Except for artillery, the remaining gifts were not very large. After Gu Dayong personally inspected them, they were all delivered to the tent. So when he saw Zhengde asking about corn and sweet potatoes, Zhou Chong immediately took them from the pile of gifts.

A small box that was one foot long was opened, and after opening it, there were a few corn and a few pieces of sweet potatoes.

Zhou Chong first took out the corn cob inside and put it on the table. Before he could speak, Zhengde reached out and picked up the corn in his hand and played with it: "This kind of food is rare. It grows so big and has a color.

It's so gorgeous, it looks like gold."

Seeing that Yi Zhengde only noticed the bright color of the corn, Zhou Chong couldn't help but smile bitterly. Zhengde was not an emperor who was diligent in government affairs. In addition, he grew up in the deep palace and had never been exposed to the sufferings of the people, so when he saw the corn

, naturally, I would not think about the yield and cultivation of this kind of crop.

Thinking of this, Zhou Chong solemnly said to Emperor Zhengde: "Your Majesty, the crop in your hand is called corn. It's just secondly. The key is that this crop is drought-resistant and is very suitable for planting in the northern part of the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, the corn yield was extremely high. Caomin opened a piece of land in Shuangyu Port for trial planting. As a result, in just half a year, the yield per mu reached more than 500 kilograms. In contrast, the yield per mu of northern wheat was more than 200 kilograms.

Below, if it can…”

Before Zhou Chong could finish his words, Emperor Zhengde, who was sitting opposite him, suddenly stood up, his face full of excitement. He held the table with both hands and leaned forward and asked anxiously: "Zhou Chong,

What you said is true? The yield per mu of corn can really reach more than 500 kilograms?"

Although Zhengde does not like to deal with the government, it does not mean that he really let go of the government completely. In fact, on the contrary, the cabinet will send a batch of memorials to the palace every day. After these memorials are processed by the Silijian, Emperor Zhengde will do it.

He read it again in person, so he was also very familiar with the situation in all aspects of the Ming Dynasty. Now when he heard about corn, a terrifying crop, he naturally understood what it meant, so he couldn't help but be excited.

"Report to Your Majesty, Zhou Chong dares to use his head to ensure that the yield of corn per mu is absolutely no moisture. Moreover, when the corn is harvested, Wu Shan and Ma Liang and others are on the spot. They are watching the corn dry with their own eyes

Weigh. So if Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can ask Wu Shan and the others for verification!" Zhou Chong had already made preparations. He asked Wu Shan and the others to participate in the corn harvest to make himself a personal certificate.

"Of course, Caomin only planted it in Shuangyu Port in the south for a season, because the soil and environment are different. If corn is transplanted to other places, the yield should fluctuate, but Caomin believes that no matter how much the output fluctuates, it will be better than wheat.

The output is higher!" Zhou Chong finally added that he did not dare to say anything. After all, the person in front of him was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and talking to him would at least leave a way out for himself.

"Okay! That's great! Since Wu Shan and the others saw it with their own eyes, I naturally wouldn't doubt it!" Zhengde walked back and forth in the excited tent several times, his face also showed a bit of excitement flushing, and he muttered to himself.

"If corn can be promoted, then in northern Zhili, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi and even Shaanxi, a large amount of grain production will be increased every year, and even the entire north will no longer rely on transporting grain from the south.

Not only did it save a lot of money, but it also made people's hearts stable with food. Even if there is another King of Anhua in the future, I don't have to worry that the people will follow these traitors to rebel!"

No matter how nonsense Zhengde is, he is also the emperor of a country. He cares more about his country than anyone else. Whenever news of rebellion comes from the country, he is also very concerned. And he also knows that if the people of the Ming Dynasty were not really alive

If they can't go on, they won't risk rebellion, so if they want the country to stabilize, they must have food. The corn sent by Zhou Chong just solved this big problem. It's no exaggeration to say that the role of corn can be as good as that of a hundred.

Compared with Wan Dajun.

Seeing Zhengde so excited when he saw the corn, Zhou Chong also laughed in his heart, and decided to strike the railway while it was hot: "Your Majesty, don't be too excited. Although the corn yield is high, it is a terrible thing compared to the other crops in the hands of Caomin.

!”

"What?" Zhengde, who was excited, stood there in shock when he heard Zhou Chong's words. After a while, he realized it, but his eyes showed a bit of suspicion and said, "Zhou Chong, you are not joking

Well, is there any crops in this world that have higher yields than corn?"

Zhou Chong smiled slightly when he heard this, reached out and took out a piece of inconspicuous sweet potato from the box and placed it on the table, saying, "Your Majesty, please see, this thing is called sweet potato, its rhizome is very fat, it can be eaten

, Because the rhizomes grow underground, they are very resistant to some natural disasters and insect pests, and they can grow in most fields, even saline-alkali land. As for its output, your Majesty may wish to guess!

”

Zhou Chong said that at the end, he deliberately kept it a secret, and a mysterious expression appeared on his face. Zhengde was also intrigued at this time. Hearing Zhou Chong asked him to guess the yield of sweet potatoes, he thought for a moment: "You just said sweet potatoes."

The yield is higher than that of corn, and the yield per mu of corn has reached 500 kilograms. Could it be that this sweet potato can reach 600 or 700 kilograms?"

Hearing that Zhengde only increased the yield of sweet potatoes by one or two hundred kilograms compared to corn, Zhou Chong smiled proudly and said, "Your Majesty was wrong this time. I only brought back a few of these sweet potatoes from overseas.

Later, it increased a little, but it was only planted with a little land, but even the yield of a little land reached more than 300 kilograms. If one acre is planted, it will definitely reach a yield of 3,000 kilograms."

"Three...three thousand jin?" Emperor Zhengde was stunned when he heard this number. He could not believe that this thing called sweet potato was so amazing. If it had a yield of three thousand jin per mu, then the Ming Dynasty's food would probably be

There is no end to eating, and it is even possible to feed pigs with food.

However, before Emperor Zhengde was happy, Zhou Chong coughed and explained: "Of course, your majesty, you have also seen that sweet potatoes are not dried like corn and wheat. Sweet potatoes contain a lot of water.

So if the sweet potatoes produced are dried into dried sweet potatoes, the yield will definitely shrink by half. However, in ordinary fields, it is not difficult to achieve a yield of a thousand pounds per mu of sweet potatoes!"

"Uh?" Zhengde felt distressed when he heard that three thousand jin suddenly turned into one thousand jin, as if he had been stolen a lot of money, but then he woke up, although the yield of sweet potatoes could not reach the level.

Three thousand kilograms, but the yield of one thousand kilograms is already very good. If you plant at least one acre of sweet potatoes, it is equivalent to planting five or six acres of wheat.

"That's great! That's great!" After Zhengde heard the high yield of sweet potatoes, he didn't bother to sit again. He was excited to walk around the big tent, and he was thinking about these two crops in his mind.

He even foreseeed the changes brought to the Ming Dynasty that if the two crops can be successfully promoted nationwide, he might become a famous monarch in history.

Thinking of this, Zhengde was both excited and proud, and at the same time he sighed that he was really lucky. He didn't go to court every day to stay in the palace to play, and he could still encounter such good things that benefit the country and the people. Just by promoting corn and

The contribution of sweet potato may be higher than that of his father, Emperor Xiaozong.

However, after being excited, Zhengde immediately calmed down because he thought that promoting corn and sweet potatoes was not easy. If it was forcibly promoted by the court, it might even attract dissatisfaction from the people, and may even turn good things into bad things.

So this matter must be planned well.

"Zhou Chong, how many corn seeds and sweet potato seeds do you have there now? If I want to promote it, do you have any good suggestions?" Zhengde suddenly thought of Zhou Chong, so he wanted to hear what the other party had.

Promotion method?

In fact, even if Emperor Zhengde didn't ask, Zhou Chong would have to tell his own opinion, so he bowed and said, "Report to Your Majesty, Caomin got these two crops at the beginning of this year, and after a year of planting,

The corn has been harvested for thousands of kilograms. It can be used as seeds next year, but the planting area is still not very large. As for the number of sweet potatoes, it is even smaller. However, sweet potatoes do not need to be planted with seeds. The vines are cut into small sections and kept for the winter.

In the coming year, you can directly insert it into the ground to survive, and the grass people have saved a lot of people."

When he said this, Zhou paused a lot, looked up at Zhengde and then said: "The corn seeds and preserved sweet potato vines, Caomin only left a small amount to plant themselves, and most of the remaining ones were taken to the capital with the ship, Caomin thought

Your Majesty can pilot planting in the imperial village near Beijing, so that it can accumulate planting experience and cultivate seeds. By the year after year, it can be promoted on a large scale!”

The imperial burgundy began in the Ming Dynasty. As the name suggests, the so-called imperial burgundy is a farm directly managed by the royal family. One month after Zhengde ascended the throne, seven imperial burgundy were added, and the total land area reached more than 37,000 hectares.

The origin of the village is not very glorious. Some are even occupied by some eunuchs. Moreover, the eunuchs who manage the royal village exploited the village households, which made the village people suffer and often even rose up to resist.

Zhou Chong proposed to pilot the planting of corn and sweet potatoes in the imperial farm, and also wanted to increase the income of those imperial farm farmers who were living in difficult life. Although it could not change the situation of being bullied by eunuchs, he should be able to make more food for life in the future.

"Okay, this method is just right!" Zhengde nodded when he heard this. Although he knew a little about the imperial village, he had no choice. First of all, the expenses in the palace were too large and there was no one in the treasury.
Chapter completed!