OBS Chapter 256 This is a good thing that benefits the Jin family!
Chapter 256 This is a good thing that benefits the Jin family!
The women's eyes suddenly lost some of their warmth, and when they turned to Ye Yin, there was a hint of indescribable subtlety. Ye Yin was puzzled, not understanding their meaning, but Lin Yue guessed that they were standing up for her!
They all witnessed how much hardship she had endured when she came to Yejia Village with a big belly. Now Ye Yin was getting something for nothing, and they couldn't help but feel a little resentful when they saw him. If he didn't look so serious, they might even get a "lesson" from everyone!
Ye Yin was confused by their sudden change and kept looking at Lin Yue questioningly.
However, he was soon pulled out by the old patriarch to talk to everyone!
"We've been busy talking! The food is ready! Come in and eat! After you finish eating, take a good rest and then we can talk about other things!"
While pushing Lin Yue into the flower hall, Dong Caixia asked the young wives to start setting the table for food.
After finishing the meal, Lin Yue didn't have time to rest. She asked Madam Ge to divide up the things she brought for everyone and deliver them door to door.
On the other side, Qin Shu and the guards had settled in the empty courtyard outside. Lin Yue's family lived in the main house. Old man Li and Old man Xue lived in the east wing, and Nanny Ge and Hong lived in the west wing with several maids in purple. This time when they went to the southwest, only Nanny Liu was left in the capital, and Nanny Ge and Nanny Hong also followed them!
The back house is where Shadow and his group of secret guards live. There is a kang in each room, which makes it extremely warm. The guards and secret guards were warmly received by the villagers.
Next to Lin Yue's courtyard on the left is the Qin family, and next to it on the right is the old patriarch's house and the village chief's house.
Lin Yue took Ye Yin to the homes of the old patriarch and the village chief and solemnly introduced Ye Yin to them.
"Dad Dalang is so handsome. Dalang and Sanlang look like their father, while Erlang and Silang look like you! These four children have returned taller and fairer, and they look stronger than before!"
Grandma Ye Si was talking to Lin Yue while Mama Ge and Zi Yi Zi Ye placed the gifts on the table in the main hall.
"You're back, so why bring so many gifts?"
The old patriarch complained and asked Lin Yue to take all the gifts away.
"This is a gift from my heart! Every family has one, so please don't despise it!"
"I came back this time to discuss something with you!"
When the old patriarch heard that there was something to discuss, he immediately became excited.
"But what about the sweet potatoes?"
"Oh! You guessed it all?"
The old patriarch was very proud. "Those sweet potatoes are a good thing! When we were in the mountains, we had a bumper harvest! I think they are more valuable than grain. We roughly estimated that one acre of land can produce nearly 2,000 kilograms! And that's just the wasteland in the mountains. If it were the fertile farmland in our village, it would be extremely productive!"
"I figured that if you didn't come back, I'd have Qin Fang send you a letter. This is something that benefits the common people, and we in the village haven't dared to make it public yet. We've kept it a secret! If those with bad intentions find out, wouldn't that be a sin?"
"So! I've been waiting for you to come back and get the charter!"
The old patriarch spoke with both excitement and worry. God knew how frightened they must have been after emerging from the mountains. After much discussion, they finally decided to send a group of people down first to sell mountain products, build houses, dig cellars... Only after everything was arranged would they descend! Fortunately, the young people in the village had been trained, so ordinary people wouldn't dare to cause trouble! Otherwise, he would have preferred to live deep in the mountains with the villagers!
Ye Yin was also shocked when he heard this! Two thousand kilograms! What kind of yield per mu would that be? Looking around the world, there is no crop with such a high yield!
If such crops were promoted in the Great Qi Dynasty, the people would not have to worry about going hungry even in years of famine!
"Old Patriarch, can I take a look at that sweet potato?"
"can!"
As the old patriarch spoke, he led them to the kitchen in a mysterious manner. Behind the firewood pile in the kitchen, there was an entrance to a very small cellar underground. The old patriarch took a fire starter and explained as they walked.
"Ayue said that if we want to preserve these sweet potatoes for a long time, we have to store them in a cellar, so they can be kept until next year!"
"Be careful."
Only after going down to the cellar did Ye Yin see the neatly arranged sweet potatoes. Each one was bigger than an adult's fist. Some were long and thin, some were round, and some were small. They were arranged very neatly according to size.
"Look, they're all here! But these are the ones planted deep in the mountains. I don't dare to plant them in the fertile fields below the mountain right now."
"Sweet potatoes are sweet even when eaten raw! They're even better when cooked or steamed! Simply boiling them in water can be a complete meal, and it's very filling!"
Ye Yin watched as the old patriarch took a slender little sweet potato, wiped it on his clothes, and began to chew it with a crunching sound. He followed his example, found a small one, and tried a bite.
It was just as he said: crispy, sweet, and even had a little bit of white, sticky juice!
"Oh, and if you don't like the skin, you can peel it and add some sweet potato leaves and roots to feed the pigs. Pigs like to eat it too!"
"Good stuff! It's full of treasures!"
"Ayue said that the tender leaves of sweet potato can be eaten as vegetables!"
The old patriarch kept talking about Lin Yue, which made Ye Yin feel inexplicably proud!
"I've discussed this with A Yue and plan to report this to the imperial court and have the emperor promote planting throughout the country. You, the Ye Family Village, are meritorious officials, and the imperial court will undoubtedly reward you. When the time comes, the emperor will even send people from the Ministry of Revenue to Ye Family Village to learn. Regarding the breeding and seedling raising, I'm sure you'll need to take care of it!"
"That's easy! Ah Yue taught us back in the mountains, so we'll definitely give it our all! As for the reward, forget it. It's Ah Yue's achievement, and we don't dare take it away."
As they talked, the two of them returned to the main room.
"How about it?"
Seeing Ye Yin's excited face, Lin Yue thought that he had seen Hongshu's true face and had made up his mind.
"Ayue! Dalang's father said that the emperor is going to send people to Yejia Village to learn how to grow sweet potatoes. How are we going to deal with it then?"
The old patriarch was a little worried, fearing that his village was full of country people who couldn't deal with the officials.
Lin Yue smiled and comforted him.
"Don't worry, old patriarch. When the imperial court sends people, they will definitely send people who can do practical things. They have never seen this thing before, so they will naturally come to learn how to grow it. We can just teach them how we raised seedlings and how to grow sweet potatoes!"
Ye Yin also interjected.
"Indeed, although they are officials, they are actually officials who can farm. Old patriarch, don't worry!"
"Right!" Lin Yue thought of something else. "The growth of sweet potatoes depends on the temperature in different places, which determines the time of seedling cultivation and sowing. Therefore, the planting time in the south and the north is different. By then, the sweet potato harvest in Yejia Village may not be able to meet the needs of other places."
Ye Yin thought about it and felt that what Lin Yue said made sense.
"How about we select some provinces in different places to test the technology? If it works, the local government can promote it vigorously."
"Yeah! I thought so too!"