Chapter 212: There will Never be a Shortage of Food Again.

Chapter 212

Crackle bang......

In the front yard, Li Yao let Da Zhuang light some firecrackers.

These were the first firecrackers in this world, which she had made a few days ago when she was bored.

Firstly to celebrate Wang Er passing the imperial examination as a juren, or even higher ranked jieyuan. Secondly to celebrate Song Zhe also passing the imperial examination as a juren.

Of course it was also to celebrate her taking in a godson.

According to Yi Prefecture customs, Song Zhe paid his respects to Li Yao, and gave gifts to acknowledge her as godmother. Li Yao returned the courtesy, and they became family.

Song the prefect stroked his short beard, feeling greatly comforted, and kept glancing proudly at Liu Yun.

Liu Yun was focused on observing Wang Xiao Si and Liu Yao.

His little sister was too young and ignorant. The few lines she had said at Zhao Yan's home today were taught to her after much effort on his part.

The happiest person at home today was none other than Wang Xiao Si.

He had always been the youngest, but with the arrival of his niece Little Yanran, he was no longer the youngest. But Little Yanran still would not obey him.

Now things were good. He finally had a little sister.

"Listen up," Wang Xiao Si assumed the air of a big brother, and said very seriously, "In our family, my mother has the final say on everything."

"Mm."

"If my mother is not around, then I have the final say!" said Wang Xiao Si. "In the future if you want to play with me, you must obey me."

"Mm!" Liu Yao nodded heavily.

In the palace, there were rules upon rules every day that did not allow her to go out and play, and no children her age to play with.

Now that she had come to Yi Prefecture, although it did not seem as nice as the palace, at least there was this older brother!

"Big brother Xiao Si, can you bring me to catch cicadas?"

"As long as you obey me, I won't only bring you to catch cicadas, but also to catch butterflies, locusts, crickets, fish, loaches!"

"Wonderful!" Liu Yao's eyes shone with excitement. "When can we go?"

"Now...we'll have to wait till we get home," said Wang Xiao Si. "None of these things can be found in the city of Yi Prefecture."

"Home? Isn't this your home?"

"Yes," said Wang Xiao Si proudly. "But we have another home in He Wan village that is even better and bigger. You'll definitely like it when we get there."

"Okay, I'll ask big sister Chun Ning to pack my things!"

"Ten plants."

"What? Just ten plants managed to produce so much?" Song the prefect was distrustful. "Are you saying just ten plants yielded so many potatoes?"

Da Zhuang nodded, his face full of blissful smile.

He had not realized that after careful cultivation, fertilization, vine turning, that the sweet potatoes planted in the field would yield several times more than wild sweet potatoes in the mountains!

It seemed his mother's claim of yielding thousands of catties per mu was not impossible.

"If ten plants can yield so much, how much would your family's total yield be this year?"

Li Yao did not want to calculate. She had returned this time to dig up sweet potatoes. They would know once it was weighed.

Early next morning, Li Yao stopped all workshop operations for the time being and hired every villager to help dig up sweet potatoes.

Song the prefect couple and Liu Yun also arrived at the field early, feeling even more nervous than Da Zhuang because they would soon witness the yield of these sweet potatoes.

Li Yao picked a medium sized plot for them to measure out one mu. Tens of villagers swarmed in.

More than ten women in front wielded sickles to cut down the somewhat yellowing vines, bundling them neatly. These vines could be used as pig feed. Even if there was excess for the time being, they could be dried and stored.

The small machine for slicing sweet potato vines and the large concrete pools for storage had long been fabricated by the blacksmith Xia Xian per her instructions.

More than twenty brawny men swung hoes, preparing to dig.

Da Zhuang spat in his palms and rubbed them before forcefully digging down. A huge pile of sweet potatoes along with mud was overturned.

This clump had six to seven potatoes. The three to four largest were as big as a fist, while the smallest were still fist sized. At minimum each was ten catties.

The rest could not wait and began digging as well. The overturned sweet potatoes were piled at the side as more than ten women and children sorted through them basket by basket to the field's edge.

After half a shichen, the entire mu was finally dug up. Looking at the huge pile of promising sweet potatoes, everyone felt wonderful inside.

Because everyone knew no one would starve this year, not in the future either.

"Quick," Liu Yun was already too anxious to wait, "bring the scales and weigh them."

Da Zhuang and Wang Yuen brought over beam scales. Basket by basket was weighed as Wang Xiao Si led Liu Yao to record with brush and paper at the side.

After tallying at the end, this single mu had yielded over three thousand and five hundred catties!

If they had not witnessed it themselves, Liu Yun and Song the prefect would never have believed it possible, because it was too enormous, shockingly enormous!

For mountainous land like this, yielding one hundred catties per mu of wheat would be considered very good.

Yet for sweet potatoes, the yield was dozens of times more!

Song the prefect sighed deeply. Daling, there would never be grain shortage again!