The peppers and tomatoes are perfectly ripe.
Countless red fruits hang on it, which is so beautiful and pleasing to the eye.
Corn and potatoes are also growing well.
It can be seen with the naked eye that the ears of corn are slowly firming up, and I believe there will be a bumper harvest in autumn.
Although you can't see how the potatoes are growing, there must be plenty of fruits hidden under the lush seedlings.
Looking at the beautiful scene in front of him, Zuo Mengeng was overjoyed.
What he didn't know was that these seeds were cultivated by Xu Guangqi. If it were a native American seed, he would be crying by now.
He picked a tomato at random, wiped it on his sleeve, and put it directly into his mouth.
There is no need to worry about pesticide residues, there is no such thing in this era.
In the mouth, you will feel the familiar sweetness of full juice, with the unique fragrance of plants, which makes all the taste buds lively.
Zuo Mengeng simply refused to leave.
"Come on, come on, everyone, help us to collect these two pieces of land. I will cook for you later and prepare some fresh food for you."
People couldn't help laughing when they heard that Zuo Mengeng was going to cook the food himself.
However, peppers and tomatoes are fresh foods, and everyone doesn’t know how to handle them. They really need to learn from him.
With more people and greater strength, the peppers and tomatoes in the ten acres of land were quickly picked.
Looking at the mountain-like results, the farmers all smiled happily.
No matter how good these crops are, it is a joy to have a good harvest.
Zuo Mengeng grabbed Lao Qintou, Chen Zhi, and Wang Yun, and told them: "Choose some of the best-looking ones, peel out the seeds inside and store them carefully. These will be the seeds for planting next time."
Saving seeds is a big deal.
During this period of time, Chen Zhi was managing Zuozhuang, wandering around the fields with the "Encyclopedia of Agricultural Affairs" in his hands all day long, and often communicating with farmers. Now he has become an expert with two knives.
After listening to Zuo Mengeng's instructions, he immediately took the people to work.
Zuo Mengeng took some peppers and tomatoes and went to the cafeteria.
Of course it was impossible for him to cook all the meals for so many people.
What he has to do is to teach the cooks in the canteen, and then these cooks will spread the recipe.
The cooks were all shocked when they heard that Chizao was personally teaching cooking. There were many people inside and outside, and they even helped Zuo Mengeng.
Zuo Mengeng's skills were just like that. He simply made scrambled eggs with peppers, fried dried tofu with peppers, scrambled eggs with chili sauce and tomatoes.
"Come on, come on, sit down, eat and watch. If you're not good at the craftsmanship, don't say it's not delicious."
Naturally, he took some of the side dishes Zuo Mengeng made by himself and enjoyed them himself.
He found Liu Yiyuan, Huang Zongxi, Zhou You, Chen Zhi, Zuo Xianmei, and Wang Xiuqin, who were the first people to try.
Zuo Xianmei has changed a lot now.
Wearing the military uniform of the rear camp, her skin is as white as jade, which highlights her contrasting beauty.
She was not used to dining with a group of men at the same table, but Zuo Mengeng forced her to do so, so she had no choice but to comply.
Compared with her, Wang Xiuqin is generous.
Seeing Huang Zongxi looking at the table full of food and not knowing what to do, he couldn't help laughing and scolding: "You are such a talented man that you can't even eat."
Wang Xiuqin pulled out a pancake, put shredded onions, cabbage, and chili sauce in it, rolled it up, and handed it to Huang Zongxi.
"I wonder if you are used to it?"
Huang Zongxi looked at her carefully, thanked her and took it, teasing her with a smile.
"After eating in this back camp, what else can't you get used to?"
A group of people laughed loudly, showing a sense of joy in misery.
It's just that we were classmates as teenagers, scolded Fang Qiu, endured hardships and adversities together, these experiences bring joy to our lives.
Zuo Mengeng acted the fastest, rolled up the pancakes, and took a delicious bite.
The sweet aroma of pancakes and the refreshing aroma of vegetables are combined with the mellow and spicy aroma of chili sauce...
It’s so satisfying!
Others also started to eat, and for a while they coughed continuously.
This is an inevitable reaction when eating spicy food for the first time.
But after a while, after getting used to the spiciness, everyone got into it. Soon, everyone was sweating profusely from eating.
Even Zuo Xianmei's face turned red and her sweat was glistening. But I couldn't stop talking, and I was already eating my third pancake.
"It's fun, it's fun!"
Liu Yiyuan was obviously annoyed, and he kept burping, but he still praised him endlessly.
"I didn't expect this Western crop to have such a flavor. It's hot right now, so I don't think it's a big deal. But if it's the cold winter season, it's best to have this chili pepper as a side dish to keep out the cold."
Several others said yes, apparently also discovering the magical power of chili peppers.
Zuo Mengeng looked at everyone with stern eyes and took the opportunity to instruct.
"These are not Western crops, but what Westerners discovered in the Americas. The Americas are vast and vast, desolate and uninhabited except for savages. All the good land has been occupied by Westerners."
These people here have all seen the world map, and they all became interested when they heard him mention the situation in the Americas.
"We have to go and have a look someday. We can't let foreigners take all the good things in the world."
"Nowadays, land annexation is becoming more and more popular in the world, and the common people have no place to stand. If we can find cultivated land overseas, our achievements will be as great as those of the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty."
On this day, all the meals in Zuozhuang and the military camp were filled with chili and tomatoes.
After just one meal, everyone fell in love with these two vegetables.
"Tomatoes are not easy to preserve and perish easily, but they can be made into tomato sauce. As for peppers, they have a better flavor after being dried and can be stored longer. You can try to make it. Maybe when the army sends out troops in a while, you can still bring it with you. superior."
The timely ripening of peppers helped Zuo Mengeng a great help.
When the army fights in winter, in addition to battle losses, the severe cold will also cause serious injuries. With chili peppers, soldiers can supplement heat in the field, resist the cold, and reduce many injuries.
In addition, Zuo Menggeng decided to make more attempts at agriculture on Zhuangzi.
“Now that the barley and wheat harvests have been completed, what will be planted next?”
Lao Qintou said: "Generally, we plant adzuki beans and harvest them in October, and then we plant wheat, and then the next crop comes."
The adzuki beans he refers to are red adzuki beans.
As a leguminous plant, the daylight growth period is short, which can fill the gap between the summer solstice wheat harvest and autumn wheat planting.
However, the uses of red adzuki beans are limited, and Zuo Mengeng doesn’t value them very much.
He thought for a while and decided to implement his plan.
"Well, in the next round of farming, we will abandon barley and focus on wheat. At the same time, the cultivated land area will be reduced, and we will do something else."
When they heard that they were going to change crops, the farmers looked at each other and felt a little panicked.
But Chen Zhi thought of something.
"Qianzao, you are planning to plant those corns and potatoes on Zhuangzi, right?"
Zuo Mengeng shook his head.
"If you grow corn and potatoes, you will definitely have to compete with wheat for land. It is not suitable to implement it yet. What I want to build is a vegetable base, especially the supply of vegetables in winter."
When he said this, there were only two words churning in Zuo Mengeng's mind.
Shouguang!
Others farm to fill their stomachs. His view of agriculture is to generate income.
If you want to generate income, of course vegetables with higher economic value are better.
Zuo Mengeng is not afraid that the vegetables he grows will not be sold, because there is a big city with a population of one million right next to him!
In the winter of this era, people’s diet is so monotonous that it’s almost outrageous.
I am afraid that except for those in the imperial palace, it is almost impossible for wealthy people to see fresh green leafy vegetables in winter.
Zuo Mengeng decided to start from here.
But when they heard that he wanted to grow vegetables in winter, everyone was dumbfounded.
"Master, it can't be done. It's impossible to grow vegetables in such a cold weather."
Lao Qintou tried hard to persuade him, but he was afraid that Zuo Menggeng would make trouble.
Zuo Mengeng was full of confidence.
"The main reason why vegetables cannot grow in winter is that the temperature is not enough. But we can build greenhouses."
Chen Zhi also doesn't think planting vegetables in winter is a good idea.
"Thousands of seats, how to build a greenhouse? And heating must be a huge expense. As a result, the price of vegetables will inevitably rise, making it difficult to sell, right?"
Zuo Mengeng smiled and pointed in the direction of Linqing City.
"Do you have any misunderstandings about rich people? Let me ask you, after eating pickles all winter, if you see a green one, would you like to eat it?"
Zuo Mengeng had many reasons to dispel these people's doubts.
"The winter here is not too cold, and the fuel consumption for heating is actually not very useful. Another thing is, can't we produce glass? Glass can be used as windows in homes, so why can't it be used in greenhouses? That's it. Glass blocks the cold air outside and allows sunlight to penetrate to the crops. Doesn’t it lack both light and natural temperature?”
When he said this, everyone was stunned. After thinking about it carefully, I realized that this is really the case.
Old Qintou couldn't help but feel excited.
"Then... let's try?"
Zuo Mengeng laughed.
"Of course we have to do it. How much does it cost to grow land and sell grain? If we can grow fresh vegetables in winter, it will be a scorpion's shit... poison. If nothing else, we will Cucumbers sell for thirty cents per catty, are they expensive? Are there many people buying them?"
Everyone present was astonished when they heard that a pound of cucumbers was sold for thirty cents.
But when you think about the season, this is definitely a reasonable price.
Legend has it that once upon a time, an emperor wanted to have a bite of cucumber at the New Year's Eve dinner, so he forced his eunuch to spend a hundred taels of silver to buy one.
For poor people, cucumbers cost thirty cents a pound, which is unthinkable.
But for a well-to-do family, it is nothing.
This deal...
There's something going on!
