"My minister Fang Mingqian has met your Majesty. Long live your Majesty! Long live your Majesty!"
"Get up quickly," Yunxi said with a smile: "Ai Qing, get up quickly." At the same time, he motioned to the eunuch to help him. Fang Mingqian bowed again and stood up.
"Aiqing, please sit next to me." Yunxi said again.
"Your Majesty, this is not in line with etiquette." Fang Mingqian said quickly.
"What's not etiquette? The contribution you made this time is enough to sit next to me!" Yunxi stood up and said very excitedly.
Yunxi was right. Fang Mingqian's contribution this time was enough to enjoy the highest treatment from an official, because he discovered America!
In mid-November of this year, when Yunxi was in Prince Zhou's Mansion in Kaifeng, the last of the three memorials he received was sent as quickly as possible from the capital six hundred miles away. Fang Mingqian led his fleet from the east.
Returned and actually discovered an entire continent!
Yunxi had two most important plans in mind, one of which was to occupy the Americas. Although occupying the Americas was of little significance in the past one or two hundred years, the Americas were the future! Historically, after the decline of European countries, Europeans were still there.
The dominant position in the world was due to the powerful countries in the Americas. So in the beginning of the fourth year of Jianye, before he sent troops south to attack Annan, he led more than 20 people with Zhu Bai, King of Xiang, who had experienced a year in Yongfan, as the commander-in-chief, and Fang Mingqian as the deputy general.
A Taoist priest, hundreds of ships, and thousands of soldiers sailed eastward to discover America.
Now that America has been discovered and half of this plan has been realized, how could Yunxi not be excited! How could he not think that Fang Mingqian had made huge contributions!
"Your Majesty is so flattering!" Fang Mingqian said: "The discovery of a continent while sailing eastward is due to the good leadership of His Highness King Xiang." Fang Mingqian said modestly.
"You don't have to be modest!" Yunxi said again: "It was all your credit for the discovery of Jinning (Kamchatka Peninsula), Corridor Islands (Aleutian Islands) and other places when we went to sea before. If it weren't for you this time, only Uncle Twelve
Leading the fleet to sail to the east, most of the fleet will be destroyed on the way. Although Uncle Twelve also has credit, your credit is the main one!"
Although Fang Mingqian was still a little uneasy, he did not dare to disobey Yun Xi's order and sit next to him.
"That's right. You don't have to worry about me boasting about your achievements." Yunxi smiled and said a few more words, and asked the eunuch to bring him fruits and snacks. Then he was about to tell him about his experiences in the past two years.
, Fang Mingqian suddenly remembered something again, stood up and bowed: "Your Majesty, I brought back some local specialties from the eastern continent and presented them to Your Majesty. His Royal Highness the King of Xiang also asked me to pay tribute to Your Majesty."
"If Uncle Twelve only uses some local products as tribute, I won't comply." Yunxi said with a smile.
Fang Mingqian bowed again, and Yunxi motioned to Wang Xi. Wang Xi went out. After a while, more than ten people walked in behind him, each of them carrying a large box in his hand. Three of the boxes were particularly heavy and required only three or four people to carry them.
Get up. When the eunuch put the three boxes on the ground, there was a "bang" sound and the ground trembled.
Fang Mingqian gently asked someone to open these three very heavy boxes, and then a dazzling golden light flashed out. The three boxes were actually filled with gold!
"Your Majesty, I am leaving the eastern continent this time. His Highness King Xiang asked me to return with 30,000 kilograms of gold as a tribute to the imperial court!" Fang Mingqian bent down and said.
"This, so, much money is all tribute!" Lu Yi was beside Yunxi at this time. Hearing Fang Mingqian's words, he couldn't help but stammered.
Of course he knew that the Ming Dynasty's annual fiscal revenue was much more than the 480,000 taels of gold. He had heard that Fang Mingqian brought back so much gold when he returned from Jinning for the first time, but this was nothing more than words to his ears.
These are just numbers, and their impact is far less powerful than the more than one hundred kilograms of gold in front of me.
"Your Majesty, I have discovered a very large gold mine in the eastern continent. These 30,000 kilograms of gold are just a drop in the bucket! If the fleet had not been able to hold it, we could have brought back some more!" Fang Mingqian added.
This time Lu Yi was speechless and stood there with his mouth open; not only him, but also all the eunuchs present had their mouths wide open, as if they were demented.
Thirty thousand kilograms of gold is just a drop in the bucket of a gold mine, so how much gold is there in this gold mine? This money is simply picked up for nothing!
Even Yunxi, who had heard that there was countless gold and silver in America, was surprised. He was stunned before he recovered and said with a smile: "It's great! This gold came in such a timely manner! I have to thank you very much.
Second uncle and Fang Aiqing!"
"I dare not accept your Majesty's gratitude." Fang Mingqian said hurriedly. But Yunxi didn't seem to hear his words. He lowered his head in thought with a smile on his face, and murmured: "It's great, we can finally take that step."
After a while he came back to his senses, and Fang Mingqian smiled and said: "My dear, you don't have to be humble." Then he immediately said: "I have seen Uncle Twelve's offerings. I am very satisfied. You guys carry these three boxes down.
Well, put it in the inner treasury of the palace; I wonder, Fang Aiqing, what are the local products you brought back?"
Fang Mingqian originally planned to be more modest, but Yunxi immediately asked him about the local products, so he could only agree and open the remaining boxes.
The moment the box was opened, Lu Yi stretched his neck to look inside the box, eager to know what it would be. But to his disappointment, although he had never seen the things inside the box, they looked like just some plants.
There was still dirt inside the box. He couldn't help but mutter in a voice that only he could hear: "It's just these worthless things!"
But Yunxi seemed to be even more excited than before. He stood up, pointed at something in one of the boxes and said, "Quickly, hand that thing to me."
Fang Mingqian picked what looked like some kind of fruit off the branch and handed it to Yunxi. At the same time, he introduced: "Your Majesty, this fruit was discovered by the generals sent by His Highness King Xiang when they went south to explore."
"At that time, the general led dozens of soldiers ashore and discovered this fruit," Fang Mingqian was about to say, so he picked it off and tasted it. Yunxi had already poured half a cup of cooled Liangbai on the fruit.
I wiped it with a hand towel and ate half of the fruit in one bite.
"Your Majesty, what exactly is this fruit? I don't know whether it is poisonous or not. How can your Majesty, with his body of gold, eat such a thing?" Wang Xi immediately reacted and said to Yunxi.
‘Is this kind of thing poisonous? I don’t know yet?’ Yunxi thought in his heart.
What he just ate was, of course, one of the fruits that people all over the world often eat in later generations: tomatoes! Tomatoes are native to South America. Because of their bright colors, the local Indians considered them inedible based on their own life experiences and regarded them as "
"Fox fruit", also known as wolf fruit, means that only wolves can eat it. Many years after Europeans entered South America, some people accidentally ate this kind of thing and discovered that it was edible, thus becoming an important food.
.
When Yunxi came to Ming Dynasty, what he was most dissatisfied about in terms of diet was that there was too little edible food. Many of the fruits and vegetables he often ate in later generations were not available in this era, which made him quite helpless. But now, these blanks can finally be filled.
Filled in.
The moment he ate tomatoes, Yunxi even felt like crying. Of course, it was not just because he ate tomatoes, but because he remembered the scrambled eggs with tomatoes that his mother made for him when he was a child, which in turn aroused his homesickness.
Affection.
After a while, Yunxi came back to his senses. Fang Mingqian smiled and said: "This fruit is so delicious. Fang Aiqing brought this fruit to the Ming Dynasty. It is a great achievement!"
"I saw that there are still a few fruits on the saplings in the box. I will send it to the imperial kitchen immediately and ask the chef to make a dish using this scrambled egg. I will send it to Kunning Palace for the Queen to have a taste."
A young eunuch agreed, picked a few tomatoes, and trotted towards the imperial dining room.
"Has Uncle Twelve already given a name to this fruit?" Yunxi asked again.
"I haven't given a name yet. Please give me a name, Your Majesty." In fact, Zhu Bai had already given a name, but now the emperor really wanted to name him, so of course he didn't give a name.
"In this case, I will give it a name. I see that this fruit looks similar to the commonly eaten persimmons, but the color is much brighter, bright red, so I decided to name it tomato."
"Your Majesty's name is very good!" Fang Mingqian said immediately. This was both flattery and sincerity. Anyway, it was much nicer than Zhu Bai's name.
"Haha!" Yunxi laughed a few times, ate the whole tomato, took another sip of tea, and said, "What are the other boxes?"
Fang Mingqian took out a part from each box, put it on the plate, and introduced them one by one.
He first pointed to a plate full of small yellow particles and said: "Your Majesty, this kind of thing was also discovered by the soldiers sent to explore south. It is also a kind of food. The crops growing this food are as tall as a person when mature.
When ripe, there is a stick at the top, covered with a layer of this stuff."
"This kind of food is very delicious after being cooked, and it soon became something that everyone from the royal highness to the emperor likes to eat. Later, it was discovered that this kind of food can be peeled off the stick and dried for a long time, so
It is used as dry food on the ship. However, it is very difficult to eat when eaten raw, so it is always roasted and eaten on the ship."
"Has Uncle Twelve already named this kind of thing?" Yunxi asked.
"His Royal Highness the King of Xiang named it Yumai because the grains are similar to wheat." Fang Mingqian replied.
Yunxi didn't speak. Then Fang Mingqian pointed to the pieces on the next plate and said: "Your Majesty, this kind of thing was also discovered by the soldiers who went south to explore. It cannot be eaten raw, but it tastes good after being roasted and is not easy to carry, so it is only
I brought so many of them back."
"But you already have a name?"
"His Royal Highness King Xiang named it sweet potato because of its red skin."
Fang Mingqian then pointed to the remaining foods and introduced them. "Your Majesty, this is what people on the eastern continent often eat. It grows in the soil and cannot be used as a staple food, but stir-fry can be paired with a lot of vegetables and the taste is also good.
Yes. But His Highness the King of Xiang believes that what is more important is that this kind of food has extremely high yield. One acre of land can grow more than a thousand kilograms. No other vegetable can compare with it. Therefore, His Highness the King of Xiang takes the lead in every meal.
Everyone eats it. His Highness King Xiang named it potato because it grows in the soil."
"Your Majesty, this bean-like food is also difficult to use as a staple food, but it tastes very good and can be eaten raw. More importantly, it can be used to extract oil... His Highness the King of Xiang named it peanut."
"This kind of oblong food cannot be used as a staple food, nor is it a vegetable, but most of the soldiers who went to the Eastern Continent like to add a little of this stuff for seasoning when cooking. This kind of food is extremely spicy, and adding a little will make it more delicious.
People can't close their mouths when it's spicy. Some people mix it with oil. His Highness King Xiang named it chili pepper, and the mixture is called chili oil."
…
Yunxi had been listening to his introduction quietly. After he introduced all the food, he said with a smile: "Fang Aiqing, you and your twelfth uncle have enriched the dining tables of the powerful people of the Ming Dynasty a lot!"
Then he added: "Those twelve uncles got names. Among them, the name Yumai is not good. I changed it to corn. There is no need to change the others. From now on, this will be the name of this crop in the Ming Dynasty."
"On behalf of His Majesty the King of Xiang, I would like to thank you for changing your name." Fang Mingqian said hurriedly.
"Haha, I changed his name. He's not sure how to complain to me, so you don't have to thank him." Yunxi said with a smile.
Fang Mingqian couldn't answer this, so he stood there smiling and saying nothing. Yunxi didn't expect him to speak, but asked again: "Did you bring back the seeds of all these crops?"
"Your Majesty, I have brought several kilograms of seeds for each crop."
"Okay. You will send people to send these seeds to the palace in a while." For Yunxi, it is more satisfying for him to come back with seeds than to come back directly with so many kinds of crops. With the seeds,
Are you afraid of running out of food?
"The remaining potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. are all sent to the imperial kitchen. I want to taste them tonight. I can't eat them now."
Yunxi gave some instructions, then suddenly said seriously to Mingqian: "Fang Aiqing, you have brought back so many seeds of crops, which is a great achievement, and I will definitely reward you. But there is no need to worry, I want to hear what you have to say now.
Tell me, you went to the eastern continent and how you explored there. I am very curious about this."
