Ang Lee knew that these ministers would have doubts even if they saw the sweet potatoes with their own eyes. However, it was meaningless to argue. He had to try planting a few mu of sweet potatoes himself and let these ministers see the yield of the sweet potatoes. Only then could they be completely convinced. Too much explanation was futile and powerless.
"A yield of 10,000 catties per mu is achievable, but it needs to be taken good care of. However, a yield of 3,000 to 5,000 catties per mu is absolutely guaranteed. After these sweet potatoes are shipped back, I will test it myself to see how many sweet potatoes can be harvested per mu under different circumstances."
Ang Lee casually explained and decided to do the experiment himself. The so-called different circumstances referred to different levels of care and soil conditions.
That was to see how big the difference was between the yield with careful care and fertilization and the final result with almost no care and no fertilization. Then, he would find the optimal planting conditions and carry out a large-scale promotion.
When the ministers heard this, they felt that it was very reasonable. Everything could only be determined after a personal experiment. It was meaningless to argue before the experiment. Of course, this minister was just casually asking and had no intention of arguing. He didn't know much about sweet potatoes and just felt that it was a bit unbelievable to have a yield of 10,000 catties per mu.
"Assistant Minister Li, I heard that there are indigenous people in America. As long as we ask them, we will know the yield of sweet potatoes per mu, won't we?"
A minister suddenly remembered that there were indigenous people in America. This had been confirmed by the exploration fleet. Even the troops of the Tang dynasty had fought with the indigenous people in America and caused them to suffer heavy losses. However, due to the language barrier and lack of preparation, this trip to America didn't achieve any communication with the indigenous people in America. They only brought back some products, some of which were robbed. Therefore, it was natural that they couldn't know the yield of sweet potatoes per mu. Moreover, the indigenous people in America didn't have the concept of a mu. Even if they achieved communication, they couldn't get the yield of sweet potatoes per mu.
Ang Lee explained that this trip to the Americas was just an exploration mission, and there was no mission to communicate with the natives of the Americas. He could only rely on next time. In addition, he explained that the soil of the Americas was not the same as that of the Tang dynasty. The yield of sweet potatoes in the Americas was definitely different from that in the Tang dynasty. There was no comparison at all.
After Ang Lee's explanation, the ministers and the royal family finally understood something. They went to the Daming Palace with Ang Lee to witness the various products shipped from America together with the emperor of the Tang dynasty, Li Longji.
Of course, because the ten large ships brought back a lot of supplies, it was impossible to move all of them into the Imperial Palace. They only needed to take out a portion of each item and send it to the Imperial Palace. The rest would be sent to the designated locations, which Ang Lee would arrange later.
The group quickly arrived at Daming Palace and presented these items that the Tangs had never seen before to the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, this red thing is a sweet potato. It can produce a crop of 10,000 catties per mu at most."
Ang Lee picked up a large sweet potato and handed it to Li Longji.
"This is a sweet potato. It looks similar to a radish!"
Li Longji took the sweet potato and observed it carefully. Sweet potatoes grew in the soil, and radishes also grew in the soil. Both of them had the same characteristics. Even the color was the same. They were indeed very similar.
"Your Majesty, although this sweet potato looks similar to a radish, it tastes much more delicious than a radish. Radishes are more spicy, while sweet potatoes are sweeter. Especially when they are roasted in the fire, they taste the most delicious. You can smell the fragrance of the sweet potato from far away."
Ang Lee described the delicious taste of the sweet potato vividly. Li Longji and the other ministers were all eager to try it. They could not wait to roast a few and see if the taste was as good as Ang Lee said.
"Assistant Minister Li, since we have found America, we don't care about these sweet potatoes. You said that roasted sweet potatoes are delicious. Why don't we roast them now, outside the hall?"
Li Longji wanted to know the taste of roasted sweet potatoes very much, so he requested.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I understand."
Ang Lee responded and immediately ordered his attendants to go to the palace to find the materials for roasting sweet potatoes, which were hay and an iron pot. The hay was used to ignite the sweet potatoes, and then the hot grass ash was used to cook the sweet potatoes. The iron pot was used to prevent the ash from polluting the floor tiles of the hall. In addition, there was a wooden shelf under the iron pot to further protect the floor tiles in front of the hall.
This kind of preparation work was naturally done by the servants. Ang Lee picked up a potato and continued to introduce, "Your Majesty, this is a potato. The yield is not small. It can easily yield a thousand catties per mu. Moreover, after the potatoes are washed, cut into thin strips and stir-fried, they taste very delicious."
"Stir-fried shredded potatoes. The name sounds good. Later, I will have to trouble Assistant Minister Li to cook this dish. Hey, what is this? It's red and very beautiful. "
Li Longji picked up a red chili and looked at it carefully.
"Your Majesty, be careful. This is a chili. It is very spicy, many times hotter than old ginger. It is used as a seasoning. When put in food, it will make the food spicy. It can also remove the fishy smell of the food, especially fish. It is most suitable to add chili."
Ang Lee introduced and picked up a few chili. He handed them to the ministers and said, "The chili is very spicy. You can put it in your mouth and taste it. See if the taste is much better than ginger."
After saying that, he put a red chili into his mouth and chewed gently.
When the ministers saw that Ang Lee had eaten it, they naturally did not suspect that the chili was poisonous. They quickly followed Ang Lee's example and put the chili in their mouth and chewed.
"Ah …"
With pained expressions, all the ministers grimaced in pain and began to cry.
"Is this chili really so spicy? My dear ministers, how did you all become like this? "
Seeing the painful expressions of the ministers, Li Longji looked at them curiously. However, as the spiciness spread in the mouths of the ministers, Li Longji also felt that it was a little spicy. He unconsciously took a few steps back and kept a distance from the ministers.
"Spicy, it's really too spicy. It's much hotter than old ginger."
"I never thought that there would be such a spicy thing in the world."
"It's too spicy. It's so spicy that I can't even open my eyes."
The ministers unconsciously began to talk and exclaim at the power of the chili.
"Assistant Minister Li, don't you think it's spicy?"
Seeing Ang Lee's calm expression, the ministers were very curious. Such a spicy chili, how could Ang Lee be fine after eating it?
Of course, this was because Ang Lee did not really eat it. When he put the chili in his mouth, Ang Lee looked like he was chewing on it, but in fact, he did not bite through the skin of the chili. He was just pretending. When the ministers were unable to open their eyes because of the spiciness, Ang Lee quietly took the chili out of his mouth and put it in his pocket. The scene was very spicy and no one noticed this. Naturally, no one discovered Ang Lee's trick.
"Your Majesty, this is a very delicious vegetable. Not only can it be eaten raw, but it can also be fried. Scrambled eggs with tomatoes is a good dish and tastes very good. In a while, I will personally cook some for Your Majesty and everyone to taste."
Ang Lee did not answer the doubts raised by the ministers. Instead, he directly introduced the tomatoes and volunteered to cook for everyone. This made the ministers very happy.
"Tomato, red, is this really edible?"
A minister looked at the brightly colored tomato doubtfully and felt a little nervous. He always felt that this thing was poisonous. Of course, it was just a premonition.
"It's very delicious, you can eat it directly."
Ang Lee picked up a tomato and wiped it casually. Then, he stuffed it into his mouth and swallowed the whole tomato.
With the previous lesson, the ministers did not dare to taste it easily. When they ate the chili, Ang Lee was fine, but they were crying because of the spiciness. This time, Ang Lee was still fine, but they did not dare to try it easily. If it was the same as before, they would make a fool of themselves again.
"The taste of the tomato is very delicious and a little sweet. Your Majesty, you can try it."
Ang Lee took a tomato of the right size and handed it to Li Longji.
Li Longji saw that Ang Lee was fine after eating it. Of course, he did not think there was any problem. He took it and washed it and put it in his mouth.
"Hmm, the taste is really good. I really did not expect that America would have so many good things."
Li Longji was very satisfied with the taste of the tomato and praised it.
When the ministers saw that the Emperor had started to eat, they quickly tried it. After eating it, they nodded and sighed, saying that the taste was not bad. At the same time, it made their mouth not so spicy.
"Your Majesty, this is peanuts, they are also very delicious. However, the taste is not very good when eaten raw. After frying and baking, the taste is much better."
Ang Lee said as he peeled a peanut and stuffed it into his mouth.
Li Longji and the other ministers all followed Ang Lee and peeled peanuts to eat. They nodded and praised the taste of the peanuts.
"Your Majesty, this is cashews, the taste is much better when eaten raw than peanuts. Everyone, try it."
Ang Lee picked up a handful of cashews and tasted it.
The price of cashews is very high in the future. A small bag costs a lot of money. Ordinary people can't eat it often. If they eat too much, they will go bankrupt. But now, Ang Lee is very rich and can eat as much as he wants.
After eating a few cashews, everyone's faces were full of satisfaction and they praised the taste of the cashews. Li Longji even ordered to send a larger fleet to America to bring back more cashews. Of course, they also want cashew-producing trees. In this way, the Tang dynasty can produce cashews in the future.
"Assistant Minister Li, what is this? It's so big."
"Your Majesty, this is a pineapple, a kind of fruit. However, this kind of fruit does not grow on trees, but on the ground. It tastes good, but after cutting it, it needs to be soaked in salt water. Otherwise, it will be spicy, but it is better than eating chili."
Ang Lee introduced and immediately asked people to prepare tools. He was going to cut the pineapple himself, soak it in salt water, and distribute it to the ministers.
Of course, the pineapple tasted good. All the ministers said it was good, and the Emperor also said it was good. He thought that the pineapple was a very good fruit with a very unique and delicious taste.
After eating a small piece of pineapple, Ang Lee began to introduce corn and other crops. He also talked about their yield and functions, the taste and cooking methods of the food, and so on.
"Hey, what's this smell?"
A minister smelled something like food, but he couldn't tell what kind of food it was.
"Assistant Minister Li, this isn't the smell of roasted sweet potatoes, is it?"
Li Longji looked at Ang Lee and asked curiously.
"Your Majesty guessed right. This is indeed the smell of roasted sweet potatoes. Because professional roasting tools have not been developed for the time being, we can only make do with plant ashes. But the taste is not bad."
Ang Lee introduced and walked out of the hall.
At this time, a large pot of sweet potatoes had been cooked and exuded an intoxicating fragrance.
Ang Lee asked people to remove the plant ashes and took out the roasted sweet potatoes. After a simple wipe, he held it in his hand and gently broke it open.
Instantly, a refreshing aroma of food wafted out, intoxicating everyone present.
"So this is roasted sweet potatoes. Just by smelling it, I know it must be delicious."
"Yes, yes, yes, the taste must be good, and the yield is very high. It's really good stuff!"
All the ministers were drooling.
Ang Lee dug out all the roasted sweet potatoes and handed the best one to Li Longji. The rest were distributed to the ministers so that they could all have a taste of the roasted sweet potatoes.
After eating the roasted sweet potatoes, everyone said that it was delicious, very delicious, and was a very good food. Li Longji's expression was also intoxicated, as if he had never eaten something so delicious in his life.
After eating the roasted sweet potatoes, Li Longji and the ministers' stomachs were filled a little. At least they were not too hungry. Moreover, it was not meal time yet, so they were not in a hurry to eat the tomato scrambled eggs and other delicacies that Ang Lee wanted to make.
Under Li Longji's lead, everyone came to the Yamen of the Fifth District, which was the Imperial Zoo of the Tang dynasty. There were rare animals from all over the world here. Today, with the addition of rare animals from America, the scale of the zoo had expanded by a lot.
"Your Majesty, the animals from America have all been arranged."
Yang Zhao had been busy for several hours in order to arrange these newly arrived animals. He was so tired that he was sweating profusely. Seeing the Emperor bring the ministers for a tour, he felt that his efforts were not in vain. If he had not been prepared, the Emperor would not have been able to appreciate these rare animals from America.
"These are all animals from America? They do look very special. "
Li Longji casually glanced at them and was very satisfied.
"This cat is so big. American cats can actually grow so big?"
Li Longji and the ministers were all attracted by the huge cougar. Indeed, cougars looked very similar to cats. People who did not know cougars could easily mistake them for cats.
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