Chapter 172: A bumper harvest of potatoes at Baiyun Villa

Chapter 172: A bumper harvest of potatoes at Baiyun Villa

Shen Zhi returned to the room and entered the space to purchase a large number of ointments, which were specially used to treat bee stings. She took out the medicine and distributed it to the people who were stung, and told them to wash the wounds with soapy water first, and then apply the ointment. Everyone expressed their gratitude and thanks to Shen Zhi.

After a night's rest, most people's faces had become less swollen, but there was one exception, He Qing. Because she had too many wounds on her face, even after applying medicine, her face was still swollen, even worse than yesterday.

Seeing her daughter's condition, Liang was extremely worried. She said anxiously, "Xiaozhi, you see that He Qing's father's face is no longer swollen, but why is my daughter Qing'er's face getting more and more swollen?" For a woman, having her appearance ruined is simply a nightmare. If it cannot be restored, how can she get married in the future? Thinking of this, Liang couldn't help but burst into tears.

Shen Zhi quickly comforted her, "Aunt, don't worry. I think it's because He Qing has too many wounds on his face, so it's so swollen. It should slowly subside in a couple of days." After hearing what Shen Zhi said, Liang was slightly relieved, but the worry in her heart was not completely eliminated.

After dinner, everyone went to the potato field, where many people had already gathered. At this time, Song Shijie came with a group of people to help. After all, this was a major event that concerned all the civil and military officials in the court, and there was no room for carelessness. They planned to dig ten acres of potatoes today so that they could get the data in time and report it to the court.

Shen Zhi and the Minister of Agriculture came to a potato field. Looking at the lush potato seedlings, everyone was full of expectations. Lord Sun personally picked up the hoe and started digging the first potato seedling. As the soil was dug up, several large potatoes were hanging from the roots of the potato seedlings, and several more were broken in the soil. After digging up the soil, there were several large and small potatoes. Seeing so many potatoes growing from one potato seedling, and the first potato seedling had such a good harvest, everyone's worries were finally gone.

The land we excavated today is exactly ten mu. After everyone divided the work, they went to their assigned areas to start working. The potato field was a busy scene, with people digging, picking potatoes, filling sacks, weighing, and recording data. Everyone performed their duties, and the scene was in order.

"These potatoes are growing so well!" Shen Zhi couldn't help but sigh in his heart as he looked at the potatoes all over the ground.

"Yes, we didn't expect that we could harvest so many potatoes so soon." The officials of the Minister of Agriculture also said excitedly.

As time went by, more and more potatoes were dug out and piled up like a mountain. Shen Zhi couldn't help but pick up a potato and carefully observe its size, shape and color. She found that these potatoes were very plump, with smooth skin and looked of good quality.

"It seems that our efforts have not been in vain." Shen Zhi smiled with satisfaction.

"That's right. This potato planting experiment has been a huge success. Next, we will promote these experiences to all parts of the country so that more people can benefit from them. We in the Great Xiao Dynasty will no longer have to worry about people going hungry." Lord Sun, the Minister of Agriculture, said excitedly.

The sun gradually rose higher, shining down blazingly, scorching the earth. Although everyone was sweating profusely, they still maintained their enthusiasm and enthusiasm. Shen Zhi saw that the weather was hot and was worried that everyone would get heatstroke, so he arranged for the kitchen to make some mung bean soup to cool down. At this time, Liu Zhuangtou was leading a group of men, carrying buckets of mung bean soup and coming over.

"Everyone, come over and drink some mung bean soup to cool down!" Shen Zhi shouted loudly to everyone.

Hearing the call, everyone stopped what they were doing, gently patted the dirt off their hands, and walked forward with brisk steps. Everyone picked up a bowl, filled it with mung bean soup, and drank it all. The mung bean soup was chilled with well water and tasted cool and pleasant. After drinking a bowl, people immediately felt refreshed, as if all the fatigue in the body was dispelled.

After drinking the mung bean soup, everyone sat down under the big tree to rest for a while, enjoying the cool breeze. Then, they stood up and returned to the potato field to continue working. Everyone worked together and was full of energy. They continued to work until the afternoon and finally successfully harvested all the potatoes in the ten acres of land.

Everyone helped to weigh and record.

Soon, a waiter came running over to report: "Sir, the results have been counted. These ten acres of land have harvested more than 80,000 kilograms of potatoes! On average, the yield per acre is as high as 8,000 kilograms!"

Hearing this number, everyone present was shocked. This number far exceeded their expectations. What does more than 80,000 kilograms of potatoes mean? It means that it can feed many people and solve the problem of food and clothing for many people.

"Great!" Lord Sun, the Minister of Agriculture, clapped his hands happily, "We will immediately report this news to the emperor as fast as possible to let him know our achievements."

"Yes, yes, the emperor will definitely be very happy. We in the Great Xiao Dynasty will no longer have to worry about starving." Eunuch Cao also said excitedly.

Shen Zhi was also very pleased, she knew that this potato planting experiment would change the fate of many people, and as one of them, she felt extremely proud.

Next, everyone began to put the potatoes into sacks, and then carefully loaded them onto the wagons and transported them to the warehouse. Although everyone was very hard today, everyone's hearts were full of hope. When the last sack of potatoes was loaded onto the wagon, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

On the same day, the villagers of Shitou Village also began to harvest their potatoes, which was also a bumper harvest. The villagers were all very happy and full of hope for the future because of this bumper harvest. They decided to save some potatoes as seeds and expand the planting to avoid having no food in the future when there is a disaster.

"These potatoes will really save our lives!" exclaimed a villager.

"Yes, from now on we can grow potatoes every year and no longer have to worry about famine." Another villager echoed.

"You must remember the kindness of the Shen family. These are the seeds provided by the Shen family. Those who owe money for the seeds should be paid, and those who deserve potatoes should be given potatoes. Don't be an ungrateful person." The head of the village was in a good mood today, but he couldn't help but scold everyone. Don't forget the well digger when you drink water.

"No, uncle village head, if we really refuse to pay our debts, we would be worse than animals." Qin Zheng said with a smile.

Everyone agreed with a smile, except those families who did not want to grow potatoes in the first place. They looked regretful, but it was no use regretting.