Everyone followed the Emperor into Dashan Hall with hearts full of curiosity, but as soon as they entered, they had to hold their breath against the stench inside.
It was already summer, the environment inside Dashan Hall was uncomfortable; although it wasn't exactly hot, it was far too humid, combined with the fermenting smell, it was quite unsuitable for human habitation.
However, no one raised any doubts, because by this time, they had already seen the paddy fields divided into different sections within Dashan Hall.
Nowadays, although most of the officials of the Great Ming have never served in the imperial court, another benefit is that they have all seen paddy fields and recognize rice plants.
The rice plants in each of these paddy fields were all different, some tall and some short, with varying thicknesses of their stalks.
Everyone had their own vague suspicions, but they all followed quietly.
It wasn't until they reached the innermost field that Zhu Ci stopped walking, gestured toward the paddy field with his chin, said, "Take a look, everyone."
The officials had been looking on with curiosity for a long time.
Because Emperor Zhu Yujian held the highest official rank, he stood at the very front and could see most clearly. He said in astonishment, "This.. this is Jiahe?"
As a former emperor, Zhu Yujian understood the significance of Jiahe all too well; in fact, he had also discovered Jiahe during his own reign, back then, he truly believed he could achieve great things.
Zhu Yujian's words caused a commotion, the officials behind him stood on tiptoe, trying their best to see ahead.
Jiahe? Where is it?
Although they had seen many auspicious omens after the Emperor ascended the throne, who would ever complain about having too many auspicious omens?
Auspicious omens not only symbolize that the Emperor is recognized by Heaven, but they also mean that he and his officials are being blessed by Heaven; after all, it is impossible for one person, the Emperor, to do everything for a country.
Seeing everyone's eyes light up, Zhu Ci turned and told an eunuch to stay behind to lead the officials in taking a closer look, then he took Fu to the adjacent side hall to drink tea.
After sitting down, Zhu Ci couldn't help but complain, "You all think about auspicious omens all day long. Is it really that important?"
While pouring tea for the Little Emperor, Fu said, "After all, they are rare in the world. Even if there is no Jiahe, there are things like white oxen."
Zhu Ci said casually, "White cattle? Those are albinos too. Why is it that when it's an animal, it's an auspicious omen, but when it's a person, it isn't? If we're being honest, wouldn't the Grand Secretary be my greatest auspicious omen?"
Fu's hand holding the teacup trembled slightly. He calmly set it down, wiped his hands, said, "Most people in this world simply repeat what others say; Your Majesty need not be too harsh on them."
Zhu Ci had merely spoken casually, not long after, Zhu Yujian and the others approached with confused expressions.
When he first saw the Jiahe, he was quite excited, but as he actually looked closer, why did it feel like.. there was a bit too much Jiahe in this field?
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: A lot, right? It's right to have a lot, since it took so much hard work to grow for so long. Cat carrying rice. jpg
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
Chapter 208
The rice in that experimental field was not entirely high-yielding rice; after all, no matter how lucky Zhu Ci was, he had no way to control genetics, so he could only stabilize the traits through generation after generation of selective breeding.
Initially, his goal was to breed grain that could produce at least two tillers per panicle, but then he realized this requirement was a bit too high, so he gradually scaled back his expectations until he settled on a goal where having over thirty percent of the rice produce two tillers would be sufficient.
Nowadays, this rice field could barely be considered qualified.
However, for Zhu Ci's purposes, the current seed had not met the requirements, but for the officials, there was only one question: where did so much Jiahe come from?
The question is, if there is too much grain, is it still considered a divine omen?
As Grand Secretary Fu said, rarity makes something precious; if it were not rare, it could not be called an auspicious omen.
Therefore, at this moment, all the officials felt somewhat confused.
Zhu Ci raised his hand to signal them all to sit down. The side hall of Dashan Hall was not small, it could certainly accommodate all these high-ranking officials.
One could only say it was fortunate that Zhu Ci did not choose to cause trouble during the Grand Court Assembly; otherwise, the officials would have had to wait until they returned to Wuying Hall to hear the answer.
After sitting down, Zhu Yujian glanced at Fu and found that the Grand Secretary's expression was calm. Considering that the Emperor had just taken him away first, Zhu Yujian judged that the Grand Secretary must have known in advance.
He had no particular thoughts and was not about to harbor any ideas of competing with Fu for favor; he simply leaned forward slightly and asked urgently, "Your Majesty, this rice.."
Zhu Ci smiled. "Are you wondering why there is so much Jiahe?"
After seeing all the officials nodding with thirst for knowledge, Zhu Ci said nonchalantly, "That is because I had them specifically bred."
This.." The officials looked at each other in confusion, Yan Yingyuan couldn't help but say, "Jiahe can be bred too?
Zhu Ci said, "What's stopping us? As long as one plant appears, we can attempt to breed it."
Zhu Yujian stared blankly at him and said, "If just one appears.. it can be bred?"
“Exactly. What you call Jiahe is, in my eyes, something that can increase yields. Previously, they only had single ears of grain; think for yourselves—if at least thirty percent of the rice in an acre of land could produce two ears per plant, how much would the national yield increase?”
Every official present was quite good at arithmetic, each had some degree of understanding regarding the various data of the state.
After hearing the Emperor's words, they did some quick mental math. At first, they were startled by the figures they calculated, but after performing the calculations repeatedly and exchanging opinions with their colleagues, they were certain they hadn't made a mistake.
Suddenly, the breathing of many officials grew rapid.
Zhu Yujian also calculated it, he and Yan Yingyuan exchanged a glance, both of them looking somewhat shocked.
If it's true, then.. this is nothing short of a miracle.
Zhu Yujian even felt a bit on the verge of a breakdown; thinking of that stalk of Jiahe that had been uprooted, dried, mounted, he desperately wanted to know if he had missed something.
But before this, no one had ever said that Jiahe could be cultivated this way.
Zhu Ci asked impatiently, "Your Majesty, when can these seeds be sown?"
Spreading these seeds was no easy task, but he suddenly remembered that his imperial cousin had previously issued an edict decreeing that all land belonged to the state. Regardless of who they were, people only held the right to use the land rather than ownership of it; because they only had usage rights, neither residential plots nor farmland could be easily transferred or traded.
The grand land redistribution did not actually distribute much in reality. Within the current sphere of influence of the Great Ming, many places had experienced massacres by the Qing Army, leaving behind less than one in ten people; it would be impossible to redistribute it all even if one wanted to.
At that time, the Emperor had enclosed many areas as state-owned farmland. The grain produced from state-owned farmland had to be taxed, then it would be sold on the market, where the transactions themselves were also subject to taxation.
New seed varieties might not be easily promoted among the common people, but using them on state-owned farmland would be no problem.
Zhu Ci knew what Zhu Ci wanted to ask, so he shook his head and said, "There won't be large-scale sowing in the short term; we can only test it out, after all, it is still being cultivated."
Yan Yingyuan said impatiently, "Your Majesty, if a single rice field can guarantee a twenty percent increase in tillering and panicle number, it will already significantly increase the yield. We can sow seeds while simultaneously propagating them."
They had just asked a few questions while at Dashan Hall and learned that the Little Emperor had long since converted Dashan Hall into a conservatory.
Previously, whenever the Little Emperor failed to make an appearance, he would come to Dashan Hall. At that time, they thought the Little Emperor had taken a favorite consort in the harem, but now that they realized the truth, they felt a bit ashamed.
Zhu Ci explained in a gentle voice, "The current direction of breeding is to make rice more frost-resistant. As you ministers know, whenever winter arrives and the heavy snow falls, grain yields decrease year by year. There are two ways to increase production: first, by making the seeds more frost-resistant, second, by shortening the growing period of the grain. At present, there is no progress on the second method, so we can only start with the first."
The second method is actually being pursued as well. Naturally, the more grain varieties, the better. Given the current situation, Zhu Ci did not have the energy to worry about taste or anything else; he just wanted to ensure the people's bellies were filled first.
Yan Yingyuan said no more upon hearing this, but Zhu Ci asked curiously, "Then how much longer will it take?"
Zhu Ci could barely maintain the smile on his face, he said with rare frustration, "This.. we'll have to see."
There was no helping it. Although cold-resistant and lodging-resistant rice had been cultivated before, its yield was very low. Crossing them with high-yield varieties could also lead to various problems, such as poor cold resistance, poor lodging resistance, or a decrease in yield.
More often than not, plants would also appear that were neither cold-resistant nor lodging-resistant, had low yields.
The most outrageous part was that super-tall rice even appeared, growing to over two meters high.
It was fortunate that the Dashan Hall was built so high during its initial construction to accommodate the large Buddha statue; otherwise, it might not have been able to fit this rice plant.
In short, in scientific research, any situation is possible.
At the beginning, Zhu Ci was also very anxious; he also hoped to cultivate them early so he could sow them early.
However, he no longer had much temper left; he didn't care anymore, as his requirements had dropped to the point where as long as there was progress without regression, it would be enough.
Zhu Ci had originally thought that when he said it depended on luck, the others would also sigh in disappointment, but unexpectedly, those officials instead became revitalized.
Zhu Ci spoke with even greater confidence, "His Majesty is the Son of Heaven, favored by the heavens; I expect that the widespread sowing will be implemented before long."
When he said this, surprisingly, many officials still nodded in agreement.
Zhu Ci?? How did Fu Qingsheng's reasoning manage to deceive even you all?
He turned his head and gave Fu an angry glare, causing Fu to pause in confusion.
How had he offended the Little Emperor?
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Next time, stop with the feudal superstitions. It's one thing to fool others, but how can you even fool your own people! Meow lightly punched Fu twice. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 209
Zhu Ci had never liked to crush the confidence of his subordinates, so at this moment, he could only say, "There is no need to be too optimistic. I have been working on this matter for over two years, there hasn't been much progress."
Fu comforted him, saying, "To have reached this level in two years is already quite good. If it were not for Your Majesty's high standards, these seeds could actually already be promoted."
Even if it weren't cold-resistant, it would be similar to the current rice, its yield would be even higher than it is now.
Zhu Yujian had already adjusted his mindset by this time; sometimes, one could only say it was fate.
Moreover, even if he were to do it himself, he would never have thought to cultivate rice in this direction.
He heard Fu's words and immediately said, "Exactly so. Your Majesty might as well start sowing the current grain seeds directly; every bit of extra yield counts."
Oh boy, you all are truly resorting to any means necessary for the sake of grain yields, aren't you?
Zhu Ci could only say, "Wait a little longer. There aren't that many seeds right now. I didn't bring you here to make you anxious, but to put your minds at ease. Even if production doesn't increase within three or four years, it will certainly be successful in four or five, let alone ten."
As he spoke, he glanced at Zhu Yujian and Yan Yingyuan.
The two men suddenly understood. No wonder this had happened today; it turned out the Emperor was giving them peace of mind after hearing their concerns.
So, after all that circling around, it came back to the issue of Taiwan. The Emperor had indirectly told them that there was no need to worry about Zhang Huangyan and Zheng Chenggong.
Well.. I suppose that's fine.
Yan Yingyuan and Zhu Yujian were both quite satisfied; at least the Emperor had listened to their remonstrance and given them an answer, which was quite good.
One must realize that many censors' memorials and petitions are sent up only to sink like stones into the sea; when it comes to matters the Emperor has decided, they have no better way than to offer their counsel.
Especially regarding military matters, there were fewer and fewer areas where they could intervene nowadays.
It wasn't that everyone hadn't tried, but the Emperor maintained such strict defenses that they couldn't even find any significant loopholes.
Among the entire court of civil officials, the only one who could speak with authority was Grand Secretary Fu; however, when Grand Secretary Fu spoke, his status was more akin to the Emperor's strategist rather than the Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat.