Chapter 145 Zheng Zhilong

However, these two crops were indeed life-saving crops for the Ming Dynasty at that time.

When Chongzhen heard that these two crops could produce 10,000 kilograms per mu, he was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out.

As a young emperor, Chongzhen was not trapped in the deep palace, oblivious to the world outside and knowing nothing about farming as people in later generations imagined.

On the contrary, Chongzhen was well aware of the vital role that agricultural products yielding 10,000 kilograms per mu would play for the people and the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, when Wang An mentioned these two things, he immediately jumped up and down excitedly, "Brother, are you saying that these two crops are now available in coastal areas such as Fujian and Guangdong?"

Wang An nodded affirmatively, "Of course there are, but only a very small number of people are farming. But as long as someone is following them, it won't be difficult to find out."

"It's just that these two crops may have different names in the local area. You just need to remember that these two things are like this..."

Wang An then described in detail the shapes and appearances of sweet potatoes and potatoes, and even explained their taste in detail.

Chongzhen immediately turned around and looked at Wang Chengen. Wang Chengen understood and immediately carefully memorized every word Wang An said.

After talking about sweet potatoes and potatoes, Wang An sighed again: "However, promoting crops is not an easy task. Even if all the people of Daming are poisoned and unconditionally believe in the court's words to grow sweet potatoes and potatoes, what can they do? It will take about a year to harvest."

"During this period, people are still hungry, so another very important thing needs to be put on the agenda."

Chongzhen hurriedly asked, "Please give me some advice, brother!"

Wang An said helplessly: "Transfer grain from the south to the north!"

Although the entire earth was under the tyranny of the Little Ice Age at that time, compared with the Ming Dynasty, the grain production in the entire Southeast Asia region was still relatively better.

Especially since Siam, Luzon and other places are located in the tropics, and the time when crops such as corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes were introduced was earlier than that of the Ming Dynasty, so food was not too scarce, and it could even be said that they were relatively rich.

If the Ming Dynasty could restart sea transportation and directly use ships to transport grain from Southeast Asia to the north of the Ming Dynasty and the Liaodong region, it would not only solve the food crisis, but sea transportation would also greatly save manpower and material resources.

But this brought about a new problem. Although the Ming Dynasty's navigation technology was leading the world in the early Ming Dynasty, it had lost its glory by the end of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, the coachman of the sea was the Netherlands and other European countries that held hegemony.

Countries like Luzon, which are major grain-producing countries, are now controlled by the red-haired devils like Spain.

But the good news is that these foreign barbarians only care about money and not people. They will even sell their own mothers as long as you give them silver.

However, the Ming Dynasty did not have enough ships, nor did it have enough manpower to maintain safe maritime navigation.

So transferring grain from the south to the north seems simple, but it is extremely difficult.

Seeing Chongzhen frowning with an attitude of worrying about the country and the people, Wang An chuckled and said, "I really can't do anything with you, little brother. Maybe I have some news that can make you happy."

Chongzhen was immediately delighted when he heard this, and asked repeatedly: "Since brother said so, you must have a solution?"

Wang An laughed and said, "It's just you and me talking for fun. You and I are far away from the court, so what can we do if we talk? It's just idle talk!"

Chongzhen waved his hand, "People with ambitions are always in the arena, and only then can we show our heroic qualities! Please give me some advice, brother!"

"Okay, okay," Wang An said, as if he couldn't do anything to you, "Little brother, have you ever heard of Zheng Zhilong?" Chongzhen raised his eyebrows and said, "But is it the fake foreign devil named Nicholas Yiguan?"

Wang An nodded and said with a smile: "I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable, little brother. You even know Zheng Zhilong's Catholic name."

It turns out that Zheng Zhilong's nickname was Yi Guan. He was born in Nan'an, Fujian in the 32nd year of the Wanli reign to a family of minor officials. When he was seventeen years old, he followed his uncle Huang Cheng from Macau to Manila. Influenced by the Portuguese, he was baptized as a Catholic and named Nicola.

Foreigners called him Nicholas Iguan.

Later, Zheng Zhilong followed the overseas businessman Li Dan to do business. Because Li Dan had no children, when he died in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, he donated all his properties in Taiwan and Japan to Zheng Zhilong.

By the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, Zheng Zhilong had tens of thousands of hungry people and 700 ships under his command, becoming a major pirate on the sea at that time.

Moreover, Zheng Zhilong was quite good at winning people's hearts. The people in coastal areas of Fujian and other places loved him very much. Whenever the government came to suppress the bandits, there would be people who would inform them in advance.

Later, the then Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan saw that Zheng Zhilong was too powerful and it was unrealistic to destroy him, so he tried to appease Zheng Zhilong.

Because of this achievement, Xiong Wencan was promoted to Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and concurrently served as Governor of Guangdong, and was further promoted to Minister of War.

Zheng Zhilong also became the coastal defense guerrilla of the Ming Dynasty and was awarded the rank of Five Tiger Guerrilla General.

However, Xiong Wencan had to wait until July of the first year of Chongzhen to pacify Zheng Zhilong, and it was only April now.

There are still three months before Zheng Zhilong officially surrenders.

If we could gain the power of Zheng Zhilong, with the help of the thousands of ships under his command, it would be possible to transport grain from Southeast Asia to the inland of Ming Dynasty, or to transport it to Liaodong by sea.

It's just that Zheng Zhilong was short-sighted, and because he came from a family of merchants and minor officials, he was only interested in profit.

The reason why they accepted Xiong Wencan's surrender was just to be able to live a stable life in their hometown of Nan'an. At the same time, with the help of the official background of the Ming Dynasty court, they could migrate from Fujian to Taiwan to reclaim wasteland and establish a base for themselves.

This can be seen from the fact that during the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty entered the pass and surrendered Zheng Zhilong.

His son Zheng Chenggong even wrote him a letter with a very serious tone, "Since my father cannot be a loyal minister, how can I be a filial son?"

He even claimed that the Qing Dynasty had ulterior motives and was not sincere in surrendering. If his father insisted on surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, Zheng Chenggong was already prepared to wear mourning clothes and pay tribute to his father's spirit.

However, Zheng Zhilong, a big bandit, could not see what his son could see. He even fantasized about becoming rich and powerful after joining the Qing Dynasty.

However, the reason why the Qing Dynasty surrendered Zheng Zhilong was just to surrender his son Zheng Chenggong.

However, Zheng Chenggong refused to surrender. The Qing Dynasty thought it was a waste of time to keep Zheng Zhilong, so they killed him directly.

A generation of great thieves came to an end.

Of course, this is something.

According to historical trajectory, the Ming Dynasty still has more than ten years to survive, so Zheng Zhilong's role will still exist.

"In other words, we can rely on Zheng Zhilong's power to transport food by sea?"

(End of this chapter)