Sunny's manor was located in the south of Winterspring Town.
A large piece of land was surrounded by a simple wooden fence, but it was basically farmland and pastures. There were no luxurious buildings in the area.
As soon as they entered the manor, Harrison and Judy asked to ride a horse. Therefore, Bachelor Sunny asked his son, Hans, to take them to the racecourse. On the other hand, Colin and Vera were led by Bachelor Sunny to a field.
"Bachelor Sunny, are these farmers all planting sweet potatoes?" Colin asked in surprise.
Even if he was not proficient in farming, Colin knew that the staple food of this world was barley and wheat. There was also some rice. Although people knew that sweet potatoes were also edible, it was not considered a mainstream food.
"Yes, Sir Viscounts. The main crop that I plant in this farm is sweet potatoes," Bachelor Sunny explained patiently.
"You may not know this, but sweet potatoes have many advantages. If you plant 100 pounds of sweet potatoes in one mu of land, you can harvest 600 pounds of sweet potatoes next year! The yield of sweet potatoes is one to six, and the yield of barley is one to two.
In addition, sweet potatoes are grown underground, and their fruits are not pecked by birds. However, in general wheat fields, even if the farmer guards them tightly, ten to twenty percent of the wheat will be ruined by birds every year.
Therefore, these sweet potatoes do not need to be guarded. The farmer only needs to water and fertilize them regularly. "
"The yield of sweet potatoes is so high!" Vera said in surprise with her eyes wide open.
Now that she had become the Dukes Of The North, Vera naturally began to worry about the Northern Frontier. At present, the biggest crisis in the Northern Frontier was the food problem.
Therefore, after hearing that the yield of sweet potatoes was so high, Vera immediately paid attention to it.
Although she also knew that the taste of sweet potatoes was definitely not as good as bread, for the civilians in the famine, as long as they could fill their stomachs, they would not care about the taste at all.
However, Colin was not that excited. Of course, he had heard that the yield of sweet potatoes was higher than that of wheat. However, even on earth, sweet potatoes could not replace rice and wheat as the staple food. Therefore, there must be some problems.
"Bachelor Sunny, don't tell me that sweet potatoes have no shortcomings?" Colin asked calmly.
"Of course." Senior Sunny nodded and frankly said, "Sweet potatoes are slightly poisonous and are not suitable for human consumption for a long period of time. They can easily cause diarrhea. Also, sweet potatoes are more destructive to the soil, so they need a lot of fertilizer.
However, these shortcomings of the sweet potato were nothing compared to its high yield and labor-saving advantages.
Especially with the current situation in the Northern Frontier, as long as we promote the planting of sweet potatoes, the famine will be controlled in the shortest time possible! "
Vera's pretty face was flushed with excitement. It seemed that she already felt that the promotion of sweet potatoes in the Northern Frontier was a very feasible measure.
But when she saw Colin frowning, she gradually calmed down and realized that there might be a problem that she had not noticed.
Seeing this, Scholar Sonny did not continue explaining. Instead, he said, "Lord Duke, Lord Viscounts, I'll take you to a place."
Vera and Colin then followed Bachelor Sang Ni and continued to move forward. It did not take them long to arrive in front of a large shed.
Before they even got close, Colin could already hear the sound of a wild boar coming from the shed.
"Please forgive me, my two distinguished guests. The smell is a little strong," Scholar Sonny reminded them carefully.
Sure enough, an indescribable stench hit them and Vera and Colin almost fainted.
Fortunately, they were not pampered people, so they endured the stench and came to the shed.
"Are you raising wild boars in captivity?" Colin was even more surprised.
The meat in this world was mainly cattle and sheep. Due to the stench of pork and the poor habits of pigs, their hygiene was completely incomparable to cattle and sheep. Therefore, only the commoners would eat pork. The nobles simply did not want to eat this kind of dirty animal.
However, Colin, who came from China, had long been accustomed to eating pork. After crossing over to this world, he felt that it was a pity that he could no longer eat red braised pork and other delicacies in his previous world.
Although Colin did not specifically learn about wild boars, he also knew that there were no domesticated wild boars in this world. After all, the nobles did not eat wild boars and ordinary civilians did not have any extra food to feed pigs. At most, when they wanted to eat meat, they would hunt some wild boars in the wild to improve their diet.
But now, the former Minister of Agriculture of the Empire had actually begun to consciously raise wild boars in captivity. Colin could not help but think highly of him.
"Yes, Sir Viscounts." Scholar Sonny nodded. "Wild boars are not as valuable as cattle and sheep, but they are very easy to feed and can eat almost anything.
For example, the sweet potato leaves that you saw in the sweet potato field can be used to feed the wild boars.
A wild boar could produce about five hundred pounds of meat a year, and a sheep could produce about a hundred pounds of mutton at most. As for cows, it would take three years to slaughter, but they could only produce about a thousand pounds of meat.
Do you think that it is cost-effective to raise wild boars? "
Before Colin could speak, Vera shook her head and said, "However, the nobles will not eat such lowly animals. Are you planning to sell the wild boars to the civilians?
Scholar Sonny, with all due respect, I am afraid that the civilians will not buy your wild boars either. After all, wild boars are everywhere. They would rather hunt for wild boars by themselves or buy them from hunters at a low price.
Moreover, although cattle and sheep do not produce much meat, their skin, tendons, and wool are very valuable and have many uses. Not to mention that cattle and sheep also produce milk. As for wild boars, their only advantage seems to be that they produce a lot of meat. However, their meat is dry and smelly. Let alone the nobles, even the civilians are not willing to eat them for a long time. "
"Who said that the nobles can't eat pork?" Scholar Sonny defended himself. "If you are willing, please allow me to prepare a lunch with pork as the main ingredient for you. I believe that you will be very surprised to find that you may have missed out on a delicious dish!"
Vera wanted to say that she had tasted wild boars before and that it did not taste good. However, Colin directly nodded and agreed to Sonny's suggestion. "Okay, then I will have to trouble you!"
Scholar Sonny immediately invited them excitedly, "Please come with me, my two distinguished guests!"
It was still a little early for lunch, but Scholar Sonny personally went to the kitchen and urged the chefs to prepare a pork feast in order to recommend his farming and animal husbandry system to Vera and Colin.
Not long after, the servants brought the lunch to the table.
Vera's nose twitched a few times, and she found that there was no fishy smell as she had expected. Instead, there was a tempting fragrance.
"Duke, Lord Viscounts, please take a look! This is lemon fried pork chop, charcoal grilled pork elbow, smoked pork loin, mashed potatoes, and red wine. Please try it. "
Vera was still a little hesitant, but Colin had already cut a piece of pork and put it into his mouth.
It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It was mellow and delicious, and it did not have the dry and fishy smell that she had expected. Colin's eyes lit up, and he seemed to have understood something. He asked, "Scholar Sonny, have the wild boars that you have been raising been castrated?"
Scholar Sonny was slightly surprised, and then he smiled and said, "Lord Viscounts, your knowledge is really admirable! Yes, these wild boars have indeed been castrated. "
Vera also tasted the pork feast in front of her at this time, and she immediately realized that the wild boar meat that she had eaten a long time ago was completely different from the wild boar meat that she had eaten a long time ago.
She then asked curiously, "Does the wild boar meat taste better after being castrated?"
"Yes, Duke!" Scholar Sonny explained, "After being castrated, not only does the pork taste better, but the wild boar's temperament also becomes gentler, which makes it easier to raise them in captivity."
Colin nodded again and again. He also knew that after being castrated, the wild boar would evolve more toward the domestic pig that he remembered. He estimated that in a few more generations, he would be able to see the white and fat domestic pig that he had seen in his previous life.
Scholar Sonny opened his mouth again and explained, "Duke, the planting of sweet potatoes and the rearing of wild boars that I have advocated is actually a new farming and animal husbandry system that relies on each other and promotes each other!
Sweet potato leaves can be used to feed the wild boars, and the feces of the wild boars can be used as a very good fertilizer to solve the problem of the sweet potatoes destroying the soil.
The output of this new farming and animal husbandry system will definitely surprise you, and it will even completely change the diet of the entire empire's civilian class, and even their health!
You may not be interested in these wild boars, but please don't forget, to the commoners, meat is a luxury. If you can make them eat pork as part of their daily diet, then I can guarantee that the people under your rule will be the strongest in the entire Empire!
Your army will also have the best soldiers! "
The more Scholar Sonny spoke, the more excited he became. It was a kind of glory and fanaticism that came from changing the world in one's own way.
After Vera tasted Scholar Sonny's pork feast, she began to realize that with the passage of time, even the nobles would gradually accept this new type of pork. Even if it could not replace the position of cattle and sheep in the aristocratic banquets, it would still become an excellent supplementary meat.
And for the civilians, this kind of pork was simply a gift from God!
Due to the fact that cattle and sheep did not produce much meat, the price was extremely high. Therefore, very few civilians could eat beef and mutton in their daily diet. However, it was different for pork. If they really promoted the new farming and animal husbandry system according to Scholar Sonny's method, it would really be possible for the civilians' table to become more sumptuous.
Thinking of this, Vera could not help but feel excited. She subconsciously looked at Colin, but she saw that her husband was frowning instead.
Colin put down his knife and fork, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and solemnly looked at Scholar Sonny and asked in a deep voice.
"Scholar Sonny, you should tell us the truth now. If your new farming and animal husbandry system is really so perfect, then why did it encounter such strong resistance in Imperial Dragon City? "
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