Getting Rich from Legend of Zhen Huan

The businessman was stunned, sweat dripping from his forehead. With a thud, he knelt in front of Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen was startled by the merchant's kneeling and hurried to help him up.

The merchant said sadly, "Sir, I am ignorant and have disturbed you. Please don't ask me. This is just my trick."

I’m afraid even a five-year-old child wouldn’t believe what the businessman said.

Jiang Chen sighed, and helped the businessman up from the ground, motioning him to take his things and follow him into a private room of a roadside tavern.

After entering the private room, Jiang Chen poured a cup of tea for himself and the businessman.

The businessman took the tea uneasily.

Jiang Chen started to ask: "I don't know your name yet."

The businessman hesitated for a moment and answered honestly: "I am Chen Tong, the eldest in the family. You can just call me Chen Da."

Jiang Chen took a sip of tea and asked the same question: "Mr. Chen, I have a guess about the origin of this crop. Just tell me."

This frightened Chen Da so much that he fell off his chair. Is this master a god who has descended to earth? You can tell without anyone telling you.

Just as Chen Da was in doubt, Jiang Chen explained, "I also studied in the coastal areas when I was young. Although the imperial court has imposed a maritime ban, we can still make a living by relying on the mountains and rivers. We can't cut off everyone's livelihood."

Jiang Chen spoke in the Minnan dialect. Hearing the familiar accent, Chen Da calmed down.

He returned to his seat and said cheerfully, "Your Excellency is absolutely right. This thing was brought back on the privateer ship."

They spoke vaguely, saying that these private ships were actually smuggling ships that violated the imperial court's maritime ban decree.

Chen Da’s reaction just now is self-explanatory. If he is caught smuggling, his entire family will be in danger.

After all, Emperor Kangxi's teachings: "No deck on the ship can be put into the sea. Those who violate this will be executed along with their entire family." What does this mean? Not even a piece of deck on the ship can be put into the sea.

But why did Chen Da let down his guard when he heard Jiang Chen's accent?

As the old saying goes, live by the mountain, eat by the mountain; live by the water, eat by the water. If the sea is closed, what will the people along the coast eat?

Since the Ming Dynasty, the big families that have been entrenched in the coastal areas have made profits from maritime business. To put it bluntly, it is not just collusion between officials and businessmen in the coastal areas, but also a unity of interests! The smuggling ships have money invested by officials, so how can they not provide escort for them? The only ones who suffer are those who have no connections.

Jiang Chen, who grew up in Fujian, was able to become an official, so his family must have been in this family. He knew much more about it than Chen Da, and was involved in much more interests than Chen Da.

With such a big shot in front of him, Chen Da was no longer afraid.

Without Jiang Chen's urging, Chen Da took out the clod of earth from the sack and showed it to Jiang Chen, "Sir, the origin of this thing is many years ago.

That was during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty!

One of my ancestors was called Chen Zhenlong, who made his fortune by trading on the sea. There was a small country next to us that we stopped for supplies, called Luzon (now the Philippines), and this piece of soil was brought back from there.

After stopping in Luzon for a long time, our ancestors and the people who were traveling with us found that this soil was planted all over Sulu. The yield of this thing is not low! Although it is soil on the outside, it tastes like wheat inside. It is sweet and very filling, and the survival rate is particularly high.

Because it is sweet, the locals call it sweet potato, and since we come from outside, we call it sweet potato.

We don’t have such good stuff! In the previous dynasty, many people had no food to eat. Our ancestors wanted to bring this stuff back to their hometown, so that men would not go out to work and come back to find that their families had starved to death.

But everyone knows that good things are good. In order to prevent the outflow of these things, Luzon conducted strict searches on people coming and going on the ship.

Our ancestors first thought of a way to mix some raw food with the cooked food. When someone found out, they only took away the raw food because it was a first-time offender.

The second time, my ancestor wove sweet potato vines into a vegetable basket, but this trick didn’t fool the inspecting officers and soldiers. After they found out, my ancestor was beaten up and thrown into prison. If it weren’t for the rescue and money of his fellow villagers, he might not have gotten out.

After being released from prison, my ancestor still did not give up and came up with a good idea. He braided the sweet potato vines and the ropes of the merchant ship together and covered the outside with mud. Maybe because of the "darkness under the lamp" or the blessing of Mazu, the inspecting officers and soldiers checked the ship from top to bottom, but no one paid attention to the ropes. The ancestor took the sweet potatoes back to his hometown.

After returning, my ancestor stopped doing business and started planting and promoting sweet potatoes with his son Chen Jinglun. Since then, my family has been promoting sweet potatoes, and now I am the fifth generation. ”

Jiang Chen listened attentively. After Chen Da finished explaining the origins, he poured tea on the ground instead of wine to show his respect for the Chen family father and son.

Jiang Chen said solemnly: "The Chen family has been promoting sweet potatoes for generations, saving countless lives. Jiang Chen was rude."

Chen Da was not proud of this. He declined repeatedly, "Your Excellency is too kind. I am just following the teachings of my ancestors. I came to the capital this time to see if I can promote sweet potatoes in the north, but I didn't expect to fail."

Jiang Chen could hear Chen Da's regret, which gave him an idea, "If Brother Chen doesn't mind, I have an idea.

The Chen family's promotion for generations is probably just a drop in the bucket. If it can be confirmed that sweet potatoes can be grown in the north, Jiang Chen is willing to report to the emperor on behalf of Brother Chen and let the court promote it!"

When Chen Da heard Jiang Chen's idea, he opened his mouth in surprise. The officials in the capital were so bold that they would report to the emperor at any time.

Chen Da closed his mouth and said nervously: "I'm afraid such a thing is not worthy of being heard by the emperor! Don't let it implicate the lord."

As someone who had been tested on agriculture by Kangxi, Jiang Chen knew how eager Kangxi was to recruit talented people. If sweet potatoes were really as productive as Chen Da said, this matter would definitely be promoted.

He said firmly: "Brother Chen, as long as you can guarantee that what you say is true, it will work!"

Chen Da felt Jiang Chen's assurance and no longer hesitated, "I can guarantee it! Sir, what do you want me to do?"

The advantages of sweet potatoes cannot be determined solely by Chen Da's words, but also need to be verified by Jiang Chen himself.

So Jiang Chen asked Chen Da to go back to the inn and wait for news.

He asked Li Guangdi to rent a farm in the suburbs of Beijing, and then asked Chen Da to bring the sweet potatoes to the farm for planting.

In other words, everyone was busy preparing for the expedition against Galdan, otherwise Jiang Chen's abnormality would soon be discovered.

After all, not everyone would go to the farm on their day off and stay in the mud every day.

However, the results were gratifying. The weather in the north is much colder than in the south. The sweet potatoes that can be harvested in Fujian in four months need six months in the north. But the yield of sweet potatoes really made Jiang Chen ecstatic. Perhaps because he was not adapted to the northern climate, he only harvested more than 800 kilograms of sweet potatoes.

How could Jiang Chen dare to complain about this yield? Sweet potatoes have more than double the yield of rice and wheat! What does more than double mean? A family of eight does not have to worry about not being able to support the elderly and children at home, and everyone can survive by tightening their belts.

However, the soil in the farm is still fertile. How can ordinary people in the world have such favorable conditions? If we want to promote it, we need to test it many times.