After turning the headland to the east of Zhufang Harbor, the Shao Si Ming suddenly appeared in the sight of the crowd at the dock. The body of this sea boat that went to Dongzhou three years ago was slightly tilted to the left, and the bronze statue near the waterline had been eaten by countless insects, which looked very untidy. Under the gentle southeast wind of June, the puffing sails are blowing it towards its home port.

'Dang——、 dang——、 dang-' The bronze bell in Zhu Fang City was ringing, and almost all the people in the city were at the dock to greet the ocean-going sea ship that had not returned until today. Xiong Jing was surrounded by the ministers, and seeing that the Shao Si Ming was about to enter the port, the ministers said one after another: "The ministers are waiting for the king to get the valley of Dongzhou." ”

The news of the return of the Shao Si Ming was transmitted to Yingdu through the flight news first, and Yingdu was shaken that day. On the second day, Xiong Jing left Yingdu and personally went to Zhu Fang to welcome the Shao Si Ming back. On the Shao Si Ming, there is the Valley of Dongzhou.

"Just come back." Xiong Jing's excitement was irrepressible. The introduction of sweet potatoes and potatoes to East Asia more than 1,000 years ahead of schedule is naturally worth remembering. For this reason, the best painters in the world and the sculptors invited by Seleucus to the Chu State were painting and sculpting on the side, and Xiong Jing ordered them to clearly record this great moment.

"Drop anchor—" In order to meet the Shao Si Ming, half of the Zhu Fang dock was emptied. The sea boat effortlessly enters the port, retracts the sails and drops anchor.

"Throwing the cable—" Captain Hong Mou said in a calm voice, and Hong Mu stood beside him without saying a word.

"Throw the cable!" The thick ropes were thrown off the boat by the sailors and tied tightly. At this time, everyone saw that with the turn of Shao Si's entry into the port, all the copper-clad sheets on its right side and rear were gone.

"Minister......" Hong Mou was a little choked at this time, accompanied by his father, he solemnly saluted Xiong Jing, and then offered a bucket of washed sweet potatoes, and said: "The minister went to Dongzhou to live up to his mission, find the valley of Dongzhou, and dedicate it to the king." ”

"The minister went to Dongzhou to live up to his mission, found the valley of Dongzhou, and dedicated it to the king." Maybe it's because of his profession, and he has seen a lot of life and death, so he speaks calmly and offers a bucket of potatoes that have sprouted.

Chang Jiang and Zhao Huang on Xiong Jing's side took the Dongzhou Valley in their hands with both hands, and turned it to Xiong Jing's case, and the eyes of the ministers also shifted with the Dongzhou Valley. They had been deceived by the Sogdians with pomegranates, and if the king had not said early on that there were three grains in Dongzhou, they would not have believed it this time.

The sweet potato is still a sweet potato two thousand years later, with red skin and yellow heart; The potatoes are very thin and cleanly washed, but the slightly rough skin and potholes are still muddy. The ministers thought that the king would taste the valley of Dongzhou, but Xiong Jing knew their price in his heart.

"Hongqing," Xiong Jing shouted, and the two fathers and sons looked at each other. "How many people are there on the Shao Si Ming and the Vermilion Bird?"

"The courtier's capital offense. There were fifty-nine people on the Shao Si Ming and Suzaku when they went, but now only nine have returned. Hong Mu bowed his head and burst into tears.

Unlike the sea boats going to the Red Ocean, considering the half-year voyage, the fewer people to go to Dongzhou, the better. The lesser the provisions, the more they can be loaded and the longer they last, but this also poses a hidden danger to the repair of sailboats after storms. According to Hong Mou's account, the fleet was about to arrive in Dongzhou when it suddenly encountered a cold front. The winter cold fronts on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean are so brutal that the Suzaku broke in the storm and sank quickly like the famous treasure ship Lady Atoka, which sank due to shoddy construction.

The sea was icy, and the crew who fell into the water quickly froze to death. The sturdier Shao Siming was swept towards the reef by the hurricane, and after the impact, a large area on the right side collapsed and cracked, and tons of sea poured in, but fortunately, the sea water around the reef was shallow, and the entire sea boat was able to run aground and not sink. But the bad luck did not end there, and the next day, while repairing the ship, the carpenter and several sailors who were repairing in the water were attacked by sharks, and only ten of the eighteen men were left intact.

Without carpenters, there was no way to repair the ship, even if it was barely nailed to the breach, there was no guarantee of a long voyage, and even more fatally, the grain was soaked in the sea, and the cans were scattered in the storm. When Hongmu and the others were about to go ashore to hunt, countless salmon migrating back to the inland river to spawn on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean brought them inland, and they also met the Duhuason people who lived near the river and fed on salmon......

Hongmu cried, and the other eight people couldn't cry at this time. If it weren't for the second fleet sent by the Chu State, they estimated that it would take several years to completely repair the Shao Si Ming and return home with the Indian sailors.

After comforting Hongmu and several others, Yin Sun Yu distributed the sweet potatoes to the ministers. The ministers wanted to wait for Xiong Jing to eat first, and when Xiong Jing began to chew, they carefully bit off a piece of sweet potato.

"It's like a pear, but it's not a pear." Nao's cunning mouth opened, and a sweet potato was swallowed. The sweet potatoes were indeed juicy, but he didn't know how to get the taste of pears.

"It's like a taro...... it's not either." Zhao Huang also got a share, he thought it should taste like wild taro, but after entering it, it didn't look like it.

"It's a lotus." Luo Kai often eats lotus roots, and he thinks sweet potatoes and lotus roots.

"Dare to ask the king, what is this?" One sweet potato per person, and it was eaten quickly. This kind of thing tastes really good for the first time, and the most important thing is that it is juicy and sweet, and I want to eat a second one after eating one.

"This is looking for red, and it should be sweet potatoes too." Zuo Shi is careful, and the three grains of Dongzhou are sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn. Now the red ones are naturally sweet potatoes, yellow and white with green, and the round ones should be potatoes, as for the corn, they have not yet been found.

"How should this thing be planted?" Yin Sun Yu asked. Dongzhou Sangu has already obtained the second, how to plant is a problem.

"What the minister sees, the Yin people use fish seeds." Hearing this, Hongji replied, at this time, Xiong Jing was still eating the last sweet potato.

"Fingerlings?" The ministers were surprised. The Yin people are actually the Yi people who crossed the sea to the east hundreds of years ago, and they already knew how to grow millet and wheat before they went, and it is not clear why they used fish seeds.

"When the Yin people plant, they dig the soil first, put a fish into it, plant it in it, and then cover it with soil, and plant a dozen roots after autumn." Hongmo talked about a time he had seen the planting of the Dongzhou Valley.

Salmon die immediately after spawning, and the dead fish rot quickly enough to be used as fertilizer. This is the Yin people, and they can't eat all the salmon that migrates every year. The state of Chu built many fishing boats, but it did not have the luxury of using fish as fertilizer.

The ministers of the "Great King ......" were stunned by the Yin people's method of planting grain, and this kind of unbelievable planting would not work in the Chu State.

"Yes." Xiong Jing only ate the last sweet potato at this time, and when he saw Sun Yuwen, he just said 'En'. After swallowing, he said, "Why fish?" Bury it in the soil, fertilize and water it. ”

Xiong Jing said it simply, and after thinking about it, he felt that sweet potatoes didn't seem to be grown like this. It seems to be planting sweet potato vines, and buying sweet potato vines into the soil will naturally grow. "That's not right." He said again. "Seedlings need to be raised first, and then planted in the soil, fertilized and watered."

Xiong Jing said hesitation, but whether it is directly planted in the soil, or first seedlings and then planted in the soil, it is all planted in the soil. In order to seek insurance, Sun Yu already planned to find some fish. Grain is precious, and we must not be careless.

"Dare to ask the king, how should potatoes be grown?" Sun Yu asked again.

"Cut into several pieces and bury them in the soil." Planting potatoes is more clear, and it has been planted on Mars.

Seeing that Xiong Jing said more easily, Sun Yu felt more and more that he wanted to buy fish. After he finished asking, Nao, who still missed the taste of sweet potatoes, pointed to the untouched potato on the case and asked, "King, can potatoes be eaten raw?" ”

"Potatoes as cooked food." Seeing that the potatoes had turned green, and a few of them were still sprouting, Xiong Jing shook his head and said, "At this time, it is poisonous and cannot be eaten." ”

"At this point?" When Sun Yu heard this, he immediately asked. "Dare to ask when the king will be able to eat?"

"Its buds are poisonous, and if there are no buds, it is edible." Xiong Jing Road. "When the bean seed is distributed, it is necessary to tell the common people not to eat its sprouts."

"In this way, it should be published on the Dachu News." Zhao Huang suggested.

"No!" The rest of the people were about to agree, but they waved their hands and objected loudly. "The valley of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty is my Chu people's life, if it is stolen by other countries and Qin people, knowing its methods and eating methods will cause me great harm. The minister thought that the valley of Dongzhou should not be spread outside, so as not to benefit the Qin people. ”

Food is the foundation of the military, and it is the foundation of the whole country. Not to mention the yield of the Dongzhou Valley, just because it can be planted after the millet is harvested, it can increase the grain output by tens of millions of stones. It is not grown anywhere and needs water to grow, especially during jointing and heading in spring. In some places where there is little rain and cannot be irrigated, wheat cannot be grown.

This is also the reason why the Qin State was unable to grow wheat. The fundamental reason for the so-called 'Dongfang Yimai' and 'Guanzhong customs are not good at growing wheat' is that Sumai is not drought-tolerant, and the rainfall in Guanzhong is generally about 500 millimeters, which is more than 100 millimeters less than that of the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Guanzhong planted wheat until Dong Zhongshu (born in Zaoqiang, Hebei) wrote to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty before it was gradually promoted.

In most areas, the Qin State can only plant one season a year after harvesting millet, and if it can be planted in the valley of Dongzhou for another season after harvesting millet, it will not be a three-year harvest, but a six-year harvest and a ten-year harvest.

"The minister thought so," Sun Yu was also very vigilant, he knew what it meant to have two seasons a year. "The Qin people will not be able to get this grain seed."

"The ministers thought so." The ministers chimed in. "Look for a way not to spread the grain."

If the Qin people get sweet potatoes and potatoes, they will harvest twice a year, which will be even more unfavorable to the four countries of Kwantung. It's just that what is planted in the field is difficult not to be stolen by outsiders, especially sweet potatoes. Xiong Jing vaguely remembered that the Spaniards also forbade the spread of sweet potato seeds in the Philippines, and later it seems that they stole a sweet potato vine, plucked the leaves and touched the mud, and pretended to be brought out of the Philippines with a rope.

"This matter should be discussed again." Xiong Jing said thoughtfully, he remembered Zhao Guo.

"Please spread the word to the king, the valley of Dongzhou needs to be made of fish fingerlings." Sun Yu suggested. "There are no fish or fish in Qin, and they cannot be planted."

"Yes." Propaganda can be publicized like this, but Xiong Jing asked a current practical question: "What about Zhao Guodang?" ”