"Who did you say you were?"
"Your Majesty, this is Prince Pinghai." Liu Jin said carefully.
"Prince Pinghai? What could happen if he comes to see me at this time?" Zhu Houzhao couldn't think of it at the moment.
Seeing this, Queen Xia didn't have a good impression of Mei Huaigu.
Her relationship with Concubine Ning and Concubine Zhao was not bad, and the emperor himself did not ignore her status as queen because of this.
She has always been the queen, and her future children will still be legitimate sons. So far, no one has dared to stir up the so-called "establishment of a prince".
However, both emperors came from the Mei family, so it is inevitable that they are now in the limelight, and their momentum may even overtake the queen's natal Xia family, which is not good.
Of course, in the name of business, she did not dare to displease the emperor on this matter.
"Your Majesty, Prince Pinghai is in such an urgent situation, it must be no small matter. State affairs are important, so your Majesty should go and have a look. As for my concubines, they won't be in the way."
"Then I'll come as soon as I go. You can pass on the food. When it's over, I'll come to Kunning Palace."
"I obey your orders."
Of course Zhu Houzhao has some care for the harem and these women, but he also has some basic bottom lines, and these bottom lines have been clearly told to them, that is, they cannot affect the affairs of the previous dynasty - do not participate, do not care, do not Add to chaos.
Generally speaking, he is still in his prime and has no obvious problems yet.
"Nostalgia, you have a problem with this matter. I am coming from Kunning Palace. If you can't tell me one, two, three, then I won't care, and the queen will also cause trouble for you."
The emperor said as he walked.
"Hehe, you all understand what your Majesty is talking about," Mei Huaigu has a very flattering face. He has been very discerning since he was a child. "It's just that this matter involves the strange guest in Wei Chen's house. My father told me This matter concerns Your Majesty, and we dare not delay it at all..."
"In your house?"
Zhu Houzhao had just walked quickly and hadn't noticed the person he was taking. At this moment, he turned around and found a man and a woman falling behind him. The woman was somewhat familiar to him, but he was not particularly impressed. For the emperor, he saw a lot of strangers and had to remember too many names. It was easy to forget things like this.
"Meng Ying, a civilian girl (Meng Qiuzhong, a grassroots citizen), pays homage to His Majesty."
"They are..."
"Your Majesty, do you still remember sweet potatoes?" Mei Huaigu reminded.
There was a pause in Zhu Houzhao's movements, and his breathing could not help but speed up a bit. There was no concealment of excitement in his expression. He pointed with his finger and said: "Yes, yes, yes, I remember, the girl with the sweet potato pattern on the handkerchief. Nostalgic, you just said You mean, she has always been in your house? I thought she had left the capital."
Meng Ying pursed her lips, not daring to say anything.
At first, she wanted to leave the capital. But Mei Kejia wouldn't let her leave.
Only when she was in the capital would her father bring sweet potatoes to the capital.
Because her father was imprisoned at the time, and the condition for his release was to bring back the sweet potatoes. If the daughter left and the father was released, who would the emperor go to?
This principle is simple and easy to understand.
But the emperor did not say it clearly at the time.
Now, he denies it again.
Meng Ying was actually used to it. She had been in the capital for several years. Emperor Zhengde took charge of the court, imposed a sea ban, strengthened the army and drove away the Tatars. The first battle wiped away the shame of Tumubao. His scheming, methods and prestige can be heard casually in the mansion.
It is almost impossible for her and her father to resist. They can only admit it and pray that if this matter is solved, this 'secret house arrest' can be lifted.
Mei Huaigu would not care about her thoughts, but followed the emperor's words: "Because this matter is important, my father told me to serve her well, so Miss Meng never left."
These are minutiae.
That's not the point, and the emperor doesn't want to hear it.
"So, where are the sweet potatoes?"
After asking this question, Zhu Houzhao's eyes also fell on the bag Mei Huaigu was carrying.
"Wei Chen, take it out now. I heard from Father Meng that people in the south call him Fanshu. Father Meng, please report it to His Majesty quickly."
While he was talking, Zhu Houzhao had already walked down and took it in his hand to read.
Red, oval-shaped... they are indeed sweet potatoes.
"Okay! Okay! You guys have made a great contribution!"
Upon hearing what the emperor said, the three of them all looked happy. If they could make the emperor happy, they would be rewarded.
In fact, the so-called planting of sweet potatoes can be done with just this.
When he was a child, he grew up in a rural area and even went to his neighbor's fields to dig secretly.
I don’t know how people in this era cultivated it. At that time, he was in the countryside. His parents and grandparents would store this stuff in the cellar for the winter to prevent the sweet potatoes from being frozen. At the beginning of the next spring, around this time, when the temperature was in the teens, they would be planted in the ground for cultivation. , and then it will grow green sweet potato seedlings.
When the sweet potato seedlings grow to 30 to 50 centimeters, cut them off and insert them into the cultivated land. Then you can harvest them in September or October.
Of course, there are many types of sweet potatoes, and our country is vast, so some are planted in spring and some in summer.
This is not the key. The key is that the advantages of sweet potatoes are very obvious. The most obvious ones are drought resistance, barrenness tolerance, high yield, and can be grown even on mountains regardless of terrain.
Judging from a normal year, one acre of sweet potatoes can produce 2,500 to 3,000 kilograms, which is what Xu Guangqi recorded as "one acre yields dozens of shi" (one shi in the Ming Dynasty was 150 kilograms). Its output is more than ten times that of one acre of rice field.
However, this matter must be looked at from two sides.
First, it is a joke to expect that the sweet potatoes will feed the whole country as soon as they arrive.
Because sweet potatoes have very low calories, no matter what you eat, your body always needs calories. The calories of sweet potatoes are only one-third of those of grains such as rice. Potatoes and corn are basically on the same level as sweet potatoes. To put it more bluntly, sweet potatoes No matter how much you eat, 80% is water, so what’s the use?
So if we don’t talk about calories and only talk about output, this is a hooliganism.
In addition, sweet potatoes have no oil, and if you eat too much, your stomach will easily become bloated, which will also lead to a situation like, well, you just can’t poop out...
So even if sweet potatoes later became a 'delicacy', they could never become a staple food.
Therefore, it is even more impossible to imagine relying on this to bulldoze the whole world. In fact, in real history, sweet potatoes have been introduced into China during the Longqing and Wanli years. By the late Wanli period and the Tianqi period, officials have recorded that the chief ministers of Shaanxi, Henan, Nanzhi, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Yunnan had already introduced them to China. Sweet potatoes are commonly grown.
However, it did not save the Ming Dynasty, which was full of refugees.
From this perspective, man-made disasters are always the biggest problem. Industrial countries with high productivity also have hungry people.
But then again,
When food and clothing is still a big problem, saying that sweet potatoes taste bad or eating too much pantothenic acid is just a hooligan. It is a kind of hypocrisy that is completely incomprehensible to the victims.
For those who are reduced to chewing tree bark, eating this is like ascending to heaven.
For people who live on the line of food and clothing, planting some sweet potatoes in addition to rice and wheat can solve the problem of shortage of food and clothing, and even save some staple food for storage or sale.
For the entire country, having more food to eat is always a good thing.
Then the current acute social conflicts can be greatly alleviated. The people have stabilized and promoted various reform measures. Even if they are more radical, they will not cause earth-shaking consequences.
Being able to feed more people and increasing the flexibility of society is its significance. Instead of thinking that it can’t be eaten all the time or that you can’t rely on it to defeat the world, you think it has no value at all. This is diode thinking.
Therefore, in Zhu Houzhao's eyes, sweet potato is a very important strategic crop.
At this time, he was holding something that he didn't want to eat in his previous life, and he had to be careful now.
"Your Majesty, it doesn't have to be...it doesn't have to be like this." Meng Ying spoke, not sure whether her words were appropriate or not, and she seemed to lack confidence in the end.
"Why?"
"Because my father has cultivated and planted sweet potatoes in my hometown, I cut the stems of sweet potatoes for seeding, so..."
"Oh?" Zhu Houzhao understood what she meant, "So, I don't care even if I eat it. Father Meng, is that true?"
"Back...back to Your Majesty, yes, it is extremely important for the common people to know this matter. If they don't cultivate and plant it first, they won't have the guts to disturb Your Majesty."
"It's quite smart." Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but praise. Only with this kind of brain can he accomplish things, "But I won't eat it. The season is right now, so I'd better use all the things you brought to cultivate."
"yes."
"Tell me, how did you bring it back, and what is the situation overseas?"
Meng Qiuzhong was a little nervous when he saw the emperor for the first time, "The grassroots people returned... I told your majesty that these sweet potatoes were smuggled back from Manchuria by the grassroots people. There were Franji people in the area, and they were the first to bring these sweet potatoes to Manchuria." The country of Lajia.”
"Manlajia?"
Zhu Houzhao's geographical knowledge began to be tested.
"Is it my Ming Dynasty's vassal state?"
"Return to your Majesty. No, the Kingdom of Mansajia belongs to the Kingdom of Siam. These are small overseas countries, which are incomparable with our Chinese dynasty. The locals have also heard about our Chinese emperor, and they yearn for it, but they are far away from each other. If it weren't for Businessmen are trying to survive, but most people don’t have the guts to face the storm on the sea.”
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh,
The second half of this statement is nonsense.
However, the current political correctness is such that he does not want to spend effort to correct this thing.
In fact, Manchuria was the place that later became Malaysia and Singapore. The Portuguese first arrived here, and then a war broke out, which also led to the decline of the country.
The time point was during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty.
In other words, European artillery fire is already on the heads of Asians.
Including Luzon Island, also known as the Philippines, was also invaded by the Spanish in this century.
Under the influence of Zhu Houzhao, the Ming Dynasty now has an interest group that engages in maritime trade. One day, merchants from the Ming Dynasty and merchants from Europe will collide. According to the logic of these bandits, they will definitely do your profitable business. Will grab and fight.
Maybe that day will come sooner than imagined.
Put these aside,
The sweet potato in front of him still made Zhu Houzhao extremely excited.
There are three words to say a thousand words: promote it!
He accepted the item with a smile and asked Liu Jin to take it aside.
Then he said to the Meng family and his daughter: "Such a crop will surely lead to countless lives in the future. Meng Qiuzhong, your contribution is greater than you imagine. I have always made clear rewards and punishments. Tell me, is there anything you need?"
"This... the common people don't dare."
"Your Majesty is rich all over the world." Mei Huaigu reminded him, "Just ask."
Meng Qiuzhong raised his head, a little confused, and said with a slight uprightness: "Your Majesty, the common people want a hundred taels of silver."
Zhu Houzhao and Mei Huaigu were stunned for a moment.
"Lack of money?"
"Yes, the daughter of the grassroots is not married yet, and the dowry has not been paid yet."
When Meng Ying heard what was going on, she immediately blushed, "Dad! How could you tell His Majesty this?"
"Hahaha." Zhu Houzhao found it quite interesting. After being the emperor for a long time, such a simple person is indeed rare. "Meng Qiuzhong, I agree to this condition, and I can give you more. There is only one thing, you have to help me. I’m doing you a favor.”
"I don't dare, please give your Majesty's orders."
"Sweet potatoes are the only crop you have ever grown. I will find a piece of land and you can stay and take care of it. As for the one you planted in your hometown in Fujian, I will issue a decree, specify the method, and ask the local magistrate to take care of it. What do you want? How about the next one?"
Meng Qiuzhong hesitated for a moment. He originally wanted to go back to his hometown.
Mei Huaigu was banging on the side, "Father Meng, this is the opportunity given by Your Majesty, why don't you thank me?!"
The old farmer didn't have that many ideas, and he didn't dare to refuse, so he kowtowed and said, "The common people are willing to listen to your majesty."
"Okay. Liu Jin, go and get five hundred taels of silver and give it to Meng Qiuzhong. Huaigu, I will leave these two people to you. You can settle down well. If you want to live in your house, if you don't want to, just let them live in your house." He will start his own family and live outside. When I choose a piece of land, you can lead him there."
"yes!"
"Okay, let's get down."
Zhu Houzhao didn't tell them much about planting, promotion, or what important significance it would have in the future.
He is just a farmer who wants to get a hundred taels of silver tattoo, and he doesn't care about that.
This is something that he and his courtiers should be concerned about.
Looking at a few sweet potatoes on the wooden plate, he couldn't help but touch them. Although sweet potatoes have some shortcomings, they can be eaten and can feed more people, which is very important for his imperial aspirations. Great support.
Later generations have explored the relationship between climate and dynasty changes, and found that during the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Central Plains dynasties were relatively warm.
And we all know that in troubled times, the party with a small and barren base is always unable to win. This is the role of 'power'. Of course, a ruler needs all kinds of excellent qualities, but how much 'power' he has is the more critical factor. In the era of cold weapons, this 'power' can be expressed in a relatively popular way:
How much land do you have, how much food can you produce, and how many people can you feed?
No matter which way you think about it, sweet potatoes are a major matter and require a dedicated and capable person.
Zhu Houzhao touched it slowly, with seriousness and slightly suppressed excitement in his eyes.
"Liu Jin,"
The emperor's voice was different from usual, and seemed a little thick at this time.
"My slave is here."
"Early tomorrow morning, the cabinet and the six ministries and nine ministers will enter the palace. Unless you leave the capital, you will not be absent without excuse."
"yes!"
But Meng Qiuzhong, who said he had received five hundred taels of silver, was very happy.
Now that he has money, he doesn't want to live in other people's homes. The sign of Pinghaibo Mansion is really scary. After entering, he will follow this rule and that rule. He is used to it. If he doesn't do it well, he will get into trouble. That's the trouble.
Mei Huaigu also followed his orders and found a clean courtyard for him outside. He could live in it directly without having to clean it.
After the outsiders left, Meng Ying began to act coquettishly with her father.
"Dad, it's true. Why are you talking about dowry in the palace? By then, everyone in the capital will know that your daughter will not be able to get married."
"I don't understand. The emperor is so majestic, but he doesn't dare to lie."
"Does dad really want to stay and take care of that sweet potato?"
"I wanted to leave. It seems I can't leave now." Meng Qiuzhong walked to the door, curled up and sat on the ground. Then as if he thought of something, he opened the small wooden box in his arms, and then The eyes began to shine brightly.
"Your Majesty is really generous. I only wanted one hundred taels, but he gave us five hundred taels! Oh, now we don't have to suffer from poverty. When we get back, dad will find you a good in-law, and the dowry will be enough."
"My daughter doesn't want to get married yet."
Speaking of which, Meng Ying was quite pretty. When she first came to Beijing, she was a bit haggard from sleeping in the open air. After being raised in a boudoir for the past two years, her face was rosy and translucent, and her skin was white and tender.
The bad thing is that she is thin and small. Slender is slim, but girls pay attention to having a big butt so that they can have children. The matchmaker said that it is not good to be thin and white.
"What nonsense are you talking about? If you don't get married, you'll be like an old girl!"
"Then you can't ask your daughter to get married just after we met. You haven't seen your father for more than two years, and your daughter will accompany you."
"Yeah." The words sounded quite useful. After thinking about it, Meng Qiuzhong asked again: "That prince, didn't bully you, did he?"
"Tsk. Dad, you are chewing your tongue again."
"He doesn't look like a good person."
"This prince is very cunning. He knows that his daughter is related to this sweet potato, and sweet potato is something that the emperor cares about, so he pays great attention to it. In the past two years, my daughter has been eating well, drinking well, and sleeping well."
…
The next day.
Qianqing Palace.
When the emperor arrived, the palace was already full of people.
The ministers are also experienced, and sometimes they can roughly tell how big the matter is today based on their feelings. Like this time, the matter is definitely not small, and everyone showed up in perfect order.
"I will see you, Your Majesty."
"Flat body. Please give me a seat." Zhu Houzhao walked out rubbing his hands. He didn't sit on it either, but went straight to the topic.
With a wave, a eunuch came out carrying a wooden plate.
"My dear friends, I have called you here today to share a happy event. Take a look at this thing first." He pointed, then turned sideways for them to take a closer look, "Does anyone recognize it?"
During the Zhengde period, sweet potatoes had not yet entered the Central Plains.
Zhu Houzhao was found artificially and after several years of searching.
Several ministers shook their heads.
"Your Majesty, what is this?" Wang Hao cupped his hands and asked in a slow voice.
"This thing is called sweet potato, or sweet potato." Zhu Houzhao gestured to the eunuch to move forward, "My dear friends, you can take it in your hands and feel it. I brought it back from overseas. It feels a little hard, Cool, but of course a little rough.”
"What's the effect?"
"You can eat it."
Yang Yiqing picked it up first, put it to his nose and smelled it, "It's tasteless."
"The taste is sweet."
"His Majesty……?"
"Um, Mr. Yang Ge, don't eat these. I only have a few of them. And if they are eaten raw, they are harder and your teeth will chip easily."
"oh……"
After Yang Yiqing, Wang Hao and Wang Bing also took it and took a closer look.
"Your Majesty, does this kind of fruit grow on trees or in the ground?" Wang Hao was also curious.
"The fields are long. The yield per mu can reach 30 to 40 shi."
The emperor said this lightly, but all the ministers in the palace were shocked after hearing it. In a normal rice field, the yield per mu is only 2 or 3 shi.
"Your Majesty said thirty, not three or four?!" Han Wen stood up in surprise, and suddenly he paid special attention to sweet potatoes.
Zhu Houzhao clasped his hands behind his back and said with a smile: "If it's three or four stones, why should I summon the six ministries and nine ministers here so early in the morning?"
Restless, the atmosphere is still a little restless.
Gu Zuo asked: "Where did your Majesty get this? How did you know that it can produce thirty or forty dan per hour?"
This kind of thing still sounds too bizarre at first.
"Actually, a few years ago, I ordered Jin Yiwei to secretly plan this matter, and the operation codename was Sweet Potato. Yesterday, I summoned an old Fujian farmer, and he brought back these few sweet potatoes. As for the yield per mu, the sweet potatoes are overseas. All countries can have such output.”
"So, can it replace rice and wheat? If the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty were to plant these crops, wouldn't the annual food supply increase tenfold in an instant?"
Gu Zuo didn't know its characteristics, so it was reasonable to infer this.
Zhu Hou looked after others and nodded frequently.
"Things are not that simple." Wang Bing said, "This thing is called sweet potato, and it is an overseas product. Whether it is suitable for the people of Ming Dynasty to eat is a matter of debate. I think it can be tried."
Although Wang Bing is not that lovable, his words often hit the point.
"I am summoning you to the palace today just to try it out. The high yield of sweet potatoes is one of its advantages. Another advantage is that it can be grown on land with less fertile soil, and the water required is far less than that of rice. . This is a crop that can bring about earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty. This matter is of great importance and requires the joint efforts of the cabinet and various ministries to promote it."
"Old minister, I am willing to take on this important task and help your Majesty solve your problems." Han Wen is the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, so he should do his part in such matters.
"Tobu wants it."
After hearing this, the three cabinet members understood that in addition to the Ministry of Revenue, there was also a cabinet.
But just as they were about to say something, Zhu Houzhao had already spoken first, "I have appointed a person to be responsible for this matter. It is not only coordination and responsibility, but also in-depth analysis. As Mr. Wang Ge said, this thing is a new thing. Why? I still don’t know how to eat it. How to plant it is even more knowledge.”
Therefore, this is not suitable for cabinet ministers. After all, each of them has several important responsibilities.
In fact, Zhu Houzhao thought of one person, Yang Tinghe.
Yang Tinghe originally served in the Military Aircraft Department. Later, after the war in the northwest ended, as a confidant of the emperor, he was transferred to Zhan Shifu of Zhanshi Mansion. But now there is no prince, so he goes wherever he needs to. He often goes on business trips on behalf of the emperor and leaves the capital to handle special matters.
One advantage of Yang Tinghe is that he is very clear-headed and never messes up his organization and logic.
Moreover, he has served as various officials over the years and has dealt with a lot of messy things.
So in fact, Zhu Houzhao had another plan, which was to transfer him to the cabinet. With his strange experience now, apart from being a pavilion boss, he is not suitable for any other yamen.
Everyone in the palace was waiting for the emperor to announce, and Zhu Houzhao did not give in. "The cultivation and promotion of sweet potatoes is of great importance and is one of the most important government affairs of the imperial court. I think Zhan Shifu Yang Tinghe can be used, and Add him to the cabinet to handle this matter."
In this way, he joined the cabinet because of business, which is also the first time.
The ministers took a closer look at the thing. Your Majesty showed his emphasis on new crops by "entering the cabinet due to business reasons." It's wonderful.
Yang Tinghe is also here today, and his entry into the cabinet is quite unexpected, as there are seniors like Han Wen in the main court.
"Weak minister, please obey His Majesty's holy will!"
Zhu Houzhao said: "Find a suitable field, plant the leaves, and send me a note. I want to see it."
This was said in the same style.
"My dear friends, please be patient with me. We, the king and my ministers, will look back in a few years. The Ming Dynasty will definitely see a renewal of the world."
Food, population, war horses, firearms... they all have to be available. He, the Zhengde Emperor, is not someone who spent his life defeating the Tatars.
(End of chapter)
