Chapter 861: Locust Plague

Translator: Atlas Studios    Editor: Atlas Studios

His Eldest Sister did not persuade him. She only said, “Our Grandmother’s funeral still needs to be handled for a while. Give me an answer after you’ve thought it through.”

In the following days, his father’s disgusted attitude, the guidance and discussions behind the servants’ backs, the pitiful gazes of the people around him, and the cold attitude of the clansmen…

Everything around him changed.

Only then did Yu Shansi understand his Eldest Sister’s good intentions. His Eldest Sister, who should have hated him the most, would not be like his Third Sister, who coaxed him with honeyed words. His Third Sister calculated the pros and cons in her eyes and quietly weighed him in her heart. In order to fulfill her own wish, she could even sacrifice him and her mother.

Yu Youyao had always been a competent eldest sister.

When he was in the Yu Residence, she took good care of him.

When he arrived in the North and was far away from his family, she took on the responsibility of teaching him, testing his studies, teaching him how to deal with people, and caring about his daily life.

Worried that he was living a hard life in the school, she had prepared incense, medicine, tea, ink, paper, and an inkstone for him. She was also worried that he wouldn’t get along well with his classmates. She had also prepared gifts for him to give to others.

Yu Youyao only returned to the Jiuxiao Courtyard after the carriage left the residence.

Chun Xiao brought over the gift that Yu Shansi had brought.

It was actually a small vat carved from jade, and it was made of an entire piece of jade. The craftsmanship of digging alone required superb skills. Jade was not mud. It was thick and hard. One needed a small tool to hollow out the middle bit by bit and polish it into shape. It required a lot of time, energy, and attention. If there was even the slightest mistake, the entire jade material would crack.

The area around Anshan was rich in jade. The jade material was not top-notch, but it looked smooth. Coupled with Yu Shansi’s meticulous carving, it looked natural.

It was obvious that he had put in a lot of effort.

Yu Youyao liked it very much, so she said, “I’ll raise a daffodil there later and place it in the study.”

… .

After recuperating for a few more days, Yu Youyao’s foot injury finally recovered.

Nanny Yue had brought a few stewards over to greet Yu Youyao. They were all people who had participated in the sweet potato planting test back then, and Yu Youyao valued them very much.

Nanny Yue said, “Young Miss suggested the planting method of cutting vines. We spent a lot of time cutting flowers, but the flowers didn’t grow. Meanwhile, we inadvertently inserted vines and the vines grew. We accidentally found the most productive planting method for the sweet potatoes. Therefore, the sweet potatoes were quickly and widely planted in the north and south. I discussed this matter with a few stewards who were trying to plant the sweet potatoes. We’ll first focus on growing the seedlings like rice, fattening them and growing them. When the vines grow, we’ll cut the vines and plant them around the Dragon Boat Festival.”

Yu Youyao’s heart skipped a beat. “This is a good method. The quality of the vines that are carefully nurtured is better than planting them in pieces. The production might even increase. After the seedlings grow, the vines will become more luxuriant, and the range of cuttage will greatly increase. The most important thing is that through the seedlings, the production of sweet potatoes won’t be reduced because of excessive cutting of the vines.”

Nanny Yue smiled and nodded. “The planting of sweet potatoes in the Liaodong area is mainly concentrated in the Xiangping area. Although there’s a lot of production, other than eating at home and keeping a portion for breeding, most of them have been collected by the You army to help the refugees. There’s still a limited number. Now that a large number of refugees have surged into Liaodong, it’s urgent to expand the planting of sweet potatoes.”

This was also what Yu Youyao was most worried about.

It was true that “coming to the North to help King Yue Fei promote the widespread planting of sweet potatoes and alleviate the disaster in the North” was just an excuse to the public, but she had never lied.

Ever since she stepped into the territory of the North, she had already made up her mind to do her best to plant sweet potatoes on every inch of Liaodong.

It allowed the refugees who had surged into the North to rely on reclamation to plant sweet potatoes and settle down in the North.

Nanny Yue said, “Through seedling planting, it’s estimated that every acre of vines can be planted into at least 60 to 70 acres of land, more than ten times the original. It can also guarantee the production of sweet potatoes, perfectly resolving the problem of insufficient sweet potatoes.”

The huge rock that had been weighing on Yu Youyao’s heart for a long time was finally settled. She smiled. “I heard that the first batch of sweet potatoes has already sprouted, rught?”

She had heard Yu Shansi mention it earlier.

Nanny Yue nodded. “As the climate in Liaodong is relatively wet and cold, and it’s our first time trying to breed, we chose to do it at the beginning of March. We chose commoners who are proficient in agriculture to take good care of them. Fortunately, the first batch of sweet potato seedlings is growing well.”

“The second batch of seedlings are expected to be planted at the end of the month. If there’s no problem with the second batch, there will be a large-scale breeding process at the beginning of April. At the same time, the local people will be taught how to grow seedlings.”

Yu Youyao had an idea. “How long will it take to raise the seedlings?”

Nanny Yue said, “According to past planting experience and the growth of the sweet potato seedlings, it will take about 20 days. The first and second batches of sweet potato seedlings are expected to be planted at the beginning of April and the end of April respectively. The third batch of sweet potato seedlings can be planted on a large scale around the Dragon Boat Festival.”

Yu Youyao’s expression relaxed. “Thank you for your hard work. When the second batch of sweet potatoes begins to grow, I’ll take some time to go to the manor to take a look.”

Nanny Yue looked troubled. “There will definitely be locusts if there’s a prolonged drought, and when locusts pass through, there’s often no harvest. Many areas in the North have been experiencing a drought for years. If there’s a locust plague, the Liaodong area will definitely be affected. June and July is the growth period of sweet potatoes, and the locust plague is mostly in June and June. If we don’t prevent it, I’m afraid…”

The commoners’ method of dealing with the locusts was to capture, kill, bury, and expel them after the locust plague arrived. However, in this way, the crops would definitely suffer a huge loss.

Yu Youyao’s expression turned solemn. She pondered for a long time. “I remember that in the Heavenly Works, there’s a record that using arsenic with plant ash can effectively prevent pests.”

“Huo Wenmin’s Compendium also records that Guangdong has ‘amphibious crabs’ that can eat grain buds and is very harmful to agriculture. Only ducks can eat it. Therefore, among the ducks in the world, the ducks in Guangnan are the most prosperous. The ‘amphibious crabs’ refer to locusts.”

“It’s also recorded in the Book of Flooding Victory from the Western Han Dynasty. By mixing horse bones, silkworm dung, sheep dung, appendages, and so on, the crops won’t have locusts…”

Yu Youyao had also read a lot of relevant books about agriculture. For a moment, her mind was filled with a thousand thoughts, but she did not have a serious idea, so she could only say, “Let me think about it carefully.”

Nanny Yue and the other stewards felt much more at ease when they saw that although Young Miss did not come up with any good ideas for the time being, she was not completely helpless.

Yu Youyao temporarily put down the matter of the locusts and asked, “I remember that last year, we tried to plant cotton in various areas of the North. The initial planting only succeeded in the southeast part of Liaodong, right?”

Nanny Yue hurriedly said, “The climate in Liaodong is wet and cold. Cotton can only be grown in a few warm areas in the south. The main branches are in the areas of the Great Ling River, the Little Ling River, the Loyang River, and the Daughter River. As the cotton planting period in this area is shorter than in other areas, it was planted late last year.”

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