Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 132 The Chosen Old Farmer Zhu Youjian, Shoveling Sweet Potatoes

Unaffiliated with any party or faction, yet utterly diverse. Aside from regional parties, political parties like the Zhejiang Party and the Fujian Party, and political parties such as the Eunuch Party, the Donglin Party, and the Emperor Party, there was another peculiar party: the Westernization faction, or the Western Learning faction. The core figure of this faction was Xu Guangqi.

Xu Guangqi was a prolific writer, translating Western works such as Euclid's Elements and Western Water Management, as well as his own core work, Complete Treatise on Agriculture. In the field of Western learning, Xu Guangqi was unparalleled; however, he was infamous in the field of education because his disciple, Sun Yuanhua, brought great harm to the Ming Dynasty.

The old man was sixty-six years old, the same age as Yuan Keli. Although he had studied Western learning, he had a somewhat otherworldly appearance and paid attention to his demeanor. Compared to the somewhat unkempt old man Yuan, he was more in line with the image of a traditional Ming Dynasty scholar-official. Moreover, he did not keep those damned long fingernails like other officials, which was commendable.

It's embarrassing to admit, but apart from the young emperor, the only people in high positions in the Ming Dynasty are these old men in their prime.

One reason was that the old men were indeed very capable. Another reason was that while Zhu Youjian could appoint officials, he still had to abide by basic rules. Appointing officials with sufficient seniority and merit was considered going with the flow; appointing his own brother-in-law was considered disobeying orders, a violation of imperial decree.

Xu Guangqi was fortunate enough to be invited into the inner court and enjoyed a banquet. However, this was probably the most meager banquet ever held by Zhu Youjian.

In the Imperial Garden, Xu Guangqi, dressed in an expensive dragon robe and a third-rank official robe with a scarlet peacock insignia, squatted on the ground, using a golden shovel to dig up sweet potato seedlings in the garden. These were things that Xu Guangqi had brought along when he presented his memorial on sweet potatoes, and Zhu Youjian had planted them on a whim.

Sweet potatoes were introduced to the Ming Dynasty during the Wanli era and were cultivated well in Guangdong, Guangxi, and southern Fujian, with yields reaching dozens of shi per mu (a unit of dry measure). This shocked the officials of the Ming Dynasty, so some people began to try to promote them, and Xu Guangqi was one of them.

He was the first to introduce sweet potatoes to Songjiang Prefecture, where they were very successful; however, when he brought them north to Tianjin, the results were not as smooth.

Sweet potatoes are drought-tolerant and not heavily reliant on soil fertility, but they are not cold-hardy. Cuttings cannot be propagated in the north; they must be grown from tubers. In winter, they need to be stored in cellars to prevent rotting. A yield of several thousand kilograms in the south is reduced to only seven or eight hundred kilograms in the north.

The sweet potatoes in the Imperial Garden grew rather poorly, unlike in the south where a single seedling could spread out to cover a large area. When planted in the north, the sweet potatoes shrank, with only seven or eight shoots growing upwards from each seedling instead of lying down. The shoots were only about the length of a forearm, and the seedlings were not green, but rather scorched and withered.

Zhu Youjian thought the harvest was doomed, but when he dug through the soil with his golden shovel, he saw clusters of sweet potatoes.

Loosen the soil and lift it up to take a look. There are eight sweet potatoes on this seedling. They are a bit short and round, with a rough and bumpy skin. They are not very big, about the size of an ugly fist. But no matter what, at least the harvest was not completely lost, right?
Besides sweet potatoes, there were also cassava. Zhu Youjian grew it for fun; he wouldn't dare eat it himself, at most feeding it to horses. Watermelons were poisonous hundreds of years ago; who knows if eating cassava now will kill people?!
Zhu Youjian didn't want to risk his life for experiments, but it was a good feed for horses and elephants. They would get drunk after eating it, and then sleep and gain weight.

Zhu Youjian didn't think much of it and continued digging, but Xu Guangqi was starting to feel insecure. To avoid being accused of deceiving the emperor, he consoled himself by saying, "Your Majesty, oranges grown south of the Huai River are sweet oranges, but those grown in the north are bitter oranges. The climate and soil here are different."

I once tried planting sweet potatoes in Tianjin, but initially the yield was meager due to the unfamiliar soil and water. Later, after improving the planting methods, the yield was finally several bushels per mu. If Your Majesty allows me to try again, I am certain that this 'southern sweet potato' will also be able to fully demonstrate its potential in the north, thus living up to Your Majesty's expectations.”

"It's alright, it's alright. I've already achieved results on my first attempt at planting, so I guess I'm a chosen farmer," Zhu Youjian said with a bright smile, holding up a shovel.

The gravel left deep scratches on the small golden shovel, and the mud stained the expensive brocade dragon robe. Xu Guangqi had served three emperors, but he had never seen such a ruler. It would have been better if the emperor had been holding proper farming tools.

After digging up several kilograms of sweet potatoes, Zhu Youjian ordered people to set up a stove in the garden and cook them on the spot. First, the sweet potatoes were boiled. Zhu Youjian's sweet potatoes had two kinds of skin, most of them were red and a few were purple, but unfortunately, they were all white flesh inside.

Xu Guangqi recorded in "Complete Treatise on Agriculture" that sweet potatoes have "thin and red skin". However, the ones grown by Zhu Youjian have a thicker skin, with an additional layer of skin underneath. They are bitter, hard, and difficult to swallow, making them unpalatable.

The white flesh inside tastes a lot like cassava. Even though it's boiled, it still gets stuck in your throat. The core in the middle is coarse and gets stuck in your teeth. In short, this thing is not tasty.

Seeing that the emperor was choking and his eyelids were twitching, Xu Guangqi quickly handed him a cup of tea to help him soothe his throat.

"Minister Xu, you plan to promote sweet potato cultivation in the north. What difficulties do you encounter, and how can you expect my support?" Zhu Youjian asked.

Xu Guangqi was confident and spoke eloquently. He said loudly, "Your Majesty, the first difficulty lies in the fact that 'the people do not believe in its benefits, and the officials fear its troubles.' The people of the north have always valued wheat and millet, and regard sweet potatoes as a foreign species from the south. They fear that 'the taste is not as good as grain, and the storage is not as good as millet,' and they are even more worried that the trial planting will fail and the fields will be left barren."

When I tried planting it in Tianjin, the village elders said, "How can sweet potato roots compare to grains? Do not disrupt the ancestral land system!" Local officials were also mostly content with the old agricultural and sericultural practices. Without the imperial decree, they would delay the planting under the pretext of "experimental planting requires expenses and the harvest is unpredictable." Just as when I promoted it in Jiangnan, the prefectures and counties initially adopted a wait-and-see attitude, and it was only implemented after the governor personally inspected it.

We earnestly request Your Majesty to issue an edict encouraging the planting of sweet potatoes, proclaiming to the world that "sweet potatoes can serve as food during famine years, yielding dozens of bushels per mu, with profits ten times that of grains," and ordering the Ministry of Revenue to include the planting results in the performance evaluation of local officials, promoting and rewarding those who succeed in planting, and impeaching those who are lazy.

The second difficulty lies in the fact that "sweet potatoes are hard to transport north and difficult to cultivate in cold soil." Sweet potatoes prefer warm climates, and transporting seedlings from the south to the north involves thousands of miles of land travel. The cold spring winds easily damage them, and the scorching summer heat easily causes them to rot. When I tried planting them, I wrapped the seedlings in earthen baskets and watered them along the way, but more than half of them still broke. Moreover, the soil in the north is mostly alkaline, and the low ground temperature when sowing in spring makes the sweet potato seeds prone to rotting.

In Tianjin, I used the "imported soil method" and the "warm cellar method," which allowed the potato seeds to sprout, but the labor and cost were enormous.

Therefore, Your Majesty is requested to appoint officials in Shuntian Prefecture to be in charge of sweet potato seedling cultivation, allocate funds from the imperial treasury to build "seedling greenhouses" in Huai'an and Jining, use earthenware jars to hold fertile soil for seedling cultivation, and send the seedlings to the north by official express courier after Qingming Festival, with the transportation costs to be reimbursed by the Ministry of Revenue; and order the Ministry of Works to fire "earthenware seedling pots" and distribute them to various prefectures and counties, teaching the people to mix cow dung and wood ash with soil for seedling cultivation.

The ultimate difficulty lies in the fact that "sweet potatoes are easily stolen in famine years and easily sold cheaply in bumper harvests." Sweet potatoes are buried underground, and in years of bumper harvests, they are easily stolen by refugees. During the famine in Shandong this year, there were cases of "digging up sweet potatoes to fill grain, and then fighting with the landlords after demanding payment." If a prefecture or county cultivates them exclusively, the price of grain will plummet in a bumper harvest. For example, when they were introduced to Fujian, the price of sweet potatoes was as low as dirt because merchants hoarded them.

Therefore, I humbly request Your Majesty to order the Ministry of Justice to establish the "Criminal Law on Stealing Sweet Potatoes," stipulating that anyone who steals sweet potatoes from another's field shall be punished two degrees more severely than the "Criminal Law on Stealing Grain," and that local officials who condone such acts shall be held jointly liable.

Your Majesty, though sweet potatoes are insignificant, they are the foundation of the nation. If this potato is widely cultivated in the north, the people will not be displaced during famine years, and the army's pay will be sufficient; in good years, both grain and sweet potatoes will be harvested, and the granaries will be full.

If Your Majesty's request is granted, I am willing to personally go to Shuntian and Hejian prefectures to supervise the planting. Within three years, I will ensure that all fields in the north are planted with sweet potatoes, thus fulfilling Your Majesty's promise to care for the people!

"The Ministry of Revenue was ordered to establish 'Sweet Potato Ever-Normal Granaries' in various prefectures of Beizhili and Shandong. In years of good harvest, the granaries would purchase sweet potatoes at a price of five qian of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure), and in years of famine, they would be sold at a price of three qian of silver per shi. The price difference would be covered by the national treasury, and the granaries could also be used as military grain reserves."

Zhu Youjian nodded, then shook his head and said, "I think the planting of sweet potatoes is difficult to promote, mainly because the court collects taxes on grains but not sweet potatoes."

Sweet potatoes can be used as emergency food, but not as a national reserve because they don't store well. People can eat sweet potatoes occasionally, but eating too much can cause bloating, so they cannot be grown as a staple food. However, sweet potatoes' biggest advantage is that they can be grown in places where other grains cannot be grown, such as Shaanxi province today.

An ancient proverb says, "After a severe drought and flood, there will inevitably be a locust plague." Locust plagues cause crop failure, but sweet potatoes are not favored by locusts, which is one of their advantages. Sweet potatoes prefer warm temperatures and do not like excessive moisture. Since methods for protecting seedlings are too costly, it's a better approach to plant them directly from sweet potato chunks.

"Your Majesty has such profound knowledge about sweet potatoes?! I admire you," Xu Guangqi complimented.

Zhu Youjian pursed his lips and said, "I have been pondering this repeatedly lately. The Single Whip Tax System seems simple, but it has actually caused great suffering to the people. Why not revert to the previous tax system, levying taxes in kind according to a certain proportion, with the government selling the goods and then depositing the proceeds into the treasury in silver? What does Minister Xu think?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Guangqi frowned and said, "Your Majesty's benevolence is evident! This method can indeed eliminate the problems of merchants undercutting prices and officials extorting money, but..."
The government's addition of procurement, storage, transportation, and sales processes will inevitably require more laborers and the construction of granaries. Coupled with varying prices across different regions, the government risks incurring a deficit if not careful. A hasty reform might even result in a decrease in tax revenue instead of an increase.

"I have considered what you said. But how can there be a perfect solution in the world? Everything has its advantages and disadvantages."

In the Jiangnan region, taxes are heavy and grain prices are low, so people mostly plant mulberry and hemp to cope with the heavy taxes. Take Songjiang Prefecture for example, cotton accounts for 70% of the crops, while rice accounts for only 30%. People often calculate their taxes based on cotton, yarn, and cloth.

If cotton prices plummet, ordinary people are likely to go bankrupt due to insufficient tax revenue and become slaves of the gentry.

If you want to promote sweet potatoes, it will be difficult to get the people to comply with your proposed strategies. Although enforcing the order is well-intentioned, it will still cause public resentment.

You should discuss with Minister Bi whether to promote sweet potato planting first in areas where drought is more severe; and not to bother with areas in the north where the harvest was originally quite good, lest we overstep our bounds and cause problems.

The top priority is to promote this crop in Shaanxi. After planting, a tax of 30 fen (30% tax) will be levied on sweet potatoes, and the original grain tax will be appropriately reduced and replaced with a sweet potato tax. This way, people will be more willing to grow it.

It is difficult for the gross national product to increase significantly in a short period of time; so-called reform is simply about changing the distribution of benefits.

If the imperial court wants to take more, it either has to harm the interests of the gentry and officials, further exploit the people, or both. How can it conjure up money out of thin air? Sometimes, the gross national product soars, but wages fall instead of increasing. Why is that?

In fact, Zhu Youjian was quite amateurish when it came to farming, but when it came to eating, he was a professional. This professional foodie emperor opened Xu Guangqi's eyes today.

Besides the first pot of boiled sweet potatoes that tasted awful, there were also braised pork with sweet potatoes, sweet potato candy, fried sweet potatoes, sweet potato noodles, roasted sweet potatoes, sweet potato porridge, pickled sweet potatoes, sour sweet potatoes, sweet potato balls, and sweet potato stew!

Fatty pork paired with sweet potato is a perfect combination. Sweet potato absorbs oil well, and the starch mixed with the meat juices becomes a thick sauce, making the braised pork taste even better.

Although stir-frying existed in the Ming Dynasty, the development of various dishes was still insufficient. In addition, people at that time treated any good ideas as secrets and did not pass them on to outsiders, so the ways of cooking were not rich enough.

Sweet potato liquor doesn't taste as good as yellow wine, but it was significant for that era. It meant that sweet potatoes had transformed from a coarse grain into an economic crop, and it could also reduce the loss of grain during brewing. After all, in ancient times, it was common to prohibit alcohol due to food shortages. The government found it difficult to sell and transport sweet potatoes, so they were perfect for brewing liquor to supply the army in the cold northern regions.

As for sweet potato starch, it's not easy to extract; it requires a lot of water, so it can only be promoted in the south, not in the north. However, once it's made into starch, it can be stored for a long time.

Some of these dishes were made from freshly dug sweet potatoes, while others were prepared in advance. Xu Guangqi was such a skilled writer that he could easily turn these dishes into recipes and promote them.

Of course, disaster victims can't afford to eat these fancy dishes; they can only eat roasted, boiled, or even raw sweet potatoes. But once social acceptance increases, the value of sweet potatoes can be raised, which will encourage farmers to grow them.

The so-called "sweet potato golden age" is a joke. The price is that people suffer from malnutrition and live in extreme misery, but this stuff is indeed effective for disaster relief.

Xu Guangqi is now the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and he plans to personally go to the local areas to implement his plan to promote sweet potatoes. In fact, he had already tried to promote them during the time he was at home after resigning, but as he said, because he lacked a legitimate reason, the government did not cooperate, and the people did not like them, so the results were not good.

Later, he submitted a memorial to the emperor entitled "Sweet Potato Memorial" in order to gain a pretext and the support of the court. However, Zhu Youjian politely declined his suggestion and decided to transfer him to the Ministry of Revenue to assist Bi Ziyan.

The old man was quite old; according to the original history, he didn't have many years left to live. Zhu Youjian didn't want to let him go, fearing he might never see him again. The old man knew too much; it wasn't just about a simple sweet potato. He also had to oversee the improvement of military equipment. Otherwise, it would be too dangerous to let his apprentice, the Ming Dynasty's firearms "expert," Sun Yuanhua, run things recklessly.

When any field of study is explored in depth, its mystique will eventually be dispelled. Only those who are only superficially knowledgeable and haphazardly dabble in it are truly superstitious.

Xu Guangqi's research on Western learning had delved into the foundations of mathematics and physics, and he possessed very rich practical experience. In contrast, most of his other disciples and colleagues were still superficial, which led to an unbridled worship and wholesale acceptance of Western technology.

During the Tianqi era, Sun Yuanhua was once highly valued and sent to Liaodong to assist Yuan Chonghuan in defending Ningyuan. However, the Western-style artillery forts he supervised were not adapted to the local conditions. He blindly promoted the theory of giant cannons, pursuing high power and long range, but neglected the combination of firepower at medium and close range. As a result, as long as the Jurchens made a breakthrough to the vicinity of the city wall, the Ming army's artillery would be rendered useless.

Although he had works such as "Complete Book of Military Strategy" and "Western Methods and Divine Mechanisms", they were merely theoretical and their skills were exposed in actual combat.

Sun Yuanhua defended the city with plenty of cannons, spending hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, but the city was almost breached, resulting in the deaths of thousands of soldiers. At that time, Yuan Chonghuan was about to execute him, but Sun Chengzong thought he was a talented person and spared his life.

As the tutor of two emperors, Sun Chengzong actually protected many people. He was reluctant to kill anyone with talent, so the people he saved were a mixed bag, making it difficult to judge them.

Sun Yuanhua did indeed have expertise in firearms development and shooting, but it's best he didn't indulge his dreams of warfare. Like Yuan Chonghuan, he possessed talent, but his skills in actual combat were questionable; he was simply too inept. When it comes to war strategy, one must look to Zhu Xieyuan.

Xu Guangqi had few conversations with the emperor; this was the first time the emperor had summoned him privately. He had heard rumors about the Qingyun Banquet, but he was already quite old and no longer coveted power; he only hoped to pass on his knowledge.

After all, Western methods were not accepted by most scholars in the Ming Dynasty. As one of the "Three Pillars of the Holy Religion," he was regarded as a thorn in the side by Confucian disciples.

In addition, what he was most worried about was the people of the Ming Dynasty; otherwise, he wouldn't have devoted himself to the study of agronomy and the promotion of agricultural techniques for so many years.

The heavens and earth were changing, and the officials of the Imperial Observatory were all muddle-headed, only the old farmer could see clearly. The emperor said that the Ming Dynasty would suffer endless disasters in the future, and he decisively severed ties with the heavens, making his imperial status meaningless. Many officials took it as a joke, but Xu Guangqi believed it.

In Xu Guangqi's view, the emperor was a kind-hearted fool who cared about the people, but his ideas were too naive. Who would use a golden shovel to dig the ground?!
"Here you go." Zhu Youjian stuffed the golden shovel into Xu Guangqi's hand. The old man looked astonished and it took him a while to react. The old man always thought he was a fool, but in fact, this shovel was specially prepared for the old man.

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your reward!" Xu Guangqi bowed and held the shovel above his head with both hands.

"Minister Xu is well-versed in agronomy and cares deeply for the people. I hereby bestow this shovel upon you, which can be used as an imperial sword. If anyone obstructs your efforts to promote agriculture, you may shovel it first and report it later!" Zhu Youjian said, suppressing a laugh.

Xu Guangqi frowned, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Shoveling people away was one thing, but hanging it on his waist to show off to his old friends was quite something. Thinking of this, the old man was overjoyed.

Thousands of miles away in northern Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting was leading people to turn over the soil in the Yellow River Valley. In October, frost had already begun to form in northern Shaanxi. They had to hurry to dig out the locust eggs under the riverbank and freeze them to death. Otherwise, these eggs would turn into a swarm of locusts next year, and his idea of ​​farming in the valley would be ruined. It would be a waste of time to farm.

Now, only Yulin Garrison remains in the entire northern Shaanxi region. Yulin Garrison has a combined vehicle battalion of 6,000 men, an independent elite cavalry of 3,000 men, and 7,000 mules and horses. Although they had previously amassed a considerable amount of silver through military pay, spoils, and rewards.

However, they did not have much stored military rations because the price of grain had been high before. They had originally planned to wait until the price of grain dropped after the autumn harvest before stockpiling grain, but unexpectedly, another year of famine came.

Last year, there was a heavy snowfall. According to the traditional theory that a good snowfall indicates a good harvest, everyone thought it would be a bountiful year. However, the weather turned out to be so strange.

There used to be two major rivers outside Yulin City, the Yuxi River and the Wuding River. Now both rivers have dried up. They can still get water by digging wells in the riverbed, but this precious water source is barely enough for drinking by people and livestock, let alone farming.

Having no other choice, they headed south to the Yellow River, a hundred miles away. The Yellow River had not dried up; for thousands of years, the upper reaches of the Yellow River have never dried up.

Du Wenhuan, the general of Yansui, was a pure military leader. The emperor ordered him to rob wealthy households, and he did it. Now that the emperor has allowed them to withdraw their troops, he wants to do the same. This godforsaken place is becoming increasingly unbearable, and he has wanted to leave for a long time.

But Sun Chuanting, seemingly angry with someone, refused to leave and wanted to hold on a little longer. He said, "If the enemy occupies this wonderful city of Yulin, it will be difficult to take it back."

The governor is indeed more powerful than the general. Since Sun Chuanting insisted, Du Wenhuan had no choice but to comply. The east was in complete chaos. The section between Yulin and Shaanxi had been blocked by refugees. The post stations had been destroyed, and the postmen either withdrew with the garrison troops or joined the refugees. Yulin was temporarily cut off from the imperial court. However, it was possible to make contact with Gansu Town and Guyuan Town to the west.

However, given the strength of the Yulin Army, they could go wherever they wanted in northern Shaanxi without anyone being able to stop them. Sun Chuanting planned to use the Yellow River to cultivate the land. The Yellow River valley was hundreds of steps wide and deep, and due to the drought, the water level had dropped, making it possible to wade across the river.

Large tracts of barren land, overgrown with wild grass, were exposed in the valley, displaying an abnormal sense of vitality. The imperial army knew to come to the Yellow River to fetch water, and the disaster victims were naturally aware of it as well.

Thirsty refugees came to the Yellow River to gather grass from the valley for food. When they saw the government soldiers, they scattered and fled as if they had seen tigers and wolves. Sun Chuanting would shed tears every time he saw this, as the scene of the starving people eating fish carcasses was still vivid in his mind.

Therefore, he organized these disaster victims, established settlements along the Yellow River, and patrolled with cavalry to maintain order. As for the bandits who formed violent groups, he could only ruthlessly eliminate them.

Over the course of several months, a new town stretching for dozens of miles formed along the Yellow River south of Yulin. However, military rations were limited, and priority was given to ensuring the safety of the troops, leaving only a small portion available for disaster relief.

The difference is that the disaster victims who originally ate grass now have a few bowls of rice soup. Next year, they must grow food in the river valley and on the low-lying banks. Otherwise, even Sun Chuanting will have no choice but to abandon these hundreds of thousands of people and evacuate!

More people chose to migrate south, and it was a tradition to seek food in Guanzhong during years of famine. Hong Chengchou was in charge of the Guanzhong region. Although he frequently requested relief from the imperial court, he honestly prioritized training troops!

The northern mountain defense line is long, and even bringing all the troops from the three sides would not be enough to fully defend it. Hong Chengchou's plan was to continuously encircle and drive away the disaster victims, so that they would not dare to easily step into the Guanzhong area.

He strictly followed the strategy of "suppression first, then appeasement," refusing to offer amnesty, requiring the leaders to die, and selecting the strong and capable to dredge waterways and build water conservancy projects.

Currently, among the eight rivers of Chang'an—Wei, Jing, Feng, Lao, Yu, Hao, Chan, and Ba—the smaller rivers such as Haohe and Yuhe have completely dried up. The water levels of the major rivers, Jing, Wei, and Ba, have dropped by more than half. After the water level dropped, the original irrigation canals could no longer be used and needed to be dug again.

Shaanxi had four garrisons, six princes, and five vassal states, creating immense pressure to support them. However, Zhu Youjian had already cut off the princes' stipends in exchange for their freedom, and collected their land taxes, though he did not reclaim the land.

By the time of the Chongzhen Emperor, the princes were mostly dead. In any case, their stipends were often delayed anyway. After Zhu Youjian abolished them, they didn't react much, and were even somewhat happy.

In years of great disaster, the various vassal states acquired many slaves, and the vassal kings began to openly raise their armies, becoming increasingly arrogant. Local officials bowed and scraped, not daring to provoke them.

Wealthy families across the country were also taking in servants, and in short, Shaanxi was heading in a direction out of control. Guanzhong was in chaos, the number of refugees was snowballing, and Hong Chengchou was also accumulating power.

The various forces have not yet started fighting. Firstly, there is no sufficient reason, and secondly, the Governor-General of the Three Borders, Sun Chengzong, holds a large army, and undercurrents are surging beneath the surface of restraint.

There was no shortage of insightful people in Shaanxi, and Zhu Youjian was naturally aware of the situation in Shaanxi, but he did not want to get involved.

While powerful figures were a menace during times of peace, they could play a positive role during times of chaos. The atomized Ming Dynasty needed leaders who could govern across prefectures and counties in order to organize resistance forces when foreign invaders attacked.

The Four Garrisons were the court's own people, the Six Feudatories were Zhu Youjian's own people, powerful clans could cooperate, and the refugees?! Aren't they the people of the Ming Dynasty? Give them food, and they'll settle down. Everyone was on our side; there were no enemies.

Assuming Li Shimin were still alive, the regional military governors throughout the Tang Dynasty would be its loyal dogs. As long as the imperial court maintained absolute military superiority, the regional princes and powerful clans would neither dare to nor be able to rebel.

If the imperial court collapses, Zhu Youjian dies, and the Qing army enters the pass, then present-day Shaanxi will be a super backup, enough to give the Qing army a hard time.

I don't know if digging sweet potatoes affected the feng shui, or if the long, clustered sweet potatoes symbolize many children and good fortune.

At midnight, Empress Zhou's water broke, and by the time the water had dried up by the time of 3 AM, the baby had not been born.

Zhu Youjian broke out in a cold sweat. He had already asked Physician Tan to break the abortion to save his life, but the old lady told him to shut up.

After a series of procedures, including fumigating the birth canal with vinegar, manually adjusting the fetal position, changing the delivery posture, and administering labor-inducing medication, Empress Zhou finally gave birth to a girl. She was so exhausted that she fell into a deep sleep.

However, one problem after another arose. In the early hours of the morning, Consort Shu, Sun Shixiu, also gave birth!
But whether it was because the silly girl was naturally lucky or not, she finished in half an hour.

After giving birth, she said, "Your Majesty, I'm hungry!" Then she drank three bowls of porridge.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, mother and child are safe and sound!"

The old lady visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, this time it went smoothly. If she had had another difficult childbirth, her old bones would have given out here.

Zhu Youjian thanked Physician Tan and wanted to reward her with gold, silver, land, and houses, but the old lady said, "I am old, what do I need so much money for?! I beg Your Majesty to put my great-aunt's book, 'Miscellaneous Sayings of a Female Physician,' into the Wenyuan Pavilion."

Zhu Youjian found it strange and asked her if she wanted him to open an academy for her to teach and impart knowledge, or to publish her works throughout the world.

The old lady also found it strange, saying that teaching people is tiring, and she was already so old, where would she get so much energy to teach others?! It would be good enough if she could take care of the nephews and nieces in her own family.

As for printing it throughout the world, that is even more impractical. Human life is of utmost importance, and it should not be disseminated to unworthy individuals.

(End of this chapter)