Outside Vienna.

Years of war have created an extremely fast reaction speed for the prince's guards.

Although the initial goal of the Ming army was to break through the city of Vienna, they did not pay much attention to the surrounding villages and other places where other groups of people gathered, and more took preventive measures, which eventually led to the escape of many people from the surrounding villages.

However, after capturing Vienna, there was no need for Zhu Zhan to issue an order to the prince to escort the guards on their own, leaving a large number of troops to stay in Vienna to prevent the enemy outside from receiving the news and counterattacking, and a small number of people went out of the city to pursue the people of the surrounding villages.

In just one day and one night, the prince's guards led people to hunt down more than 40,000 people around the city of Vienna, which is already a considerable number.

You know, the total population of the city of Vienna is only about 100,000, and if you count the population of the surrounding villages, it is only about 300,000.

When the Ming army broke through Vienna, few of the more than 100,000 people in the city were able to escape, and then pursued more than 40,000, which is equivalent to half of the population of Vienna and its surrounding villages.

Not a lot.

"Send someone to Venice." Zhu Zhanyan looked at the escort team coming and going, and ordered Zhu Ling behind him.

"I haven't cared about the news of the Japanese country for more than two years, and I think there is already a shortage of slaves over there, so let people tell the Mu family that the loot this time will not be sent for the time being, just put it in Suez and pile it up for the time being, and send the slaves back first."

"In addition, let the Mu family inform the Xiangzhou Mansion that there will be no grain and grass for the next supply, and let them bring more gunpowder and white phosphorus eggs."

As he spoke, Zhu Zhanyan squatted down and stretched out his hand to pull out a potato from the farmland in front of him.

"Food, here's it, gunpowder...... White phosphosphere eggs, in particular, are difficult to replenish here. ”

"Yes!" Zhu Ping bowed his head to accept the order and left quickly.

Orders like this involving logistics generally require Zhu Zhan's handwritten letter to be able to be transferred, and at the very least, Zhu Zhan's seal is also required, and Zhu Zhan's seal has always been kept by Zhu Ling and Zhu Ping.

From the beginning of the Western Expedition to the present, there was only a short period of time for Jian Xiao to keep it, because during that time, Jian Xiao was handling affairs on behalf of Zhu Zhan.

As the so-called suspect doesn't need to, Zhu Zhanyan has never been confused on this point.

Jian Xiao, Qian Yong, Zhu Sanfeng, Zhu Ling and Zhu Ping are the five people he trusts the most when he goes out, and basically he will hand over anything to them to carry out without any suspicion.

Of course, as the five people Zhu Zhanyan trusted the most, they also faced the most surveillance.

However, those things were all done by the people who were placed in the Shizi Guard, and the external identity of these people was only the Shizi Guard, and the real identity was only known to Zhu Zhanyan and his father Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Zhanyan has never had to care about these things, and he has no intention of caring about this kind of thing now, because he cares more about other things.

Looking at the potatoes in his hand, Zhu Zhanyan's brows furrowed tightly.

He stood up, patted the dirt on his hands, and pointed to the field in front of him where potatoes were grown.

"Dig!"

……

"Yes!"

The prince's guards were a little stunned at first, because this was different from before.

In the past, they also did this kind of thing of looting grain in the cities along the way, and even harvesting the grain in the land as grain and grass, but these things were basically done by Ah San, who was the least valued in the Ming army.

There are not many guards for the prince, and they are also responsible for Zhu Zhan's escort, spying on intelligence, and being the general of Ah San and the generals of the Uszangdu Division on the battlefield in Europe, so it can be said that the work of the prince's guards is quite heavy and irreplaceable.

After all, there are not many people that Zhu Zhanyan can really trust, so he will let his son guard do it.

However, although they were a little stunned by Zhu Zhan's order to let himself and others harvest grain, the prince's guards quickly carried out Zhu Zhanyan's order after coming back to their senses.

……

As the saying goes, there is a lot of strength in numbers, and with the efforts of more than 200 generations of guards, a large part of the land in front of Zhu Zhan Yan was quickly harvested, and just when this land could be harvested soon, Zhu Zhan Yan called a halt.

"Go find a scale and weigh how many of these are."

"Yes!"

……

Looking at the pile of potatoes in front of him, he didn't know if it was an illusion or if he had been used to it over the years, Zhu Zhanyan always felt that the yield of these potatoes was not quite right.

Although more than ten years have passed, Zhu Zhanyan still remembers that in the two years when Qian Yong and others had just brought potatoes back to Daming, because there were no chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the yield per mu of potatoes was far less than the 4,000 or even 5,000 catties in later generations, but it was also more than 1,000 catties.

At the moment, although it may not be very accurate, the part of the land harvested by the prince's guards is about one acre of land, but what about the pile of potatoes in front of them?

Zhu Zhanyan felt that it might only be about 300 catties.

Potatoes were first given to the Timurid Empire by Zhu Zhan Yan as a food weapon, and it turned out that the potatoes did live up to Zhu Zhan Yan's expectations and brought ruin to the Timurid Empire.

Because of the importance of grain, potatoes, a high-yield grain, were also strictly forbidden to be exported during the time of the Timurid Empire.

Therefore, the time for Europe to get potatoes was much, much later than that of the Timurid Empire and the Ottoman Empire, so that Zhu Zhan Yan had to forget about this extremely lethal food weapon.

But now, he had high hopes for the food weapons that he had placed on to cripple Central Asia and the whole of Europe, but it was long overdue, but it finally came.

……

The movements of the prince's guards were very fast, and all the potatoes that were harvested were weighed, and the result was a little different from what Zhu Zhanyan imagined.

Zhu Zhanyan's initial estimate was 300 catties, which is the average output of the main grain crops in Eurasia at this stage, but the fact is that his estimate is somewhat high.

A little more than two hundred and sixty pounds.

This figure shows that the potato seeds used in Europe have been extremely degraded, and the yield is far below the previous average yield of wheat, barley and oats, the main food crops in Europe.

Zhu Zhanyan understands that this figure also shows that when European countries are facing their own pressing steps, they also have to face a decrease in grain production, a shortage of grain and grass, and even a situation in which the people riot because of famine.

"Let's go, go back!"

Zhu Zhanyan immediately made a decision.

With the reduced potato yield, he has more room to maneuver.

You must know that in the same way that it is easy to destroy and difficult to build, if potatoes are not planted scientifically and reasonably, the damage to the land will not be able to be repaired in a while.

He had this plan for the Timurid Empire, which, as he thought, was bewitched by the high yield of potatoes, which eventually led to a hellish harvest failure.

Later, Zhu Zhan led people to destroy the Timurid Empire and took over all the land of the Timurid Empire.

After receiving the land of the Timurid Empire, the first thing Zhu Zhan did was to clean up the remaining Yupeptides, Arabs and Ottoman Turks in the territory of the Timurid Empire, and then the second thing he did was to start cultivating the land.

What he wanted was not a wasteland of the Timurid Empire, but land that could be cultivated and grazed.

But more than three years have passed since then, and the land of the Timurid Empire has not yet recovered.

Not only are potatoes, an extremely land-intensive crop, ungrowable, but even wheat and other food crops native to West Asia have very low yields.

Even the grain harvested from the land within the territory of the Timurid Empire could not meet the needs of this place in Suez, and it had to be supplied from the Xiangzhou capital.

Raising the land is not something that can be done with a touch of the upper and lower lips.

In the days when there were no chemical fertilizers, the only fertilizer was human and animal manure, and it had to be fermented before it could be used.

In addition, Zhu Zhan Yan also asked the Mu family to plant legume plants such as potatoes, because leguminous plants will coexist with rhizobia and produce the effect of nitrogen fixing and fertilizing fields.

However, leguminous plants cannot be rotated, nor can they be planted in duplicate, which means that after planting a season of leguminous crops, it is necessary to change wheat or rice, which greatly lengthens the time for raising land.

What the Timurid Empire had not completed for more than three years, Zhu Zhanqi did not think that Europe could accomplish it, and what he had adopted was already the most scientific method that could be used in this era, and he also did not think that Europe in this era could surpass him in this regard.

Zhu Zhanyan raised his head and looked at the sun in the sky.

In the harsh sunlight, he couldn't help but squint his eyes, put his right hand on his eyebrows, and the corners of his mouth hooked an arc.

Although it is highly likely that Europe will not face the same catastrophe as the Timurid Empire did, it is estimated that it will not be much better.

Moreover, in fact, the situation in Europe was no better than that of the original Timurid Empire.

They were bred from very few seeds on a continent-wide scale, and the accumulation of genetic diseases and anthrax must have been far greater than the usual accumulation.

Moreover, Europe faces much more than just a reduction in production.

Even if the rulers found out about the problem and abandoned potatoes on a large scale to recoup the losses with wheat and other crops, it was already too late.

For at least three consecutive years, and the potato crop has been planted again, the fertility of the soil has already dropped significantly, and even if it is immediately changed back to the original food crop, it will be difficult to recover.

Even, the yield may not be as good as the potatoes that have already been reduced.

When the time comes, Europe's rulers will be faced with a hellish choice.

Is it to continue to grow crops such as wheat? Or replant potatoes?

Planting wheat, the yield is much worse than before, and even inferior to the potatoes after the reduced yield, in this case, it will also face the attack of the Ming army, and the already insufficient grain and grass will be even more stretched.

Planting potatoes is to quench their thirst, and the yield of potatoes will be lower and lower, and it will not take two years to enter a trough, and then they will still perish.

One is to fall into a huge disadvantage in an instant, and the other is to die a slow death.

I'm afraid this choice is not easy to make......

It can only be said that when the rulers of Europe were bewitched by the potato that came out of Pandora's box, this outcome was already doomed.

And I just catalyzed this process.

Putting down his hand, Zhu Zhanyan turned around and walked in the direction of Vienna.

Something enough to destroy Europe has come, and he seems to ...... Don't be in a hurry.

(End of chapter)