After Leaf finished her explanation, Edith was the first to raise a question. "Your Majesty, can ordinary people really eat the wheat catalyzed by magic power?"
This was probably the question that everyone else was most concerned about. After the Pearl of the Northern Region spoke, not only Pérot, but also Spear looked worried.
"First of all, there's no essential difference between Golden Twos and Golden Ones. They were both cultivated by Leaf. Golden Twos just further increased the yield of the wheat." Roland answered with a smile. "Secondly, although it's modified by magic power, it doesn't contain any magic power. Therefore, we don't have to worry that it will harm ordinary people. In fact, the oatmeal and pancakes I've been eating recently are all from Golden Twos in the experimental field. "
He couldn't help but think of the debates between natural food, hybrid food, and genetically modified food in the future. Some people always emphasized that natural food was the best, but they didn't know what natural food should look like.
It was a very complicated question to explain the origin of Golden Twos in detail. It involved the mutation and inheritance of living things. Even Leaf might not be able to understand it. Although her ability could make plants change dramatically in a short period of time, it basically required a continuous supply of magic power and could not be passed on to the next generation. If the change was too big, the plants might even die without the supply of magic power.
Therefore, when Leaf cultivated the Golden Wheat, her main role was to promote mutation and accelerate its growth. She selected the ones with characteristics that were more suitable for cultivation and eliminated the inferior ones. After generations of breeding, a wheat with outstanding characteristics was finally formed. It was no different from the traditional cultivation method. The only difference was that the process was greatly shortened. In less than two years, the wheat had completed the evolution that would have taken hundreds of years.
Roland had seen the original watermelon before. It was a fist-sized, hard-shelled fruit sac with a few pieces of yellow pulp in it. At first glance, it looked like an orange. In the 17th century, the flesh of the fruit turned red, and it grew a lot bigger. However, more than half of it was still filled with white meridians. If one used a spoon to dig, it would probably be emptied in four or five strokes.
In addition, the fruits and crops that people were familiar with looked very different from the past. In fact, not only plants, but animals were also different. The most typical example was the dog — a type of pet that did not originally exist, but was transformed from a wolf under the influence of generations of humans.
Therefore, the so-called natural food was the result of repeated artificial screening. If it really returned to its original appearance, it would be very difficult to eat.
And it wasn't just humans. Any species, from mammals to microbes, were constantly changing their surroundings. From Roland's point of view, there was no difference between humans building a power station and yeast fermenting bread. They were both natural actions because life itself was a part of nature.
However, these principles were too profound for the local officials, so he simply simplified his answer into two parts: "Golden Ones are fine after eating it, so Golden Twos are fine too" and "If you don't believe me, I'm eating it too." In this era, the Emperor setting an example was the best proof.
Seeing that everyone was no longer doubtful, Roland continued, "In addition, all food transactions in each city must be controlled by the secondary City hall. Just like in Neverwinter, private sales of food are prohibited. As for the specific implementation methods, Barov, the director, will explain them to you in detail later. "
Marchioness Spear Passi raised her eyebrows. "Your Majesty, if Golden Twos really have such a high output, I'm afraid there will be a lot of surplus after feeding the people. If the City hall wants to buy all of them, it will be very difficult for them to finance. Besides, there are only about 10,000 people in Fallen Dragon Ridge. Do they really need to produce so much food? "
"That's right. The surplus food is not for eating, but for storing."
"Storing?" She was a bit surprised.
"For the upcoming Battle of Divine Will," Roland said word by word.
Apart from recruiting more people for the Kingdom of Graycastle, he also wanted to promote Golden Twos because of the war that would decide their fate. As a member of the Kingdom of Graycastle who was born in a peaceful era, he had never experienced a prolonged and cruel war. Therefore, he could only prepare for the war based on his historical experience.
The worst situation that Roland could imagine was that the population would be reduced by 30%. All the young men would have to go to the battlefield, and all the women and children would have to work in the factories to provide supplies for the frontline. In this situation, the farmlands would probably be left uncultivated. If they had enough food for two to three years, they might be able to hold on until an opportunity arose.
He had asked the Minister of Construction, Carr Van Bate, about this issue. The latter had told him that a well-designed, well-structured, and well-supervised granary could store shelled grain for up to five years. Although the taste would deteriorate after one or two years, no one would care if the food tasted good or not.
Wheat was not the only high-yielding crop in Leaf's experimental field. After two years of cultivation, high-yielding crops such as sugar cane, corn, and potatoes had been introduced from other places. The latter two, in particular, had a much higher yield than wheat due to their natural advantages. There were two reasons why Roland chose to promote Golden Twos instead of other crops. First, their offspring could reproduce normally, so they were not suitable for monopolizing the food trade. Second, their storage period was not as long as that of grain.
Of course, agriculture was a very complicated industry. It not only included food for humans, but also food for animals. For example, without sufficient soybean fodder, there would be no developed animal husbandry. However, Roland did not have much time to think about it. It was already a big project to ensure that everyone could have staple food during the war.
Since most of the participants knew the significance of the Battle of Divine Will, no one questioned this policy that concerned the survival of the human race. At the end of the meeting, Roland looked at Scroll and said, "I hope that agronomy will be added to the secondary education, mainly to train professionals who can master the planting methods of various crops."
The education level of other cities was much lower than that of Neverwinter. Roland also felt that it was impossible to promote universal education throughout Graycastle. Therefore, he thought it would be better for Neverwinter to send professionals to other cities to guide agricultural production. Moreover, specialized agronomy was a start. In the future, subjects such as chemical engineering, architecture, and medicine would also be developed. Roland did not expect his subjects to be able to research and invent new theories on their own. They only needed to apply what they had learned to the operation of the industry.
After the meeting, Vendy brought him a piece of news.
The witches who were exploring the ruins in the snowy mountains of the Western Region had safely arrived at the pier of Neverwinter.
When Roland arrived at the pier, a figure flew straight into his arms.
The light golden curls rubbed against his cheek, making him feel a little itchy. A familiar scent filled his nostrils.
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