Ang Lee's idea was the same as Li Longji's. As long as the indigenous civilizations of the Americas obediently submitted to the Tang Empire, the Tang Empire could treat them well and use their native manpower to better develop the Americas for the Tang Empire. If these natives chose to fight against the Tang Empire, they must be dealt a heavy blow to make them understand that fighting against the Tang Empire was suicidal.
The ultimate goal of the Tang Empire was to take over the entire Americas, expand the territory of the Tang Empire several times, and obtain more products and resources. This was the established national policy of the Tang Empire, and no one could stop it.
After leaving the palace, Ang Lee began to redeploy the research and development direction of the R&D Center, focusing on marine ships and railway systems. All other projects were put aside to comply with the current established policy of the Tang Empire, so that the Tang Empire could develop faster.
As long as one was willing to invest and spend time and energy, the research would definitely produce results. Soon, more advanced locomotives and more advanced steam turbines with higher reliability were developed.
The power of the new locomotive was higher, and it could achieve higher speeds. It could increase the speed of the railway system. The new steam turbine was also larger, and it could provide more power. It could meet the requirements of building larger ships.
These newly developed research projects were quickly mass-produced. Because the demand for railways and ships was too high, the old models were not eliminated but continued to be used.
While the science and technology were being developed, the various crops brought back from the Americas had entered the harvest season. The emperor personally led the ministers to the imperial fields to verify the yield of the sweet potatoes that Ang Lee said could produce 10,000 catties per mu.
These sweet potatoes, corn, and other crops were all planted in greenhouses. When the weather was hot, the roofs of the greenhouses were completely open. Even when the sun was particularly strong, they had to build a sunshade to reduce the damage to the plants.
According to Ang Lee's estimation, the yield of the sweet potatoes with the most careful care could not reach 10,000 catties per mu. In short, the yield would definitely be much higher than other crops in the Tang Empire, perhaps even more than ten times.
"Your Majesty, these sweet potatoes have been taken care of differently, so the yield will definitely be different. Now, let's go take a look at the sweet potatoes. This crop has the highest yield."
Ang Lee suggested and led Li Longji to the sweet potato planting area.
As soon as he walked into the sweet potato planting area, he looked up and saw lush sweet potato vines. They looked very beautiful. Although it was already harvest season, the sweet potato vines had become old and were not as lush as they were during spring and summer, but they were still very good. At least most of them were still green.
The Emperor and the ministers looked at the lush sweet potato vines and discussed the yield of the sweet potatoes with great interest. Some believed in Ang Lee and felt that these sweet potatoes could definitely yield ten thousand catties per mu, but some of the ministers did not think so. They felt that the data that Ang Lee said was a bit too exaggerated. It was simply impossible to achieve ten thousand catties per mu.
In short, there were all kinds of discussions. Different ministers had different opinions, and no one could convince anyone. Everyone was waiting to see the result. Only when all the sweet potatoes were harvested and weighed could they determine the yield of the sweet potatoes per mu.
"These sweet potato vines are much more than when they were first planted. I wonder if we can really harvest ten thousand catties per mu. Let's start!"
Li Longji sat in a more comfortable position under the shade and ordered the workers to start harvesting the sweet potatoes immediately.
Because there were many sweet potatoes planted, and they were divided into five types with different levels of care and fertilization, they had to be harvested separately to figure out the yield of each type of planting condition.
When it was time to harvest, of course, they would start with the one with the lowest yield.
Because the Emperor was here in person, they naturally could not let the Emperor wait for too long. Therefore, there had to be a lot of workers.
The imperial court's agricultural technology officials assigned more than a hundred people to harvest the sweet potatoes on the spot. These hundred people were divided into ten groups of ten people, and each group was responsible for a piece of land.
More people meant more strength. With more than a hundred people working together, they quickly harvested all the sweet potatoes in one mu of land. In addition, in order to prevent missing out, there were dozens of people digging the soil in the field, and they found small amounts of sweet potatoes from time to time.
"Your Majesty, it should be almost done. Even if there are still some left in the field, there won't be much left."
Ang Lee said and motioned for the Emperor to give the order to weigh the sweet potatoes.
Li Longji nodded and said, "Alright, it's almost done. Let's begin to weigh the sweet potatoes!"
As soon as the Emperor gave the order, the officials in the agricultural department began to weigh the sweet potatoes.
"Your Majesty, there's a total of three thousand and five hundred catties. What a great harvest!"
An official in the agricultural department said excitedly.
"Three thousand and five hundred catties. That's a lot, and it's the one with the least care."
"Three thousand and five hundred catties. This is ten times the yield of wheat. It's really good stuff! If the land of the Tang dynasty was planted with sweet potatoes, there would never be a famine again. "
"But the sweet potatoes are wet. How can we preserve so many sweet potatoes? They'll rot if we keep them for too long. "
When the officials heard the yield of the sweet potatoes, they were very happy. But at the same time, they were worried that the sweet potatoes wouldn't be easy to preserve and would rot after a long time.
When Ang Lee heard the officials' conversation, he immediately ordered people to find some sweet potatoes with a better appearance and clean them. Then, in front of everyone, he personally cut the sweet potatoes into round thin slices and said, "Your Majesty, sweet potatoes rot easily. So, if we want to preserve them for a long time, we must cut them into round thin slices and dry them under the sun. In this way, they won't rot for three to five years. They can even be preserved for a longer time."
"Cut them into thin slices like this? In this way, how much of a hundred catties of sweet potatoes will be left after they are dried? "
Li Longji asked. Ang Lee had already told him about the dried sweet potatoes, but he still wanted to ask again.
"Your Majesty, a hundred catties of fresh sweet potatoes can be dried to about twenty-four to twenty-six catties. The average is twenty-five catties."
Ang Lee answered.
Ang Lee was very clear about how much fresh sweet potatoes could be dried. Before coming to the Tang dynasty, Ang Lee had heard many times from the older generation that in the era of food scarcity, sweet potatoes were the staple food of all families. Ang Lee was naturally very familiar with the knowledge about sweet potatoes. He even knew the types of sweet potatoes clearly.
"A hundred catties of fresh sweet potatoes can dry twenty-five catties of dried sweet potatoes. In this way, three thousand and five hundred catties of sweet potatoes can dry nearly a thousand catties of dried sweet potatoes. This yield is really a lot! It's higher than any crop in the Tang dynasty. Moreover, it's an acre of field that has barely been taken care of. "
An official of the agricultural department said excitedly. He was personally responsible for taking care of all the experimental fields, so he knew the situation of each acre of field the best. Now, the smallest acre of barren land could produce three thousand and five hundred catties of sweet potatoes. Then, if the fields were taken care of well, they would definitely produce a higher yield of sweet potatoes.
Li Longji was very satisfied with the yield of sweet potatoes. He continued to let people harvest the next acre of sweet potatoes to see how much could be produced if they were taken care of well.
Soon, all the sweet potatoes in the next few acres of fields were harvested. The yields were five thousand catties, six thousand catties, six thousand and five hundred catties, and eight thousand catties. In other words, the highest yield of sweet potatoes was eight thousand catties per mu, which could be said to be a very high yield.
"Eight thousand catties. It's very close to ten thousand catties. Even if it's dried, it's still two thousand catties, which is ten times the yield of ordinary crops. This sweet potato is very good. It's worth vigorously promoting in the Tang dynasty. In the future, the Tang dynasty will no longer have to worry about famine."
Li Longji was very happy. He was happy that the Tang dynasty could have such a high yield of grain crops. The ministers were also very happy. They congratulated each other and celebrated the discovery of good grain crops in the Tang dynasty.
The news of the highest yield of sweet potatoes was eight thousand catties per mu. This news soon spread in the capital. All the people of the Tang dynasty were very surprised when they heard that the yield of sweet potatoes was so high. They rushed to spread the news to the people they knew. Soon, the news spread to distant provinces and counties.
Who didn't want to plant high-yield crops? Even if there was no shortage of food in the Tang dynasty at present, it was always good to store more food. Many people of the Tang dynasty, especially the poor people, had almost all been hungry and had a deep fear of food crisis. Being able to prepare more food would make them feel more at ease. At the same time, when there was a disaster, they would have a way to survive.
In the following days, corn and potatoes were all harvested. Li Longji came to the harvest site in person every time to show the emperor's attention to agriculture.
The yield of potatoes and corn was really high. It was much higher than other crops in the Tang dynasty. Although the yield of sweet potatoes was the highest, they couldn't only plant sweet potatoes. Otherwise, the nutrition would be unbalanced. Planting more crops together could better improve the nutritional structure of the people of the Tang dynasty.
Sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, and other crops were unanimously approved by the emperor and ministers of the Tang dynasty. Therefore, the next problem was to promote these crops throughout the country. Someone had to be responsible for promoting these crops.
Ang Lee, who knew these American crops best, was of course the most suitable person. However, Ang Lee's main job was to research and develop various high-tech products. He couldn't take care of agriculture, which was a less important industry. After all, a person's energy was limited. It was difficult to take care of the other side if he could take care of one side.
There were many agricultural experts and agricultural officials in the imperial court of the Tang dynasty. They were the most suitable people to be responsible for promoting American crops. Moreover, this kind of work could easily leave their names in history. Any agricultural official was very happy to accept this job.
The promotion work was quickly arranged. Many officials scrambled for this job. When the people heard that the yields of several American crops were very high, they all cooperated with the officials of the imperial court. They were very willing to accept American crops and planted a large number of American crops in their own fields.
Because the amount of sweet potatoes shipped from America was still too little, it would take a few more years for it to be popularized on a large scale. In addition, in order to better popularize America's high-yield crops, the imperial court would send a larger fleet to America to transport these crops. At the same time, ten thousand soldiers and their families would be sent to America and three cities would be built on America's soil.
Time passed very quickly. When it was almost the new year, exciting news came from the south. The Ezhou Yangtze River Bridge had been completed, and the railway line had been laid to Ezhou. Through the Ezhou Yangtze River Bridge, it extended to the south for fifty li.
When the news reached Chang 'an, all the people in the capital were excited. Building a railway bridge across the Yangtze River on such a large scale was unprecedented in any era. This reflected the powerful industrial strength of the Tang Empire.
Connecting the entire railway bridge was such an important thing. Of course, they had to see it with their own eyes. Therefore, after receiving the news, many rich nobles and members of the imperial family took the train to Ezhou to see the magnificence of the Ezhou Yangtze River Bridge with their own eyes.
After the emperor saw the model of the railway bridge built by Ezhou, he was so excited that he did not sleep well for a few days. He resisted the pressure of the remonstrants and wanted to take the train to Ezhou for inspection.
This time, the emperor left in a hurry. He only gave the relevant entourage three days to prepare. Because of this, many departments were very busy.
Ang Lee, as the designer of the Ezhou Yangtze River Bridge, would of course accompany the emperor. This was certain. Before he left, a lot of work in the R&D Center had to be arranged in advance so that the R&D talents could not figure out what to do next.
Because the Tang Empire did not have such a high-tech means of communication as the telephone, the railway from the capital to Ezhou was still not open. They could only go to Luoyang first and then transfer to Ezhou from Luoyang. Only in this way could the railway system operate smoothly.
Of course, the emperor's trip was an exception. As the emperor of a country, the emperor needed his own royal train. Therefore, he could not change trains casually. However, he still had to go to the Luoyang Railway Station first. Then, after changing the track of the railway, he could go further to Ezhou.
Three days later, the Emperor's royal train set off from Chang 'an on time. Most of the ministers of the imperial court accompanied it. There were 30,000 soldiers and horses guarding it, and all of them were elite soldiers. Even the most elite armored artillery troop in the capital city was mobilized.
However, the armored artillery units were not moving on land. Instead, they were loaded on the freight train. This could greatly improve the efficiency of the operation. Only then could they keep up with Emperor Li Longji's royal train. If they ran at full speed on the dirt road, they would never be able to catch up with the train.
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