marquis of jingan

Chapter 1489 Hong Dedao

Chapter 1489 Hong Dedao

With years of tacit understanding and the same goal, the two peers quickly discussed the subsequent regulations.

Master Shen moved a small wooden stool and sat beside the emperor. He looked at the emperor, who looked unhappy, and whispered, "Your Majesty, please don't think I am too long-winded. I have never learned about the Taoist inner alchemy, so I have no way to comment. But those external alchemy theories are pure nonsense. There is absolutely no benefit in eating the elixir made with lead and mercury."

"You should know that gunpowder is the great medicine refined by those Taoists. Now anyone who touches it will die. I don't know what your majesty's illness is, but I beg your majesty to abandon external elixirs and start with medicine."

The emperor smiled silently and looked at Shen Yi.

"Mr. Shen thinks I'm confused, right?"

Master Shen shook his head slightly: "Your Majesty is wise and wise, so he is naturally not confused."

"Don't worry, don't worry."

The emperor said softly, "What I took was a pill, not some lead and mercury pill."

He looked at Shen Yi and sighed: "The previous emperor should have had the same symptoms as me. He passed away before he was thirty. Compared with the previous emperor, I am considered to have a long life."

Mr. Shen sighed and said nothing more.

He was not proficient in medicine. He knew nothing about the medical skills of his time or the modern medicine of later times.

Therefore, he was helpless in dealing with Emperor Hong De's illness.

The medical skills of Western doctors of this era were probably only at the level of those in the mid-Ming Dynasty in another world. Even if they were invited, they would most likely not be as good as local doctors.

To be an emperor, one must have a strong destiny. If one’s destiny is not strong enough, he cannot bear the position of the Son of Heaven. Therefore, not many emperors in all dynasties lived long lives.

Seeing Shen Yi frowning and saying nothing, the emperor smiled and said, "Shen Qing, don't worry about me. I'm fine now."

His Majesty the Emperor looked into the distance and asked, "This year in Datong, I plan to give Xue Wei another 500,000 taels of silver so that he can train more cavalry for me."

Raising cavalry is a very expensive project. Not to mention the training costs, the horses, the corresponding armor, and the training costs are all a considerable amount.

The reason why the Tatars were able to do this was mainly because they did not need the cost of horses or training. They did not even have much armor. All they needed was a scimitar, a quiver, a longbow, and a member of their tribe to become excellent light cavalry.

If Dachen wants to fight the Tatars head-on on the battlefield, it needs to have good riding and archery skills, and its equipment must also keep up.

For example, everyone in the cavalry under Xue Wei wore light armor.

The quality of bows and arrows has been slowly improving over the years.

Now, Xue Wei could often go out of Datong Pass to seek bribes from the Tatars.

This naturally requires the strong support of His Majesty the Emperor.

Shen Yi smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wise. With this extra money, Xue Da can get a few thousand more cavalrymen."

"I hope so."

"correct."

The emperor glanced at Shen Yi and said with a smile, "Ling Su's troops have already arrived in Miyun. He came to the palace to see me. Has he gone to see Shen Qing?"

Shen Yi shook his head slightly and said, "No."

The emperor frowned slightly: "He has somewhat forgotten his roots."

Mr. Shen disagreed and said with a smile: "He is now stationed in the capital, so it is right for him to avoid contact with court officials."

The emperor shook his head and said nothing.

Master Shen took out an exquisite little wooden box from his sleeve, held it in his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, I came to the palace today mainly to present this treasure to Your Majesty."

The emperor took it and felt it was very light. He couldn't help but smile: "What is it that makes Shen Qing so mysterious?"

"Your Majesty will know it at a glance."

The emperor opened the small box and saw a piece of white cloth inside. He spread out the cloth and saw a handful of rice lying in the middle.

Emperor Hong De was startled, then turned to look at Shen Yi: "Mr. Shen, this is..."

"This is one of the achievements of the Huai'an Academy that I have run for more than ten years."

Shen Yi was also a little excited and said, "Your Majesty, this is rice grains on a rice ear."

"Compared to the rice produced in various places in Dachen, the output has increased by 20 to 30 percent!"

"In order to prevent this variety from growing well only in the north or south, I have sent people to various places to test this seed over the past two years. The worst place has a yield that is more than 10% higher than other rice of the same period."

"His Majesty!"

Shen Yi stood up, his voice somewhat excited: "This is a great merit!"

Indeed, let alone an increase of 20% or 30% out of thin air, even if the output only increases by half a percentage point or 100%, a huge amount of extra grain can be produced in a year!

Emperor Hongde couldn't help but feel a little excited.

He picked up a grain of rice, looked at it carefully for a long time, and murmured, "Is it really so magical? Will it not waste the land's resources?"

"His Majesty."

Shen Yi said: "Returning the straw to the fields will not waste any soil fertility."

"I have had them verify this over and over again. For three consecutive years, the harvest has exceeded the average yield by more than 30% each year."

Emperor Hongde looked at Shen Yi and said, "Since it has been several years, why did you only bring it up and tell me today?"

"Your Majesty, firstly, this matter needs to be verified repeatedly. Secondly, the first batch of seeds is too small and very precious. We need to cultivate more before we can promote it to the whole country."

“It was only this year that we had enough seeds.”

As he said this, he looked at the emperor and said with a smile.

"I have discussed this with the person who cultivated this variety. This new rice will be called Hongde Rice!"

This flattery was exactly what the emperor wanted. Emperor Hongde first grinned, then quickly came to his senses. He looked at Shen Yi and sighed, "It's rare that Shen Qing is willing to offer such a treasure."

Shen Yi smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I offer this seed not only for Your Majesty, but more for the people of the world, so that more people in the world can have enough food to eat."

His Majesty the Emperor thought for a long time, and finally turned his head to look at Shen Yi, closed the lid of the box in his hand, and said silently: "Mr. Shen, you should keep this thing."

"In the future, leave it to the new king."

Emperor Hongde said slowly: "The new emperor needs achievements the most, but I don't need them much now."

Shen Yi shook his head firmly and said, "Your Majesty, this is not a question of merit or not. If you promote it earlier, you can plant more acres of land with this seed."

"This is not the time to calculate achievements."

Emperor Hongde nodded and said slowly: "Okay, I will do this as soon as possible."

He looked at Shen Yi and suddenly asked, "The Huai'an Academy under Shen Qing..."

Shen Yi said, "Now they are in Yanjiao, because they like to tinker with new things and it is quieter in a wide place."

The emperor stroked his chin and said with a smile: "It sounds very interesting. It is very different from other academies."

Mr. Shen bowed.

"If Your Majesty likes, I will take Your Majesty to visit this academy next time."

Emperor Hong De readily agreed.

"it is good."

…………

The two chatted in Ganlu Palace for a full half hour. In order not to disturb the emperor's rest, Shen Yi stood up and said goodbye.

Just after leaving Ganlu Palace and before he walked down the imperial steps, five old men had surrounded Shen Yi.

Prime Minister Song Yuan looked at Shen Yi and took a deep breath: "Lord Shen, His Majesty..."

"Everything is alright?"

Even Zhang Jian, who was usually calm, looked at Shen Yi nervously and asked, "Ziheng, His Majesty..."

Master Shen smiled silently, looked at the prime ministers who were gathered in the middle, and said with a smile: "What are you doing? If you want to see His Majesty, just go to the door and ask for an audience."

Everyone shook their heads slightly and sighed.

Obviously, Emperor Hongde had no interest in meeting them.

Seeing that they were indifferent, Mr. Shen looked at everyone and said slowly: "Are you unwilling to go in?"

Song Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "If we could have gone in, we would have gone in a long time ago. Lord Shen, don't keep us in suspense."

"Is your majesty all right?"

Shen Yi looked at Zhang Jian, then nodded silently.

"His Majesty…"

"Everything is fine."

(End of this chapter)