Chapter 142: Why Potatoes Were Never Widely Cultivated

Chu Yun hurried forward to support Ye Liang. "Uncle Liang, your health is not well, and you need a good rest. There is no need for you to personally lead us there."

Ye Liang shook his head. "No, just thinking about this immense blessing makes me want to guide you there myself. Otherwise, even lying on the couch, I would feel deeply restless. Besides, I know my own body well. Rest assured, I am fine."

Chu Yun persuaded him once more. "Uncle Liang, Lan'er should finish her task and return before long. Do you want her to see you looking so sickly?"

The other herbalists also chimed in to advise Ye Liang. "Old man Ye, it is over a hundred miles away from here. How could your frail body endure such a journey? And at your age, too."

Ye Liang was left somewhat speechless. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "But none of you know the exact location of the potatoes. How much time will you waste searching for them?"

Chu Yun replied, "It is fine. You can draw a rough route map, marking the approximate locations of various place names. I will simply find someone familiar with the border area between Chujia Town and Nanhuai Town to lead the way."

Ye Liang thought about it and said, "That works too. Then have someone bring brush, ink, fabric, and an inkstone, and I will sketch a rough map for you."

"Very well, Uncle Liang!" Chu Yun acknowledged, immediately ordering someone to bring writing materials.

To make the map as accurate as possible, Ye Liang carefully searched his memory, consulting the other herbalists along the way, and drew a route map while marking most of the place names along the path.

For locations without formal names, he simply described their surroundings—such as a large tree, a towering mountain, or a secluded pool.

Upon finishing, he nodded with satisfaction. "Lord Count, with this route map, I no longer have to worry that you might fail to find the place where the potatoes were discovered."

Chu Yun smiled and replied, "Indeed, this route map is drawn with considerable detail. I believe that finding a few people familiar with that region will make it quite easy to locate the exact spot where you found the potatoes."

He then summoned Chu Wencai, instructing him to find a few individuals well-acquainted with the borderlands between Chujia Town and Nanhuai Town.

Chu Wencai acknowledged the command, then could not help but ask, "Lord Count, if I may be so bold, what is the purpose of sending people over there? Has something happened?"

That region was close to the southern border of the Daqi Dynasty, and he feared an invasion by the Dayue Dynasty from the south.

Chu Yun smiled. "Nothing bad has happened. In fact, it is a tremendous stroke of luck. Uncle Liang discovered a high-yielding crop called potatoes over there. This crop can serve as food, and furthermore, it can be planted after the autumn harvest and reaped before rice transplanting, completely avoiding any conflict with the rice-growing season. Moreover, the climate here in Chujia Town is exceptionally well-suited for cultivating it. With potatoes, we will no longer have to worry about food shortages."

Chu Wencai was stunned, and then overwhelmed with joy. "Lord Count, is what you are saying true?"

Chu Yun nodded. "Judging by the descriptions given by Uncle Liang and the others, it closely resembles the potatoes my master told me about in a dream. Yet, now that I calm down, I am somewhat puzzled: why has such a high-yielding food crop never been discovered before, nor cultivated like other crops?"

Upon hearing this, everyone present froze. Their previous excitement and euphoria vanished, replaced by a sense of disappointment.

After all, such a wonderful crop was unlikely to have remained undiscovered all this time.

Thus, the logical conclusion was that what Ye Liang and his companions had found might not actually be potatoes.

However, after a brief contemplation, Ye Liang said, "Lord Count, the fruit you described earlier as being called a potato is truly identical to the ones we ate. It is highly probable that they are indeed potatoes."

"As for why no one has ever discovered them or used them for cultivation, it is likely because they are poisonous when eaten raw, and since the tubers grow underground, they are not easily noticed."

"We only stumbled upon them by chance this time because we ran out of any other food and, out of sheer desperation, boiled them before eating."

Chu Yun nodded. "That makes sense. Still, talking endlessly here is useless. Only by going to see for ourselves can we confirm whether they are truly potatoes."

"Lord Count, I shall go and find people familiar with that area right away! If they truly are potatoes, and if they are as wonderful as you say, this is an immense blessing!"

With that, Chu Wencai turned and departed.

Before long, he returned with five men who were deeply familiar with the border region between Chujia Town and Nanhuai Town.

Holding the route map drawn by Ye Liang, Chu Yun questioned all five of them and ultimately selected the two who were most conversant with the place names and landmarks indicated on the map.

He then set out with these two men, accompanied by the sixty guards he had trained, bringing along several burlap sacks.

Since he had not yet relocated to Nanhuai Town, these sixty guards were naturally still stationed in Chujia Town and had not yet been transferred to the Fierce Tiger Military Camp.

At the same time, none of the warhorses he had previously captured had been sent to the Fierce Tiger Military Camp yet.

Therefore, although the distance from Chujia Town to the place where Ye Liang and the others discovered the potatoes spanned over a hundred miles, riding horses made the journey feel remarkably short.

In just a single hour, Chu Yun and his sixty guards arrived at the location where Ye Liang and the herbalists had discovered the potatoes, despite having lost considerable time identifying the correct paths along the way.

As they neared their destination, Chu Yun instructed everyone to dismount. Taking the lead, he walked on foot while holding his horse's reins, guiding the rest forward.

Chu Yun walked forward while observing the surrounding vegetation.

Before long, he spotted a potato plant and shouted in sudden, ecstatic excitement, "Haha, found it! It's a potato, truly a potato!"

Without a second thought, he eagerly dug into the soil with his bare hands and unearth two potatoes.

The potatoes were not particularly large—one was about the size of a chicken egg, while the other was even smaller.

Hahaha!

Hahaha!

Yet Chu Yun remained utterly thrilled and elated, bursting into loud, unrestrained laughter.

After a short while, he calmed down, turned back to the guards, and instructed, "Everyone, lead your horses over there and tie them to the trees so they won't eat the potatoes. These are precious seeds, and they are poisonous when raw—it wouldn't do for the horses to eat them."

"Understood, Lord Count!"

The guards chorused their compliance, led their horses away to tie them securely, and then walked back.

Chu Yun handed the two potatoes and their attached vines to a guard and said, "Pass them down the line one by one so everyone can see what the potato tubers and leaves look like. Then follow me to search the surrounding area and dig out the potatoes."

"At once, Lord Count!" The guard nodded, accepted a small bronze hoe, handed it to Chu Yun, and added, "Lord Count, use this to dig up the potatoes so you don't hurt your hands."

Taking the small hoe with a smile, Chu Yun said, "Good. Everyone use a hoe to dig, but be sure to dig from the surrounding earth so you don't damage the potatoes underground."

With that, he selected a potato plant and demonstrated the technique.

Having watched closely and memorized the appearance of the potatoes, the guards began searching and digging in the surrounding area.