Chapter 708: Dong Zhuo's ambition
Chapter 708 Dong Zhuo’s Ambition
Chapter 706: Dong Zhuo’s Ambition
Dong Zhuo naturally knew about rice and wheat, but he had never heard of sweet potatoes and potatoes.
When he heard Xiong Ba say that these two things were actually food, Dong Zhuo's eyes flashed with surprise. He pointed at the sweet potatoes and asked with a surprised look on his face: "Is this really edible?"
Xiongba nodded and said: "These things are called sweet potatoes and potatoes. They were found by my subordinates in Nanyang. The local people eat them."
With that said, Xiong Ba was ready to try it himself, but Dong Zhuo took the initiative to take the sweet potato and stuff it into his mouth under everyone's shocked eyes.
“Lord, you must not...”
Before Li Ru finished speaking, Dong Zhuo had already bitten a piece of sweet potato and slowly tasted it in his mouth.
Immediately, Dong Zhuo's eyes lit up and he smiled at Li Ru and said, "These sweet potatoes are very sweet. My dear son-in-law, do you want to try them too?"
"My lord is a man of ten thousand gold. How can you eat something of unknown origin casually?" Li Ru said with a serious face.
Dong Zhuo waved his hand indifferently: "This sweet potato was brought back by Xiongba, so how could it be poisonous?"
With that said, Dong Zhuo handed the sweet potato to Li Yuanba and said with a smile: "Come on, Yuanba, your brother-in-law is too timid to eat it. Come and eat it."
"okay."
Li Yuanba happily took it. After eating it, his eyebrows turned into crescents and he grinned: "Father, it's delicious. Yuanba wants more."
“Okay, I’ll give it to you to eat.”
“Thank you to my adoptive father.”
“You and I, my father and my son, have nothing to be thankful for.”
Dong Zhuo turned around and asked, "Xiong Ba, how many kilograms of this food called sweet potatoes did you bring back?"
Seeing that Dong Zhuo did not realize the value of sweet potatoes, Xiong Ba flashed a hint of helplessness in his eyes and said with a wry smile:
"My lord, Qin Hao is very fond of these four crops. Not only do they plant them on a large scale in mountainous and forest areas where there are few human traces, but he also specially dispatches troops and horses to guard the various places. His subordinates worked hard to get such a little bit, and they were almost killed by Qin Hao. His men discovered it.”
"oh?"
Dong Zhuo frowned again after hearing this: "Qin Hao values these crops so much and refuses to let them out. Is there any benefit in this?"
Not only Dong Zhuo didn't understand, but Li Ru and Jia Xu also couldn't figure it out. Rice and wheat can be found everywhere. Although sweet potatoes and potatoes are rare, they don't need to be guarded by the army, right?
Seeing that Dong Zhuo finally paid attention to it, Xiong Ba breathed a sigh of relief and explained:
"According to inquiries from my subordinates, the yields of these four foods grown in Nanyang far exceed those of conventional crops by several times. Nanyang's rice yield per mu has reached 800 kilograms, wheat has reached 700 kilograms, and the yields of potatoes and sweet potatoes have reached 800 kilograms per mu. Thousand pounds.”
Since ancient times, China has been divided into north and south by the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River. Crops are grown, usually rice in the south and wheat in the north.
In the south, rice is mainly grown, supplemented by mulberry, hemp, beans, etc.
In ancient society, men farmed and women weaved. Men were responsible for farming and women were responsible for weaving. Therefore, every household planted mulberry and hemp.
Mulberry leaves can be used to raise silkworms and spin silk to make silk, and the mulberry fruits are also edible.
As for hemp, its seeds can be eaten, such as pressed for oil and fried, and its stem bark can also be used to make hemp ropes and linen clothes. In the north, wheat and millet are mainly grown, but beans, mulberry, hemp, etc. are also grown.
There are a wide variety of cereals and grains, but no matter what they are grown, there is one major shortcoming, that is, the yield is not high!
For example, if major crops such as rice and wheat are grown on fertile land, the yield per acre is only about 20 kilograms.
Crops grown for nearly a thousand years have always produced this amount, but now Xiongba said that Qin Hao had a thousand kilograms of grain per mu. How could Dong Zhuo and others believe this?
"This is impossible!"
Li Ru sneered and immediately vetoed: "How is it possible to have such a high yield of food?"
Not only Li Ru, but also Jia Xu didn't believe it, but then he seemed to think of something, and his brows furrowed.
Of course Dong Zhuo didn't believe it. He looked at Xiong Ba and said with a serious face: "Xiong Ba, do you think this general doesn't understand farming? It's not like there are no farmers in Liangzhou. Such a high yield of food is unheard of?"
Xiongba looked into Dong Zhuo's eyes without fear and said seriously: "I saw this with my own eyes. If there is any deception, please behead me."
Seeing Xiong Ba's vow, Dong Zhuo also believed it. After all, if there were no huge benefits, why would Qin Hao value these grains so much?
With this thought, Dong Zhuo directly sent nearly a hundred spies to Nanyang.
Qin Hao's emphasis on new crops far exceeded Dong Zhuo's expectation. Only one of nearly a hundred spies came back alive, and brought back the news that all Xiong Ba's intelligence was true.
“God bless Qin Hao. Such a high yield of grain is simply a divine thing. No wonder Qin Hao refuses to leak it.”
Dong Zhuo felt envious and depressed at the same time, and then he couldn't help but make a random analysis: "Why was Qin Hao able to obtain this magical object? Could it be that the farmer had already taken refuge with Qin Hao? Impossible."
Li Ru stood up at this time and said with a smile: "Master, there is no need to envy Qin Hao. I already have it in Liangzhou. After enough seeds are cultivated, it can be fully promoted in Liangzhou."
“By the time we cultivate enough seeds, the Qin family will already have tens of millions of stones in food.”
Dong Zhuo looked dissatisfied and said bitterly: "Don't forget, Qin Hao is Qin Wen's son. What Qin Hao has, does Qin Wen have?"
Bingzhou and Liangzhou are neighbors, and after Qin Wen has new crops, his subordinates will definitely be stronger than before. How can Dong Zhuo feel at ease?
Most importantly, the Qin family is still pro-Han, and Dong Zhuo's plan is about to be implemented. Qin Wen and Qin Hao's father and son are so powerful that Dong Zhuo is worried that they will hinder his plan.
Li Ru figured out Dong Zhuo's thoughts in an instant. After thinking for a while, he smiled sinisterly and said: "Lord, let's get this news out. Now there are hungry people everywhere in the world. Qin Hao is sitting on such a magical thing, but he doesn't take it out." If you save all people, you will definitely be despised by everyone in the world."
Seeing this, Jia Xu was about to say something, but Dong Zhuo frowned and said, "That's inappropriate."
Li Ru and Jia Xu were stunned at the same time, and then Dong Zhuo continued: "In this case, wouldn't the princes of the world also get it?"
Dong Zhuo's eyes flashed with longing, and he said in a deep voice: "If all the princes get these divine objects, when will this general be able to put an end to the troubled times and unify the world?"
At the time when Zhang Jiao was at the city gate of Luoyang, he said that the Han Dynasty must perish. Dong Zhuo was not the only one who was affected.
Since the Han Dynasty is destined to perish, why can't I sit on this throne?
Most of the princes have their ambitions in mind, and Dong Zhuo regards ending the troubled times and unifying the world as his life-long goal, so naturally he does not want other princes to grow.
(End of this chapter)
