Early in the morning, Zhu Youjian had already started reviewing memorials.
The emperor of the Great Ming worked with frightening diligence. The sky had not even fully brightened yet, and he was already buried under mountains of paperwork, working harder than any model laborer anyone could imagine.
His eyes swept across the account books submitted by the Ministry of Revenue.
After a few pages, he could not help but shake his head in despair.
Poor.
The Great Ming was poor beyond belief.
The treasury revenue reported by the Ministry of Revenue was so pitiful that even the emperor himself felt like throwing the job aside and quitting.
At that moment, Zhu Youjian's mood felt exactly like riding one of those amusement park drop towers. Straight down.
"Your Majesty."
A young eunuch slipped quietly into the room.
"The Grand Secretary He Fengsheng requests an audience."
"Oh?"
Zhu Youjian glanced at the sky outside.
It was barely dawn.
That was strange.
Since taking office, this newly appointed Grand Secretary had been the very definition of laziness. He drifted through his duties like a piece of wood floating on water, offering not a single useful suggestion. The emperor had already been considering replacing him with someone who actually wanted to work.
So why was he here before sunrise today?
What medicine had he taken to suddenly become so diligent?
Something abnormal was definitely going on.
"Let him in," Zhu Youjian said with a snort. "I want to see what trick this decorative Grand Secretary is up to today."
Soon enough, He Fengsheng entered the imperial study.
The interesting part was that two eunuchs followed behind him, each carrying a large flower pot.
Two plants grew in the pots.
One plant looked extremely vigorous, leaves lush and thriving.
The other looked completely ordinary.
Zhu Youjian stared at them in confusion.
"What are you trying to do? Bringing these strange flower pots into my imperial study?"
He Fengsheng's face was glowing with excitement.
"Your Majesty, this humble official has good news to report."
"Oh?"
Zhu Youjian raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of good news?"
He Fengsheng pointed at the two pots.
"Your Majesty, can you tell which of these plants is growing better?"
"What nonsense!"
Zhu Youjian glared at him.
"Do you think I'm blind?"
He Fengsheng chuckled.
"These two plants were originally identical. They were planted in my household garden. However, a few days ago I obtained a miraculous fertilizer called chemical fertilizer. I applied it to only one of these pots."
He pointed to the thriving plant.
"Less than half a month later, Your Majesty can see the result."
Zhu Youjian stared.
Then he let out a quiet "Eh?"
Only a single second passed before the emperor's brain made the leap.
"If this were used on crops...!"
He Fengsheng immediately clasped his hands and bowed.
"Your Majesty truly lives up to the throne. Brilliant insight. You immediately understood the purpose of chemical fertilizer."
He continued excitedly.
"This humble official also brought an entire sack of fertilizer, along with a manual titled Scientific Use of Chemical Fertilizer. I humbly request that Your Majesty examine them."
Soon a large burlap sack filled with fertilizer was carried into the room.
Along with it came a book.
Scientific Use of Chemical Fertilizer.
Zhu Youjian grabbed the booklet and began flipping through it rapidly.
The book explained everything in incredible detail.
Which crops were suitable.
How to apply the fertilizer.
Recommended quantities.
Even soil conditions.
Everything was clearly listed.
After reading quickly through it once, Zhu Youjian suddenly had the strange feeling that he himself might be able to farm now.
"This thing is excellent!"
The emperor burst into joy.
"I will test it first on my own imperial estates. If it truly doubles the harvest as the book claims, that would be extraordinary."
Now his mood felt like riding a jet plane straight upward.
He immediately stopped reviewing memorials.
"Guards! Bring the fertilizer!"
Clutching the instruction manual in his own hands, Zhu Youjian strode out of the palace at once.
They were heading to the Imperial Estates.
These were farmlands directly managed by the Ming imperial family, mainly located in the northern Zhili region across eight prefectures.
Among them, Shuntian, Baoding, and Hejian held the largest areas.
Moving at the fastest speed possible, Zhu Youjian soon arrived at one of the estates in Shuntian Prefecture.
As he walked along a rural path inside the estate, he noticed an official inspecting the countryside ahead.
Zhu Youjian pointed.
"Who is that? Out inspecting villages so early in the morning. Quite diligent."
He Fengsheng quickly explained.
"That is the newly appointed Assistant Prefect of Shuntian, Liang Shixian. He previously served as magistrate of Chengcheng County."
Zhu Youjian nodded.
"So the famous 'three fires of a new official taking office.' No wonder he's already working at dawn."
He Fengsheng leaned closer and spoke softly.
"Your Majesty, the chemical fertilizer I just presented was actually delivered by Liang Shixian."
"Oh?"
Now the emperor became interested.
"Call him over."
A guard ran over and shouted a few times.
Soon Liang Shixian approached, performed a deep formal salute, and then respectfully accompanied the emperor.
As they walked toward the fields, Zhu Youjian asked:
"I hear the fertilizer was your contribution?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Did you test it while serving in Chengcheng County?"
"I did. The results were excellent."
Zhu Youjian frowned slightly.
"Then why have I not heard of Chengcheng County's tax revenue increasing?"
Liang Shixian had clearly anticipated this question.
He clasped his hands calmly.
"Although Chengcheng County's grain production increased, since the third year of the Chongzhen reign, all bandits in Shaanxi who were disbanded were sent to Chengcheng County for resettlement. The extra grain produced there was used to feed those surrendered bandits."
He paused.
"Your Majesty can verify this easily."
Zhu Youjian turned his head slightly and glanced at Cao Huachun.
The eunuch stepped forward immediately and whispered into the emperor's ear.
"This is indeed true. After Hong Chengchou executed the rebel leaders back then, the captured followers were sent to Chengcheng County for handling. Additionally, the censor Wu Shen also sent surrendered bandits there."
He continued quietly.
"According to Wu Shen's report, the bandits were settled in the Huanglong Mountains, given rations, and they did not rebel again afterward."
Zhu Youjian looked shocked.
"Why was I never informed of this?"
Cao Huachun replied calmly.
"You did read the memorials, Your Majesty. However, you believed Wu Shen was using the one hundred thousand taels of silver you granted, so you did not investigate further."
Zhu Youjian blinked.
"One hundred thousand taels wasn't enough? They also had to use Chengcheng County's grain?"
Cao Huachun looked at him with the expression one might use when staring at a fool.
Of course, he realized that was terribly disrespectful.
He quickly blinked and replaced the expression with big innocent watery eyes.
Zhu Youjian coughed lightly.
Something about that look earlier seemed suspicious.
Had he just said something stupid?
Better not pursue it.
He waved Liang Shixian over.
"Come with me. Let's test this fertilizer ourselves."
Liang Shixian bowed.
"This humble official obeys."
The group soon arrived at a stretch of farmland inside the imperial estate.
Zhu Youjian flipped through the instruction manual again.
Soil acidity. Soil alkalinity.
When he read the book earlier it all seemed perfectly clear.
Now that he stood beside an actual field...
His mind went completely blank.
How exactly was this supposed to work?
At that moment, Liang Shixian crouched down beside the soil.
He stuck a finger into the dirt.
Then he brought the muddy finger to his mouth.
And licked it.
Zhu Youjian nearly jumped in shock.
Eating dirt?!
Wasn't that filthy?
Liang Shixian carefully tasted the soil.
"This field is slightly alkaline. That's why the crops aren't growing well."
He nodded seriously.
"It must be treated with potassium dihydrogen phosphate."
Zhu Youjian:
"..."
Everyone else nearby:
"..."
Total silence.
Not a single person understood a word.
Liang Shixian clearly knew they wouldn't understand anyway, so he simply got to work.
He opened the fertilizer sack, grabbed a handful of potassium dihydrogen phosphate, and scattered it evenly across the soil surface.
Then he used a rake to gently loosen the dirt so the fertilizer mixed evenly with the soil.
He clapped the dust from his hands.
"All done."
Then he said casually:
"Just repeat this process across the entire field."