After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but boasted that Chang Yu was capable. He could really solve any problem. Now that the military rations have been solved, let's free up our hands to provide disaster relief. It's just that several prefectures in the capital are thousands of miles away.
, how can such a big hole be blocked?
By the way, Zheng Zhilong sent the grain for the next boat.
"Where do you plan to plant those beans and sweet potatoes? And can these really solve this famine..." Emperor Chongzhen had great doubts about Chang Yu's large-scale planting of potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Chang Yu has full confidence in this. He still knows a little about these two crops, and is even more professional than the agricultural technicians sent by Zheng Zhilong. After all, there was no large-scale planting in the north at this time, but these two crops have already been planted all over the world in later generations.
Every corner.
The sowing period of potatoes in the Northeast and Northwest is generally spring, with only one season a year. In Hebei, Henan and Shandong, it is two seasons a year, sowing in February and March, harvesting in June and July, sowing in August and harvesting from October to November.
It can be harvested and the growth cycle only takes a few months!
Sweet potatoes can also be planted at this time, but the growth cycle takes three months.
As for where to plant?
The first choice is Huangzhuang.
Huangzhuang is unique to the Ming Dynasty. As the name suggests, it is the emperor's manor. It is mainly concentrated in the North Zhili area, with Shuntian, Baoding and Hejian being the most common. During the Zhengde period, the area of Huangzhuang was about 37,500 hectares.
A hectare is one hundred acres of land, just do the math yourself.
Of course, so much land was not cultivated by the emperor himself. In all likelihood, it was occupied by local people's land and then leased to the people for cultivation. Only some of the land in the imperial estate near the capital was cultivated by hired hands, and all the income went to the internal funds.
As far as Chang Yu knows, there are at least a thousand acres of land in the imperial village around the capital. Although some of it has been planted with crops, there are still hundreds of acres that can be used to grow these crops.
But obviously hundreds of acres are not enough.
It doesn't matter! There are too many abandoned manors of nobles outside the city. Previously, the Qing army besieged the capital and ruined the surrounding areas. They looted all the noble manors and harvested the crops cleanly. There is still a lot of idle land now.
Without cultivation, there are thousands of acres at least.
"Are you going to rent their land?" Emperor Chongzhen was startled: "Even if the land is free and you want to be white, they won't agree." Chang Yu shook his head: "Of course not white, but not white either."
By giving them rent, I plan to pay the rent with seeds. I can guarantee that potatoes and sweet potatoes will become the most important food reserves of the Ming Dynasty within two years. By then, not only the common people will plant them, but these nobles will also want to plant them.
So I grow them for one season to exchange seeds.”
"Won't they go south to buy seeds themselves?" Chongzhen frowned, and Chang Yu chuckled: "The transportation cost is too high, and they can't even buy it if they go there!"
"You said the transportation cost is high, I can understand it, but what do you mean if you can't buy it when you go there?" Emperor Chongzhen was startled.
Chang Yu sighed: "At the beginning of the year, I heard that there was a severe drought and locust plague in various provinces, so I expected a famine. I accidentally thought of these two crops, so I sent people to Fujian to ask Zheng Zhilong for help. It was a precautionary measure, but I did not expect the severity of the famine.
Far beyond my expectation..."
"So when I heard in Jiujiang a few days ago that Zheng Zhilong's fleet was heading north, I hurriedly ordered Jin Yiwei to go to Fujian quickly so that he could buy and store goods and transport them to the capital by sea. This would not only boost the economy of Fujian... Oh,
It means that there will be a market for the potatoes and sweet potatoes there, and the people's lives will be easier, and at the same time it will alleviate the famine in the north."
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen sighed and shook his head: "The civil and military forces of the entire dynasty are like waste in front of you! They are helpless in the face of famine, but you have nipped it in the bud early. It's amazing. Chang Yu is very amazing to you! I
How fortunate it is, how fortunate the Ming Dynasty is!"
"If the emperor continues to praise like this, I will feel very guilty." Chang Yu smiled faintly. Emperor Chongzhen sighed and stared at Chang Yu motionless, making him feel hairy all over.
"Why are you so sacred?" Emperor Chongzhen's sudden words gave Chang Yu goosebumps: "I am a eunuch who serves the emperor in the palace. You are not sacred."
Emperor Chongzhen smiled bitterly and shook his head: "To me, you are much more powerful than the gods worshiped in the temple. I beg them to be more useful than begging you." After saying that, he immediately brought the topic back: "Since those potatoes and sweet potatoes are really
It can be used to overcome famine and should be greatly promoted, not only in the capital, but also not only in imperial villages, but also among the common people."
"I have sent people to contact King De of Jinan and King Heng of Qingzhou Prefecture. We will plant it on a large scale in the two places, but we do not recommend promoting it to the common people for the time being."
"Why?" Chongzhen was puzzled, so Chang Yu explained to him, first of all, the planting technology. In fact, there is no technical content in planting the two crops. Potatoes can be cut into pieces, stirred with firewood ash and buried directly in the ground. Sweet potatoes are slightly
To make it more troublesome, you need to bury the sweet potatoes in the soil. The seedlings will grow in ten and a half days. When the seedlings grow 20 to 30 centimeters, you can just dig a hole and bury them in the soil. Even during the growth period, cut off the seedlings and bury them.
Soil can still reproduce...
Such a simple technique can only be mastered by anyone who has planted it, so this is not an important reason, but at this time, it is of course more appropriate for the seeds to be planted in a large area, which is convenient for management and care. After all, this is a place where people will starve to death.
It’s such an old age, no one is watching, and they can be stolen by you at any time. This is also an important reason why Chang Yu is worried about distributing seeds to the people for promotion. He is afraid that they will eat the seeds without planting them, or that they will be given away by others in the blink of an eye.
Take it out and eat it.
Moreover, scattered planting will not be effective in dealing with famine.
However, large-scale planting is not only easy to centralize management and supervision, but also can solve the problem of re-employment of many unemployed laborers! You must know that there are a huge number of refugees in the capital at the moment.
"Since you are taking the lead in this matter, I will leave it to you to handle it." Emperor Chongzhen walked up to Chang Yu and patted him on the shoulder: "There is no war at the moment, so you can do your best to help me deal with this famine. I hope your sweet potatoes and
Potatoes can really work wonders, otherwise when winter comes, I don’t know how many people will die!”
"My lord, you should do your best." Chang Yu cupped his hands and said, "I wonder where Zheng Zhilong's ship will dock at this time, in Tongzhou or on the Tonghui River outside the city?"
"The food has been transported to the city, but it's a drop in the bucket... Those potatoes and sweet potatoes are still in Tongzhou. I didn't know your plan at that time, so I didn't move around. I sent a Jinwu Guard to guard it to prevent it from being stolen... You should start this matter as soon as possible.
Bar".
Chang Yu hummed, and suddenly said to Emperor Chongzhen: "By the way, Your Majesty, I want to take credit for someone, and I hope your Majesty will grant it."
Emperor Chongzhen turned to look at him and chuckled: "You are asking for credit for someone before you even get the credits. It seems that this person has a good background or the credit you are asking for is not small. Tell me, is it Gao Jie or Huang Degong?"
, I heard that you have been very close to Gao Jie recently, and I heard that you are all in love with him?"
"How can you borrow food if you don't walk or bow to me? Hey, it's not all forced by human nature." Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help laughing after hearing Chang Yu's words: "That's really hard for you. Okay, let's talk.
What kind of favor can I ask for for your sworn brother?"
"I'm not asking for credit for Gao Jie, but for Wang Tizhong. I allowed him to be knighted..." Chang Yu then explained his promise to Wang Tizhong. Wang Tizhong's surrender directly reversed the situation and made Bai Wang passive. Chang Yu could
He made great progress, and Wang Ti Zhong also captured and killed Bai Wang. More importantly, the significance of buying the bones for a thousand gold coins, and that he could use this to hang Wang Ti Zhong to help him monitor and defend Zuo Liangyu!
After listening to his analysis, Emperor Chongzhen nodded: "This title can be given, but I'm afraid those people in the cabinet will make noises again." Chang Yu smiled faintly: "Probably not, the meaning behind this title is all you know.
You can think of it, the yelling is just for me to listen to, so that I can accept their favor."
"You know everything." Emperor Chongzhen exclaimed: "Fortunately, he is a meritorious general in the feudal army, so they can't find any reason to object. But if you nominate an official for promotion, they will immediately catch him.
Let me attack you..."
"The emperor's words reminded me again that I really want to promote someone." Chang Yu immediately mentioned Feng Houdun and planned to transfer him to the disaster area to serve as a county magistrate for training.
Emperor Chongzhen had naturally never heard of Feng Houdun's name. He learned from Chang Yu that he was a low-ranking tutor in Jiangyin County, and was very confused as to why he should be promoted.
Naturally, Chang Yu could not say that he was one of the Three Dukes of Jiangyin. He could only say that he was very loyal and of noble character, and that he was the most suitable person to settle the people in the disaster area, comparable to that of Yu Chenglong.
Emperor Chongzhen trusted everyone recommended by Chang Yu. Ability was the second most important thing. Loyalty was the most important! He nodded and agreed. Just open your mouth for such a trivial matter. In fact, even if Chang Yu didn't tell him, he could still operate it, but he said
It shows that he has nothing to hide and does not abuse his power.