The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

In addition to sweet potatoes, Annan rice is also a key promotion target for spring sowing this year.

Last year, Zhang Pingan harvested more than 1600 kilograms of Annan rice, but he didn't sell a single grain because he planned to use it all as seeds this year.

But even so, more than 1,600 kilograms of seeds were not enough for the people of Ci County.

The average amount of seeds used per acre is now about ten kilograms, and these seeds can only be used to plant about 160 acres of land at most.

Therefore, the first season was mainly promoted in villages around the county town, using a method of distributing seeds in small quantities to multiple households, with each household receiving one acre of seeds.

Firstly, it facilitates inspections, and secondly, the people have tasted the sweetness and seen the benefits of Annan rice, which will save a lot of effort in promoting it in the future.

Although there was no Internet at that time, the word of mouth among the people should not be underestimated.

Once this season's rice grows, the biggest challenge will be over.

Everyone in the county government knew that this kind of rice was easy to grow and had a high yield, and they asked about it openly and secretly, but they were all appeased by Zhang Ping'an's promises, and told not to worry.

Are you kidding? There are not many seeds to begin with. How can we let the government control all these resources? Annan rice must become famous.

He also planned to report to the court after this season's rice harvest and promote it to southern Fujian and Lingnan regions.

After all, the further south you go, the hotter the weather and the more suitable the climate.

More than ten days passed in busyness.

In addition to distributing seeds, we also have to find people on the farm to teach the people how to plant. It's not a big job, but it's very complicated.

During this period, there was no news of transfer from Lin'an.

Chen Jianqiu and the others secretly breathed a sigh of relief for Zhang Pingan.

After all, it is already March, the Cangwu River has passed the freezing period, the water flows rapidly, and the war has temporarily entered a calm phase.

There is no transfer order at this time, so I guess there will be no more changes this year.

Even if there is a real need for transfer, it will have to wait until after the autumn harvest and tax collection.

The people in the farm knew that Zhang Ping'an attached great importance to the sweet potato germination matter. In addition, Old Man Ding, sent by Lord Zhou, was keeping a close eye on it, so no one dared to be careless.

Even Green Bean Eyes and Fatty Wu would go and take a look from time to time.

Even so, when checking on the thirteenth day, it was found that brown liquid had seeped out of the sweet potato pieces that had been germinated using the indoor heat preservation method. They were soft and rotted when squeezed. It was obviously not going to work!

I feel so sorry for Green Bean Eyes.

He brought these back at the risk of his life!

Zhang Ping'an was also a little disappointed and sighed, but experiments always have successes and failures, and he had specially kept a lot, so he felt a little confident.

"There is no problem with this method. I think something went wrong. I took a look and it's probably a humidity problem. The potatoes are rotten. Next time when germinating, spray less water," said Zhang Pingan.

Old Man Ding carefully examined the rotten potatoes, nodded, and hissed, "Yes, some of them have sprouted, but they are useless. They are all rotten. This shows that the method is correct. Based on my years of experience, in addition to excessive watering, there is also insufficient light, which is why they are suffocating and rotting."

Everyone felt a little dejected after hearing this.

At this time, Fatty Wu was peeking outside, obviously having something to report.

Zhang Pingan pinched his brows and said in a deep voice, "Come in!"

Fatty Wu then came in, bowed with a smile and said, "Your Excellency, I just went to the field where we use open-field seedling cultivation and found that the potatoes in that field have basically sprouted today and are growing well.

Why don't we just use the open-field seedling method for now and plant both baskets of sweet potatoes? Once we have a harvest, we can then study how to use the indoor heat preservation method to accelerate germination, which will also save time and cost."

"Really?" Zhang Pingan asked in surprise.

He hadn't had time to visit the field where seedlings were grown in the open air when he came here today, so he really didn't know.

"It's absolutely true, I just came from that field," Fatty Wu quickly raised two fingers and swore to the sky.

He wouldn't make up such a thing.

"Let's go and take a look," Zhang Ping'an took the lead and walked out.

I don’t feel so bad about these rotten potatoes anymore.

Once they sprout, sweet potato vines grow very quickly.

It will be convenient to take cuttings later.

It can be said that the harvest in four months is just around the corner.

Chen Jianqiu, Hua Wanli and Green Bean Eyes hurried to catch up.

They all came to the land seedling raising field and found that there were indeed many tender sprouts breaking through the soil, trembling in the cold wind.

But it did grow, and it grew well.

"Damn it, it's worth it that I risked my life to bring these sweet potatoes back, they finally have some use," Green Eyes cursed with a smile.

A look of relief flashed in his eyes.

Damn it, he was really afraid that all these sweet potatoes would rot, and then that Lord Zhou would ask him to make another trip to Luzon. The thought of it made his teeth ache.

It seems that it is no longer necessary now. Huh... breathe a sigh of relief!

Sprouting means you are halfway to success.

This method is better than the greenhouse germination method.

Zhang Ping'an quickly took all the remaining sweet potatoes and asked Old Man Ding to lead the men to plant all the sweet potatoes using the open-field seedling cultivation method.

Old man Ding is a capable man. He doesn't talk much, but he works efficiently.

They were all planted that day.

So, in mid-April, when Zhang Ping'an went to the farm again, he saw that the fields were covered with lush sweet potato vines.

It is time to take cuttings.

Every one of them is precious!

At this moment, Zhang Pingan couldn't help but think of his previous life when he was in the orphanage. Every time this season came, the people who purchased food would go to the nearby suburbs to find someone to buy the leftover sweet potato vines from cuttings and cook them.

Sometimes people even have to eat it for more than ten days in a row, which can make their faces turn green.

It can be said that all year round, we basically eat whatever is in season and cheap.

From boiled eggplant, boiled Chinese cabbage, boiled pumpkin to boiled radish, there are basically just a few things.

I never thought that one day sweet potato vines would become a treasure.

Zhang Pingan smiled, shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

He instructed the old farmers on the farm to follow the method he learned from Luzon, select thick sweet potato vines with 3 to 4 buds, cut them obliquely, and insert them into the loose soil, about 2/3 of the way, press them lightly to fix them, and then water them thoroughly to help them take root.

Then wait patiently for the soil to dry before watering again to avoid waterlogging and root rot.

Plant as much as you can and try not to waste it.

The one who did the best job was Old Man Ding, he was quick and efficient.

He is also very clean and always washes his hands and face to keep himself tidy after finishing farm work.

They are not as dirty as ordinary farmers.

Zhang Pingan couldn't help but praise him a few times.

Old Man Ding shook his head and said gently, "That's nothing. Now that we've figured out how to grow sweet potatoes, it'll be much quicker to tend to them. After all, sweet potatoes aren't delicate and are easy to care for!"

"That would be a waste of your talent. Lord Zhou said in his letter that you are very good at planting. Who knows, there may be other places that need you in the future," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.