Chapter 141: Let Xu Guangqi Try Planting

"I was waiting for you, sir." Chen Hong said with a smile, reaching out to pull Yu Maoheng aside.

As for Chen Hong's intentions, Yu Maoheng could see through them clearly enough.

They were both foxes of a thousand years' cunning—a mere hint of a scent was enough to tell what the other was up to.

Yu Maoheng naturally knew what Chen Hong wanted to do, but he steered clear of it.

It wasn't because he didn't want to cultivate a connection with Chen Hong, nor because he looked down on him.

With the court struggles so fierce right now, ministers slashing at each other in endless back-and-forth, the benefits of forging a friendship with a powerful eunuch within the palace at such a time went without saying.

But Yu Maoheng had no intention of doing so. His self-positioning was clear: he was a firecracker the Emperor had tossed out, and the time to explode had not yet come.

At this moment Chen Hong had come looking for him, and Yu Maoheng didn't know what he wanted, but he still followed him over to a corner, quietly watching Chen Hong and waiting for the other man to speak first.

"I came over because I have a few words to pass on to you, Sir Yu." Chen Hong said with a smile.

"May I ask whether this is His Majesty's wish, or Eunuch Chen's own?" Yu Maoheng asked directly.

Yu Maoheng wasn't asking for the sake of asking, nor was he lacking in social grace—he simply had no choice but to ask.

If it was Chen Hong's own matter, then he could refuse; but if it was His Majesty's wish, then he had no way to decline.

Chen Hong smiled, narrowing his eyes as he said: "I have no wish of my own."

Hearing this, Yu Maoheng understood, and said with a smile: "Then please, Eunuch, enlighten me."

"These coming days, I'm afraid there may be some unrest. Sir Yu should go back and rest well for a few days. If anything feels off with your health, have the imperial physicians tend to you." After saying this with a smile, Chen Hong clasped his hands toward Yu Maoheng in salute.

The meaning was plain: go back and stay put these few days—no matter what happens at court, don't get involved.

Yu Maoheng grasped it in an instant, and said with a smile: "In that case, I thank the Eunuch."

Their meeting was very brief, with few words exchanged—essentially like exchanging a greeting—before they parted ways.

Chen Hong returned to Qianqing Palace, while Yu Maoheng left the Forbidden City and went back to the Censorate.

News from the great court assembly naturally couldn't be kept secret. No sooner had the court adjourned than word had already spread through the entire officialdom.

For many mid- and low-ranking officials, they basically gleaned a few key points.

One piece of news was that Vice Minister Zhao Nanxing of the Ministry of Works was going to investigate the Ministry of Works. As such, it was the Ministry of Works that was now gripped by panic.

Another piece of news was that Grand Secretary Han Kuang was going to take over the Eastern Depot case.

Some held an optimistic view, believing that Zhao Nanxing and Han Kuang were both their own people and things would improve; others were deeply pessimistic, feeling that something big was about to happen this time.

All sorts of opinions circulated in officialdom, but the specifics still depended on how events unfolded, so no one voiced any firm stance.

At this moment, Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Guangqi standing before him and said with a smile: "Judging by your expression, Minister, you seem quite spirited. It appears these past days have treated you well."

Xu Guangqi stepped forward, his face full of gratitude as he said: "It is all thanks to Your Majesty's grace."

Glancing at Xu Guangqi, Zhu Youxiao waved his hand. "No need for such talk. I summoned you today mainly to ask about matters over there—how is the troop training coming along?"

In truth, Zhu Youxiao had been keeping close watch on how the training was progressing. Even without asking Xu Guangqi, he knew very well in his heart.

But some things you had to know yet pretend not to know—you had to give your subordinates a chance to shine, and not hog all the credit yourself.

Hearing Zhu Youxiao ask about this, Xu Guangqi's face immediately lit up with excitement.

These past days Xu Guangqi had been living well. With the veteran general Qi Jin overseeing the training, he hardly needed to worry about a thing.

Compared to Qi Jin, Xu Guangqi felt himself lacking, yet at the same time his heart was filled with joy.

Why had he taken up troop training?

Not because he enjoyed it, but because the state was troubled and the land unsettled—the country needed elite soldiers and capable generals to stabilize and defend the realm.

Under such circumstances, even if his talent for training troops wasn't exceptional, he was still willing to give it his all. That was Xu Guangqi's thinking.

Only, his ideals were good, but reality was cruel.

Before cruel reality, his ideals had crumbled at a touch—which was why, disheartened, he had submitted a routine memorial requesting resignation.

But now Xu Guangqi could see hope. Though the selection of soldiers had only just been completed, he could already see this army's potential.

With 3,000 Zhejiang soldiers as the backbone, plus stalwart men selected from the 100,000-strong Capital Camps, they had formed an army of over 10,000 men.

It could be said this was an extremely elite force. Provisions and military supplies were all of the finest quality, and the Hundred Works Institute was developing new types of firearms.

Xu Guangqi had also gone to the Hundred Works Institute to look around—after all, he was himself an expert in the field of firearms.

After seeing it, Xu Guangqi was overjoyed.

That Bi Maokang was a man of talent—not only did he have his own ideas, but he worked in an orderly, methodical manner.

The two of them exchanged ideas with each other, and both gained a great deal. Bi Maokang even held Xu Guangqi in deep admiration, always treating him as his teacher.

With that, Old Xu found things going more smoothly, and with His Majesty having granted so much silver, there was simply nothing holding him back.

Working in such an environment, Xu Guangqi naturally felt very comfortable.

Zhu Youxiao watched Xu Guangqi as he gave a detailed account of the whole process, some parts even slightly verbose, yet Zhu Youxiao showed no sign of impatience—from start to finish he listened with a smile on his face.

Rather than reporting on matters, Xu Guangqi was sharing his joy with him.

This was something Zhu Youxiao, as Emperor, was glad to see.

When Xu Guangqi finished speaking, Zhu Youxiao smiled and instructed Chen Hong: "Bring a bowl of tea for Minister Xu."

Xu Guangqi said with a smile: "Your servant thanks Your Majesty."

After talking for so long, he was indeed thirsty.

After Xu Guangqi finished his tea, Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "I summoned you today because there are actually a few matters I wish to discuss with you. Asking about the troop training was the first—and hearing that things are progressing smoothly, that is very good."

"Beyond that, there is one more matter," Zhu Youxiao said in a low voice: "I hear you have been researching agricultural policy at Tianjin Guard all this time!"

Having said this, Zhu Youxiao smiled at Xu Guangqi.

Zhu Youxiao had long known of this matter, and in his heart he was already planning to make use of Xu Guangqi.

One had to understand that at this point in time, grain was a problem that could never be circumvented.

Natural disasters would only grow more frequent, and the people's lives would only grow harder.

Natural disasters could not be helped. Although one could compensate by building irrigation works and the like, the reality was that the Great Ming did not have that much money.

Even if he found ways to raise the funds himself, this was not something that could be accomplished overnight; it needed to be done gradually.

Moreover, productivity in this era was low, and such projects were not easy to carry out.

Besides, the main problem now was the Little Ice Age — primarily the issue of cold weather.

Under such circumstances, the best solution was to promote crops with high yields, short growing cycles, and strong resistance to natural disasters.

In the past there might have been no way to do this, but now there was — many foreign species had already been introduced, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn. They simply had not been promoted, and many places still did not know of them.

Information spread slowly in this era, and since no one in the middle and upper echelons paid attention to this matter, there was no policy-driven promotion — it remained at the level of individual small farmers learning on their own.

That method was far too slow and did not fit his thinking at all, so he needed to promote this properly himself — at the very least, to give the people something to eat and see them through famine years.

Once the food problem was solved, many subsequent problems would resolve themselves as well.

In the Great Ming, who was the most skilled in this area?

There was only one answer — Xu Guangqi.

What Zhu Youxiao valued most about Xu Guangqi was actually this aspect, not his talent for training troops, nor his skill in casting firearms.

Others could be found to replace him in troop training and firearms, but when it came to promoting crops, Xu Guangqi was the most suitable candidate.

First, Xu Guangqi enjoyed tinkering with such things; second, he knew the field well; and third, he was willing to do it.

One had to understand that this was likely a thankless task that brought little recognition of merit — not many ordinary people would be willing to take it on.

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's question, Xu Guangqi spoke up: "Your subject has indeed been doing such work. In previous years, Your subject came into contact with some crops introduced from the Southern Ocean and discovered that those crops had many advantages — not only were their yields high, but they also had relatively strong resistance to natural disasters, and they could be planted in many places."

Zhu Youxiao knew this as well — sweet potatoes and potatoes could be grown in many places.

Potatoes especially, so the popularization of these two crops could allow many useless lands to produce grain; corn worked on the same principle.

"Then has my dear minister achieved results in these past few years?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Guangqi and asked.

An excited expression also appeared on Xu Guangqi's face.

He now felt that His Majesty was truly an incomparably wise emperor — before he himself had even memorialized on this matter, His Majesty had already taken notice. One could see how keen His Majesty's vision was!

Xu Guangqi gave a detailed account of his experiences.

In Xu Guangqi's own words, he had been planting for three years already.

Listening to Xu Guangqi's account, Zhu Youxiao could not help but feel somewhat excited as well.

Because over those three years, Xu Guangqi had been selecting superior seeds and breeding them; after cultivation, the current seeds were now ready for small-scale trial planting.

This was Xu Guangqi's contribution!

Zhu Youxiao felt satisfied in his heart at once.

"In that case, my dear minister may attempt large-scale planting." Zhu Youxiao said: "As for the land, I have also made preparations — you may select several imperial estates in the capital, and the choice of location is entirely up to you."

Xu Guangqi had not expected His Majesty to use imperial estates for the experiment — those were His Majesty's own fields, the private income of His Majesty's palace.

Yet Xu Guangqi had to admit this was the best approach.

Using the people's fields for experiments would be far too difficult; imperial estates, by contrast, had none of those problems, because they were His Majesty's private lands.

"See to this matter as soon as possible, my dear minister." Zhu Youxiao continued.