Chapter 55: Grassroots Team Building

Before the survey results even came out, the Great King had new business waiting. Tong Hui returned to report, saying that according to the planting manual, the potatoes could be harvested.

The Great King had heard Baiyang say that sweet potatoes and potatoes were both high-yield crops and should be heavily promoted in the Secluded Prefecture.

Then, at the next morning's preliminary court meeting, the officials faced a new troublemaker; the Great King ordered all the village heads across the territory to go to his manor to observe the potato harvest.

At the Great King's command, the officials' objections were ineffective.

He firmly believed in seeing is believing; without letting them see the potatoes' yield per mu with their own eyes, no amount of talking by the agricultural officials promoting the new crop would help.

When it concerns a family's food supply, nobody would risk their own land, their livelihood, on trying illusory new varieties.

When this strange order was issued, it still caused a splash; after all, the Great King had some fame in the Secluded Prefecture, and everyone on the streets was talking about it.

The Great Jin had no idea what team building was, but the Great King had been repeatedly influenced by Baiyang and Zhao Zhu Ge, firmly believing that effective communication doubles results. This time, by having the village heads and above—grassroots clerks—personally go see his potato crop, the government would finally have a say in farming matters.

On the chosen harvest day, the village heads together with the Secluded Prefecture's Ministry of Agriculture officials, plus the Great King's retinue come to see the spectacle—including Chancellor Xue and Grand Tutor Xu—gathered at the gate of his private Wang Manor, numbering eighty or ninety people, not counting the attendants who followed.

The Great King estimated that the turnout far exceeded the list; apparently everyone had come.

Originally, seeing everyone so eager, arriving early in the morning to wait at the gate, the Great King felt pleased; but those from far away, to avoid being late, might have set out a day or two earlier. After taking a close look at the crowd, however, the Great King felt uneasy again.

Even the lowest among them was a village head, at least a minor clerk, yet they were… ragged. Their clothes weren't much better than ordinary folk's, but if you thought they didn't care, the Great King saw that their patched garments had been washed and ironed, the creases crisp and neat.

That made him feel even worse.

The Great King stopped examining them and ordered the carriage to go straight in, skipping the greetings.

Once his carriage entered, the crowd waiting at the gate followed behind into the Wang Manor.

Upon entering the Wang Manor, they headed straight to the vegetable plot that formed the basis of his garden; from afar they saw two rows of people standing there, one row holding three-pronged forks, everything ready and just waiting for everyone to arrive.

This vegetable plot was completely different from the black soil he had seen before; high fences surrounded it, and two thatched huts had been added at the edges.

The central five mu were now lush and full, with no empty space; the five crops were planted in neat rows, the ground immaculately clean, and the Great King didn't see a single weed.

He nodded in relief; it was clear that Tong Hui was truly taking his garden's foundation seriously.

He got off the carriage, and the crowd instinctively kowtowed to pay respects; after the formalities, the Great King simply said a few words.

"Today I have the village heads come to inspect my vegetable garden, so that everyone can see for themselves the yield of our Secluded Prefecture's new vegetables. That way, when I have you plant potatoes, you'll know it's for your own good. Ninety percent of the people in the Secluded Prefecture suffer from hunger, and I know this. Whether it was due to policy or geography in the past, I hope we can all work together to eliminate hunger in the future. This isn't something I can achieve just by shouting slogans; it requires everyone's cooperation. That's why I organized today's event. I have discovered several high-yield crops, among them the potatoes we are harvesting today. In a moment, you'll watch here—one to see the yield, another to see how they're harvested, which you'll surely need to use sooner or later. Officer Zhao, did you bring the scale I asked you to bring?"

The clerk behind Officer Zhao lifted out a pole scale and set it at the field's edge.

The Great King waved at Tong Hui and said, "Let's begin!"

At Tong Hui's command, dozens of manor servants rushed into the field to start work. One group cut the yellowing vines of the potatoes with sickles, another hauled them to the field's edge, and a third group, armed with three-pronged forks, lined up to dig—these they had practiced beforehand.

With the Great King present, everyone stood stiffly, craning their necks to look at the field; he waved his hand and directed, "Spread out, find a good angle and watch closely!"

He himself led the way, walking off to stroll elsewhere, and those nearby followed him for a stretch; only then did the village heads relax. Just thinking that this child was the emperor's son, holding life and death over the Secluded Prefecture in his hands, made them breathe uneasily. Who would have thought that, having lived to this age, they could still see the You King in person?

Over there, those digging the potatoes had already turned over the blackish-red soil, pulling out one huge yellow tuber after another; the crowd instantly forgot the Great King, exclaiming in astonishment, "How can it bear such huge fruit?!"

And that whole bunch all came from a single plant?

Grand Tutor Xu accidentally pulled out a few more beard hairs—this, the yield per mu is unimaginable!

Meanwhile, the observing village heads, who had truly farmed all their lives, were stunned! How could the soil be so fertile? Can this whatever potato really be eaten? How can it bear so many fruits?! Some had already tears streaming down their faces, "Is this really true? It feels like a dream."

Even the Great King was a little startled; he knew his garden's foundation never grew bad vegetables, but he hadn't expected it to be this good.

He picked up one almost as big as his head, hefted it excitedly, and handed it to Chancellor Xue, saying, "Isn't this one enough to feed a person?!"

Chancellor Xue, a man who never shows joy or anger, couldn't help but show an excited expression, "May the Heavens bless Your Highness! I just don't know if this can be eaten as a staple." The Great King then pulled out the planting manual, turned to the section on potato consumption, and read it with unusual seriousness.

Oh dear, there are too many ways to eat it; right before his eyes was the simplest method, and the Great King had an idea. He grinned and ran into the field, insisting on helping them pick potatoes into baskets. He also warned the manor servants with the knowledge he'd just learned, "Be careful—scraping the skin makes them spoil easily!"

What a harvest scene—how many years had the Secluded Prefecture not seen such a sight? Everyone wished they could pitch in and help harvest personally. Unfortunately, the manor already had plenty of hands; there was really no use for them.

The manor servants dug every inch of the potato field with their forks, always managing to turn up any stragglers.

With many hands, the work went fast; soon the field's edge was piled high with potatoes like a small hill—no exaggeration, it was literally a potato mountain.

The onlookers beside them grew more and more excited: "If it's tasty… no, no, no, we don't even need it to be tasty; as long as it's edible and keeps people from starving, that's truly a tremendous blessing, something we wouldn't even dare dream of!"

The Great King then arranged for the Ministry of Agriculture's clerks to begin weighing; in the end, the two mu of potatoes tipped the scales at an astonishing twenty‑eight thousand three hundred catties!

Grand Tutor Xu lost another two beard hairs, then personally snatched the ledger from Tong Hui and double‑checked the count himself.

Chancellor Xue: "How is it?"

Grand Tutor Xu: "…It really is twenty‑eight thousand three hundred catties."

Behind them, someone had already dropped to their knees in tears; the two grandees of the Secluded Prefecture exchanged a glance, both understanding what this meant. They turned and sought out the Great King, asking, "Where did you get these seeds? If they really can be eaten and keep people alive, that's a merit for the ages!"

Where had the Great King run off to at this point?

All one could see was black smoke rising from the shed beside the vegetable garden, a crowd gathered around it, noisy, with the Great King's clear laughter mingling in……

All right, no need to look— the Great King is playing with fire.