The dazzling gold symbolizes extremely huge wealth no matter where it is. The gold placed in front of them made the conservative censors suddenly stagnant, and even many of the cutting-edge officials of the Maritime Sect were dumbfounded.
Without him, a pile of gold was just placed in front of us like junk. This scene was really amazing.
"What are those at the back?" Lao Zhu didn't pay much attention to the gold itself. Instead, he focused on the several dirty boxes at the back. "Open it and let us take a look."
"Your Majesty, these are some of the crops in Fengming Continent." Tie Xuan said. "I don't know which one is the 'god seed', so I can only bring back everything I can find."
As soon as the word "god seed" came out, others immediately started whispering among themselves. There is a "god seed" in the New World that can produce a thousand catties per acre. This fact has long been spread from the Imperial College to the people. It’s just that the yield per mu is so unbelievable that almost everyone regards it as nonsense.
Now that Tie Xuan mentioned it, the courtiers realized that His Majesty actually took the legend of this "god seed" seriously.
Those boxes were opened one by one, and suddenly, the smell of earth spread throughout Fengtian Hall. When Lao Zhu saw this, he didn't shy away. He walked out of Danbi directly, smoothed his sleeves, stretched out his hand and reached into the box. The brand new dragon robe was suddenly splashed with a few specks of mud.
Some officials frowned immediately.
"Grandson, eldest son, fifth son, come on, take a look!" Taking out a pot of crops from the box, Lao Zhu quickly called over some of his close children and grandchildren in the hall.
"What is this? But that divine seed? It looks like just an ordinary plant or tree?"
Just as Tie Xuan was about to explain, Zhu Su looked at the thing and smiled. "Dad, this thing is called 'Peanut', also known as 'Eternal Life Fruit', but the fruit grows on the rhizome. It is a kind of nut with a delicate texture. If you peel off the skin, add some salt and fry it, it is most suitable for use. Come and have a drink.”
In his previous life, his hometown planted many acres of peanuts, and Zhu Su was very familiar with them.
Hearing this, Tie Xuan nodded with a smile and said, "What Master said is true. This thing does grow on rhizomes. We immigrants from the Ming Dynasty call them 'mud beans', but they are stir-fried with salt and served with wine. This method is good." No one has tasted it yet.”
"Grandpa Huang, my fifth uncle said this thing is called 'immortality fruit'. Could it be that if you eat it, you can live forever? Grandpa Huang, why don't you take it out and eat it." Zhu Xiongying encouraged Old Zhu, looking at the small pot of "peanuts" , eyes sparkling with curiosity. Lao Zhu knew that Dasun just wanted to see if the peanut grew in the rhizome. He was so happy that he, the imperial grandfather, had been tricked into doing this for such a trivial matter.
"Okay, okay, Grandpa Huang will bring it here..." Seeing that there were still a lot of peanuts in the box, Lao Zhu gently pulled the pot of peanuts in his hand. After shaking off the soil, I saw many small gourd-like fruits hanging from its roots. He took out a few, peeled them off, and wiped them on his dragon robe. Seeing Zhu Su nodded, he safely stuffed one into his mouth.
"Yeah! Good stuff! Biao'er, Dasun, you guys should try it too!" After saying that, he gave a few pills to Zhu Biao, then took a few and rubbed them into Zhu Xiongying's mouth. After several people ate, they all praised it.
"...Don't give it to me." Zhu Su, who was ready to pick up the peanuts, stayed where he was in embarrassment.
Watching the three generations of the Zhu family taste this exotic delicacy, a few of the courtiers were quite curious and hoped that the emperor would reward them with something new. But Lao Zhu only tasted it briefly. Seeing that Zhu Xiongying liked it, he just gave him the remaining few peanuts, and then waved his hand to have other peanuts sent down for seed saving.
Then he walked to the second box and asked, "What is this?"
The plants in this box are covered with dense particles and exude a strange fragrance. As soon as Zhu Su smelled this fragrance, he already had the answer in his heart. "This thing is called coffee. After roasting it, grind it into powder and drink it. It can refresh your mind and make you feel energetic even after you have not slept all night."
"Oh? Another good thing!" Old Zhu Long was delighted. He was the number one workaholic in the Ming Dynasty, so he was overjoyed to hear that there was such a refreshing creature.
"Then what is this?"
"Huh? Chili pepper?" This time it was Zhu Su's turn to be happy. "Father, the name of this thing is chili pepper, and its taste is ten times spicier than dogwood. Cooking with it is extremely delicious." Thinking of the delicacies made with chili peppers that he had eaten in his previous life, Zhu Su almost Fengtian Hall was drooling.
"What about this thing?"
"Oh, this is tobacco, it can be used for medicinal purposes..."
"Hey, is this corn? This is a good thing..."
…
Then, like opening a blind box, Lao Zhu opened one Fengmingzhou crop after another in the Fengtian Palace. He personally examined each crop and asked for its use. If Zhu Su knew something, Zhu Su would explain it. If Zhu Su didn't know it, Tie Xuan would explain it one by one. Lao Zhu took the trouble and listened carefully. Deep down in his heart, he still attached great importance to farming. So many new crops made him extremely happy.
However, there are also shortcomings. It wasn't until the end that Lao Zhu turned around and asked Zhu Su: "Isn't there a 'god seed' among these things?"
"Father, no." Zhu Su also shook his head regretfully. To be fair, Tie Xuan's voyage and the establishment of "Jinshan Fort" in "San Francisco" were equivalent to directly occupying a large gold mine and collecting it in a short period of time. Having brought so many crops back to China is already a very good job.
But unfortunately, among these crops, the biggest goals of this expedition to America: "potatoes" and "sweet potatoes" were not included. Although "corn" exists, the yield of corn is far from giving Lao Zhu the confidence to withstand the Little Ice Age in a few hundred years.
"I have betrayed the emperor's favor and shall be punished by death..." Zhang He and Tie Xuan were already kneeling on the ground.
"It doesn't matter, you two have already made great achievements. We are not indiscriminate people. We will find the divine seed for us next time." Lao Zhu waved his hand generously. The New World has been successfully found, and crops such as peanuts and corn have appeared, which is enough to prove that the so-called "divine seeds" are not nonsense. This is enough for Lao Zhu.
The next step is to introduce the divine seeds to the Ming Dynasty regardless of the cost, so that the Ming Dynasty will no longer suffer from hunger...
"Your Majesty, it is nonsense, how can we find the divine seed again?" Lao Zhu had just finished speaking. Lian Zining, the supervising censor who had been standing by for a whole day, could no longer bear it and came out to remonstrate. .
"Is there anyone in the world who can produce a thousand kilograms of grain per acre? It is really a shame to deceive the world! I would like to impeach Zhang He and Tie Xuan. These two people used gold goods and exotic flowers and herbs to seduce the Holy Heart... Their crimes should be punished!"
(End of chapter)
