readx; Historically, China was a seafaring power. Pen ~ fun ~ Ge www.biquge.info during the Song and Yuan dynasties, the sea trade was extremely developed, Quanzhou was the world's largest seaport, many foreigners came to China by sea, and settled, and eventually became a part of the Chinese nation.

This splendor lasted until the early years of the Ming Dynasty, when Chengzu Zhu Di ordered Zheng He to go to the West six times to raise the prestige of the Ming Dynasty and make the guests from all over the world subdued. At that time, the flagship of Zheng He's fleet, also called the "treasure ship", had a displacement of several thousand tons, and until a few years later, it was still the largest ship in the world. In contrast, the Santa Maria, which Columbus took to discover the New World decades later, had a displacement of just over 100 tons.

It is a pity that later, in order to avoid the impact of international trade, the Ming court implemented the policy of "no piece of board can go to sea", abandoned the shipyard, destroyed the drawings, and made China's navigation industry decline all of a sudden. Although the ban on the sea was later lifted during the Longqing period, the perfect opportunity for the great geographical discovery was missed, and the Western powers took the early train of maritime civilization, and in less than a hundred years, colonies were spread all over the world. A powerful country like Spain has advanced to the edge of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty was still busy competing with the Jurchen, Mongolia and other nomadic tribes in the north, and had no time to look south. If this development continues, even if there is no Manchu Qing, the Ming Dynasty will die at the hands of Western powers like the Ottoman Empire in West Asia and the Mughal Empire in the South Asian subcontinent, but it is only a matter of time.

However, Zhu Youzhen is not focusing on this at present. He continued to ask Xu Laosi: "In addition to Wuxiang, have you bought any rare things from Nanyang?" ”

Xu Laosi smiled honestly: "There are many rare things, I don't know which one the master is talking about?" ”

"Have you seen corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes?" Zhu Youzhen asked hopefully.

Xu Laosi shook his head like a rattle when he heard this: "What is this?" Haven't heard of it. ”

Zhu Youzhen's heart suddenly cooled, and he thought about it, maybe these crops are not called this name now? So he hurriedly asked Li Zhenyan for a pen and paper, and endured the pain and drew on the paper. After the painting, he called Xu Laosi to his side, pointed and asked: "Look at this, how tall is a person, thin stem and narrow leaves, hermaphroditic, the fruit is knotted on the waist of the plant, and it is golden yellow particles when peeled off?" There is also this oval-shaped pimple, which is a tuber that knots in the ground; And this spindle-shaped pimple, which is the root of the tuber..."

Qi Meifeng and Li Zhenyan both looked inexplicable, the prince of the heart was probably whimsical, how could there be such a strange crop in the world.

Unexpectedly, Xu Laosi looked at it for a while, but laughed and said: "Master, I won't tell you, the villain has really seen these things." But they don't call you by the name. This tall one is called caram, this oval one is called artichoke, and this spindle-shaped one is called sweet potato. Strange to be, have you ever been to Luzon? ”

Zhu Youzhen was overjoyed and said: "Are there these crops in Luzon? ”

Xu Laosi nodded and said, "Yes, the villain went to Luzon ten years ago and saw these crops. I heard that these crops were brought by the Francos from far away, but after planting some in Luzon, they did not grow very well and the yield was very low, so no one wanted to plant them..."

"Great!" Zhu Youzhen suddenly jumped up excitedly, but forgot that he still had one leg that couldn't move, and immediately fell on the bed with a scream.

Qi Meifeng and Li Zhenyan were startled, and hurriedly helped Zhu Youzhen and said, "What's wrong with you?" ”

Although Zhu Youzhen was in a cold sweat in pain, he said excitedly: "It's worth it!" It's worth it! ”

"What's so much worth it?" Qi Meifeng said strangely.

"I mean, my broken leg is worth it!" Zhu Youzhen shouted.

Qi Meifeng was startled, and hurriedly touched Zhu Youzhen's forehead and said, "There is no fever either!" How to talk nonsense! ”

Zhu Youzhen's face was full of red light, and he sent Xu Laosi down first, and then whispered to the second daughter: "I didn't talk nonsense!" Although I broke a leg, Zheng Zhibao couldn't marry Meifeng, this is one of them; Second, the news I got from Xu Laosi just now is simply too important, and it can be said that it is enough to save hundreds of millions of lives! ”

Although the two girls didn't dare to refute when they heard this, they looked at each other, obviously not believing it.

Zhu Youzhen had to patiently explain: "You don't know that these crops were brought out by the Spaniards from the New World. The reason why they do not grow well in Luzon is because Luzon is tropical, and these crops are temperate plants. If you transplant them to China, after a period of breeding, do you know how much they can produce? ”

Qi Meifeng was not very familiar with agriculture, and shook her head blankly. Li Zhenyan has a wide range of knowledge, and pondered for a moment and said: "Among the existing crops, rice has the highest yield. The yield per mu of double-season rice is about two stones, and the yield of single-season late rice is higher, up to three stones. Listening to His Highness, the yield of these crops is higher than that of late rice? ”

"It's not just high." Zhu Youzhen laughed and said, "Three stones are only three hundred and sixty catties, do you know how much sweet potato yield per mu?" Five or six thousand pounds! ”

"Huh?" Li Zhenyan couldn't help but exclaim, "So, planting one acre of sweet potatoes can top more than ten acres of rice or wheat?" But how do you know, Your Highness? ”

"You don't care how I know, just trust me!" Zhu Youzhen said with great interest, "So my leg is worth it, now that we know that there are these crops in Luzon, the next thing to do is to bring in the seeds!" If the grain yield per mu increases tenfold, do you think, will the border army still be in arrears? Will the common people still go hungry? Will the thieves still rebel? Wouldn't all these problems be solved! This news is simply too important, even if it breaks another leg, it is worth it! ”

Qi Meifeng hurriedly blocked his lips with her fingers, and said coquettishly: "Don't talk nonsense!" Meifeng doesn't know a lot, she just thinks that your body bones are the most important thing, and you can't exchange anything! As he spoke, he couldn't help but shed tears again.

Zhu Youzhen hurriedly smiled and said, "Meifeng, don't be sad, I'm not doing well." The Governor has already taken care of me, and in a little while, he will be a good man again. I'm so happy today, let's have a drink to celebrate! ”

"You are not healed from your serious injuries, so you are not allowed to drink alcohol." Li Zhenyan hurriedly persuaded, "But it's not early now, it's true that it's time for dinner." ”

As soon as she said this, Zhu Youzhen also felt her stomach growl. Li Zhenyan was busy looking for sailors, and after a while, Xu Laosi and other sailors brought a few dishes and soups, which could be regarded as sumptuous.

As the saying goes, "people are in good spirits when they are happy", Zhu Youzhen was excited, and he actually had a big appetite and ate more than usual. Just because I was afraid of trouble, I didn't drink soup. Qi Meifeng and Li Zhenyan also accompanied him to eat some.

Removing the remnants of the seat, Zhu Youzhen suddenly felt tired. Seeing that the second daughter was also tired, he smiled and said, "You guys should also go back to the room to rest, I'm really sleepy today..."

Before he finished speaking, and he didn't know how to get sleepy so quickly, Zhu Youzhen fell asleep all of a sudden.