“Start!”
With that order, Kui Wu led over a thousand slaves rushing into the potato fields.
Harvesting potatoes was simple—just dig open the raised soil ridges, and inside were the yellow-orange potatoes.
In modern times, potatoes are called mǎlíngshǔ, also known as dìdàn. When he was young, Xiao Ming often mixed up potatoes and sweet potatoes, which are actually a different high-yield crop not yet introduced from overseas.
Modern agriculture was part of his plans too, so he aimed to collect crops from all over the world.
Meanwhile, the three warships Yue Yun took south had nearly finished repairs. The expanded Dengzhou shipyard had been producing galleys all year, and by year-end it could launch at least twelve.
According to Zhang Liang’s report, these twelve galleys included one flagship (a first-class sailing warship), three second-class, four third-class, and four fourth-class sailing warships.
If these ships were finished by year-end, his navy would have fifteen galleys. Though this number was far less than Western naval powers with hundreds of ships, for Xiao Ming, this fleet was enough to confront colonizers already reaching into Asia.
From his experience, the West was not united. Their main colonies were in the Americas, and they did not commit many troops to the East.
Plus, the long journey far from home meant even if war broke out, messages and reinforcements would take months to arrive, and supply lines would be difficult.
For him, fighting on home ground was a clear advantage.
After reclaiming Shanhai pass, Xiao Ming planned to take back the Ryukyu Islands from the Dutch. The island’s location was crucial.
Controlling Ryukyu would completely block trade routes from Japan and Korea going south. But his real goal was not just Ryukyu—the key resources he needed were sulfur, gold, and silver.
Records showed that in the late 16th century, Japan was booming in mining. Many silver mines were discovered. From 1562 until the Edo period, the Iwami Silver Mine in Oda City was the largest silver mine in Japan and one of the world’s largest.
At that time, Japan was one of the world’s top silver producers, providing about a third of the world’s silver. The Ming dynasty even called Japan the “Silver Archipelago.”
Besides silver, Japan held about 5% of the world’s gold production, and its most important resource was sulfur, a key ingredient in gunpowder.
During the Ming and Song dynasties, Japan was a major sulfur supplier. Now, Xiao Ming mostly got sulfur shipped from the south.
He found out that these sulfur supplies were mostly brought by sea merchants from Japan.
In the past, when Great Yu Empire needed little gunpowder, sulfur was even more expensive than saltpeter. Now, with Qingzhou producing large amounts of gunpowder, sulfur prices soared.
This only strengthened Xiao Ming’s resolve to drive out Western colonizers and monopolize East Asian trade, even colonize Japan if possible. In this era, the key to survival was seizing rare domestic resources from outside.
This was an age where industrial growth depended on resource plunder. Without any one resource, industry could stall.
While he pondered, Pang Yu Kun began inspecting the fields.
He dug out two potatoes the size of fists and excitedly ran over. “Your Highness, these things are really heavy.”
Xiao Ming snapped back to attention and looked across the fields. Everywhere the ridges were turned up, slaves were busy harvesting with bright smiles—the joy of a good harvest.
Taking the potatoes from Pang Yu Kun, Xiao Ming smelled them carefully. A familiar scent spread, moving him deeply.
“This is the smell,” Xiao Ming said excitedly, ignoring Pang Yu Kun’s surprised look.
Pang Yu Kun couldn’t help but wonder, “Has Your Highness eaten this before?”
“No, but my Western teacher mentioned it,” Xiao Ming quickly made up an excuse. Once a lie was told, he had to keep patching it with more lies.
Pang Yu Kun nodded and sighed, “What a pity. If he were alive, I might have asked him about this.”
Ignoring Pang Yu Kun’s scholarly sympathy, Xiao Ming found a coal stove and ceramic pot in the village.
He filled the pot with water, washed the potatoes, and put them inside to boil over the stove.
Soon, as the water boiled, a faint fragrance came from the pot.
Pang Yu Kun kept his eyes on the boiling potatoes, waiting for them to cook.
Now that the potatoes were cooked, the question was—could they be eaten?
After boiling for some time, Xiao Ming used chopsticks to fish out a potato.
The hot aroma filled the air. Pressing it lightly, the surface dented easily—proof it was cooked.
Swallowing his saliva, Xiao Ming dipped the potato in cold water, peeled it, and bit into it.
“Delicious!” Xiao Ming exclaimed.
In the Great Yu Empire, vegetables were rare, so even a modern food like potato tasted amazing to him.
Seeing Xiao Ming’s reaction, Pang Yu Kun quickly took out a potato and bit into it.
His eyes widened. This taste was new to him, but boiled potatoes were truly good.
He quickly ate one, then another, and then a third potato, finally burping with satisfaction.
“Your Highness, these potatoes taste great. Three per meal is enough,” Pang Yu Kun laughed. If this spread in the fief, people would never worry about food.
Xiao Ming was full and very pleased. This was only part of his agricultural plan; sweet potatoes would come next.
Rubbing his belly, Xiao Ming squinted and said, “There are many ways to eat potatoes. In a few days, I’ll give you something even better.”
Pang Yu Kun nodded strongly, holding the potatoes like the whole world.
After tasting the potatoes, Xiao Ming told Kui Wu to start measuring the yield per mu.
That night, Kui Wu announced the results.
“Your Highness, this mu of potatoes yielded thirty-two shi,” Kui Wu said excitedly, his face flushed.