Yongle Emperor's grandson: Zhu Yuanzhang with cheats, Zhu Di went crazy

Chapter 42: A Fool Believes the Words of a Madman (Please Read, Invest, and Subscribe!)
The old man and Empress Xu carefully dug the dirt off the potatoes, cleaned them out one by one, and placed them on the tray held by Mother Yun next to them.

Zhu Zhanjun stood silently by, without any sign of laughing in his heart or on his face.

Laugh at their lack of vision for reacting so strongly to a mere potato.

People who have this kind of mentality are the ones who should be ridiculed the most.

Zhu Zhanjun never thought that he was a time traveler, and that his cognitive thinking was superior to that of the ancients.

Zhu Zhanjun still remembers what his teacher said when he was in school.

"We can sit in spacious and bright classrooms, read books, and eat all kinds of delicious food, all of which were paid for by the lives and blood of our ancestors and countless predecessors."

"The ancients were ignorant, but they dared to fight and challenge the whole world and all enemies for their descendants. As beneficiaries, we should pay the highest respect to them instead of walking on the road they paved and laughing at their ignorance."

People of my grandfather and grandmother’s generation knew about the hardships of that time and even experienced them personally.

In the present Ming Dynasty, there are many places where people still cannot get enough food.

Zhu Zhanjun had also thought about how many people would question, ridicule and mock him for crossing the Bering Strait to the American continent at the age of eight in search of high-yield crops.

But in the end he still chose to go, not only to assist his future golden finger, but also to fight for the future of the Ming Dynasty.

Looking at the potatoes being dug out one by one, Zhu Zhanjun was moved by the scene and couldn't help but think of the dozens of guards who gave their lives along the way to protect him and to bring back these high-yield crops.

"It's not God's blessing on the Ming Dynasty. All of this was caused by those dozens of fools who believed the words of a madman like me and risked their lives to do it."

The surroundings suddenly became quiet. Xiaohu, who had a silly smile on his face, suddenly fell silent and turned to walk to the corner.

Hanzi and the other guard were also silent.

The old man slowly stood up, took the tray from Yun Mama's hand, and looked at the huge potatoes on it.

He looked at Zhu Zhanjun solemnly and said, "Report their names and hometowns. When these high-yield grains are announced to the world, I will make sure everyone in the Ming Dynasty remembers their names."

"We must let all future generations remember that they can have enough food and do not have to go hungry because these people sacrificed their lives for it."

"Grandson, on behalf of all my brothers, I kneel to thank your majesty for his grace!"

The old man asked Yao Guangxiao to hold the potatoes. He picked up the hammer, held Zhu Zhanjun's hand, and the two of them worked together to open the big jar containing the sweet potatoes.

As the jar and soil dispersed, another scene that shocked everyone appeared.

A sweet potato as big as a child's head slid off the soil, revealing most of its body.

The old man stepped forward and carefully picked the sweet potato, then worked with Zhu Zhanjun to dig out the remaining sweet potatoes.

Another full tray.

Looking at the laden fruits on the tray in his hand and the tray in Yao Guangxiao's hand, the old man showed a happy smile on his face.

"Go get the scales, go get the scales quickly."

Soon, a guard brought the scale over. The old man pushed away the guard who wanted to help and decided to do it himself.

Empress Xu and Yao Guangxiao helped by stuffing the potatoes into the scale bag one by one.

This potato seedling grew eight potatoes of different sizes. The largest one was as big as a bowl, and the smallest one was as big as a fist.

Feeling the weight in his hands, the old man's hands were shaking as he adjusted the rope.

"3 jin 6 liang." (A jin in the Ming Dynasty is about 16 liang today)
When he saw where the rope was hanging, the old man shouted excitedly.

Looking at the old man who was yelling excitedly like a child, Zhu Zhanjun smiled and added: "Grandpa, one acre of land can plant 2500 to 3000 seedlings."

According to current planting methods, 3500 to 4000 plants can be planted per acre.

Zhu Zhanjun took into consideration the nutrition of the land in the Ming Dynasty and issues such as fertilization in the later period, so he reduced the number of plants planted.

Although the land can plant so many crops, the nutrients will not be enough in the later stage, so it will be a waste of seeds. It is better to plant them sparsely so that the seedlings can absorb more nutrients.

"Three thousand plants, one plant weighs three kilograms, a thousand plants make three thousand, three thousand plants make nine thousand..."

As the old man was calculating, he suddenly covered his chest with his hands.

Zhu Zhanjun was startled, and hurried forward to calm the old man, shouting: "Grandpa, don't calculate it based on this. I take special care of it, regularly sprinkle wood ash, bone meal, and various fertilizers to make it strong." "If ordinary people plant it and can't take good care of it, even if the land is fertile, each plant can only produce about one kilogram at most."

"One pound!"

The old man was a little disappointed, but then he reacted.

"One pound is enough. It's much more profitable than growing wheat."

"This thing consumes a lot of land and cannot be planted every year." Zhu Zhanjun quickly added the disadvantages of planting potatoes every year.

The old man waved his hand nonchalantly, "Eating land is nothing, it's better than eating people. If people starve to death, there's no point in having land."

After carefully placing the potatoes back on the tray, the old man urged Yao Guangxiao to bring the sweet potatoes over.

Everyone looked at the old man's scale bar excitedly. The scale rope was stable only when it was hung to the 5-jin position.

"Long live Your Majesty, long live the Ming Dynasty."

Everyone burst into cheers instantly, and the old man even grinned excitedly and spoke incoherently.

"Good, good, that's great."

Looking at her husband's happy expression, Empress Xu thought in her heart that her husband was probably not so happy when she gave birth to Zhu Gaochi.

"Hurry up, little guy...tell me how much I can grow on this one acre of land."

The old man ignored the mud on the sweet potatoes, held the biggest one, and looked at Zhu Zhanjun with red eyes.

Zhu Zhanjun thought about it briefly and said, "There's not much difference between the two, but this thing is also more land-consuming."

"My grandson suggested that we rotate 3 to 4 mu of land, plant the first one, plant other food crops on the other plots to feed the land, and then rotate them one by one."

"This not only ensures the yield, but also gives the land a break."

"Of course, my grandson personally suggests that we draw personnel from the Ministry of Works and various government offices to form a department to study how to increase soil fertility."

"In this way, the people of the world can see the court's attention to people's livelihood, and we can also study various ways to increase the fertility of the land and preserve our land for future generations."

"We want everyone to know that our Zhu family started out as common people, and we also care about the people of the world."

"Let everyone know that we are not just talking, but will really put it into action. In order to let the people live a good life and to carry forward the wishes of our ancestors, the Zhu family of the Ming Dynasty is willing to make every effort."

"Well said, this is what a man of the Zhu family should do." The old man cheered excitedly and told Zhu Zhanjun, "Write a rule for this matter. I will think about it carefully and implement it as soon as possible to prepare for the promotion of high-yield grain."

Handing the big sweet potato in his arms to Yao Guangxiao, the old man looked at Zhu Zhanjun with some emotion and said:

"My little bastard, Grandpa has never believed in any kind of blessing from heaven, but today Grandpa believes it now."

Holding Zhu Zhanjun in his arms, the old man said with emotion: "You are the greatest blessing God has given to me."

Looking at the grandson in front of him, the old man felt deeply moved: first he saved the Ming Dynasty's 100,000-strong army, then he rescued his wife, the most important person in his life, and now he has brought back high-yield grain to save the entire Ming Dynasty.

Save the army, save the queen, save the people.

Any one of these three things would be enough to make the world famous, but his grandson achieved all of them.

A good and holy grandson can bring prosperity to three generations.

For some reason, the old man inexplicably remembered this sentence.

Looking at Zhu Zhanjun who was held in Empress Xu's arms and had kiss marks all over his face, a strange thought arose in his mind.

Is it possible that he had misunderstood something over the years?

Could it be that the saintly grandson his father talked about was someone else?

Is there a possibility that when his father appeared in his dream, he actually wanted to tell him that he had chosen a good candidate and was preparing to arrange for his reincarnation?

As a result, he mistakenly thought it was someone else. After calculating the birth dates of the two and their performance, the old man felt more and more that this was very likely.

(End of this chapter)