Chapter 1046: The Lazy and Bad Sister-in-law of a Blessed Farm Girl (41)
“I heard that your family’s harvest has increased again this year, with a rice yield of four and a half stones per mu, but is it true?”
Seeing that the vegetables in Xu Yin's garden are taller and fatter than others, I couldn't help but remember that on the way, I was happily reporting that this year's summer harvest, the average yield per mu of Xiaowa Village has reached four stones, among which Meng Jin's family has the highest yield. Just two acres of paddy field yielded nine shi of millet, and the average yield per mu was four and a half shi. The key point is that in the wetlands around the lotus pond, the rice yield is no worse than that in the paddy fields. I can't help but wonder.
Logically speaking, every household in Dawa Village is using the new retting method, and there are many diligent villagers. How come the Cui family alone has an increase of four and a half kilograms?
Xu Yin smiled, thinking that she finally got the idea.
“Because I’ve discovered another great crop for compost.”
…”
When Magistrate Chen left, he took with him a handful of castor beans that had not been shelled.
On the way back to the county office in the carriage, he suddenly realized that it seemed that every time he came to Dawa Village, he would gain something, and he could help His Royal Highness.
No wonder His Royal Highness the Crown Prince repeatedly asked him to stabilize Cui Mengjin and his wife, and even asked him to respond to their requests.
After thinking about this, Magistrate Chen immediately decided to ask his wife to visit Dawa Village more in a few days to enjoy the lotus flowers and make friends with the Xu family.
After all, he is a foreigner and has an official position. It is not appropriate to always go to Dawa Village, but it is different for my wife.
Therefore, a few days later, Xu Yin's lotus pond welcomed its first outside visitor - the county magistrate's wife. Due to the bitter summer, she came to Dawa Village to stay for a few days. During the day, she came to Xu Yin's house to enjoy the lotus and taste tea, and stayed overnight at the house. The main family.
As for women, once they find a common topic, it is easy to have a conversation.
“I know that lotus flowers are dried to make spices, but I didn’t expect that they can also be made into rouge?”
“I didn’t expect that a whole chicken wrapped in lotus leaves, hung in soil and baked, would be so delicious!”
“Dried fried lotus flowers can also be used as snacks? Mrs. Cui’s cooking skills are really amazing!”
“Can drying lotus leaves and making tea really help you lose weight?”
“I have only eaten sweet soup made with dried lotus seeds. I never thought that young lotus seeds can be eaten raw. The taste is fresher and cleaner than ordinary fruits!”
The names for each other also range from "Mrs. Cui" and "Mrs. Chen" at the beginning to "Yinmei" and "Sister Bai" later.
The county magistrate's wife came to befriend Xu at the request of her husband. She might have been flattering her at first, but she didn't expect that she would actually be with Xu Yin. She smells like a little sister.
The two chatted happily until the autumn harvest was approaching. If Xu Yin had not been busy with the autumn harvest and had no time to entertain, the county magistrate's wife would have continued to live there.
“Sister Bai, you’re going back today, right? Then take these back with you.”
Xu Yin finally hoped that the sweet potatoes were ripe. Before the county magistrate’s wife returned, she took out a basket of fresh sweet potatoes and asked her to take them back to taste.
The county magistrate's wife asked curiously: "This is also grown from seeds in the Western Regions? It looks weird. Are you sure it can be eaten?"
"Yes! We didn't know at first, we thought we were eating its leaves. Not to mention, the leaves are quite delicious when mixed with cold dishes. It wasn't until last night when we loosened the soil at my house that we discovered that there were still fruits buried in the ground. , it looks similar to taro, and the method must be the same. I plan to plant more varieties next year. This one has a high yield. I haven’t even finished a single plant in this basket. I estimate that if the harvest is good, one acre of land can produce about Ten stones.”
Xu Yin reported a conservative figure.
The county magistrate’s wife had no idea about the per-acre yield, but when she came back and told her about it, the county magistrate was shocked.
“What? Ten stones!!”
Chen Zhanpeng stood up so fast that he almost didn't even eat dinner. He wanted to rush to Dawa Village all night to find out.
Worried that his wife had misunderstood, how could there be such a high-yielding crop?
The county magistrate's wife grabbed him: "Master, why are you in such a hurry! Yinmei said, let us try it first, what if it doesn't taste good? No matter how high the yield is, what's the use! Look at the wild grass growing all over the mountains and plains, Is anyone going to pick it up and eat it?"
…”
The cooked sweet potatoes were fragrant and soft, and the cook was so greedy that she almost drooled. When she brought them to her, she said, "Master, madam, this red taro smells so fragrant!"
She saw that the skin of this thing was red and the preparation was the same as taro, so she called it "red taro". The county magistrate's wife took a bite and her eyes lit up: "It tastes even better! It's pink and glutinous, and it has a sweet taste. No sugar is added, right?"
“No, just boil it in water.”
“Yummy! So delicious!”
Magistrate Chen took a sip and couldn't sit still.
It was getting late, so we could only wait until the next morning to go to Dawa Village.
That night, County Magistrate Chen tossed and turned and was too excited to sleep.
Also excited was Li Zheng.
He received sweet potatoes from Cui Mengjin in the morning. He said they were grown from seeds in the Western Regions. Like taro, they can be steamed together on a steamer when cooking. You can peel them and eat them. You can also peel them and cut them into pieces to make porridge with other grains. .
Mrs. Li Zheng asked her daughter-in-law to wash the sweet potatoes, cut them in half, steam them with rice, and share them with the whole family at noon.
“Milk, what is this?”
“This was sent by your Uncle Meng Jin, saying it was grown from seeds in the Western Regions.”
“This is so delicious! It’s sweet and glutinous, I want to eat it again.”
“Milk, I want to eat it too. I don’t want to eat anymore. I want to eat this.”
Li Zheng broke open his piece of sweet potato, gave half to his grandson, and tasted the remaining one himself: "It tastes really good, but I don't know how the yield is."
“I met Meng Jin in the field in the afternoon and asked, if the yield is higher than taro, can we plant some of it next year?”
So, when I went to the field in the afternoon, Li Zheng called Cui Mengjin and asked about the sweet potato yield. When he heard that it was ten dan, he was petrified. When he reacted, his beard trembled with excitement.
“Ten, ten stones? Is there such a high yield of food in the world? God bless me and pray for me! With this, will I still be hungry?”
The two excited people met together and both came to Xu Yin's house.
Xu Yin is breaking corn in the corn field: "..."
Had I known it earlier, I would have postponed it. Don’t report the sweet potato yield so early. This wouldn’t disturb her family’s autumn harvest.
“You guys go down and help.”
Magistrate Chen waved his hand and asked the accompanying officials to help in the fields.
Li Zheng also called his two sons over.
His family has a lot of labor, and after most of the work is done, there is not much work left.
Thinking about helping Meng Jin’s family harvest the grain quickly, and asking in detail about the red-skinned crops.
“Sir, we have never seen this before, so we don’t know how to collect it.” The yamen servant went down to the ground and came up again after a while, with a troubled look on his face.
“Is there anything else you two haven’t seen?” The county magistrate was surprised.
These two yamen servants are from the lower mountain village of Qinghe County. They have been exposed to farm work since they were young. Even if they are now yamen servants, they will go home to help in the fields when they are sleeping. There are crops they don't recognize?
Li Zheng went down to the field to take a closer look, and was equally surprised: "Meng Jin, what kind of crop is this in your house? Looking from a distance, I thought it was sorghum."
The county magistrate suddenly thought of something and asked in a loud voice: "But are they seeds from the Western Regions?"
Xu Yin: “…”
(End of this chapter)