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Text 140. Caring about food

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    In the middle of the autumn of the 19th year, Emperor Kangxi took his crown prince Yinfeng and his eldest brother Yinti to Huangzhuang on the outskirts of Beijing to inspect the autumn harvest that year.  (eng.com)

    Kangxi was a modern farmer who could not distinguish between wheat and rice. He had no knowledge of farming. He once only raised a pot of cactus for radiation protection.  However, since Kangxi became the king and had the people's livelihood in mind, the food issue required constant concern.

    In those days, the most basic demands of the common people were just food and clothing. Even in the war-torn areas of the south, as long as they could not be forced to fight on the front lines, no matter how poor they were, they were willing to survive.  Because survival is the basic premise and the carrier of all thoughts and ideas, when Kangxi had a little leisure time, he diligently studied "Essential Techniques for Elevating the People", "Chen Fu Agricultural Book", "Agricultural Policy" and other agricultural books to make up for the poor agriculture.  Knowledge.

    Kangxi also had a vegetable field in the palace. In the spring, he personally sowed a field of wheat and half a row of green vegetables.  Later, the government was busy with affairs, and Emperor Kangxi had long forgotten this incident.  A while ago, Manager Gu went to Kangxi to report, "Your Majesty, the wheat planted in Guiyuan is ripe this year. Do you want to harvest it yourself?"

    At that time, Kangxi was watching Jiangsu's memorial and felt depressed.  The heavy rains that have continued for days have not only flooded many towns, but also flooded a large amount of farmland. Not only did the grain harvest of that year fail, but the next year's harvest was also in danger.

    When Emperor Kangxi heard the news that the vegetable plot in the Imperial Palace was about to harvest in autumn, he immediately thought about the yield of the land.  Kangxi hurriedly asked Manager Gu: "How does this year's harvest compare with last year?"

    Manager Gu replied: "There is a bit of drought in the capital this year. I have sent people to guard it and often carry water from wells for irrigation. One acre of farmland is estimated to produce 200 dan"

    Kangxi then asked, "What if it is among the people?"

    Manager Gu said, "After all, it's not like in the palace, and if you work intensively,you'll probably have less potential."

    Kangxi ordered people to ask officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs to ask questions about food issues. The imperial court assigned the overall coordination authority to the management of the Ministry of Household Affairs.  The Ministry of Household Affairs is responsible for the country's territory, land, household registration, taxation, salaries and wages, and all financial matters.

    Unexpectedly, after the officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs came to the South Study Room to meet him, Kangxi directly asked several subordinates, "How is the harvest in your own fields? How many loads of grain will you have this year?" The officials looked at each other, for example, the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Household Affairs  Dadu was also silent.  Later, Liang Qingbiao, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, retorted, "sold for several hundred taels of silver." Yi Sang'a, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, muttered to himself that the eldest wife had always been the one to worry about the rent and harvest of the property.

    Kangxi had no choice but to study the setting of field and grain names. In handling government affairs within the Ministry of Household Affairs, departments were set up according to regional divisions. There were fourteen departments in total: Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang,  Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Fujian, Yunnan, Guizhou, Jiangnan Division.  In addition to being responsible for managing capital, saving money and food, each department is also responsible for some general affairs of other yamen. The responsibilities are often overlapping, and the division is not fine, nor does it highlight professionalism.

    Kangxi sighed, these men who can read and write, who can pass the imperial examination, may only eat rice like the emperor, and can't even distinguish wheat from barley. If they are in charge of farming and can't communicate professionally, how can they be good?  Kangxi immediately issued a decree to establish an Ministry of Agriculture to take charge of agricultural promotion, farming, irrigation and other matters.  The ministry¡¯s first task is to investigate the main grain varieties and output of each province and cooperate with Jiangsu Province to carry out spring planting and plowing next year.

    It was night, and Kangxi was holding a volume of "Jinshu Biography" in his hand, reading it with gusto.

    In the early years of Wanli, the Spanish fleet conquered the Philippine Islands.  Fujian took advantage of its close proximity by ship. A large number of Fujian merchants went to Luzon to do business with the Spaniards. They sold raw silk, cotton, ceramics and other high-quality goods in large quantities, with tens of thousands of traders.  The Spanish not only brought silver coins, but also some crops native to the Americas.  After the Spanish colonists conquered the islands, the Hongyi people often suffered from a shortage of food and rice, so they promoted the cultivation of sweet potatoes on a large scale.  By the 21st year of Wanli, this vine with small lavender flowers was already growing wild in Luzon.  The local natives dug it from the ground and ate it with the grains.

    Sweet potatoes are very easy to introduce, and the potato vines can be planted as long as they are small.  But the Spaniards "treasure their seeds and do not share them with foreigners." Chen Zhenlong, a Fujian businessman, put sweet potato vines into rattan baskets and brought them back to Japan, where he vigorously promoted their cultivation in his hometown of Fujian.

    Sweet potatoes are buried shallowly in the soil and are impervious to wind and rain regardless of soil quality. They are also resistant to drought and have extremely high yields.  The best land can yield more than 10,000 catties per acre, the medium-grade land can yield about seven or eight thousand catties, and the inferior coarse land can yield about five or six thousand catties  By the early years of Kangxi, sweet potatoes were also grown in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, Chaoshan, Guangdong and other places.

    Kangxi carefully read the relevant records on the title page of the book and found that Chen Zhenlong was a scholar in the Wanli year of the former Ming Dynasty.  The book has been reprinted once and was published by Chen Yizhu, the fourth generation of the Chen family and the grandson of Chen Jinglun.

    ¡­¡­

    ??In fact, this chapter is 139 and the previous chapter is 140.  Can't adjust.
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