Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 660 Corn Harvesting
Half a month later, Bifeng Imperial Villa.

Today's Huangzhuang seems a bit more lively than other times.Gein Today is the day when the corn is ripe and bets are decided.The matter of going to Fengmingzhou to the sea has become a hot topic in Yingtian Mansion. I don't know how many people are staring at this bet.Therefore, in addition to conservative censors such as Lian Zining, other craftsmen, students, and merchants also crowded this small cornfield.Even most of the high-ranking officials in the court came here. If Lao Zhu hadn't been in the palace, a court meeting could have been held directly in this muddy ground.

Lian Zining looked quite ugly. Behind him, there were only five or six conservatives left, who originally had a decent number.Others, either because of the dissuasion of their family benefactors or because they felt the pressure from the court, changed their ways one after another during the rest of the month. Even Lian Zining himself received some advice from when he was studying in the past. , a letter from his benefactor.

But the more this happened, the more he felt that going to sea would be a disaster.Now, just one trip to the sea has caused such a big stir. If we go several more times, wouldn't it mean that everyone is more interested in profit and the people's morale is broken?

But at this point in the situation, he also knew in his heart that the current wave of going to sea was no longer something that a small supervisory censor like him could stop.

Now, we can only hope that the corn harvest is poor and the King of Zhou keeps his promise, which may give the conservatives the capital to make a comeback...

"Your Highness, the official battle has been delivered." Several soldiers carried a dozen rice buckets for weighing, placed them on the edge of the corn field, and then reported to Zhu Su with clasped fists.

This time during the corn harvest, Zhu Su demanded fairness and justice in everything. Because Bifeng Huangzhuang is a royal property, the rice buckets used to collect grains on weekdays are also owned by the royal family. In order to avoid suspicion, Zhu Su deliberately did not use Huangzhuang's own rice. Instead of fighting, he borrowed a dozen official fighting tools from surrounding county governments.The guarantors during the acceptance inspection were also well-established. In addition to the conservative Lian Zining and the Maritime School Yang Shiqi, they also specially invited Song Lian, the most respected academic figure today.Song Lian's character is well known to the world. Although he has entered a new school in his old age, the reputation he has accumulated over the past decades is admired by everyone in Yingtian Mansion.

Even if his beloved student makes a mistake, Song Lian will punish him impartially and never cover it up.Besides, he is old and virtuous, and he will definitely not do anything to ruin his reputation for a mere piece of corn.With him guaranteeing this gambling battle, both conservatives and maritime factions would feel at ease.

"In that case, please ask Master Song to order the harvesting to begin." Zhu Su said to Song Lian.

Song Lian nodded with a smile. The old man had never really cared about the bet. When he lived to such an age, he only cared about whether the world was prosperous and the people were healthy.Hearing that the crops from Fengmingzhou were more productive than traditional rice, the old man was full of expectations. He did not refuse after hearing the words, and waved to Zhu Shouqian: "In that case, King Jingjiang, please harvest it."

"Yes, Master Song." Zhu Shouqian stood in the mud without hesitation, his face dark.If it weren't for this royal robe, no one would have known that he was also the prince of the Zhu family.But today he did not do it himself. Several farmers who had received instructions began to harvest corn under Zhu Shouqian's guidance. The corn cobs were put into the frame one by one from the field, and another group of farmers used the prepared corn cobs. A tool for threshing corn. Peel the corn kernels from the corn stalks one by one and put them into a rice bucket for weighing.

"This land... is just a low-grade field, right? Okay, okay, a low-grade field can produce such good grain. It is golden in color and rich in color. It really lives up to the name of 'corn'." Song Lian beamed with joy. He picked up a few corn kernels, put them in the sun and looked at them for a moment, and then stuffed them into his mouth. After a while, he shook his head intoxicatedly and said: "It tastes good and sweet, it is both a vegetable and a grain, and it is not greedy..." ...Good crops! Now there is another category of food that the people can eat!" The old man is very agricultural. Even though the yield of corn is not as high as that of rice, it is not as demanding as rice on land. For this reason alone, Song Lian I think this corn is a good thing.

"There are many ways to eat this corn. It can be boiled, fried, stuffed or steamed. Not only can it satisfy people, but it can also be ground into powder to make pasta, and it can also be stored for a long time... Just peel the remaining corn stalks and chop them into small pieces. It can be fed to pigs, and it can be used to burn firewood after it is dried. It can be said that it is full of treasures." Zhu Su said from the side. "With one more corn, I don't know how many more kinds of delicacies will be served on the dining tables of the people of Ming Dynasty."

"Food is the most important thing for the people, so good, so good!" The old man smiled happily, his eyes narrowed into slits.Now, he firmly believes in the correctness of pursuing the national policy of opening up frontiers and expanding territory.If we didn't have the courage to forge ahead, how could we discover that there are such good things overseas?
"How many fights have been weighed out now?"

"Back to the court, the five buckets have been weighed out." Next to Song Lian, an Imperial College student in charge of statistics replied.This time, the students Song Lian brought to help were all from the Agricultural College, and they were all proficient in farming. When they saw the corn harvest today, all of them couldn't help showing surprise on their faces. "Looking at the current harvest progress, if we switch to wheat and rice, even if it is the best irrigated land, we can only produce more than four bushels of soil at most." "And this corn has already begun. You're just pretending to be the sixth one... Not to mention, this is just a low-grade field..."

"So much?" Song Lian was even more surprised after hearing this. "God has given us such a good seed. The Ming Dynasty is very lucky, and the people are very lucky!"

He is old and has seen the world, and is extremely stable. He rarely loses his composure like this.

Zhu Su smiled slightly and couldn't deny it.To be fair, he really didn't think this advantage was anything.According to the current harvest progress, this acre of corn field can only harvest about [-] kilograms of corn at most.If potatoes were made instead, and one acre of land dug out a thousand kilograms, wouldn't the old man faint with joy?

Even though the improved seeds and cultivation methods are not as good as those of later generations, if we cut it in half, we can produce [-] kilograms of potatoes per acre.

It was enough to make these mature and prudent people, including Lao Zhu and Song Lian, faint with excitement.

Most of the people watching around knew about the yield per mu. Even if they didn't, they should have known that the yield of corn was much higher than that of ordinary crops when they heard the whispers among the crowd.Over there, Lian Zining and other conservatives were already looking downcast.They had just harvested an acre of top-quality fields around Yingtian Mansion yesterday as a benchmark. In order to ensure victory, that field was carefully selected by Lian Zining these days to ensure that the yield per mu would be better than other places.Even so, only more than 270 kilograms of grain were harvested.

This number can be called a bumper harvest at the moment.

But judging from the current situation, the corn weighs at least three hundred kilograms.

They have already lost.

"Lian Gong, this..." Behind Lian Zining, the conservative censor was already at a loss.

"Sigh... This is the truth. What can be done about it? I never thought that there would be such excellent grains in this world." Lian Zining's face was slumped, and he bowed to his colleagues behind him: "Gentlemen, the matter has come to this, we still have to wait. Pack your bags early..."

"I just hope that in the future, I can be a pioneer of China in Fengming Continent and gain a reputation both in life and in life..."

(End of this chapter)