I relied on a system to prolong my life in ancient times.

Chapter 93 Harvesting Sweet Potatoes and Planting Potatoes

After returning, Xiao Siyue used her spare time to brew wine. She planned to make some high-concentration alcohol to make perfume.

After finishing her homework each day, she would conduct experiments with her two maids, but brewing wine takes time, so she wasn't in a hurry.

That day, Xiao Qinian returned home saying he had received a letter from his grandfather and the others.

"Dad, what did Grandpa and the others say in their letters? Did they mention me?" Xiao Siyue craned her neck to look.

“Yes, your grandparents said they miss you and asked if you missed them. Your uncles, aunts, and brothers also miss you.” Xiao Qinian said, handing the letter to Xiao Siyue.

“I miss my grandparents too,” Xiao Siyue said, looking at the book carefully.

The letter, spanning several pages, was filled with concern for Xiao Siyue.

Xiao Siyue was moved to tears as she read it.

It wasn't until after reading several pages that I came across Mr. Xiao's important business.

"Father, Grandpa said that the potatoes in Xiaojia Village have been harvested, and the yield is still very high. Moreover, the imperial court sent people to collect most of them. This time, every household in Xiaojia Village received a lot of silver."

Xiao Siyue was very happy to see this. She knew that the imperial court was taking these potatoes to keep for seed. She wasn't surprised, but she was quite taken aback that the court had offered two taels of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure), a price higher than that of rice and flour.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Potatoes aren't widely available yet and are relatively scarce. These are being purchased as seeds, and the price will definitely come down in the future.

"Oh? Let me see." Xiao Qinian seemed quite interested. He hadn't seen the rest of the letter and assumed they were just ordinary family letters.

"Our Xiao Family Village will only get better and better in the future." Xiao Qinian was very happy after reading the letter.

"Dad, the potatoes in Xiaojia Village have been harvested. I wonder how the ones planted in Huangzhuang are doing, and whether the yield is as high." Xiao Siyue was very curious, as Huangzhuang had planted a full 400 shi (a unit of dry measure) this year.

“The potatoes in Huangzhuang should have been harvested by now. The yield is estimated to be higher than that in Xiaojia Village. The land in Huangzhuang is better than that in Xiaojia Village,” Xiao Qinian said after thinking for a while.

"I'll write a letter and send it to the capital to inquire," Xiao Qinian said, about to write the letter, when Li Bing came in from outside.

"My lord, a letter has arrived from the capital." Li Bing handed the letter to Xiao Qinian.

Xiao Qinian was puzzled; he had just been about to write a letter to his teacher when the letter arrived.

Xiao Qinian opened it and burst into laughter: "Haha, Yue'er, there's no need to send a letter to the capital anymore. The teacher's letter is about this very thing."

"Dad, what did Grandpa Shen say?" Xiao Siyue thought to herself, this letter came just in time. It was probably as soon as the potatoes were harvested that Shen Junru sent the letter over.

"The potatoes in Huangzhuang are indeed more productive than those in Xiaojia Village, with a yield of 50 shi per mu." Xiao Qinian's tone was full of joy.

"That's great! If this continues, in at most another year, every household in the entire Great Zhou will be able to grow potatoes." Xiao Siyue roughly calculated in her mind.

"Father, I wonder what's going on with these potatoes this year?" The harvest was quite substantial; it's impossible to plant them all on the imperial estate. That would require tens of thousands of acres of fertile land. Is the imperial estate that big?

“Naturally, they are all planted on the imperial estate,” Xiao Qinian said matter-of-factly.

"Father, can the imperial estate be planted?" Xiao Siyue asked in surprise.

"Of course, the imperial estate has tens of millions of acres of land. How much of that would take up?"

Okay, she's narrow-minded. So the royal family is really that rich, with millions of acres of land. Planting these potatoes is just a drop in the ocean for them.

“Dad, we can plant potatoes now,” Xiao Siyue said. The potatoes had been put into the cellar as soon as they were brought over.

"Alright, I'll arrange the personnel in the next two days."

"Dad, the sweet potatoes we planted before are almost ready to be harvested," Xiao Siyue said, her heart filled with anticipation. She wondered how many sweet potatoes they would harvest. The sweet potato seedlings that the system had given them had been planted on a total of one acre of land.

"Is it ready? Great! Should we plant potatoes first or harvest sweet potatoes first?" Xiao Qinian asked, his eyes shining.

"Either is fine, it's not much." Xiao Siyue felt that it would only be a day or two different, so it wouldn't make a difference.

"Okay, okay." Xiao Qinian couldn't wait to get up and make arrangements.

Xiao Siyue went along when the sweet potatoes were harvested, and she was not disappointed. The total yield was more than 7000 jin per mu, which was much more than that of potatoes.

Xiao Qinian was so excited that he immediately wrote a letter to Shen Junru about the matter.

"Father, do you think the imperial court will take these sweet potatoes back this time?" Xiao Siyue felt that it definitely would, after all, they were high-yield, high-quality varieties, and the imperial court wouldn't feel at ease unless it had them in its hands.

"We'll know after we get a reply." Xiao Qinian didn't care about that. Sweet potatoes could be grown anywhere, as long as they eventually reached the people's hands, that was the best outcome.

However, Xiao Siyue was wrong this time. Shen Junru's letter said that the emperor was very happy that another high-yield and high-quality seed had appeared. He originally wanted to take the sweet potato seeds back, but considering that the sweet potatoes written in Xiao Qinian's letter were more suitable for planting in the south, he finally decided to grant Xiao Qinian 100 acres of fertile land to grow sweet potatoes.

Furthermore, in the end, Shen Junru subtly mentioned in the letter that the Emperor greatly admired Xiao Qinian and that there might be unexpected good things to come.

Upon receiving the letter, Xiao Qinian was extremely excited and told Xiao Siyue about it.

"Father, do you think the Emperor might be planning to promote you?" Xiao Siyue guessed, as this seemed the most likely explanation.

Xiao Qinian also thought it was possible, but he didn't want to leave Qianyuan County yet. After his efforts over the past two years, Qianyuan County had improved slightly, and he wanted to work even harder to develop it before leaving.

Xiao Qinian then wrote a letter to Shen Junru, expressing his thoughts.

After receiving the letter, Shen Junru felt somewhat helpless, but more so gratified and appreciative. It seemed that Xiao Qinian was able to disregard fame and fortune and dedicate himself to the people, indicating that he had found a successor.

When Xiao Qinian received the letter, he was very moved. In the letter, Shen Junru said that he would handle the matter, but he would give Xiao Qinian a maximum of three years. After three years, Xiao Qinian would have to leave and could not stay in this small place forever.

When Xiao Siyue found out, she felt it was a pity, but she did not think that her father had done anything wrong. She just thought that she would do her best to help Xiao Qinian develop Qianyuan County in the next three years.

However, this incident left a very good impression on the emperor. He had previously thought Xiao Qinian was a capable minister because of the matter of the superior seeds, and now he felt even more that Xiao Qinian was a useful person.