Lord Moyu was forced to open

The news that the fleet brought back high-yield seeds could not be concealed. After all, too many people knew about it, and many people wanted to share this good news with their families.

On the first day Zheng He and others returned, the news about corn, yams and sweet potatoes spread. Everyone in Bianjing knew that the people sent by His Majesty brought back three kinds of God-given crops, each of which could produce 1,000 kilograms per mu.

All of a sudden, everyone started asking where they could get these seeds, and the black market even offered a high price of one thousand taels per seed.

Not only the common people wanted to get these high-yield crop seeds, but the powerful and wealthy also wanted them.

We are about to go to war with Europe next year. Anyone with a little knowledge knows that the price of food will definitely rise by then.

If you can plant high-yield crops at this time, and wait until the crops are harvested, you can make a lot of money when the war breaks out.

But all the grain seeds were taken away by the Ministry of Households, and Zhao Jun specifically reminded people of the importance of these seeds. So no matter how high the price outside was, no one could get the seeds. As for where to get the seeds from the Ministry of Households.

If you feel like the nine clans are itching to have their heads hang over your necks, you can do this. Just don't cry when you lose your head.

No one in the Ministry of Revenue dared to take the risk to do such a thing. Everyone knew that the National Health Bureau must be keeping a close eye on them at this time, and committing a crime against the law would be seeking death.

Unlike the commotion caused by corn and other three crops, the rubber tree, another plant that Zheng He and his team brought back, did not attract the attention of the people.

In their opinion, what is the point of a book that cannot be eaten?
But for Tiangongyuan, this thing is simply their dream lover!
When the first batch of rubber raw materials was sent to Tiangong Institute, the department in Tiangong Institute responsible for improving steam engines went crazy!
This material! This property! It is so much better than the fish glue they used to replace it!

This sealing is a perfect match for the steam engine!
What a perfect match!
The raw materials sent were divided up in an instant, and when they heard that these raw materials were produced from rubber trees, Tiangong Institute directly covered all the expenses of planting rubber trees. In order to allow the rubber trees to take root in Song Dynasty as soon as possible, they mobilized all their strength and searched in Song Dynasty as quickly as possible. With the strength and connections of Tiangong Institute, they quickly found a suitable place in Song Dynasty.

They are Caiyun County, Lingxi County, Lingyue County, and a little further away is Piao County.

The climate, temperature and soil conditions in these three places are extremely suitable for growing rubber trees.

However, the number of rubber trees brought back this time was limited, so in the end the rubber trees were divided into three parts and sent to three different locations for planting to see where was the most suitable location.

After solving the problem of rubber tree planting, Tiangong Institute immediately started research on steam engines using existing raw materials in less than a month!
There has been new progress in the research of steam engines. With good sealing rubber rings, the energy utilization rate of steam engines has suddenly increased significantly.

It directly increased the power of the steam engine by more than double!
Since then, the energy produced by the steam generated by the same amount of coal after passing through the steam engine has doubled. This not only makes the steam engine more efficient and has a longer endurance, but also means that the kinetic energy of the steam engine has been improved.

The first to benefit from the new steam engines were the locomotives inside and outside the Great Wall.

After the transformation, the speed of the train increased instantly. It originally took three full days to travel from Jianjiang to Bianjing, but after the steam engine was improved, the time was shortened to two days!

The shortened time means that the movement of goods and troops becomes faster, which has a boosting effect on the economy of the entire Song Dynasty.

After the successful transformation on the train, Tiangong Institute immediately set its sights on the warships.

After all, the imperial court has already issued an order to launch a major European war in August next year, and is currently desperately building warships. Now that there are better steam engines, the combat effectiveness of the ironclad ships can be greatly enhanced.

While the Southeast Branch of Tiangong Institute was desperately building new ships, the headquarters of Tiangong Institute had already begun research on new ironclad ships.

Part of the plants brought back by Zheng He and others increased the grain output of the people of the Song Dynasty, and part of them improved the advancement of the steam engine, but this was not all the gains that Zheng He and others brought back.

After Zheng He and others were rewarded on the second day, Zheng He, as the host of this exploration, was awarded the title of earl. The focus of the debate among court officials was whether the title of earl should be Earl of Fengnong or Earl of Tuohai.

Some officials believe that the reason Zheng He and his team were able to bring back high-yield crop seeds and rubber trees was because of their courage to explore unknown waters, which is not wrong.

So they wanted to confer the title of Duke of Tuohai on Zheng He. However, another group of court officials believed that the reason why the court conferred the title on Zheng He and others was because they brought back high-yield seeds that would save the people of the Song Dynasty from suffering from famine, so Zheng He's title should be Duke of Fengnong.

After some debate, Zhao Jun made the final decision and decided on the title of Fengnongbo.

This was also the first eunuch to be awarded a title since the founding of the Song Dynasty.

Zheng He became the idol of all eunuchs, and Zheng He's family also changed their previous attitude of not wanting him to be included in the family tree and included him in the family tree.

It is said that when Zheng He learned that he was included in the family tree, he burst into tears instantly!

This is the pain of so many eunuchs!

I never thought that he would be able to return to the family one day.

After Zheng He, other people who went out to sea on this trip also received different rewards according to their contributions.

It seems like there is more than one title.

In addition to the Earl Zheng He, there are two viscounts and three barons.

In addition, there are promotions in position and rewards of gold, silver and land.

Zhang Laoliu, a person who accidentally sneaked into the fleet, was rewarded with the title of Baron by virtue of his identity as captain.

He was named the male of Jinghai County.

Then he went home with the reward and title. At this moment, he was no longer an ordinary citizen. He wanted to go home to take back Xiao Taohong! And make the Cao family pay the price for harming him!
Damn the Cao family! If they hadn't cut corners, he wouldn't have had to survive a life-and-death situation. If the fleet hadn't happened to pass by, Zhang Laoliu might have had to be a savage for the rest of his life!
Unlike these members who were rewarded for going to sea, Zhao Jun was currently convening a cabinet meeting because of some other information provided by Zheng He.

In the Longtu Pavilion, a group of cabinet members were staring with their mouths wide open in shock at the intelligence about the New World presented by Zheng He.

After a long time, Zhang Zheng was the first to come back to his senses and asked first:
"Your Majesty, is what this intelligence says true?
Is there really a mountain of gold and silver on the New World?"

The other elders also immediately looked over here.

Facing everyone's gaze, Zhao Jun nodded affirmatively: "It's certain, it's true."

Zhao Jun waved his hand and Wang Huai'en came up with a tray. On the tray was an irregularly shaped stone lump with golden spots. It weighed at least five or six kilograms.

Zhao Jun pointed at the stone and said, "This is the gold ore they brought back from there. In addition, there are also many nugget golds, which have been deposited into the treasury.

If they hadn't really found a gold mine, where did they find these things?
As far as I know, all the sailors who went out to sea brought back a lot of gold, which they picked up locally. "

Everyone in the cabinet fell silent for a moment, and as they looked at the gold ore on the tray, their eyes gradually lit up!

……

(End of this chapter)