Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 144 The Grandson Who Farms

Zhu Yunhuan was very busy, he was busy making some minor changes.

He reduced some of the duties of the Imperial Household Department and created the Imperial Horse Department, which was a third-rank government office that was responsible for the horse administration of each pasture and each garden, and was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War.

Lao Zhu had no objection to this, he just added a few things.

A total of four Yuanma Temples were established in the northern border areas, namely, Zhibei Zhili, Liaodong, Pingliang and Gansu.

This government office was required to regularly supervise matters related to horse branding, distribution, taxation, breeding, etc. It would check the increase and loss of horses, as well as the color of their teeth in spring and autumn every year, and conduct an inspection every three years. The provincial governor and the provincial procuratorate were not allowed to participate. If there was any reduction, the Ministry of War would report to the emperor for punishment.

In addition, Zhu Yunhuan also selected a group of people and arranged for them to enter the school.

At the same time as the Wuyuan was established, a workshop appeared.

Nominally, they were considering developing some weapons and so on, but the first batch of craftsmen were more inclined towards agriculture and animal husbandry.

Zhu Yunhuan was very busy, but while he was busy with some things, he obviously did not forget that agriculture is the foundation.

Leading some guards and eunuchs to the Imperial Horse Administration, many people subconsciously suggested that Zhu Yunhuan wanted to see the imperial horses. This crown prince was said to be skilled in archery and horse riding, and he was also young and frivolous, so it was normal for him to ride a horse.

However, Zhu Yunhuan called the eunuch in charge of the seal and asked, "How are these horse manure and rotten grass disposed of?"

The eunuch in charge of the seal immediately replied, "Your Highness, of course it will be transported out of the palace. We dare not defile the palace."

Zhu Yunhuan thought for a moment and then asked, "Where is the open space in the palace?"

Zhang Fusheng replied, "Your Highness, there are too many vacancies, but I don't know what your Highness wants."

Zhu Yunhuan said, "Find a larger open space. The soil should not be too rich or too thin, but should be able to grow crops. It's hard to grow rice in the current weather, so why not plant some cabbage?"

The Crown Prince has all kinds of ideas, so how can he grow cabbages?
Zhu Yunhuan didn't care about that and just said, "Don't remove the horse manure easily in the future. It's manure!"

Zhang Fusheng and others, who were originally somewhat confused, immediately realized and seemed to understand what the Crown Prince meant.

Many people are familiar with green manure. As a member of the nation with natural talents, fertilizer has been called manure since ancient times, and fertilizing it becomes manure field.

In ancient times, animal manure was the most commonly used fertilizer. In the Warring States Period and the Qin and Han Dynasties, decomposed human and animal manure, silkworm feces, weeds, plant ash, etc. were used. In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, inorganic fertilizers such as lime, gypsum, sulfur, salt, and brine were further used.

Zhu Yunhuan had already thought about this, but it was really difficult for him to produce urea now. All he could think of was some green manure.

Fertilizer made from livestock manure, bedding materials, and feed residues mixed and piled up and acted upon by microorganisms. This is also known as "stable manure", but Zhu Yunhuan only has a limited understanding of it and definitely needs to continue a series of experiments.

If manure works, he would like to continue trying other things, such as composting, fermenting manure, etc.

Although it stinks, Zhu Yunhuan has nothing to dislike about it. If he can accomplish something, it will be of great help to the Ming Dynasty. If he does not work hard to change some things, perhaps it will take another 100 or 200 years for many people to realize the benefits of manure.

Although the Crown Prince changed his career to farming, he still had to farm in the palace. Naturally, this matter quickly reached the ears of the Emperor.

If his grandson wanted to build a horse riding and archery field, Old Zhu would definitely object, but since his grandson wanted to farm, he had to support him. If it wasn't against the rules, he would have planned to build a vegetable garden in the empty space of the Qianqing Palace to show his grandson his farming skills.

It is not good to be too close to the Altar of Land and Grain. It is better to choose other places according to the requirements of the Crown Prince.

After a busy day, Zhu Yunhuan sniffed his clothes as he walked. He didn't know if he had lost his sense of smell or had some psychological trauma, but he always felt that he smelled a little bit.

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan enter the house, Old Zhu joked, "Don't smell it. You didn't carry manure or make a scene, so how can you smell?"

"That's hard to say." Zhu Yunhuan sat down and said to Old Zhu, "It's only like this when I come to my grandfather's place. If I go back, my two sisters might think I'm dirty."

Old Zhu praised, "Our grandson has not forgotten his roots and values ​​agriculture. This is sensible! If it weren't for our grandson's hard work, would they look like ladies from wealthy families?"

"Grandfather, I really plan to open up a large piece of land." Zhu Yunhuan said seriously, "It's not that I just want to plant it for others to see, so that people will say that my royal family values ​​agriculture. I am thinking that no matter what the harvest is, I will first come up with some good methods and prescriptions, so that they can benefit the country and the people in the future." Ordinary people naturally did not dare to experiment easily, because land and harvest were related to their lives and property.

Old Zhu became serious and asked, "What do you mean? You don't want to farm properly?"

"Of course, farming should be done well. I am the crown prince, not a farmer." Zhu Yunhuan explained with a smile, "I think the most important thing to do is to enable the people to farm better and teach them how to farm."

Old Zhu laughed and said, "You can't even tell the difference between rice seedlings, and you want to teach people how to farm? How about we send Yang Ming here and some grass to see if you can tell the difference? You're so stupid as to think you can teach people how to farm!"

Zhu Yunhuan was not annoyed by the teasing, but just smiled and said, "It doesn't matter much. My fields don't need high yields. I found good seeds and good fertilizers. If I promote them in the future, the people will be able to harvest more food."

Old Zhu said, "Animal manure is fertile, and this is known to many people, especially farmers. Believe it or not, ordinary people keep a close eye on their toilets. Those who know how to live will not defecate outside. If they see animal manure on the road, they will think of picking it up and taking it home."

Although it is a bit exaggerated, what Lao Zhu said is true. Many ordinary farmers know the importance of fertilizer. Nowadays, some manure can be regarded as the most important fertilizer.

Zhu Yunxun also continued, "I know this. The hay in the stable may look dirty, but it is probably fertile."

The weeds in pig pens and cattle pens actually have some fertility. Many people will not waste any, but they do not know how to make the manure more effective.

"I have just created a piece of land and planted crops in the palace. After a while, maybe I can create another piece of land in the imperial field outside the city." Zhu Yunxun said with great anticipation, "I have thought about it. I will distinguish several plots of land and use different fertilizers. Everything else is the same, so I can compare whether my fertilizer is effective or not."

Old Zhu smiled and said, "Okay, you are the crown prince, so it doesn't matter if your fields don't produce crops. Just farm and don't let your government affairs get in the way."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and joked, "I think my grandfather is also an old farmer, and his people might fool me about some things. When the time comes, I might need my grandfather's help to take a good look at my fields."

Old Zhu smiled and asked, "What are you going to do with the few plots of land in the palace?"

"It's probably too late to plant late rice now, so let's plant some vegetables first." Zhu Yunhuan said, "What do you think, grandfather?"

Old Zhu said directly, "It's not the beginning of autumn yet, so it's still not too late to plant some late rice. There are many people in the palace who eat free rice, so let them make good use of the time in these two fields and cultivate one or two acres of land."

Zhu Yunhuan asked, "It doesn't matter if it's not the beginning of autumn?"

"That's because you don't know how to farm. The yield of seedlings planted after the beginning of autumn will be lower." Old Zhu said proudly, "Okay, just do as I say. It won't delay your farming. How to farm is up to you."

Zhu Yunhuan immediately looked at Zhang Fusheng and said, "Did you hear that? Hurry up and have someone clear out two acres of land for me. Don't make them connected. Divide the two acres into five plots so I can do experiments."

Zhang Fusheng naturally wrote it down immediately. Although the Crown Prince's behavior seemed a bit unorthodox, it was not easy for others to say anything.

Firstly, the Crown Prince's prestige is growing, and secondly, when it comes to farming, no one can find fault with him. Some people even say that the Crown Prince attaches importance to farming, which is something worthy of praise.

In fact, Zhu Yunhuan didn't really care about farming, because he knew that Zhu Yunhuan would not really do it himself, and many things were done by his subordinates.

The yield is not the most important thing. High yield is the best thing. If there is no high yield, it doesn't matter much. The palace does not need the output of one or two acres of land to support itself.

If we can really find some good seedlings and make some useful fertilizers, it would be a great merit.

Not to mention Zhu Yuanzhang, an emperor who attached great importance to farming. Any normal ruler would not dare to ignore farming, as it is the real "foundation of the country".

Starting to farm is a new move of Zhu Yunhuan. He has been very active during this period, so many people don’t care much about these things.

Isn't it just a piece of land cleared in the imperial palace? When the country was first founded, the emperor and the empress used to cultivate the land themselves. It was only after the empress passed away and the emperor grew old that those vegetable fields became abandoned and no one took care of them.

What's more, in some people's minds, the Crown Prince's farming is just a show project, just to prove that he values ​​farming.

Although the outside world is generally not optimistic about it, Zhu Yunhuan doesn't care much about it. He will wait until he has made some achievements. There is no need to expect immediate results. Some things cannot be rushed.

Fortunately, Zhu Yunhuan’s position is now stable, so he doesn’t need to rush to show himself immediately. There is no harm in taking a steady approach.

(End of this chapter)