Previously, Zhao Bin had people open up a field on the river upstream of Yancheng, built several greenhouses, and had about a dozen old farmers here to care for and grow vegetables.
Soon the group came to the vegetable field where the greenhouse was located. Princess Leyang looked at the various vegetables growing in the vegetable field. She did not know these vegetables at all.
The Xianbei people are good at nomadic herding and hunting, but they know nothing about farming. Princess Leyang looked here and there, her eyes full of curiosity.
After several old farmers bowed down to Zhao Bin, they took Zhao Bin to check the growth in the vegetable field.
Zhao Bin looked at this large area of vegetables, melons and fruits growing extremely luxuriantly. He knew that these old farmers must be doing their best in taking care of the farmland.
"Move the things down!" Zhao Bin ordered the guards following him.
Immediately, several guards moved the things from the car down. Zhao Bin took out two spherical objects with sprouts from his pocket and handed them to several old farmers.
Several old farmers looked up and down at the thing in Zhao Bin's hand, but they didn't know what it was.
An old farmer about fifty years old asked: "Your Majesty, what is this?"
"This is called a potato. It grows in the soil and is similar to a radish. Under conventional planting, the yield per mu should be over a thousand kilograms. If there is sufficient fertilizer, several thousand kilograms is possible." Zhao Bin explained patiently.
Several old farmers were surprised when they heard that the yield of this product could reach more than 1,000 kilograms per mu.
An old farmer asked tremblingly, "Your Majesty, are these potatoes for people to eat?"
"Of course you can eat it. There are many ways to eat this kind of potato, such as cutting it into thin strips and frying it, or cutting it into pieces and stewing it, or you can just burn it and eat it whole. In short, there are many ways to eat it."
Princess Leyang also came up curiously, "Isn't this what is fed to horses? Can humans also eat it?"
Zhao Bin said with a smile: "Perhaps the biggest difference between humans and horses is that horses don't eat meat. People not only eat meat, but also crops. Aren't crops essentially just grass? It's just different varieties."
"So this thing can be eaten by horses and people, and it will make them full."
Zhao Bin explained to everyone with a smile.
"Lao Wu, knife!"
Zhao Bin reached out to Wang Wu for his waist knife, then placed the potatoes on the ground and cut the potatoes horizontally and vertically into different small pieces.
Zhao Bin showed the divided potatoes to everyone and said, "Follow my method and divide all the potatoes into small pieces like this."
Wang Wu looked around and saw nothing like a stove, so he asked hesitantly: "Your Majesty, do we want to eat potatoes here?"
A black line suddenly appeared on Zhao Bin's face.
"It's not about eating, it's about planting. I brought you to grow potatoes."
"oh!"
At Zhao Bin's signal, several guards immediately poured out several sacks of potatoes and began cutting them.
Princess Leyang had never farmed before, so she took out a delicate knife she wore and joined in the process of cutting potatoes.
Seeing a few people busy, Zhao Bin turned to a few old farmers and ordered: "Uncles, please find a piece of idle land and level it to create ridges."
Following Zhao Bin's instructions, several old farmers took the tools and began to tidy up a piece of idle land.
The cultivation of potatoes is actually similar to the cultivation of sweet potatoes. They build several ridges on flat land and then plant potatoes on the ridges.
The soil in the built-up ridges is relatively loose, which is conducive to the growth of potatoes. If it is on flat land, the soil below is generally relatively strong, and it will be very difficult for potatoes to grow.
Princess Leyang was originally cutting potatoes with Wang Wu, Ling'er and others, but then she saw a few old farmers using strange tools to make furrows in the field, so she ran over curiously to help with the furrowing!
Zhao Bin teased unceremoniously: "My eldest princess, can you do it?"
Leyang said arrogantly: "Huh, don't look down on me. I can learn everything very quickly."
When several old farmers heard that this beautiful woman was a princess, they dared to let her work. They desperately hugged the shovels and pickaxes in their hands.
"I say, Your Highness, please don't make things difficult for me, this little old man, this is not your job!"
Princess Leyang was not willing to give up and had to try it herself.
The old farmer looked helplessly at Zhao Bin. Zhao Bin waved his hand casually, signaling the old farmer to give her the shovel.
The old farmer had a bitter look on his face. If he bumped into someone like this, he couldn't afford to lose his life.
Zhao Bin seemed to see the old farmer's mentality, so he said: "Don't worry, this is not our princess from Daxia, this is the princess from Xianbei people."
The old farmer thought to himself, I can't afford to offend any princess, but since the prince has said so, let her do it!
Princess Leyang followed the example of other old farmers, using shovel after shovel to cultivate the soil. However, not long after bending down to work, Princess Leyang began to feel pain in her back.
Zhao Bin squatted on the ground beside him and said with a sarcastic smile: "I'll just tell you that you're not good enough. You can't do it anymore. You have to show off your strength. If you can't do it, forget it."
Princess Leyang did not hear the meaning of Zhao Bin's words and thought he was mocking her, so she said angrily: "Who said I can't do it anymore."
"You Xianbei people can also herd cattle and so on. You can't do such technical things, so just put it down."
Zhao Bin continued to joke.
"Don't let go!"
"Put it down! It's not that I look down on you, it's because you are really incompetent!"
"Don't let it go, just don't let it go. Go away and don't disturb me!" Princess Leyang said angrily.
After saying this, Princess Leyang continued to bend down and began to dig the soil and make ridges!
When the old farmer saw this, he looked at Zhao Bin with a sad face. Zhao Bin gestured to him not to worry about it, and then ordered him to find some buckets. After the seeds were planted, they still had to water.
Whenever Princess Leyang straightened up and wanted to stretch her waist, Zhao Bin sighed not far away.
"Why!"
Whenever she heard Zhao Bin's sigh, Princess Leyang's unwillingness to admit defeat surged into her heart, so she bent down again and continued working.
Seeing that several other old farmers had started to work hard, and she still had a long way to go, Princess Leyang felt bad.
Originally, she had never done this kind of work before, so she was definitely not as skilled as these old farmers who had been working in the fields all year round, but she couldn't withstand Zhao Bin's strange anger there.
Wang Wu picked two courgettes, wiped them with his clothes, sat down next to Zhao Bin, and handed one to Zhao Bin.
"My lord, are you willing to let the princess do this work?"
Zhao Bin turned his head slightly and looked at Wang Wu.
"Did you see it?"
Wang Wu didn't say anything, he smiled, showing two rows of big white teeth.
Zhao Bin looked at Wang Wu with a smirk on his face and couldn't help but sigh, Brother Wu's IQ is on the line.
When Princess Leyang finally raised her own ridge to the beginning, Princess Leyang turned around and looked proudly. She saw that the ridges built by others were all straight, but the one she made was as crooked as As ugly as a worm.
Zhao Bin was eating courgette not far away and taunted: "Look what others have done, and what have you done, Princess?"
Leyang threw the shovel to the ground.
"You can do it, come on!"
Zhao Bin took a bite of courgette and said, "I won't come, I am the prince!"
"you....."
Princess Leyang stamped her feet angrily. Now she finally understood that Zhao Bin was clearly using her as a coolie.
Cui'er on the side washed the handkerchief in the water, took it to Leyang and said with concern: "Your Highness, please wipe your face."
Princess Leyang took Twee'er's handkerchief and said: "Twee'er is better, unlike some people who are very bad!"
After saying that, he glared at Zhao Bin fiercely.
Zhao Bin and Wang Wu didn't feel funny when they saw Princess Leyang's appearance.
Smiling, Zhao Bin stood up and gave Wang Wu a kick.
"Just laugh your ass off and go fetch some water."
"oh!"
Zhao Bin asked others to bring all the divided potatoes and bury them in the ridges according to the corresponding sizes, and asked the two guards to take turns fetching water.
Now that the weather has entered summer, newly planted seeds still need to be watered.
This time Zhao Bin was not teasing Princess Leyang to fetch water. He could see that Princess Leyang was really tired.
Playing with knives and guns and working in the fields are still two different things, but this time Princess Leyang also realized how hard the daily life of the people of Daxia is in a farming country.
On the way back to the city, Princess Leyang asked Zhao Bin: "You have such a vast land in Daxia, why do you choose to do such hard work like farming?"
Zhao Bin thought for a moment and said, "What do you think is the biggest advantage of Daxia compared to the nomads?"
"The biggest advantage?" Princess Leyang repeated curiously.
"right!"
Leyang thought for a while, but without any clue, he could only answer lightly: "I don't know."
Zhao Bin leaned on his seat and said: "Nomadism, hunting, and farming are all methods of production, but nomadism and hunting involve great risks, and it is difficult to ensure the long-term stability of ethnic groups and tribes.
Countless ethnic tribes have appeared on the grassland. Whether it is due to war or other reasons, many tribes will eventually die out. "
"The emergence of agricultural civilization has ensured a stable production method to a certain extent, thus providing a guarantee for the continuous expansion of ethnic groups. The stability and growth of tribes will gradually produce powerful civilizations, whether in politics, economy, or military , culture will continue to develop.”
Zhao Bin didn't know if Princess Leyang understood what he said, but after hearing what Zhao Bin said.
Princess Leyang fell into deep thought, possibly thinking of her tribe. She had a premonition that her tribe would disappear from the world one day, just like Zhao Bin said.
