These Confucian scholars looked down upon these agricultural officials from the bottom of their hearts, thinking that they were just a group of peasants with better luck. It was only because the current emperor had a whim that he set up an agricultural college and appointed some agricultural officials to be responsible for researching agronomy. Otherwise, how could they be qualified to stand with them and become their colleagues?
In addition, the agricultural officials of the Agricultural College were equivalent to snatching away some of the power of the Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, which further aroused the disgust of the civil service group.
Fortunately, these agricultural officials were self-aware and did not get involved in the imperial court to assert their political rights. Their presence was almost nonexistent, which prevented the civil service group from making things difficult for them.
Before this, everyone assumed that these people did not exist and ignored them one by one. Only when they occasionally remembered them would they make a few sarcastic remarks.
No one took the agricultural officer of the Agricultural College seriously.
Who would have thought...
That’s the kind of people!
Such a big news was made without making any noise!!
Even though they looked down on these peasants, the ministers had to admit that their improvement of rice seeds was a great achievement, and could even be said to be of immeasurable merit!
Today, the Ming Dynasty has carried out reforms, opened up the sea for business, and the handicraft industry has flourished. The economic landscape is changing with each passing day, and everything is thriving. But when it comes down to it, the Ming Dynasty is still an agricultural country.
In terms of overall policy, agriculture is still emphasized over commerce, and many policies favor farmers. However, compared with the past, the severe crackdown on merchants has been slightly relaxed.
After all, the main focus now is public-private partnership, with the state investing in the company. If we continue to crack down on businessmen, that would be a crackdown on our own industry, so we must definitely relax the policy a little.
But even so, agriculture remains the mainstream.
This is the lifeblood of the country!
Now these agricultural officials have come up with rice seeds that can double the yield per mu. Just thinking about this kind of incredible skill makes one tremble.
Many ministers couldn't help but wonder, why did such a great achievement go to these peasants? What a pity! What a pity!
The next day.
Ming Dynasty Gazette.
This issue of the court bulletin touted the latest achievements of the Agricultural College:
Under the guidance of the current emperor, the agricultural officers of the Agricultural College have cultivated high-quality rice varieties that can increase the yield by 50%!
Moreover, it can continue to be improved and cultivated, and it is very likely that the yield per mu will be doubled in the end!
The latest rice varieties will be promoted by the court's agriculture department.
As soon as this news came out, the whole world was in an uproar!
Production increased by 50%!
And we can continue to improve and cultivate...
This news is really shocking to the farmers!!
This agricultural college actually caused a big fuss!
Previously, most people also looked down on the Agricultural College - farming is a matter that has been passed down from generation to generation, so do we need others to teach us? This is really a joke, this Agricultural College is like a joke between the court and the people.
Who would have thought that the product of such a joke could lead to the development of such an amazing rice variety!
Although most farmers don’t understand what the “hybrid breeding” mentioned in the official report means, it doesn’t stop them from looking forward to receiving these rice seeds and increasing the yield per mu by 50%! This will greatly improve their lives!
When the students of the Agricultural College saw the news, they felt excited and particularly proud.
Since they joined the Agricultural College , they have been laughed at by many people: Going to college to learn farming is really rare in ancient and modern times!
This makes them feel very frustrated. No matter how much they explain, others cannot understand or agree!
But now it's different.
The teachers of the College of Agriculture have produced amazing results!
Excellent rice varieties that increase per-acre yield by 50%!
Now, who in this world dares to laugh at the Agricultural College?
That's the real joke!
The teachers and agricultural officials of the Agricultural College were worshipped as Shennong by the common people for a time, and some people even planned to build a temple for them. Such achievements were completely worthy of worship.
Of course, there are also people who hold a negative attitude towards this matter.
Most of them were scholars who thought that this was probably a scam by the agricultural officials of the Agricultural College to deceive the imperial court! Hybrid breeding must be fake. How could it increase the yield so much out of thin air? This is too exaggerated!
There are many such voices.
Because the contribution of the Agricultural College this time is so amazing, it is easy to arouse the envy of others.
The most crucial thing is that those who got the credit were some agricultural officials who had no say and no political stance of their own.
So many people are even eager to try and steal their credit!
If the Agricultural College was not supervised by Su Che himself, the credit for this incident might really be snatched away.
Even if they don't take away all of it, they will take away most of it.
But this agricultural college was supervised and founded by Su Che from beginning to end, and he even gave them the core concept of hybrid breeding, so there is no possibility of anyone taking credit for it.
As time goes by.
Two years passed in the blink of an eye.
In the past two years, the Agricultural College has been conducting continuous research and improvement, and has finally cultivated hybrid rice seeds that can more than double the yield, which is also the most perfect form. In the past two years, the whole world has benefited from these excellent rice seeds.
The initial doubts and even slander have already been refuted by the actual increase in production.
Questioning the Agricultural College’s fraud?
Suspecting this is a scam?
You are really judging others by your own mean standards!
With the increase in the production of spiritual rice across the country, the Ming Dynasty ushered in an unprecedented period of prosperity.
As the saying goes, when the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace.
Only when the common people have enough food will they be willing to study further.
The private literacy schools promoted among the people were therefore very successful, and greatly improved the literacy rate among the people.
The improvement in the literacy rate among the people made the business of the Ming Dynasty Gazette particularly good.
The official bulletins reached every village across the country, so that all the people could directly understand the country's policies.
Of course, not all the news published in the Ming Dynasty Dibao were about national affairs. If that were the case, the business would not be so good. Novels, operas, poems and songs, and even some entertainment news were the main reasons why the Dibao was so popular.
After all, for most people, the pressure of life is so great that they don’t have much energy to pay attention to the country’s every move. Entertainment and relaxation are what they need.
The Ming Dynasty Gazette just fills this need.
certainly.
Almost all the people pay attention to policy news that concerns themselves, and they don’t want to be fooled by those officials!
With the existence of the official gazette, the true nature of those so-called exorbitant taxes and levies suddenly appeared. Many people then realized that these were all set up privately by officials and were not national taxes!
Collecting taxes privately is a serious crime!
Even if there is the appearance of court bulletins.
There were still some local officials who refused to believe in evil and dared to continue to make money by imposing heavy taxes and levies. As a result, they were directly reported to Yingtian Prefecture by the people.
Su Che would naturally not tolerate these corrupt officials, so he arrested them all. He did not skin them alive as he did not like anything too bloody, so he just beheaded them and displayed them to the public.
In addition, these corrupt officials were also used as examples and put in the court newspaper as negative cases, which made a lot of publicity, which made many people realize the importance of the court newspaper! They can understand the country's policies in the first place!
…
As the output of spiritual rice increased and doubled, many people were somewhat depressed to find that they did not make huge profits or get rich directly from it.
Because the price of spiritual rice has dropped a bit as the output has increased!
If we exclude the cost of high-quality rice seeds and fertilizers, there seems to be not much difference from before!
Although the yield has increased, many farmers have not received corresponding benefits, which makes them depressed. This is a little different from what they imagined!
but.
Although no one got rich from this, the people had more grain to keep for themselves, so they could finally have a full meal, which was a very rare thing!
In addition, I heard that the Agricultural College has developed and bred spiritual livestock and poultry that can increase production. If they are promoted later, it may be able to solve the problem of eating meat!
In ancient times.
Mencius' ideal life for the people is like this at its best:
A house of five mu, planted with mulberry trees, can clothe fifty people with silk.
Chickens, pigs, dogs, and pigs should be raised at the right time, and people aged seventy can eat meat.
A field of a hundred acres, if its season is not taken away, a family of several persons may be free from hunger;
If we teach carefully in schools and explain the meaning of filial piety and brotherhood, the elderly will not have to carry heavy loads on the streets.
The translation probably means:
The family owns five acres of land and plants mulberry trees. When they are fifty years old, they can wear silk.
When breeding and raising chickens, ducks, pigs and dogs, don't miss the season. People over 70 years old can eat meat regularly.
If a hundred acres of land is cultivated during the farming season, a family of several will not suffer from famine.
Pay attention to education in rural schools and emphasize the principle of respecting elders. Gray-haired elderly people will no longer carry or hold heavy loads on the road.
Being able to wear silk at fifty, eating meat regularly at seventy, having one hundred acres of land can prevent a family of several from starving, and paying attention to education can prevent gray-haired elderly people from struggling for a living. This is what a saint sees as a prosperous age.
What a pity.
In ancient times, for ordinary people, such a prosperous era had never really come.
And now, today, the Ming Dynasty under the rule of Su Che is moving continuously towards this goal!
Along with the increase in grain production, this gave full support to the Ming army.
Prince of Yan Zhu Di has begged Su Che more than once to let him lead his troops to the Northern Expedition!
Today's military academy has formed a fully mature system, and Zhu Di feels that he is dispensable.
The first batch of students at the Military Academy are about to graduate.
These are all talented people who are both civil and military.
The only drawback is the lack of some refinement.
After all, everyone can talk about it on paper, but putting it into practice is the key.
Zhu Di knew this very well, so he stipulated that students of the Military Academy, even after graduation, could not be directly entrusted with important tasks, but had to start as junior officers.
If they are really capable and gradually adapt, they will grow rapidly and be promoted very quickly. They will soon be able to become captains or even generals capable of taking on important responsibilities.
But if after becoming a junior officer, he is unable to demonstrate his abilities, or even encounters frequent setbacks, this means that his abilities are limited and there is no need to entrust him with important tasks.
Of course, there may be exceptions.
For example, a genius like Han Xin cannot display his talents in an ordinary position, so he has to be given the highest salary right from the start.
However, top talents like Han Xin are so rare that they are not the norm at all.
Therefore, there is nothing wrong with Zhu Di’s regulations.
Having done all this, Zhu Di was looking forward to fulfilling his father's original promise to let him lead the troops and become the General of the Northern Expedition!
Unfortunately, Su Che always rejected Zhu Di on the grounds that the time was not yet ripe.
Zhu Di had no choice but to continue staying in the military academy.
And so, some time passed.
Just when Zhu Di was thinking that his father was just making empty promises for him, why could he only see them but not eat them, an order came down -
The emperor appointed Zhu Di as the general of the northern expedition and Lan Yu as the deputy general, leading an army of 200,000 to attack the remnants of the Mongols!
Zhu Di during this period had not yet reached his peak condition. Although he had a talent for fighting, it was still too risky to entrust him with important tasks directly.
To ensure absolute victory in this war.
Su Che made Lan Yu Zhu Di's deputy general.
In this way, it couldn't be more stable.
Although Lan Yu was a brave general who liked to boast about his achievements and looked down on others, he was actually capable.
"The Biography of Lan Yu in Ming History" records: When he first served under Yuchun, he was brave in facing the enemy and was victorious wherever he went.
After that, he defeated the Northern Yuan Dynasty at Buir Lake and became famous all over the world.
"The Biography of Lan Yu in the History of Ming Dynasty" records: When the victory was reported to the capital, the emperor was overjoyed and issued an imperial edict to praise him, comparing him to Wei Qing and Li Jing.
If such a top-notch general serves as an assistant to Zhu Di, he might steal Zhu Di's limelight, right?
This is Su Che’s idea.
However.
A few months later, the good news reached the imperial palace in Yingtian Prefecture.
After seeing the contents of the report, Su Che was shocked to find that he had still underestimated Zhu Di!
After this guy got Lan Yu as his deputy general, his own brilliance was not overshadowed by Lan Yu. Instead, he became even more powerful and won countless victories. He personally killed the leader of the Yuan Dynasty and fought all the way to the banks of the Onon River.
The Onon River was where Genghis Khan ascended the throne.
It can be said that Zhu Di directly conquered the country with this battle!
The victory report said that in addition to killing the ruler of the Yuan Dynasty, all the princes and ministers of the Northern Yuan Dynasty were captured. In addition, there were millions of cattle and sheep, hundreds of thousands of horses, hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers, countless food and supplies, and rare treasures! !
Many of these rare treasures of the Northern Yuan Dynasty were collected when the Yuan Dynasty ruled the Central Plains and were brought to the grasslands by them. Now Zhu Di has taken them all back, returning them to their original owners!
"This battle was fought beautifully. Zhu Di is so powerful!"
Su Che couldn't help but smile and praise: "Since ancient times, there have been only a few people who have been able to seal the Wolf's Lair. I didn't expect this kid to be able to do it right away!"
Although Su Che knew that Zhu Di was a good fighter, he was still a little surprised that he could win right from the start.
But on second thought, this kid must have attained enlightenment in Longchang!
Su Che asked Zhu Di to be responsible for setting up a military academy. He took charge of it himself and received the support of many nobles. In addition, he was exposed to various military strategies and came into contact with many people and things, which directly elevated his abilities!