Li Zhi was proud and threw the corn kernels he had just picked into his mouth and chewed them like pine nuts. The eunuch next to him was so shocked that he looked no more expressionless.

This is corn that has not been tried yet. What if the corn is poisonous?

The emperor waved his hand to the eunuch, "It's okay, I've actually eaten this corn several times. I've eaten it once in Li Qing's mansion a few days ago." While he said, he smiled and sweated on his forehead, Li Xiao also introduced the way to the eunuch and Li Ji and other prime ministers.

"I tell you, Li Qing is a master of cooking. This auspicious corn has come to Li Qing's hands. However, the way to eat it is varied and diverse without repetition. Before the elders are complete, you can stew the soup or steam it directly. I like to eat it."

"The newly picked tender corn should not be too tender or too old. Put it in the pot and steam it. After steaming it, it will be held in your hand. After taking a bite, you will have more than ten corn grains in your mouth. It is soft, glutinous, fresh and sweet. Even the corn cob core can be chewed and eaten."

"You can also take off these tender corn kernels and stir-fry them. They are fragrant, sweet and have a great taste."

·······

Li Xiao looked at Li Zhi proudly bragging to the officials and officials about the eighteen ways to eat corn, and his spit was flying, and the hundred thousand grass mud horses in his heart roared past again.

This damn old king, no, is the emperor's son, teased me for so long. From time to time, I came to his house to eat and drink, but it turned out that he was hidden. He was just like today. No wonder he heard the voice of the dragon robe emperor on it a little familiar when he heard the voice of the dragon robe emperor on it. At that time, he didn't think about it at all.

Pretend to be a pig and eat a tiger.

Li Xiao's eyes turned to the Grand Tutor Li Ji, thinking to himself that you are not kind, you are not kind, you have eaten a lot of food in my house, and I even respected you and my Lijiazhuang's latest research perfume, soap, and medicinal wine. You always treat me like this.

Li Ji was very thick-skinned and asked Li Xiao’s gaze, but he just curled his lips and showed an old naughty smile.

Li Zhi was still talking about how corn kernels could be made into popcorn, and fry them in a hot pot, and the corn kernels would eventually expand and burst...

"His Majesty."

The Censor Yuwen Jie couldn't listen anymore. You are a king of a country. In front of all officials, you always say that this one is delicious and that one is delicious, but it doesn't look like a wise ruler.

Li Ji also coughed twice.

Now Li Zhi finally came back to his senses from his complacent excitement. It was not only Li San here.

"Yeah, I want to tell all the officials that I and Li Xiao have tried this kind of corn many times." Li Zhi reached out and asked Li Xiao to walk to him, "Li Qing, talk to you about corn storage."

Li Xiao had no choice but to walk over, but the emperor, who was not a few years older than him, insisted on holding his arm and stroking his back with one hand, just like an elder and a younger generation.

Goosebumps all started.

"When you come to your Majesty, corn seeds are large, prone to fever and have strong hygroscopicity. Therefore, the stability during storage is worse, prone to fever and mold, and this aspect is not as good as millet and sorghum. However, compared with wheat and rice, it is not bad."

"How to store it?" Li Ji looked at Li Xiao and asked.

Everyone has seen the yield of corn with their own eyes, and the emperor also said that after he tried it, it was proved that corn is not only edible, but also delicious, not worse than wheat and rice. The key point now is whether it is easy to store. You should know that among the staple foods of the Tang people, there were soon wheat, rice, millet, and sorghum, as well as soybeans, sorghum and taro.

Taro is also a staple food, and the yield is not low. There are many sages of taro in Lingnan Road, Jiangnan Road, and taro is the main food. However, taro has one disadvantage, which is that it is not easy to store.

If corn is the same as taro, although it has many advantages that are not inferior to wheat and rice, but cannot be stored well, it will greatly limit the promotion and planting of this crop.

"The main method of storing corn is the method of storing ears and storing grains. The so-called storing ears naturally do not need to be threshed, and the whole ears are stored."

Speaking of this, Li Xiao is naturally an expert. Even though he is actually just a second knife, there is no one more professional here than him.

After all, have you never eaten pork and you haven't seen pigs run away?

When you travel to the Great Northeast, you can see corn stored in the cobs in farmers' homes all year round.

"The ear storage method is mainly used to store the storage method. After picking the corn, the buds are removed and then placed in a ventilated warehouse. This way, after air-drying for a year to remove moisture, wait for the next year to thresh, or even take off when you want to eat."

"There is also a method of hiding the corn's bracelets first, then braid them into braids, and hang them with ropes. Just keep them well ventilated and avoid being exposed to rain."

"It's that simple?" Li Ji couldn't help asking. His family was one of the best landlords in Henan before. His family had thousands of hectares of fertile land and thousands of servants. Although he was young, he was still familiar with farming. According to what Li Xiao said, the method of storing ears is actually quite simple. Pick the sticks and remove the buds, either pile them up and dry them directly, or hang them directly and dry them without getting wet in the rain and ventilating them. It's so simple. It's even easier to harvest and store them than wheat, rice and millet.

After all, wheat and rice still needs to be harvested and threshed. Threshing of wheat and rice is much more difficult than corn, and it is time-consuming and labor-intensive. You have to seize the weather. You cannot get rain or wait, otherwise it will easily cause fever, mold and get damaged.

But this corn is so simple. It weighs several 200% of them. It will be almost done when you carry it home to remove the buds.

"Yes, the method of Suizang is that simple." Li Xiao nodded.

It is actually beneficial to store corn without threshing. If it is not threshing, it will have large pores and good air circulation. The temperature and moisture in the storage pile will easily emit with the air.

Sometimes the weather is bad and it is not time to dry it in time. Only by stacking ears to survive the winter can the water in the corn kernels be reduced to a safe standard range, and wait for the right time before threshing and storage.

The whole ear of corn has tight ears and grains, and the corn kernels are arranged tightly on the cobs, the cortex is bright and the peel is hard, which is more conducive to storage, and can also prevent insects and mildew.

Even corn from the ear storage method can continue to maintain the nutrients transported into the corn kernels, which can increase the fullness of the corn kernels and promote the ripening of the grains.

"The Suizang method is more suitable for dry places, such as Guanlong area. However, there are also disadvantages and occupy more space."

Li Ji waved his hand, "What is this a disadvantage? A small problem. You can follow your method. After the people harvest, they can first store the ears and then thresh them. Isn't it enough for the government to collect dried corn kernels? In this way, the corn kernels will be convenient for collection and storage in the granary."

"The Taifu Ming said. However, if corn is planted in the southern region, the weather will be damp and hot there, and the method of storing ears is not as good as that of storing grains."

The weather in the southern region is hot, so the corn is dried first, then threshed, and then stored in the warehouse. The man’s temperature is high, so it is still very fast to dry the corn in the sun.

"But if corn is stored in the southern region, you must prevent it from getting damp."

"Then how long can it be stored well?" Yuwen Jie asked, which is also a key question. The most easy-to-store millet and millet can be stored for ten years. Many large transfer granaries in the imperial court were digging directly underground and stored in underground grain cellars. As long as they were not opened, there would be no problem in saving for ten years.

"The key to storing corn is to be able to survive the first winter. As long as the first winter is over, or in the summer of the second year, it can be stored for at least three years, or even in a properly managed granary, it will be fine for five or six years. However, over time, it will definitely be gone, and both taste and nutrition will be poor."

Yuwen Jie widened his eyes, his excited beard shook.

"Five or six years, are you sure?"

"Of course it's okay to have five or six years. Even ordinary farmers can save for two or three years." Li Xiao is still very confident about this. People in Northeast China can hang corn under the roof for two or three years.

"Not to mention five or six years, it is enough to store for three years." Lai Ji couldn't help but exclaim. In addition to the easier it is to store millet and millet, wheat and rice are more difficult to store and are very prone to mold. And corn is easier to store than wheat and rice. Why isn't this exciting?

Such easy storage means that corn has higher planting value.

The prime ministers all turned red with excitement. The old prime minister Yu Wen Jie even knelt on the ground and shouted excitedly that the heavens were favored, and Emperor Gaozu Taizong blessed him.

"Your Majesty, you must have a variety of auspicious corn and be fully promoted. The more you plant, the better."

The Siongqing Liu Xiangdao even advised the emperor that corn is far superior to millet and millet in all aspects. Whether it is yield or drought tolerance, it is easy to store in all aspects. The imperial court can fully promote the cultivation of corn in the north, especially in mountainous areas where there was no irrigation conditions and was not suitable for wheat cultivation.

In this way, the grain planting area and grain output can be greatly increased. Even if the original spring millet is only converted to corn, even if the yield of one stone is increased by only one mu, the increase in grain output in Guanlong area alone is extremely amazing.

The Minister of Revenue also immediately calculated the calculations. If millet is really changed to corn, then the amount of grain increased production alone will be enough to meet the needs of Guanlong. In the future, Chang'an will no longer need to transport grain from the Guandong region to Beijing.

As the Guanzhong area where the imperial capital is located, the Han Dynasty could no longer be self-sufficient. Especially the Tang Empire had a vast territory, and there were many enemies around Guanlong, including Tubo, Tuyuhun, Turks, and even Qiang, Liao and other barbarians in the southwest. The Tang Dynasty had stationed more than 200 military prefectures in Guanlong, not to mention that Chang'an City had maintained a tens of thousands of military guards for a long time.

In addition to the huge palace personnel and bureaucrats, the northwest border troops and Chang'an have a huge grain shortage every year, and they all rely on Guandong to transport grain. Food transportation is extremely expensive, especially from Guandong to Guanzhong, which has a section of road in Shanzhou, and it is even impossible to transport ships at all, so it can only be transported on land.

The cost of transporting more than 2 million stones of grain from the Kanto region a year was actually a bottomless pit. Not to mention, there are also the same huge numbers of grain transported into the customs.

Li Ji also told the emperor, "There are so many advantages that corn can be used, so that Hezhong, Longxi, Shuofang, and even Xizhou can fully implement military camps, use corn to solve the problem of military food on the spot, and there is no need to send it from Chang'an to a lot of trouble."
Chapter completed!