In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 560 Sweet Potatoes Are Coming
In April of the 15th year of Yuanzhen, Zhao Qi arrived at Java Island and stayed there for half a month. He also took practical action and spent several days running around the areas occupied by the Song army. Meng Zhijing was very nervous and led more than 500 cavalrymen to protect Zhao Qi every day.

At this time, Java Island had not yet been completely controlled by the Song army, and people from the Sindhi Dynasty were resisting everywhere.

Fortunately, Zhao Qi left without any danger and in early May. Before leaving, he also instructed local officials to treat the people well.

In mid-May, Zhao Qi came to Lion City. Not long after arriving in Lion City, someone reported that a ship was coming from Baozhou and someone wanted to see the King of Han.

"From Baozhou?" Zhao Qi was stunned for a moment, then quickly figured out who it was.

The Song Dynasty changed North and South America into North and South Baozhou.

In May of the ninth year of Yuanzhen, Pu Shougeng, Tan Cong and Peng Yun returned to the Song Dynasty from South America after two years of hard work. After that, Zhao Yurui planned to colonize South America and changed its name to Baozhou. There were rumors everywhere that there were all kinds of treasures and gold on it to attract private capital to join.

At the end of the ninth year of Yuanzhen, the Song Dynasty established the Governor's Office of Nanbaozhou, with Pu Shougeng as the governor.

The first batch of Song troops consisted of one general and 3,000 men, all of whom brought their families with them. It was agreed with the generals and soldiers that they would be rotated every six years.

The condition given to Pu Shougeng is a rotation of five to ten years, depending on his own intention.

It has been exactly six years now. The first batch of rotated Song troops just arrived in Singapore a few days ago. This batch of Song troops has a thousand people. They set out from Baozhou Port near Brazil (later Port Natal), passed through Jinzhou (Africa), to Persia, and then from the Strait of Malacca to Singapore, preparing to return to the Song Dynasty.

When this group of Song troops went to Baozhou, this place did not belong to the Song army. Unexpectedly, when they came back a few years later, this place had changed a lot, and it was full of Song troops and Song merchant ships.

"Who is the leader of the Baozhou fleet?" Zhao Qi asked immediately.

Of course he knew that in his father's eyes, Baozhou was also relatively important, but there were too many things going on in the Song Dynasty at the moment, and Zhao Yurui could not take care of Baozhou, leaving Pu Shougeng to deal with it.

"Reporting to King Han, it is Tan Cong, the deputy commander of the Baozhou Navy."

In seven or eight years, Tan Cong was promoted from a low-ranking officer in the Intelligence Department to deputy commander of the navy, thanks to their bringing back rubber trees and colonizing Baozhou Wanli.

Tan Cong's father was Tan Hai. In his early years, he worked as a guard in the Imperial City Division. He was responsible for patrolling the place where Zhao Qi lived and was familiar with Zhao Qi. Later, he was appointed to the Intelligence Department and was also an acquaintance of Zhao Qi.

This time, Tan Cong returned to China with a battalion and his family, a total of more than a thousand people. He happened to be recuperating in Lion City. When he heard that this place was governed by Han Wang Zhao Qi, he deliberately stayed for a few more days, finally waiting for Zhao Qi to come back.

"Let Tan Cong in." Zhao Qi hurriedly called for help when he heard this.

When Zhao Qi was in the capital, Tan Hai sent gifts to the Jia Mansion every year and was very polite.

After Zhao Qi was sent to govern the Kingdom of Han, Tan Hai sent his sons to visit him at least once a year. Except for Tan Cong, the other two of his three sons had met Zhao Qi several times.

Tan Hai is basically Zhao Qi's man and is considered one of his confidants.

After a while, Tan Cong came in from outside and bowed down.

"Greetings to His Majesty the King of Han."

"Tan Cong, get up quickly. Haha, long time no see. You've gotten so much darker?" Zhao Qi had also seen Tan Cong when he was young. He stepped forward to help Tan Cong up. They smiled at each other and both felt that the other had not changed much.

When Tan Cong came in, he was afraid that the King of Han had forgotten him. He didn't expect that the King of Han was still so humble and polite after not seeing him for so many years.

Zhao Qi warmly invited him to sit down and asked someone to serve tea.

The two chatted for a while, and Tan Cong quickly got straight to the point: "These are two things I brought from Baozhou, which are called cassava and sweet potato--"

Tan Cong brought good things from America, including food crops that were very common there.

The sweet potato is what we call sweet potato.

This thing is grown by local Indians and has a history of more than 8,000 years. Because of its sweetness, the locals call it sweet potato. It was not until the 15th century that it was brought back to Europe by Columbus, and brought to the Philippines by Spanish soldiers in the 16th century. It was introduced to the Ming Dynasty in the late Ming Dynasty. In the early days, it was only planted in Yunnan, Guangdong and Fujian, and did not form a large-scale plantation.

Cassava looks similar to sweet potato, but there are differences in nutrition, eating methods, and growing environment.

Tan Cong said that these two kinds of grain crops have relatively high yields and are easy to grow. Local people rely on them as their staple food. They can be promoted to supplement food. Even if the Song Dynasty is not short of food now, they can be used as food for horses, mules, etc.

Zhao Qi was overjoyed when he heard this, because he knew that his father had been looking for more food, mainly because he was afraid that natural disasters in the future would cause a reduction in grain production.

The Song Dynasty began preparing to build granaries across the country during the Baoqing period, and specifically required that each province must have a super granary like the one used in the Sui Dynasty. Each province must have at least one, with a grain storage capacity of more than one million dan, and more than ten medium-sized granaries were required.

The larger the population, the higher the requirements. Now the largest granary in the Song Dynasty is in a mountain city in Sichuan, with a grain storage capacity of nearly five million shi.

Despite this, Zhao Yurui was still not satisfied and continued to look for other food crops.

When rye appeared a few years ago, Zhao and Rui were overjoyed and immediately promoted it in the cold northern regions.

Next came crops such as sugar beets that were suitable for cold regions and were also promoted with full force.

Every time a new crop comes out, those who offer tribute will receive huge rewards.

This time, Tan Cong brought two kinds of potatoes and a lot of other crops, and then prepared to give them to Zhao Qi and ask Zhao Qi to pay tribute, which was equivalent to letting Zhao Qi accumulate merit.

"You are thoughtful." Zhao Qi was also very happy to hear this, but he didn't like doing this kind of thing: "I will write to the court, saying that these crops were found by you, and it should be your credit."

Tan Cong couldn't help but be moved, but at the same time he shook his head secretly. The King of Han was so upright that it would be difficult for him to gain the upper hand in the fight for the throne.

"Can you please introduce this to me? What are the characteristics of this?"

Tan Cong introduced him immediately.

Cassava is usually light yellow, while sweet potato is red (orange-red). The former has a poor taste and is more troublesome to eat, requiring soaking and grinding, while the latter can be directly roasted or steamed, or eaten raw.

Wood likes heat and is suitable for planting in tropical areas, such as Southeast Asia.

Sweet potatoes have a wide adaptability and can grow in both tropical and temperate zones. They are suitable for all coastal areas of the Song Dynasty and can even be tried in the north.

Of course, they didn’t know at that time that sweet potatoes are very resistant to cold and heat and can be grown in both the north and the south.

After listening to the introduction, Zhao Qi was very excited and decided to promote the planting in Shishi and Bhara, the former Srivijaya, and the Singhasari Dynasty to see what the yield and taste were like.

After that, he also thought of promoting it in Persia.

Tan Cong was stunned.

He has been here for a few days and knows some basic information about the current situation in the Song Dynasty.

The third prince Zhao Yi was in Persia at this time. Zhao Yi must have his own mission objectives, such as how much grain production he should produce each year and how much grain tax he should pay. How could he let Zhao Yi grow these two crops? But he couldn't say it clearly, so he said, "Persia is vast, has a large population, and its grain production is not low. It should not be needed for the time being."

"Besides, the seeds I brought are very few, so I can only promote them in a few places like Lion City first. In the next two years, the King of Han can promote them to other places."

Zhao Qi had no choice but to nod after hearing this: "You can send someone to deliver a small amount of seeds to my third brother first."

"I obey your command." Tan Cong had no choice but to agree. He felt depressed in his heart, "King of Han, you can't do this."

Several princes are doing their own things, and the emperor wants to see who does a better job. Why are you helping your brother?

In the 15th year of Yuanzhen, the Song Dynasty obtained sweet potatoes. In the mountainous areas of Southeast Asia, sweet potatoes were more suitable than rice and wheat, and were quickly promoted.
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In May, Zhao Yurui summoned Meng Gong and Liu Zheng in Lin'an.

The two generals had been leading troops outside all year round and seldom returned to the capital. They were recalled by the emperor this time, firstly to report on their work, and secondly, the emperor also expressed his longing for them. He had not seen the two generals for a long time and missed them very much.

There are no major wars in the Song Dynasty right now, and most of the fighting is localized. Therefore, the two generals have nothing important to do, so they return to Lin'an at the same time.

One of them came from Borneo Province and the other came from Central Asia Province. After Liu Zheng waited for Meng Gong to arrive in Borneo, the two of them took a boat together from the sea to Lin'an.

According to the rules of the Song Dynasty or the customs of previous dynasties, when officials outside the capital were summoned by the emperor, they had to go to pay homage to the emperor as soon as they arrived in Beijing.

However, Zhao Yurui did not care about these things, especially for the civil and military officials who returned from overseas. They were asked to rest and have a good sleep after returning, and then wait for the emperor to summon them to enter the palace after a day or two.

The two men arrived in Beijing on May 18 and stayed in their respective homes in Lin'an for two days. Zhao and Rui summoned them on May 20.

On the morning of the 20th, the two men went to court together. After the meeting, they were led by eunuchs to the Chuigong Hall to meet the emperor.

Both of them were generals commanding troops and had hardly ever attended court before. When they attended court today, they discovered that the way court was held in the Song Dynasty was completely different from before.

Emperor Zhao Yurui basically said nothing at the court meeting. The cabinet was handling all the matters. After the court meeting, the cabinet and the emperor would meet in the afternoon to deal with the relevant government affairs in a special manner.

Only then did the two men realize that the government had delegated power for many years. During these years, the cabinet was responsible for handling many affairs of the Song Dynasty. Civil and military officials below the fifth rank and chief officers at all levels were decided by the cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Personnel. Some military officers were decided by local governors and then reported to the Ministry of War for filing.

Among the civil officials, only the county chiefs, county magistrates, and officials of the fifth rank and above were negotiated by the cabinet and submitted to the emperor for decision.

In this way, many deputy civil service positions and other official positions would not be under the emperor's jurisdiction, which would save the emperor a lot of trouble.

Among the military officers, the battalion commander and deputy commander of a battalion of 500 people are decided by the Ministry of War and the local military governors.

The following provincial governors reported to the Ministry of War and awaited approval.

All military officers above the rank of general must report to the emperor for a decision.

Moreover, according to the rules of the Song Dynasty, every deputy general, general in preparation, and general who was promoted above the rank of general had to go to the imperial city to meet the emperor and have a face-to-face conversation with him.

The same goes for local spending. The emperor only intervenes when the amount reaches a certain level.

Zhao Yurui kept a tight control over several important decision-making powers on personnel and finance, and delegated them to the cabinet below, which made things much easier for himself, and he often did not even attend court.

Especially in the past two years, he intended to try whether the court could function without the emperor, so he often did not attend court, and the court functioned well. Then after the court, the cabinet reported to him, and he would decide on some important personnel or financial affairs.

Considering that Wanli had not attended court for decades and the Ming Dynasty was still running well, Zhao and Rui both felt that they were still relatively diligent.

"Your Majesty, I bow to you. Long live Your Majesty."

Meng Gong and Liu Zheng came in very respectfully and knelt down one after another.

"Get up, get up. There are no outsiders here. No need to be polite. Haha. Governor Meng, are you old too?" Zhao Yurui stepped forward and personally helped the two generals up.

Both of them were a little moved.

Meng Gong is not young anymore. He was in his twenties when he met Zhao Yurui, and now he is in his early fifties.

Probably because he has been away from home for many years, his hair has turned a lot gray. He has indeed worked hard for the Song Dynasty over the years.

Liu Zheng is a little younger, currently 35 years old, but he has been in Persia and Southeast Asia for many years, so his skin is now dark and rough, and he looks older.

After the two sat down, Zhao Yurui chatted with them about family matters, especially their children.

Both of them had children, and their sons were also given important positions.

Meng Gong had two daughters, one of whom married Li Huang's son, and the other married Quan Yong's son. Both of them married Zhao Yurui's confidants.

Zhao Yurui chatted with them while looking at the two generals.

Meng Gong looked very good and spoke with full energy. Although he had traveled a long distance, he had rested at home for two days and was in good condition. Zhao Yurui also asked about his health with concern. Meng Gong said that he had been fine and had never been sick.

"At least be careful. I'll ask the imperial physician to check your pulse. The general is the pillar of the Song Dynasty. You must take good care of your health."

"Your Majesty." Meng Gong was moved again, his eyes were a little wet, and he didn't know what to say.

In another time and space, Meng Gong would have been angered to death by Zhao Yuju and died of depression last year.

Judging from Meng Gong’s current condition, he will have no problem living another ten or twenty years.

The troops of both of them were close to the Persian front line, and they were also guarding against the main force of the Mongolian Guyu.

Zhao Yurui asked Guyuk and Batu about the war and listened to their opinions.

Meng Gong said: "Guyu and Batu fought for more than a year, and the battle was suspended after Guyu won a small victory. I seem to have heard someone persuade Guyu, so Guyu did not pursue the victory later--"

It turned out that after Guyuk drove Batu out of Sarai City, he wanted to pursue and kill Batu, but Yelu Zhu believed that the Song people supported their gunpowder weapons and let them fight Batu, which was intended to add fuel to the fire. They should keep the Khan in good health and not rush to decide the outcome with Batu. They should ask the Song people for more goods and stabilize the rear at the same time to build a foundation before doing anything else.

Guyuk did not have a good base in the early days. He only had a decent big city after occupying the city of Sarai. Now he has just got it and has been fighting for a year. There is no need to decide the outcome with Batu immediately. What if the Song army suddenly turns against him?
After all, Zhao Yurui has too many bad records.

Moreover, they could find ways to force Batu and Mongke to surrender without having to fight a life-and-death battle on the battlefield, thus preserving the strength of the Mongolian army.

Guyuk followed Yelu Zhu's advice and sent envoys to persuade Mongke and Batu to surrender, while strengthening control and recuperation of his own territory and guarding against the Song army.

After listening to this, Zhao Yurui thought for a moment and said, "If Batu had died, or if there hadn't been a massacre at the last meeting, Mongke would probably have compromised."

(End of this chapter)