prosperous age

In the Prime Minister's duty room, Zhang Juzheng was silent for a moment before he said, "We can only ask the Censorate to send more people to inspect the area, especially in Jiangnan."

"The Chief Censor is also very important."

Hearing Zhang Juzheng say this, Wei Guangde realized that the Prime Minister should have also received some news and was worried, so he spoke immediately.

"I will send a note to the Censorate in a moment, asking Lord Chen to consider the candidate for the position of Assistant Censor-in-Chief of Jiangnan. I will also have the six departments pay attention to this matter.

The exchange of silver for notes is a matter of great importance to the imperial court and no mistakes can be made.

If someone uses the silver to bribe officials from the beginning, rectifying the administration will be in vain. "

Zhang Juzheng saw the possibility of collusion between officials and businessmen in the collection of silver for the exchange of notes, and that this could further corrupt the officialdom.

In fact, both Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng attached great importance to rectifying the administration of officials, and they were very contemptuous of corrupt officials who oppressed the people.

It’s just that Gao Gong meant severe punishment, while Zhang Juzheng was relatively milder. Officials who levied heavy taxes would definitely be severely punished, but for other officials who were forced to do so due to the environment, Zhang Juzheng generally chose to demote and transfer them.

Because Zhang Juzheng saw through the entire Ming officialdom, it was actually not easy to rectify the administration of officials. Unless there were enough reserve officials, it would be a violent rectification, which would result in a complete shutdown of the court.

There are too many officials involved, and it can be said that only one in a hundred is still alive in the local area.

Wei Guangde nodded in agreement. He did not plan to put forward Hai Rui as a candidate right now. It would be better to let Lao Kan persuade Chen Yu and then recommend him.

Zhang Juzheng would most likely reject Chen Yu's recommendation. If Wei Guangde could mediate at this time, the effect might be better.

Wei Guangde and Chen Yu had very little contact in order to avoid suspicion, but Zhang Juzheng might not have thought so.

In Zhang Juzheng's view, Wei Guangde's support for Chen Yu's recommendation actually meant to win over Chen Yu.

Zhang Juzheng didn't want Wei Guangde's conspiracy to succeed, so the best way was to follow Chen Yu's wishes and not give Wei Guangde the opportunity to get closer to Chen Yu.

"In addition to the silver for the exchange of notes, the court should also pay more attention to the establishment of community schools in various places, especially because although community schools are run by the government, the instructors of community schools are mostly recruited from local scholars rather than appointed by the court. If the quality of the teachers is mixed, it will also affect the original intention of the court to establish community schools."

Wei Guangde continued.

"What does it mean to be kind?"

Zhang Juzheng frowned slightly when he heard this and simply asked directly.

"When the government recruits community school teachers, the provincial education commissioner, the provincial censor, and the provincial inspector will conduct examinations. Those who pass the examinations will be allowed to teach in community schools and a list will be established. The provincial education commissioner will also be in charge of this."

Wei Guangde said.

"Isn't this equivalent to half an official status?"

In addition to the appointment letter issued by the local government, he has already been listed as an official in the Ministry of Education, which actually means he already has an official status.

This was also proposed by Wei Guangde with reference to the teacher positions in the future career system. The teacher qualification examination is conducted at the provincial level, and the qualified persons are listed and given job certificates.

The imperial court had always left private schools alone. After all, opening a private school at least meant the achievement of a scholar, so who would want to seek advice from a private school?

Teaching and taking the imperial examinations are actually two different things. Many people read the Four Books and Five Classics, but may not be proficient in eight-legged essays.

Although community schools are not designed to prepare students for the imperial examinations, since the goal is to discover talents, teachers naturally have to understand the eight-legged essay.

He is not proficient in it himself, otherwise he would have taken the imperial examination and entered officialdom long ago. If he cannot explain the eight-legged essay format clearly, I am afraid that even if his students are geniuses, they will be delayed because of it.

Therefore, the examination that Wei Guangde envisioned would focus on the examinees' thorough understanding of the eight-legged essay and their ability to explain it clearly, rather than requiring them to be good at writing it.

Don’t think that you should refer to later generations and go directly to practical subjects such as arithmetic. In fact, there was at least one arithmetic question in every imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty.

For candidates to pass the exam, all questions must be answered correctly, and then they will be ranked according to the eight-part essay.

If you get an arithmetic problem wrong, it's like not understanding an eight-part essay, which means you'll be directly rejected.

Therefore, students who passed the eight-legged essay examination were not ignorant of the various fields but only knew how to write poetry.

"I gave it to you. It's a government subsidy."

Wei Guangde said indifferently that being a professor in a community school was much better than being a clerk in the government, who received salaries from the government.

Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment before nodding slightly. Although the community school mainly taught literacy and arithmetic, it also aimed to discover geniuses. This was also a move by Zhang Juzheng to restore his reputation among scholars.

It would be good for his reputation if he could make the system more complete.

"Let the Ministry of Rites complete this matter, and then submit it to the Cabinet for discussion."

They just put forward an idea, but the six ministries still have to come up with detailed implementation rules, which is not within the cabinet's authority.

After chatting for some time, Wei Guangde said goodbye and returned to his duty room to deal with the pile of things he was facing.

Wei Guangde entered the duty room and did not deal with the documents first. Instead, he wrote a note to Lao Kan, asking him to send some tobacco leaves and pipes to the Prime Minister.

What has been promised must be done well, but it also hinted that the Censorate will study the adjustment of the Jiangnan Censorate in the near future.

In this way, several days passed in a flash.

More detailed battle reports from Liaodong were constantly sent back to the capital, allowing the details of the Battle of Hongtubao to be presented more clearly to everyone.

However, by this time, not many people were paying attention to the Liaodong battle reports.

After all, the war has been won, and what everyone cares about is the final result. The process is what the Ministry of War cares about.

"Director Zhao, how is the promotion of imperial wheat and sweet potatoes going? What achievements has the Agricultural Promotion Bureau made in the past year?"

Today, Wei Guangde summoned Zhao Zhushi from the Ministry of Rites' Agricultural Persuasion Department to learn about specific work matters.

Initially, when the Agricultural Persuasion Bureau was rebuilt, it was placed under the Cabinet and directly managed by Wei Guangde. However, the Ministry of Personnel later raised objections to this, and finally it was placed under the Ministry of Rites in accordance with tradition, and was usually under the dual management of the Ministry of Rites and the Cabinet.

"Sir Wei, the promotion of imperial wheat is going smoothly. Mountainous provinces such as Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Sichuan have already started planting it, and the results are quite good.

The main reason is that the fruit of imperial wheat is easy to preserve. As long as it is dried thoroughly, it can be stored for a long time, just like the staple food. Although the taste is not as good, for the people in the mountainous areas, being able to fill their stomachs is already a precious thing.

As for sweet potatoes, the Agricultural Persuasion Bureau has only seen one crop planted in Fujian, and several other planting sites have also planted them and have already harvested some.

The drought resistance of sweet potatoes has been proven. If too much water is given, the yield of sweet potatoes will be affected. Therefore, for water-scarce areas in various provinces, sweet potatoes are a good product, and their growth cycle of more than three months is also suitable.

During the growth process, the stems and leaves of sweet potatoes can also be picked and eaten, which is killing two birds with one stone.

It’s a pity that sweet potatoes are not easy to preserve, and the Agricultural Persuasion Bureau has not yet found a good storage method.

Elder Wei, if the crops are grown, they must be eaten as soon as possible and cannot be stored for a long time. This will not be very attractive to farmers. After all, the winter in the north is long, and what they need more is food that can be stored for the winter."

Director Zhao was very clear about the affairs of the Agricultural Promotion Bureau, and he immediately explained in detail the situation of the imperial wheat and sweet potatoes that Wei Guangde had instructed him to focus on.

Wei Guangde nodded slightly after listening to this.

Then, Zhao continued, "As for the cold resistance of imperial wheat and sweet potatoes, it is still unclear.

All we can say is that these two crops can grow normally in the north. We previously fenced off ten acres of land in Liaoyang to try growing imperial wheat, but because the farmers were not familiar with this crop, the planting failed. We can only wait until next year to plant it again to know the effect.

At that time, we can plant royal wheat and sweet potatoes together to see whether the two crops are suitable for Liaodong and their growth cycles in the local area, so as to determine whether they are worth planting. "

After all, when farmers grow crops, they not only consider the yield, but also the growing time. If the cycle is too long, it will not be acceptable to occupy a large amount of land.

Especially in Liaodong, the winter is too long. If the crops mature close to winter, the yield cannot be guaranteed. Even if they succeed once or twice, an early winter can result in a total crop failure.

"it is good."

Wei Guangde was quite satisfied with his reply, which was relatively objective.

After thinking about it, he said, "So, except for Liaodong, royal wheat and sweet potatoes can survive in other places, but sweet potatoes have the problem of being difficult to preserve for a long time?"

“In fact, it doesn’t matter how long it takes to store it. Since it’s grown in the ground, three to five months is enough.

However, at present, all we can do is preserve it for more than a month, which is difficult to apply, so the area for sweet potato cultivation is limited now.”

Manager Zhao explained.

Wei Guangde lowered his head and thought, hoping to think of a way to preserve sweet potatoes for future generations.

In his impression, sweet potatoes can be preserved for as long as half a year, which is the key factor that allows sweet potatoes to take root in China.

If sweet potatoes cannot meet the six-month shelf life, it would be almost a pipe dream to promote them nationwide.

“How do you preserve sweet potatoes?”

Wei Guangde asked him.

“We use a similar method to Yumai, which is to air dry directly, but the effect is not good. The sweet potatoes will rot quickly if they lose moisture.

We also tried hiding the sweet potatoes in attics, haystacks, and wall holes, but when we took them out, we found that they were basically rotten. "

Manager Zhao spoke up.

These storage methods are actually the methods commonly used by the people to preserve food, but the experimental results are obviously not good.

Wei Guangde remembered eating dried sweet potatoes when he was a child. They seemed to be made from sweet potatoes, but he didn't know exactly how they were made.

I've eaten pork, but I've never seen a pig run.

After thinking about it, Wei Guangde asked: "Do you air-dry the sweet potatoes in their entirety?"

"Yes, otherwise it would be difficult to preserve it for a long time."

Manager Zhao said hurriedly.

"In this way, it is difficult for the sweet potatoes to dry quickly, and they are more likely to rot."

At this point, Wei Guangde could only suggest: "Try cutting the sweet potatoes into slices. This way they will be better dried and maybe you can find a way to preserve them.

In addition, other methods should also be tried.

If it cannot be preserved for a long time, people will only plant a small amount even if they do plant it. Although it can be of some use, it is not a solution after all if it cannot be preserved for a long time.

Record the production volume, and remember that the production volume is very high.”

Wei Guangde asked.

"The yield per mu varies from place to place. The yield per mu in Jiangnan is about one dan, while the yield per mu in Shandong is higher, reaching more than two dan. The yield per mu in Jiangxi is more than one dan, and in Shanxi and Shaanxi it is also close to two dan. The yield is not low.

Considering that the fields used for planting are all inferior fields, the yield is already consistent with that of superior fields, which can be considered a high yield.

The low yield in the south may be related to the rain. We think that sweet potatoes may not like water, so they have the habit of drought tolerance. "

Manager Zhao said.

Unlike the sweet potatoes of later generations that could easily yield thousands of kilograms per mu, that was a variety that had undergone many improvements.

The sweet potatoes introduced by the Ming Dynasty can now produce 100 to 300 kilograms per mu on barren land, which is a very good yield.

At this time, the rice yield per mu of the best paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River was only about 300 kilograms.

Don’t worry about the difference between rice and sweet potatoes, or coarse grains and fine grains. These days, what matters more is the yield per mu.

After all, grain production means how many people can be fed, which is a major issue related to national stability.

These days, the per capita grain output is only over 100 kilograms, and the output of inferior land can reach that of superior land, which is an astonishing output.

The key is that the land requirements for growing sweet potatoes are not high, which is even more important for the northern part of the Ming Dynasty at this time, especially the western region.

"Mobilize everyone to find a way to preserve the sweet potatoes for half a year."

Wei Guangde made a prompt decision and said, "Whoever can come up with a solution to this problem will be rewarded by the court. We can give him money, land, or even an official position."

The yield of sweet potatoes is so tempting. As long as the storage problem of sweet potatoes is solved, and they are promoted all over the country and all the low-quality fields are planted with sweet potatoes, the problem of people having enough food will be solved.

As long as they have enough to eat, who would cause trouble?

For thousands of years in China, the people have been the kindest and their demands are very low.

Unless it's to the point where they can't survive, no one will cause trouble or rebel.

"Three years."

As he spoke, Wei Guangde held up three fingers and said to Zhao, "I'll give you three years to solve these problems. If you succeed, I'll recommend you for a promotion."

Wei Guangde followed the spirit of future bosses who painted big rosy pictures for their employees and directly used the temptation of promotion to hit Zhao Zhushi.

Promoted two levels, directly promoted one grade. Normally it takes ten years for an official to be promoted, but Wei Guangde shortened it to three years.

"It took three years to figure out the characteristics of sweet potato cultivation, where it is suitable and where it is not suitable, and to find a storage method and promote it."

Wei Guangde repeated.

Although Mr. Zhao looked a little embarrassed, he quickly made up his mind.

It's worth a gamble. Wei Guangde didn't say what would happen if there were no results within three years. In his opinion, it would be nothing more than a lateral transfer to another place.

If successful, it will be a big profit.

Wei Guangde did not tell him the result of failure because he was worried that he would quit.

If you fail, then go to Myanmar.

Three years later, Nurgan City might still be short of a prefect, and a sixth-rank official might be just the right person to go there.

After Director Zhao left, Wei Guangde continued to handle official business.

He just mentioned this matter to the Prime Minister and Zhang Siwei before the court session ended in the afternoon.

Zhang Juzheng's reaction was obviously greater than Wei Guangde's. He was very surprised to know that sweet potatoes could produce one or two stone of grain even on mountainous and sloping lands that were not suitable for cultivation.

"Shandai, I advise you to keep a close eye on the Agriculture Department. Once these problems are solved, the court should vigorously promote this product."

In Zhang Juzheng's eyes, the role of sweet potatoes has surpassed that of imperial wheat, whose yield per mu was only a little more than one stone at that time.

In response, Wei Guangde just nodded slightly. (End of this chapter)