"Minister Fang Mingqian has seen Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty, long live, long live!"

"Hurry up," Yun Xi smiled, "Aiqing hurry up." At the same time, he motioned to the eunuch to help. Fang Mingqian saluted again and stood up.

"Aiqing sat down next to me." Yun Xi said again.

"Your Majesty, this is not polite." Fang Mingqian hurriedly said.

"What is not polite, the credit you have made this time is enough to sit next to me!" Yun Xi stood up and said very excitedly.

Yun Xi is right, this time Fang Mingqian's merits are enough to enjoy the highest treatment of officials, because he discovered America!

In the middle of November this year, when Yun Xi was in Kaifeng Zhou Wangfu, the last of the three letters he received was Fang Mingqian, who was sent from the capital six hundred miles from the capital and sent over at the fastest speed, led the fleet to return from the east, and really discovered a whole continent!

Yunxi has two most important plans in mind, one of which is to occupy the Americas. Although the occupation of the Americas has not meant much in the last one or two hundred years, the Americas are the future! Historically, after the decline of European countries, Europeans still dominated the world, thanks to the powerful countries of the Americas. Therefore, at the beginning of the fourth year of Jianye, before sending troops south to attack Annam, he took Zhu Bai, the king of Hunan who had been trained in Yongfan for a year, as the commander, and Fang Mingqian as the deputy general, leading more than 20 Taoist priests, hundreds of ships, and thousands of soldiers to sail eastward to discover the Americas.

Now that America has been discovered, this plan has been half realized, how can Yun Xi not be excited! How could you not think that Fang Mingqian had made a huge contribution!

"Your Majesty has praised it!" Fang Mingqian said: "This voyage to the east and the discovery of a continent are led by His Royal Highness the King of Xiang. Fang Ming said modestly.

"You don't have to be modest!" Yun Xi said again: "When I went to sea before, I found Jinning (Kamchatka Peninsula), the Corridor Islands (Aleutian Islands) and other places are all your credit, if it were not for you this time, just the Twelfth Uncle led the fleet to sail to the east, and most of the fleet would have been destroyed halfway." Although Uncle Twelve also has merit, your merit is the main one! ”

Although Fang Mingqian was still a little uneasy, he didn't dare to disobey Yun Xi's order and sit beside him.

"That's right. You don't have to worry about me boasting about your merits. Yun Xi smiled and said a few more words, asked the eunuch to bring him fruits and snacks to eat, and then was about to tell him about the experience of more than two years, Fang Mingqian suddenly remembered something, stood up and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the minister brought back some local specialties from the eastern continent and presented them to Your Majesty." His Royal Highness the King of Xiang also dragged his ministers to pay tribute to His Majesty. ”

"If Uncle Twelve only uses some local products as tribute, I will not rely on it." Yun Xi said with a smile.

Fang Mingqian saluted again, Yun Xi signaled Wang Xi, Wang Xi went out, and after a while, more than a dozen people walked in, each holding a large box in their hands. Three of the boxes were so heavy that it took three or four people to lift them. When the eunuch put the three boxes on the ground, there was a "bang", and the ground trembled.

Fang Mingqian whispered to let the three very heavy boxes open, and then the dazzling golden light flashed out, and these three boxes were all gold!

"Your Majesty, the minister left the eastern continent this time, and His Royal Highness the King of Xiang asked the minister to return with 30,000 catties of gold as a tribute to the imperial court!" Fang Mingqian bent down and said.

"This, so, much, much money, all, it's all tribute!" At this time, Lu Yi was beside Yun Xi, and when he heard Fang Mingqian's words, he couldn't help but stammer.

Of course, he knew that Daming's financial income in a year was much more than the 480,000 taels of gold, and he had heard that Fang Mingqian had brought back so much gold the first time he returned from Jinning, but these were just numbers in his ears, and the impact was far less than the more than 100 catties of gold in front of him.

"Your Majesty, the ministers have discovered a very large gold mine on the eastern continent, and these 30,000 catties of gold are just a drop in the bucket! If the fleet can't fit it, you can bring some more! Fang Mingqian said again.

This time, Lu Yi was speechless, and stood in place with his mouth open; Not only him, but all the eunuchs present had their mouths wide open, as if they were demented.

30,000 catties of gold is just a drop in the bucket of a gold mine, so how much gold is there in this gold mine! This money is simply picked up for nothing!

Even Yun Xi, who had heard that there was countless gold and silver in the Americas, was taken aback, and only after being stunned did he recover, and said with a smile: "It's really good! This gold came at a very timely time! I have to thank Uncle Twelve and Fang Aiqing! ”

"I don't dare to be Your Majesty's thanks." Fang Mingqian said hurriedly. But Yunxi didn't seem to hear his words, bowed his head in contemplation with a smile on his face, and muttered, "It's so good that you can finally take that step." ”

After a while, he came back to his senses, and the other party Ming Qian smiled: "Aiqing doesn't have to be modest. Then he immediately said, "I have already seen the offerings of the Twelfth Uncle, and I am very satisfied, so you can carry these three boxes down and put them in the inner treasury of the palace; I don't know what kind of local products you brought back, Fang Aiqing? ”

Fang Mingqian originally planned to be a few more modest words, but Yunxi immediately asked him about local products, and he could only agree and open the remaining boxes.

The moment the box opened, Lu Yi stretched his neck to look inside the box, eager to know what it would be, but to his disappointment, although the contents of the box had not been seen, it seemed that it was just some plants, and there was soil in the box. He couldn't help muttering in a voice that only he could hear, "It's just these worthless things!" ”

But Yunxi seemed to be even more excited than just now, stood up, pointed to the contents of one of the boxes and said, "Quick, hand that thing to me." ”

Fang Mingqian plucked what looked like a fruit from the branch, handed it to Yun Xi, and introduced at the same time: "Your Majesty, this fruit was discovered by the generals sent by His Royal Highness the King of Xiang when they went south to explore. ”

"At that time, the general led dozens of soldiers to land and found this fruit," Fang Mingqian just wanted to say, 'I picked it off and tasted it,' Yun Xi had already poured half a cup of the cooled white on this fruit, wiped it with a hand towel, and ate half of this fruit in one bite.

"Your Majesty, what kind of fruit is this, it's not clear whether it's poisonous or not, Your Majesty's golden body, how can you eat this kind of thing!" Wang Xi reacted immediately and said to Yun Xi.

Is this stuff poisonous?' I don't know yet? Yoon-hee thought to herself.

What he just ate was, of course, one of the fruits that people all over the world often ate in later generations: tomatoes! Tomatoes are native to South America, and because of their delicate color, the local Indians believe that they cannot eat it according to their own life experience, and regard it as the "fruit of the fox", also known as wolf fruit, which means that only wolves can eat it. Many years after Europeans entered South America, some people mistakenly ate this kind of thing, only to find that it was edible, and thus became an important food.

When Yun Xi came to Daming, he was most dissatisfied with the diet, that is, there was too little food to eat, and many of the fruits and vegetables he often ate in later generations were not available in this era, which made him quite helpless. But now, these gaps can finally be filled.

The moment he ate the tomatoes, Yunxi even had a feeling of wanting to cry. Of course, it wasn't just because he ate tomatoes, but he remembered the scrambled eggs with tomatoes his mother made for him when he was a child, which in turn evoked his homesickness.

After a while, Yun Xi came back to his senses, and the other party Ming Qian smiled and said: "This kind of fruit is really delicious, Fang Aiqing brought this kind of fruit to Daming, it is really a great achievement!" ”

"I saw that there were still a few fruits on the small sapling in the box, and immediately sent them to the imperial dining room, and asked the chef to cook a dish, and use this scrambled egg to send to Kunning Palace for the queen to taste."

A little eunuch agreed, picked off a few tomatoes, and trotted towards the imperial dining room.

"This kind of fruit, Uncle Twelve has already taken a name?" Yun Xi asked again.

"I haven't chosen a name, please give it a name to Your Majesty." In fact, Zhu Bai has already given a name, but now the emperor thinks of the name, of course, there is no name.

"In that case, I will give it a name. I saw that the fruit looked similar to the persimmons we usually eat, but the color was much brighter, and it was bright red, so I decided to give it the name tomato. ”

"Your Majesty has a very good name!" Fang Mingqian said immediately. This is both sycophant and sincere. Anyway, it's much better than Zhu Bai's name.

"Haha!" Yun Xi laughed a few times, ate the whole tomatoes, took another sip of tea, and said, "What are the other boxes?" ”

Fang Mingqian took out a part from each box, put it on the plate, and introduced them one by one.

He first pointed to a plate full of small yellow particles and said, "Your Majesty, this kind of thing was also discovered by the soldiers sent south to explore, and it is also a kind of food. The crops that grow this food are more than a man's height when ripe, and when they are ripe they have a rod at the top, which is covered with a layer of this kind of thing. ”

"This kind of food is very delicious when cooked, and it soon becomes a favorite thing for His Highness and the subordinates. Later, it was discovered that this food could be stored for a long time after being peeled off the stick and dried in the sun, so it was used as dry food for sailing boats. It's just that it's hard to eat when it's eaten raw, and it's always eaten after it is roasted on the boat. ”

"This kind of thing, Uncle Twelve has already named it?" Yoon-hee asked.

"His Royal Highness the King of Xiang named Yumai because of its grains similar to wheat." Fang Mingqian replied.

Yun Xi didn't speak. Fang Mingqian pointed to the things on the next plate and said, "Your Majesty, this kind of thing was also discovered by the soldiers who went south to explore, and it can't be eaten raw, but it tastes good after being roasted, and it's not easy to carry, so I only brought a few of them back." ”

"But you already have a name?"

"His Royal Highness the King of Xiang named it Sweet Potato because of its red skin."

Fang Mingqian then pointed to the remaining food and introduced it one after another. "Your Majesty, this is something that people on the eastern continent often eat, it grows in the soil, and it cannot be used as a staple food, but stir-fried vegetables can be paired with a lot of vegetables and vegetables, and it tastes good. However, His Royal Highness the King of Xiang believes that the more important thing is that the yield of this kind of food is extremely high, and an acre of land can grow more than 1,000 catties, and now there is no kind of vegetable that can compare with it. Therefore, His Royal Highness the King of Xiang took the lead in eating it at every meal. His Royal Highness the King of Xiang named the potato because it grew in the soil. ”

"Your Majesty, this bean-like food is similarly difficult to be a staple food, but it tastes excellent and can be eaten raw. What's more, it's capable of extracting oil. ......, His Royal Highness the King of Xiang named Luo Peanut. ”

"This kind of long round food cannot be used as a staple food, nor is it a vegetable, but most of the soldiers who went to the eastern continent like to fill a little bit of this kind of thing when stir-frying vegetables for seasoning. This kind of food is extremely spicy, and people who add a little bit of spicy food will not be able to close their mouths. Others mixed him with oil. His Royal Highness the King of Xiang named it chili, and the thing he prepared was called chili oil. ”

……

Yun Xi had been listening to his introduction quietly, and after he had finished introducing all the food, he said with a smile: "Fang Aiqing, you and the Twelfth Uncle have enriched the table of the powerful people of the Ming Dynasty a lot!" ”

Then he said: "Those twelve uncles have obtained names, among which the name Yumai is not good, I changed it to corn, and the others don't need to be changed." Later, it was the name of this crop in Daming. ”

"His Royal Highness the Minister, King Xiang, Your Majesty Xie has changed his name." Fang Mingqian said hurriedly.

"Haha, I changed his name, he doesn't know how to complain about me, you don't have to thank him." Yun Xi said with a smile.

Fang Mingqian couldn't answer this, so he stood in place and smiled and didn't speak. Yun Xi didn't expect him to speak, but said, "You brought back all these crops?" ”

"Your Majesty, I brought a few catties of seeds for each crop."

"Good. In a few moments, you will send all these seeds to the palace. "For Yun Hee, it was more pleasing for him to come back with the seeds than to come back directly with so many crops. With seeds, are you afraid that there will be no food?

"The rest of these potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc., are sent to the imperial dining room, and I will taste them in the evening. I can't eat it now. ”

Yun Xi had a few words, and suddenly said to the other party: "Fang Aiqing, you brought back so many crop seeds, but it is a great achievement, I will definitely reward you." But there's no need to hurry, I want to hear from you now about where you've traveled to the East and where you've explored. I'm curious about this. ”