"Ryukyu? I guess it's the sea near Okinawa. Listening to the introduction of the little official, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but be in a trance. In later life, going whale watching on Okinawa and listening to the whale chirping of humpback whales used to be one of his biggest dreams.

As the best singer in the ocean, he never imagined that one day he would order the killing of these beautiful creatures.

Under Wang Chengen's gentle reminder, Zhu Youzhen, who was in a state of distraction, finally recovered, and looked at the little official who had finished reporting, and he found that he was a little soft-hearted and couldn't open his mouth.

"Is this the hypocrisy of the so-called little bourgeois?" Zhu Youzhen suddenly laughed at himself in his heart, and he found that his compassion for humpback whales even surpassed those who were struggling on the death line.

And that's simply because he'd seen these beautiful creatures on TV, but never seen the victims, so he couldn't really give his emotions.

Perhaps his compassion was not out of sympathy for the victims, but only to satisfy his own moral purity.

Zhu Youzhen's mind turned a few times, and finally put aside these nonsense ideas, he nodded at the little official and said, "Your idea is very good, the promotion of tomato and potato cultivation is arranged by the imperial court."

However, the Food Research Institute can continue to follow up on the development of the whaling industry, at least in terms of processing technology for whale products, you can think of more methods. What's your name? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister is Zhengquan, and he is the master of the Guanglu Temple." The little official's face suddenly turned red and replied.

"Well, then it's up to you to follow up on this matter, and report if you have any problems. Also, who is here from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences? Zhu Youzhen, who came back to his senses, quickly made a judgment.

When Wei Guang of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences trotted out, Zhu Youzhen asked: "In terms of fishing, do you think there is anything that can be improved?" And what I asked you to study last time, is there any progress in the artificial cultivation of seaweed and kelp? ”

Chongzhen once thought that by artificially cultivating seaweed and kelp, the surplus labor of coastal fishermen could be absorbed, and a large food gap and iodine deficiency diseases in some inland areas could be solved.

However, when the people of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences searched all over the Bohai Bay and the Shandong Peninsula, they did not find the kelp mentioned by the emperor, but they found that there was artificial cultivation of seaweed in southern Zhejiang and Fujian.

While the Academy of Agricultural Sciences sent people to the south to find fishermen who could cultivate seaweed, they asked Chongzhen again what kelp was. Only then did Zhu Youzhen realize that the kelp he ate in the palace was actually a tribute from the Joseon Kingdom.

Only then did he learn that kelp was not a marine plant native to China, but a specialty of North Korea and Japan, and even North Korea only had it in the eastern Wonsan region. The common delicacies of later generations have now become a delicacy that only a very few people can taste.

Wei Guang hurriedly lowered his head and replied: "The artificial cultivation method of laver has been found, but the seedlings of laver have not yet found a method of artificial cultivation, and they can only rely on natural seedlings, so the yield is limited."

As for the kelp, although we have twice claimed ** from North Korea and planted it underground in Dalian, Weihai and other places, these kelp still died quickly.

After research, we felt that perhaps the sea area we chose for breeding was too different from the original living environment of kelp. Therefore, I plan to go to Japan by boat next time to investigate the living conditions of kelp and collect seeds.

As for improvements in fishing techniques, there are three that can be improved immediately. The first is to speed up the replacement of new fishing boats to extend the time for fishermen to go to sea;

Second, the replacement of fishing net materials, the original fishing nets made of hemp ropes, can easily be rotted by the seawater. Recently, however, the ropes woven from coconut fiber are much easier to use.

The third is the role of ice, and the fishermen can only go out to sea for a day or two at most, otherwise the catch will be dead. Last winter, His Majesty ordered a large collection of ice, which enabled the fishermen to leave the offshore waters and go farther and keep their catch longer. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded slightly, "I know, Hainan Island has long had a rope net made of coconut fiber, but it has never been transmitted to the mainland.

I have already ordered to set up a factory on Hainan Island to make use of the coconut groves on the island, and next year I should be able to send a batch of ropes to the fishermen for use.

But this ice cube, in addition to the ice cellars in the capital, Wang Chengen, you let people build a few more ice cellars in Tianjin, so that they can be transported to the sea nearby.

Also, aren't there many natural caves on the Miaodao Islands? Send someone to fix it up and see if it can be used as an ice storage.

In addition, let several fishery bureaus on the Shandong Peninsula arrange for manual ice storage, and those who contribute in winter can get profits in summer, which can be regarded as a livelihood. ”

Wang Chengen, who was standing behind the emperor, quickly lowered his head and agreed. Last year, he also felt that it was a complete waste for Chongzhen to spend money on ice with great fanfare, and let Jinyiwei press idle people on the street to cut ice.

Ice cubes that are not protected by an ice cellar have little time to keep. It's not a hot day, and no one thinks about buying ice cubes to beat the heat.

As most people expect, the ice that is placed outdoors begins to melt in the spring, but soon it becomes the most popular commodity for fishermen.

It is precisely because of these ice cubes that a large amount of fresh seafood was sent back to the capital, and became a delicacy on the tables of the people and soldiers in the military camp in the capital, and the palace also had an unexpected income.

Seeing that Chongzhen was in a good mood, Wei Guang couldn't help but say more: "Your Majesty, some of the effects of struvite and bat feces on crops have been summarized. ”

After Zhu You listened, he immediately asked a few words with great interest, although he knew the three basic fertilizer elements, but he didn't know exactly how to make fertilizer and fertilize.

Seeing that Chongzhen's interest was aroused, Wei Guang hurriedly and honestly said the part of the content he saw. In fact, he did not participate in the study of struvite and bat feces, but only took aim at the report sent to Shangguan.

The main effective element of struvite and bat feces is naturally phosphorus, although the Academy of Sciences has not yet isolated elemental phosphorus, but the Academy of Agricultural Sciences has understood that the biggest effect of this fertilizer is to make plants grow taller and bear fuller fruits.

However, this fertilizer has a significant increase in the yield of melons and fruits, cotton and beans, but not obvious effects on wheat and millet. But even so, the yield of wheat per acre with fertilizer is already comparable to the yield per acre of the best irrigated land.

Seeing that Wei Guang had become slumped again, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help asking, "Is there anything else wrong?" ”

"Even on the islands of Temple Island, there were not many struvite and bat feces originally, and it is estimated that it will be collected until March next year at most. However, after the struvite collected is crushed, it can also be used for more than 100,000 acres of fertile land. ”

Zhu Youzhen was slightly stunned, but he quickly accepted Wei Guang's statement. It is true that the temple islands are not famous for struvite stones, and the famous strounce islands he has heard of should be around the coast of Peru.

Peru is really a good place, with huge amounts of silver, copper, saltpeter and struvite. It's just that it's too far away from Daming, and now Daming can't even guard the door of the house, so don't worry about the treasures at the door of other people's homes.

Unlike the west coast of North America, Peru and Mexico are now the lifeblood of the Kingdom of Spain and possess great wealth.

The Spaniards only searched their territory for deposits of precious metals such as gold and silver, and were completely dismissive of the West Coast of North America, which they believed was devoid of gold.

The reason why he dared to let people go to the west coast of North America was because after this land entered the 19th century, the Spanish only occupied Baja California, and all the northern areas were cheaper to the Americans.

If he were to plot against the islands off the coast of Peru now, the Spaniards, who had great interests in Peru, would not allow the Ming to explore in North America again. The Spaniards, who had colonized Central and South America for more than 100 years, were able to mobilize forces that were by no means able to resist the Ming Dynasty, who had just begun to explore the Pacific Ocean.

I regretted giving up, and I still have the memory of guano stone island in my mind. Zhu Youzhen suddenly said to Wei Guang with a moved: "The Academy of Agricultural Sciences can follow the fleet to the islands near Taiwan to have a look..."

On the high ground in the center of Sheliao Island, in a temporary command center, Xu Xinsu used a telescope to see a white cloth hanging from the window of the two-story castle on the west side, which was only a rough scale, and he finally felt relieved.

Before he could put down his binoculars, he heard someone next to him say with regret: "It's a pity, if these Spaniards can hold out for two more days, these Dongfan people will be able to consume more." It will be a lot less troublesome for us to take over this place in the future. ”

Xu Xinsu didn't need to look back, he heard who the owner of this voice was. The corners of his eyes twitched, and in the end he didn't hear this, but changed the subject and said: "The Spaniards have finally surrendered, let's go down the mountain and prepare to surrender, the war is finally over." ”

Guo Qing, who deliberately said it to Xu Xinsu, could only pout when he saw Xu Xinsu's appearance. As a junior military attache in Dongjiang Town, Guo Qing had long ago stopped caring about human life.

As Dongjiang Town, which is far away from the area controlled by the Ming Dynasty and struggles to survive in the marginal areas of the Jurchens and Koreans, in addition to fighting against the lack of food and clothing, it also has to take the initiative to attack the Jurchens who are far stronger than themselves from time to time, and every Dongjiang person does not know what his tomorrow will be.

What can keep them supported is not only the bitter hatred for the Jurchens, but also the infinite admiration for Mao Shuai who rescued them from the Jurchens.

But no matter how great the hatred is, in the face of a cruel war with no hope, it will also make people burn out. Especially when the soldiers and bereaved families who fought against the Jurchens died of freezing and starvation because they could not get domestic help, it also made them feel a little more resentful of the court in addition to their hatred of the Jurchens.

Although after the new emperor ascended the throne, he immediately comforted Dongjiang Town, and took away some of the old and weak women and children, and preached Dongjiang Town's merits to the Ming Dynasty to the world, which made many Dongjiang people relieved.

However, for Guo Qing, who watched his brother be injured and could not get treatment, his heart knot still exists. But now he can no longer vent to the imperial court, because he is afraid that his actions will tarnish the honor of his brother Dongjiang Yinglie.

Relying on his brother's exploits, he was recruited into the Army Military Academy, and was ordered to observe the battle against the Spaniards. After getting away from the imperial capital that made him feel depressed, he always felt that there was another self in his body that he wanted to release.

As a cadet of the artillery department, he naturally became the artillery commander under Xu Xinsu, but in fact, he preferred face-to-face hand-to-hand combat. At a very close distance, watching the other party at the time of death, that kind of desperate expression made him particularly excited.

However, as a Dongjiang soldier who is always on the verge of death, coupled with the strict military education in the past half a year, once he is on the battlefield, he can control his ** better than anyone else.

In just two siege battles, he saw through the weakness of Xu Xinsu's Fujian sailors, these undisciplined and unorganized former pirates, if they were on the shore, he only needed a hundred men to defeat them.