Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 192: Filling in the last link!
As we all know, Yingtian Prefecture was one of the four hot cities in later generations, but the history book of the Little Ice Age in the late Ming Dynasty, "Ming History·Five Elements", recorded a different picture.

"It was extremely cold in winter, and the rivers were frozen for days."

The "Yueshibian" also records the winter weather conditions in Huguang area: "Heavy snow for several days, with the ground piled up three feet."

Three feet is about one meter in later generations. If a child of eight or nine years old is buried in it, his head probably won’t be able to be exposed.

As the saying goes, "The ice three feet thick does not form overnight", which shows that Yingtian Prefecture and Huguang were no less severe than North China and Northeast China in later generations.

Now it is just the beginning of August and it is already late autumn. The willow paths are covered with dew and frost, the grass is withered and the water is cool. People in Huguang have already started preparing clothes for winter.

Although the temperature had not yet dropped to freezing point, Chongzhen felt that the weather in the south seemed colder than in the north.

Because he had been in the palace before and was warmed by the charcoal fire, he didn't feel that cold. Now the sudden change in temperature made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"My son, try this cotton-padded coat." Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming walked in while rubbing his hands, holding a piece of cotton-padded clothes.

Cotton has begun to be planted on a large scale under the promotion of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty.

However, during the Chongzhen reign, a nationwide cold disaster not only caused a surge in demand for cotton, but the cold disaster was often followed by drought, and cotton production continued to fall. This caused the price of cotton to rise all the way, comparable to gold, which ordinary people simply could not afford.

"Otherwise, let them put them on first. I'm not cold yet. We can talk about it later."

Faced with the envious gazes of his subordinates, Chongzhen wanted to speculate, but the old blind man stood up and said, "My lord, you have already given me the cotton clothes last time. If I refuse again, I will get sick from the cold. How can we still live in this world with dignity?"

"Yes, my lord, please take care of yourself. When the weather becomes extremely cold, it will be too late to buy warm clothes." Old Han took off his clothes without saying a word.

Seeing this, Miao Haishi, a captain under his command, also reached out to take off his clothes.

Upon hearing this, all the generals followed suit. In the biting wind, people were only wearing thin clothes, and their lips were frozen purple.

"Well, can't I wear it?"

Chongzhen took a deep breath and put on his cotton coat. He finally felt a little more warmth on his body. "Military Advisor, how are the soldiers going to survive the winter?"

The old blind man said without hesitation: "If there is cotton, we will have silver to exchange with the people. If there is really no cotton, we can stuff it with reed fluff, which can also keep out the cold."

"Can reed fluff keep you warm?" Chongzhen asked someone to bring one and he insisted on trying it on.

After trying it on, he nodded, "Although it's not as good as cotton, it's still okay... I'll wear this."

King Xiang's face twitched, but he couldn't scold his silly son in front of so many people.

This thing is fine to wear now, but when winter comes, you will know how big the difference is.

He could only keep winking at Old Han, asking him to put the cotton jacket away and take it out when his son couldn't bear it anymore.

the following few days,

Chongzhen went out wearing clothes made of reed quilt, and the soldiers looked at him one by one with red eyes.

"Lord!"

"My lord is kind and righteous!"

"Lord..."

The number of people from the surrounding areas who came to seek refuge not only did not decrease, but increased instead.

Because everyone knew that "Prince Xin" was benevolent and righteous, unlike other rebel kings. Even if Chongzhen distributed land and food to them, many of them would still follow him to revolt.

This made Chongzhen unable to help but ask Prince Xiang, "Dad, did I do something wrong?"

"You are not wrong. What is wrong is this era and this chaotic world."

Chongzhen: "..."

There was no sound for a long time.

……

In the capital, as the weather turns cooler, the Frost Descent should have occurred on the tenth day of September. Now, just after the middle of August, frost has begun to appear on the grass and trees.

Zhu Changgan was not in the palace today, but went to the Agriculture Department with several cabinet members including Sun Chengzong, Yang Sichang, and Liu Zhifeng.

According to the news sent back by Song Yingxing, the weather was cold and the sweet potatoes had stopped growing and could be harvested.

Is this the Agriculture Department?

"A son of a thousand gold coins does not sit in the hall, a son of a hundred gold coins does not ride a horse, a sage ruler does not take advantage of danger to seek fortune, your majesty, who is worth ten thousand gold coins, why do you care about farming? Are you trying to emulate Xizong?

The faces of the ministers looked somewhat ugly. In fact, they were reluctant to come, but the Jinyiwei had issued a death order.

The fields were covered with vines and withered grass and dead willows. It was hard to tell what was planted there. Instead, it looked like water plants.

When Sun Chengzong and his companions arrived at the Beijing Camp Military Farm, they were surprised to see the Jinyiwei and Dongchang people blocking the surrounding area.

"What is this doing?"

With so many Jinyiwei, it was obvious that there was a great deal of confidentiality, which puzzled several important officials of the Ming Dynasty.

Liu Zhifeng was impatient and couldn't help but pull a soldier who was working on the farm and asked, "What are you doing?"

"The sweet potato harvest is good, and we need to pick the sweet potatoes."

At this time, Song Yingxing was not there at all, but was farther away. He was concentrating on recording data. Every piece of land was labeled on his notebook.

From soil quality, fertilization, irrigation...all kinds of data are included.

These data will become the best experience and provide guidance for the promotion of sweet potatoes nationwide next year.

Sweet potato...a good harvest?
When these words fell into the ears of several ministers, they felt a little dazed. Even though they were already accustomed to the emperor's swift and decisive actions, this was the first time they had seen the emperor care so much about crops.

"A good harvest? How much can we harvest? Could it be 400 or 500 kilograms?"

Yang Sichang was still aware of the crop harvest in the Ming Dynasty. In recent days, the emperor's actions in military and administrative affairs were as powerful as thunder, and the entire court was unable to react.

He suddenly asked several important officials to come here today, obviously wanting to show them something.

So much so that everyone perked up a bit.

Money and grain are the foundation of the imperial court. Although money ranks before grain, everyone knows that grain is more important than money.

The people of the Ming Dynasty rebelled and the Later Jin invaded the Ming Dynasty. Ultimately, it was because food could not meet the needs of the population.

While their thoughts were still in a mess, they heard the emperor calling them, "Come over and give me a hand."

"Here we come!" Xu Ci Fu was the first to run over and help the emperor dig the rhizomes of sweet potatoes.

"Oh, so many?"

With the joining of Liu Zhifeng and Yang Sichang, more and more sweet potatoes were turned out from the ground, and Zhu Changgan stood up and let them get busy.

"There's more here...below..."

"There are so many on one plant, how many would there be on the whole acre?"

"Come on, dig out another one..."

Not to mention Yang Sichang, even Sun Chengzong, who was over 70 years old, couldn't help but take action when he saw this.

A few days ago, Zhu Changgan asked Song Yingxing to set aside an acre of land for today.

Moreover, as a member of the cabinet, Zhu Changgan needed to boost their confidence and also to prepare for the next step. With money and food, he would face less resistance in the court.

This acre of land was the first to be harvested, while the vines of the other fields were being cut.

It took more than a dozen people more than an hour to dig out all the sweet potatoes.

Next came the weighing session, which was conducted by Sun Chengzong himself.

The scale rod used during the Chongzhen period was made during the Wanli period. It has three buttons and a fine sight scale. The copper weights of the Ming Dynasty are ingot-shaped and rectangular. One catty is equivalent to 593 grams.

Yang Sichang, Liu Zhifeng and others removed all the dirt from the sweet potatoes and put them into baskets.

"One hundred kilograms... two hundred kilograms..."

“Five hundred pounds!”

It was not until this moment that everyone finally realized that the emperor asked them to come not just because he cared about farming, but because it had a more important meaning.

"Eight hundred kilograms!"

Everyone's expression was moved.

"One thousand jin..."

When the weight exceeded 1,000 kilograms, there was a burst of exclamations at the scene, and everyone couldn't help but be amazed.

They were all amazed.

"And keep going!"

Sun Chengzong's hands were shaking, his face unconsciously became solemn, his whole body was trembling slightly, and he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

This...only half of it was weighed, or a small half, and most of it was not weighed.

It was already frost, and my old body, after so many years, felt the energy of youth again. A yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu, what a concept. Let's not talk about whether this thing tastes good or not. Even if it tastes bad, it's enough to keep people alive.

The reason why the Ming Dynasty fell into its current situation is because there is no harvest in the fields.

If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that there were such crops in the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, Sun Chengzong no longer cared about his official uniform. He tied it on his body and stared at the scale with his eyes, "Next basket!"

"Put it on again~"

More than a dozen important officials of the Ming Dynasty were like old farmers at this moment, excitedly moving down one basket and putting another up.

They were busy and serious, with people constantly counting their numbers.

"One thousand five hundred kilograms..."

It’s already 1,500 kilograms.

Everyone paused for a moment, and many of them rolled their throats a few times. They realized something, but their hands moved faster.

A strange atmosphere spread among everyone.

How much do they want to see?

"One thousand eight hundred kilograms!"

"One thousand nine hundred kilograms..."

"Two thousand pounds!"

When the sound of two thousand pounds was heard, not only these officials, but also the surrounding Jinyiwei, Dongchang people, and farmers from the Agricultural Department were all in an uproar.

People cheered loudly and were very excited.

Two thousand kilograms, what does this mean?
Not to mention that they are so familiar with farming, even officials and their families who have never been involved in farming know that farming is hard work and that one acre of land can only yield a few hundred kilograms in a year.

The people simply couldn't fill their stomachs, let alone rice and wheat, there wasn't even enough miscellaneous grains, otherwise there wouldn't have been so many people rebelling.

This is still the spring and summer seasons, but now... the yield per mu has exceeded 2,000 kilograms.

For thousands of years, the only thing people have done in this world is to fight hunger.

Without exception!

If they really can't survive, they will rebel, all for the sake of food.

Sun Chengzong's face turned red at this time, and he suppressed his emotions and said, "Keep going, don't stop!"

"Two thousand two hundred kilograms!"

"Two thousand three hundred kilograms..."

At this moment, all the officials from the Agriculture Department, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Eastern Depot stretched their necks and looked over here.

"Two thousand five hundred kilograms!"

Every number announced will trigger cheers.

"Two thousand eight hundred kilograms..."

"Two thousand nine hundred kilograms!"

"Three thousand pounds!"

Boom~
All the officials in the Department of Agriculture were cheering.

"Three thousand two hundred and twenty-three pounds!"

When the last number was announced, everyone's eyes changed drastically. Sun Chengzong even felt a little dizzy. They all looked at the emperor at the same time.

But the emperor had left without knowing when.

Zhu Changgan listened to the cheers from behind and murmured, "Three thousand two hundred catties, that's only one thousand six hundred kilograms."

Compared with the average of 2,500 kilograms in later generations, it is quite different. However, considering the Little Ice Age, the growth cycle of sweet potatoes was shortened by more than 20 days, and because of chemical fertilizers, the harvest was greatly affected, which is normal.

Sun Chengzong wiped the dirt off the sweet potato, then took a bite, his eyes suddenly widened, "It's much better than I thought."

Other ministers followed suit and praised it highly.

……

As the first acre of land was harvested, Song Yingxing shouted loudly: "All the fields, start harvesting!"

Wow~
Everyone rushed into the fields and started harvesting with tools.

The entire Beijing Military Farm was seething with excitement.

Sun Chengzong, Yang Sichang, Liu Zhifeng and others were still not satisfied and joined the harvesting army again.

Three thousand two hundred kilograms, such a yield was still unbelievable until this moment. They wanted to verify it again, whether it was this field that produced more than three thousand kilograms, or other fields could also produce it.

Not long after, the call was heard again.

Because in some places it exceeded 3,500 kilograms.

Sun Chengzong grabbed the scale bar, extremely excited, "There is hope for the revival of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Song Sizheng, how many...plants have you planted in total..."

"Sweet potato!" someone nearby kindly reminded.

"Yes, sweet potatoes. How many acres have you planted in total?"

Song Yingxing replied truthfully: "There are not enough rice seedlings this year, not many, less than 10,000 acres."

"Sigh~"

Isn't this much?

Song Yingxing's next sentence almost made Sun Chengzong's hair stand on end, "Next year there will be more. After raising seedlings next year, we can plant tens of millions of acres."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the ministers present could not help but take a breath, and each of them was moved.

"My Ming Dynasty is saved."

"The people's hard times are over." Yang Sichang took a deep breath. "With such a good harvest, there will be no more starving people in the Ming Dynasty, right?"

Xu Cifu's lips trembled, "It's a blessing for the Ming Dynasty, a blessing for the Ming Dynasty~"

"This is a great achievement that will last for thousands of years. How is this different from rebuilding the Ming Dynasty?"

Everyone's gaze changed again, looking in the direction of the imperial palace. Their looks were different, but most of them contained complex emotions of fear, hope, and despair.

They were frightened because the emperor had secretly cultivated such a crop and they had no idea about it before.

The hope is that because of this harvest, earth-shaking changes will soon take place in the Ming Dynasty, and they will be witnesses.

Despair... is because the emperor has firearms, soldiers, silver, and now has sufficient food and grass. He no longer has any weaknesses. Their civil service group no longer has the capital to seize power from the emperor.

Are you just going to accept your fate?
But...what can I do if I don't accept my fate?

……

at the same time,

Under the leadership of Duoduo, the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners joined forces with the Joseon Dynasty and once again launched an attack on Pi Island.

Duoduo abandoned the method of brute force and adopted the method of two-pronged attack, one for feint attack and the other for surprise attack.

The Eight Banners Cavalry, Wuzhen Chaoha (Han Army), Shang Kexi's troops (Heaven's Help Army) and Korean soldiers were in charge. They lined up in a grand formation and made a big fuss in an effort to attract the attention of Kong Youde's "Heaven's Help Army".

They engaged Kong Youde's troops and began their attack at 11 p.m.

A fierce battle broke out with the "rebels" guarding the island.

The elite Eight Banners infantrymen led by Gushan Ezhen Samushka were frantically blocked by Kong Youde's firearms troops.

The Jianggao Bay area in the northwest corner of Pi Island was like a meat grinder, killing or maiming more than 3,000 Eight Banners soldiers.

The other route was led by the Eight Banners Infantry, who moved secretly, took small boats, quietly crossed the sea, and came to the waterway below Pi Island, preparing to launch an attack as soon as it got dark.

But before this surprise force could take action, horns suddenly sounded one after another.

Because both the Qing Dynasty and Pi Island discovered at the same time that there was a new fleet on the sea.

Then both sides exclaimed almost at the same time:
"Ming...Ming Army!"

……

ps: I posted it earlier today, but I had something else to do. I was worried that I would not have time to post it when I got back. I would like to thank everyone for their support. It is also the beginning of the month, so if you have a monthly ticket, please vote for it. (These more than 100 words are free of charge)

(End of this chapter)