Movie: Get Alpha Dog at the start

Chapter 1138 Leave no one behind

It took nearly two months to travel from Beijing to Xi'an.

The reason why it was so slow was simply because Qin Hao had nothing to do, so he simply took Dou Zhao for a stroll. They said they were on a journey, but in fact they were sightseeing along the way. A journey that was supposed to take a month actually took two months.

The Qin Prince's Palace in Xi'an had been built long ago. In fact, it was expanded and renovated on the basis of the previous Qin Prince's Palace. In addition, Qin Hao was given 100,000 acres of fertile land. It has to be said that the Zhu family treated their son who could not inherit the throne well.

After settling down, Dou Zhao couldn't sit still anymore, and the spark of business passion began to burn out.

"Husband, how about letting me cultivate these 100,000 acres of fertile land?"

"What weird ideas do you have?" Qin Hao asked with a smile.

Dou Zhao clapped his hands seriously, and Miao Ansu came over carrying a basket.

When Qin Hao saw what was in the basket, he was stunned for a moment: "Where did you get this from?"

"Husband, do you recognize this thing?" Dou Zhao was also stunned.

Potatoes, he is very familiar with this thing.

"I don't know. Madam, tell me what's so special about this thing."

Looking at Dou Zhao's expression, Qin Hao decided that in order to avoid sleeping in the study tonight, it would be better to pretend not to know him.

"No, I clearly recognize the expression you just made."

It turns out that Dou Zhaoke is not easy to fool at all.

Qin Hao sighed helplessly: "If a woman is too smart, she will not be cute."

"Humph."

Under Dou Zhao's gaze, Qin Hao could only make up a story: "I heard from a Hu merchant before that there is a crop that grows like this. It is said to be drought-resistant and not picky about the soil, and the yield per mu is very amazing. I didn't expect it to be in my wife's hands."

Dou Zhao nodded with satisfaction. "I also got this from a Hu merchant. Later, I used the method he taught me to plant a batch. As expected, the yield per mu is amazing. It is also a vegetable and a grain, and it tastes delicious."

"If we plant this on our 100,000 mu of fertile land, we will surely get a bumper harvest."

"And if we promote this product to the whole world in the future, maybe people all over the world will no longer have to worry about not having enough food to eat."

Qin Hao gave a thumbs up: "My wife has a kind heart, I admire her."

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "So, my husband has agreed to let me take care of these 100,000 acres of fertile land?"

"My lady, you have the world in your heart, and as your husband, I naturally have to support you."

"Stop talking nonsense. I can't manage 100,000 acres of fertile land by myself. You have to send someone to help me."

Qin Hao smiled and said, "Don't worry, this person will be here soon."

Three days later, Qin Hao hosted a banquet for Ji Yong in the Prince of Qin's Mansion. As the winner of this examination, Ji Yong could have directly become a Shujishi, but he took the initiative to apply to Zhu Jianshen to be transferred to the local level. Later, he used his connections to get him the position of county magistrate in Xianning County under the jurisdiction of Xi'an.

"Ji Yong, it turns out that the person my husband said he would find to help me is you." Dou Zhao was very surprised to see Ji Yong.

Ji Yong smiled and said, "Instead of spending all day gaining experience in the Imperial Academy, it would be better to do something for the people down there. This would also be a way to put what I have learned to use."

"It's easy to be sent away, but it's not easy to return to Beijing to take up a post." Dou Zhao couldn't help but feel sorry for Ji Yong when he heard this.

Qin Hao and Ji Yong smiled at each other. It was certainly not a random move for Ji Yong to be sent here.

According to the original plot, Ji Yong was an important part of Zhu Jianshen's suppression of Prince Qing's rebellion, so Qin Hao naturally wanted to recruit him first.

The reason why Ji Yong was willing to stand on the side of the King of Qin, who had little chance of winning, was, firstly, that he valued Qin Hao's ability and ambition, and secondly, that he adhered to the principle that the greater the risk, the greater the reward.

There is no need to think about the Crown Prince. Old guys like Lord Wu are still there. It is impossible for a young man in his twenties like him to make a name for himself.

As for Prince Qing, it was the same. With the support of his mother, Queen Wan, who was the most favored in the harem, from behind, countless officials had been trying to curry favor with him since the moment he was born. Without his extraordinary contributions, it would not have been his turn.

On the contrary, Qin Hao seems to have the lowest chance of succession, which also means that few people rely on him. If he can inherit the throne in the future, he will naturally have to promote his own people to key positions.

"Are you hiding something from me?" Dou Zhao looked at the two of them suspiciously.

Qin Hao shook his head: "My wife is overthinking."

"You worry too much, Princess."

Ji Yong's arrival made Dou Zhao decide to plant the first batch of potatoes in his fiefdom in Xianning County, but he still encountered considerable resistance at the beginning.

Although it was the fief of the Prince of Qin's Palace, it was rented to tenants for cultivation. This season's rice had already been planted. Dou Zhao asked everyone to dig up the good rice and plant something gray and unfamiliar. Naturally, the tenants were unwilling to do so.

In the end, Qin Hao had to step in and say that he could waive the annual rent for these tenants this year, and the tenants reluctantly agreed to plant the crops.

Because of this incident, Qin Hao was reported by the Censor, who said that he changed the name of rice to "beans" without caring about the lives of the people.

Zhu Jianshen also specially sent Jiyingwei to investigate.

Since the potatoes were not yet ripe, Zhu Jianshen expressed doubts about Qin Hao's claim that the "potatoes" could produce 30 shi per mu. However, he also specifically instructed Ji Yingwei to pay special attention to the "potato" yield per mu to prevent Qin Hao from creating "false auspicious signs" to fool him.

After two months of gradual planting, Dou Zhao had planted potatoes on all the 100,000 acres of fertile land in the Qin Palace.

The potatoes that Dou Zhao got from the Hu merchants were not improved and took a long time to mature, taking four months, so the effect could not be seen for a while. However, this did not dampen Dou Zhao's enthusiasm and he spent a lot of time on the farmland.

This caused many tenants to doubt whether she was really the Princess of Qin. How could there be a princess who would stare at the fields all day long?
Dou Zhao did not care about this and often took out snacks from the Prince of Qin's Mansion to share with the tenants. As a result, she earned the title of "Virtuous Concubine".

During this period of time, Qin Hao was busy reorganizing the garrison.

Shaanxi has a special geographical location, covering the entire areas of Gansu and Ningxia and parts of Qinghai, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. These places are home to many ethnic minorities who are brave and good at fighting, and riots break out from time to time.

Therefore, three garrisons were set up in Shaanxi to prevent riots.

Zhu Jianshen urged Qin Hao to go to the vassal state this time because the Wei Suo system was difficult to change, which led to a decline in control over Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai.

Qin Hao's strategy was to beat some and pull some out, to clean out those hopeless parasites who were good for nothing but sucking the blood of soldiers and eating empty salaries. As for those who still had some ability, he would often give them a chance. Of course, those who were stubborn would eventually go to hell.

For a time, many military generals and nobles ran to complain to Zhu Jianshen. Zhu Jianshen just pretended to be serious and issued an imperial edict to reprimand them. Qin Hao was still unsure what to do.

"I know you all have connections behind you, but no matter how strong your backers are, they are not as strong as mine. If you are not convinced, just give it a try and see whether my sword is harder or your necks are harder."

Seeing this, the generals had no choice but to cooperate with Qin Hao in reorganizing the garrison.

"Of course, I also know your difficulties. The family has a lot of expenses, and the salary from the court is not enough. When you go back, let your wife meet the Princess of Qin. She will make arrangements."

"A good man should think about how to achieve success and establish a career. Leave those petty and mean things to women. Why are you meddling in them?"

The generals burst into laughter when they heard this, and the tense atmosphere disappeared in an instant.

However, that night, Qin Hao paid the price for this sentence and was sent to the study by Dou Zhao to sleep for the night.

"What do you mean by 'leaving such a petty thing to a woman'? How can doing business be considered petty? If you look down on businessmen so much, why did you marry me in the first place?"

In the study, Ji Yong gloated, "Your Highness, do you regret marrying this fierce woman?"

"Others think that 'being happy with it and treating each other with respect' is a compliment, but in my opinion it is a derogatory term. Wouldn't it be boring for a couple to live like that?" Qin Hao smiled.

Ji Yong was stunned: "Your Highness's thoughts and ideas are indeed different from those of ordinary people."

"You and I are both extraordinary people, otherwise how could we get together to conspire for something great?"

"Ji Yong thanks your highness for the compliment."

Two months later, the first batch of potatoes finally matured. Qin Hao and Dou Zhao both came to the scene. Ji Yong also brought people from the yamen to record. Ji Yingwei also mingled in the crowd and secretly recorded the process of digging potatoes.

As the tenants dug carefully bit by bit, all the "potatoes" in the first acre of land were gathered into a pile, and the scene was very spectacular.

"Weigh!" Ji Yong gave an order, and the tenants carried shoulder poles to weigh baskets of potatoes.

"The yield per mu is 33 shi!"

Ever since the Chinese nation learned to use slash-and-burn agriculture, they have had a deep affection for the land. In their simple values, the land is the most generous thing in the world. As long as you sow the seeds, take good care of it, weed and fertilize it, it will give you rich rewards when the harvest season comes.

Seeing the amazing yield of potatoes per mu, everyone present couldn't help but cheer loudly.

"Husband, there really is a grain yield of 33 shi per mu, did you see that?"

"I see, you have worked hard these days."

"I'm glad you know."

Dou Zhao raised his chin, his face full of pride.

In order to prevent Qin Hao from making any advance moves, the Jiyingwei spies waited until all the potatoes in the field were dug up and the exact yield per mu was obtained before sending the secret report back via an express route of 800 miles.

Zhu Jianshen now began to doubt Jiyingwei's secret report: "Is there really a grain yield of 33 dan per mu in this world?"

After pinching the gray "potato", Zhu Jianshen asked, "How do I eat this potato?"

"According to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin, potatoes are both a grain and a vegetable. They can be steamed and eaten directly, or cut into shreds and made into spicy and sour potato shreds."

Zhu Jianshen waved his hand and said, "Then cook it and serve it up. I will also try this 33 dan of grain per mu to see if it is as delicious as Hao'er said."

The people in the imperial kitchen had never seen "potatoes" before, let alone cook them. No one knew how to start. It was not until Wang Yuan told them how to do it that these imperial chefs mustered up the courage to start.

Soon, it was time for dinner. Zhu Jianshen had no interest in other dishes and asked first: "What about the shredded potatoes?"

"Your Majesty, it's here." Wang Yuan pointed to a porcelain plate on one of the tables.

Zhu Jianshen picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and tasted it with a try-it attitude.

"Mm, not bad, it has a crispy texture and is very refreshing."

Zhu Jianshen then summoned all the cabinet ministers over and asked them to try the "Sour and Spicy Potato Shreds" one by one, which made the cabinet ministers a little nervous, wondering if Zhu Jianshen was planning to pack them all up and take them away.

It was not until they learned that what they were eating were "potatoes" that everyone understood why Zhu Jianshen had called them over.

"Your Majesty, although this plant has an amazing yield per mu and tastes good, the conditions in different places are different. Whether this plant is suitable for all lands still needs to be verified, so we should not rush into it."

Elder Wu was the first to put forward his opinion, which was immediately echoed by the other elders.

After Wang Xingyi resigned, Dou Shishu replaced him and entered the cabinet. He immediately started to sing a different tune.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin said before that this plant can produce more than 30 dan per mu. Now it has come true, which shows that Your Royal Highness knows a lot about this plant. I think that the sooner the people of the world can plant this plant, the sooner they will no longer suffer from hunger..."

Before he could finish his words, Lord Wu pointed at his nose and started cursing.

"Insect!"

"Food is the lifeblood of the people. If you order them to plant it without verifying it, if something goes wrong, it will be a huge mess. You are harming the country and the people!"

Dou Shishu was so angry that his teeth were itching, but he didn't dare to confront him directly. In the end, Zhu Jianshen came out to smooth things over.

"Since this product has been verified in Shaanxi, let's promote it in Shaanxi first."

"Your Majesty is holy."

However, before Zhu Jianshen could be happy for long, a battle report from Liaodong made him frown.

In the court, Zhu Jianshen asked the ministers to circulate this battle report.

"Your Majesty, Li Zhen from Liaodong is causing rebellion. I think we should send troops to suppress it immediately."

"It's ridiculous. Li Zhen is just a small scab. The climate in Liaodong is bad. Instead of sending a large army to encircle and suppress them, which would waste money and food, it is better to issue a decree of peace. All Li Zhen wants is to open the market and exchange benefits. Just stop the outflow of salt and iron."

Looking at the ministers arguing in the court, Zhu Jianshen was at a loss for a moment.

"This matter will be discussed later."

After the court session, Empress Wan persuaded Zhu Jianshen to agree to open the market in Liaodong.

The news soon reached Qin Hao.

After reading the secret letter, Ji Yong sneered, "It seems that our Prince Qing is getting impatient."

"When Liaodong opens its market, I don't know how much we can gain. By then, Prince Qing will not need to ask the Ministry of Revenue for food and wages no matter how many soldiers he raises. In recent years, Lizhen has been attacking the border year after year. I guess my fourth brother has endured a lot of hardship to not wipe them out, right?"

"Your Highness, how do you think Li Zhen should be dealt with?" Ji Yong suddenly asked.

Qin Hao's eyes turned cold: "Of course we must wipe them out as quickly as possible, leaving no one alive!"

"Oh, why?" Ji Yong continued to ask.

"The Lizhen tribe was just a small one, originally struggling to survive in the bitter cold, but now it has grown to a considerable size, which shows that they are good at learning. Once such an enemy grows stronger, they will definitely have great ambitions. It's ridiculous that my fourth brother still thinks that Lizhen is his pet."