As the Emperor's personal guards, Zhu Ci had put a great deal of effort into cultivating the Jinyi Guard.
Not to mention the fine food and drink, the uniforms are handsome, the salary is generous, but the corresponding training is also more rigorous. Furthermore, they must be literate and able to recite the military code.
The Jinyi Guard trained in this manner possessed a different kind of spirit and vigor when they walked out, to say nothing of anything else.
Jiang Quan expressed with great pride that most of the rebel armies surrendered immediately upon seeing their strength, most importantly, many commoners provided them with information whenever they passed through villages and towns.
Do not underestimate the information network of these commoners; they might know more than what Jiang Quan's scouts could scout out.
Zhu Ci was somewhat surprised. "Someone else provides you with information? What have you done?"
In the Great Ming, ordinary people avoided soldiers at all costs, especially the Jinyi Guard.
The reputation of the Jinyu Guard was truly unpleasant; they were an existence that truly caused everyone to turn pale at the mere mention of them.
Are there actually commoners who proactively provide information now?
Jiang Quan smiled somewhat sheepishly and said, "Your Majesty often says that we are all the children of the people, that we should help them when they encounter difficulties. On this journey, we occasionally encountered people in trouble, as long as it didn't delay the march, we helped them along the way."
The Jinyi Guard could only help to a limited extent; they merely helped clear away debris when they encountered houses collapsed by the snow disaster, on several occasions, they happened upon collapsed buildings and went to rescue people.
Some Jinyi Guard had only just begun to enjoy such good lives for a year or two; seeing the refugees with nothing to eat, they could not help but feel great sympathy, secretly slipped them some food and copper coins.
It wasn't much, but it was enough to save several lives.
The common people did not know if the Jinyi Guard were truly terrifying; after all, in the past, those targeted by the Jinyi Guard were always high-ranking officials in the imperial court. As for ordinary commoners, let alone being arrested by the Jinyi Guard, they did not even have any means of coming into contact with them.
Therefore, those rumors were nothing more than hearsay; in any case, the Jinyi Guard they encountered now were all good people.
They would not seize people's grain, nor would they act arrogantly; when they encountered commoners on the official roads, they would yield the way.
That is how the reputation was gradually turned around.
Many farming households also had a simple way of judging: if the Emperor's personal guards are this good, how bad could the Emperor actually be?
They had only just settled down; they hadn't even had a full year of peace before someone started an uprising, trying to drag everyone into a suicide mission. Who would be willing to do that?
This was how the news was leaked, bit by bit.
Even though Jiang Quan and the others did not need this information for their armed forces, he still gave these people some grain and a reward.
This reward was no ordinary thing, but something Zhu Ci had commissioned to be made as an honorary prize.
Of course, the rewards were divided into different grades. Although the lowest grade appeared golden, it was actually made of bronze.
The commoners who received grain were very happy, they were even more proud to receive this kind of remuneration.
Zhu Ci looked at Jiang Quan with a smile and said, "Not bad, you're showing the poise of a great general."
Jiang Quan could not help but puff out his chest. He had been feeling depressed for a while because Li Cheng was able to lead troops in the field while he could only remain in the Capital.
It wasn't that he didn't want to protect His Majesty, but rather.. what young man doesn't dream of fighting on the battlefield? Moreover, military merit represents the opportunity to establish a great career.
However, Jiang Quan felt that staying in the Capital was not a bad idea.
Zhu Ci finished marking the documents in red and glanced outside. Ever since the sacrificial rites to Heaven, it indeed had not snowed again, with at most an occasional cloudy day.
However, according to the calculations of the Imperial Observatory, there will still be heavy snow around the Lunar New Year.
The damage caused by snow disasters is truly immense; the most direct impact is that the winter wheat is very likely to be killed by the frost.
He had to find a way; he couldn't rely on luck to quell the external unrest every single time.
The most direct reason the common people would panic is the fear of food shortages; if things truly reached a point where they could no longer survive, no one would care about whether you were a dragon or not—even if a dragon were truly flying in the sky, they might just slaughter the dragon before taking down the Emperor.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ci had Wu Xia take an album out from the bookshelf.
The album contained drawings of all the existing rice varieties, he had placed bookmarks in several of its pages.
Zhu Ci casually handed it to Jiang Quan and said, "Arrange for people to search for those rice varieties according to the places I marked."
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: To be honest, I think governing a country is much harder than fighting a war. A kitten scratching at rice and sighing. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 179
The simplest way to ensure peace and stability in the world is to make sure everyone is well-fed.
In later generations, this would seem like the simplest thing in the world; after all, by then, people would basically no longer have to worry about finding food.
It was only when Zhu Ci himself sat in this position that he realized just how difficult it was to achieve this.
The Great Ming of today is likely on par with the fractured lands of later generations; the later generations suffered from too many strikes from powerful enemies, whereas the current era is being struck by Heaven itself.
Strong enemies can be driven away, but if Heaven refuses to show mercy, one can only rely on oneself.
There was no other way; Zhu Ci could only bite the bullet and find a way to improve the varieties.
After all, the Little Ice Age would last for many more years; he couldn't just let everyone endure it for fifty or sixty years, could he?
Most importantly, if he remembered correctly, they were currently in the most intense period of the Little Ice Age, he could not truly do nothing.
Besides rice, barley and wheat also need improvement, but.. let's take it one step at a time.
Zhu Ci's main goal this time was to try hybridizing rice, for example, by using the currently more cold-resistant variety, Hanzhan City, then selecting the variety with sturdy stalks, "Tiejiachang."
In addition to that, there is also the improvement of upland rice.
Don't be fooled by the heavy snow falling this winter; in reality, precipitation actually decreases during the spring and summer. Last summer, it didn't rain for an entire month, even Jiangnan, which is usually filled with waterways, saw many places experience significant water shortages, leaving riverbeds exposed.
In this situation, drought-resistant varieties are also very important.
As for yield, that is actually not that important. The most important thing right now is to ensure that the food crops can survive. Only by surviving can they be harvested; if they cannot survive, it doesn't matter how good the seeds are or how high the yield might be!
There are also sweet potatoes and corn with even higher yields, we must find ways to manage those as well; current sweet potato varieties are not cold-resistant, while corn has a growing season that is too long.
In addition to this, there is the matter of sowing patterns. The yield from two crops per year is no longer sufficient; there must be at least three. Whether it is a combination of wheat, rice, sweet potato, or wheat, corn, soybeans, both are viable, allowing different regions to adapt to their respective climates.
All of this was merely theoretical speculation; reality was never that smooth.
For this reason, Zhu Ci had to devote a great deal of effort to this aspect. After all, the only improved technology currently available was "One Spike Transmission," which involved selecting superior individual plants, then cultivating their seeds, then selecting the required individual plants from them, breeding them generation after generation.
This method was truly time-consuming and labor-intensive, after all, an excellent individual plant might be the result of a genetic mutation, such a mutation might not necessarily be passed down to the next generation.
Compared to that, crossbreeding might be more time-saving, but since the concept of crossbreeding does not exist yet, Zhu Ci can only issue orders for others to carry it out.
Consequently, the court officials discovered that their Emperor had recently been appearing and disappearing without a trace. Every time they had urgent matters and sought an audience with him, they would often find him rushing over from the inner palace in a great hurry.
If they weren't so certain that the Little Emperor's harem contained no women, they would have suspected the Emperor had become lost in a world of feminine charms.
As for the Internal Procuratorate and the Female Officials, both of these institutions were located in relatively remote areas of the court, not in the Inner Palace, so the possibility of the Little Emperor taking a fancy to a certain female official or eunuch was highly unlikely.
So.. what exactly is His Majesty going to do?
Everyone was extremely confused and rushed to Grand Secretary Fu to find out more.
Fu stated that he did not know what the Emperor was busy with either.
It was just a pity that he had rarely refrained from being perfunctory and had told the truth, yet no one believed him. Everyone felt that the Grand Secretary must be helping the Emperor hide something and was planning something massive for them later.
What could it be?
Could it be the previous incident involving the siege that wasn't approved by the imperial court?
Could it be that the Little Emperor wants to have Zhang Huangyan lead a secret military expedition?
It felt like the Little Emperor could truly do such a thing; especially after the last ritual to Heaven, his prestige had reached a new level.
Regardless of whether everyone secretly harbored doubts about what the Grand Secretary had done, that strange celestial phenomenon would, in its own way, inspire a sense of awe in people.
Fu was also quite helpless about this; he was telling the truth this time.
Although he met with the Emperor quite often, they had not been meeting every day lately like they used to.
Ever since the Little Emperor became preoccupied with unknown matters, the frequency of their meetings plummeted, to the point that even Fu himself found it somewhat difficult to adjust to.
After enduring it for a long time, Fu finally found an opportunity. When the Little Emperor invited him for lunch, Fu feigned nonchalance and asked, "Your Majesty has been elusive lately; I wonder if you have encountered any difficulties and require your servant to help ease your burdens?"
Zhu Ci's mind was still preoccupied with today's data, he said absentmindedly, "You won't be able to help with this."
Fu fell silent for a moment and said softly, "It was my indiscretion."
In truth, he knew he shouldn't have asked, but he still couldn't help himself, he didn't feel that receiving such an answer was wrong.
Zhu Ci, on the other hand, snapped out of his thoughts. Looking at Fu's calm face, he hesitated for a moment before explaining, "Actually, this matter can be seen as both large and small. It's hard to say what the chances of success are. I didn't want to say it out loud before to avoid giving everyone false hope, in case it fails and damages morale."
Fu Lue shook his head. "Your Majesty views us as far too fragile. We have weathered great storms; unless.. there is nothing to fear."
He had originally wanted to say "unless we face a catastrophe that overturns everything," but he felt it was bad luck to say it aloud, so he kept the words to himself.
Zhu Ci thought that was true and said quite decisively, "I have recently selected a palace chamber and converted it into a greenhouse to improve rice, wheat, corn, sweet potatoes."
Fu was startled after hearing this; the Little Emperor truly did great things in silence.
He couldn't help but lean forward slightly and ask, "Does Your Majesty have an idea?"
“Ahem, that is not my idea.” Zhu Ci gave him a knowing look and continued, “In fact, I don't know much either; I only know the general direction. The specific steps must be researched bit by bit. Since I have no certainty of success, I naturally didn't mention it.”
Fu said with a hint of disagreement, "Your Majesty can order this matter to be carried out; why must you personally oversee it?"
Although he did not know what was going on with Zhu Ci's improved grain seeds, he knew that this kind of matter involved dealing with the land.
Even if he didn't need to plant it himself, he would still have to go out and inspect it, which was quite a burden for the Little Emperor.
Zhu Ci waved a hand dismissively. "There are too many details involved; it's not even troublesome enough yet."
In the palace, he could have people record the condition of those plants at any time, so that once any abnormal data appeared, they could report it immediately, he could then order adjustments.
If the orders were passed down, there would only be two choices: either reporting once every ten or fifteen days, or reporting every single day. If it were the latter, one would have to enter the palace every day to submit a request—wouldn't that be a hassle?
Fu said helplessly, "Even so, it can't be done in the palace.."
Zhu Ci immediately interrupted him, "Oh, stop talking. Mine is a bit different from ordinary farming. Come, I'll take you to see it."
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Do you think I don't want to just lie flat? It's because there's no one here. *Cat playing and rolling around*. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM~