Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 290 Success Doesn't Have to Be Mine
Nanjing, side hall of Wuying Hall.

Outside the palace, the scorching July sun in Nanjing was like a giant furnace, baking and distorting everything in the world.

The corner towers on the city wall of Nanjing swayed slightly in the rising steam, with only the incessant chirping of cicadas tirelessly proclaiming the authority of midsummer.

Inside the palace, however, it was as if it were another world. Several huge blocks of ice taken from the ice cellar were placed in the four corners of the palace. Wisps of white mist emanated from them and spread quietly along the smooth, mirror-like gold brick floor, keeping the sweltering heat that could make one's bones feel weak outside the palace walls.

Zhu Youjian, dressed in a simple black, narrow-sleeved casual robe, stood alone in the center of the palace.

Just half an hour ago, Tian Ergeng bowed and entered the hall, presenting a three-foot-long box made of boxwood with both hands.

The wooden box was exquisitely crafted, without a single nail or mortise. Three red wax seals on it, under the dim light of the hall, resembled three congealed bloodstains.

Without uttering a single word, Tian Ergeng left the wooden box and retreated like a ghost, gently closing the palace door and completely returning this space filled with oppressive anticipation to its owner.

Zhu Youjian did not immediately step forward to open it.

His gaze passed through the window lattice, looking at a corner of the palace outside the hall, shrouded in the blazing sun. His eyes were deep, as if they pierced through thousands of miles, reaching all the way to the capital in the north.

In the past few months, he has toured the Jiangnan region, and in the eyes of the people, he appears to be a young emperor with a bloodthirsty nature.

He deposed the prince with lightning speed, confiscating all the wealth he had accumulated over a century; he personally tore apart the facade of the Duke Yansheng who claimed to share the fate of the nation, and for the first time, the Confucius Cemetery in Qufu was stained with his own blood.

He arrested all the wealthy salt merchants in Yangzhou, using their vast fortunes to fill the empty national treasury; he unleashed a bloody storm in Songjiang and Suzhou, uprooting officials, gentry, and landlords who had seized land and resisted the new policies, and beheading them.

He even turned his sword against the monks and temples who, under the guise of offering land to Buddha, had seized countless fertile fields, sending those compassionate bald monks and their protectors to meet their true demise.

The canal water in Jiangnan was almost dyed red.

However, no one knew that beneath this brutal scene of bloodshed, the young emperor's heart was also preoccupied with the strategic moves he had personally made amidst the storm.

Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua, and Song Yingxing.

These three names carry some of the hopes that the seeds of the future of the Ming Dynasty are sprouting.

These three men were: an elderly minister, frail yet learned and profound; a talented man, well-versed in Western learning yet repeatedly ostracized; and a commoner, unknown yet possessing a wealth of knowledge.

It was he who elevated them above others and entrusted them with important responsibilities in the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youjian knew very well that it was impossible for any miracle to happen out of thin air in the past few months.

What he gave them was not the precise blueprints of later generations, nor some magic that could turn lead into gold, but a way of thinking, a methodology that transcended this era by hundreds of years and which he called "science".

Zhu Youjian paced slowly, his thick-soled boots clattering on the gold bricks with a dull, rhythmic sound.

He was reviewing himself, examining the seeds he had sown, and scrutinizing whether his intervention in this era had been too reckless.

"I have given Xu Guangqi the methods of 'controlling variables' and 'systematic breeding,' enabling him to use human effort to seize the power of nature and cultivate unprecedented high-yield varieties."

"To Sun Yuanhua, I have granted him the power of 'defeat without punishment' and instilled in him the 'spirit of experimentation.' What I have pointed out is the future of 'rifling to solidify the trajectory and fixed equipment to increase the rate of fire,' and I want him to pave a path for the Ming Dynasty's firearms innovation from countless recorded failures."

"For Song Yingxing, I have drawn up a blueprint for an 'industrial order'. The first is 'materials', replacing charcoal with coke to lay the foundation for steel; the second is 'people', using the methods of 'division of labor' and 'standardization' to unite the efforts of all trades into one force, which is the foundation for the doubling of national strength."

These are his true strengths.

What he wanted to see was not a flattering letter with the words "Auspicious signs from heaven, long live the Holy Emperor," but rather detailed reports filled with data, sweat, and even failures and bitterness.

At this point in his thoughts, the anxiety and anticipation in Zhu Youjian's heart, stemming from the unknown, gradually settled down like strong liquor chilled on ice, transforming into an almost stern solemnity.

He walked to the front of the desk, sat down, and took a small silver-sheathed knife used for cutting paper.

Zhu Youjian held his breath and carefully used the tip of his knife to cut open the first sealing wax seal. The wax block cracked open, revealing the silk threads underneath. He then cut open the three seals in turn, and slowly opened the lid of the boxwood box.

There were no surprising items in the box, only three heavy memorials wrapped in yellow silk cloth, and a few small items also carefully wrapped in silk.

He first took out the topmost document, untied the silk cloth, and revealed the cover of the memorial.

Above is Xu Guangqi's vigorous and powerful official script, each character exuding the rigor of an old-school scholar.

The memorials did not come from just the capital region, but were a thick stack, jointly presented by his secret agents, stewards of imperial estates, and local officials who had been dispatched to the northern provinces of Shuntian, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Shaanxi, as well as those who had just been incorporated into the newly established "Agricultural College" system.

These were all secret plans he had begun to lay out more than a year ago. Now, under the coordination of the master Xu Guangqi, these scattered and secretive pilot projects have finally been integrated into an agricultural experiment network covering the entire north, and have presented the first truly meaningful report card.

The entire text is filled with detailed data and rigorous records. Between the lines, it overflows with the irrepressible excitement of a meticulous scholar who sees his life's ideal being put into practice with such a grand scale, as well as his prudence in the face of this amazing achievement.

The core content of the memorial is now before us—a key achievement after months of work.

Firstly, "in the northern provinces, the trial planting of new crops has been very successful."

"Your Majesty's decree has been followed by us to integrate the secret farms Your Majesty previously established in the five northern provinces. Under the name of the newly established 'Agricultural College,' we will coordinate their operations to explore the growth limits of 'potatoes' and 'sweet potatoes,' which are already circulating in Fujian and Guangdong, under different soil conditions and drought conditions, so as to provide a basis for national policy."

Zhu Youjian opened the topmost summary report, personally written by Xu Guangqi.

"Initially, when these two plants were trialed and promoted in various provinces, they all encountered resistance. The farmers who were recruited, upon seeing these plants from the south, either said that they preferred damp and warm conditions and could not withstand the wind and frost of the north; or they said that their strange appearance might damage the soil."

However, the officials and apprentices who participated in the trial planting in various places strictly followed the six-word formula of "deep plowing, ridging, and heavy application of base fertilizer" that His Majesty had secretly instructed them several years ago. They meticulously controlled water and fertilizer in different plots, kept records day and night, and dared not slacken in the slightest.

"By late June, good news came from all provinces one after another! The vines continued to grow wildly under the dry wind and scorching sun, and when the soil was dug up, the officials and people were all shocked! The scene... even though I was in the capital, I could feel the shock and emotion, and then the ecstasy, between the lines!"

Zhu Youjian's breath hitched slightly, his gaze fixed on the data that had been summarized and circled in red ink.

"Your Majesty! According to on-site measurements and weighings from various provinces, and based on comprehensive reports: in the humid coastal areas of Shandong, the highest potato yield per mu reached 26 shi! Even in Shaanxi, where signs of severe drought have already appeared this year, the potato yield per mu on its barren sandy land remains stable at over 7 shi! Sweet potatoes are growing even more vigorously, their roots deeply embedded, and when dug up from cracked ground, they are still piled high like eggs. Farms in Henan report that their maximum yield per mu has reached a staggering 28 shi!"

Twenty-eight shi!

Zhu Youjian's fingers curled slightly on the imperial desk in extreme excitement; he knew better than anyone what this meant.

At this time in northern Ming Dynasty, a good harvest of wheat or rice was considered to be two shi per mu, while ordinary dry land could only yield around two shi.

At the end of his memorial, Xu Guangqi wrote with almost trembling strokes:

"Your Majesty! The merit of these two plants lies not in competing with the five grains for fertile land, but in their ability to transform barren land into granaries! They can survive on mountains, sandy land, and even barren slopes! What is especially valuable is that their roots are deep and extremely drought-resistant, so even in the face of strong winds and hail, the harvest will not be lost."

Your Majesty's far-sighted plans have finally yielded results, far surpassing the achievements of stationing a million troops!

Zhu Youjian repeatedly looked at the texts from different provinces that all pointed to the same miracle, and a surge of emotion welled up in his heart.

Reports of drought in Shaanxi and Shanxi are pouring in again, and an even more ferocious natural disaster has already bared its fangs.

This thick stack of reports was one of his trump cards that allowed him to face this catastrophic disaster head-on.

Secondly, it was the launch of the "Jingxuan No. 1" breeding program.

Xu Guangqi's writing style returned to its steady and rigorous state:
"Your Majesty's sacred instruction to 'select the best from the best and screen them generation after generation' has not been forgotten. We have already cleared 300 mu of superior paddy fields south of the capital as 'breeding fields.' Deep ditches have been dug around these fields to prevent foreign pollen from drifting in. I have sent my disciples to search throughout the north and south, collecting 127 varieties of rice, including Champa rice, imperial rice, cold-resistant rice from Liaodong, and even wild rice varieties found in the mountains and fields. These varieties have been divided into sections and marked with signs. We have recorded in detail their germination date, number of tillers, heading time, disease resistance, and lodging resistance. All the findings have been recorded in a special register."

"This summer, following the method of 'emasculation and pollination' taught by Your Majesty, we selected a dozen or so of the best varieties and made some preliminary attempts. However, this matter concerns the natural order of things, and human intervention is limited; it is not something that can be accomplished overnight. My colleagues at the Agricultural College and I have established a system to select the best rice plants each year, keep their seeds, and sow them again the following year, and then select them again."

If this method can be persisted with for three to five years, I am confident that I will be able to cultivate a rice variety called 'Huangming Baohe' with stable traits that far surpasses any rice variety available today!
His Majesty once said that this matter would benefit future generations, and even if I cannot live to see its completion, I should lay this foundation for posterity. Even if it takes three or five years, ten or twenty years, I will certainly accomplish it!

Upon seeing the words "ten years, twenty years," Zhu Youjian's tightly clenched lips finally revealed a relieved smile.

This is the Xu Guangqi he truly relied on, a genuine scholar who investigated things and sought knowledge!
Without being impatient for quick success or seeking personal gain, we take one step at a time, all for a foreseeable and even more ambitious goal.

Thirdly, it is the completed manuscript of the first volume of "New Compilation of Agricultural Administration".

The memorial concluded by mentioning that a brand-new agricultural book, intended to guide practice, was being compiled.

The first volume specifically describes the planting methods of potatoes and sweet potatoes, as well as the "water-conserving farming method" orally taught by Zhu Youjian. This method involves covering the ridges with materials such as rice straw and wheat straw to reduce water evaporation under the scorching sun. This is the primitive prototype of the later plastic film mulching technology.

The entire book is written in plain and easy-to-understand vernacular Chinese and is accompanied by a large number of illustrations carefully drawn by illustrators, striving to make it easy for farmers with limited literacy to understand and learn.

"Your Majesty, I humbly request your decision: may this book be immediately delivered to the Directorate of Ceremonial for printing and distribution throughout the land?" Xu Guangqi earnestly inquired at the end of his document.

Zhu Youjian gently closed the weighty memorial and carefully placed it on a corner of his desk.

A vivid image appeared in his mind: an elderly man, well past sixty, leading a group of energetic young disciples covered in mud, bent over under the scorching sun in the fields around the capital, carefully measuring plant height and recording data, dedicating all his light and heat to an unprecedentedly bountiful future.

(End of this chapter)