We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

autumn harvest!

The golden fields sparkled in the sun, and the ears of beans rose and fell like a golden ocean.

Tao Qian stood on the edge of the field with Li Che, looking at the scene of bountiful harvest, his heart filled with emotion.

A good harvest always makes people feel comfortable from the bottom of their hearts.

The people were in high spirits, and laughter and singing echoed across the fields.

The strong men, holding sickles, skillfully harvested the heavy soybeans. The plump pods seemed to be responding to people's joy.

The women carried bamboo baskets and neatly placed bunches of harvested soybeans into the baskets.

The children ran in the fields, occasionally picking up a few bunches of beans like the adults.

A naughty child accidentally fell in the field, then jumped up from the ground shouting, causing a burst of laughter.

The Fengtian Army soldiers stood by, silently guarding this tranquility and harmony.

They carried no weapons, but were neatly dressed in armor and had gentle smiles on their faces.

Occasionally, when civilians needed help, soldiers would come forward to lend a hand, either by helping to carry beans or by maintaining order.

"Fellow countryman, take it slow. Come one trip at a time. There's no rush."

"Hey, hey, hey, be careful behind you, it's all fallen to the ground."

"Forget it, sir. You lead the way and I'll help you carry it back."

Tao Qian was deeply moved watching this. He had traveled all over the country and knew that any soldier who did not oppress the common people was a first-class soldier.

Have you ever seen soldiers taking the initiative to help civilians with their work without expecting anything in return?

No, they are rewarded too.

Tao Qian looked at the people around him, thoughtful.

He saw heartfelt respect and gratitude in the eyes of the people looking at the soldiers.

What they gained was the respect of the people.

In Fengguo, no one called them thieves and soldiers.

Soldiers, warriors, and soldiers are what they are called.

"Li Erdan, how many kilograms did your family harvest?" Li Che's voice came from the side.

Tao Qian looked sideways and saw a man and his wife carrying the last basket of beans onto an ox cart, with a half-grown child following behind them.

When the man heard what Li Che said, he wiped the sweat off his head and said honestly:

"In reply to Your Highness, my family has twenty acres of land, and the harvest can yield more than two thousand kilograms of soybeans."

Li Che nodded slightly. The per-acre yield of soybeans in ancient times was affected by many factors such as agricultural technology, natural environment, and social and economic development level.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, one acre of land could only yield 100 kilograms of soybeans.

This piece of land outside Chaoyang City has just been reclaimed and it is not black soil, so achieving this output is already considered a good harvest.

"Very good. Keep up the good work. Next year I will give you some more productive seeds."

"Oh." Li Erdan bowed repeatedly, "Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Highness."

Li Che smiled, nodded, and waved his hand.

Today, the people of Chaoyang City worship Li Che as a god and believe in his words without a doubt, which saves him the trouble of promoting new seeds.

The seeds planted in the backyard of the palace have basically grown.

Seventy percent of them can adapt to the climate outside the Great Wall, including the corn that Li Che most hopes for.

What surprised Li Che was that the cotton could actually survive and grow quite well.

In his impression, the most famous place for growing cotton is Xinjiang, and he has never been sure whether cotton can be grown in Northeast China.

What he didn't know was that Liaoning actually has a long history of cotton planting, dating back to more than 400 years ago.

The planting areas are mainly distributed on the alluvial plains of the Daling River, Xiaoling River, Raoyang River, and Nv'er River basins, and can achieve good harvests in a relatively short growing period.

Starting next year, beans will no longer be planted on this land. Instead, corn will be the staple food, cotton will be the cash crop, and other vegetables and crops will be supplementary.

Li Erdan and his family walked by, and Li Che looked at the people behind him and patiently asked them one by one.

The people would naturally not hide anything and would report the yield per mu in full.

Qiu Bai, who was standing beside him, held a brush and quickly recorded the data.

Li Che had a rough idea in his mind that the yield per mu of this batch of beans should be between 100 and 120 kilograms.

It can indeed be considered a bumper harvest. The harvest is much higher than that in most areas within the Great Wall, mainly because the areas outside the Great Wall were not affected by the disaster.

A steady stream of soybeans were harvested, and the people kept some for themselves and sold the rest to the Fengguo government office.

Li Che had said in advance that the people could farm with confidence, and he would buy it at a fair price no matter how much grain they harvested.

Soybeans are full of treasures. They were an important crop during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and were even used as staple food.

It was not until cereal crops such as rice and wheat were widely cultivated that soybeans began to be transformed into condiments and supplementary foods.

Li Che spent money to buy soybeans from the people, so naturally he would not suffer any loss.

Soybeans can be used to extract oil, make tofu, and brew soy sauce.

The pods and leaves can be chopped and used to feed livestock.

Bean roots are excellent fertilizers.

The bean stalks can be used for firewood and to make roughage.

You can keep the feed and fertilizers for your own use, and sell the soy sauce and soybean oil to the interior of the country to make a profit.

The newly built cement road came in handy, as every household had a bumper harvest and needed to dry the grain.

Li Che insisted on widening the cement road, which was convenient for the people to dry their grain.

However, something happened that Li Che could not have imagined.

"Your Highness, the copper coins in the treasury are insufficient." Qian Bin suddenly came to Li Che and whispered:

"The soybeans the people have are enough to last them through the winter, and you promised them that the palace would purchase any excess grain."

"We don't have many copper coins in the palace, and most of them are used to pay salaries to officials, workers, and soldiers."

"Do you think we should stop buying grain from the people and let them buy and sell it themselves, or store it?"

Hearing this, Li Che frowned and shook his head, saying, "If you don't fulfill the promise you made a few months ago, then what credibility do I have as the King of Feng?"

"No matter what, we must buy it! If there's not enough money in the treasury, we'll write IOUs to the people first!"

"This..." Qian Bin looked embarrassed.

Only he, the chief steward of Feng State, knew how difficult the financial situation of Feng State was.

Since Li Che became a vassal, there has been constant war in Feng State, and he also carried out large-scale construction projects and provided relief to the people.

The money brought from the interior had long been spent, and what was looted from the Khitan and Goryeo was just a drop in the bucket.

The production of copper coins has not yet been completed, and Feng State has been in a state of extreme shortage of money.

"Your Highness, please reconsider this. It's unheard of for the government to issue IOUs to ordinary people."

Qian Bin really couldn't understand Li Che's thoughts.

Since ancient times, when the government was short of money, it only needed to collect more taxes from the people early on. How could it make sense to borrow money from the people?

Li Che shook his head and was about to answer.

Suddenly, a series of horse hoofbeats could be heard from behind, and a scout shouted, "Your Highness, the caravan heading for the interior has returned!"

"Oh?" Li Che's expression relaxed. "Okay, no need to write an IOU. My God of Wealth is back!"