The Princess of Northern Land
Chapter 541: War Begins (6)_1

Chapter 541: Chapter 541: War Begins (6)_1

Lin Ziyin smiled at him, "Isn’t Officer Mei worried about tiring the young lords by bringing his whole family?"

"Let them get some exercise to understand the hardships of the people. Only then will they be able to truly empathize with the people when they hold official positions in the future." Mei Hanqing replied in a reasonable manner.

Lin Ziyin nodded, appreciating his perspective, foreseeing that the young lords of the Mei family would make great officials.

Even Lady Mei and Miss Mei werent’t idling around, they were carrying hot water with their maids. In the distance, servants from various residences were busily working.

Lin Ziyin finally understood Chu Suifeng’s words; that’s how the manpower was acquired.

"Big corn." Si Tingwei, with his face dripping with sweat, brought several large corns over to Lin Ziyin, "Princess, can we fry some corn to eat today?"

"No," Lin Ziyin answered with a smile, "It’s too old. The tenderest ones are used for stir-fries and boilings, these can only be used as a source of food. Of course, they can be used to make popcorn."

"What’s popcorn?" Si Tingwei asked curiously, "Is it delicious?"

"Delicious, a taste of butter that one would never tire of." Lin Ziyin replied with a chuckle, "However, now’s the harvest season and there’s not enough time to make popcorn for you. You’ll have to wait for it."

"Just use the ones I peeled." He grabbed his basket and scurried after Lin Changting.

"Although it’s coarse grain, the yield is very large." Chu Suifeng’s face was filled with a constant smile.

"Officer Mei, do you intend to plant corn or rice next year?" Lin Ziyin jokingly asked.

"Whatever the princess wants." Mei Hanqing replied with a smile, "Ideally, we would like to plant a bit of everything."

Despite his family’s brief time in the Northern Land, he considered allowing the servants to develop the land. The Northern Land had vast lands and was not short of soil. Mei Hanqing had already planned on buying some slaves specifically to cultivate the fields.

Many hands make light work. After a day, rows of corn fell. The children, intrigued by Lin Ziyin, asked the adults to peel a corn stalk for them to nibble on. Unexpectedly, the corn stalk was sweet and had a unique taste that everyone enjoyed.

Seeing this, the adults also followed suit.

"All these will be feed for the old ox in the winter, so be conservative." Long Feishou made a joke with everyone. Everyone laughed upon realizing they were competing with the old ox for food.

Two manors worked together, and after seven or eight days, the corn harvest was finally completed. Then everyone got busy with the soybean harvest while the machinery went to harvest the rice.

Everyone’s main concern was rice because for the people of the Northern Land, it was a luxury. Everyone wanted to see how much yield per acre of rice there was. Many experienced farmers have already made their guesses, predicting at least eight stones per acre given the growth of the rice.

Some guessed the yield might be even higher.

Lin Ziyin also estimated that the yield per acre could reach more than eight hundred catties, but in reality, the initial harvest of the dried rice has reached a thousand catties per acre.

This yield was high!

"How can it be so high? Unbelievable, unbelievable." Mei Hanqing held the sparkling golden rice, so overjoyed that he was nearly laughing aloud, at the same time tears streaming down his face, "Heaven helps those who help themselves."

Seeing such a high yield, Lin Ziyin was very pleased. The land was fertile, supported by organic manure from the pig, cattle, and chicken farms. Plus, the seeds sown were all plump and high-quality grains. A good harvest was expected.

Although this yield was still far from that of modern day per-acre yield, she was very satisfied.

"Miss, next year when we send people from Si Family’s manor to learn, you must not withhold any information." Si Jinyu came over, speaking with a laugh.