Cao Xianjian, the great Si Nong, was an official in the Former Yue period, and as one of the few technical officials in the Great Yue period, he was retained after the collapse of the Yue Kingdom. There are many officials who stayed in the previous dynasty and continued to serve in the new dynasty, but there are not many who are quite proud above the court, Su Kairong is second to none, and if you count it down, even if it is him. As for the local magistrates, that's a different story.

Cao Xianjian is living happily now, in Qianyue, he is an unpopular yamen, a year, there are not a few funds, but there are a lot of black pots to carry, once there is a bad harvest, floods and droughts reduce production or something, this big hat will naturally be thrown on his brain.

Fortunately, even at that time, whether it was the emperor or the courtiers, he had a good image of this honest and indisputable Da Si Nong, and he carried the pot very well, so he has been in charge.

The Taiping army quickly broke through the Yuejing City, and basically none of the officials in the Yuejing City escaped, and after a purge, Cao Xianjian, who was left behind, became an official of the Ming Dynasty again, although he was apprehensive, but slowly found that his yamen seemed to be a sign of heating up again.

First of all, there is more money, on top of the annual budget, he generally does not dare to fight, but the funds allocated to him are really a lot, of course, the money given to him by the political hall is not given in vain, the condition is to let him research higher yield crops. For this reason, a large piece of land was specially allocated to him outside the city of Yuejing.

Not long after he became an official in the Ming Dynasty, Cao Xianjian found that the difference from the previous dynasty was the style of the Ming officials. They all seem to have one thing in common, and that is efficiency. No matter what you do, you will do what you say and you will do what you do.

This made him even more worried, he has been a big farmer for many years, and he still has a lot of research on crops, but it is not an overnight thing to make crops with higher yields, which will take a long time to do.

Cultivating better seeds is a long process.

But he didn't dare to refute, he was an angry bag before, and now he is silently ready to take the blame again. But after taking the money, you naturally have to do things seriously.

Summoned some agricultural officials under his command, and found some very experienced farmers from the people, and worked diligently, most of the land in the Ming Dynasty was planted with wheat, sorghum, millet and other main food crops. First, send people to collect all kinds of these seeds, and then plant them carefully.

Every year at harvest time, Cao Xinjian will keep an eye on the field, let people pick the best seeds, and when they are planted the next year, they will plant these seeds, and then repeat the cycle. He even cross-pollinated these crops from different regions in the hope of a windfall harvest.

For several years in a row, he only took money, but there was no result, he was originally anxious, but he did not wait for the conjecture of the reprimand or black pot, the money was given every year, and as the country's finances got better and better, he, the big Si Nong Yamen, got more and more money.

This made him embarrassed at first. I'm more motivated to do my job. Under the command of Dasi Nong, there are not many officials, more of them are old farmers recommended from all over the country, Cao Xianjian has more money in his hands, these people can naturally get more salaries, and their work will naturally be more energetic.

Compared with Cao Xinjianlai, these old farmers from all over the country are more simple, although the Dasi Nong Yamen has prepared a decent house for them, but these people would rather live on the edge of these experimental fields with shacks, but take care of these crops like children.

Fortunately, in the fourth year, the seeds cultivated by the Dasi Nong Yamen have achieved results in a county under the jurisdiction of Yuejing City, and the yield per mu has increased by two percent compared with the past. Originally, one acre of land with 400 catties of land was collected by 500 catties in the fourth year.

Although it is only 100 catties more per mu, if the seeds are spread to the whole country, the annual overharvest of crops is a big number.

When the news came, Cao Xianjian was overjoyed at the same time, but also greatly relieved, finally did not spend money in vain, for three consecutive years, the light input did not output, and the Dasi Nong Yamen was already under great pressure.

What Cao Xianjian didn't expect was that the emperor summoned him alone.

This was the first time after the founding of the Ming Dynasty that the emperor summoned him alone.

What he didn't expect was that after the summons, the emperor also invited him to dinner, not only him, but also the peasant officials under his command and dozens of old peasants from all over the country, the queen, and the head of the political hall all attended as accompaniment.

The huge honor made Cao Xianjian always in a trance, until he returned home, he had not completely come back to his senses, and in the end there were only four words left in his mind.

That's what the emperor said.

"Keep up the good work."

Because of the results, Cao Xianjian, the great farmer, has been much stiffer in the court since then, and the money allocated to him has become more and more, with the experience of cultivating seeds in the past few years, everyone is more energetic. In the past two years, new seeds for several crops have been introduced.

And today, it is the second time that the emperor has summoned him alone.

Da Si Nong is not a dignitary like Liubu Jiuqing, but this time, after His Majesty came back from the Tiger Prison, he summoned him to the top of the list, which made Cao Xianjian feel a lot of pressure. Although new seeds have also been launched in the past two years, the effect is not obvious. Is Your Majesty dissatisfied?

"Lord Cao is sixty years old this year, right?" Qin Feng asked very casually, this great Si Nong is still doing a very good job. Now Daming's grain output has increased significantly compared with previous years, and the current one is indispensable. And this person works diligently, and he is low-key, which is very suitable for Qin Feng's appetite.

didn't expect such an opening remark, Cao Xianjian was a little stunned and a little embarrassed.

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister is twenty out of fifty this year!"

"Ahh Qin Feng was very embarrassed at this time, looking at the appearance of Cao Xianjian, how could he be sixty or seventy years old, and he was only in his early fifties, after thinking about it, he finally understood, this person in front of him was Dasi Nong, although he could be regarded as a high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty, but this high-ranking official often soaked in the fields, walking in the countryside, exposed to the wind and sun, and his appearance was much older than his actual age.

"Lord Cao has worked really hard. Things have to be done, but you still have to take care of your body, you are my treasure!"

Hearing the emperor say this, Cao Xianjian's nose couldn't help but be sour, his eyes were a little blurred, his legs were weak, and he had already slipped off the chair again, "Your Majesty has to value it, entrust it with a heavy responsibility, and do your best, although you will die nine times without regrets."

Unexpectedly, a sentence made this old minister react so much, Qin Feng was a little unexpected, and hurriedly signaled Father-in-law Le to help people up.

"Agriculture is the foundation of the country, as the saying goes, there is food at home, and there is no panic in my heart. In the past few years, the feats made by Dasi Nong are not as small as those soldiers who have crossed the battlefield. But you still have to take care of your body, and there is tension and relaxation, which is the way to go! I'm counting on you to breed better crops for our Ming Dynasty!"

"The minister is ashamed that nothing has been accomplished in the past two years." Cao Xianjian's voice was a little choked.

"No, no, no, I know very well that it is not an easy thing to cultivate a better crop, this is in a hurry, I heard that Dasi Nong is now trying to collect the seeds of the land of Qichu?"

"Yes, Chen thought, the more different the seeds, the more different the choices, and maybe the higher yields of crops can be cultivated." Cao Xianjiandao.

"It's a good idea." Qin Feng smiled, "In this matter, you can ask the Department of Commerce to help you think of a way, the caravans under their command will travel all over the place, and it will not be troublesome to help you bring some seeds back by the way."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Well, it's another thing to come to you today!" Qin Feng glanced at Le Gonggong, even though Le Gonggong took out several porcelain jars and a few jars, and placed them in front of Cao Xianjian one by one.

"Your Majesty, what is this?" Glancing at the porcelain jar in front of him, Cao Xianjian asked.

"These are some seeds brought back from overseas by the Maritime Administration, there are several kinds, I think it is related to the national economy and people's livelihood, so I asked you to take a look." Qin Feng said with a smile.

As soon as Cao Xianjian heard this, he immediately opened the jar, carefully poured out some of them one by one, and carefully identified them, but his face showed a blank look, he didn't recognize anything!

Qin Feng walked over, pointed to the porcelain jar in the first place, and said, "This one is the seed of cotton. That's what I value most. Father-in-law Le, bring up the cotton and cotton clothes that Ning Zeyuan brought back."

A soft white yellowish thing was sent to Cao Xianjian's hand, and with a light twist in his hand, Cao Xianjian's face immediately showed a look of surprise, and when he touched the cotton clothes, the discoloration on his face became even stronger.

"Your Majesty, this is a thing to keep out the cold, and it must be much warmer than our current cotton clothes filled with silk wool."

"That's it." Qin Feng said: "If this thing can be widely planted in my Ming Dynasty, it will be a great blessing for the people of the Ming Dynasty. This thing, Ning Zeyuan also asked, likes light, has a certain ability to tolerate drought, and what he is most afraid of is rain and tide. You have to pay attention to this when you take it back to breed."

"I remember." Cao Xianjian carefully collected the seeds.

Qin Feng walked to a few jars again, took out something from it, and checked it in his hand, "This kind of thing, called sweet potato, does not have too high requirements for the land, I heard that it can grow anywhere, and the yield is extremely high, most of our Daming places are not short of grain now, but there is not necessarily no shortage of food in the future, at least, the land of Qin that we just laid down, there is a shortage of grain, this thing is planted, first, it can be used as auxiliary food, and second, even if people don't eat it, they can also feed livestock!" It shouldn't be too difficult."

As Qin Feng introduced Cao Xianjian one by one, what beet seeds, cabbage seeds, pepper seeds, etc., there are a total of more than ten things, they are all some sparse vegetables, and the emperor's attention has been greatly reduced. It's better to be able to make it, but it can't be done, and it seems that the emperor doesn't care too much.

There are more than a dozen new crops all of a sudden, which makes Cao Xianjian feel that the burden on his shoulders is heavier, especially the first few, if he wants to reverse the habits of a new crop, he will probably be busy in the next year or two.

However, for the Dasi Nong Yamen, the busier the better, and now Cao Xianjian also has a little ambition, if he continues to cultivate good seeds and make new crops, then the weight of the Dasi Nong Yamen in the imperial court will become heavier and heavier.

You can also stand up and belly up.