In July of the first year of Yongning, after the envoys of the Jin Dynasty strongly intervened, the three kingdoms in southern Xinjiang temporarily reached a peace agreement and stopped the endless war. The emperor's patrol officially left Shanpuyu City and headed north to the four Lingnan counties. During the inspection, the situation in southern Xinjiang was urgent. The inspection team rushed directly to Shanpou for inspection without stopping in Lingnan at all. Now they have returned to Lingnan for inspection.
At the end of July, the emperor's patrol arrived at Liu'an City, Xinshan County, Lingnan. This is also the command center of the Lingnan Army. In the past, there were 130,000 border guards here to deal with the threat of the southern barbarians. Now that the mountain puppets have surrendered, the imperial court's border defense pressure is much less. No one in the southern border of the empire dared to provoke the imperial court anymore. This time, after a slight attempt to intimidate, the Xi clan immediately knelt down. The foreign troubles in the southern border were basically gone, and the Lingnan Army had now been reduced to less than 100,000.
The emperor's huge inspection team arrived outside Lu'an City. Officials in the city, big and small, had already been waiting for the emperor outside the city. When they saw the emperor's honor guard coming, they all shouted long live in unison.
Mu Sheng came to the imperial chariot, waved his hand and said, "Your Majesty, please excuse me."
Deng Qi, the commander-in-chief of the Lingnan Army, stepped forward to greet him and said, "Long live your majesty, I am here to greet you."
This person used to be his immediate boss. After the Southern Conquest of Taisha, Mr. Lu Sheng officially retired honorably and returned to the capital to retire. Now the defense of the four Lingnan counties has been officially handed over to Deng Qi. He is also the master of Lu Shuai. Promoted.
When an acquaintance met, Mu Sheng stepped forward and said, "It's been a long time, General Deng. I remember the battle with you, and I still feel quite emotional when I think about it."
Deng Qi saw the emperor mentioning old things, but he did not dare to mention the old things about the emperor's capture. He just echoed, "Your Majesty, you still remember what happened back then. I am very happy. I still remember that I was the same robe as your Majesty back then." I am honored by our friendship.”
Mu Sheng said: "In the battle at Yucheng, General Deng commanded the battle with a degree of control and was not afraid of danger. I was also deeply impressed. Now that I have entrusted the defense of the four Lingnan counties to you, I am very relieved. I believe that Wuchenghou Lu Sheng will not be afraid of him either." You’ll get the wrong person.”
Hearing this, Deng Qi said excitedly: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I will never let down Your Majesty's expectations."
Mu Sheng nodded slightly and said: "General Deng, if there is a need here in Lingnan from now on, please feel free to report to the court."
Deng Qi said: "Your Majesty, please be at ease. Our government has been guarding the border here for more than ten years. Now the border troubles have been eliminated, the army has been reduced, and the food and grass are sufficient to be self-sufficient. Although the miasma here is fierce, the climate is humid, the land is fertile, and the food is sufficient." With three crops a year, our lives will only get better and better from now on, so your Majesty can rest assured."
Mu Sheng nodded and said, "Okay, very good."
Mu Sheng heard that this was true. He had stayed here for a while in the past and knew some of the truth.
Mu Sheng asked: "By the way, General Deng, have you read the edict I sent you before? Do you have any countermeasures?"
This edict was the imperial court's plan to secretly support the Wolf Lord's plan to seize the power of the Xi clan. The four Lingnan counties bordered the Xi clan. Naturally, the four Lingnan counties were used as the base of advancement to provide the Wolf Lord with a large amount of money and food supplies to help him achieve his great cause.
Deng Qi stepped forward and analyzed: "Your Majesty, I agree to divide and disintegrate the Xi clan, use the barbarians to control the barbarians, and provoke internal fighting among the Xi clan to achieve the purpose of weakening them. With our current war preparation resources in Lingnan, we have no worries about food. They want You can give as much as you want, but this ordnance may require the imperial court to supply most of it. The four Lingnan counties are the newly opened land of our empire, and the self-produced ordnance materials are barely enough for our own use. It will be difficult to supply Wolfsburg in large quantities."
When Mu Sheng heard this, he was a little surprised and said: "Deng Qing's family, you just said that you don't have to worry about food at all? But I remember that when General Lu was in charge of the four counties, he asked the court for food every year. In the past few years, there was no food supply. Are you worried?"
Deng Qi smiled mysteriously and waved, and his entourage handed over a tray covered with red cloth. Deng Qi opened the red cloth and pointed at the strange object on the tray, saying, "Your Majesty, please take a look at this."
There were six strange plants in the tray that were gray and unattractive. They looked like large potatoes and were steaming hot. They had obviously been cooked.
Deng Qi stepped forward and personally cut the strange plant into several pieces and presented it to him, saying, "Your Majesty, please taste it."
Before Mu Sheng could reach out, Yang Jin, the general manager of the inner court, stepped forward and took the strange plant and put it in his mouth to taste. After a long while, he nodded slightly to the emperor and said it was ready for consumption.
Seeing this, Mu Sheng felt a little helpless. This was also the rule. After Yang Jin finished eating, he took the strange plant and put it in his mouth to taste. After chewing for a long time, the taste was soft and slightly sweet.
"What is this?"
Deng Qi smiled and said: "Your Majesty, this is a sweet potato. It is a sacred object presented by the elders of the Ruoqin tribe who submitted to the imperial court. This object does not require land, and does not require intensive cultivation. It can grow by sowing seeds, even if the soil is of average quality. The place can also be very fruitful. In the past, when we recruited Ruoqin people to join the army, they would carry military rations made from this material with them. In the past, we were always short of food. Now that there has been no war in southern Xinjiang for a long time, I began to think about how to make military rations. Self-produced and self-sufficient, this sweet potato was discovered by accident. Since the cultivation of this plant has been promoted, the grain output of the four Lingnan counties has increased several times. The grain stored in each county is now enough to support an army of 200,000 for several years. If The situation in Lingnan is in crisis. With so much grain stored, we can expand our army and prepare for war in an instant. From now on, our four counties in Lingnan no longer have to rely on the imperial court to transport grain supplies."
This discovery not only shocked Mu Sheng, but all the ministers in the court were also shocked when they looked at this humble food. They all knew that if this miraculous crop was really promoted, it would have a great impact on the entire country. Huge benefits.
Seeing this divine object, Mu Sheng seemed to have imagined in his mind that an extremely powerful country was about to come. Food was the most important thing for the people. In this era, only enough food could feed a larger population, and population represented National strength, even in the industrial age, determines whether a country can become a world-class power is still a vast territory, a huge population base, a stable political structure, and super-class military capabilities. Without these four hard conditions, a country is destined to have no power. promising.
Mu Sheng turned to the ministers behind him and said, "Everyone of you, please come and have a taste of this. It is truly a gift from God!"
After the ministers tasted it, they all praised and praised it.
The left prime minister stepped forward and asked Deng Qi: "General Deng, this thing is so magical, why have you only brought it out to the court now?"
Deng Qi said: "Prime Minister Gao didn't know that this sacred object was only promoted in the four Lingnan counties last year. I also heard about His Majesty's eastward tour, so I planned to wait until His Majesty's emperor came here before dedicating this object."
Gao Chong means that Deng Qi is suspected of taking advantage of the emperor's eastward tour to seek credit, but this is also human nature.
After hearing this, Mu Sheng calmed down a little and asked, "Deng Qing's family, can this thing be cultivated in the Central Plains?"
Deng Qi said: "Your Majesty, this taro can grow successfully in Lingnan. I guess that at least the area south of the Central Plains has a similar climate to Lingnan, so it should be possible to grow it. The north is bitterly cold. I don't know yet whether this taro can be cultivated in the north." It will adapt to the local environment, which still needs to be verified.”
Even if it can only be grown in the southern part of the empire, its output is enough to feed many, many people.
Mu Sheng still understood the supreme value of this object, and laughed and said: "The Deng Qing family presented this sacred object, which will be of great benefit to the imperial court. I really didn't expect that the harvest from this tour would be so huge. The Deng Qing family, now Just take me to visit the fields where sweet potatoes are grown in various counties and counties. I want to see this god-given creature with my own eyes."
After saying that, he got on his horse and prepared to set off. Seeing that the emperor was so vigorous and resolute, Deng Qi had no choice but to accompany the emperor and the civil and military ministers to inspect the fields. He did not expect that the emperor would pay so much attention to this matter, but this is also an old tradition of the Jin Dynasty. The Jin State was founded on farming and warfare, and it paid special attention to agricultural development.
Deng Qi led his men to lead the way. There were fields growing sweet potatoes near Lu'an City. Thousands of people came to the wild fields. The farmers working around the fields were also curious about these rich and powerful people. Very, I don’t know what these officials are doing here when they have nothing to do.
Under the leadership of Deng Qi, a group of people came to a field. Deng Qi pointed to the green seedlings and said, "Your Majesty, please look. Sirs, please look. This is the field where we plant taro. These fields are only It can be regarded as the lower field. The cultivated land we reclaim is basically used to grow sweet potato. The upper field and fertile land are used to grow rice and millet. Basically, we can achieve two or three crops a year..."
After a whole day of inspecting the fields, Mu Sheng was quite satisfied. He basically dispelled the possibility that Deng Qi was greedy for fame and lied about the harvest. This is not unheard of in history.
Mu Sheng looked at the army commander in front of him who was talking endlessly and looked like an agricultural expert. He felt quite emotional in his heart. This is the benefit of the peaceful era. Although Deng Qi's original intention was just to solve the logistics and food problem, it was enough to see that this man He is serious and meticulous in his work. He is definitely a doer and a talent that can be reused.
After the inspection, Mu Sheng happily said to Deng Qi: "Deng Qing's family, I am very happy today. Our country was founded by farming and fighting. I have benefited a lot from this inspection. Next, you have to promote this place." The experience of taro planting has been written and submitted in a memorial, and I will promote it to counties across the country in the future."
Unexpectedly, Deng Qi had already prepared. He presented the fourteen sets of bamboo slips that he had written and said: "Your Majesty, this book is a summary of farming. I summarized the border army garrison over the years, half soldiers and half farmers, and the army is self-sufficient in farming." policy, one of which records the planting methods and cultivation methods of sweet potato in detail, and I will present it to His Majesty today."
Mu Sheng took the bamboo slips, took a quick glance at it, and said hello: "Deng Qing's family, if the sweet potato is successfully promoted throughout the country, I don't know how many people will benefit. You have made great contributions to the court."
Deng Qi said: "Your Majesty cares about the people of the world. I am inexplicably impressed by your Majesty's kindness. I was just lucky enough to accidentally discover this magical object. I hope God will protect our dynasty and may the Jin Dynasty live forever."
When Mu Sheng became interested, he stayed in Xinshan County for an extra month and a half, accompanied by Deng Qi, and visited all the fields in the surrounding counties. Finally, he came back satisfied. No matter in any era, agriculture has always been the same. The foundation of a country is the most important pillar industry of the country. It cannot be overemphasized. If people have no food, great things will happen. At the least, there will be refugees everywhere and starving people everywhere. At worst, the country will be destroyed and the country will be upside down.
