Jinyi Town Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 326 National Policy Controversy
Tina said that she has a treasure that can save the people of Ming Dynasty from suffering from famine.He Liu and the others laughed out loud.

He Liu said with a smile: "Oh, Ti, Lady Tina. Do you know that there is a proverb in our Ming Dynasty, which tells a toad to yawn, what a big tone! The people of China will no longer suffer from famine! Such a treasure like yours, is it a cornucopia? That thing is just a folklore. It is said that Shen Wansan, a strange merchant in the Hongwu period, had one. In fact, the real cornucopia is Shen Wansan’s brain!"

Tina replied very seriously: "The treasure I brought is a special crop in Latin America. I named it the Ming Dynasty, called sweet potato. This sweet potato only needs a small piece of cane. Water can live when it meets soil. In just a few months, a cane the size of a finger can produce a fruit weighing several kilograms! According to your Ming Dynasty, one mu can produce two to three thousand kilograms! And sweet potatoes are easy to store , it will not rot for several months."

He Liu was speechless when he heard this: "One mu grows two to three thousand catties? The best rice seed in the south of the Yangtze River can only produce three to five hundred catties per mu. Can you grow the stuff you're talking about and eat it?"

Tina said: "More than 1000 catties of sweet potatoes were planted on my merchant ship Groningen. You can take some down and have a taste."

Sun Chunbin hurriedly ordered his soldiers to go aboard the Groningen, and took some sweet potatoes to the commander hall.

Tina borrowed He Liu's Xiuchun Knife, cut off a piece of sweet potato, threw it into her mouth and chewed.

He Liu and the others followed suit, and each cut a piece of sweet potato and threw it into their mouths.

After He Liu finished eating, he said, "It's extremely sweet and has an endless aftertaste."

Li Gao said from the side: "It's delicious! It just suppressed the smell of shit in my mouth!"

Sun Chunbin said: "This food is quite delicious. But my lord, can we not mention the shit thing? The thing is over and it's over, let the middle yellow and the middle white become a passing cloud, blow away with the wind!"

Only Lao Hu showed a look of embarrassment: "This thing is sweet, but it's too hard. I'm old and my teeth are bad, so I can't chew it!"

Tina explained: "Sweet potatoes can be eaten raw or boiled. After cooking, they are extremely soft and sticky."

He Liu ordered his soldiers: "Go, boil a pot of hot water, boil two, and bring them to us."

The soldiers led the order, and after a few sticks of incense, two cooked sweet potatoes were served.

He Liu shared the food with Lao Hu and the others, and it was really sweet, refreshing and extremely soft.

Li Gao said from the side: "You are so soft! It's like the breasts of the girls in the Yichun Building!"

Old Hu also said: "Oh, I'm getting old and my teeth are not very good! This thing is right on my teeth. It's sweet and fragrant!"

He Liu smiled and said: "The name sweet potato seems a bit of a mouthful. I think this thing looks like a melon growing out of the ground, so let's call it sweet potato!"

Everyone ate sweet potatoes.He Liudao: "Lady Tina, it seems that we have wronged you. The things you brought are all exotic treasures, not poisonous substances. However, you still offended us by bribing the local officials of Tianjin Wei. The laws of Ming Dynasty."

Tina shrugged her shoulders helplessly: "Your Ming generals and officials only recognize money. If you don't give them money, my goods won't be able to land."

He Liudao: "The imperial court opened the three treaty ports of Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Fuzhou decades ago. Why don't you stop at these three ports?"

Tina replied: "Tianjin Wei is the closest port to your capital. If my goods can be landed directly from Tianjin Wei and sold to your capital, I can save a lot of shipping costs and earn more profits."

He Liu looked outside the lobby, night had already fallen.He told Sun Chunbin: "Clean up an upper room in the back office for Lady Tina to live in. Tomorrow, we will go with her to some of her merchant ships to have a look."

At night, He Liu entered Lao Hu's room.Lao Hu is holding a flying knife and gesticulating, teaching the idiot Li Gao the flying knife kung fu in "Sunflower Treasure".

He Liudao: "Old Hu, I have something serious to talk to you about."

Lao Hu nodded, and said to Li Gao: "There is a big poplar tree in the east of the yard, and there is an old crow's nest on the poplar tree. Take the flying knife and go to practice under the big poplar tree. When you throw the flying knife on the old crow's nest, I will come back I will teach you the next trick."

Li Gao happily took the throwing knife and walked out of the room.

Lao Hu dismissed Li Gao, and He Liu said: "Old Hu, I think Sun Chunbin really handled an unjust case this time. That Tina doesn't seem to have any evil intentions. The goods she brought are indeed some exotic goods. Qi Bao."

Old Hu was surprised and said, "Don't you want to acquit Tina?"

He Liu nodded: "Not only do I want to acquit her, but I also want to take her and her goods to the capital and introduce her to the officials of the household department."

Lao Hu took a sip of tea and said, "I advise you, don't do that."

He Liu asked, "Why?"

Old Hu talked eloquently: "This man can share adversity, but cannot share wealth. The emperor ascended the throne. In the past, those members of the Yuwang Party inevitably formed opposing forces. Let's talk about Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng. One is conservative. The other is the reformist faction. Within a few days after the emperor ascended the throne, the two began to have differences in the court. Zhang Juzheng had long advocated the abolition of the sea ban, but Gao Gong urged the emperor to follow the ancestral system and still implement the ban on the sea. If you bring a Xiyi businesswoman to the capital, you will naturally become a faction supporting Zhang Juzheng. You will inevitably be involved in the Gao and Zhang faction!"

He Liudao: "You said that there is now a factional dispute between Gao and Zhang? Isn't it so?"

Old Hu smiled: "Isn't that likely? Let's see, there will be a battle between Gao and Zhang sooner or later. Lao Hu, I will stand on the sidelines, and the first assistant Xu Jie wants to make peace. It's a pity that there are some things that can't be made."

He Liudao: "According to what you say, if I bring Lady Tina back to the capital, it will be like making an enemy of Gao Gong."

Old Hu said: "Hu Zongxian has a very clear saying. If you want to do something, you must offend others."

He Liu sighed: "Well, since doing things must offend people, as long as what you do is beneficial to the court and the common people, then you don't have to be afraid of offending people. As for offending Gao Gong, when we investigated the Datong Collaboration case a few years ago, we I have offended him!"

Lao Hu nodded: "Well, in fact, I also think that the national policy of closing the country to the outside world is out of date. At the beginning, the great grandfather closed the country because he was afraid that profiteers along the coast would sell supplies to pirates and pirates. Now the pirates and pirates in the southeast have been suppressed by Qi Jiguang It’s clean and tidy. Now and then, the national policy should be changed.”

He Liudao: "Closing the country to the outside world and switching to commerce involve our great Ming's struggle over the foundation of the country—should we emphasize agriculture and suppress business, or should we pay equal attention to agriculture and business? Those people in the court are arguing."

(End of this chapter)