In the Wuying Hall of the Forbidden City in Nanjing, it was time for a royal family banquet, and it was time to have enough wine and food.
Since the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, the food of the No. 1 family in the world has been simple and homely. It's rare to have delicacies that can't be eaten by a large table. Usually it's three or four pots of fried green vegetables, plus a small meat and a large meat, and a large bowl of fresh fish, fat sheep or fresh meat cooked by old hens. Soup. Compared to the royal family, this kind of meal is not luxurious at all, but every side dish is cooked with care and is delicious and delicate.
After Zhu Cihong came to power, although his family's conditions improved a lot, he still had to live a careful and careful life!
Therefore, the table of wine and food placed in Wuying Hall today is still in the style of an ordinary family banquet. Because Wu Xiang, Wu Sanfeng, Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Sen, Zheng Jiangong, Zhu Yousong, and Zhu Changzi were invited, a few more dishes were added.
Among them are French fries with chili fried chicken that are said to be cooked by Wu Sanmei herself... The French fries are fried to golden brown and crispy on the outside and waxy on the inside, accompanied by dried chili powder (in this era, Sichuan and Hunan people did not Eat chili, but people from Jiangnan, Zhejiang and Hu Jian can eat some spicy food in small amounts.) The fried chicken nuggets gave Zhu Cixiang a little taste of his hometown, but the spiciness was still not enough, and it was not spicy enough!
"This yellow strip is good, what is it?" Fatty King also likes French fries. He ate more than a dozen of them, but he still felt that it was not enough, but he was too embarrassed to round up a large pot, so he asked about it. .
"Your Majesty, these are French fries." It was Wu Xiang who answered him.
Although it is a family banquet, there are still men's seats and women's seats. The female seats are placed in the Xinuan Pavilion of Wuying Hall. In addition to Zhu Cixi's concubines, there are also Empress Zhou Shang, Empress Zhang (the empress of Tianqi), Princess Kunxing and Duke Zhaoren, so only Wu Xiang can teach French fries. Secret skill.
"French fries?" Fatty King asked again, "Are they French fries?"
Roasted sweet potatoes are also very delicious. Fatty King also likes them very much. He also tried fried sweet potatoes.
"It's Fanzi potato chips." Wu Xiang explained, "Fanzi potato is called potato by Fujian people, people in the south of the Yangtze River call it potato, and people in the north call it potato. It's a crop from the New World in the West. There aren't many on the market. These are all It's grown in my farm." He put down his chopsticks and formed an oval shape with his two palms, "It's about this big, a bit like a taro, buried in the ground, and it looks like flowers and plants on the ground."
"What is the output of this thing? Is it possible to satisfy the hunger?" Emperor Chongzhen asked habitually.
"Your Majesty, the yield of this potato is not low. It is said that the yield per mu can reach 2,000 kilograms. The first time I planted it, I produced 1,000 kilograms," Wu Xiang said. "It is also very simple to plant. Plant the potato according to the bud eyes." Cut it into egg-sized pieces and place it in warm, moist soil.”
"Then it's not as good as sweet potatoes." Emperor Chongzhen also knew that Zhu Cihong was growing sweet potatoes in the fields in Shandong.
"The yield is indeed not as good as that of sweet potato," Wu Xiang said with a smile, "but this thing is more hungry than sweet potato... Although it is not as good as rice and white flour, it is much better than sweet potato."
Chongzhen said: "A thousand catties is worth eight stones. It would be better if it can reach two thousand catties. If planted in large quantities, wouldn't it be able to solve the grain shortage in the southeast?"
"Your Majesty, the sweet potato is not very drought tolerant, nor is it very heat resistant," Zheng Zhilong took over the topic, "The sweet potato is more resistant to frost, but it cannot tolerate drought and heat. If it is in the north where there is no shortage of water, it will be fine. Planting in large quantities... Sweet potatoes can be harvested in a hundred days. Even in the cold northern regions, sowing in March can be harvested in July. After harvesting, it can be processed into potato starch and stored for a long time."
Zhu Cixiang had already finished eating a chicken leg and turned to look at Zheng Zhilong, "Old Taishan still knows how to farm?"
Zheng Zhilong smiled and said, "I don't know how to farm. However, the Chen family has cultivated land in Taiwan and hired many experienced farmers who are proficient in farming. I often talk to them, so I know some farming things. These young potatoes and sweet potatoes only need to be planted." If you are in the right place, you can survive."
"How many crops did your family create in Taiwan?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
The Dutch have now withdrawn from Taiwan, and the Zheng family has now become the masters of Taiwan - Taiwan will be known as the Treasure Island in the future, but in the 17th century it was still a barbaric state, and it was blocked by the "Black Water Ocean" (a fast ocean current). If it were not for a pirate family like the Zheng family, it would not be easy to enter and leave Taiwan.
Therefore, the development of Taiwan was almost a bottomless pit for the Ming Dynasty. However, it could not be filled with people's money. It would be more appropriate to entrust the development to the Zheng family.
"Reporting to the Emperor," Zheng Zhilong said, "The Chen family has spent a lot of money in Taiwan in the past two years, reclaiming up to 300,000 acres of land, half of which is planted with sugar cane, and the rest is planted with taro, sweet potatoes, rice, and various fruits and vegetables.
Sugarcane can be used to boil sugar and can be sold for a lot of money. Rice can feed people, but the yield is not high, so some sweet potatoes have to be planted to make up for the shortage. As for taro, it can be eaten by people and fed to pigs. "
"Taiwan's rice yield is not high?" Zhu Cixiang asked, "Why? Taiwan's climate is humid and warm, so two crops of rice a year is not a problem, right? Adding two crops together, how can the yield per mu be three or four shi of white rice, right?"
Zheng Zhilong shook his head repeatedly: "It's not that good. Is it really that good? Why is Taiwan so desolate now? Your Majesty, you don't know. Taiwan is very windy. Every summer there are strong winds, which can often blow down half-grown rice. All The people who come to the island to cultivate land must stop growing sweet potatoes and taro, so as to ensure a safe supply of food rations."
Taiwan was rich in rice in later generations, but that was based on generations of improved rice seeds and hybrid wind-resistant rice. In the 17th century, the only rice that could be grown on the island of Taiwan was rice brought from Fujian. It was easily blown down by typhoons and the yield was unstable. Therefore, there must be prepared sweet potatoes and taro for planting to ensure a safe food supply.
As for cane sugar, it is a specialty introduced to Taiwan by the Dutch. Together with a deerskin, it is the source of profits for Taiwan.
After Zheng Zhilong took over the island of Taiwan from the Dutch, he also invested heavily in the sugar industry.
However, what he put down was not his capital, but mortgage loans - Maritime Bank issued usury loans to Fujian farmers who dared to go to Taiwan to try their luck, and then used the farms developed by the farmers on the island as collateral. At the same time, the Zheng family's Taiwan Sugar Company will also sign sugarcane purchase agreements with Fujian farmers who are seeking wealth and purchase their sugarcane.
The loan interest rate and the purchase price of sugarcane have been carefully calculated by the Zheng family profiteers. On the one hand, they can make hard-working and lucky farmers make "big money"; on the other hand, they can pass on the risks of developing Taiwan to the greatest extent possible. .
The farmers who made a lot of money were just the wealth effect that the Zheng family showed to those Fujian farmers who were empty-handed and dreamed of getting rich.
Behind one farmer who has made a fortune, there are at least four farmers who have worked hard in vain and even lost their lives on the island of Taiwan... A proper 28th anniversary effect!
The Zheng family is firmly positioned on the Diaoyutai Islands in this adventure of developing Taiwan.
Twenty percent of the farmers who have made money can repay their loans and continuously supply cane sugar to the Zheng family's sugar factory. As for the 80% of farmers who have lost everything, as long as they survive, they have to work for the Zheng family to earn money to pay off their debts - otherwise, how would the proletariat on the island of Taiwan come about?
Moreover, the farm they worked so hard to develop will also be acquired by the Zheng family, and then resold to new people from Fujian to take over... As long as there is a wealth effect, people will come to the island one after another to pursue their dreams.
Who knows that Fujian is divided into eight mountains, one water and one farmland? Since ancient times, there has been little land and many people. There has never been a shortage of poor people who dare to go to sea to find a way to make a living. Zheng Zhilong himself was one of them in his early years!
"Are all the poor people from Fujian who are going overseas to Taiwan to seek a future?" Zhu Cixi then asked about going overseas to make a living. Of course he wanted to spread the banner of the Ming Dynasty all over the world, but he also knew that this kind of thing was not that easy. The current Ming Dynasty cannot be colonized one after another like a bottomless pit, so it must listen to the opinions of experts.
