The Ming Dynasty: A bookstore sells the history of the Ming Dynasty, leaving Emperor Chongzhen bewil

Wu Zhiwang immediately apologized, and even begged for a death sentence, which is understandable to everyone.

After all, the situation in Shaanxi is now quite out of control. Natural disasters continue, popular uprisings are breaking out, bandits are rampant, and the army is short of pay, morale is wavering, and even a mutiny has occurred.

It's incredibly complex.

Regardless of the circumstances, he, as the governor of the three border regions, bears some responsibility.

Before the emperor can blame you, you should apologize first. This is actually a common tactic in officialdom: to retreat in order to advance.

But is Takeshi really coming?

He crashed into a pillar in the lobby, smashing his head open and bleeding profusely. He collapsed to the ground, his fate unknown.

This caught everyone off guard, including Emperor Chongzhen.

"Quickly! Someone come here!"

The Governor's Office was thrown into chaos...

……

According to the original historical trajectory, around this time, Wu Zhiwang had already died. He did not die from illness, but from suicide.

Wu Zhiwang was not only the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions, guarding the borders of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia, but he was also a famous physician.

He initially sought medical help for his grandson's illness but had no other recourse, so he had to try to treat him himself. As he continued to practice medicine, he became a renowned doctor, especially skilled in pediatrics and gynecology.

He compiled his rich clinical experience accumulated through long-term practice into two books: "Jiyang Gangmu," which focuses on andrology, and "Jiyin Gangmu," which focuses on gynecology. The two books represent the two principles of gynecology, relieving the suffering of people in his time and laying the foundation for the development of gynecology in later generations.

But it was precisely because of this that he suffered so much during his tenure as Governor-General of the Three Border Regions.

Because doctors have a benevolent heart.

The severe drought in northern Shaanxi caused widespread suffering, with no grass growing in the fields, nine out of ten houses empty, the land barren and yellow, almost every village deserted, and white bones and green phosphorescence scattered everywhere. The nightly sounds of ghostly wails pierced his heart. He could save one person, but he could not save thousands.

Studying medicine won't save the Ming Dynasty!

Helpless, he was ultimately unable to face all of this, and in March of the second year of Chongzhen's reign, Wu Zhiwang chose to commit suicide at the Governor's Mansion in Guyuan.

That time, no one saved him.

But this time was different. Due to the butterfly effect, Emperor Chongzhen came to Shaanxi for inspection at the beginning of the second year of his reign. Wu Zhiwang, who had already decided to die, pleaded for death and then tried to prove his loyalty by dying. He was saved by Emperor Chongzhen and others.

Inside a side room of the Governor's Office.

Wu Zhiwang slowly woke up, and as soon as he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the Emperor's concerned face.

"emperor!"

Although his head was still a little dizzy, Wu Zhiwang was instinctively startled when he saw the emperor, which made him much more awake.

"You're finally awake."

Emperor Chongzhen sat on the edge of the bed and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Wu Zhiwang wake up.

At this moment, Yue He, the governor of Yansui, said in a low voice, "His Majesty has been keeping watch over you here all night."

Wu Zhiwang was taken aback upon hearing this, and his eyes welled up with tears again.

"This old minister...this old minister has burdened Your Majesty!"

"No!"

Emperor Chongzhen grasped Wu Zhiwang's withered hand and shook his head: "The Ming Dynasty needs responsible officials like you, and the people also need responsible officials like you. You should not die so easily. This is escapism, and it has no meaning whatsoever."

"I know the situation in Shaanxi is difficult, and I understand your feelings. However, if we're talking about punishing someone, the one who should be punished the most is me."

Emperor Chongzhen's words brought tears streaming down Wu Zhiwang's face.

During this period, he was under tremendous pressure. Faced with this complicated and difficult situation, the 77-year-old man was almost overwhelmed. At the same time, the emperor suddenly came to inspect Shaanxi. He thought the emperor would blame him, so he fell ill with worry and fear. Unexpectedly, the emperor understood him.

This single phrase, "I know, I understand," speaks louder than a thousand words.

"emperor……"

Wu Zhiwang, finally able to release his pent-up emotions, choked out, "It's not Your Majesty's fault, it's my incompetence! I couldn't save the Ming Dynasty, nor could I save the people!"

Emperor Chongzhen did not offer any further advice, but instead beckoned to Wang Chengen, who was waiting nearby.

"Cheng'en, bring it here."

"Yes."

Wang Chengen took a brocade box and placed it on the table, immediately drawing everyone's attention.

Wang Chengen carefully opened the brocade box, inside which were three items.

Almost everyone frowned, a question mark appearing on their foreheads. What was this?

Only Xu Guangqi's eyes lit up.

Because he recognized one of the items, sweet potatoes, which he had strongly recommended in his book "Complete Treatise on Agriculture," believing that it could be used to prepare for famine. In order to promote sweet potatoes to the north smoothly, he also detailed the methods of saving and storing seeds, pointing out that "the difficulty of storing seeds lies in two things: dampness and frost. If they are buried in the soil, they will not freeze but will be damp; if they are not buried in the soil, they will not be damp but will freeze."

Unfortunately, it has never received the attention it deserves.

Unexpectedly, the Emperor took the initiative to bring the disaster area this time, and his purpose was self-evident. What were the other two items? Xu Guangqi didn't recognize them either, but he could roughly guess that they were crops, like sweet potatoes.

As expected, Chongzhen introduced the following to Xu Guangqi, Wu Zhiwang, and several key officials in Shaanxi: "This is called sweet potato, this is called potato, this is called potato, all of them are agricultural crops."

"These three crops are already being cultivated in our Great Ming Dynasty."

"But you must not underestimate these three crops..."

Chongzhen recounted everything Zhu Ziming had told him to everyone in detail, like pouring beans from a bamboo tube.

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent, as if you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone was stunned.

With a yield of three to four thousand catties per mu, and being drought-resistant, easy to grow, highly adaptable, less affected by pests, and resistant to storage, and with flexible ways of consumption, if these characteristics are really as the emperor said, then these three crops are simply born to fight disasters.

What is this? This is...

"Auspicious omen!" Hu Tingyan, the governor of Shaanxi, was the first to excitedly exclaim.

"Yes, yes, yes, this is an auspicious omen from heaven!"

"May Heaven protect the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty will surely be able to safely overcome this natural disaster!" The other officials present echoed.

With natural disasters raging, what the Ming Dynasty needs most right now is auspicious omens.

Besides serving as disaster relief crops, these three crops are more importantly inspiring and rekindle people's hope.

Emperor Chongzhen was not particularly excited.

Because he knew better than anyone how terrifying this natural disaster was, these three crops could only provide some degree of relief.

Emperor Chongzhen said to Xu Guangqi, "Minister Xu, you should discuss with your ministers matters such as the promotion and planting of these three crops, and ensure that they can be promoted throughout the Shaanxi region this year."

"Yes."

Xu Guangqi quickly bowed and accepted the order.

At this moment, he finally understood why the emperor had brought him alone to inspect Shaanxi. However, he still didn't understand where the emperor's three crops came from. He had strongly recommended sweet potatoes before, but they were not taken seriously. Now, who could make the emperor attach so much importance to them and personally send sweet potatoes to the disaster area?

Oh, and those books too.

Xu Guangqi didn't know, but he knew that these must be the emperor's top secrets. Asking would be pointless; he would find out when the time was right.

After arranging all this, Chongzhen looked at Hong Chengchou, who was standing to the side like a lackey.

"Minister Hong, come with me."