At the beginning of the civil castle, the Ming God of War was a little panicked

Chapter 111 North of the Great Wall
Wang Zuo looked at the file in his hand, and then at the dark-skinned middle-aged man in front of him.

"You are Wu Canghai?"

"Criminal Wu Canghai, kowtow to the Elder Master!"

"It is recorded in the file that you committed the crime of smuggling?"

"Ugh!"

Wu Canghai sighed heavily, and said: "The criminals are from Guanzhong, Shaanxi. Ten years ago, there was a severe drought in Shaanxi, and there was no harvest. After being arrested by the government, he hid all the way, and finally came to Quanzhou, met a few smugglers, and followed them to the sea. After going to sea, the original name was no longer used, so he gave himself a new name called Wu Canghai. "

Wang Zuo didn't care about his sad history, he just wanted to know if this man could get sweet potatoes and potatoes.

"No matter what the reason is, smuggling out to sea is a capital crime, but now there is a great contribution in front of you, as long as you can find sweet potatoes and potatoes, you can redeem your crime!"

A gleam of joy appeared in Wu Canghai's eyes, and he asked, "Really...is it possible?"

After thinking for a while, Wang Zuo said, "Don't worry, I will come to the emperor to plead for your order in person, at least it will spare you the death penalty."

Wu Canghai nodded repeatedly, and then said: "Although criminals have never heard of these two things that your lord said, when they were in Nanyang, they saw a kind of ration for foreigners. We call it potato, which is the taro grown by foreigners. , and its characteristics are somewhat similar to the potatoes that adults say."

"Taro?"

"Yes, it looks like taro, but tastes very different."

"Potatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes..."

Wang Zuo was muttering something, this potato doesn't sound like it has anything to do with sweet potatoes...

"Tell me more specifically, what are the characteristics of this potato?"

"It's roughly the size of an egg. The skin is brown, and the inside is white and yellow. Because it looks like a horse bell, some people call it a potato..."

"potato?"

Wang Zuo's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Potatoes, sweet potatoes, are they called different names?"

Thinking of this, he immediately opened the emperor's handwritten letter and read it carefully.

"Sweet potatoes, with red skin, small ones are like arms, big ones are like fists, taste like pears and jujubes, sweet and delicious, can be eaten raw or cooked..."

It seems... not quite right...

"Are you sure the skin is brown and not red?"

"Definitely brown!"

Wu Canghai seemed to think of something, and suddenly asked: "The red skin that the legal person just mentioned...the criminal suddenly thought of another thing."

"Oh, what?"

"Criminals once saw a crop in Luzon. Luzon is an island country with many mountains and few fields, and often suffers from insufficient grain and rice. It is said that the Frangji people brought a high-yielding crop and planted it widely in the local area to alleviate the epidemic. The current situation of local food shortage.”

"what is it call?"

"We generally call them sweet potatoes."

"Sweet potatoes?"

Wang Zuo feels his head is big, sweet potato, potato, potato, potato, sweet potato...

What is this all about?

"I want to ask you, how can we open up channels, buy some as soon as possible and send them to the capital, no matter whether you want money or get through various checkpoints, it's not a problem!"

"This... I'm afraid it won't be easy."

Wu Canghai shook his head, and said: "My lord doesn't know something, but Frangji attaches great importance to this species and never gives it to outsiders."

Wang Zuo nodded secretly. Since it is a high-yield crop, foreigners are definitely not willing to give it away. It is really difficult to handle.

"Sweet potatoes are not good, but what about yams?"

Wu Canghai said: "It's easy to deal with yams. The criminals know 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, but as soon as possible!"

"Criminals will do it now!"

In the afternoon of the same day, a six-hundred-mile urgent letter departed from the capital and drove all the way south.

At the same time, groups of people began to migrate north from Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan.

As the saying goes, people are humble when they leave their hometown, and no one is willing to leave the land where they were born and raised for no reason.

However, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty for a hundred years, land annexation has intensified, and people have lost 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 lot of land.

Moreover, the imperial court will also distribute daily necessities such as grain seeds and farm tools, and every city is guarded by officers and soldiers to ensure the safety of the people.

Since there is no way to survive staying in his hometown, it is better to go outside the customs for a while.

Zhang Liuyang is one of them. Three years ago, the Yellow River was flooded and there was no harvest. The gentry in the village took the opportunity to annex the land of the common people. In order to get food for their children, they had to sell a few acres of Susukida at a low price.

Although the family of three barely survived, losing the land meant losing the foundation of their lives, and life became more and more difficult after that.

Today, even the only two thatched cottages have been sold. Seeing that there is no way to survive, just follow the government to go outside the pass.

You can't just watch your wife and children starve to death!
So, the family of three followed the grain transport team, left 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!"

"In the!"

A civil official held a notebook and asked, "There are three people in your family, right?"

"Yes, and my mother-in-law 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."

"read?"

Zhang Liuyang's face turned pale with fright, he hesitated and said, "No...don't read it..."

The civil official has received many such people, so he naturally knows his worries.

"Everyone over the age of five must be sent to school, don't worry, there is no charge."

"Huh? No charge?"

"Yes, there is no charge. You go to tent No. 130 No. [-] with your number plate, and then soldiers from the Academy of Engineering will come to build houses for everyone. At that time, you will follow along. It is not for nothing, and you will be paid."

Holding the number plate, Zhang Liuyang led his wife and children to tent No. 130 and No. [-].

There were two wooden beds, some basic living supplies, a bag of yellow rice, and an iron pot outside the tent.

Seeing the yellow rice, Zhang Liuyang's mother-in-law was so excited that she burst into tears, and hurriedly washed the rice and cooked it.

Not long after, a pot of fragrant yellow rice was brought to the table.

The child was already hungry, so he picked up the bowl and chewed it.

Zhang Liuyang sighed and said, "Baby, this will be our home from now on."

"Why are you sighing, isn't this place much better than before?"

"You mother-in-law are so ignorant. No matter how bad your family is, it's still ours. Here...here..."

"What's wrong here, have you ever eaten such a good yellow rice at home?"

Zhang Liuyang stopped talking and lowered his head to pick up the rice.

For some reason, the yellow rice here is really fragrant.

Next, people from the Academy of Engineering escorted truckloads of cement, sand, and stones to the camp, along with craftsmen sent by the Ministry of Industry.

Zhang Liuyang and other young men were recruited to work. They were surprised to find that this thing is very magical. After mixing with sand and stones, it is poured on the skeleton made of bamboo slices. It only takes a few hours to become as hard as iron.

On the prairie, houses rose from the ground one by one.

After this kind of cement house is built, it only needs to dry for a few days before moving in.

In this way, one village after another appeared north of the Great Wall, and gradually expanded further north.

(End of this chapter)