The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Cooler weather.

A wave of attack against the northwestern generals and Zhang Zhou is rising.

A group of censors came out to find fault and impeach Tang Yin and Zhu Fu, and also listed Zhang Zhou among them. It seemed that even the most stubborn censor knew that impeaching only Zhang Zhou would lead to a miserable end for himself, so he simply listed Tang Yin as the main culprit, and Zhang Zhou was only regarded as a foil.

Maybe that would reduce the punishment.

But Zhu Youtang was not used to the bad habits of the censors. Since the rules had been set, Zhang Zhou could not be impeached without reason. Now that this group of people had violated the rules, they must be punished accordingly.

It is possible that Zhu Youtang was also concerned that this incident had its reasons. After all, Tang Yin's unfavorable war situation on the front line was the fuse. In addition, the previous investigation into court corruption had caused great trouble for the civil servants. Under the influence of moderate and balanced thinking, Zhu Youtang only imprisoned a few of the leading censors this time, and did not pursue the rest for the time being.

Even so, the turmoil in the court calmed down a little.

At this time, the first batch of new grain grown in Liaodong was transported to the capital. This could be regarded as the first gift Zhu Youtang received after autumn.

The person who brought back the new grain was Zhang Heling, Marquis of Shouning, and it was he who ran to the palace to find his brother-in-law to take credit for it.

"Your Majesty, I have fulfilled my mission. I have been growing crops in Liaodong for more than half a year. The corn and sweet potatoes I harvested are all ready to eat."

"The yield is very high, more than three times higher than the previous grain. In some places, the rainfall is good, and the harvest is nearly four times higher. In addition to large-scale planting, the soldiers in Liaodong are now well fed and well dressed. They all say that this new grain is very filling and is really a treasure compared to the previous grain."

"In addition, there is something called potatoes. You can grow a lot of them at one time. They can be eaten as a meal or as a vegetable."

"At the beginning, the local Liaodong soldiers and civilians were reluctant to farm, but after the first batch of potatoes were produced, they all rushed to plant them. There is no need to save seeds. You can just cut the ready-made potatoes and put them in the soil to grow. Not to mention watering with rain, even dry land can produce a lot."

……

Zhang Heling seemed very excited. This was the first time he had made a "contribution" to people's livelihood.

He would not let go of such a good opportunity to take credit. At least in terms of intelligence, he was much smarter than his brother Zhang Yanling. Of course, this was also what he thought.

Zhu Youtang was also overwhelmed with emotion when he heard this. Chen Kuan beside him had already brought a plate of staple food from the new crops and presented it to him, saying, "Your Majesty, this is corn, sweet potatoes, and steamed bread made from corn. There are also potatoes here, and this is fried shredded potatoes with some pork and onions added in. There is nothing else."

"Really? Come on, let me have a taste." Zhu Youtang picked up the chopsticks and was about to eat.

Chen Kuan asked, "Your Majesty, should we have someone examine it first?"

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "The soldiers on the front line have been eating corn for so long, and nothing happened. When I brought back samples last year, I ate corn with Bingkuan, and nothing happened. Why do you have so many concerns?"

Zhang Heling said: "Yes, Your Majesty, I eat it every day now, and I feel very strong after eating it."

"Heling, come and eat with me." Zhu Youtang said.

"it is good."

Zhang Heling was about to move forward when he suddenly thought of something and said quickly, "Your Majesty, please go ahead. I just returned to the capital and will not disturb you any more."

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "You eat it all day long, you must be tired of it, right? You can't eat good things every day."

"Yes, yes." Zhang Heling is also a down-to-earth person.

For him, corn, potatoes and the like are fine to try for fun, but he can't stand eating them every day.

After all, it is just the staple food. To him, the big fish and meat are more tempting, not to mention that with his status, he can eat abalone, shark fin, and bird's nest every day.

But for Zhu Youtang, his frugality did not allow him to be extravagant, so Zhu Youtang was full of anticipation for the food in front of him.

One corn, one sweet potato, two steamed buns, a boiled potato, and a plate of fried shredded potatoes...

When Zhu Youtang ate it all, even Chen Kuan beside him was shocked.

When have you ever seen the emperor have such a good appetite?

"oops!"

After Zhu Youtang finished eating, he seemed to be unsatisfied and said, "It really is very filling and leaves a lasting aftertaste."

Chen Kuan said, "Your Majesty, shall I bring you some more?"

Zhu Youtang shook his head and said, "You can't eat too much good things at once. So, I'll send some to each family in the next few days. I originally planned to hold a banquet in the palace to entertain them with these, but now I'm too lazy to see them. I'll just send them to each family."

"Yes." Chen Kuan thought, even if you give it to someone as a gift, they may not necessarily regard it as a good thing.

Especially since this was promoted by Zhang Zhou, it would be strange if those civil officials didn't just throw it away.

Zhu Youtang said: "Tell them that this food is grown in Liaodong and will be promoted in all parts of Ming Dynasty. If they don't want to eat it, they will not be officials anymore. Also, after they finish eating, ask them to write a report to describe the taste and function of this food. That's it."

After saying that, Zhu Youtang stood up, as if he was going to take a nap.

Zhang Heling asked, "Your Majesty, can I go back first?"

Zhu Youtang said: "It's rare for you to come back from Liaodong. Go see your sister first. She's been missing you lately. And... um, don't make trouble in the capital recently. I just wanted to reward you, give you some credit, and entrust you with an important task. If you ruin the credit yourself, don't blame me!"

"I know, I know." Zhang Heling looked smug.

……

……

Inside Kunning Palace.

Empress Zhang finally met her long-lost brother.

But Empress Zhang did not look very good, because she was worried about something. When she saw her brother, she did not explain it to him, because she thought her brother was okay before, but now this brother... seemed to be not paying attention to her.

"…Empress, you don't know that life in Liaodong is so hard. Yanling and I have been working there, facing the earth and back to the sky, and even working in the fields."

“Growing crops is such hard work.”

Empress Zhang rolled her eyes at her brother and said, "You are the only one who works so hard? Don't you just watch while others are working? Even when you eat, there are several people serving you. Do you have to have meat and wine for every meal? And is there someone to warm your bed at night?"

"what?"

Zhang Heling looked slightly embarrassed.

I was thinking, did my sister send someone to keep an eye on me? How come she knew so much about my life in Liaodong?
Empress Zhang said, "I sent you to Liaodong to fight, hoping that you would make contributions and be promoted to higher positions when you return. But who knew... you would go to grow crops? Why are you so excited?"

Zhang Heling said, "Queen, you may not know that His Majesty has promised to promote us. He also told me to behave myself recently and not do anything bad."

"Really?" Empress Zhang said, "I said I would give you promotions before, but in the end, you two brothers ruined everything. Be quiet. I don't even know what you guys do in normal times."

Zhang Heling was originally looking forward to asking his sister for credit, but after hearing this, he sat there in annoyance. He said, "Sister, it's not that serious, is it? It was just a trip to Liaodong. Who could have offended you like this?"

"Who else could it be?"

Empress Zhang seemed to have finally found an outlet for her anger. She gritted her teeth and said, "That woman is close to giving birth. I don't even know if she has given birth or not. Now I am blocked from all news. If she gives birth to another son, then I will..."

Zhang Heling said indifferently, "What are you afraid of? Don't you still have the crown prince? Besides, my little niece is almost grown up, and she is very smart. Isn't it said that His Majesty loves her very much?"

Empress Zhang asked, "What if something happens to the Crown Prince?"

"Then... let's have another child." Zhang Heling said, "My wife did the same thing. She wanted to stop me from taking a concubine, but she couldn't have a child herself... Hehe, sister, I'm not saying you can't have a child, I'm just saying that you have to try hard."

When he finished saying all this, he realized that his sister's gaze at him was malicious.

He could only hang his head in disappointment and say nothing more.

Empress Zhang asked, "If I ask you to find that woman, can you find her?"

"Where can I find her?" Zhang Heling said, "I guess she will return to the palace after giving birth to the child? Can she stay outside the palace forever? Besides, my brother-in-law probably hasn't thought about... marrying another child in the past two years, right?"

"That's not the case." Empress Zhang said this with a bit of lack of confidence.

In the past, she thought she could control her husband well.

But now, her control over her husband is getting weaker and weaker, and she can't even track his whereabouts. If her husband has another woman outside... it seems that she doesn't need to discuss it with him.

Zhang Heling said, "I don't think my brother-in-law will look for another one. Wasn't the last one arranged by the Grand Empress Dowager? She just doesn't like you."

Empress Zhang said, "I went to pay my respects to her when I had nothing to do. I care about her so much, why do you dislike me?"

"Because you delayed the continuation of the royal bloodline? Pah, I mean, old women all hope to have many children and grandchildren. Even mother said so to me and Yanling. If my wife can't give birth, do you think mother would not be anxious? I guess that's the reason."

Zhang Heling yawned, "I came all the way back to Beijing and immediately went to the palace to look for my brother-in-law. I haven't had a good rest yet."

Empress Zhang glared at her brother and asked, "What are you going to do when you return? Do you plan to meet Zhang Bingkuan?"

"meet him?"

Zhang Heling shook his head. "I'm not familiar with him. Besides, his threshold is very high now, higher than that of Li Guang. I want to meet him, but he may not meet me."

Empress Zhang said: "The best way is to let Zhang Bingkuan help me. But Zhang Bingkuan's whereabouts are unknown, and he seems to be helping that woman."

"impossible."

Zhang Heling said, "Sister, you are the queen, the mother of the country, and your son is the crown prince. No matter how much power Duke Cai has, he dare not offend you. What benefit does he get from helping Concubine Xian and her son? Will the crown prince tolerate him, or will you tolerate him? Doesn't he plan for the future?"

Empress Zhang frowned and asked, "Who did you learn this from? Why do you speak in such a set way?"

"I can't help it. Liaodong is full of old foxes. I've learned a lot from dealing with them. But the second brother is still the same as before. He only thinks about eating, drinking and having fun all day long. He always causes trouble in Liaodong. Fortunately... I won't say more."

Zhang Heling just laughed it off and let the matter go.

How could Empress Zhang not know that wherever her two younger brothers went, trouble would befall them?
She did not mention it, and said in a cold voice: "Find an opportunity to meet Zhang Bingkuan, tell him what I mean, and tell him that if he helps me, he will benefit. My Zhang family is the most grateful."

"Hehe." Zhang Heling added with a smile, "We are the most vindictive, so let him behave himself!"

……

……

Duanjing Hall.

After finishing a day's classes, Zhu Houzhao returned to his bedroom, still looking listless. He looked at the place where the military map used to be hung and sighed.

"Sooner or later...I will win back."

Zhu Houzhao had a face full of embarrassment and seemed to be thinking about how to win over that eccentric sister.

At this moment, Gao Feng brought his dinner, which was the same as what Zhu Youtang had eaten at noon.

"What is this?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

Gao Feng said, "Prince, have you forgotten? This is corn, this is called sweet potato, also called sweet potato, this is potato, this is fried potato... I heard it tastes very good, you can smell the fragrance from a long distance."

"Wow, this is a potato? I heard that this thing has a high yield. Does it look like this?"

Zhu Houzhao walked over and looked at it carefully.

Gao Feng reminded: "Your Highness, this meal is for eating, not for looking at."

"You're talking nonsense, aren't you? Can't you take a good look at it before I eat it?" Zhu Houzhao picked up a potato, weighed it in his hand, and asked, "What is the yield per mu of this thing?"

"I don't know. I heard it's much higher than sorghum and wheat." Gao Feng said.

Zhu Houzhao asked, "Can this thing grow every year? If it's a cultivated field, it's fine. But if it's a virgin field, it will become barren after a few years and won't grow anymore, right?"

Gao Feng said: "No, someone will provide fertilizer for it."

"What do you mean by fertilizing? Isn't it just pouring those... shit and urine things on it? Uh, this thing can't be made that way, right?"

When Zhu Houzhao said this, he threw the potatoes back into the plate.

Gao Feng smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness, I won't do that."

"How do you know it won't happen? As far as I know, sorghum and wheat grow in the air, and this one is dug out of the soil. Do you know what he used in the field?" Zhu Houzhao said seriously.

Gao Feng was also dumbfounded for a moment.

Your argument is quite unique, Prince. Why didn’t I think of it?
"Did this corn come from the ground or was it picked from mid-air?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

"I have never seen it, so I don't know." Gao Feng said.

Zhu Houzhao said, "You don't know anything, and you're giving me food? You want me to eat those dirty things? Take them away, I want to eat ice cream."

Gao Feng said, "Your Highness, it's winter now, how can you eat that? Besides, His Majesty won't allow the Imperial Kitchen to make that for you now."

"Just say they are bullying me." Zhu Houzhao said with a fierce look on his face, "If the damned girl, the imperial sister, wants to eat, I will definitely make it for her. And the guy named Zhang, he knows how to tease people. Why doesn't he teach me? I can make it myself, why do I need others to make it for me?" (End of this chapter)