Mixed with salted fish in Hongwudang

Chapter 623 Could this old man be scolding himself?

Can Zhu Yunxi really realize this problem?

Old Zhu was skeptical in his heart. In his opinion, this grandson was good at everything, but he was a little anxious to do things. He wished he could spend a few years doing what others had done for decades!

But he can't say, because this grandson is really good at many things. Just saying that there are nearly a million soldiers outside, and he can still sing and dance in the country. This ability alone is enough to boast through the ages.

Old Zhu sighed heavily.

"Let's take a look at it first!"

"Although that kid Zhu Yunxi is too eager to do many things, maybe it's because we are old and can't see the current situation clearly?"

Tang He heard the words and nodded seriously.

"What the superior said makes sense!"

"The old minister is also paranoid, worried that Daming will not be like the Daming we imagined at the beginning..."

Old Zhu smiled helplessly when he heard the words.

"It's completely out of shape, but it looks pretty good now. At least the common people are fed and clothed, and they are living their own lives!"

Tang He echoed after hearing the words.

"Your Majesty's words are right. The lives of the people of Ming Dynasty have indeed been much better in the past few years!"

"Not only are all businesses thriving in the city, but even rural people can afford to raise chickens, ducks and geese, and they can eat dry rice during the slack season!"

Looking at the bustling night market, the two elderly people were intoxicated by the beauty in front of them, while worrying about the unforeseen events in the future. They had mixed feelings for a while, and they felt that they couldn't see clearly, couldn't see through, and couldn't understand.

Fortunately, both of them have experienced big battles and have their own logic and judgment.

"never mind!"

"Don't think about these things in advance, we only worry about one thing now, that is, this grandson is not very good at grasping power, what if the military power is lost in the future!"

"Oh?"

Tang He looked at Lao Zhu in surprise.

"Why did the superior say that?"

"Didn't that kid Yunxi catch the army very well, why are you still worried about this?"

Old Zhu smiled helplessly when he heard this.

"You do not understand……"

Lao Zhu said "don't understand", not because he was laughing at Tang He, but because Tang He really didn't understand.

After all, Tang He's greatest achievement in this life was to be a general and guard one side. He had never been an emperor and enjoyed supreme power like him.

Therefore, his understanding of grasping power is not at the same level as Lao Zhu's understanding of grasping power.

"This kid Yunxi gives too much power to the leading generals, especially the expeditionary forces and the governors stationed overseas."

"Although it is a helpless move to do so, if things go on like this, the local governor will inevitably be at odds with the imperial court, and I am afraid that he will be in danger of holding his troops back!"

This meant that Tang He was about to die, and it seemed that he would not have a good life for a few years. Otherwise, if Lao Zhu was killed, he would not discuss the emperor's art with a courtier.

Tang He is also a smart person, and he understood after listening to Lao Zhu.

But he really doesn't understand this matter, and he can't give any reasonable advice.

"Master, haven't you talked to that kid Yunxi about this?"

Old Zhu shook his head upon hearing this.

"No!"

"We plan to take a look first to see if the kid has any backhands. If he really doesn't have any backhands, then let's save some hands for him."

"it is good!"

"With the superior personally guarding that child Yunxi, the old minister has nothing to worry about, hahaha!"

That night, Lao Zhu had a great time with Tang He, the thief who was playing, and he was very happy to miss Sichuan.

However, the princes and grandchildren in the palace were so stupid to wait. If the old man didn't return to the palace, they wouldn't dare to leave, so they could only foolishly wait until dawn.

At this time, Lao Zhu, who had been playing all night, remembered that there were still a group of rebels in the palace under Qin Deshun's reminder.

However, he didn't have the energy to go to the palace to deal with them now, so he ordered someone to send them an oral order and sent them away.

"His Majesty the Taihuang said, we are tired, what should you do, go ahead, don't ask us to greet you!"

"My son... leads the decree..."

Although every prince accepted the oral order respectfully, everyone's face was full of bewilderment.

What did the old man do tonight?

Naturally, they would not just squat in the palace obediently, they had already resorted to the method of throwing money to inquire around.

But no matter how they inquired, there was always only one result, that is, the old man was not in the palace, and he should have gone for a walk outside the palace.

But what did the old man do outside the palace?

Zhu Xi was thinking about Xiao Jiujiu in his heart. He was not idle this time. While actively contacting the old department, he was busy buying ships and hiring people, planning to return to the Golden Continent and build a huge empire of his own.

Although he cried fiercely when he returned to China, in fact, as the second son of the old Zhu family, His Royal Highness King Qin has always been very ambitious. He has never lacked the courage and determination to expand the territory.

After seeing the richness and vastness of the Golden Continent, he immediately took it as his basic base and established a place for eternal hegemony.

Therefore, there are only two purposes for him to return to the country this time. One is to obtain an official appointment from the imperial court so that he can develop reasonably in the Golden Island.The other is to poach a large number of technical talents from Daming to help him build a developed empire on the Golden Continent.

But these things cannot be done with great fanfare. Once discovered, it would be a serious crime of treason.

The fourth brother, Zhu Di, also murmured in his heart that he also had a lot of little tricks in the capital. With the help of Xu Da's father-in-law, he also contacted many old ministers in the capital, as well as the younger generation who were depressed and noble.

He even made a lot of preparations for going to Beijing this time, sending thousands of people to Beijing in advance to inquire about news.

If the old man found out that he was tricky, wouldn't he be detained in the capital directly to be company with the hard-working old thirteen?

Zhu Yunwen was even more flustered. Although he thought he was doing very well, the pressure given to him by the emperor's grandfather was too great, so he didn't dare to act presumptuously in front of the emperor's grandfather.

Therefore, when he learned that the emperor's grandfather left the palace strangely and did not return overnight, he was immediately worried about several bookstores and Qingliang Temple in the capital, as well as several Japanese chambers of commerce.

This is his most powerful foreign aid. If Grandpa Huang found out that he was in private contact with the Japanese, he would be very angry, right?

A group of guys with their own ulterior motives returned to the mansion and began to review the game, until they were sure that they had not been exposed, and then they rekindled their fighting spirit and secretly moved around the capital.

In fact, Lao Zhu really doesn't care about them now.

After all, for Lao Zhu right now, how to see clearly the future direction of Ming Dynasty is far more important than dealing with these wolfish and ambitious traitors.

And from the bottom of my heart, Lao Zhu never felt that these rebellious sons were Zhu Yunxi's opponents.

If it wasn't for him, the emperor's grandfather, to suppress them, with Zhu Yunxie's means, they would have been kneaded into twists long ago.

Lao Zhu was not in a hurry to urge the princes to leave this time, even though he learned from Dongchang that these vassal kings were secretly dishonest and made friends with many court ministers, Lao Zhu ignored them.

He even hoped that this group of rebellious sons would contact more veterans and leave more escape routes for himself.

In case Zhu Yunxi wanted to attack them in the future, they would know the news in advance.

This is what he, as the father, can finally do for these rebellious sons.

While all the vassals were busy connecting with each other, Lao Zhu and Tang He were not idle either. They turned into unemployed vagrants every day and traveled around various counties and towns in the capital.

Sometimes I go to a certain county town to see the local people's livelihood.Sometimes I go to the fields to see the growth of the crops planted by the people.

Generally speaking, this year's Gyeonggi is considered to have good weather and good weather, and the crops are growing very well.

The only bad thing is that there are a lot of crops that he can't name.

"Brother, what is this planted in your field? Such a high pole, and such a stick?"

"Outlander?"

Old Zhu laughed.

"Not really. We are from the capital city. We were out doing business. We happened to pass by. We saw that the crops in this field are rare, so we came here to have a look!"

"Oh, that's no wonder..."

"The name of this thing is golden rice. It is a strange species dug from Huangjinzhou. Our Majesty today ordered people to cultivate this thing in Danzhou before he became emperor. Finally, the seeds became more and more, so we distributed them to us." Poor people!"

"However, this item is still very precious now. If it weren't for my eldest son working as a servant in the county government, my family still wouldn't be able to get it!"

"Oh?"

"This is golden rice!"

Lao Zhu is no stranger to golden rice. In fact, Zhu Yunxie tricked him into looking for Huang Jinzhou at first, and this golden rice was one of the reasons.

According to the grandson, as long as there is this kind of golden rice, Daming will no longer have to worry about famine.

But Lao Zhu hadn't seen live golden rice yet, only in seed form, so he didn't recognize it for a while.

"Why, old brother also knows about golden rice?"

Old Zhu smiled shyly.

"Slightly heard!"

"By the way, my fellow, what is the growth and yield of this species, can it be eaten as a staple food?"

The old man said hastily when he heard the words.

"Too capable!"

"To be honest, how many times have I eaten it secretly, hahaha!"

"Let me tell you, this thing can be eaten roasted, boiled, or steamed. It's delicious no matter what!"

"And this plant is easy to grow, you don't need to pick the land, you can plant it on any hillside!"

"Take care of it is also simple. You only need to thin out the seedlings and weed when you are young, and you don't have to worry about the crops when they grow up!"

"It's just that the government is strictly controlling it now. Except for the golden rice that is reserved for planting every year, everything else must be recycled at the government price, which makes us earn a lot less money..."

Lao Zhu was dumbfounded again when he heard this, he never thought that the Ming government would still have such harm to the people.

"My fellow, what is the government's way of collecting it, but there are cruel officials who force you to sell it at a low price?"

The old man smiled awkwardly when he heard this.

"It's not like forcing us to sell it at a low price, it's just...it's just not as high as the price offered by foreign merchants..."

"How much?"

"Ten cents for a catty of grain is actually not too low..."

"Ten words?"

Old Zhu's eyes almost popped out when he heard this. If he remembered correctly, the high-quality japonica rice in Daming is not so expensive, is it?

Now such a little-known golden rice, the government actually gave ten cents a catty. This old man still thinks it is too low. How much can the foreign merchants give?

"Old man, did the merchant give you a lot?"

Hearing the words, the old man said, smash it, smash it.

"That's right, merchants from other places have paid up to fifteen cents a catty!"

"But people in the government said that if we don't sell enough grain to the government, we won't be allowed to grow it next year. We can only sell it to the government at a low price. You say it's annoying!"

Lao Zhu was indeed very angry when he heard this, but he was not angry with the government, but angry with the old man.

He felt that the old man was too greedy, he was still not satisfied with ten cents a catty!

According to the size of his family's land, at least tens of mu, even if the yield of one mu of land is five hundred catties, that is a profit of five taels of silver, at least a few tens of mu of land is worth hundreds of taels of silver!

In which dynasty did ordinary farmers earn so much a year from farming?

Lao Zhu saw that there was still a piece of crops near the corn field, so he couldn't help pointing there and asked.

"My fellow, what kind of crops are grown over there? Why doesn't it look like our Daming crops?"

The old man gave a thumbs up and said.

"Expert!"

"You are really right. This thing is really not produced by Daming. It is said that it is also produced by the Golden Continent. It is called a golden potato, but we country people call this thing a potato, or a potato."

"oh oh……"

Old Zhu showed a dazed expression when he heard this, he had heard about this thing from Zhu Yunxie too, but only.

"How is this thing?"

Hearing the words, the old man did not answer directly, but led Lao Zhu and his party to the potato field, picked up a blackened stick that was on the ground, and scratched it twice in the fire, and pulled out a few black sticks from inside. of soil bumps.

"Brother, this is roasted potatoes, try it if you don't mind!"

"This……"

As soon as Lao Zhu hesitated, Tang He picked up potatoes from the ground and beat them with ease.

He has eaten this stuff a long time ago, in fact, there are some small stalls in the county for sale.

But looking at Lao Zhu's appearance, it is obvious that there is a high probability that he has never eaten.

Tang He ate a potato in front of Lao Zhu, and then peeled a potato again and handed it to Lao Zhu. Lao Zhu took a bite of it lightly, only to find it soft and sweet, with an indescribably delicious taste.

"Well!"

"This food is served well, it is very delicious, much better than that crap stuff like cassava!"

Hearing Lao Zhu's praise, the old man showed a satisfied smile.

"Guests like it!"

"If you like to eat, we'll dig up a few dozen catties for you and take it with you. It's delicious whether it's roasted, boiled, or stewed!"

"Let me tell you, this stuff is best eaten with stewed meat. It's delicious. Even the emperor I can get off the emperor's throne!"

Hearing this, Tang He couldn't help laughing when he looked at Lao Zhu with a black mouth.

The old man is really right. Has His Majesty the emperor really come down from the emperor's throne?

Seeing that Tang He dared to make fun of him, Lao Zhu gave him a hard look, and then continued to chat with the fellow.

"My fellow, isn't the government restricting this thing?"

The old man shook his head and said.

"not limited!"

"The yield of this thing is too high. If a potato tooth is planted, it will grow a bunch of potatoes in autumn. You can't eat it all!"

"Last year, my family acquired ten acres of land. How can I dig out tens of thousands of catties to feed my grandson? Now he vomits at the sight of potatoes. In the end, there is nothing to do. We can only cook this stuff and feed it to pigs. "

"Feed the pigs?"

When Lao Zhu heard this, he looked at the potatoes that he had almost eaten, and felt that the potatoes were not delicious...

Could this damn country old man be scolding himself?