In the hall, Lao Zhu sat on the dragon throne, Zhu Biao and all the ministers were on both sides, while Captain Jiang and others stood in the hall, talking about the hardships of their journey towards Lao Zhu and the civil and military officials of the court.

At first, Captain Jiang and others were a little restrained, but after slowly letting go, the content of the story became more vivid, especially when talking about the dead brothers, they were even more tearful. When talking about them at the end of their lives, they could only drink stinky water to survive, and in the end they could even close their eyes and wait for death, but when they were in a desperate situation, many people in the palace were moved.

Lao Zhu was also very fascinated by his hearing, especially when Captain Jiang and his friends talked about the situation after the fleet arrived in the Americas, Lao Zhu also asked some questions from time to time, mainly about the situation in the Americas. Although America is thousands of miles away, this continent is too rich. Not only is it rich in gold and silver, but also with high-yield crops such as potatoes and corn, it is simply a gift from God to the Ming people.

It is precisely because of this that Lao Zhu also became very interested in the Americas, an overly rich continent. If he wasn't too old, he would even want to go and see the Americas in person.

However, even if you can't go, your children and grandchildren can go to America. For example, Zhu Di, he knows the intention of Zhu Di to explore America best. However, America is too big. Zhu Di alone can't swallow the entire America. Lao Zhu's children and grandchildren will only increase. If these people have ambition, they can go to America like Zhu Di.

Captain Jiang and his team talked for two or three hours, and Lao Zhu also gave tea several times in the middle, which allowed them to explain their experiences in America and the sea in detail.

"Very good. You sacrifice your life and forget to get back these high-yield crops for the people of the world, so that the people of the world will no longer have to go hungry. This matter alone is a great merit!"

Lao Zhu paused after saying this, and then said, "If such a great achievement is not given, even God will not agree. You will stay in the inn for a few days and wait for the imperial court to reward you!"

When they heard that there were additional rewards, Captain Jiang and others also showed an ecstatic expression. Although most of them were no longer Ming people, they had many relatives and friends, and even their families in the Ming Dynasty. If they could get rewards from the court, they would be considered as glorious to their ancestors.

It was getting late. Lao Zhu saw that Captain Jiang and others were all tired. After all, they all rushed to the night before last night and had no rest at all, so Lao Zhu asked someone to give him a banquet, and then arranged to go to the inn to rest after they had enough food and drink.

After Captain Jiang and his men left, Lao Zhu came outside the hall again and watched the guards place potatoes in the open space outside the hall. Then he returned to the warm pavilion with confidence and discussed the reward with Zhu Biao and the others.

The reason why Lao Zhu did not announce the rewards to Captain Jiang and others on the spot was mainly because there were no previous rewards for these people, so Lao Zhu also needed to take a certain degree. The rewards were too heavy. After all, the titles of the Ming Dynasty were still very valuable. Generally speaking, only by making military achievements can one be awarded a title. For example, Li Jie's Jing Haibo was exchanged for military achievements.

However, although Captain Jiang and others did not make military contributions, their contributions were too great. So in the end, Lao Zhu made an exception and signed Captain Jiang and Wang Meng as the fifth-ranked Cavalry lieutenant. Others awarded the Feiqiwei and Yunqiwei respectively according to the size of the contribution. Although it was just a nameless martial arts honor, it was already a noble example.

Of course, in addition to Wu Xun, Lao Zhu also had a practical reward, that is, he rewarded these people with a lot of land. Although there was some money, it was not much. After all, Zhu Di had told him that these people had exchanged a lot of gold and silver in the Americas, so they were not short of money at all.

Because there were too many rewards, Lao Zhu definitely could not give these people a reward alone, so he waved his hand and handed the reward directly to Zhu Di, and then asked Li Jie to carefully monitor the potatoes in front of the Huagai Palace.

After giving the order, Lao Zhu drove Li Jie, Zhu Di and others out, leaving only the prince Zhu Biao. It is estimated that the father and son should discuss the next thing, especially the impact of these American crops.

Although high-yield crops are a good thing, everything has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, although too high grain yield can solve the problem of food and clothing, there will also be problems such as low grain and harmful farmers. Especially for small farmers with few fields, too low grain prices will have a greater impact on them, and may even lead to the consequences of family destruction.

Of course, Lao Zhu did not stop promoting high-yield crops because of these, but he also needed to make some preparations in advance to avoid the impact of high-yield crops being launched. After all, if there are too many farmers going bankrupt or even refugees, the tragedy at the end of the Yuan Dynasty might repeat. Therefore, Lao Zhu was very cautious about this matter.

Li Jie is not good at controlling the balance of policies, so Lao Zhu did not let him participate. In fact, Li Jie is not interested in thinking about anything else now, and now he is all his energy on the growing potatoes.

So in the following period, Li Jie was soaked in the palace almost every day. He would run to the Huagai Palace to take care of the potatoes whenever he had something to do. Even if a trace of weed grew in the soil, he would pinch it and pull it out with his fingers. It would be no problem to loosen the soil, fertilize and water the other ones.

In addition to potatoes, some other seeds have also begun to sow. Although the weather has turned colder and it is not suitable to plant some crops, it doesn't matter. Li Jie created a glass greenhouse as early as Nanjing, so the imperial city in Beijing has long been built, and it is usually planted with strange flowers and plants that have paid tribute from all over the country.

However, the glass greenhouse is now valued by Li Jie, and all kinds of strange flowers and plants have been pulled out. After he reclaimed the land, he planted some seeds, such as the pepper he had always been thinking about. After so many years of waiting, he finally waited for it. Now, he might even be able to eat a hot pot with pepper this winter.

Of course, Li Jie planted plants that he was sure of. He had never seen some seeds, so he did not dare to plant them rashly. In fact, he had also considered the possibility of species invasion, but he also knew that with the development of the Americas, species invasion was also inevitable, so he could only try to be careful to reduce the possibility and damage of species invasion.
Chapter completed!