Outside Baoding Prefecture, Li Jie stood among the endless fields, looking at the corn field that was half a person tall. Baoding Prefecture was next to the capital. When the Ming Dynasty was first established, it once belonged to the Henan branch province, but later it was classified as the Beiping branch province. After the capital was moved, it naturally became directly under the capital.

It is precisely because it is too close to the capital, and half of Baoding Prefecture is plains and the land is quite fertile, so the agriculture here is quite developed and it is also one of the places for promoting corn and potatoes.

"Mr. Prince Concubine, the promotion of these corn is quite smooth. We just tried to plant some before, but the result was good growth and the yield was high. So when the promotion was later, the people in the mansion were rushing to plant. Now hundreds of hectares of corn have been planted in the mansion, mainly because the seeds are insufficient. But by next year, there is no need to worry about the seeds." At this time, a short and fat official next to him reported to Li Jie.

The short and fat official was named Yang Shu, and was affiliated with the newly established Sinong Temple in the imperial court. Originally, Sinong Temple was an official office established by the Northern Qi Dynasty, in charge of grain storage and the distribution of officials' rice. It was later abolished during the Yuan Dynasty and was not restored after the founding of the country.

However, the situation in the Ming Dynasty has changed now. The emergence of two high-yield crops, corn and potato, requires special people to promote them. In addition, the Qiuzhen Academy has been conducting research on cultivating crops. So before his death, Lao Zhu specially issued an order to restore the Sinong Temple to be in charge of the promotion and cultivation of grain crops.

"The corn grows well and is spread throughout Baoding Prefecture, which allows more people to see its value. It seems that you have indeed put your heart into it!" Li Jie looked at Yang Shu with appreciation.

Yang Shuren's current official position is the Sinong Temple Chief, and his grade is not high. However, he was born in the Qiuzhen Academy and was originally a famous landlord in his family. He was also obsessed with the cultivation of excellent crops. This time he was sent to Baoding Prefecture, mainly responsible for the promotion of corn and potatoes throughout Baoding Prefecture.

"Thank you for your compliment, but compared to corn, the promotion of potatoes is in trouble. Although the officials have thought of many ways, they still cannot change the people's concepts. They are really heartbroken!" Yang Shu said at the end, and his face showed a guilty look. The court asked him to promote corn and potatoes, but he only completed half of it. The promotion of potatoes has not improved much yet.

"This is not your own problem. Zhending, Hejian, Datong and other places have not been very successful in the promotion of potatoes. This time I went out of Beijing to personally understand the difficulties of potatoes promotion and come up with solutions." Li Jie patted Yang Shu's shoulder and comforted him.

This poplar tree is very talented in cultivating good varieties. The reason why he entered the Sinongsi was because he cultivated an excellent wheat variety, which not only had higher yields than ordinary wheat varieties, but also had advantages such as shortness and drought resistance. Therefore, he was hired as an official by Sinongsi.

Originally, research talents like poplars did not need to be released, but now the promotion of corn and potatoes is the top priority, so almost all the officials of the entire Sinong Temple were sent out, and poplars were of course no exception.

Hearing Li Jie's words, Yang Shu sighed and said, "The reason why potatoes are difficult to promote is nothing more than two reasons. One is that potatoes are grown underground. Unlike ordinary crops, this is still a small problem. The second one is the problem of storage. Compared with wheat, rice, and corn crops, potato storage is too troublesome, the storage time is short, and it is easier to deteriorate, so people are unwilling to plant them."

"People are unwilling to plant, but they are mainly unwilling to plant on a large scale. If they are allowed to plant on a small scale, for example, a household will have a high yield of potatoes, but they can also cook and satisfy their hunger. Someone should be willing to plant them, right?" Li Jie asked again.

Li Jie also had experience in rural life in his previous life. He remembered that most people would not plant too many crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, and it was mainly difficult to store them. Therefore, one family planted a one-acre three-point land and stored them in a cellar to eat them for a winter.

"This is a solution. The order issued by the imperial court to our Sinong Temple is to promote potatoes on a large scale. If it is just sporadic planting, it may not be easy for the people to deal with it." Yang Shu replied again, and also looked at Li Jie's face.

When Li Jie saw Yang Shu's performance, he immediately understood. The Yang Sicheng probably had thought of a solution for a long time, but the sporadic planting was inconsistent with the imperial orders, so he did not dare to say it out.

In fact, this is normal. The court is not omnipotent, especially some policy makers. They do not understand the actual situation of the lower class people, so the policies formulated may seem good on the surface, but when promoting, they are inconsistent with the actual situation, resulting in various problems. This is how potato promotion is.

Whether in Baoding or Hejian, most people live on plains and the land is relatively fertile. They are already rich in wheat and other crops. Now they are asked to replace grain crops, including corn, but potatoes, which are not easy to store, are unwilling to plant because they are also afraid of rotting in their hands.

There are two ways to solve this problem. The first is to let the people grow sporadically, making potatoes a supplement to the staple foods such as wheat and corn.

Another way is that the court will buy potatoes so that after the people plant potatoes, they don’t have to worry about rotting them in their hands. However, the storage after the court purchase is still a big problem. If it is not easy to store, it will also rot in the hands of the court.

However, there is no solution, that is, secondary processing of potatoes, such as potato vermicelli or using potatoes to make wine, are all good methods. However, this requires opening up several new industries, which are not completed in a short time, so Li Jie proposed the idea of ​​sporadic planting.

"The promotion strategy of the imperial court is not constant, but should be based on reality. If you encounter such a problem in the future, you can write a letter to talk about things without any worries!" Li Jie said to Yang Shu with a serious expression. After all, this Yang Shu was just a newcomer and was not very brave. He should have reported these things truthfully.

"Yes, thank you for your advice!" Although Yang Shu didn't have much experience as an official, she was also a smart person. He immediately said in panic when he heard Li Jie's words.

Seeing Yang Shu understand his meaning, Li Jie nodded, but he did not go in vain this time. In addition to seeing the shortcomings in potato promotion with his own eyes, he also discovered another problem.
Chapter completed!