Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Any news on rubber trees?

Shen Zheng was delighted.

She didn't expect that Eunuch Hong, who lived in the deep palace, was so well-informed.

"Thank you for your concern, eunuch. I thought I would have to go to the capital next time to find out about the tree. I didn't expect you to be so powerful that you sent me a surprise today."

After these polite words were spoken, Eunuch Hong became even happier. "I am not so powerful as to have kept you waiting for so long. Take, for example, the great storm that struck the Manchu country. Do you remember?"

Shen Zheng nodded.

The destructive power of a typhoon is so strong that if you experience it yourself, you will probably remember it for the rest of your life.

Eunuch Hong looked at the fanning eunuch and said, "His name is Little Comb. He previously went on a trip to the Manchus with the grain delivery team. He fell ill when he came back. When he recovered, I asked him about the tree..."

He pulled the small comb forward, but his wrist was still swinging, fanning the two of them.

"Pa—" He slapped the combing hand, angrily saying, "Stop slapping me, you blockhead! What did I tell you when I left the palace? Tell Lord Shen everything you've seen and heard."

Little Comb woke up as if from a dream, quickly put the fan on his waist, bowed his head and said: "My humble servant Little Comb greets Master Shen."

Before leaving the palace, Eunuch Hong said to him: "I will take you out of the palace to meet an honored person. Be smart. If you are appreciated by the honored person, I will accept you as my apprentice."

In the palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty, godparents were not allowed to be adopted, but mentors and apprentices were allowed. If an old eunuch looked up to a young eunuch, he would take him in as his apprentice and protect him in the harem.

This kind of relationship cannot be made public, but the master and disciple both know it very well - if the old eunuch had not been buried with the emperor, the young eunuch would have been able to protect the old eunuch in return when he became successful in the future.

Without any false kinship in between, such an exchange of interests actually makes people feel more at ease.

Shen Zheng looked at the young eunuch in front of her.

He looked younger than her, about twenty years old, without a beard. He lowered his head in a somewhat awkward manner, and his fingers picking at each other made him look even more nervous.

After staring at him for a while, Shen Zheng composed her words. "Master Comb, please describe to me in detail where in Manchuria did you see that tree? How tall is the tallest tree? How thick is the strongest tree? But will it shed milky white tears if you cut it with a knife?"

Little Comb raised his head awkwardly, his expression even more reserved than before: "Master, you call me Little Comb..."

Brother-in-law?

Shen Zheng was really at a loss for words. "Eunuch Comb is from the palace, so let's just call him that. Please think carefully about the question I asked earlier."

Little Comb glanced furtively at Eunuch Hong before taking a deep breath and saying, "Your Excellency, I saw the tree near the border between the Manchus and the Nagqu Kingdom. It's about five feet tall, and the thickest part of the trunk is about...more than half a foot wide. It's true, Your Excellency, when the tree is injured, it sheds tears. The tears are thick and can be used to make silk."

Shen Zheng recalled that the Nagqu Kingdom was also in the southern part of the Great Zhou, bordering the Manchus, but it was much more backward than the Manchus, with almost no industrial development and little contact with the Great Zhou. It was a self-sufficient primitive small country.

The "five zhang high" mentioned by her brother-in-law, when converted into the measurement units she was familiar with, was about fifteen meters high, and "half a foot wide" was equivalent to sixteen centimeters.

A rubber tree that is fifteen meters tall and sixteen centimeters in diameter...

It was taller and thicker than she had expected, but still not as big as the rubber tree she remembered.

The high-quality rubber trees she remembered were over 20 meters tall and needed to be manually controlled to prevent them from growing too tall and becoming inconvenient for tapping. Their diameters were as large as several dozen centimeters.

It seems that she will have to "seek help" from the system later on.

She estimated that she only had a few decades to live. If she cultivated rubber trees herself, after generations of mutations, she might die earlier than the trees.

The scorching sun made her cheeks feel hot. After leading a few people to the shade of the tree, she asked again, "Isn't there such a tree in the Manyi Kingdom?"

Could it be that the Fifth Tanwei's information was wrong?

"Yes," Little Comb began fanning her again, "but most of them grow on the Manchu-Yi border. The people there say that the tree species was blown over from Nagqu many years ago, and they didn't have that tree originally. Oh, by the way, sir, that tree has a name in Manchuria. In our language, it's called the 'sticky tree.'"

After saying this, he suddenly felt very fortunate that he could follow the disaster relief team to Manyi.

Sure enough, the more people you see, the more opportunities you have.

"Sticky tree?" Shen Zheng nodded. "I think I've heard of it before. Master Comb, is that slime useful in Manchuria and Nagqu?"

Eunuch Hong was listening anxiously, and looked at Little Comb with disdain in his eyes: "Don't wait until Lord Shen asks you to tell me. Tell Lord Shen everything you see and hear in one breath!"

He's still thinking about his farsighted glasses! Don't go over there later, Lord Liang has already left the yamen.

Little Comb shuddered and spoke a lot faster.

"The Manchus would apply the mucus to wounds, saying that once it solidified, the wound would be impervious to water and would heal faster. They would also make balls out of the mucus and throw them into the sky during sacrificial ceremonies. Whoever's ball bounced the highest would become the next priest! And, and... I don't think there's anything else, sir."

He spoke tremblingly, and Shen Zheng actually got some useful information.

"Cleaning wounds" and "making balls" mean that the Manchus and the Nagqu Kingdom have mastered the preliminary method of manufacturing rubber, and the things they actually made with rubber are definitely not just rubber balls.

Think outside the box.

——Is rubber rain boots possible?

It is very likely. After all, the temperature in Manyi and Nagqu is high and there is a lot of rain. Who doesn’t want a pair of waterproof shoes?

Is it possible to have rubber straps and rubber utensil handles?

It's still quite possible.

It seems that in the field of rubber products, the Great Zhou has been left far behind by the Manchus. After all, the Great Zhou does not even have rubber trees.

"Thank you, Master Comb." Shen Zheng thanked him sincerely, "This information is very useful and has helped me a lot."

Little Comb was delighted and subconsciously looked at Eunuch Hong.

Eunuch Hong pouted: "Why are you looking at me? Why don't you thank Master Shen?"

This means that he has agreed to take him as his apprentice.

"Thank you, Mr. Shen, no, no, thank you, Mr. Shen!" Little Comb was so excited that he spoke incoherently.

This incompetent look amused Eunuch Hong. "Then, Master Shen, this old servant and I will take our leave. By the way, if you want to dig up a tree and take a look at it... I may not be able to help you."

If he were to ask himself honestly, he was not capable enough to order envoys and border troops around.

Shen Zheng smiled and nodded: "Sir, you have helped me a lot, thank you very much. It's hot, please be careful on the road."