There were quite a lot of people behind the empress. Ren Baqian recognized Great Elder Shi Qing, Junior Elder Zhe Kouhai, Minister of Revenue Tu Wan, Imperial Treasurer Gu Yue, Minister of Works Tong Zhenye, and a few others.
Among them, Ren Baqian recognized those who were wearing sunglasses that cost 20 yuan that they bought from street stalls. They wore branded sunglasses and each of them resembled a gang leader. They stood out from the crowd like a crane among chickens and were extremely eye-catching.
Everyone in the beast park was shocked when Her Majesty brought so many high-ranking officials with her. They didn't know what was going on.
"Your Majesty! Everyone. "Ren Baqian greeted everyone.
The empress nodded. Tong Zhenye was all smiles. After all, Ren Baqian was fine now. The glass factory and other things that Ren Baqian mentioned could be resumed. Ever since he heard that the empress and Ren Baqian returned safe and sound, he immediately ordered his subordinates to gather all the things that Ren Baqian mentioned. He even brought back three carts of coal. Even though one cart couldn't transport much at this time, it showed how much importance he placed on this matter.
Therefore, apart from the empress, he was the one who was most concerned about Ren Baqian's life.
Besides Tong Zhenye, Ren Baqian was surprised that Great Elder Shi Qing also smiled at him in a friendly manner.
Great Elder and Hong Wu were the pillars of Dayao's commoners. In fact, this was indeed the case.
Hong Wu had been guarding the border for many years and prevented Great Xia from advancing. He even made a name for himself in the Protectorate of the North.
Shi Qing had been in the imperial court for many years and had done many practical things for the benefit of countless commoners. His reputation in Dayao was extremely high.
Ren Baqian was surprised to see such a person express goodwill to him amidst a crowd of people. In addition, even though Shi Qing looked old, he held great power all year round. His imposing manner, coupled with his sunglasses, immediately reminded Ren Baqian of those Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies where the big boss patted his henchman's shoulder and said, "Do well, I have high hopes for you."
"Deputy Prefect Ren, how is the sweet potato you mentioned?" the empress asked. Bringing so many people here was indeed a big deal. On the other hand, it was to boost Ren Baqian's prestige. If there were any mistakes, the empress would lose face and Ren Baqian would be in trouble.
"Your Majesty, it has ripened. We can dig it out and weigh it now. I have also dug out some for the kitchen to cook. Everyone, please have a taste."
"Alright, let's begin."
Now, it all depended on how much this one mu of land could produce.
While everyone was digging in the beast park, everyone waited quietly at the side.
Before they came, His Majesty said that he wanted to see the new crop, but no one knew the details.
However, Dayao wasn't a big agricultural country, and the aboriginals mainly ate meat. Crops weren't as important as animal husbandry, so they didn't pay much attention to it.
A new crop could only add one more dish to the plate.
However, those big shots who were wearing sunglasses thought more. After all, they had seen the solar hearthstone previously and felt that it wouldn't be an ordinary item.
As time passed, piles of sweet potato tubers were dug out from the ground and piled up to the side.
An old man wearing a third-ranked official robe didn't care about the mud. He picked up a few sweet potatoes from the ground and examined them …
At this time, someone brought over two pots of steamed and roasted sweet potatoes.
"Everyone, have a taste. This thing tastes pretty good." Ren Baqian said to everyone. He took out a roasted sweet potato and peeled it in the middle, revealing the reddish-gold interior. A fragrant and sweet smell assailed their nostrils and could be smelled from afar.
Everyone had been standing in the imperial court for the whole morning and felt even hungrier after smelling the sweet potato. They looked at each other and then at Ren Baqian.
Ren Baqian presented the peeled sweet potato to the empress and said, "Your Majesty."
The empress took it and sized it up. The skin didn't look very clean, but it smelled fragrant and sweet. It was very appetizing.
Usually, the food that the empress ate would be tested by someone before being handed to her. However, she didn't care about the food that Ren Baqian handed to her. After all, no one tested it for poison on Earth, so she wasn't guarded against him.
She opened her pearly white teeth and took a bite. Her eyes brightened up. This thing tasted really good.
Everyone couldn't stop her in time. Seeing the empress eat it, they looked at Ren Baqian twice.
"I'll try." Tong Zhenye didn't hesitate. Since Her Majesty had already eaten it, why would you be afraid of poison?
"Give me one as well," Shi Qing called out from behind him.
In an instant, the roasted sweet potatoes were all grabbed by a bunch of big hands. The rest of the people had no choice but to get steamed sweet potatoes.
Everyone took a bite. With the sweet potatoes in their mouths, they nodded and said, "Not bad, not bad."
This thing smelled good and tasted good. It was soft, fragrant, and tasty.
A bunch of big shots in the imperial court surrounded the sweet potatoes like a bunch of old farmers. They nodded and praised the sweet potatoes incessantly. The scene was extremely lively.
"What's this called?" Someone asked after eating a few bites. Ren Baqian noticed that it was the official who went forward to check the sweet potatoes just now. He had some guesses about his identity.
"I call it a sweet potato. In fact, it should be called a sweet potato," Ren Baqian said.
"How long does it take to ripen?"
"Three months. Furthermore, it's not picky about the land. It can be planted after clearing a piece of land on the hillside. It's very easy to take care of," Ren Baqian said.
"How much can one mu of land produce?" that official asked again.
"You will know after weighing it in a while," Ren Baqian said. "However, you can't eat too much of this thing. You have to eat it with other food. Otherwise, you will get a heart burn."
That official nodded and didn't say anything else. His pair of bright eyes stared at the pile of sweet potatoes. Based on the current situation, the number of sweet potatoes wasn't small. He had a guess in his heart, but he didn't dare to believe it.
At this moment, after eating and looking at the pile of sweet potatoes that had been dug out, the rest of the people started to look forward to it.
According to what Deputy Prefect Ren said just now, these sweet potatoes were not picky about the land and could be planted anywhere. This was very important. Coupled with other food, the lives of those villages in the Sixty Thousand Mountains would be much better. Furthermore, there would be one more type of good food on the table of the commoners.
Very soon, almost all the sweet potatoes in the field had been dug out. Someone moved the scale to one side and weighed the sweet potatoes.
Ren Baqian was originally prepared to go over and help with the calculation. He was very confident in the mathematical ability of the aboriginals. Who would believe that a group of more than ten people would have to count with their fingers?
However, he stopped in his tracks when he saw the people from the Ministry of Revenue.
The Ministry of Revenue should be more reliable.
"Three thousand one hundred and sixty-three pounds … Three thousand seven hundred and fifty-two pounds … Four thousand eight hundred and sixty pounds … Five thousand nine hundred and twenty-five pounds … Six thousand four hundred and fifty-one pounds …"
Every time a number came out from the mouth of the people from the Ministry of Revenue, everyone's heart would skip a beat. They were afraid that they had calculated wrongly and all of them gathered around to take a look.
Even the voice of the people from the Ministry of Revenue was trembling when they announced the number. They even suspected that they had calculated wrongly.
There was too much. Too much was dug out.
Previously, no one would have thought that there would be so much.
Currently, the yield of rice outside the city was only 500 to 600 catties per mu, but this thing was actually more than 6,000 catties. Ten times, ten times!
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
