Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 183 Too Scary
By evening, the dug potatoes had piled up like a mountain. The contrast was very sharp: the average yield of fields with phosphate fertilizer was more than 23 shi per acre, while the average yield of fields without phosphate fertilizer was much lower, but the yield per acre also reached [-] shi, which is already It’s very frighteningly high-yield.The military households and refugees who were in charge of harvesting potatoes were dumbfounded: Why is the output of this damn thing so high?Alas, if only they had been planted earlier. With this thing, they would no longer have to go hungry!
Yang Menglong was in a good mood, and ordered to kill several big fat pigs, peeled off the potatoes, cut them into pieces, and threw them into the pot to cook with the pork, so that everyone had a delicious meal of stewed potatoes with pork.Everyone was very satisfied with the meal, it was so delicious, and it was so full of stomach, I really wanted to swallow my tongue!Cheng Ji didn't have such a big reaction, because he had already eaten a meal before, and after finishing work, he held Yang Menglong back and kept asking how to process potatoes into potato noodles.Yang Menglong was so entangled that he had no choice but to give him a rough guess.

It is not difficult to process potatoes into potato noodles.The first step is to wash the potatoes clean without leaving any soil. This is easy to handle. As long as there is water and hands, no matter how many potatoes can be washed clean; then mash the potatoes into a paste to separate the starch inside from the potato skins. This is also easy to handle. Just make a few more sets of large rice pounding equipment. If it doesn’t work, find more people to smash it with wooden hammers. Pour strong potatoes into a tank, add water and stir until saturated, and then filter. You can use local materials to filter with tofu cloth. Filter it out.The last step, and the most difficult step, is dehydration. Squeeze the filtered starch as hard as possible to remove the water, then pour it into a container made of bamboo like a steamer, and send it to a drying room for drying. Keep it for a long time.

"Why can't it be sliced, dried, pounded, and then put into a stone mill?" Cheng Ji asked curiously.He is a shrewd businessman, he knew that if he followed Yang Menglong's instructions, he would have more things to do, so he immediately thought of a way to save trouble.Didn't Wuyangwei make more than a dozen water mills? Why didn't they use these water mills?

Yang Menglong explained patiently: "If you want to dry it in the sun, you have to wait until summer, which takes several months. After such a long time, the potatoes have already deteriorated. Also, potatoes cannot be exposed to the sun, and they will deteriorate as soon as they are exposed to the sun. If you eat the potato noodles that come out, you will die!"

Cheng Ji smiled wryly, it seems that this money really cannot be saved!He said: "So that's it! It seems that I have to start recruiting workers and building workshops immediately." Tapping the table with his fingers, he muttered: "The large stone pound and the workers are not a problem, the problem is the drying room..."

Yang Menglong shrugged and said, "Don't ask me, I know a little bit."

Cheng Ji smiled wryly again, it seems that General Yang is still as unreliable as ever!
The next day, the joy of Wuyangwei's bumper harvest continued, with more than 4 mu of potatoes, enough for them to work for a while.Now the field is more lively, people from all over the world came to watch the excitement, watching the loads of potatoes being picked up and transported back to the car, everyone said they saw a ghost, and they planted a field for a lifetime , This is the first time I have seen such an exaggerated crop!More and more people came to see the excitement, and their backgrounds became bigger and bigger. At noon, the most famous one finally made his debut...

Wu Yong twisted his body uncomfortably on the horseback.He has been riding for several days, and his thighs are worn out, but he is full of energy and strength.Not only him, but even the guards in Jinyi beside him are alive and well... It's just that their faces are covered with dust.Galloping side by side with Eunuch Wu is Lu Xiangsheng in white clothes like snow. This famous prefect who was still unknown last year had good luck in the change of Jisi. Afterwards, he followed Sun Chengzong to participate in the battle to recover the four cities in the pass, beheading the generals and capturing the flag, invincible, and his reputation rose for a while.Now he is an important general of the imperial court, appointed as the military equipment of the three prefectures of Daming, Shunde, and Guangping. He selected young and strong men to train the Tianxiong Army. Weapons need food and grass for food and grass. With such good conditions, coupled with the fact that Lu Xiangsheng is a genius, he has trained the Tianxiong Army to look good in the past half a year. And very capable employees are very satisfied and very trusting.Now the famous general in the late Ming Dynasty is smiling and admiring the scenery on both sides of the avenue. In fact, there is nothing to see now. The grass and trees have long since withered and yellowed, and winter wheat has been planted in the field early. There is no greenery to be seen, but it is still on the edge of the river. In the eyes of this general, the waterwheel that is constantly turning, and the people who are still working hard to reclaim the wasteland are the most beautiful scenery.He smiled and said to Wu Yong: "All the way here, my father-in-law kept talking about how the commander of Yang Du was able to farm the fields. I didn't really believe it, but now it seems that I can't believe it." He turned his eyes to the distance again. A waterwheel more than two feet high, let out a sincere admiration: "Good thing! If this thing can be promoted in Daming territory, I don't know how many people will benefit!"

Wu Yong also smiled and said, "Master Lu, where are you going now? You will be even more surprised when you look at their military field and then at the Qianhu Office! Our family went there a few months ago. At that time, the dilapidated Qianhusuo became a place more prosperous than the county seat, now? I'm afraid it will become a city!"

Lu Xiangsheng laughed out loud: "This is a bit exaggerated..." Suddenly he saw a large group of people in front of him talking excitedly about something and running forward. There were also wealthy businessmen among them. He couldn't help but be curious and rushed to catch up. In a carriage, he raised his hand to the fat-bellied wealthy businessman in the carriage and said, "This official has been invited from outside. I am from another place. I saw you running forward in groups. I was curious. May I ask why?" ?”

Lu Xiangsheng was gentle and dignified, so the rich businessman didn't dare to neglect, and said with a smile: "You don't know, do you? Those poor soldiers from the Wuyang Qianhu Office have created a new trick!"

Lu Xiangsheng asked curiously, "What's new?"

The rich businessman said: "That Yang Qianhu is really good. After he took office, he built bamboo canals, waterwheels, and raised livestock. After he fiddled with a place that was originally poor and empty, it turned into a big improvement! Now it is even more powerful. After harvesting the wheat Another 23 mu of potatoes have been planted, and now the harvest is bumper. I heard people say that the yield per mu is as high as [-] shi, and some fields that have been applied with the fertilizer he prepared are even as high as [-] shi. Everyone is scared to death! No, everyone I want to see what happened!"

Lu Xiangsheng was taken aback: "The yield per mu is more than [-] shi? How is it possible!"

The rich businessman said: "Anyway, everyone said so, even the yamen said so, and they slapped their chests loudly. To be honest, I was the first one who didn't believe it, but they said it so firmly that we couldn't believe it." Ah, so I hurried over here, if there is such a high output, then I have to hurry up and order a tens of thousands of shi, so I can make a lot of money... I won’t tell you, let’s go on my way!” Order the driver to speed up , throwing Lu Xiangsheng away at once.

Wu Yong came up and asked, "My lord, what did that member say?"

Lu Xiangsheng said: "The official said that Commander Yang Du planted a new crop, and now it has a good harvest. The yield is as high as 23 shi per mu, and in some fields it is even more than [-] shi..."

Wu Yong almost fell off his horse: "The yield per mu... twenty shi! How is it possible!? Who made up this nonsense!?"

Lu Xiangsheng said: "The lower officials don't believe it either, but people from all over the world flocked to watch the fun, I'm afraid it may not be fake..."

Wu Yong took a deep breath, panted and said, "Quick, quick, hurry up and have a look!"

Without further ado, a team of Tiqi rode under the banner of the Jinyiwei, and rode their horses ahead to open the way: "Get out of the way, get out of the way! The Jinyiwei is on business, get out of the way!" Don't say it, this trick really works, those ordinary people heard it When he saw the word "Jinyiwei", his complexion changed drastically as if seeing a poisonous snake, and he dodged to both sides of the avenue, even those gentry who were riding in cars and sedan chairs were no exception.Jin Yiwei has lost the prestige of the early Ming Dynasty, but after all, the emperor is close to the army. For ordinary people, the flying fish suit and the embroidered spring knife are quite deterrent. In a word, it is good to avoid it!Tiqi led the way, Wu Yong and Lu Xiangsheng naturally had a smooth journey.It's just that the further you go, the denser the flow of people. In the end, even the gold-lettered signboard of Jinyiwei has no effect, and everyone can only squeeze forward.The problem is that other people are also crowded, and people come from all directions. Of course, a peerless fighter like Lu Xiangsheng doesn't take it seriously, but Wu Yong is miserable, and he is about to be squeezed to the ground!After a lot of difficulty, they finally broke a bloody path and pushed through the walls of people. Finally, they saw the legendary potato——

That's right, on Tianbian Avenue, baskets and baskets of potatoes are being carried out of the field and loaded into cars. Someone is standing at the head of the field with a pen to register. From time to time, someone loudly calls a certain field 21 stones, such-and-such field 21 stones Five buckets, every number reported will attract a burst of amazement.In the fields, thousands of military households and long-term laborers with bare arms and hoes are digging out bunches of potatoes from the ground, while children, women, and old people happily follow behind to pick up the potatoes and put them on the ground. Putting it into the basket, it was quickly filled with a basket, and then a strong man came to pick it out. This scene of labor in full swing was even more exciting. The landowners and gentry were envious, but Wu Yong simply looked stupid. He glanced at the carts filled with potatoes and was pushing towards Wuyang Qianhu, and exclaimed: "This is potatoes? The output is too scary, really scary!"

(End of this chapter)