels!"

  Then, more than a dozen school captains went down to the ground together, and began to dig out strings of potatoes on the ground, and the number of scribes reported more and more, and there were even many that were too late to be weighed, and they were piled aside.

   "Three Stones..."

  When the scribes reported to Sanshi, Emperor Hongzhi's pupils had already started to shrink.

  The staple food... Sanshi... This means that its output has begun to exceed that of rice in the south.

  Didn’t it mean...with sweet potatoes, with potatoes, Daming can solve the problem of food shortage once and for all?

  As for the population of the world today, according to the statistics in the yellow book of the imperial court, it is only 20 million households. If you include hidden households, it will be no more than 30 million households at most, and the population will not exceed tens of millions.

   Now, the poor yield of rice and wheat alone is indeed stretched, and if the staple food of three stones can be grown in the desert and Liaodong, how many people can be fed.

   It's just apparently... not over yet.

  There are many potatoes piled up on the side, and the potatoes in the ground are also digging.

   "Five Stones!"

  When this number was reported, Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Jian and others almost felt that they were going crazy, and their scalps were numb.

  Five stones...It's five stones...

  This output is more than double that of rice in the entire south. Such an output per mu is already terrifying.

  This is the staple food.

  Emperor Hongzhi stepped on the mud involuntarily, stepped forward, and then walked behind Fang Jifan, then bent his body slightly, as if he wanted to see how Fang Jifan dug out the potatoes one by one.

I saw Fang Jifan gently digging out layers of floating soil with his hands, and then a fruit appeared, connected to the rhizome, followed by the second and third, a large bunch of potatoes was gently pulled out by Fang Jifan .

  Emperor Hongzhi felt that his mind was completely messed up.

  His Majesty was stunned, but Liu Jian and others were not much better. When the clerk reported to Shishi, the air suddenly became quiet.

  What does the ten stones mean?

   It means that under the existing land, Daming's grain production can be directly tripled.

  Three times.

  That's all, the most important thing is, if Liaodong and the desert can also be planted, how much food can be added and how many people can be fed?

   This is almost unimaginable. Sweet potatoes are enough to make Ming no longer have famines, and potatoes can make everyone in the world full.

  Liu Jian suppressed the excitement in his heart, and kept staring at the scale intently, for fear that someone would tamper with it.

  However, the process of collecting potatoes is still going on, and the potatoes that are like hills next to them are being weighed one by one.

   "Fifteen stone!"

  The Hanlin scholar covered his heart, feeling that his heart was beating too hard.

  His head was buzzing, is this... a world of great rule? Oops... Oops, his expression changed.

   At this moment, he thought of a terrible thing.

  I have to repair my books, I have to hurry up and go back to my hometown. The Shen family is a big family, a first-class big family in the township, with thousands of hectares of fertile land, this is the ancestral property of the Shen family, it is the foundation.

  Since the year of Chenghua, with the peace of the world, the population has increased, with more people and less land, resulting in continuous rise in land prices. In just 20 years, the price of grain fields has more than tripled.

  The gentry are eager to annex the land.

  Why?

Because it is foreseeable that the future population will only increase, and the land... is limited after all, and the food grown in the ground is also extremely limited. Whoever has the land, who has the food, means that if others are hungry, you don't have to. Hungry, hungry people are willing to give everything for food, because if you don’t eat food, you have to die, if you want to live, you have to sell your sons and daughters, and sell everything of value in exchange for food.

  In Daming, merging land was a lucrative business.

  The Shen family has a lot of land, many, many.

   Just now…

  This Hanlin student, listening to the numbers reported by the scribe again and again, felt terrified, and a bold thought popped up in his mind...so much land had to be sold.

  When there is more and more food, people don’t have to worry about going hungry, and land prices will definitely drop.

  If there are more refugees who can’t eat enough to go to Liaodong or the desert, there is plenty of land there, as long as they are willing to cultivate it, then... how can the price of this land rise?

  He had mixed feelings in his heart. At this moment, he didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

  Fifteen shi per mu, this is smashing people's jobs, but it is saving the world.

   Morality and interests were constantly swaying in his mind, shaking his head dizzily, and a wry smile appeared on his face involuntarily.

   "Twenty stone."

  When the number was reported by the scribe, Shen Wen's face was already numb.

  Is there any difference between fifteen stone and twenty stone?

   There is an egg difference, even if the population of Daming is doubled, it can still support it.

   On the other side, Emperor Hongzhi stared at Fang Jifan collecting potatoes. He had forgotten the clerk's report, and he only concentrated on watching Fang Jifan's hands flying in the field, becoming more and more proficient.

   Unstoppable, Emperor Hongzhi also squatted down.

  Your Fang Jifan can.

  I can too.

  He imitated Fang Jifan's way of digging the soil, digging into the ground, digging and digging, but it came to nothing.

  Fang Jifan looked sideways, and couldn't help looking at Emperor Hongzhi in a daze: "Your Majesty... that... you dug in the wrong place. This is the ground, and there... is the ditch for water diversion."

   "Oh." Emperor Hongzhi didn't feel any shame because of Fang Jifan's careful reminder, and finally, he dug out a potato in the direction Fang Jifan pointed.

   This heavy fruit fell into his hands. Emperor Hongzhi looked at the fruit strangely, even though the fruit was still covered with muddy water.

  The captain who picked up the potatoes to go to the scale did not dare to pick them up, his face was so frightened that he froze in the ridge of the field, looking at a loss.

   On the other hand, Xiao Jing understood something immediately. He gave His Majesty a meaningful look, but did not persuade him. His Majesty did it himself. Can he still be idle?

  Behind him, a little **** wanted to step forward to help dig potatoes, but Xiao Jing gave him a murderous look. The little **** was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe out, and quickly stepped back three steps.

   This kind of flattery is also something you can shoot. What kind of person are you, and you are also qualified?

   Xiao Jing sneered in his heart, but then he showed a modest smile, squatting down on the ground as well, and worked together with Emperor Hongzhi to dig out a bunch of potatoes.

   "Twenty-five stone..."

  When this number is reported.

  Shen Wen, a Hanlin scholar, fell to the ground.

   Completely passed out.

   Extremely angry.

It may not be because of extreme anger, but this is too shocking, he has too many thoughts in his mind, he naturally knows that this is a great joyous event to be celebrated by the whole world, even if the Shen family loses some benefits, if it can be exchanged for a peaceful world, and Why not.

But in my heart, there is a little bit of distress, the ancestral property, those are the ancestral lands, if you don't sell them, you may just sit back and watch the land prices fall for a round, and in the end it will become less and less valuable, but if you sell it, don't you... Fang Jifan is just like a prodigal son who sells his father's land?

  So, when he heard twenty-five stones, he finally couldn't take it anymore and fell to the ground.

   What's even more bizarre is that at this moment, this Hanlin scholar fainted on the ground, and no one paid attention to him. It's not because Shen Wen's popularity is bad, but because... everyone's energy is not focused on other places.

   "Thirty stone..."

   Squatting on the ground, already muddy and filthy, Emperor Hongzhi, who had dug out a few bunches of potatoes, suddenly trembled, his hands still stuck in the mud...

  Emperor Hongzhi's eyes were a little red, not because he wanted to cry, but because he was so excited that he couldn't restrain himself.

  Xiao Jing, who was on the side, happily followed His Majesty to plan potatoes. Seeing His Majesty doing this, he also stopped and looked at Emperor Hongzhi.

   "Your Majesty... This is a great gift from God to Your Majesty..."

   Xiao Jing lowered his voice and said to Emperor Hongzhi.

  Emperor Hongzhi regained his composure, then glanced at Fang Jifan and the others, and continued digging silently.

  When the number reached thirty-three stones, everything... came to an end.

  Fang Jifan felt his waist hurt a little. At this time, he realized the feelings of Zhang Xin and Zhu Houzhao. Farming...is really hard work.

   Trembling, he stood up with the help of a school lieutenant, panting heavily.

  Thirty-three stones can be said to have greatly exceeded my expectations.

  Naturally, these thirty-three stones are not without water. For example, the potatoes were not washed clean when they were weighed, so there was still a lot of mud on them.

   Another example, many rotten potatoes, don't care about the scales.

  The real amount, which can be called grain, is probably no more than twenty-three or four shi.

   But so what? Whether it is a general number or a precise number, this number has swept away everything, far surpassing all the staple food in the eyes of the emperors and ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

  Fang Jifan couldn't help cheering in his heart, well done!

   This sentence refers to Fang Jifan himself.

  (end of this chapter)