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Chapter 197 Sweet Potato Eating Contest
Li Zhen was overjoyed to produce millions of kilograms of sweet potatoes in one fell swoop, so he wondered how to promote these sweet potatoes.
It must be well publicized.
But these people are very ignorant and do not accept new things. They regard sweet potatoes as a scourge. For a while, except for the private fields of the Prince's Mansion, the sweet potato planting area in Chang'an City did not increase at all.
Li Zhen was finally worried. On the other side, Changsun Wuji also looked at Li Zhen¡¯s joke.
In order to destroy Li Zhen's reputation, Changsun Wuji had people secretly spread rumors that eating sweet potatoes would cause poisoning. Sweet potatoes were poisonous and should not be eaten at all.
After Changsun Wuji secretly promoted Li Zhen¡¯s sweet potatoes, it became impossible to promote them.
Li Zhen was wondering, how can we promote sweet potatoes?
After much thought, Li Zhen had an idea and planned to hold a sweet potato eating contest in Chang'an.
Whoever eats the most sweet potatoes within one stick of incense will win the final victory.
The top three will be determined in the competition. The third place will receive three passes, the second place will receive five passes, the first place will receive ten passes, and the rest of the top ten will receive one pass.
In the Tang Dynasty, a family's annual expenses were no more than three or four thousand dollars.
Li Zhen also added that if anyone is really poisoned after eating sweet potatoes, he will be treated free of charge and given twenty guan.
The competition is scheduled to be held during the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th.
Because the Tang Dynasty has won many battles in recent years, expanded its territory, and become increasingly powerful, Emperor Li Shimin decided to have a lively Mid-Autumn Festival.
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Now and again during the day, this sweet potato eating contest is really lively.
Chang'an, in a wine shop.
"What? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is holding a sweet potato eating contest during the Mid-Autumn Festival? Doesn't it say that sweet potatoes can kill people?" A strong man said in surprise.
"Who knows? But His Highness the Prince said sweet potatoes are delicious and the best food. I believe the Prince." Another man said.
"Yes, His Highness the Crown Prince will never lie to us."
"I hope His Highness the Prince will lie to us so that I can get twenty pieces of money. Wealth can be gained through danger, so what if we just take a gamble?"
"Yes! I'll sign up too, count me in!"
¡°Count me in too!¡±
There was a lot of discussion in the wine shop, and everyone was very interested in this sweet potato eating contest.
Many people decided to risk their fortunes in order to get rich rewards and take a chance.
The whole of Chang'an is also talking about this matter, and many people feel it is new. This kind of eating competition has never been held since the Tang Dynasty. Prince Li Zhen is really setting a precedent, but I don't know what the final result will be. ?
Chang'an, in the middle of the market.
I don¡¯t know when, a high platform was built, with five big characters ¡°Sweet Potato Eating Contest¡± hanging on the top of the high platform.
At dawn, Li Zhen arrived at the sweet potato eating contest and sat on a high platform. There was a sea of ??people under the stage. Many people wanted to join in the fun and see what was new. Tens of thousands of people poured into the market from all directions. .
Under the stage, thousands of officers and soldiers surrounded the high platform to protect Li Zhen on the stage from harm.
On the small table in front of Li Zhen were a large speaker made of iron sheets and cooked sweet potatoes.
Seeing that everyone had almost arrived, Li Zhen cleared her throat and said: "Everyone, I am Li Zhen, the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty. Today's sweet potato eating contest will be hosted by me."
"I heard rumors that sweet potatoes can poison people to death. Today, I will try sweet potatoes for everyone. If sweet potatoes can poison people, I, Li Zhen, will be the first to die!"
After Li Zhen finished speaking, she took out a cooked sweet potato, peeled off the skin, and ate it in big mouthfuls.
After a while, a big sweet potato entered Li Zhen¡¯s stomach.
When the people in the audience saw this scene, their concerns about the poisonous sweet potatoes suddenly disappeared.
"I am the first to sign up for the sweet potato eating contest. Are there any others?"
"I'll do it!" Xue Rengui shouted, being the first to sign up.
"Count me in!"
Seeing that both the prince and Xue Rengui had signed up, the people in the audience suddenly became a huge crowd and took the initiative to sign up.
Li Zhen asked someone to select a hundred people from those who signed up, and then brought these one hundred people to the high platform. Each person had a small pot of sweet potatoes placed on the small table.
¡°Get ready, start!¡± Li Zhen yelled.The next moment, more than a hundred burly men were eating sweet potatoes crazily.
A big man broke the boiled sweet potato in half and ate the flesh inside.
When he finished eating, he looked to the side and saw that Xue Rengui had eaten a big sweet potato in two mouthfuls without even peeling it off.
"Oh my God!"
The big man didn¡¯t even bother to break open the sweet potato anymore. His heart was so excited that he swallowed the skin in one gulp.
The competition was extremely fierce, but Li Zhen was the first to be defeated. When it came to eating, Li Zhen was really no match for these big men.
Li Zhen was eliminated, so she went to see others and saw a big man next to her eating half of the sweet potatoes in the basin.
I thought to myself that this person eats really fast.
"I've finished eating!"
The next moment, a voice echoed in my ears.
Li Zhen was startled and looked towards where the voice was. It was Xue Rengui.
Speaking of which, Xue Rengui is famous for his ability to eat. When he was in his hometown, he could feed ten people by himself and do the work of ten people.
When it comes to eating, these guys are really no match for Xue Rengui.
Xue Rengui was the first to finish the meal, and a moment later, other contestants ate up the sweet potatoes in front of them one after another.
Xue Rengui won the first place and burst out laughing. With this smile, a mouthful of sweet potato spurted out.
Li Zhen immediately asked people to award bonuses to the top ten contestants.
¡°Wow, that¡¯s really money!¡±
At first glance, Li Zhen really gave money, and the participants who ate sweet potatoes were nothing. The people's eyes were red, their enthusiasm burst into the crowd, and the people who signed up for the competition were mountains and people.
On this day, a total of twenty rounds of competition were held, with one hundred people in each round. In other words, two thousand people tasted the taste of sweet potatoes.
This sweet potato tastes good and is resistant to hunger. After this competition, the rumors about sweet potatoes being poisonous have been wiped away.
The common people tasted the deliciousness of sweet potatoes and began to rush to buy them.
In the following period, many princes, ministers and wealthy businessmen purchased sweet potatoes from Li Zhen through their connections.
Li Zhen did not refuse anyone who came, and he did not ask for more. He sold sweet potatoes at a fair price. In this way, sweet potatoes were finally promoted in Chang'an. Soon after, sweet potatoes were promoted throughout the Tang Dynasty.
The entire Tang Dynasty has undergone tremendous changes because of sweet potatoes.
The number of people has always been determined by the output of grain. When sweet potatoes were fully promoted in the Tang Dynasty, the entire Tang Dynasty finally managed to get rid of the embarrassing situation where people often went hungry. In less than a hundred years, the population of the Tang Dynasty increased from more than 2,000 to more than 2,000. In case the population suddenly increased to hundreds of millions.
And with the promotion of sweet potatoes, this number is also increasing.
Even Li Zhen herself did not expect that sweet potatoes would play such a big role and have a great impact on later generations. They continued to greatly increase the population of the Tang Dynasty and enhance the national power of the Tang Dynasty, making the Tang Dynasty the most powerful country in the world in this era. A powerful country(remember this website address: www.hlnovel.com