Zhu Youzhen talked with Wei Liangqing for more than two hours, and it was not until it was almost dark that he let Wei Liangqing leave.

Originally, these days were staggered by various affairs, which made him seem a little mentally exhausted. But after talking to Wei Liangqing, his spirits were lifted again.

Although Wei Liangqing brought a lot of bad news, such as the fact that he always thought that Hainan Island was three crops a year, it could be vigorously resettled and developed, and Hainan Island could be built into a commercial grain base.

But after Wei Liangqing stayed on Hainan Island for a year, he honestly told him that the yield per mu of Hainan Island was about the same as that in the north. In addition, except for a small area in the central part of the country, which has three crops a year, and some parts of the east where there are two crops a year, most areas only grow one crop of rice.

The reason for this is that Hainan Island has more than 150 days of heavy rain a year, and more than 200 days in extreme years.

Basically, in the climate of a rainstorm every three days, even if there are any nutrients in the soil, they are washed away. In addition, Hainan Island has a special topography, with high in the middle and low on all sides, so all the agricultural areas are within 3 or 40 miles around the island. Once this terrain arrives during the summer rainy season, lowland agricultural areas are prone to flooding.

In addition, the officials on the island felt that Hainan was not connected to the mainland, and even if there were any political achievements, the imperial court could not see it, let alone the imperial court, even the officials of Guangdong, who were not far away, had never cared about Hainan.

Therefore, when these officials went to Hainan Island, they thought about how they could be transferred back to the mainland. Those who have no hope of going back are unwilling to take care of the government, and those who have hope of going back are desperately exploiting the local people in order to bribe the officials. In this situation, Hainan Island's water conservancy is basically gone.

An area with abundant rain all year round is a good climatic condition for agriculture. But if there is no water conservancy, the rain will naturally become a scourge.

The people of Hainan either avoid the rainy season in the middle, or only plant the spring season, which is a natural choice.

Although Hainan Island is self-sufficient in food production, it mainly relies on sweet potatoes from the South Seas and wild coconut groves on the island, not rice.

There are also many problems with the development of Hainan Island, which is now in a state of undeveloped primeval forest in addition to the plain agricultural zone in the coastal area.

According to Wei Liangqing's personal investigation on the island, he found that the inland valleys on the island were full of towering giant trees, and it was difficult for five or six people to hug each other, and in some places it was difficult to enter at all. Most of these trees are of a variety of species, most of which are not even known to local guides, but one officer who was traveling with him recognized many of the most valuable species that could be used to make furniture or boat timber.

In the agricultural areas that are easily exploited along the coast, most of the land here is owned by less than 10% of the island's population. In order to move people to the island, the island's forests must be cut down first.

But the Shengli in the interior are not friendly to outsiders, and they seem to be very disgusted by outsiders entering the interior to develop these forest areas. And compared to the locals, people from the mainland can easily get malaria.

Last year, more than 3,000 people migrated from the mainland to Hainan, but more than 100 people were killed or injured due to a sudden illness and an attack by Shengli, and because they were impatient with Hainan's climate and afraid of the arduous work of clearing the wasteland, many of them fled, and in the end less than half of the remaining migrants remained.

After surveying the whole island, Wei Liangqing established two agricultural bases in Xiuying Port, which is across the sea from the Leizhou Peninsula, and Sanya Port in Thanksgiving County, Yazhou at the southern end, purchased 3,500 acres of land from local large households, and relocated more than 700 people from Shandong and Zhejiang.

Wei Liangqing also mentioned to Chongzhen that when he was touring the whole island of Hainan in search of suitable land for agricultural construction, several businessmen who were mining copper mines wanted to ask him to help him persuade Zhang Sanguang, the magistrate of Changhua County, not to prohibit them from mining copper mines in Yayushan.

Zhu Youzhen asked a few words carefully, only to realize that the location of this copper mine was actually in the same area as the Shilu Iron Mine in later generations.

Zhu Youzhen inquired with great interest about the copper mine and the nearby geographical location, and found that it was about 160 miles away from Danzhou Anhai Division, and only 100 miles away from Bashogang.

However, this is obviously not a priority, and it is important to make adjustments to the existing officials in Hainan and reach a settlement with the inland Shengli and bring them under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, so that Hainan Island can be systematically planned for water conservancy and the development of the island's forests and other natural resources.

Of course, Wei Liangqing also brought back good news, although the current grain output of Hainan Island is not enough to be transported, but after the soil is applied with struvite and farm fertilizer, the yield per mu can be roughly the same as that in the Susong area, reaching the yield of 3-4 stone of rice per mu.

It can be seen that as long as there are good water conservancy and irrigation facilities and sufficient fertilizer, there is still hope for Hainan Island to develop into a grain producing area. However, compared with using Hainan Island as a grain base, it is more cost-effective to plant cash crops and improve seed breeding bases.

Hainan Island is suitable for the cultivation of coconut, sugar cane and cotton, and after ensuring water conservancy facilities, the climatic conditions of three crops a year are enough to shorten the time for cultivating improved seeds here by one-third.

Of course, there is no more suitable way to grow sweet potato grains than Hainan Island. As long as you sow seeds or seedlings, you can get a good harvest without taking care of them. Whether it is to raise pigs with sweet potatoes or to use wine essence, it is a commodity that Daming needs now.

The best news that Wei Liangqing brought was that according to the improved varieties of rice, wheat, and cotton collected by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences from various places, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences finally confirmed five or six kinds of improved varieties that can be matched with two crops in one year.

Starting next year, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences plans to experiment with the rotation system of rice, wheat, and rice and cotton in two crops a year in the areas south of the Yangtze River. If the experiment is successful, then within 3-5 years, the whole south will be able to implement the two-cropping system in one year.

Compared with one cropping a year, the yield can be increased by about 30%-50%, which is a considerable improvement in the era of no chemical fertilizer. As for the promotion of new crops such as sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn, it is not so easy.

In the areas with poor production conditions in the north, the people are more likely to accept these new crops in the Americas that are tolerant to drought and barrenness, but in the areas with better natural conditions in the south, they are less willing to plant these new crops, which are regarded as miscellaneous grains.

The reason for this is that the farmers in the north who grow these new crops mainly eat them for their own consumption, but a large part of the grain grown by farmers in the south is sold in the market as a commodity.

These American crops are clearly not as good as rice and wheat, so naturally they are not sold or priced. This kind of miscellaneous grain, which can only be used for famine relief, naturally cannot become the staple food grown in the south.

In addition, corn has a well-developed root system and can be grown even on mountain slopes, so it has become a major crop for destroying mountain forests. For the people of the south, they seem to have realized the causal link between the destruction of the mountain forest and the deterioration of the local natural environment. Therefore, there is great resistance to the cultivation of corn.

However, even if there are some obstacles to the promotion of new crops, it is difficult to stop Chongzhen's optimistic estimate of grain growth in 3-5 years. As long as the South can increase production by 30 percent, it will be enough to offset the loss of food production in the North due to the disaster.

Therefore, what he needs to do next is to ensure the imperial court's investment in water conservancy facilities across the country, as well as the smooth flow of north-south transportation channels and the reduction of transportation costs.

For these two points, Zhu Youzhen felt that Chongzhen had laid a good foundation in the first year. Whether it is the project of the treatment of the four major water systems, or the construction of railways in North China, the Central Plains and the Shanxi Basin, it will undoubtedly greatly reduce the cost of inland transportation.

In addition to being in a happy mood, Zhu Youzhen took the initiative to allocate 350,000 yuan to the Academy of Agricultural Sciences as the operating expenses of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences next year, which made Wei Liangqing feel very grateful.

In the past year, he spent about two-thirds of the 300,000 taels of silver he took out last year, and persuaded local farmers to cooperate with the maintenance of local water conservancy facilities.

Although Wei Zhongxian was in power for a few years, he could be regarded as looting a lot of silver taels, but after he stepped down, half of the scavenged silver taels were contributed to the inner treasury, and some of them were used to deal with Chongzhen's cronies, leaving Wei Liangqing with less than 500,000 taels.

Wei Liangqing originally thought that 300,000 taels could last at least two or three years, but it took sixty percent in just one year. He was originally a little worried about whether he would fill in the little money left to him by his uncle if he continued like this, but after receiving Chongzhen's grant today, he finally put his mind at ease.

Not only because he found a way to get the funds of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, but because he realized that he was finally accepted by the emperor, and he was no longer the sinner who might be thrown out to ask for guilt. This realization made him involuntarily straighten his waist when he walked out of the Qianqing Palace.

When Wei Liangqing left the palace gate, a large team of nearly 1,000 people was approaching Beijing from the northwest. On the snow-covered plain, this team of men and horses moved towards the capital in an orderly manner like a swarm of black ants.

Several carriages in the middle of the team were all lifted up, covered with cotton curtains covering the windows to block the wind, Yuan Chonghuan stretched out his head to look at the tall Beijing city wall 3-5 miles away from the convoy, quite a little proud.

Whether it was the rectification of the border army in the early stage, the liaison with the leaders of the right-wing Mongolian departments, or the post-war rectification of the troops, the formation of a new border army, and the division of the allied flag grassland for the Mongolian right-wing departments, he was everywhere.

In Yuan Chonghuan's view, although the teacher Sun Chengzong received the first great merit, it was just His Majesty's respect for the teacher. The courtiers with insight should see that he is the only one who is really in charge of the overall situation.

Under him, Wu Huai, Mao Yuanyi, and Cao Wenzhao are also quite meritorious, and then Liu Jingting, who was detained as an envoy to the Chahar Department, is really lucky, because he was detained by Lin Dan Khan, but he picked up a negotiation credit in vain after the war.

Looking at the capital in the distance, Yuan Chonghuan began to think about it in his heart again, whether it was better for him to stay in the capital or ask for the other town. Whether it is the old land in western Liaoning, or the current Fengzhen, Datong, and Xuanhua New District, there are risks and opportunities.