Just as Feng Qiuyan was considering how to petition the emperor for permission to travel to the Western Ocean in search of those two plants, Jiang Nuan continued in her thoughts:
*[Forget it. Sending people out specifically to find them would cost too much manpower and too many resources. It isn't worth it. They do have potatoes and sweet potatoes there, but they can't compare with the varieties cultivated in modern times.*
*Most modern ones can grow to the size of two fists, and some are even bigger. Potatoes and sweet potatoes in this era of Great Xia are probably only thumb-sized. They wouldn't be much good for people to eat, but they'd do for feeding livestock.]*
After hearing that, Feng Qiuyan abandoned the idea. It certainly would not be worth the expense.
"Then what would Your Highness like me to do?"
Feng Qiuyan knew that Jiang Nuan must have had something for him to do if she had summoned him specifically, so he asked outright.
"There's nothing I need you to do. I just heard that you've joined the Agricultural Administration and have been studying plants lately, so I thought I'd offer you a few ideas. Speaking of which, are you busy there?"
Jiang Nuan asked him.
"Not at all. I only need to study plants. I don't have to handle any of the other duties."
Feng Qiuyan replied.
Perhaps it was because Jiang Nuan's thoughts during the Palace Examination had revealed that he could develop a rice variety with a thirty-percent higher yield. Everyone at the Agricultural Administration told him to focus on his research without worry, and no one ever assigned him other work.
In a sense, he had the most leisurely job in the Agricultural Administration.
"Good, as long as you're not busy."
With that, Jiang