"Who do you say?"

"Back to Your Majesty, it's the son of Pinghai." Liu Jin said carefully.

"Pinghai Boshizi? What could he do when he came to see me at this time? Zhu Houzhao couldn't think of it for a while.

When Queen Xia saw this, she didn't have a good impression of this Mei Huaigu in her heart.

Her relationship with Concubine Ning and Concubine Zhao is good, and the emperor himself did not ignore her status as an empress because of this.

She has always been the queen, and her future children are still sisters-in-law, and so far, no one dares to set off the so-called 'crown prince'.

But the emperor is out of the Mei family on both sides, and it is inevitable that he is in the limelight now, and his momentum will even overshadow the queen's maiden Xia family, which is not very good.

Of course, in the name of business, she didn't dare to upset the emperor on this.

"Your Majesty, it must not be a trivial matter that the prince of Pinghai is so urgent. State affairs are important, Your Majesty should go and have a look. As for the concubines, they are not in the way. ”

"Then I will come when I go. You pass the meal, and when it's over, I will come to Kunning Palace. ”

"The concubine obeys."

Of course, Zhu Houzhao has a lot of love for the harem and these women, but he also has some basic bottom lines, and these bottom lines have been clearly told to them, that is, they can't affect the affairs of the previous dynasty - don't participate, don't care, and don't cause chaos.

Overall, he is still in the prime of his youth, and there are no obvious problems at the moment.

"Huaigu, you have a problem with this, I am from Kunning Palace, if you can't say one, two, three, I don't care about it at that time, and the queen will also find trouble for you."

The emperor said as he walked.

"Hehe, what Your Majesty said about Weichen understands," Mei Huaigu has a very fart face, he has been very discerning since he was a child, "It's just that this matter involves the strange guest in the Weichen Mansion, my father explained that this matter is related to His Majesty, and he doesn't dare to delay this section......"

"Your house?"

Zhu Houzhao had just walked fast, and he hadn't noticed the person he was carrying, and when he turned around and found a man and a woman behind him, the woman was still a little familiar, but he wasn't particularly impressed. For the emperor, there are many strangers to see, and there are too many names to remember, and it is easy to remember such things.

"The people's girl Meng Ying (grass people Meng Qiuzhong), meet Your Majesty."

"They're ......"

"Your Majesty, do you remember sweet potatoes?" Mei Huaigu reminded.

Zhu Houzhao had a pause in his movements, his breathing couldn't help but speed up a little, his expression was undisguised in his excitement, and he pointed his finger and said, "Yes, yes, I remembered, the girl with the sweet potato pattern on the handkerchief." Nostalgia, what did you just mean, she's been in your house? I thought she had left Jingshi. ”

Meng Ying pursed her lips and didn't dare to say anything.

Originally, she was going to leave Jingshi. But Mei Kejia wouldn't let her go.

Only if she is in Jingshi, her father will bring sweet potatoes to Jingshi.

Because her father was locked up in prison at the time, the condition for her release was to bring back sweet potatoes, if her daughter also left, and her father also let her go, who would the emperor go to?

It's easy to understand.

But the emperor did not say it explicit at that time.

Now, he denies it.

Meng Ying is actually no longer surprised, she has been in Beijing for a few years, and Emperor Zhengde is in charge of the court, opening the sea ban, strengthening soldiers and horses, and driving Tatars. The First World War washed away the shame of the civil fort, and his scheming, means and prestige could be heard casually in the mansion.

And she and her father want to resist almost impossible, can only admit it, and pray that this matter can be done well, and this 'secret house arrest' can be lifted.

Mei Huaigu didn't care about her thoughts, but followed the emperor's words and said: "Because this matter is important, my father will explain it and serve her so that she can serve her, so Miss Meng has never left." ”

These are the details.

The point is not here, and the emperor does not want to hear it.

"So, what about sweet potatoes?"

When he asked this, Zhu Houzhao's eyes also fell on the bag that Mei Huaigu was carrying.

"Weichen will take it out, I heard Father Meng say that the people in the south call him sweet potato, Father Meng, you quickly report to Your Majesty."

As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao had already walked down by himself and looked at it in his hand.

Red, oval...... Sweet potatoes indeed.

"Good! All right! You guys have done a great job! ”

As soon as they heard the emperor say this, the three of them were a little happy, which could make the emperor happy, and they had to give a reward.

In fact, the so-called sweet potatoes can be planted with this.

He grew up in the countryside as a child and used to dig in the neighbors' fields.

I don't know how people in this era planted. At that time, he was in the countryside, and his parents and grandparents would first put this thing in the cellar for the winter, so as not to freeze the sweet potatoes, and in the spring of the next year, around this time, the temperature was in the tens of degrees, and they would be planted in the ground for cultivation, and then it would grow green sweet potato seedlings.

When the sweet potato seedlings grow to 30 to 50 centimeters, they are cut and planted in the cultivated ground, and then they can be harvested in September and October.

Of course, there are many types of sweet potatoes, and our country is vast, so some are planted in the spring and some in the summer.

This is not the key, the key is that the advantages of sweet potatoes are very obvious, the most significant is drought tolerance, barrenness tolerance, high yield, not picking terrain, even in the mountains can be planted.

Judging from the normal year, one acre of sweet potatoes can produce 2,500 to 3,000 kilograms, which is the 'harvest of dozens of stones per acre' recorded by Xu Guangqi (one stone in the Ming Dynasty was 150 catties). Its yield is more than ten times that of one acre of paddy field.

However, there are two sides to this matter.

First, it is a joke to expect that the sweet potatoes will feed the people of the whole country as soon as they arrive.

Because the calories of sweet potatoes are very low, no matter what you eat, the human body always needs calories, sweet potatoes are only one-third of rice and other grains, potatoes and corn are basically at the same level as sweet potatoes, to put it bluntly, no matter how much sweet potatoes are eaten, 80% is water, so what's the use?

So don't talk about calories, only about yield, this is a hooligan.

In addition, sweet potatoes have no oil, and if you eat too much, your stomach is easy to flatulent, which will also lead to a situation, that is, you can't pull it out......

So even if sweet potatoes later became a 'delicacy', they could never become a staple food.

Therefore, it is even more impossible to rely on this to bulldoze the whole world in the imagination. In fact, in real history, sweet potatoes have been introduced to China in the Longqing and Wanli periods, and in the late Wanli period and the Apocalypse, there are official records that Shaanxi, Henan, Nanzhi, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Yunnan have generally planted sweet potatoes.

However, it did not save the Ming Dynasty, which was full of displaced people.

In this dimension, man-made disasters are always the biggest problem, and there are hungry people in highly productive industrial countries.

But then again,

When food and clothing are still a big problem, it is a hooligan to say that sweet potatoes taste bad and eat too much pantothenic acid. It is a kind of hypocrisy that cannot be understood at all.

For those who have been reduced to gnawing the bark of a tree, to be able to eat this is to ascend to heaven.

For the people living on the subsistence line, if a little sweet potato is planted in addition to rice and wheat, it can solve the problem of lack of green and yellow, and even save a little staple food for storage or sale.

For the whole country, it is always good to have one more food to eat.

In this way, the sharp social contradictions can be greatly alleviated, and the common people will be stabilized, and he will promote all kinds of reform measures, even if they are more radical, and the consequences will not cause the earth to shake.

It is all about being able to feed more people and increase the resilience of society. Rather than thinking that it can't be eaten all the time or can't rely on it to beat the whole world, it doesn't have any value at all, which belongs to diode thinking.

Therefore, in Zhu Houzhao's eyes, sweet potato is a very important strategic crop.

And at this time, he was holding this thing that he didn't want to eat in his previous life, and now he had to be careful.

"Your Majesty, you don't have to ...... It doesn't have to be that way. Meng Ying opened her mouth, not sure if she was speaking decently, and in the end, she seemed to lack confidence.

"Why?"

"Because my father has been cultivated and planted in his hometown, sweet potatoes are cut for seeding, so I ......"

"Oh?" Zhu Houzhao understood what she meant, "So, I don't care even if I eat it." Father Meng, is that so? ”

"Back to ...... Back to Your Majesty Yes, the grass people know that this matter is extremely important, and if they don't cultivate and plant first, they don't have the courage to disturb Your Majesty. ”

"It's smart." Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but praise, only with this brain can things be done, "But I won't eat it, the season is right now, and you still have to take all these to cultivate." ”

"Yes."

"Tell me, how did you bring it back, and what is the situation overseas?"

When Meng Qiuzhong saw the emperor for the first time, he was a little nervous, "The grass people returned...... Back to Your Majesty, these sweet potatoes were smuggled back from Manraka from the grass people, and there were Franji people in the local area, and these were the first to be brought to Manraka by them. ”

"Manraka?"

Zhu Houzhao's geographical knowledge began to be put to the test.

"Is it my Ming vassal country?"

"Back to Your Majesty. No, the Kingdom of Manchu belongs to the Kingdom of Siam, and these are small overseas countries, which are incomparable to our Celestial Empire. The locals have also heard that I am a son of heaven, and they yearn for it, but they are far away from the ocean, and if it is not for the merchants who want to survive, ordinary people do not have the courage to face the wind and waves at sea. ”

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help laughing,

The second half of this is nonsense.

But now that political correctness is so, he doesn't want to put in the effort to correct it.

In fact, the country of Manchurian Canada was later known as Malaysia and Singapore, where the Portuguese first arrived, and then there was a war, which also led to the decline of the country.

The point in time was during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty.

In other words, the Europeans have already hit the heads of the Asians.

Including the island of Luzon, that is, the Philippines, was also invaded by the Spanish in this century.

Now the Ming Dynasty has been influenced by Zhu Houzhao, there is already an interest group of merchants who open the sea, one day, merchants from the Ming Dynasty and businessmen from Europe will collide, according to the logic of these robbers, you make money in business, they will definitely start to rob and fight.

Maybe that day will come sooner than expected.

These are put aside,

The sweet potato in front of him still made Zhu Houzhao very excited.

Saying a thousand things and ten thousand is three words: to promote!

He naturally smiled at this thing and let Liu Jin take it aside.

Then he said to the father and daughter of the Meng family: "Such a crop will surely live countless people in the future, Meng Qiuzhong, your contribution is greater than you imagined." I have always had clear rewards and punishments, so let's say, is there a need? ”

"This ...... The grass people didn't dare. ”

"Your Majesty is rich all over the world." Mei Huaigu nodded at him, "Just open your mouth." ”

Meng Qiuzhong raised his head, a little dazed, and said with a slight uprightness: "Your Majesty, the grass people want a hundred taels of silver." ”

Zhu Houzhao and Mei Huaigu were stunned for a while.

"Lack of silver?"

"Yes, the grass people's daughter has not yet married, and the dowry has not yet been settled."

When Meng Ying heard this, she immediately blushed, "Dad! How can you say this to Your Majesty? ”

"Hahaha." Zhu Houzhao thought it was quite interesting, after being an emperor for a long time, such a simple person is indeed rare, "Meng Qiuzhong, I promise you this condition, I can give you more." There's only one thing you have to do me a favor. ”

"Don't dare, please ask Your Majesty to command."

"Sweet potatoes are the only crops you have grown, so I will find a piece of land, and you will stay and serve it. As for the one you planted in your hometown in Fujian, I will make a decree and write down the method, and ask the local magistrate to serve it. What do you think? ”

Meng Qiuzhong hesitated for a while, he originally wanted to go back to his hometown.

Mei Huaigu knocked on the side, "Father Meng, this is an opportunity given by His Majesty, don't you want to thank you?!" ”

The old peasant didn't have so many ideas, and he didn't dare to refuse, so he kowtowed and said, "The grass people are willing to listen to Your Majesty." ”

"Good. Liu Jin, you go and get five hundred taels of silver and give it to Meng Qiuzhong. Huaigu, I will hand over these two people to you, you settle down, if you want to live in your house, if you don't want to, let the family become a family by themselves and live outside. When I have chosen a piece of land, you will lead him there. ”

"Yes!"

"Okay, let's go down."

Zhu Houzhao didn't tell them too much about planting, promotion and the like, and what the significance would be in the future.

The person is just a peasant who wants to tattoo a hundred taels of silver, and he doesn't care about those.

This is something that he and the courtiers should be concerned about.

Looking at a few sweet potatoes on the wooden plate, he couldn't help but touch them, although sweet potatoes have such and such shortcomings, after all, it can be eaten and feed more people, which has a great supporting effect on his imperial ambition.

Later generations have explored the relationship between climate and dynastic change, and found that during the Han and Tang dynasties, the Central Plains dynasties were relatively warm.

And we all know that in the turmoil of the times, the side with a small and barren base is always unable to win, and this is the role of 'strength'. Of course, rulers need all kinds of good qualities, but how much 'power' they have is the more crucial factor. In the era of cold weapons, this 'power' can be expressed in relatively popular terms as:

How much land you have, how much food you can produce, how much people you can feed.

No matter how you think about it, sweet potatoes are also a major matter, and they need a dedicated and competent person.

Zhu Houzhao touched it slowly, and there was seriousness and slightly suppressed excitement and excitement in his eyes.

"Liu Jin,"

The emperor's voice was not as thick as usual.

"The slave is here."

"Early tomorrow morning, the cabinet and the six ministries and nine secretaries will enter the palace. Unless you leave Beijing, you are not allowed to be absent without reason. ”

"Yes!"

But Meng Qiuzhong, who said that he got five hundred taels of silver, was very happy,

Since he has the silver, he doesn't want to live in other people's houses, the sign of Pinghai Bofu is really scary, after going in for a while, this rule, that rule, he is used to it, if it is not good, it will be troublesome.

Mei Huaigu also went with him according to his will, and found him a clean courtyard outside, so that he could live in it directly without cleaning.

When the outsiders left, Meng Ying began to coddle with her father.

"Daddy is really, why do you say anything about the dowry in the palace, when the time comes, the whole capital will know that his daughter can't get married."

"I don't understand. The Son of Heaven is so majestic that he doesn't dare to lie. ”

"Then daddy really wants to stay and serve that sweet potato?"

"I wanted to go. Now it seems that it will not be able to go. Meng Qiuzhong walked to the door, curled up and sat on the ground, and then, as if thinking of something, he opened the small wooden box he was holding in his arms, and then his eyes began to shine.

"The emperor is really generous, I only need one hundred taels, and he will give us five hundred taels! Oh, now we don't have to be poor, and when we go back, my father will find you a good mother-in-law, and the dowry will be enough. ”

"My daughter doesn't want to get married yet."

Meng Ying also has a bit of a posture when she first entered Beijing, when she first entered Beijing, she was a little haggard when she was sleeping in the open air, and she has been raised in the boudoir for the past two years, her face is ruddy and translucent, and her skin is white and tender.

If you want to say that the bad part is that she is thin and small, she is slim, but the girl pays attention to the big butt and good birth, and she becomes a white and thin child, and the matchmaker wants to say that it is not good.

"Nonsense, don't get married? Don't marry and be an old girl! ”

"Then you can't just meet and ask your daughter to get married, I haven't seen my father for more than two years, and my daughter will accompany you."

"Hmm." This sounded useful, and after thinking about it, Meng Qiuzhong asked again: "What kind of son of the world, didn't he bully you?" ”

"Tsk. Daddy, you're chewing your tongue again. ”

"I don't think he's a good guy."

"This son is cunning, he knows that his daughter is related to this sweet potato, and sweet potatoes are something that the emperor cares about, so he pays attention to it. In the past two years, my daughter has eaten and drunk well and slept well. ”

……

Following.

Qianqing Palace.

When the emperor arrived, the hall was already full.

The courtiers are also very experienced, and sometimes they can roughly know how big this matter is by feeling, like this time, the matter must be not small, and they all appear neatly.

"Your Majesty, Ministers."

"Flat. Give them all a seat. Zhu Houzhao rubbed his hands and walked out, he didn't go to sit on it, he still went straight to the point.

With a wave of his hand, a eunuch walked out with a wooden plate.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have called you here today to share a happy event. You have to look at this thing first. He pointed, then turned sideways for them all to look closely, "Do you recognize anyone?" ”

During the Zhengde period, sweet potatoes had not yet entered the Central Plains.

Zhu Houzhao was artificially sent to find it for several years.

Several ministers shook their heads.

"Your Majesty, what is this?" Wang Wei arched his hand and asked in a slow voice.

"This thing is called a sweet potato, which can also be called a sweet potato." Zhu Houzhao made a gesture and asked the eunuch to move forward, "You Aiqing can feel it in your hands." I brought it back from overseas. It's hard and cool to the touch, and of course it's a little rough. ”

"What does it do?"

"You can eat it."

Yang Yiqing picked it up first, he leaned on his nose and sniffed, "Tasteless." ”

"It's sweet."

"Your Majesty......?"

"Eh, Elder Yang Ge, don't eat this, I only have a few of them. Moreover, it is harder to eat raw, and your teeth are easy to break. ”

"Oh......"

After Yang Yiqing, Wang Wei and Wang Bing also took a closer look.

"Your Majesty, does this fruit bear fruit on the tree, or does it grow in the ground?" Wang Wei was also curious.

"The ground grows. The yield per mu can reach 30 to 40 stones. ”

The emperor said this lightly, but all the ministers in the palace were shocked when they heard it. In a normal paddy field, the yield per mu is 2 or 3 stones.

"Your Majesty is talking about thirty, not three or four?!" Han Wenjing stood up, and suddenly attached special importance to sweet potatoes.

Zhu Houzhao smiled with his hands behind his back: "If it is three or four stones, as for me so early in the morning, will I summon the six departments and nine Qings to this point?" ”

Restless, the atmosphere is still a little restless.

Gu Zuo asked, "Where did Your Majesty get this thing?" How do you know that you can produce thirty or forty stones per mu? ”

At first glance, this kind of thing still sounds too bizarre.

"In fact, a few years ago, I had ordered Jinyiwei to secretly plan this matter, and the operation code name was Sweet Potato. Yesterday, I summoned an old farmer from Fujian, and he brought back these sweet potatoes. As for the yield per mu, sweet potatoes can have such an output in overseas countries. ”

"So, can it be used instead of rice and wheat? If the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty were to plant such crops, wouldn't the annual grain increase tenfold in an instant? ”

Gu Zuo didn't know its characteristics, so it was common sense to infer it.

Zhu Hou took care of the others and nodded frequently.

"It's not going to be that simple." Wang Bing said, "This thing is called sweet potato, it is an overseas thing, whether it is suitable for my Ming people to eat is still two words." The minister thinks that it can be tried on a trial basis. ”

Although Wang Bing is not so likable, his words are often the key.

"I, I have summoned you to the palace today just to try it out. The high yield of sweet potatoes is one advantage, but the fact that it can be grown on land with less fertile soil and requires far less water than rice. This is a crop that can bring earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty. This matter is of great importance and requires the concerted efforts of the Cabinet and various ministries. ”

"Old minister, I am willing to accept this important task and solve problems for Your Majesty." Hangul is the head of the household, so he is asked to take care of this kind of thing.

"The household department wants it."

The three members of the cabinet also understood when they heard this, in addition to the household department, they also needed the cabinet.

But just as they were about to say something, Zhu Houzhao had already spoken first, "In this matter, I will appoint a person to be in charge, not only to coordinate and be responsible, but also to go deep into it, as Wang Ge Lao said, this thing is a new thing, and I don't know how to eat it." How to plant is even more knowledgeable. ”

So this is not suitable for the cabinet elders, after all, each of them has several important responsibilities.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao thought of one person, Yang Tinghe.

Yang Tinghe originally served in the Military Aircraft Department, but after the war in the northwest ended, as the emperor's confidant, he was transferred to Zhan Shifu. But now there is no crown prince, so where he needs to go, he will often travel on behalf of the emperor and leave Beijing to deal with special matters.

Yang Tinghe has an advantage, that is, his brain is very clear, and his organization and logic are never chaotic.

Moreover, he has been an official of all kinds over the years, and he has dealt with a lot of messy things.

So in fact, Zhu Houzhao has another plan, which is to transfer him to the cabinet. The strange experience he has now is not suitable for all the yamen, except for being a cabinet elder.

The people in the palace are waiting for the emperor to announce, and Zhu Houzhao will not sell Guanzi, "The cultivation and promotion of sweet potatoes is very important, and it is one of the most important government affairs of the imperial court. ”

In this way, it is the first time that he has entered the cabinet because of something.

The ministers took a closer look at the thing, and His Majesty showed the importance of the new crop by 'entering the cabinet for the sake of the matter', wonderful.

Yang Tinghe is also here today, and he is very surprised to enter this cabinet, and there are old-timers like Hanwen in the main court.

"Weichen, obey Your Majesty's holy will!"

Zhu Houzhao said: "Find a suitable field, plant the leaves, hand a fold up, I want to see." ”

This is still said in the same style.

"You love Qing, and keep a little patience with me, in a few years, our monarchs and ministers will see, and the Ming Dynasty will definitely have the appearance of the world's renewal because of this."

Food, population, horses, firearms...... This has to be true, he, the Zhengde Emperor, is not the one who defeated the Tatars and lived his life.

(End of chapter)