Chapter 485: Not Wasting Heaven’s Blessing

Chapter 485: Not Wasting Heaven's Blessing

Mo Jiuye took a step back and smiled at the villagers, saying, "Of course it’s true."

Just as the villagers were about to ask more questions, Meng Huaining arrived with several constables.

He had known that the Mo Family would be digging sweet potatoes today when he went to work this morning.

As a son-in-law of the Mo Family, sweet potatoes were no stranger to him. Moreover, He Ziran had mentioned that sweet potatoes were not only delicious and filling but also had a very high yield.

Today, he had deliberately arranged his affairs at the yamen in advance and rushed back to check on the situation.

As soon as he reached the field, he caught the familiar sweet aroma.

"Ninth Brother, are you roasting sweet potatoes?"

Mo Jiuye tossed the roasted sweet potato in his hand to him.

Meng Huaining caught it nimbly. Although it was still hot, he couldn’t wait to take a bite.

"Ninth Brother, roasted sweet potatoes are just so good; I can never get enough."

Meng Huaining sat down beside Mo Jiuye with a smile, a gesture that left the constables who followed him somewhat stunned.

Their master was always so serious that they had always assumed he never smiled.

What did they see now?

Their master was laughing freely and openly, almost like a different person from his usual self.

Meng Huaining didn’t care what his men were thinking. Though he was enjoying his meal, he hadn’t lost sight of why he had rushed back.

"Ninth Brother, how’s the yield for the sweet potatoes?"

Mentioning the sweet potato yield, Mo Jiuya’s face lit up with pride.

He pointed to the sweet potatoes piled at the edge of the field and said, "See those? That’s what one acre produces. We just weighed them carefully, and the yield can reach about 5,000 pounds per acre."

"Ninth Brother, are you saying the sweet potatoes can reach a yield of 5,000 pounds per acre?"

Meng Huaining was now thoroughly shaken. He dropped the sweet potato he was holding and shot to his feet.

"Ninth Brother, we’ve already agreed that all these sweet potatoes will be supplied to the government to be used as seeds for next year."

Afraid that Mo Jiuya might go back on his word, he spoke in a very serious and earnest tone.

Mo Jiuya wasn’t the type to break a promise once it was made.

Moreover, they had noticed something else. The grain crops from their hidden storage, like sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and rice, wouldn’t lose productivity even if the seeds collected from outside were replanted the next year.

On the other hand, fruits and vegetables from the mountains wouldn’t produce nearly as much if grown outside.

They had originally planned to secretly swap the harvested sweet potatoes with the stored ones in their hidden storage.

This convenient rule saved them a lot of hassle.

Otherwise, they’d have to find a way to get seeds from the space each year. Now, it was much simpler—these high-yield crops could be grown outside without losing their productivity.

"Don’t worry, we’ll supply 100,000 pounds of sweet potatoes to the government. We’ll keep the rest to earn some profit. But on the condition that the government doesn’t sell these sweet potatoes in the market before the next planting season."

Meng Huaining had no idea about the full extent of Mo Jiuya and He Zhiran’s resources. He only thought that the Mo Family’s income came from these surface-level sources.

Especially now that the Mo Family was raising so many private soldiers, they must be very tight on money.

If it weren’t for the people’s livelihood, he would never have brought this up.

He originally thought that Ninth Brother would only offer a small portion to the government as seeds for next year, but he never expected Ninth Brother to be so supportive, offering 100,000 jin of sweet potato seeds right away. This was almost the majority of the Mo Family’s sweet potato yield!

Thinking of this, Meng Huaining bowed deeply to Mo Jiuya, his gratitude evident.

"Ninth Brother, I speak on behalf of the people of Yun City to thank you and Ninth Sister-in-law for your great kindness."

He had originally planned to ask Ninth Brother and Ninth Sister-in-law for chili seeds to help the people of Yun City gain a higher income.

But seeing the bountiful sweet potato harvest now, it was clear that sweet potatoes were much more practical for the people’s sustenance than chilies.

Chilies, if sold, would bring in silver, but if unsold, they would turn into a pile of mud in a few days.

Sweet potatoes were not only delicious but, more importantly, filling. If every household could store some sweet potatoes for the winter, they wouldn’t have to worry about going hungry.

Although Mo Jiuya wasn’t an official, he couldn’t bear to see the people go hungry. He didn’t think much of it.

Moreover, his wife had also said that the space was a divine gift. She needed to follow the will of the heavens and help those in need as much as possible, so as not to waste the gift from the heavens.

"We’re family, so helping you is the least we can do. Under your governance, Yun City has already seen great improvements. In the future, when the people can all fill their stomachs, it will be a sight we’re happy to see."

"Good, I won’t be polite with you, Ninth Brother. How many sweet potatoes have been dug up so far?"

Meng Huaining didn’t know why he felt so urgent, as if the sweet potatoes would disappear if not moved to the granary right away.

"We can start anytime. There are many people helping now. It should take about three days to dig everything up."

And the sooner, the better. He had already seen pictures of those greenhouses in his wife's space, and they had prepared plastic sheets when the foreign merchant ships came. Now, they were just waiting for all the sweet potatoes in the fields to be dug up, and before the villagers' autumn harvest, they would set up the greenhouses.

Meng Huaining was already anxious, and when he heard Mo Jiuya say they could transport the sweet potatoes now, he was so excited that he forgot to discuss the price. He immediately turned to his subordinates and ordered,

"Go back to the government office and mobilize all the officials here. Also, bring every ox cart in the city."

Ma Junshan had never seen their superior act so out of order before.

He couldn’t help but remind, "Sir, weren’t you still pondering the price of the sweet potatoes on the way here? Are you sure you want to transport them now?"

Being reminded, Meng Huaining realized he had indeed gotten too excited.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, he looked at Mo Jiuya and said, "Ninth Brother, I got carried away and forgot to ask about the price."

Mo Jiuya hadn’t mentioned the price when he agreed to provide the seeds because the yield was still uncertain.

Before organizing people to dig the sweet potatoes, he and He Zhiran had already discussed that if the sweet potato yield exceeded 3,000 jin per mu, they would sell them to the government at regular prices.

Of course, as seeds, the price would naturally be higher than regular grain.

In modern times, high-yield sweet potatoes sell for about three yuan per jin, which was roughly equivalent to three copper coins in this era.

That is to say, the price of sweet potatoes should be three wen (copper coins) per jin.

However, since sweet potatoes were making their first appearance in the Great Shun Dynasty and even in neighboring countries, the price couldn’t be as low as three wen per jin.

Moreover, the price of seeds would be several times higher than the regular sweet potatoes.