Wang Zuo looked at the file in his hand, and then at the dark-skinned middle-aged man in front of him.
"Are you Wu Canghai?"
"Wu Canghai, the sinner, comes to see the great master!"
"It is recorded in the file that you committed the crime of smuggling?"
"Alas!"
Wu Canghai sighed heavily and said: "The guilty people are from Guanzhong, Shaanxi. Ten years ago, there was a severe drought in Shaanxi and there was no harvest. The guilty people had no choice but to rob the granaries of the rich households in the county in order to escape
After being arrested by the government, he hid all the way until he finally came to Quanzhou, met a few smugglers, and followed them out to sea. After going out to sea, his original name was no longer used, so he gave himself a new name, Wu Canghai.
”
Wang Zuo doesn't care about his sad history, he just wants to know whether this person can get the sweet potatoes and potatoes.
"No matter what the reason is, smuggling across the sea is a capital crime, but now you have a great achievement in front of you. As long as you can find sweet potatoes and potatoes, you can atone for your crime!"
Wu Canghai showed a hint of joy in his eyes and asked: "Really...is it really possible?"
Wang Zuo thought for a moment and said: "Don't worry, I will personally go to the emperor to plead for you when the time comes. At least I can avoid your death penalty."
Wu Canghai nodded repeatedly, and then said: "Although the guilty people have never heard of the two things you mentioned, when I was in Nanyang, I saw a kind of foreigners' ration. We call it potato, which is the taro of foreigners.
, its characteristics are somewhat similar to what adults call potatoes.”
"Taro?"
"Yes, it looks like taro, but tastes very different."
"Potatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes..."
Wang Zuo muttered, "This potato sounds like it has nothing to do with sweet potatoes...
"Can you tell me more specifically, what are the characteristics of this potato?"
"It's about the same size as an egg. The skin is brown and the inside is white and yellow. Because it resembles a horse bell, some people call it a potato..."
"Potato?"
Wang Zuo's eyes lit up and he asked: "Potato and sweet potato, are they called different things?"
Thinking of this, I immediately opened the emperor's personal letter and read it carefully.
"Sweet potatoes have a red skin. They are as small as an arm and as big as a fist. They taste like pears and dates. They are sweet and delicious and can be eaten raw or cooked..."
It seems... not quite right...
"Are you sure the skin is brown and not red?"
"It's definitely brown!"
Wu Canghai seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly asked: "The red skin that the legal person just mentioned... the sinner suddenly thought of another thing."
"Oh, what?"
"The sinners once saw a kind of crop in Luzon. Luzon is an island country with many mountains and few fields. It often suffers from a shortage of grain and rice. It is said that the Francons brought a high-yielding crop and planted it widely in the local area to alleviate the problem.
The current situation of local food shortage."
"What's it called?"
"We usually call it sweet potato."
"Sweet potato?"
Wang Zuo feels like he has a big head, sweet potatoes, potatoes, potatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes...
What is this all about?
"I would like to ask you how to open up channels and purchase some as soon as possible to send to the capital. Whether you want people or money, or open up various checkpoints, it is not a problem!"
"This... I'm afraid it won't be easy to handle."
Wu Canghai shook his head and said: "You don't know something, the Franco people attach great importance to their species and never treat outsiders."
Wang Zuo nodded secretly. Since it is a high-yield crop, foreigners will definitely not be willing to give it away. This matter is indeed difficult to handle.
"If sweet potatoes don't work, what about potatoes?"
Wu Canghai said: "Potatoes are easy to handle. The criminals have some friends in Jiangsu and Fujian. They can contact foreigners. As long as they have money, those foreigners are willing to sell anything."
Wang Zuo hurriedly said: "It's not too late, it must be done as soon as possible!"
"The guilty people will be punished now!"
In the afternoon of that day, a six hundred-mile express letter departed from the capital and headed south.
At the same time, groups of people from Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan began to migrate northward.
As the saying goes, people are humbled when they leave their hometown. No one is willing to leave the land where he was born and raised for no reason.
However, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty a hundred years ago, land annexation has become more and more intense, and people continue to lose their land, become tenants, and even become refugees.
Now the imperial court promises that as long as they move outside the customs, they can get a large amount of land.
Moreover, the imperial court would also distribute grain, farm tools and other living supplies, and officers and soldiers would guard every city wall to ensure the safety of the people.
Since there is no way to survive in your hometown, you might as well go outside the customs and make a living.
Zhang Liuyang is one of them. Three years ago, the Yellow River flooded and there was no harvest. The gentry in the countryside took the opportunity to annex the people's land. In order to provide food for their children, they had to sell several acres of thin farmland at home at a low price.
Although the family of three barely survived, losing the land meant losing the foundation of life, and life became increasingly difficult thereafter.
Today, even the only two thatched houses have been sold. Seeing that there is no way to survive anymore, I might as well follow the government and go outside the customs.
You can’t just watch your wife and children starve to death!
So, the family of three followed the grain transport team out of the Great Wall and came to the grassland.
After arriving outside the customs, officers and soldiers began to take over, and Zhang Liuyang's family was placed in the Yumuchuan Camp.
"Zhang Liuyang!"
"Here, there!"
A civil servant took the book and asked: "There are three people in your family, right?"
"Yes, there is also my wife and baby."
"How old is the baby?"
"Five years old."
"Five years old is enough. When the school is built later, remember to send your child to study."
"Reading?"
Zhang Liuyang turned pale with fright, and hesitantly said: "No... don't read anymore..."
That civil servant has received many such people, so he naturally knows his worries.
"Everyone over the age of five is sent to school. Don't worry, there is no charge."
"Ah? No charge?"
"Yes, there is no charge. You take your number plate and go to tent No. 138. Soldiers from the Engineering Academy will come to build houses for everyone. Then you can help them. Your work will not be in vain, but you will be paid." p>
Zhang Liuyang took the number plate and led his wife and children to tent No. 138.
There are two wooden beds, some basic living supplies, a bag of yellow rice, and an iron pot outside the tent.
When Zhang Liuyang's mother-in-law saw the yellow rice, she burst into tears with excitement and hurriedly washed the rice and cooked it.
Not long after, a pot of fragrant yellow rice was served.
The child had been hungry for a long time, so he picked up the bowl and chewed it.
Zhang Liuyang sighed and said, "My dear, this will be our home from now on."
"Why are you sighing? It's not much better here than before?"
"You are such an ignorant mother-in-law. No matter how bad your home is, it is still our home. Here...here..."
"What's wrong here? Have you ever eaten such good yellow rice at home?"
Zhang Liuyang stopped talking and lowered his head to eat.
I don’t know why, but the yellow rice here is really fragrant.
Next, people from the Engineering Academy brought cart after cart of cement, sand, and stones to the camp, accompanied by craftsmen sent by the Ministry of Works.
Zhang Liuyang and other young men were recruited to work on it. They were surprised to find that this thing was very magical. After it was mixed with sand and stones, it was cast on a frame made of bamboo slices. In just a few hours, it became as hard as iron.<
/p>
On the grassland, houses rise from the ground.
After this kind of cement house is built, it only needs to dry for a few days before it can be moved in.
In this way, one village after another appeared north of the Great Wall, and gradually expanded further north.