Chapter 485
Mo Jiuye stepped back and smiled at the villagers, "Of course it's true."
Just as the villagers wanted to inquire further, Meng Huaining came over with several officials.
He had known since he took office today that the Mo family was going to dig up sweet potatoes today.
As Mo Jiuye's son-in-law, sweet potatoes were not unfamiliar to him, and He Zhiran had also said that sweet potatoes were not only delicious and filling, but also had extremely high yields. He had specially arranged the yamen's affairs early today and brought people back to check.
As soon as he reached the edge of the field, he smelled the familiar sweet and sweet smell.
"Ninth brother, are you roasting sweet potatoes?"
Mo Jiuye threw the roasted sweet potato he was holding to him.
Meng Huaining deftly caught it. Although it was still a little hot, he couldn't wait to take a bite.
"Ninth Brother, roasted sweet potatoes are delicious, and I can never eat enough."
Meng Huaining smiled and sat beside Mo Jiuye. This move made the officials who followed him somewhat dumbfounded.
Their adults had always been very serious, so they had always thought that he simply couldn't smile.
What did they see now?
Their master smiled so unrestrained, simply a far cry from his usual self.
Meng Huaining didn't care what his subordinates were thinking. Although he was eating happily, he didn't forget the purpose of his hurry back.
"Ninth Brother, how's the yield of sweet potatoes?" When it came to the yield of sweet potatoes, a kind of proud expression automatically appeared on Mo Jiuye's face.
Pointing to the pile of sweet potatoes on the ground, he said, "Did you see that? These are all produced by one mu of land. We just carefully weighed them, and the yield per mu can reach five thousand catties."
"Ninth brother, did you say that sweet potatoes can reach five thousand catties per mu?"
Meng Huaining was completely no longer calm at this point, and he stopped eating the sweet potato in his hand and stood up with a swoosh.
"Ninth Brother, we have agreed that all these sweet potatoes will be provided to the government for seeds next year."
He was afraid that Mo Jiuye would go back on his word, and his tone was extremely serious when he spoke.
Of course, Mo Jiuye would never go back on a promise.
Moreover, the couple also discovered a problem that grain crops produced by the space, such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and rice, etc., even if they were planted and harvested with seeds from the outside, they would not decrease production when replanted next year.
In contrast, those delicious fruits and some vegetables from the mountains were just the opposite. The seeds collected from cultivation outside would decrease production by a lot.
Originally, they had thought that after the sweet potatoes were harvested, they would quietly exchange some of them with the inventory in the space.
Now it seems that this humanized rule really helped the couple avoid a big trouble.
Otherwise, they would have to find a way to get seeds out of the space every year. Now it's good, the seeds of these high-yielding crops planted outside are fine.
"Don't worry, 100,000 catties of these sweet potatoes will be provided to the government. We will keep the rest to earn some profits, but on the condition that after the government has collected these sweet potatoes, they cannot be sold on the market before planting next year. "
Meng Huaining did not know the background of Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran. He only thought that the Mo family's source of income was just these things on the surface.
Especially since the Mo family now raises so many private troops, they must be very tight on money.
If it weren't for the livelihood of the common people, he certainly wouldn't bring it up.
He had originally thought that Ninth Brother would only give a small portion to the government as seeds for next year. He didn't expect that Ninth Brother would support him so much and offer 100,000 catties of sweet potato seeds in one mouth. This was more than half of the Mo family’s sweet potato production!
Thinking of this, Meng Huaining solemnly saluted Mo Jiuye with his fists.
"Ninth Brother, on behalf of the people of Yuncheng, I thank you and Ninth Sister for your great righteousness." At first, he still wanted to ask Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister for chili seeds to help the people of Yuncheng get high income.
Seeing the bumper harvest scene of sweet potatoes now, compared with chili, it was much more beneficial for the people’s livelihood.
Selling chili was silver, and if it couldn't be sold in a few days, it would become a pile of mud.
Sweet potatoes were not only delicious, but more importantly, they could fill the stomach. If the commoners could store some sweet potatoes to get through the winter, they would at least not starve to death.
Although Mo Jiuye was not an official in the court, he did not want to see the common people living in hunger and cold. He didn't feel anything about this.
Moreover, his wife also said that the space was a gift from heaven, and she also wanted to follow the will of heaven and try her best to help those in need, only in this way could she not fail the gift from heaven.
"Alright, we are all family, and it is right for me to help you. Yuncheng has now greatly improved under your governance. In the future, the common people will be able to fill their stomachs, which is also what we are happy to see."
Meng Huaining was in a hurry, and when he heard Mo Jiuye say that the sweet potatoes could be transported now, he was so excited that he even forgot to discuss the price. He turned around and ordered his men,
"You guys hurry back to the yamen immediately, bring all the officials here, and every ox cart in the city without exception.”
This was the first time Ma Junshan saw his master act so unorganized.
He couldn't help but remind, "Sir, weren't you still pondering the price of sweet potatoes on the way here? Are you sure you want to ship them away now?"
Reminded, Meng Huaining suddenly realized that he was indeed overly excited.
Feeling a little embarrassed, he looked at Mo Jiuye with a red face, "Ninth Brother, I got too excited in my joy that I actually forgot to ask about the price."
When Mo Jiuye promised to provide sweet potato seeds to the government at first, the reason why he did not mention the price was because he was still unsure about the yield of sweet potatoes.
Before organizing people to dig up sweet potatoes, he and He Zhiran had already discussed that if the acreage yield of sweet potatoes exceeded 3,000 catties, they would sell it to the government at cost.
Of course, as seeds, the price must be higher than that of ordinary grains.
According to the price of modern sweet potatoes, high-yielding ordinary sweet potatoes are priced at around 3 yuan per catty in the market, which is equivalent to the purchasing power of 3 copper coins in this era.
That is to say, the price of sweet potatoes only needs to be 3 cents per catty.
However, sweet potatoes were the first to appear in the Da Shun Dynasty and even the surrounding countries, so the price could not be as low as 3 cents per catty.
Moreover, the price of seeds still had to be several times higher than that of grains themselves.