Wang Jiayan and Hu Xinshui went to Shandong without stopping.

Hu Xinshui didn't even have time to talk to Hu Guozhu more.

Hu Guozhu actually wanted to go to Shandong with him, but Chongzhen didn't let him.

How is it possible to reunite your Hu family father and son? Don't think about it anytime soon.

Ten days after Wang Jiayan and Hu Xinshui left, that is, on the eighth day of the sixth month, a huge fleet drove to the canal wharf outside Xuzhou.

Because there are too many boats, they can't stop on the dock.

It can only be temporarily crossed on the surface of the river outside.

This fleet is made up of all bird boats.

The bird boat was one of the naval warships of the Ming Dynasty, and there were a large number of bird ships in Zheng He's fleet to the Western Ocean.

Each bird boat is about 24 meters long, 6 meters wide, has a draft of about 1.6 meters, has a displacement of about 230 tons, and has between 35 and 50 combatants on board.

The boat is equipped with sails on three sides and can reach a top speed of 9 knots downwind.

There are two rows at the stern of the boat, which can be used to move forward when there is no wind at sea or when navigating inland rivers, but at a much slower speed.

The ship's armament consisted mainly of 6 Fran cannons on each side, for a total of 12 guns.

Not surprisingly, this should be the sailor warship sent by Zheng Zhilong to King Qin.

Sure enough, Han Zanzhou soon led a sturdy military general wearing mountain armor and a phoenix-winged helmet to Chongzhen.

Seeing Chongzhen, the military general immediately pushed the golden mountain and fell to the jade pillar and fell to the ground: "The minister Fujian coastal defense guerrilla Zheng Hongkui, please ask the saint Jin'an, long live my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

Zheng Zhilong was promoted, and Zheng Hongkui was also promoted.

"Aiqing, please get up." Chongzhen stepped forward and helped Zheng Hongkui up with his own hands.

Whether it is to win the hearts of the people, or to put on a political show, anyway, Zheng Hongkui's water division is very important to the Huanghuai defense line, if Xiazhen, Xuzhou and Pizhou are the three major support points of the Huanghuai defense line, then Zheng Hongkui's water division is the support rod in the middle, only the support point and no support rod, the Huanghuai defense line can not be supported.

The reason is actually very simple, there is no fortress in this world that cannot be attacked.

The Huanghuai defense line was a combination of Zeng Guofan's strategy of "hardening the village and fighting a dumb battle" and the Western fortress technology, so that Jiannu could not break through from the front, but still could adopt a long-term siege or a flank detour strategy.

Let's talk about the defense line of Xia Town, Jiannu can dig a blockade ditch on the periphery and implement a counter-blockade.

In fact, Jiannu is very good at digging blockade ditches to implement a reverse blockade, and the Songjin War that determines the national fortune of Jiannu, Huang Taiji relied on this tactic to blockade Jinzhou, and then forced the Ming army to take the risk of rescue, but in the end it was surrounded by Jiannu to send reinforcements, and the eight general soldiers were defeated into an army, and then buried the last bit of vitality of the Ming Dynasty.

Once Xia Zhen was besieged, Zheng Hongkui's sailors became crucial.

Because the warships of the naval division can go directly to Xia Zhen along the canal, they can not only provide firepower support to the Xia Zhen defenders at critical moments, but also provide logistics and material support for the Xia Zhen defenders.

This made Jiannu's blockade of Xia Zhen come to naught.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to entrap Zheng Hongkui in the city.

In contrast, political showmanship is already considered the most affordable.

Chongzhen took Zheng Hongkui's hand and said, "Aiqing has worked hard all the way. ”

"It's not hard." Zheng Hongkui was really a little flattered, "The way from Quanzhou to the north is a tailwind, that is, after entering the Yellow River from the cloud ladder, it took some effort to sail against the current. ”

"In addition, due to the different depths of the Yellow River, especially after crossing Hongze Lake, the depth of the river is often less than seven feet, so among the warships brought by my brother to the ministers, there are four foreign ships (big junk boats) and twenty blacktail boats because the draft is too deep, so they cannot reach Xuzhou, and can only be temporarily stationed in Qingjiangpu."

Chongzhen asked casually: "How many bird boats are there in Xuzhou?" ”

"There are 100 bird boats in total." Zheng Hongkui said, "There are 4,500 sailors and soldiers, and there are more than 2,500 soldiers in addition to the 4 foreign ships and 20 blacktail ships stranded in Qingjiangpu. ”

Chongzhen nodded, this is almost half of the warships and soldiers of Zheng Zhilong's naval division.

It can be seen that although Zheng Zhilong did not come, he did not neglect the court, and still made a bloody investment.

Zheng Hongkui also said that Chongzhen minded that Zheng Zhilong was not in person, and said busily: "Holy Lord, my brother has suffered from dampness because of his perennial boat on the sea, and there is really no way to come to serve in front of the king, and I ask the Holy Lord to forgive me." ”

"Hey, what's the sin for this." Chongzhen said, "Nan'an Hou can be edicted to send Aiqing to lead a sailor to the north, which is already commendable, and this is a great achievement for me, how can I be angry." ”

After a pause, Chongzhen said with self-deprecation: "It's a pity that I have no longevity now, even if I want to reward Nan Anhou with a brocade, it is difficult to do it, so I can only make up for it later." ”

"Holy." Zheng Hongkui hurriedly said, "The minister is afraid, and the brother is afraid." ”

As he spoke, Zheng Hongkui subconsciously wanted to kneel, the emperor's favor was too great.

"Aiqing doesn't need to panic." Chongzhen grabbed Zheng Hongkui, and then asked, "By the way, have Aiqing brought the sweet potatoes, potatoes and maize that I specially advised?" ”

"Yes, I brought it." Zheng Hongkui hurriedly said.

"Fifty thousand catties of each, does the saint want to taste it now?"

"I want to taste it." Chongzhen smiled and nodded, and said, "But not now, but after the harvest in October, I will taste sweet potatoes, potatoes, and maize with Aiqing and others." ”

"After the October harvest?" Zheng Hongkui was stunned and asked, "Does the Holy One mean to make grain seeds?" ”

Chongzhen also chuckled in his heart when he heard this, and asked urgently: "The sweet potatoes, potatoes and maize that Aiqing brought to me should be cooked, right?" ”

"Not really." Zheng Hongkui hurriedly said, "The minister just didn't expect the saint to plant, and if he knew this, the minister should have collected more." ”

"Need to collect?" Chongzhen was surprised and asked, "Aren't there many people in Fujian who grow these?" ”

Zheng Hongkui hurriedly said: "Other state capitals in Fujian may plant more, but we don't plant much in Quanzhou, because potatoes and maize taste poor, sweet potatoes taste better but eat too much and are easy to flatulence, so the neighbors don't like to plant, we Quanzhou people still like to eat rice, and the taste of rice is better." ”

Chongzhen understood that this was a matter of planting habits.

China had already entered the agricultural civilization as early as 5,000 years ago.

The concept of farming has been integrated into the genes of Huaxia and has become a racial talent.

The Chinese people have a soft spot for the land, and they also have a soft spot for the crops they cultivate.

From the period of the ancestors to the end of the Ming Dynasty, the ancestors of the Chinese people have been planting grains for generations, whether it is the five grains of "rice millet and wheat soy" or the saying of "hemp millet and wheat soy", anyway, there are no potatoes, sweet potatoes and maize, so there is a natural resistance to planting these three imported crops.

Imagine that there is an old farmer who has ten acres of land, and he can have a stable harvest of 20 stones when he grows rice, which is enough for a family of more than a dozen to eat for a year, and then one day, a son comes back and tells him that planting sweet potatoes can have three times the harvest, what do you think the old farmer will be the reaction of?

If nothing else, it's a big slap in the face.

You bastard, you believe people who say you can triple the harvest of sweet potatoes? In case it's a lie, the whole family drinks the northwest wind with you? Put a stable day, but do your best to get out of here!

Therefore, if there is no government's forced promotion, no one will plant sweet potatoes, potatoes and maize, even if they see that others have already harvested a good harvest.

Who knows if these things will hurt people after eating?

What if a woman eats it and can't give birth to a child? Is that endless?

Our Chinese ancestors have been planting grains for thousands of years, but they can't compare to these?

Therefore, habits are very difficult to change, and the habits of a race are even more difficult to change.

This is also the reason why potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn were introduced to China in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, but they were not cultivated on a large scale until the Kangqian period of the Qing Dynasty.

It took two or three hundred years to change the planting habits.

As for some studies, it is said that the reason why sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn were not expanded on a large scale at the beginning of their introduction to China was mainly because of the problem of seed selection.

The Indians have been growing sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn for thousands of years, and you say that they haven't finished selecting the seeds?

Or did sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn become wild after they were introduced into China and need to be redomesticated? Is it possible?

It's like the Chinese ancestors have been planting grains for thousands of years, and you say that the grains have not yet been selected? So it takes hundreds of years for other continents or countries to introduce grains and then select them? Trouble.

The British introduced tea to India and Sri Lanka, and the first crop was harvested.

Within a few years of the introduction of water hyacinth into China, it became a disaster, and there are many eucalyptus trees.

So there is no problem of rewilding caused by regional change, as long as the climate is suitable, the soil is fertile, and the light is sufficient, crops can be transplanted anywhere, and there is no such thing as re-selection when the region changes, and the Chinese who go to Africa to farm have not seen it take dozens or hundreds of years to re-select.

To put it bluntly, this is a problem of planting habits, and habits are the most difficult to change.

But for Chongzhen, a traverser, this problem does not exist at all.

Because he knew that sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn were good things, with a short growing period, high yields, and more drought tolerance than crops such as rice and wheat, and could be grown in barren mountainous areas.

It's just that Zheng Hongkui didn't bring enough seeds.

50,000 catties of corn seeds are planted at best 10,000 acres.

50,000 catties of sweet potatoes can be planted more than 1,000 acres at most.

Potatoes are even more finished, and it is estimated that only a few hundred acres can be planted.

Thinking of this, Chongzhen sighed lightly, it seems that this year is not expected, and only after the large-scale planting next year can it be possible to completely solve the supply of military food.

Zheng Hongkui said with some uneasiness: "Holy Lord, but what's the problem?" ”

"No, it's just that when I talked about food just now, I remembered that Li Shu in the world was waiting to be fed, but as a monarch father, I could only watch it, and my heart was really uncomfortable." Chongzhen casually said nonsense.

"The saint's heart cares about the people in the world, and this sincere people are blessed." Zheng Hongkui said.