The entire Guangzhou Mansion was full of people kneeling outside the city, including the old people who were over the age of sixties, and the children, women, children, and farmers, worshipping Zhu Houzhao as if worshipping God and Buddha.

"Long live my emperor, long live!"

"Long live my emperor, long live!"

"Long live my emperor, long live!"

……

Zhu Houzhao didn't expect that although he wanted to let these soldiers stand up, these people still rushed to bow down to him, and he had no choice but to walk out, stand on the carriage, and wave his hand to say hello.

But as soon as Zhu Houzhao saw that Jin Yiwei and Liu Jin were so nervous that they were afraid that they would be assassinated, they had no choice but to sit in the carriage with a layer of steel plates.

Frankly speaking, it is indeed very satisfying to be able to worship so many people, and Zhu Houzhao does feel the feeling of seeing the mountains at a glance as a superior.

Even he felt that he was incomparably great, and even forgot that he was actually just an ordinary dick in his previous life.

But Zhu Houzhao knows that he can get so many people to kneel and worship outside the city of Guangzhou today, not because he is really nobler than them in terms of blood, intelligence and power, but because he gives these people more benefits, so that they have the opportunity to live better, and in this era when the people's wisdom is not opened, he can let them live better, for these people, that is the gift they give them, and the only thing they can do is to kneel down to express their gratitude to themselves.

Zhu Houzhao desperately warned himself in his heart not to get carried away because of this, thinking that he was really incomparably great, great to the point of being like a god, he was just an ordinary man, if he did a wrong policy, so that the interests of the people of the entire Ming Empire would be damaged, he would still be pulled off the altar.

Although the Han people advocate centralized power, they are not really ignorant enough to let the superior fool them, and there are also words that dare to pull the emperor off the horse.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao had to warn himself.

Although Zhu Houzhao was not complacent because of this, Liu Jin, Guo Rong and others who stayed by Zhu Houzhao's side felt honored because they were close ministers of the emperor and looked condescendingly at these kneeling commoners with the emperor.

When it was noon, the people dispersed one after another, and Zhu Houzhao continued to move forward, he couldn't help but shake his head: "This time, there are more people who know that I am out on patrol, Liu Jin, you take a team of people and horses to enter Beijing first, and tell the officials who intend to welcome them along the way, I feel cold, I don't need to ask to see, I have returned to Beijing in advance!" ”

Zhu Houzhao said and ordered: "Guo Rong, you continue to secretly return to Beijing with me!" ”

"Yes!" Liu Jin and Guo Rong replied in unison.

Zhu Houzhao didn't say anything more, looked at the increasingly prosperous city of Guangzhou, and sighed that with the development of capitalism after the opening of the two Guangzhous, the urbanization of the two regions has become more and more obvious, and he does not know whether these increasing bourgeoisie and the citizen working class are a curse or a blessing for the long-term peace and stability of the Ming Dynasty.

After all, in other areas of the Ming Dynasty, especially in the north, there are still many big landlords, and even many of them are relatives of the emperor, and these people have been parasitic on the common people of the Ming Dynasty for a hundred years.

Zhu Houzhao didn't dare to think about it, and he didn't know how to think about it, he was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the biggest landlord, but he was the biggest capitalist, and he didn't know whether to save his life or reform his own life, fortunately, he could also alleviate the class contradictions that might become more and more intense within the Ming Dynasty by plundering and transferring contradictions from abroad, otherwise, Zhu Houzhao really didn't know how to face the two classes of the powerful and the common people.

Urbanization in the south has developed rapidly, and the development of handicrafts has replaced the development of agriculture, and a large amount of farmland has been converted from rice to mulberry in pursuit of higher profits, while the north is still densely populated with estates, and a large number of people who have entered the country from other places continue to become tenant farmers of large landowners.

But what Zhu Houzhao didn't expect was that it was the north that had a grain shortage and soaring grain prices.

"Your Majesty, the capital has reported that the price of grain has recently risen to one yuan and seven yuan per stone! Baoding, Daimyo, and Hejian have risen to one yuan and eight dollars! The people in the city still have no food to buy, and some of them have to flee to other places for porridge, all saying that food is expensive! ”

Zhu Houzhao just crossed the Huanghuai boundary, and got the report from Dongchang, and couldn't help frowning for a while, thinking that as far as he knew, there was a great hunger in Wuzhong during the Wanli period in history, and the world was amazed by the fact that the rice was one dollar and six cents, and now the price of grain in Gyeonggi has risen to one yuan and seven yuan, conniving at the obscene agricultural output caused by the development of the commodity economy in the Ming Dynasty, and the grain transported to the south of the north has decreased, but it is not so high, the market does not have the role of regulating the economy, when the price of grain is soaring, why don't businessmen take this opportunity to buy grain on a large scale to sell in the north? ”

Zhu Houzhao instructed with a stomach full of questions: "Send someone to ask the Food Industry Bureau, now how much grain has entered my Ming Dynasty in the overseas Tuntian territory, in addition, the Metropolitan Procuratorate will strictly investigate the city and the people who violate the ban to let the grain be exported, and your East Factory must also strictly investigate the history of dereliction of duty that is not investigated and corrected!" ”

Not long after Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, when he entered Linqing, Shandong, he saw a large number of ships moored on the bank of the canal in a section of Linqing, with a large "hole" flag hanging on it. ”

Not long after, Jin Yiwei came back and reported: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister has inquired and understood that their owner is the Confucian family of Yansheng Gong, and they are transporting grain, saying that it was transported to Liaodong for salt!" ”

Zhu Houzhao saw that the draft of these ships was very deep and stretched for no less than two miles, so he could guess that if these ships were carrying grain, there should be a lot of them.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but think that this Kong Yan Shenggong, as the largest landlord in Qufu, and even almost the entire Qufu had become the independent kingdom of his Confucian family, just like a "vassal king with a different surname" in the Ming Dynasty, he would actually do this kind of salt merchant thing.

"Let's ask, how is the recent grain price in Shandong, and is it going well?"

Zhu Houzhao commanded.

A few days later, a Jinyi guard came to report: "Back to Your Majesty, a student in Shandong said that this year's Shandong Dazhi, there is no drought and no waterlogging, grain production is large, and the price of grain is as low as eight yuan per bucket, and the large gentry in various places buy it at a high price of ten yuan per bucket, which is higher than the price at which the government collects the regular closing position!" So much so that the new grain mostly went into the hands of merchants. ”

"I didn't expect the Shandong squires to be very active in relieving the people's hardship, but why is there such a big disparity in grain prices between Gyeonggi and Shandong?"

Zhu Houzhao asked in his heart.

After marching all the way to Tongzhou, Zhu Houzhao changed to take the land route into Beijing, the transportation in this era is not convenient, he went to Liangguang and Guangzhou was delayed for nearly two years, and in this era without radio, how is the capital now, how is the court, even if he has a minister of Jinyi Wei and secret music, but he can not fully grasp the recent events in the capital.

Therefore, as soon as Zhu Houzhao changed the land route, he rushed back to the capital as quickly as possible.

"Mother, I'm hungry!"

But as soon as Zhu Houzhao arrived in the capital, he saw a little girl sitting on the threshold with no daughter leaning on her mother's arms.

didn't wait for the little girl to thank her, Zhu Houzhao hurriedly rode his horse back to the palace, but on the road saw that the grain shops around Daming Gate were closed, and some people angrily gathered outside the grain shops and shouted to open the door, while some grain shops were still open, but the price of grain was raised to a high price of two yuan, one dollar and one stone.

After Zhu Houzhao returned to Beijing, he immediately summoned Liu Yu, the first assistant of the cabinet, to inquire about the high grain prices in Gyeonggi.

"Although the price of grain soared due to the drought in Gyeonggi last year, it should not be so high, the minister expected that there must be merchants hoarding Juqi, but please don't worry, the minister last year, he knew that this would happen, and the grain bureau has urgently dispatched two million stone of grain into Beijing for grain, and it is estimated that it will soon arrive in Tongzhou! When the time comes, we will be able to relieve the people's hardship! ”

Liu Yu, the first assistant of the cabinet, replied.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but nod after hearing this: "That's good, the people take food as the sky, and the people can't be unaffected because of the lack of grain, you can first use the existing grain in the capital to relieve the people's hardship and lower the price of grain, or use the national treasury to buy grain from the merchants, and transfer the burden of the people due to the soaring food prices." ”

"Your Majesty, the minister will do it!"

After Liu Yu, the first assistant of the cabinet, said this, he immediately sent a letter to the Guards, and sold part of the grain of the garrison troops in Beijing at a parity price, and at the same time directly used the state treasury to purchase grain of 200,000 silver dollars, so that the grain prices were once again maintained in a stable state without rising.

Zhu Houzhao had to admit that due to the rapid development of Daming's industry, the phenomenon of grain shortage in Beijing has become more and more frequent recently, and Zhu Houzhao is really worried that there will be big changes because of this, and it has also made him realize that while industrial development, it is also very important to improve agricultural productivity.

Zhu Houzhao now thought of the sweet potatoes that had been brought back from South America by Zhang Yanling, the Marquis of Jianchang, the year before last, so he couldn't help but summon Zhang Zhong, who had summoned Yan Song and the Imperial Horse Supervisor, and asked, "How is the promotion of sweet potatoes going?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister has been in accordance with Your Majesty's instructions, let all the tenants of the Huangzhuang plant sweet potatoes in the field, because the Huangzhuang paid for the promotion, the tenants are also very responsive, and now the entire land of the Gyeonggi Huangzhuang has been planted with sweet potatoes, and is being harvested one after another, and the cellar for storing sweet potatoes has been dug up!"

Zhang Yong, the eunuch in charge of the imperial horse eunuch, replied.

Here, Yan Song also replied: "The minister has also promoted the cultivation of sweet potatoes among the people of Gyeonggi in accordance with His Majesty's will, and millions of acres of land have been planted with sweet potatoes, and they are now being harvested. ”

"Very good, immediately make statistics, how many sweet potatoes can be purchased, and whether it can solve the grain shortage in Gyeonggi", Zhu Houzhao was also a little relieved after confirming that the high-yield grain crop of sweet potatoes had begun to be greatly promoted in Daming and that there would be a large-scale harvest now, and he was no longer worried that the conflict would intensify because of the grain shortage.

But also because Zhu Houzhao now has high hopes for this sweet potato, the next day, Zhu Houzhao still took the cabinet ministers to the suburb of Huangzhuang to check the yield of these sweet potatoes per mu.

After all, Zhu Houzhao only knew from the inside in his previous life that the yield of sweet potatoes was very high and could solve the problem of famine, as a modern person living in the era of hybrid rice, his impression of sweet potatoes only stayed at the stage when rural people used them as pig food, and he didn't know whether these sweet potatoes could really create a "prosperous era", and he didn't know if he could let the people eat pig food to solve the problem of food shortage.

Zhang Zhong, the eunuch of the imperial horse eunuch, did not expect that Emperor Zhu Houzhao would suddenly come to Huangzhuang, and he did not have time to pull out the sweet potatoes in other fields, and then stuff them into the acres of land that His Majesty the Emperor sees now, creating an auspicious image of sweet potatoes with a yield of 100 stones per mu, so as to make the emperor happy.

Therefore, now Zhang Zhong is also a little nervous, he is really worried that the sweet potatoes produced in this mu of sweet potato land dug by His Majesty himself are not high, so he is likely to lose his black yarn hat.

"Your Majesty, a total of twenty-six stones, seven catties, six taels and four coins", after this mu of sweet potatoes was completely dug up, Zhu Houzhao asked the people of the Imperial Horse Supervisor to weigh it, and at this time, Liu Yu, the first assistant of the cabinet, said in shock: "What! Twenty-six stones! ”

Liu Yu really didn't expect it, because in his impression, the yield of grain per mu was only about two stones, and now the yield of this sweet potato per mu is as high as twenty-six stones, and there is such a high yield in the barren mountains.

"That is to say, the yield of this sweet potato per mu is twenty-six stones, so if all the land under the world is planted with sweet potatoes, will there be no shortage of food?"

Wang Qiong also said a word at this time, and immediately bowed his hand to Zhu Houzhao and said: "Congratulations to Your Majesty, congratulations to Your Majesty, with this crop, the people will not have to worry about famine!" ”

The other officials who came with him followed Wang Qiong to congratulate Zhu Houzhao, and even called him auspicious, which was the blessing that the emperor brought to the people of the world.

Zhang Zhong also breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he didn't expect this sweet potato to be so high-yielding.

Zhu Houzhao just smiled, he was used to the officials' praise of him, of course, he also knew in his heart that perhaps for the Ming rulers of this era, it is indeed gratifying to have a high-yield food that can keep the people from starving to death, after all, the people will not rebel if they do not starve to death, and the world will be stable for a long time, and as a powerful scholar and doctor, he can still enjoy the glory in peace.

But only Zhu Houzhao himself knows that these sweet potatoes are okay, but in the end it is not a nutritious food, compared to the content of amino acids, the nutritional value of sweet potatoes is far inferior to rice and wheat, so Zhu Houzhao does not want the people of Daming to have been eating this sweet potato to solve the problem of hunger, nothing in a short time, but in the long run, it will lead to a decline in physical fitness and intelligence of the Chinese.

"This thing can only satisfy the stomach, not a staple food, and the agricultural department has to work hard to improve the yield of rice and wheat", although Zhu Houzhao said this, but Liu Yu and Wang Qiong, who were still happy because of the emergence of such a high-yield crop as sweet potato, still couldn't suppress their excitement, with a smile on their faces, one by one they followed Zhu Houzhao on the ridge one by one, and they were even happier to see the sweet potatoes emerging in the field than to see the gold and silver treasures.

Yan Song listened to Zhu Houzhao, he has been engaged in the research of elements recently, and the research direction is to find out what the essential elements of crops are, so as to produce some fertilizers through industry.

Therefore, Yan Song couldn't help but take Zhu Houzhao's words at this time and said, "Your Majesty! Recently, the minister has made a lot of achievements in researching the elements necessary for crops, and the minister has also supplemented and corrected it according to His Majesty's sacred knowledge, and made a fertilizer called ammonium bicarbonate, and also used ammonia and carbon dioxide to synthesize urea, which can already be used in wheat cultivation experiments.

Hearing Yan Song say this, Zhu Houzhao was quite surprised, he didn't expect Yan Song to have made so much progress in the past two years, not to mention correcting the wrong knowledge he thought he had made, and really made two more important fertilizers, although this is related to some of the information provided by the emperor, but it is not easy to really realize the production process of these fertilizers.

Of course, Yan Song had experience in the production and development of primitive phosphate fertilizers during his tenure as governor of Nanzhili, and now with the development of Daming's iron and steel industry and chemical industry, Zhu Houzhao felt that he could synthesize these two fertilizers in two years.

Zhu Houzhao hurriedly came to the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, and as soon as he arrived at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Liu Yu, the first assistant of the cabinet, said in surprise: "Your Majesty, the ears of wheat in this wheat field of Yan Shilang are indeed much fuller and denser than ordinary ears of wheat. ”

"This is the best piece, there are also failures, this fertilization is also a particular, more is not good, less and the fertility is not enough, Your Majesty and the elder of the pavilion look at these wheat fields here are obviously not good, they have died!"

Yan Song said with a smile and said: "And compared the group of last year's test and the group of this year's test, I found that fertilizer has a great impact on soil quality and is easy to agglomerate. ”

"I don't care about the most suitable amount of fertilizer for you now, nor do I care how you will solve the problem of soil fertility declining due to fertilization in the future, you only tell me, how much can you increase the yield of one acre of wheat field?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

"Half a stone!"

Yan Song replied.

"Really!" Liu Yu, the first assistant to the cabinet, asked in surprise.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but be a little surprised, he knew that fertilizer could promote grain production, but he didn't expect that fertilizer could increase the grain production of Daming so much, thinking that maybe it was related to the fact that Daming's soil did not use chemical fertilizers on a large scale.

At this time, Wang Qiong once again bowed to Zhu Houzhao and said, "Your Majesty, this is really good luck!" There is a new grain with a yield of more than 20 stones per mu, and now the old grain can also increase the yield, which is really a good omen for prosperity! Good omen! ”

"It's all Your Majesty's work! If it weren't for His Majesty's plan to rule the world, there would be no grand occasion today! Yan Song also echoed and said with a smile.

Although half of Zhu Houzhao's officials were really happy because Daming grain production could increase and half were saying good things to themselves, he was indeed very happy and hurriedly said: "Spread the decree and add the Ministry of Agriculture, with Yan Song as the secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, responsible to the cabinet!" Responsible for the promotion of sweet potato crops and fertilizers! ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Yan Song hurriedly and excitedly said that Wang Shouren of Beijing Normal University is already a secretary of the Ministry of War, Zhang Xuan is a secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Xia Yan has the official title of Governor Nanyang of the Ministry of War, and he is still at the level of a squire, and now he is naturally happy to be promoted to a scholar.

Cabinet and other officials also hurriedly chimed in: "Your Majesty is wise! ”

And just when Zhu Houzhao was discussing with his ministers how to encourage the people to plant sweet potatoes and use chemical fertilizers and increase the output of chemical fertilizers, Gu Dayong from the East Factory hurriedly ran over: "Your Majesty! There has just been a riot in the Damingmen area of the capital, because the grain shop suddenly raised the price of rice to two yuan and five yuan, which caused the people to be angry, smashed the grain store, and injured four people, and now they have been detained by the criminal department! ”

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but look at Wang Qiong: "Haven't the household departments already stabilized the grain price, why do these grain merchants still raise the grain price?" ”

Soon after Zhu Houzhao asked, Yuwen Zhong, the waiter of the Hubu Kuraba, hurriedly ran over: "Your Majesty! The big thing was not good, the two million stone grain transported by the Tongzhou Grain Industry Bureau suddenly ran out of water (fire), and most of it was burned! The soldiers and civilians saved less than 50,000 stones, and the rest were destroyed! ”

"What!"

Liu Yu, the first assistant of the cabinet, and several other civil officials almost fainted after hearing the news, they were counting on these two million stone grain to maintain the price of grain in the capital, and now almost all of them were destroyed by fire, they dare not imagine what kind of riot will happen, and when the time comes, His Majesty will push his ministers out and take the blame.

And Yuwen Zhong, the waiter of the household warehouse, also knew that this matter was very serious, and he was busy prostrate on the ground: "The ministers are not effective in guarding the warehouse, please punish Your Majesty!" ”

"Let's get up first! It doesn't make sense for you to punish you now", Zhu Houzhao was surprisingly calm.

Although he didn't expect that the two million grains guarded by heavy troops would suddenly catch fire, he knew that the most important thing at the moment was to solve the problem of food shortage in the capital, after all, with the development of industry in the entire capital, there were nearly two million permanent soldiers and civilians, and if the problem of food shortage was not solved, there would really be a big turmoil!

"Passing the decree, the Beijing Guards and Engineers immediately assisted Huangzhuang to continue to purchase sweet potatoes, and Yan Song of the Ministry of Agriculture immediately organized people to purchase the continued sweet potatoes in the hands of the people of Gyeonggi", Zhu Houzhao gave instructions first, and then asked Zhang Zhong and Yan Song: "How many stones are expected to be collected?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister can collect about a million stones here," Yan Song replied.

"Returning to Your Majesty, the Huangzhuang can collect about three million stones," Zhang Zhong replied.

"That's good, in that case, all of us in the capital will eat sweet potatoes for a few months during this time, and the potatoes brought back by Jianchanghou will also be put away, and when the time comes, they will also be used as temporary food to satisfy the stomach, and they will be handed over to the household department for distribution, but the household department still has to immediately find a way to buy grain, and the grain industry bureau will re-transport grain into Beijing!

Yu Wenzhong is in charge of the purchase of grain by the household department, this time I will allow you to make meritorious contributions, if within three months, you can't raise two million stone of grain, I can only use your head to appease people's hearts! ”

Zhu Houzhao turned around and left the Institute of Agricultural Sciences.

……

Yuwen Zhong walked like a dead face, he didn't know when he would come back, he only knew that he was finished now, and it was more difficult to raise two million stone grain in three months than two million silver dollars in three months.

"Master, Mr. Kong asks to see you", and just when Yuwen Zhong was at a loss, the housekeeper in his house suddenly came to report.

"Mr. Kong, who is Mr. Kong?" Yuwen Zhong asked.

"He said that he was a merchant in Shandong, and he had two million stone of new grain in his hand, and he was about to transport it to Liaodong for salt, but he heard that the capital was short of grain, so he came to ask", after the housekeeper said, Yuwen Zhong stood up all of a sudden, he now closed his eyes and was two million stone grain, after all, Emperor Zhu Houzhao gave him an ultimatum, if he did not raise two million stone grain within three months, he could only take other people's heads to appease the people.

Now when he heard a merchant say that he had two million stone of grain, Yuwen Zhong suddenly stood up: "Hurry up and invite him in!" ”