After Qian Qianyi and others were sent to Shaanxi, the entire court finally became quiet. Without these villains who only knew how to fight for power and profit, the Donglin Party became much more honest, and Zhu Cijing could finally calm down and do something practical.

First of all, we will naturally collect transaction taxes. Although the Donglin Party’s proclaimed that the rent tax per mu can be increased by three points per acre, it will be an ideal state. The severe drought in four provinces and one Beijing will continue for more than ten years. This is not a big deal for this small half of the area. It would be good if the remaining provinces can receive five or six million taels. It would be better to use this money to help 30 million victims, and each person can drink a bowl of porridge every day.

What does it mean to have a bowl of porridge per day? You can just hold your life back. The hunger will be even stronger, and those who can get hungry will go crazy! Therefore, this transaction tax must be collected. Although it is only 10 million taels, which is enough for each person to drink three bowls of porridge per day, at least people will be able to drink a fake full body and will not go crazy and want to rebel.

Of course, drinking porridge every day is not a big deal. You may not go crazy after drinking for a year or two. If you drink for ten or eight years, you will only have skin and bones left. If you don’t starve to death, you will die of illness. Therefore, this food problem must be solved.

After all, Zhu Cijiu came from time to time. All the emperors of all generations were desperate when they came, but he actually came up with a solution.

In fact, the method is very simple, that is, migration, and an unprecedented large migration.

The severely affected areas such as Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Sichuan will have severe droughts for more than ten consecutive years. The land can no longer support so many people. It must be migrated to migrate most of the population. Only when they move to a place with sufficient rainfall will they have a way out. Otherwise, more than ten years will be as recorded in historical books!

Of course, migration alone is not enough. Even if you move to a place with sufficient rain, you have to have something to eat. It is definitely unrealistic to grow rice and wheat. These crops were only 300 to 400 kilograms per mu during the Ming Dynasty. Unless the entire Huguang and Jiangsu and Zhejiang population were moved to other places, the things planted would not be enough for these disaster victims and indigenous people to eat.

In order to resettle all the original residents, the indigenous people would have to rebel. This is obviously unrealistic.

After thinking about it, I can only plant grain crops with higher yields. Ancient people didn’t know what had a high yield, but modern people knew that Zhu Cijiu alone knew potatoes and sweet potatoes. These two things were amazing. As long as the planting method was correct, the minimum yield per mu was four or five thousand kilograms. If the land was fertile and managed properly, the yield per mu was not a problem!

In fact, these two things had been introduced to the inland during the Ming Dynasty, but due to the improper cultivation method, the yield was not high. In addition, the main planting of rice and wheat in North China have always been mainly grown. Suddenly, something fresh came out, and it would be good to grow. As for the yield, it depends on luck. After all, everything takes time to explore is not.

Zhu Cijing no longer had time to explore, and he didn't know how to increase the yield of this thing, but he knew that Europeans were experts in this area. Although these two things came from the Americas, Europeans had more experience in growing them. During the Ming Dynasty, potatoes were already the main grain crop in Europe.

Being an emperor is so good. You don’t have to do anything yourself. With just one word, someone will do it for him immediately.

If you want samples of potatoes and sweet potatoes, you don’t have to find them in person. As long as you have an oral order, someone will naturally send them to him in a hurry. It’s simple to see foreigners. With just one sentence, foreigners will naturally rush to the capital to meet. At that time, Europeans were trying their best to establish a relationship with the Ming Dynasty. If you don’t want to see them, they all want to come over.

Soon, samples of potatoes and sweet potatoes were sent. Since I didn’t know how much the emperor wanted, I put a few sacks of each one. Zhu Cijiu checked it himself and found that this thing was right, potatoes and sweet potatoes, but the appearance was really bad. The largest potatoes were only the size of eggs, and the smallest ones were as big as quail eggs. Sweet potatoes were only the size of fingers. How high can the yield be, I’m afraid it was worse than rice and wheat!

Not long after, foreigners also came. The foreigner was named Ovaro Semerdo, whose Chinese name was Zeng Dezhao. He was a Portuguese and a missionary. He came to the Ming Dynasty in the 41st year of Wanli (1613 AD). He has been living in Nanjing, Liudu. He has been studying Chinese for more than ten years and can have simple communication with people.

In order to promote the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Cijing specially summoned him in the Lord's Hall of the Ganqing Palace, and summoned more than 20 officials from all over the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works to accompany him on both sides.

Zeng Dezhao had done some research on the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty. As soon as he entered the hall, he immediately bowed and bowed: "See the great Emperor of the Ming Empire."

When Zhu Cijing heard this poor Chinese, he felt a long-lost sense of intimacy surged in his heart. When he was in college, several classmates were foreigners. Isn’t Chinese so bad? Of course, it was not nostalgic at this moment. He shook his head slightly, drove memories of his previous life out of his mind, and said with a slightly majestic look: “Flat.”

When Zeng Dezhao heard this, he replied in broken Chinese: "Thank you, Your Majesty," and then he got up from the ground.

Zhu Cijing was too lazy to be polite to him, so he ordered directly: "Pick up the things and show them to him."

Immediately, two eunuchs brought a pot of potatoes and sweet potatoes to Zeng Dezhao. Zeng Dezhao squatted down and looked at it curiously, then nodded thoughtfully.

Seeing him like this, Zhu Cijing asked hopefully: "Do you know these two things?"

Zeng Dezhao thought for a moment and replied hesitantly: "These two things are called potatoes and sweet potatoes?"

Just meet him, Zhu Cijing nodded with gratitude and continued to ask: "Do you think there is something wrong with them?"

Zeng Dezhao heard this and hesitated and replied: "This, this seems a bit unsuccessful."

Zhu Cijing originally wanted him to introduce several agricultural experts to teach people how to plant, but from his tone, it seemed that he could plant it, so Zhu Cijing tentatively said: "Can you plant it?"

Zeng Dezhao nodded proudly and replied, "I will, what I planted in my hometown is so big."

Zhu Cijing saw that he was gesturing the normal size of potatoes and sweet potatoes, and immediately asked with hope: "Can you grow such a big one in the Ming Dynasty?"

Zeng Dezhao thought for a while, then nodded confidently and said, "I can."

Zhu Cijing was overjoyed when he heard this and asked excitedly: "Are you willing to be an official in the Ming Dynasty?"

Zeng Dezhao naturally wanted to be an official, which would make it more convenient for missionary preaching, so he nodded without hesitation.

As long as he is willing, Zhu Cijing immediately ordered: "Come here, I have drafted an order and appointed Zeng Dezhao as the Qing official of the Ministry of Works, and is responsible for teaching the methods of growing potatoes and sweet potatoes."

When Zeng Dezhao heard that he had become an official, and seemed to be a big official, he immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed, "I thank His Majesty the Emperor for his grace."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cijing laughed and said, "Hahaha, I'm not a villain anymore. I should say that I'm good at doing it. As long as you can make potatoes and sweet potato seeds as big as you're showing, I'll give you ten thousand taels of silver!"

Zhu Cijing was in a good mood. He thought he could only send a message this time, but he never thought that Zeng Dezhao would grow potatoes and sweet potatoes. If he was just a message, then passing the message back and forth, and bargaining, and then arranging people from Europe, would take at least one or two years. Now, I came directly to grow one, saving him a lot of time.

He did not doubt Zeng Dezhao's words. The missionaries at that time were originally knowledgeable and talented people, and their teachings did not allow them to lie. He said he could, that means he really did, and there was no possibility of lying and deceiving people.

With Zeng Dezhao's guidance, the migration plan can be prepared. Chongzhen didn't know that North China would have a severe drought for more than ten years. If he knew, he would probably have moved people away.

It would be a good idea to let nearly 30 million people stay in arid areas where there was no grass growing for more than ten years. It would be a good idea to not die all of them. Disaster relief would be a joke. All the taxes in the Ming Dynasty were not enough. Only by moving can people in the five provinces be saved!
Chapter completed!