A few days later, Qingzhou Fucheng.
In the early morning, Wang Wenzhen stood at the door of the shogunate office with an anxious face, looking towards both ends of the street. From time to time, he asked the subordinates around him: "Have you agreed? Are you going to arrive today?"
"Don't worry, sir. I've sent someone to ask. I arrived today. I guess I've entered the city by now."
"That's good."
Wang Wenzhen turned to the Minister of Agriculture beside him, Zhang Lei, and said: "Bu Zhang, you don't know, this Du Feng, oh, is the old farmer we are waiting for, but the person who has been thinking about it day and night in the town is the one who picked him up earlier. After completing the mission of the headquarter, I went boating to Nanyang, and now I am back alive."
Zhang Lei said slightly dissatisfied: "It took me a long time to hand me over here, just to wait for an old farmer? What ability does he have that can turn stone into gold?"
"Haha, Zhang Bu, don't believe it. The main town sent Du Feng to Nanyang to find a treasure. If he finds it this time and brings it back, the affairs of your Ministry of Agriculture will be easy to handle. Maybe the drought in various places can be smoothly overcome this time. past."
Zhang Lei's eyes suddenly lit up. During this period of time, in order to fight drought and provide disaster relief, Zhang Lei almost traveled all around Qingzhou Prefecture. All the people from the Ministry of Agriculture also went to various prefectures to provide disaster relief. It can be said that if their salaries were not sufficient, the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture I was already exhausted and ran away.
"Is what Mr. Wang said true? I, Zhang Lei, have little education, please don't lie to me!"
"Don't worry, don't worry!"
While he was talking, a carriage drove up. Wang Wenzhen saw at a glance that it was the official carriage of the Ministry of Government Affairs. He smiled and said, "Look, it's here!"
The carriage stopped steadily, and an old farmer with shabby clothes and a haggard face got out of the carriage, followed by three other men.
Wang Wenzhen
It was recognized that those three people were among the dozen or so followers that Du Feng had taken away.
"Oh! Old man Du, you are finally back!"
When Du Feng saw Wang Wenzhen, he burst into tears. The three men behind him also wiped away their tears. The four of them knelt on the ground, as if they wanted to cry out all the grievances they had suffered during this period.
"Sir, my journey has not been easy. There are huge waves on the sea, and Zheng Yiguan's fleet is everywhere in Nanyang. The ship we are traveling on is like a thieves, and it was almost sunk!"
"Finally, we arrived in Little Luzon. The Francois over there seized our ship again. The dozen or so people accompanying us also died and escaped. After several twists and turns, only a few of us were left. Finally, we got on board. He boarded a smuggling ship bound for Fujian and only narrowly escaped death..."
Wang Wenzhen first comforted Du Feng and the others. Now that Du Feng has experienced a series of changes and dangers, his originally short figure has become even more stooped. The wind and frost on his face and the dark skin make him look like he is sixty or seventy years old. old man.
"Oh! It's not easy."
Wang Wenzhen then asked: "Did you accomplish what the mayor asked you to do?"
"Who is the chief?"
Wang Wenzhen was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "The original commander of the Lingshan Guards, Mr. Liu Yan, is now the chief military officer of Qinglai Town."
"ah!"
Du Feng opened his mouth in surprise, and then Wang Wenzhen pulled him and asked again: "Have you found it?"
Zhang Lei also came over curiously, wanting to know what he was looking for.
"I found it. I brought back the sweet potato seedlings that Mr. Boss asked me to find."
Talking
, Du Feng opened his shirt, revealing a hemp rope-like belt, as did the other three.
"Look, sir, these are sweet potato seedlings."
As he spoke, Du Feng carefully took apart the "belt", pulled out several plant stems from the hemp rope, and said, "Sir, these sweet potato seedlings can survive as they are planted, as long as they do not wither."
"Now those Francois in Little Luzon are very cunning and strictly prohibit sweet potatoes from being taken out. Xiao Lao and others have no choice but to cut out some stems and leaves from the sweet potato seedlings, then cut them into small sections, and weave the small sections of sweet potato vines into In the hemp rope, I brought it back without any danger."
"Okay, you have made a great contribution!"
Wang Wenzhen then took Du Feng and others, called Zhang Lei, and went to the General Military Mansion together.
When the sweet potato seedlings brought back were placed in front of Liu Yan, Du Feng and three followers were feasting in the main hall of the General Military Mansion. They had not eaten serious meals for a long time. During this time at sea, they could eat every day. Smelly fish and rotten shrimps will be very fragrant, and you will go hungry most of the time.
Seeing how many people were devouring their food, Wang Wenzhen asked his servant to get some more food.
Liu Yan was very happy and said loudly: "Du Feng has contributed a lot to this. This town has decided to appoint Du Feng as the consultant of the Reclamation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture. He will pay the salary according to the level of chief minister, and the other three will be incorporated into the Ministry of Agriculture."
"In addition, Du Feng will be rewarded with three hundred silver coins, and each of the three followers will be rewarded with one hundred silver coins!"
At this time, Du Feng and others heard about the silver coins in Qinglai Town on the way here. They knew that three hundred and one hundred silver coins were actually three hundred taels of silver or one hundred taels of silver. Du Feng and the others were excited.
He put down his bowls and chopsticks and kept kowtowing in thanks.
Liu Yan smiled and asked a few people to get up and said: "The four of you will go down and rest for a few days. Minister Wang has already arranged your accommodation. In three days, you will report to the Ministry of Agriculture to assist Minister Zhang in promoting sweet potatoes."
"As you command!"
Liu Yan then said to Wang Wenzhen: "Minister Wang will be rewarded with a hundred silver coins for his meritorious recommendation. In addition, your salary at the Ministry of Government Affairs will also be increased by 10% this year."
"Haha, Mr. Xie!"
Wang Wenzhen smiled and took Du Feng and others down to settle down, while Liu Yan left Zhang Lei behind.
Sweet potatoes are also known as sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. The leaves and stems of this thing can be eaten. In later generations, almost everyone in the country did not know it. However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, very few people knew about this thing.
Liu Yan remembered that the person who introduced sweet potatoes to China in history was named Chen Zhenlong. This Chen Zhenlong was from Qingqiao Village, Changle County, Fuzhou Prefecture. He was selected as a scholar before he was twenty. Later, he failed to pass the provincial examination, so he abandoned Confucianism and went to Luzon Island to do business.
Chen Zhenlong saw that sweet potatoes, also known as sweet potatoes, were grown locally. He saw that this kind of thing was drought-resistant, easy to live, and could be eaten raw or cooked. It had "six benefits and eight benefits, and the same merits as five grains." He wanted to take it back to his motherland, so he ignored it. The French ban on Luzon Island hid the sweet potatoes and took them out of the country. Unexpectedly, they were seized by the customs and were severely tortured and almost died.
Then Chen Zhenlong used a method similar to Du Feng's, twisting the sweet potato vines into the water-absorbing rope, and then coating it with sludge. Finally, he took it back to Fuzhou and reported it to the then governor Jin Xuezeng. Fortunately, the governor paid great attention to it and ordered to focus on cultivating it. .
Sweet potatoes have gained increasing popularity among farmers in Guangdong and Fujian
Due to the popularity of the people, one acre of sweet potato can produce dozens of kilo, which is more than twenty times that of rice. Moreover, it can be eaten in various ways, and even barren land can still produce a high yield. The name of sweet potato soon became a household name across the country. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, floods in the Jiangnan region were severe and grain output was greatly reduced. Xu Guangqi brought sweet potatoes back to Shanghai from Fujian and promoted their cultivation in Jiangsu, achieving good disaster relief results.
It’s just that in the late Ming Dynasty, Chen Zhenlong’s descendants have long gone. There are not many sweet potato farmers left in Fujian, and they are controlled by Zheng Zhilong. In other places, the word sweet potato has not even been heard of. Liu Yancai had no choice but to focus on Lu Song again.
Fortunately, Du Feng fulfilled his mission and really brought back the sweet potato seedlings!
"Sir, are these sweet potatoes? Can this thing really replace food?"
Liu Yan said with certainty: "Yes, this is a food crop with a higher yield than rice and wheat, and it is very drought-resistant. It can still be planted and harvested in the current drought year. However, we must be prepared for locust plagues and be more prepared. Some chickens and ducks are being raised around farmland and we are trying to find ways to control it.”
Zhang Lei curiously picked up a section of seedlings and said, "These seedlings are divided into sections. Can they really be planted?"
Seeing Zhang Lei's dubious look, Liu Yan said: "Believe me, the specific planting technology must be deployed as soon as possible by the technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture taught by Du Feng."
"There are basically no traces of locusts in Fucheng, Qingzhou. Now a farmland has been designated around Fucheng as a test field. These seedlings should be planted as soon as possible to prevent them from dying."
"This town will start from the bodyguard
Soldiers and horses were mobilized from the camp and stationed around the experimental field day and night. You also temporarily left the disaster relief work to your subordinates. You took Du Feng and stayed in the experimental field. This crop of sweet potatoes must be planted successfully. This is important. We cannot pay too much attention to the food ration problem of hundreds of millions of people in Qinglai Town, Shandong and the world! "
"Don't worry, headquarter. My subordinates, Du Feng and the others don't have to rest for three days. We will go out of the city to find suitable farmland tomorrow and start working first."
"That's fine."
Liu Yan said: "Tell Du Feng and the others that as long as the sweet potatoes are planted successfully and survive successfully, this town will reward Du Feng with one hundred silver coins, and each of the other three people will be rewarded with fifty silver coins. When the harvest comes, each of them will Ten stones of sweet potatoes, reward them with fifty silver coins, no limit!"
"In addition, everyone involved in the Ministry of Agriculture will also be rewarded, twenty silver coins for every ten stones!"
Zhang Lei was shocked when he heard such a high reward, and said: "Don't worry, the head of the town. After they hear these rewards, they will probably take care of them more than taking care of their own father. As long as the seedlings are fine, the harvest will be fine." question."
"Ah That's good."
"In addition, for the brothers who died at sea with Du Feng, you ask Du Feng to draw up each list. After checking it with the shogunate's archives, you will immediately issue the pension, with priority, severity and speed!"
"yes."
Then Zhang Lei carefully collected all the sweet potato seedlings and hurriedly took people to find Du Feng and others.
Liu Yan looked at the yellowing sky outside. This sky matched the drought and locust plagues at this time, which made Liu Yan feel very heavy.
According to the experience of later generations, sweet potatoes need to be planted around March every year, about three to four months.
Right can be harvested. Shandong can do one crop a year, while conditions in the south are better and can do two crops a year.
Liu Yan estimated that the four people brought back dozens of sweet potato seedlings, and they couldn't plant much of them. It was estimated that this year's harvest would be used as seeds for the coming year.
"I hope the sweet potato harvest season will be in time, and I hope it can be promoted throughout Qinglai Town within a few years."
Liu Yan knew that there were constant natural disasters in the late Ming Dynasty. Without the protection of high-yielding crops like sweet potatoes, people would starve to death even in Qinglai Town under successive years of disasters!
