I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 478 Promoting New Crops

After the assessment matters are dealt with, the next step is to promote new crops.

As for the new crop, Zhu Youxiao also knew it, it was nothing more than potatoes, sweet potatoes and other things.

But Zhu Youxiao was curious. He had heard that Xu Guangqi was experimenting with planting in Tianjin as early as May and June this year. Could it be that it is effective now and can be promoted on a large scale?
Thinking of this, he looked at Xu Guangqi and continued to ask:

"Xu Aiqing, I heard before that you and Zuo Guangdou were experimenting with planting new crops in Tianjin to relieve our worries for the Ming Dynasty. Now I heard from Mr. Ye Ge that we want to promote new crops. I think we must have achieved some results?"

Xu Guangqi also planned to report the good news to the emperor. Now when the emperor asked about it, he immediately stood up and bowed and replied:

"Your Majesty is wise. It is true as your Majesty said. These crops have significant returns and high yields since sowing, so they are extremely suitable for promotion. For example, after planting sweet potatoes in Tianjin, I found that the yield per mu can reach about [-] kilograms. Sweet potatoes It likes warmth. If promoted in the south, the yield is expected to be higher, estimated to reach about [-] kilograms.

There are also crops such as corn and potatoes, which have higher yields per mu, especially potatoes, which can produce more than ten fruits per plant.Even a barren ditch can produce more than ten stones, and its yield per mu can easily reach more than a thousand kilograms. "

Although Zhu Youxiao already knew the yield of these crops, but now he heard that Xu Guangqi's experiment was so successful, he couldn't help but be happy.

"I never thought the output would be so high! Xu Aiqing should be the first to take the lead this time, and I will reward you generously."

Upon hearing this, Xu Guangqi shook his head and said quickly:

"I don't dare to be greedy for credit. These new crops have been introduced in our Ming Dynasty for a long time. I just came here to test the planting. And this planting mainly depends on two people. If your Majesty wants to be generous and reward them, please reward them."

Seeing Xu Guangqi's humble refusal, Zhu Youxiao became curious again.

"Then who are these two people? Please come quickly, Aiqing, and I will definitely reward you!"

"Your Majesty, Zuo Guangdou, the governor of Tianjin, and Song Yingxing, the imperial scholar, deserve the first credit. Zuo Guangdou strongly supported Wei Chen's trial planting of new crops, and he personally rolled up his sleeves and went to the fields. Not only did he trial planting this time in Tianjin In addition to new crops, rice, which is only suitable for planting in the south, was transplanted and cultivated to Tianjin. Now the fields are full of rice and there are many ears of rice, which is delicious to eat.

The other person is Song Yingxing, a Jinshi who is a scholar of government affairs. Wei Chen originally thought that this person was just here to observe and learn.But I didn't expect that this person was very familiar with mulberry farming. He didn't mind the hardship and dirt. He went to the fields many times to take care of the fields himself, and carefully recorded the growth characteristics and habits of the rice seedlings.This made the imperial court well aware of the planting habits of these new crops, which was extremely helpful in promoting these crops in the future. "

Zuo Guangdou and Song Yingxing!
Listening to these two people, Zhu Youxiao suddenly nodded repeatedly.Especially Song Yingxing, as the author of the future masterpiece "Tiangong Kaiwu", he naturally knows what this person is capable of.

But he never expected that this person would surprise him so quickly. But before Xu Guangqi finished speaking, he continued:

"Here I can't help but say something more. This Song Yingxing is an all-rounder. Previously, the imperial court asked Bi Maokang to lead the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop and preside over the development of flintlock guns. This requires the production of fine iron pieces and shrapnel. Although this can be made, it is also Difficulties abound.

I just didn't expect that Song Yingxing also knew about handmade fabrics. He actually created a hydraulic forging hammer based on the water conservancy tools he had seen in the south, which greatly improved the efficiency of iron smelting. Even Baoquan Bureau was preparing to apply it, which would greatly improve the minting of coins. s efficiency. "

"Good, good, good."

Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but applaud after hearing this. He was already interested in Song Yingxing, a great man in history, and now he was even more applauded when he heard that he had played such a big role.

"Since his contribution is so great, I will not hesitate to reward him. Pass the decree! Appoint Song Yingxing as a member of the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, and he will be given 100 taels of silver and three pieces of brocade to show his grace."

Xu Guangqi nodded immediately after hearing this, with a look of satisfaction on his face.The emperor did this, and it was really not in vain that he spent so much words on Song Yingxing.

Once the matter of merit and reward was over, everyone returned to the topic of promoting new crops.Since the new crop is so good, it naturally needs to be promoted well.At this time, Ye Xianggao took over Xu Guangqi's words and continued to talk about the benefits of new crops.

"Your Majesty, in terms of yield, these crops are only slightly better than rice, wheat, sorghum and other crops, and do not have very big advantages. I believe that their biggest advantage is that they are different from rice, wheat, sorghum and other crops. Crops such as wheat compete for land and can be grown in barren places such as hillsides and ravines.

Among them, corn is cold-resistant and drought-resistant and can be planted throughout the country. Potatoes like dry climates and are not tolerant of moisture and waterlogging, so they can be planted in the north, especially northwest and Liaodong. Sweet potatoes love heat and can be planted in the south. "

Ye Xianggao is right. The biggest advantage of new crops such as potatoes is that they do not compete with major crops such as rice for land, so that land that was previously difficult to use can be utilized.

However, Rao knew that there were such great advantages, and Zhu Youxiao also knew that promoting these crops was not that easy, and it was a cumulative process.

Although potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes and other crops first appeared during the Jiajing period, they have not been popularized yet, which shows that there are some difficulties in terms of promotion and acceptance by the people.When Zhu Youxiao thought of this, he thought for a while, and then said slowly:

"Since the effect is so good, the imperial court can promote it widely. But I am also worried about one thing, that is, every imperial decree can be easily distorted once it is conveyed to the lower levels.

Now that the imperial court is saying that it wants to promote new crops, it will probably become mandatory to promote it if it gets passed down.Therefore, when promoting, the people must be voluntary. If they want to farm, the court can provide seedlings at low prices or for free to facilitate their planting.

If the people are unwilling to farm, then do not force them. Otherwise, it will easily arouse public anger and be detrimental to the promotion of new crops.In addition, the imperial court also allows the people to pay taxes. If the staple food is not enough, they can voluntarily use potatoes or sweet potatoes to replace the staple food in small amounts to pay taxes. This will greatly increase the enthusiasm of the people. "

In Zhu Youxiao's view, it is also difficult to get people to voluntarily plant seeds.

Since they don’t have much savings, their trial and error costs are high. They don’t have much money themselves, and they have no experience in growing these unseen crops. If they fail, they will lose all their money and they will be in trouble.

Also, in their opinion, growing these crops was unprofitable, because the court paid taxes but did not pay these crops, so it was useless to grow them.

Therefore, as long as the imperial court allows the people to take potatoes or sweet potatoes in lieu of paying taxes, and provides farmers with seedlings for free or at low prices, their enthusiasm will be greatly improved, or at least they will not be so resistant.

The only worry is that after the court receives the food, it can just use it, but Zhu Youxiao already has some ideas in mind.

"Your Majesty, this matter is reasonable. When the time comes, the enthusiasm of the people will be greatly improved."

Everyone present was not very surprised by this, and all agreed that as long as food production increased, it would be natural for the imperial court to harvest some sweet potatoes and other crops.In this case, there is no need for coercion. In order to reduce the pressure, people will try farming one after another, killing two birds with one stone.

The reserve warehouse was thus reset, and the proposal to promote new crops was approved.At the same time, Zhu Youxiao also agreed to the cabinet's proposal to allocate 50 taels for the promotion of new crops, but also allocated another 50 taels for the resettlement of reserve warehouses.

Because in his opinion, preparing warehouses is a local responsibility, but it is now neglected and the system is in ruins.Now we can just pick up this policy again and continue to go to local governments to implement it. If the central government still has to spend money, it is really unreasonable.

And he knew in his heart that if the money was allocated, corruption would definitely happen, and he didn't want the money to go to waste.

But he did not just refuse. In order to better let the local government implement this matter, he encouraged wealthy local households to donate food to local reserve warehouses.

He also agreed to the cabinet's request and agreed to the people's imprisonment and grain reduction.

To put it bluntly, these three means that if you have surplus grain, you can obtain the qualifications of a prison student by donating grain to the court, and then you can enter the Imperial College to study; as an official, you can also reduce some of the punishment by paying grain.

"Introducing grain into prisons and commuting sentences by paying grain have been around since ancient times, and our government has promoted them a lot. However, this can easily lead to corruption of prison students, too many people, and is detrimental to the imperial examination. In addition, paying grain to commute sentences can also encourage lawless people to do whatever they want.

But now in order to set up a reserve warehouse, this kind of thing has to be done.Therefore, there must not be too many places for these two items. I think there are only [-] places in total. The minimum threshold must be [-] shi. "

Zhu Youxiao was now afraid that the officials below would do anything wrong, so he continued to give instructions as he spoke:

"In addition, after the policy is implemented, the cabinet will send more censors to inspect local areas. Those who wantonly use the special case of sending grain to jail and commuting their sentences, act recklessly, or abuse their quotas will be severely punished and will not be tolerated."

After hearing the emperor's words, everyone present did not dare to object and nodded in agreement.

"Zhao Nanxing, this matter will be left to your Ministry of Revenue. Whether it is promoting new crops, resetting reserve warehouses, or evaluating the results of officials setting up reserve warehouses, these will be the focus of the work in the next few years. It’s very important. Your Ministry of Revenue must pay attention to this matter and don’t let it slip.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Nanxing immediately nodded in agreement. He would never take such a major event that benefits the country and the people lightly.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. If this matter is not done well, your Majesty will be the first to punish me!"

Zhu Youxiao was relieved when he heard what Zhao Nanxing said.

Once this major incident is resolved, the spending projects determined by the cabinet for next year will become much simpler.

(End of this chapter)