Ye Ming selected three types for planting experiments. These three types are respectively first-class and first-class longevity rice, first-class and second-class crystal sweet potatoes and immortal vegetables. Immortal rice, after being planted, sprouts and breaks through the soil in one day, roots and leaves in two days, and grows into solid wood in three days. After another three days, it will bloom and bear fruit, forming the husks of everlasting rice.
Ordinary rice is only as big as a grain of sand, but this longevity rice is as huge as an egg, hanging from the top like a fruit, waiting for the owner to pick it.
Immortal rice only absorbs the top three spiritual energy, so Ye Ming chose a plain with a large spiritual mine underground for planting. He took out three acres of land, personally arranged the spirit-gathering array, dug canals, and finally sown and fertilized. The fertilizer he applied was not the manure used in ordinary crop fields, but the powder ground from the bones of ancient ferocious beasts. The value of this stuff was very high.
Next, he stayed at the edge of the field, motionless. One day later, the rice seeds sprouted one after another. The tender buds pushed through the soil, and then sprouted branches and leaves. After one day, it grew into a small dwarf tree half a person tall. Its leaves were like crystal, tender green and exuding a faint fragrance.
On the third day, white jade-like flowers grew. Their fragrance was so fragrant that it could be smelled hundreds of miles away. Then the flowers fell and chaff grew, first the size of a finger, then growing larger and larger, and finally becoming as huge as an egg.
Just like this, after waiting for another three days, the rice husk turned golden yellow and would fall to the ground with a slight touch. Ye Ming sat back and forth for more than ten days before he saw the rice mature. He stretched out his hand to pick off one and tore open the shell with his hands, revealing a crystal-like piece of rice with natural runes on the rice flesh. The divine light floated slightly, and a refreshing fragrance came to his face.
"Click"
He took a bite, and it melted in his mouth, turning into a clear stream, entering his stomach, and then quickly transformed into energy. He raised his eyebrows and said in surprise: "It is indeed first-class rice. Its effect is comparable to that of a magic pill. It can be taken directly as a pill!"
The planting experiment was successful, and Ye Ming ordered the Tiangong puppets to plant a large area. The Tiangong puppets are very professional, and they are no worse than Ye Ming in the steps of digging ditches, setting up spiritual formations, plowing fields, fertilizing, etc. So in just half a month, three billion kilograms of longevity rice were planted in the ground, and we were waiting for the results.
The yield of first-class crops is very high, and the cost of seeds can be recovered after basically one fruiting of long-lasting rice. In other words, if one pound of rice is planted, once it grows, it will produce one pound of fruit in three days, and it can bear fruit one hundred and twenty times a year. In other words, its annual output can reach about one hundred and two pounds.
Of course, Ye Ming will keep seeds of the grain produced in the early stage so that it can be planted in a large area. Once the cultivation reaches a large scale, he can use it to make a profit. It is a pity that as first-class crops, Ye Ming cannot let them circulate among the human race. That will definitely attract the attention of the Gods and even affect the Moon Shadow Clan.
What he has to do is to process the first-class crops into elixirs or food that can improve the energy, so that the gods cannot see the relationship with the first-class crops. Of course, this requires supporting factories and skilled Tiangong puppets, which require large investments.
Taking longevity rice as an example, including formations, fertilizers, and labor, Ye Ming estimated that the cost of producing one kilogram of longevity rice would be about six thousand eternal coins. If this rice is sold simply, it can be sold for 10,000 eternal coins per pound. If it is made into elixirs or food, the price can be sold for 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, which is a huge profit.
In comparison, second-class crops are not that complicated and can be collected directly for sale. Taking the second-class and first-class crop of immortal vegetables as an example, for every kilogram of rice picked, the various costs invested are about 100,000 longevity coins. And if a pound of immortal vegetables is sold on the market, it is worth at least 200,000 yuan, which also has a huge profit margin.
The cost of third-grade crops is relatively low. For example, the cost of producing third-grade Zhenyuan Valley per kilogram is up to 120,000 fatian coins, and the selling price can reach 180,000 fatian coins. Considering the high prices of first-class and second-class crops, Ye Ming produces them and sells them mainly to people in the Fatian Realm and the Immortal Realm.
However, with large-scale planting, production costs will further decrease, and the selling price will also decrease. But no matter what, these high-end crops are destined to be eaten only by rich and powerful people, and poor people cannot afford them. After all, for an ordinary family, tens of thousands of longevity coins are enough for them to spend a lifetime. Who would use it to buy rice
If we say that what ordinary people can afford, they are third-class crops. In places like the Three Emperors World and the Immortal Continent, the people at the bottom are far richer than in the Tianyuan Continent back then. Their annual per capita income can generally reach more than 100,000 or 200,000 Fatian coins. Especially for people with monks in their families, it is normal for them to earn several million a year. As for third-grade and seventh-grade dragon blood rice, one kilogram of rice costs several hundred Fatian coins, and most people can afford it. However, this price is far lower than the price in the Confucian and Daoist Continent. After all, Ye Ming has a good environment in the Chaotic Continent, and the cost of planting is lower.
While breeding, Ye Ming discovered a big problem. Not all parts of the land in the settlement were suitable for growing first-class crops. Some could only grow second- and third-class crops, and some places were even completely unable to grow crops.
In this regard, Ye Ming brought the Sword of Time and Space and conducted detailed surveying and mapping. It turned out that there was only about 500,000 acres of land in the entire settlement where longevity rice could be grown. There are only about two million acres of land where crystal sweet potatoes can be grown. The situation in Fu Laocai is much better, with more than 200 billion acres of land available. The third-level Zhenyuan Valley can be cultivated in an area of 20 trillion acres; as for Dragon Blood Rice, the cultivated area is 15 trillion acres.
The entire settlement has about 46 trillion acres of consumable land. In addition to the above, the remaining 31 trillion acres can be used to grow some fourth-class crops. However, the income was too low, and Ye Ming was not interested in farming. He would give those lands to the people of Sanhuang who immigrated for free to farm and use them to feed livestock.
Ye Ming further estimated that the yield of longevity rice per acre of land would be 2,000 jins after one fruiting, and 120 times a year, with a yield of 240,000 jins. Based on the cost of 6,000 per catty and the selling price of 10,000 per catty, the annual profit per mu of land is 960 million eternal coins. If all 500,000 acres of land were planted with longevity rice, the total output would be 120 billion catties, and the annual profit would be 480 trillion eternal coins!
If it can be further processed into elixirs, the profits can be further increased to more than 160 billion eternal coins. However, the construction of the factory requires time and investment, and there is no money for the time being.
The yield of crystal sweet potatoes is slightly higher. Each time the stems are collected, the yield per mu can reach 5,000 jins. It can be collected 90 times per year, and the annual output per mu of land is 4.5 million jins. The cost of producing crystal sweet potatoes is 2,500 eternal coins per catty, the selling price is 4,000 per catty, the profit per catty is 1,500, and the profit per acre is 675 million eternal coins.
If all two million acres were planted with crystal sweet potatoes, the total annual output would reach 90 billion catties, and the total profit would reach 1,350 trillion eternal coins!
In comparison, the yield per mu of second-class vegetables, vegetables, does not have such a high profit margin. Its yield per mu is only about one thousand catties. It is picked thirty-six times a year, with an annual output of thirty-six thousand catties. One hundred thousand longevity coins will be deducted from the growth per kilogram, leaving only one hundred thousand longevity coins in profit. Therefore, the annual profit per mu of land is 3.6 billion immortal coins, or 4,400 eternal coins. Fortunately, the planting area of Fu Lao Cai can reach 200 billion acres, and the final total profit can reach about 88 billion.
The remaining Zhenyuan Valley has an annual profit of about 50 trillion eternal coins; the profit of Dragon Blood Rice is relatively low, only about 12 trillion eternal coins per year. However, he is not planning to make money from this dragon blood rice. Instead, he will transport it to Tianyuan Continent and Three Emperors Continent to serve as rations for the people.
The three-trillion population of the Three Emperors World divided the remaining thirty-one acres of land, with an average of ten acres per person. In these lands, fourth-class crops can be grown, and the yield is much higher than in the Three Emperors World. During the Three Emperors World, each family cultivated dozens of acres of land, with an average of less than ten acres per person. In addition to rations, most of the income is paid to the rent.
Fortunately, Ye Ming not only waives land rent, but also provides them with high-quality seeds, fertilizers, and even irrigation for free. The people were naturally very happy and grateful to the Emperor. They set up longevity tablets at home and worshiped them every day.
In fact, the income of ordinary people from farming is quite limited. Taking the 31 trillion acres of land planted with low-grade crops as an example, the output in the three seasons each year is only about 3,000 kilograms, or three kilos of rice. The selling price of each stone meter is only more than 30 Fatian coins, and the price of three stones is only 100 Fatian coins. Each family has 40 to 50 acres of land, and their annual harvest is only 4,000 to 5,000 Fatian coins.
Most families cannot make much money purely from farming. Most of them go to work in mines, shops, restaurants, etc. to make money to support their families. Their income is much higher than farming. Of course, some families farm a lot of land, hundreds or even thousands of acres, and their income is quite considerable.
Fortunately, the longevity rice, crystal sweet potatoes, immortal vegetables, Zhenyuan Valley and Dragon Blood Rice grown by Ye Ming are all crops that require frequent collection, which requires a lot of manpower. Ye Ming couldn't let the Tiangong puppets and guards do such rough work. It would be too humiliating. This alone provides a large number of work opportunities for the people.
Taking an acre of longevity rice as an example, it requires two people to fertilize, two people to harvest, three people to dry and package, one person to water, three people to loosen the soil, weed, and prune, plus others, one acre The land requires about fifteen people. For 500,000 acres of land, there are 7.5 million long-term workers.
Zhenyuan Valley employs even more people. At least five people are required to be responsible for each mu of land. Two quadrillion acres of land require a population every year. Including other things, almost everyone in these three trillion people has the opportunity to work. For such a long-term worker, Ye Ming could earn wages ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 yuan per year. At last count, each person's annual income was as high as 300,000 to 400,000 Fatian coins.
However, Ye Ming's ambitions did not stop there. He named this place the first settlement. After this place is perfected, he will build the second, third, and more settlements, and then immigrate more people from various big worlds!