Upon learning Qin Feng's intentions, Zhuo Zifang was greatly surprised and received him with hospitality.
Gongsun Ye and his group had already departed from Jinling, and Qin Feng and his entourage stayed at the Zhuo residence for a few more days.
Qin Feng and his wife marveled at the various new crop dishes.
"I heard sweet potatoes and potatoes sell for only two wen per jin, and corn kernels are cheaper than rice?" Qin Feng couldn't help but ask a maid at the Zhuo residence.
After receiving an affirmative answer, Qin Feng hurried to find Zhuo Zifang.
"Lord Zhuo, can these three new crops be promoted to our Great Liang?"
Zhuo Zifang smiled, "His Majesty anticipated this long ago; promoting them to other countries is only a matter of time, though it still requires His Majesty's command. Within two years, Great Liang will surely be able to cultivate these new crops."
It wasn't that Great Qian was being overly generous. With so many new crops, once promoted nationwide, preventing their leakage would be impossible, especially to Great Liang, which maintained close ties with Great Qian and would inevitably obtain seedlings and seeds.
Since that was the case, it might as well be a gesture of goodwill.
Liang Xiao had previously mentioned that potatoes had a tendency to "degenerate," requiring continuous supply of seedlings from the north. Otherwise, if southern potatoes were continuously propagated from their own stock, the yield would decline year by year.
Qin Feng expressed his repeated thanks and then asked, "What is the yield per mu of these new crops?"
Zhuo Zifang replied without hesitation, "Several times that of ordinary grains."
Upon hearing this, Qin Feng eagerly pleaded, "Before the promotion, may this junior offer a hundred taels of gold to bring back a portion of the seedlings and try planting them domestically, to see if they can adapt to our country's environment?"
Zhuo Zifang understood and replied, "The seedlings will be provided later, but the money should be submitted to the national treasury, not to this old man."
Qin Feng immediately had his attendants pay with Great Qian bank notes. Zhuo Zifang also promised to provide three seedlings and ten jin of seeds for each new crop.
With only these seedlings, it would be impossible to promote them nationwide within a year. Even Liang Xiao took two years to achieve mass production after obtaining a few baskets of seeds.
Qin Feng's actions were naturally aimed at error correction, ensuring these new crops could survive domestically and avoid losses from large-scale introduction, or to prevent overly conservative introduction leading to low yields and delayed promotion. It was a practical approach.
After expressing his gratitude again, Qin Feng asked, "Which esteemed master promoted these new crops?"
"They were brought from overseas by Marquis Guiguo He Yao, but He Yao died at the hands of Japanese pirates en route. Later, Liang Xiao promoted them," Zhuo Zifang replied.
Qin Feng was taken aback.
It was him again…
"I am ashamed, I am ashamed. This junior is always imitating Marquis Anguo!" Qin Feng finally spoke his heart.
Zhuo Zifang shook his head, "Each serves his own lord, for the country and the people. Liang Xiao has always spoken highly of you, why would he care about such minor details? He specifically instructed this old man that if the Marquis of Zhenguo of Great Liang requests it, you may agree, because he believes you will have your own principles and bottom line."
Zhirou quickly held Qin Feng's hand and comforted him, "Marquis Anguo is indeed brilliant, but Qin Lang has already done very well!"
Qin Feng could only sigh.
Back then, Liang Xiao was just a budding youth. After they parted ways, Liang Xiao soared to unprecedented heights, conquering Fenghuang Xuer and achieving feats far more significant than his assistance to Mu Cheng in expanding territory southward.
Qin Feng could no longer wait and wished to meet Liang Xiao as soon as possible.
In the Yan Prefecture military camp, of the 210,000 troops who had once campaigned in the wilderness, most had been dispatched to various regions. Even Marshal Lü Yi had gone to the Western regions to counter the Kushan Dynasty and pacify the Western territories.
The "Silk Road" route proposed by Liang Xiao was highly praised by Xiao Qing and Wang Canghai, and even a military man like Lü Yi looked forward to it.
Exchanging goods considered "luxury items" by Westerners for the Kushan Dynasty's gold, iron ore, and warhorses was an excellent strategy.
Even if relations between the two countries were strained, many merchants would travel to the Western regions, and even to the western border of Great Qian, seeking fortune in danger.
Another purpose for Lü Yi's trip to the Western regions was to prohibit the early promotion of new crops to the Kushan Dynasty, at least not for two years.
New recruits from Yan Prefecture to the capital area were all sent to Yan Prefecture because Liang Xiao was there.
Before the army departed from Yan Prefecture, Liang Xiao had delivered a passionate speech, encouraging everyone to continue to achieve merit and build great careers, promising opportunities for territorial expansion in the future. The court also allowed the families of soldiers to relocate with them, with their land and property in Yan Prefecture to be recorded and equivalent land and property to be allocated at their new locations.
With no worries about their families, the soldiers took their loved ones and set off for various regions.
In the eyes of the Great Qian army and populace, Heavenly General had died, and Marquis Anguo had lived up to Heavenly General's protection, growing into the God of War of Great Qian, destined to leave a profound mark in future historical records.
Liang Xiao did not intend to announce his Heavenly General identity to the world, lest it scare off the Dugu and Ouyang families.
Talents from various regions were still being selected and trained. In the short term, they could not replace the officials from these aristocratic clans. It was necessary to placate them for now and slowly erode their influence.
Even if the three major clans intended to cause trouble, or even rebel, and wished to notify their subordinates across the country to rise simultaneously, it would be extremely difficult.
However, if Xiao Qing were to purge the three families in the capital without reason, it would make all the officials distributed across the country feel uneasy, and even families like the Gu and Mu families would worry about being discarded once their usefulness was over.
A combination of rewards and punishments, slow replacement, and stabilizing the country was the best strategy.
After the court session concluded, Xiao Qing was in high spirits after reviewing intelligence on the repurchase of farmland across various regions.
In the northern areas, the government had already repurchased thirty million mu!
"In the future 'Annals of Great Qian,' brother Xiao will surely occupy the most chapters!" Xiao Qing happily hummed a tune and summoned the Grand Historian.
"You scoundrel!"
After reading the records provided by the Grand Historian, Xiao Qing became furious and slammed the table.
Even Ning Xuejun trembled with anger.
Xiao Qing's perusal of hundreds of pages of records revealed that the content about Liang Xiao occupied only half a page.
Half of that half page recorded Liang Xiao's mischievous childhood deeds.
Another quarter recorded how Liang Xiao had publicly humiliated the Left Virtuous King of the barbarians in front of envoys from thirteen countries, which Xiao Qing had strictly demanded.
This Grand Historian was from the He family.
The He family occupied one-fifth of the hundreds of pages, while the Ouyang, Dugu, and Gongyang families each occupied one-sixth, with excessive flattery.
The Grand Historian stated solemnly, "This minister writes truthfully. Marquis Anguo is not yet twenty years old and has not yet reached the stage where his life is concluded. There is no need to record him yet."
"I was so preoccupied with governing the country that I forgot about you scribblers!" In his rage, Xiao Qing immediately ordered the Grand Historian to be taken out and beheaded.
Grand Tutor He Wanli, upon hearing this, rushed to the audience with half of the court officials.
"Since ancient times, monarchs have not been allowed to arbitrarily kill good historians, lest it chill the hearts of scholars throughout the land!"
Wang Canghai and others also rushed over upon hearing the news to understand the situation.
In the main hall, Xiao Qing coldly looked down at the assembled officials and ordered the Grand Historian's records to be reported truthfully.
"You call this good history? I want you to remember that times have changed. It is no longer an era where aristocratic clans monopolize power and manipulate public opinion! Any official who performs poorly, or is unworthy of their position, will be dismissed and replaced!"