After Qian Qianyi and others were sent to Shaanxi, the entire court was finally quiet, without these villains who only knew how to fight for power and profit, the Donglin Party was much more honest, and Zhu Cijiong could finally calm down and do something practical.

First of all, it is natural to collect transaction tax, don't look at the Donglin Party's boast of an increase in the tax per mu by three points, you can collect an extra 10 million taels of taxes every year, that is the ideal state, the drought in five provinces and one capital will continue for more than ten years, this small half of the area does not want to receive much tax, the remaining provinces can receive five or six million taels is good, take this money to relieve 30 million victims, each person can drink a bowl of porridge every day.

What is the concept of a bowl of porridge per person per day, it can be enough to hang on to life, then the hunger will be stronger, and those who can be hungry will go crazy! Therefore, this transaction tax must be collected, although the full collection is only 10 million taels, which is enough for each person to drink three bowls of porridge a day, but at least people will have a fake and full, and they will not go crazy hungry and want to rebel.

Of course, drinking porridge every day is not a thing, drinking it for a year or two may not be crazy, if you drink it for ten or eight years, even if you are not crazy, then only skin and bones are left, and if you don't starve to death, you will have to die of disease, so this food problem must be solved.

After all, Zhu Cijiong came through time, and all emperors in the past generations had to be desperate when they came, and he actually came up with a solution.

In fact, the method is very simple, and that is to migrate, to have an unprecedented migration.

Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Hebei, these hard-hit areas will continue to have a severe drought for more than ten years, that land can no longer support so many people, must migrate, most of the population is migrated, move to a place with plenty of rain so that they can survive, otherwise more than ten years later, there will be no one in ten as recorded in the history books!

Of course, it is not enough to migrate, even if you move to a place with plenty of rain, you have to have something to eat, it is certainly unrealistic to plant rice and wheat, these crops in the Ming Dynasty when the yield per mu is only three or four hundred catties, unless the entire population of Huguang, Jiangsu and Zhejiang is moved to other places, otherwise the things planted are not enough for these disaster victims and aborigines to eat.

In order to resettle the victims, all the original households were moved, and those aborigines had to rebel, which was obviously unrealistic.

Thinking about it, there is only the planting of food crops with higher yields, ancient people don't know what has a high yield, but modern people know, only Zhu Cijiong knows potatoes and sweet potatoes, these two things are terrible, as long as the planting method is correct, the minimum yield per mu is four or five thousand catties, if the land is fertile and properly managed, the yield per mu is not a problem!

In fact, these two things have been introduced to the inland during the Ming Dynasty, but because of improper planting methods, the yield is not high. In addition, North China has always been mainly planted with rice and wheat, and suddenly there is a new thing, it is good to be able to grow and live, as for the yield, it can only depend on luck, after all, everything needs time to explore is not.

Zhu Cijiong didn't have time to explore, and he didn't know how to increase the production of this thing, but he knew that Europeans were experts in this area. Although both of these things came from the Americas, Europeans were more familiar with growing them, and the potato was already the main food crop in Europe during the Ming Dynasty.

It's good to be an emperor, you don't have to do anything yourself, as long as you say a word, someone will do it for him immediately.

If you want samples of potatoes and sweet potatoes, you don't need to look for them yourself, as long as you give an edict, someone will naturally send them to him in an urgent manner. If you want to meet foreigners, it's simple, as long as you say a word, foreigners will naturally rush to the capital to meet them. At that time, the Europeans were trying their best to get along with Damingla, and you don't want to see them, they all want to get together.

Soon, samples of potatoes and sweet potatoes were sent, and since I didn't know how much the emperor wanted, I made a few sacks of each. Zhu Cijiong checked it himself, and this thing is right, it is potatoes and sweet potatoes, but this appearance is really bad. The largest potato is the size of an egg, the smallest is the size of a quail egg, and the sweet potato is only the thickness of a finger.

Soon after, the foreigner also came, this foreigner named Ovaro Semedo, Chinese name Zeng Dezhao, is Portuguese, but also a missionary, he came to Daming in the forty-first year of Wanli (1613 AD), has been living in the capital of Nanjing, learned Chinese for more than ten years, can already communicate with people simply.

In order to carry forward the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Cijiong specially summoned him in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, and also summoned more than 20 officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Industry to accompany him on both sides.

This Zeng Dezhao has done some research on the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, and as soon as he entered the hall, he immediately bowed and said: "See His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Ming Empire." ”

Hearing this lame Chinese, Zhu Cijiong only felt a long-lost sense of intimacy welling up in his heart, when he was in college, several of his classmates were foreigners, so isn't Chinese so lame. Of course, this is not the time to miss the old, he shook his head slightly, drove the memories of his past life out of his mind, his face was straight, and he said with a little majesty: "Flat." ”

When Zeng Dezhao heard this, he replied in broken Chinese: "Your Majesty Emperor Xie." Then he got up from the ground.

Zhu Cijiong didn't bother to be polite to him, and directly ordered: "Bring the things up and show them to him." ”

Immediately, two eunuchs each brought a pot of potatoes and sweet potatoes and put them in front of Zeng Dezhao, Zeng Dezhao squatted down curiously and looked at it, and then nodded thoughtfully.

Seeing him like this, Zhu Cijiong asked hopefully, "Do you know these two things?" ”

Zeng Dezhao thought for a while, and replied hesitantly: "These two things, the name of the Ming Dynasty, are called potatoes and sweet potatoes?" ”

It's good to know, Zhu Cijiong nodded with satisfaction, and continued to ask, "Do you see that there is a problem with them?" ”

When Zeng Dezhao heard this, he hesitantly replied: "This, this, it seems that it is a little unplanted." ”

Zhu Cijiong originally wanted him to introduce a few agricultural experts to teach people to plant, but listening to his tone, it seemed that he would plant, so Zhu Cijiong said tentatively: "Do you know how to plant?" ”

Zeng Dezhao nodded proudly and replied: "I will, I grew it so big in my hometown." ”

Zhu Cijiong saw that he was comparing the size of normal potatoes and sweet potatoes, and immediately asked with hope: "Can you grow such a big one in Daming?" ”

Zeng Dezhao thought for a moment, then nodded confidently and said, "I can." ”

Zhu Cijiong was overjoyed when he heard this, and asked excitedly: "Are you willing to be an official in Daming?" ”

As an official, Zeng Dezhao was naturally willing, it would be more convenient to preach, so he nodded without hesitation.

If you are willing, Zhu Cijiong immediately ordered: "Come on, I will make Zeng Dezhao a member of the Tuntian Qing Officials of the Ministry of Industry, and he will be responsible for teaching the planting methods of potatoes and sweet potatoes." ”

As soon as Zeng Dezhao heard that he was really an official, and it seemed that he was still a big official, he immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "The villain thanks His Majesty the Emperor for his grace." ”

When Zhu Cijiong heard this, he laughed and said: "Hahahaha, it's not a villain, it should be said that Weichen, work hard, as long as you can plant potatoes and sweet potatoes as big as you compare, I will reward you with 10,000 taels of silver!" ”

Zhu Cijiong can be said to be in a good mood, he thought that he could only come to pass the word this time, but he never thought that this Zeng Dezhao himself would grow potatoes and sweet potatoes. If it's just a messenger, then it will take at least a year or two to send back and forth, plus bargaining, and then arrange someone from Europe. Now it's okay, and he came directly to a person who can plant, saving him a lot of time.

He did not doubt Zeng Dezhao's words, the missionaries at that time were originally erudite and talented, and their teachings did not allow them to lie, he said that he would, that is, he really would, and there was no possibility of lying and deceiving people.

With Zeng Dezhao's guidance, the relocation plan can be prepared, Chongzhen didn't know that the drought in North China would last for more than ten years, and if he knew, it was estimated that he would also relocate people.

Let nearly 30 million people stay in the arid area where there is no grass for more than ten years, that is a brain disease, it is not bad if they don't all die, disaster relief is a joke, all the taxes of the Ming Dynasty are not enough to throw in, only by relocating can we save the people of the five provinces!