Chapter 540: Hope for Survival
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Nanny Yue thought of First Madam’s worries about Young Miss’s future before she died and secretly lowered her eyes. She had to find an opportunity another day to tell Old Madam Yu about this.
Although she was only a maidservant, First Madam had entrusted her with something before she died. As long as it wasn’t too much, she could say some things.
Yu Youyao smiled and nodded, not bringing up this sad topic anymore. “Nanny, you specially took the time to come over today. Is there anything important?”
Nanny Yue helped to manage most of the dowry businesses under her name.
In the past few years, she had made many changes to her businesses. It was also because of Nanny Yue’s support that they could progress smoothly. She had also encountered many difficult problems. All of them had been resolved thanks to Nanny Yue’s many years of experience and methods.
Now, because she was involved with the escort business and had cooperated with her cousin in the maritime trade in Zhejiang, most of the businesses under her name were becoming bigger and bigger. They were all almost in a profitable state.
Nanny Yue had contributed greatly to all of this.
Of course, there were also the loyal servants that her mother had chosen for her. All of them had contributed greatly.
Nanny Yue took a handkerchief and pressed it against the corner of her eye. Then, she said, “It’s about the planting of sweet potatoes. Young Miss values the cultivation of sweet potatoes very much, and the people in the manor don’t dare to be negligent. They’ve used different soils to cultivate them for two years. The sweet potatoes are indeed not picky with soil quality. They can be harvested if there’s drought or flood. As long as you spend more effort planting them, the production will be good. However, the potatoes produced will still be too little.”
With that, she instructed the person she had brought to open a small box.
There were more than ten sweet potatoes inside. They were planted from different soils and were all marked with soil quality.
Yu Youyao took a look and saw that there was not much difference in the size. She wrapped her hand in a silk handkerchief and picked up the sweet potatoes produced by the various soils one by one. “They’re about the same size. They can really adapt to various environments.”
Nanny Yue nodded. “This soil is soft and sandy, and the salt fields are good. The production there is higher. A plant can bear at most five sweet potatoes, but most of them can bear three or four sweet potatoes which are a little bigger. The production will be reduced if the soil is harder. A plant can bear at most three sweet potatoes, and they will be small. If the soil is wet and fertile, it’s not good for growth.”
Yu Youyao’s eyes lit up. “What about the texture? Is there a difference?”
Nanny Yue said, “The softer soil will cause them to taste fresher, sweeter, and more juicy. The rest of the soil types aren’t bad either. Whether it’s eaten raw or cooked, it tastes good. Most importantly, it doesn’t require many resources to grow.”
It was precisely because of this that Nanny Yue was very concerned about planting sweet potatoes. She even personally took over the farming test in the manor.
The weather had not been good in the past few years, and it was a drought in spring this year. There was no hope for the winter wheat harvest. After two years of cultivation, the sweet potatoe life cycle had been modeled, so they could be planted on a large scale.
The production of the sweet potato was not good, but its greatest advantage was that it was not picky with the soil. It could survive droughts and floods, and did not require too many resources!
Nanny Yue could tell the pros and cons, so she came to look for Young Miss.
Yu Youyao was really excited now. More than ten sweet potatoes were not big. They were even smaller than yams. Although the production was not low, it was actually not too high.
Its greatest advantage was that it could adapt to all kinds of land.
Yu Youyao pondered for a moment and said, “It’s the Spring and Drought
Festival again this year. It’s already the end of the month, but it hasn’t rained a single drop. I don’t think the winter wheat harvest will be enough, and the early rice harvest will be greatly reduced. Without the winter wheat harvest, there won’t be any crops in April to July. The commoners can only eat wild vegetables. I wonder how many people will starve. Even if they survive until July and August and the rice is harvested, this little harvest probably won’t be enough for many families. In the second half of the year, when the weather is cold, they won’t even be able to eat wild vegetables. I wonder how many people will starve to death!”
This was also what Nanny Yue had wanted to say. She did not expect Young Miss to say it.
To be able to say such words, Young Miss was not the kind of delicate young miss who had been raised in her own room and did not know anything about common matters.
Young Miss was kind and virtuous.
Therefore, Nanny Yue decided not to speak about what she was planning. She planned to hear what Young Miss had to say first.
Indeed!
Yu Youyao changed the topic and asked, “How many sweet potatoes are there in the manor?
Nanny Yue smiled. “We tried planting a lot last year. The outer skin has all dried and is placed in the ventilated cellar. It’s carefully preserved. Every day, we’ll send someone to clean up the broken ones, in case one of them spoils and rots in the cellar. There are about 5,000 kilograms.”
After planting the sweet potatoes, she knew that they were good things. Young Miss valued them very much, so she naturally had to plant more.
Yu Youyao nodded. “If we plant it on a large scale, how many acres can we plant?”
Nanny Yue thought for a moment and said, “The best cultivation method at the moment is to cut the parts of the sweet potatoes that have sprouts and soak them in warm water. At the place where they’re cut, wrap them with a layer of plant ash to prevent pests. Then, bury the sprouts in the finished fields. The fields have to be sprinkled with plant ash to prevent pests in the soil. This way, a sweet potato can be cut into about one to three pieces. A thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes can be planted in at least tens of thousands of acres.”
This was a conservative estimate. If it was really planted, there would definitely be more.
The farmland under Young Miss’s name was at least tens of thousands of acres. This was good fertile land. For example, the inferior sand land covered more than tens of thousands of acres.
Yu Youyao had an idea. “Didn’t I arrange for Cousin’s old servants to be in charge of testing new seeds in the manor previously? Give them 3,000 kilograms out of the 5,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes, and they’ll handle it themselves. The other 2,000 kilograms will be planted in a place suitable for planting under my name.”
They were in charge of testing new seeds to begin with, so they definitely knew how to plant them.
The past two years had not been good, and life in the North had become more and more difficult. The promotion and planting of sweet potatoes could not be delayed. 3,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes was nothing, but it was also a hope for survival.
Nanny Yue only thought that this 3,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes was to be planted in Young Master Zhou’s manor, so she did not say much.
Yu Youyao frowned as she looked at the sweet potato in her hand. “Most foreign species won’t be able to grow well in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Most of them won’t be able to live. Even if a small number of them can grow well, they’ll be half-dead and won’t have much effect. Sweet potatoes are the biggest exception. They will be able to grow on the Great Zhou Dynasty’s land. There won’t be any water or soil problems, and they can also adapt to all kinds of climates and soil. This means that the life force of the sweet potatoes is very tenacious.”
From the looks of it, this sweet potato was really useful.
They were small, and the production was not bad. If she could increase the yield and promote it on a large scale in the country…
She still needed to try more methods of planting the sweet potatoes.
However, this also took time.
The most important thing now was to expand the planting scale as much as possible with the limited 5,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes..
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