Wife, you didn't really drug me, did you?

Chapter 489 Zhu Chongba steals corn (Happy Children's Day)
"Brother Jiu Si, let him learn freely. If he learns all the policies of our Huangzhou Prefecture, then he can also create another Huangzhou Prefecture. Wouldn't that be a big threat to us?"

Chen Xiaohu looked at Chen Jie and put forward his idea.

After hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Haha, I'm not afraid of them learning what I dare to say. Moreover, the pressure they face if they want to learn is not only economic, but also from officials. Therefore, if they want to learn from us, they must first conduct a new standardized study of their officials."

"If someone with weak ruling power wants to learn, the result will definitely be unpredictable. And the only person in the world who can learn how to treat the people the way I do is Zhu Chongba."

Chen Xiaohu said, "I know that our livelihood policies are actually funded by our government to subsidize the people. We have not concealed it from the surrounding prefectures over the years, but after they saw the money we invested, they all quit, especially the officials. All their money went into the pockets of the people. They are already honest and upright if they don't take advantage of the people."

"They still want to use the money in their pockets to help ordinary people. That is simply wishful thinking and a dream!"

Chen Xiaohu said.

Chen Jie said: "So I am not afraid that he will learn these superficial things. The development of Huangzhou Prefecture today is not just a simple reform of people's livelihood. We also support business and technology."

"Especially technology, which generates sky-high profits every year and can support us in completing the reform of people's livelihood."

"Zhu Chongba only looks at the reform of our people's livelihood. If they cannot master our core technologies, such as textile technology, refined salt, sugar refining technology, glass technology, soap technology, and other technologies that can produce high value, they will not have enough money to carry out reforms."

"And it also cooperates with business operations. In this regard, our Shen Wansan, Minister Shen is a talent of heaven's assistant. I can say that if we compare who can make the most money in this world, our Minister Shen will be second, and no one dares to claim to be first, including the so-called smartest person in the world, or the talent of the king's assistant. In business, he is invincible."

Shen Wansan was indeed a genius in business, especially after Chen Jie instilled some business theories in him, Shen Wansan's achievements in business were absolutely unrivaled.

If Chen Jie did not have the army and officials who could fundamentally control Shen Wansan, he would probably have wanted to kill Shen Wansan.

Fortunately, China is a magical place. People here have been instilled with a concept since childhood, that is, the official-centered ideology, and the power of officials is always greater than financial resources.

Even if you, Shen Wansan, are as rich as a country, as long as the person in power gives the order, Shen Wansan will have to sacrifice his life and contribute all his property.

Therefore, this is why Shen Wansan is now wholeheartedly helping Chen Jie, even though his property is not among the best in the entire Huangzhou Prefecture, because he knows that money is ultimately not as good as power, and Chen Jiusi gave him power and made him the Minister of Commerce of Huangzhou Prefecture, in charge of business operations.

Shen Wansan was obviously a smart man. After he gained power, he automatically handed over a large amount of financial power to Chen Jiusi.

Because he knew the consequences of a minister being too rich. It can be said that a large part of the reason why Huangzhou Prefecture was able to develop so rapidly was that Shen Wansan unconditionally donated his original business foundation to Huangzhou Prefecture.

Huangzhou Prefecture relied on his business foundation to develop rapidly, and he only left enough money for the Shen family to spend.

Moreover, Shen Wansan said that he did not want to leave too much property to his children. He hoped to leave them enough knowledge and learning. His Shen family would become a scholarly family in the future.

Chen Jie naturally understood Shen Wansan's thoughts, so he promised Shen Wansan that as long as the Shen family did not engage in commercial monopoly and harm people's livelihood, he would ensure that the Shen family would be rich and prosperous for several generations.

With Chen Jie's promise, Shen Wansan was even less interested in money, and Chen Jie also wanted Shen Wansan to manage the money, because only when someone who was not short of money was in charge of the money would there be no major problems.

If you find someone who has never seen money, and sees the huge commercial assets of Huangzhou Prefecture every year, it is impossible for them not to be greedy.

But Shen Wansan is not greedy, which is what Chen Jie trusts him most about.

It is precisely because of so many reasons that Chen Jie did not feel any threat from Zhu Yuanzhang learning from him.

There is a saying: Those who learn from me will die, and those who understand me will live.

How did Zhu Yuanzhang learn from himself? He is also a time traveler. He also knows a lot of modern management methods and modern technology.

How could Zhu Yuanzhang learn from himself? He also had a top business genius like Shen Wansan to help him run his business and help him plunder money from all over the world?

These two points alone are enough to make Zhu Yuanzhang far behind, unless he, Zhu Yuanzhang, starts a new account and finds a business genius from later generations to travel through time.

And even if Zhu Yuanzhang has God's help and learns these two points, don't forget that we still have the first-mover advantage.

He has been developing for much longer than Zhu Yuanzhang, and his business has already been scaled up. If Zhu Yuanzhang wants to learn from him, he can only chase after him. Even if he is exhausted, it is impossible for him to catch up in a short time.

Therefore, Chen Jie was not afraid of Zhu Yuanzhang's learning at all, because he could only learn the basics.

In fact, he was learning these things to lay the foundation for Chen Jie. When he improved the people's livelihood in Haozhou, Chen Jie would save a lot of effort in the future. In fact, it was a good thing for Zhu Yuanzhang to learn from him.

So Chen Jie gave an order: "Let him learn, let him learn freely."

Chen Xiaohu may not be good at other things, but his loyalty is definitely no problem, especially his execution ability, which is amazing.

Therefore, Chen Jie told Xiaohu not to bother with him and let him study freely, and Xiaohu carried out the order. There were no rules for Zhu Yuanzhang's behavior in Huangzhou Prefecture, and he could do whatever he wanted.

The order was conveyed and the entire Huangzhou Prefecture knew about it, so Zhu Yuanzhang's actions in Huangzhou Prefecture were not hindered in any way.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang and his men did not know that the secrets of Huangzhou Prefecture were hidden in the industrial zone within the city, which included five cotton mills, a glass factory, a refined salt purification plant, and so on.

But it is a military stronghold and ordinary people cannot enter.

All Zhu Yuanzhang could see were these exposed livelihood projects, but these were enough to surprise Zhu Yuanzhang.

At this time, in the Huanggang area of ​​Huangzhou Prefecture, outside Sunjia Town, there was a stretch of golden farmland where the people were working hard to harvest crops.

At this time, a team of carriages and horses was slowly driving towards this side.

When the carriages and horses arrived here, the leader stopped the convoy and stood in the fields, watching the people harvesting crops diligently.

"What kind of food is this?"

Zhu Yuanzhang stood in the field and asked Tang He beside him. Both of them used to be farmers, so they were not unfamiliar with farming, but this was the first time they saw the crops in the field, so they were very curious.

At this time, Tang He muttered: "This looks a bit like sorghum, doesn't it?"

Zhu Chongba said: "The heads of sorghum grow on the top, but here the grain seems to grow in the middle."

After hearing this, Tang He said, "It's very strange. Mr. Li, you are very knowledgeable. Do you know what this crop is?"

After hearing this, Li Shanchang shook his head and said, "I've never seen it before. It doesn't look like sorghum."

At this time, Ma Xiuying also lifted the curtain and took a look and said, "This stalk is obviously much thicker than sorghum. This is definitely not sorghum. But I don't know what crop it is specifically."

As a few people were thinking about this and guessing what the crop was, they saw an old farmer and his son driving an ox cart not far away. The cart was full of this strange grain and they were heading up the slope.

However, it had just rained here, so the slope was quite muddy. The wheels were stuck in the mud and it was difficult to get out.

Just as they were getting anxious, Zhu Yuanzhang jumped off his horse and rushed over. Tang He followed him and came behind the ox cart to help push it out of the mud pit.

"I I~"

The old man stopped his ox cart on the road and looked at Zhu Chongba and Tang He, whose boots were stained by mud, and said, "I'm so sorry for dirtying your shoes."

Zhu Chongba heard this and said, "Hey, it's just a small matter, just a small matter."

The old man was quite embarrassed and said, "This, this is very embarrassing. Where are the two distinguished guests from?"

Zhu Chongba said: "We are foot merchants from Anhui, dealing in furs."

"Oh, so you are merchants. Our house is right in front. If you two distinguished guests don't mind, you can come to my house to drink some water and wash the mud off your shoes with water!"

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Tang He. In fact, it didn’t matter whether he drank water or washed off the mud. What mattered was that Zhu Yuanzhang was very curious about what the grain was.

At this time, Zhu Chongba said, "Then I'm sorry to bother you, old man."

The old man said, "This is nothing. If it weren't for you two, my car would still be stuck here."

After that, the old man said, "I will drive the carriage in front, and you follow behind."

Zhu Chongba said: "Haha, I'll go with you, old brother."

Zhu Chongba followed the hero directly. The old man drove the ox cart and said, "Okay, but my ox cart is not as fast as your horse cart."

"My brother and I hit it off right away, so it would be nice to chat for a while."

The old man heard this and said, "Haha, that's fine."

At this time, Zhu Chongba finally asked his question: "Brother, what kind of food is this on your car? I have never seen it before."

After hearing this, the old man said, "This, this is a food that is unique to our Huangzhou Prefecture. It was recommended by the city lord for us to grow. It's called corn!"

"corn!"

Zhu Chongba said: "I have never seen this before. How is the grain yield per mu?"

When the old man heard this, he said, "This is divine grain. It can produce 500 to 600 kilograms per mu."

"How many?"

After hearing the old man's words, Zhu Yuanzhang was completely stunned and his eyes almost popped out.

He was born into a peasant family, so he naturally knew the grain yield per mu. You have to know that the wheat yield per mu in that era was only 200 to 300 kilograms per mu, provided there was no disaster and the weather was good.

Even if the sorghum yield is at its highest, it will not exceed 300 kilograms.

But the yield per mu of this thing can actually be five to six hundred kilograms, which is double the yield.

In this era, it is no exaggeration to call it divine grain. It doubles the output without increasing the arable land area, which can feed twice the population.

It is no exaggeration to call this kind of grain divine food.

At this moment Zhu Yuanzhang was really moved. You know, he was born into a peasant family. Everyone in his family, from his father to his brothers and sisters, starved to death. In the most difficult times, there were only nineteen grains of rice in the whole family. So he knew what it felt like to be hungry.

I also know how important food is in the eyes of ordinary people.

Therefore, when he heard that this magical item could produce 500 to 600 kilograms per mu, he instantly became greedy. He must bring this treasure back to Haozhou. With it, he can greatly reduce the problem of his military ration shortage.

Thinking of this, Zhu Chongba looked at the old farmer and asked, "Is this thing durable? How does it taste?"

This point was very important in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes during the war. Some food tasted good when eaten, but people would be hungry after a while. If the soldiers were not full, they would run out of strength after a short period of training, and they would be even worse off in a war.

Therefore, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, being able to resist hunger was very important, while taste was relatively unimportant. In that era, it was good enough for a soldier to have enough food, and it was a bit too much to want to eat well.

The old farmer heard this and said, "This stuff is good. Grind it into flour and make pancakes. It's delicious. It's also good for making porridge. It has a unique fragrance. Well, we're going home for lunch at noon. Today we're going to have fish potstickers and pancakes. You can try it."

"Isn't this bad?"

The old farmer said, "What's the big deal? We are not like before when everyone was short of food. Now everyone has enough food. There is nothing to be afraid of."

"Besides, you helped us so much today."

After hearing this, Zhu Chongba smiled and said, "Okay, then I won't be polite."

The old farmer said, "That's right. We Huangzhou people are the most hospitable."

Zhu Chongba said to Tang He behind him, "Go back and tell your sister-in-law that we'll have dinner at your elder brother's house today."

Tang He said: "Alas~"

Soon Zhu Chongba arrived at the old farmer's house. He saw that the old farmer's house was newly built. The old farmer smiled and said, "My son got married a few years ago, so I rebuilt the house. I'm sorry to make you laugh."

Looking at the blue brick and tile house in front of him, Zhu Yuanzhang thought that the houses of the local rich people in his hometown were probably similar to this.

When he looked again, he saw that half of the houses in the village had been renovated and became blue brick and tile houses.

At this time, he looked at the old farmer and said, "Old brother, is everyone in your village so rich?"

The old farmer said, "Hey, we didn't have much money before, but then our city lord came and encouraged us to grow new crops, so every household has food, and we can sell the food to the government, which buys it all at a fair price."

"After getting the money, the government used it to build roads and develop the fruit in our village. The apricots in our village are delicious. Once the road is built, we can sell them to the city and earn a lot of money."

"Now that we have money, the government has introduced policies to allow us to build new houses. Now when we build new houses, the brick factory will give us a discount on bricks, and the price is only 80% off the original price. When we calculated, we could save a lot of money, so those who were willing to build new houses have done so."

After hearing this, Zhu Chongba nodded slightly and said, "This is really good. It will be comfortable to live in a new house.

"That's not true. After I sell the grain this year, I plan to buy some chickens and ducks to raise. I can earn money from selling them in the future. Life will get better and better."

Zhu Chongba nodded gently and said, "These days are becoming more and more promising."

"That's right. You guys do that first. I'll go get the cow to drink some water. We'll be having dinner soon."

The old farmer said this, and Zhu Chongba nodded. However, when the old farmer left, Zhu Chongba's face looked very ugly. Tang He looked at him and asked, "What's wrong, brother?"

Zhu Chongba said: "This Chen Jiusi is too scary. You have heard that, this old man's family did not live well before, but after Chen Jiusi's management, this family has regained vitality and their lives are getting better and better. Believe it or not, who dares to attack Chen Jiusi at this time?"

"Do you believe that these common people can pick up hoes and fight him to the death?"

Tang He heard this and said, "No way."

Zhu Chongba said, "If you could live like this back then, would you have endured it if someone came to your house to burn, kill, and rob?"

"I'll fight him to the death!"

Tang He heard this and said, "This, this is really scary."

At this time, Zhu Chongba suddenly thought of something, and said to Tang He: "Did you see the corn? Steal a few ears when you leave, and we can take them to Haozhou to plant. If possible, we can also promote it on a large scale."

Upon hearing this, Tang He immediately said, "I understand."

They were talking in low voices, and soon the old man came back. By this time the meal was ready at home, and he warmly invited people to come and eat.

Soon, a big fish and half a bowl of golden corn tortillas were brought over. The corn tortillas were filled with fish broth and there was a layer of paste underneath, which looked quite tempting.

Seeing all the food, Ma Xiuying asked the brave man beside her, "Where's my sister-in-law?"

The old man said, "Someone is coming home, and he and his daughter-in-law are eating in the back."

Women are not allowed to sit at the table. This is a tradition left by our ancestors.

After hearing this, Ma Xiuying said, "Zhongba, you and your elder brother eat first. I will go to the backyard to eat with my elder sister-in-law and the others."

The old man heard this and said, "This, isn't it appropriate for a distinguished guest?"

Ma Xiuying said, "Haha, you guys can't relax when I'm a woman here at the table."

Zhu Chongba said: "Okay, brother, just let her go."

At this time, Tang He took down a roast chicken, pig's trotters and other cooked food from the car. These were all bought in the town ahead. He had been planning to eat them on the road with bread, but he didn't expect to meet an old farmer.

At this time, the old farmer wanted to refuse the offer, but Zhu Chongba said, "Brother, if you do this, you are just driving us away."

The hero was helpless after hearing this and could only say, "Well, let's eat, eat."

The old man's son was a taciturn person, so the only people chatting at the dinner table were the old man and Zhu Yuanzhang.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't wait to pick up a pancake and stuff it into his mouth. Immediately, the aroma of food filled his mouth.

"Well, this tortilla is delicious, third brother, sir, you guys try it."

Having said that, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately called Tang He and Li Shanchang to start eating. Soon the two of them took a bite and were immediately attracted by the corn pancake.

Li Shanchang said: "This is very delicious."

"Haha, if it tastes good, eat more."

The old man greeted them, and Tang He asked, "I've been to Hubei before, but I've never seen this kind of food."

The old man said, "This also came from the City Lord's Mansion. The City Lord taught us to eat it this way. We tasted it and thought it was delicious. Then word spread, and now it's a delicacy here."

"Besides, this pot can not only stew fish, but also chicken, duck, goose, pig, and even cabbage. Anyway, everything can be stewed in the pot. Just put a circle of pancakes on the edge of the pot."

After hearing this, Zhu Chongba said, "City Lord Chen is really a strange man. The way the people eat is also greatly influenced by him."

The old man heard this and said, "Of course, our city lord is the best official in the world. I have never seen another one like him at my age."

At this time, Li Shanchang took a bite of the fish and said, "This fish tastes good. There is no big river near you, where did this big fish come from?"

The old man heard this and said, "A reservoir!"

"A reservoir?"

Zhu Chongba seemed to have heard something new. The old man said, "Yes, every village has one. The reservoir built by the city lord is a treasure. In the past, we either had floods or droughts. With this reservoir, we can store water during floods and irrigate during droughts. With this reservoir, we can have a stable harvest regardless of drought or flood."

"You can also raise fish in this reservoir. Look at this big carp, it's raised in the reservoir. It's big and fat. Now people in our village can eat this big carp occasionally. We couldn't even think about it before."

"Now that I am living this life, it is just like a dream."

"Okay, guests, eat first. I'll go get some water."

As the old man left the table, the young man also stood up and said, "I'm full."

Also left.

Zhu Chongba was still savoring the wonderful use of the reservoir. After a while, he looked at Li Shanchang and said, "Sir, remember this. We will try it later."

After hearing this, Li Shanchang nodded slightly and said, "This policy of benefiting the people is indeed worth promoting. Chen Jiusi is really a wonderful person."

Tang He was chewing on a pancake and said, "Yes, Chen Jiusi has a lot of tricks, but this pancake is really delicious. Brother, we have to get the corn back."

After hearing this, Zhu Chongba pulled out two ears of corn from his sleeve and said, "I just touched them."

Seeing this, Tang He raised his finger and then searched his sleeves, revealing two ears of corn as well.

Zhu Chongba said: "Get some more. By the way, Mr. Li, you also take two ears of corn."

Li Shanchang blushed and said, "I, the superior, am a scholar."

Zhu Chongba said: "Yes, scholars are weak, so you should take two less ears of corn!"

Li Shanchang had a bitter face, and everyone had finished their meal. Zhu Chongba looked at the old man who had returned and said, "Old brother, we are sorry to bother you. We will leave now."

The old man asked, "Would you like to sit for a while?"

Zhu Chongba said, "No, no," and then he walked towards his own horse team. After all, he stole someone's corn, so he didn't dare to stay for long. Before leaving, Zhu Chongba shouted, "Sister, let's go!"

"Hey!"

Ma Xiuying came out immediately. When she got to the carriage, she saw an old man behind her pushing a cart of corn. Seeing the cart of corn, Zhu Chongba was stunned and asked, "What?"

Ma Xiuying said, "I bought it. This corn is so good. I bought some and planted it. Maybe it can benefit the people. Didn't you think of that, husband?"

After hearing this, Zhu Chongba looked at Tang He, then at Li Shanchang whose face was red, and said, "You can still buy this!"

(End of this chapter)