Zhao Jun was speechless. "Brother, you may not be as handsome as me, but you have a beautiful idea. Although this direction is correct and it is also scientific breeding, this kind of thing requires continuous cultivation for generations, slowly eliminating the shortcomings and retaining the advantages. How can it be done so quickly?"

"Well, we have to try it."

Zhao Zhen removed the foxtail grass from his mouth and said, "I've discovered that our traditional Han rice takes more than five months to grow, while Champa rice only takes three. However, Champa rice yields less, while traditional rice yields more, so we have two alternating seasons. If we could develop a rice that matures in just three months and yields the same amount as traditional rice, wouldn't that allow us to grow three seasons?"

"Hey man, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have taken you to see the World Food Prize in the future."

Zhao Jun gave a thumbs-up. "In the future, you'll be addressed differently. You'll be called the Great Emperor of the Song Dynasty, a renowned thinker, educator, biologist, agriculturist, father of modern genetics, a pioneer of reform, the founder of the Song Dynasty's world dominance, and the pioneer of the dynasty's foundation! In the future, people will probably say you're a time traveler."

"Oh, I feel embarrassed by all the praise."

Zhao Zhen couldn't stop smiling.

"But we still need to come up with a systematic theory for this, such as the recessive and dominant genes, and sort them out."

Zhao Jun said.

"I sorted it out. I found some first-grade biology knowledge from your notebook."

Zhao Zhen spread his hands and said, "I've copied it all down. I'll incorporate this experiment into the paper and publish it. And that's not all. I've also copied down the garlic refining method, glass refining method, and soap refining method that I've come across in history books. I'll publish them every once in a while for the benefit of all the people."

Zhao Jun almost peed himself at the time and said, "How can you plagiarize? You have to come up with something of your own."

"Look at what you said."

Zhao Zhen waved his hand. "That's too small. Look, Mendel conducted experiments first, then developed a theory. I first had a theory, then conducted experiments. But before that, who in the world had a theory? So even though the egg came first, who knew the chicken came first?"

"Forehead"

Zhao Jun's mind was full of the chicken and egg question. For a moment, he felt that what Zhao Zhen said made a lot of sense, and he was speechless.

Maybe Zhao Zhen was right.

He was just a stay-at-home guy who had to stay in the palace every day, so he might as well study the notebook more.

Even Zhao Jun himself only saved a lot of information in his notebook and had no time to read it. It would be better to let Zhao Zhen study it more. Who knows, maybe he will become a great inventor?

Just when his brain was about to short-circuit, Cao Xiu hurriedly crossed the ridge of the field, came to the two of them, and bowed to them and said, "Your Majesty, the governor."

"What's wrong?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

Cao Xiu said excitedly: "The fleet sent out in the first year of Baoyuan has returned!"

"What?"

Zhao Jun hurriedly asked, "Where are they?"

"It should be arriving in Suzhou soon, maybe even already."

Cao Xiu replied, "They arrived at Tsushima Island at the beginning of last month. Our naval captain stationed on Tsushima Island was very surprised. After asking, he found out that it was our Great Song fleet. He quickly sent someone back to report the situation. Their fleet was bloated and should be much slower."

In the first year of Baoyuan, the Song Dynasty spent about one million strings of cash and recruited about six thousand sailors, with a total of more than fifty large ships. The court at that time selected two envoys from the Mingzhou Maritime Customs to lead the team.

On board the ship were not only experienced sailors who had traveled to Japan, Goryeo and even Central Asia many times, but also dozens of recruited merchants who had been to Bohai. The lineup was quite luxurious.

It was only slightly worse than Zheng He's later voyage to the West, which cost more than 4 million taels of silver, brought 30,000 people, and had a lineup of more than 200 large ships.

However, Zheng He took the mature route of the Maritime Silk Road that had been taken by countless Central Asian merchants, while the Song Dynasty this time opened up an unprecedented route, going north to Russia, then crossing the Bering Strait to reach America, and finally going south to South America.

Therefore, both in terms of safety and distance, it is much more dangerous and farther than Zheng He's voyages to the West.

Even with the world map given by Zhao Jun, it is still full of risks.

Diseases on the ship, the supply of food and fresh water, whether the local natives are hostile, the wind and waves at sea, weather changes, cold factors, etc. are all unexpected.

From the first year of Baoyuan to the third year of Qingli, five years have passed without any news. Zhao Zhen, Lu Yijian and others even thought that the fleet had been wiped out on the road to expansion, but unexpectedly, five years later, they actually returned!

"Even if I only look at the map, I can only feel fear at such a long distance. I originally had no hope for them, but I didn't expect them to actually come back!"

Zhao Zhen was also overjoyed.

Zhao Jun said, "I just don't know whether they encountered setbacks along the way or have already arrived in America and returned with a full load."

Cao Xiu said in a deep voice, "According to reports from Tsushima Island, their fleet has suffered heavy losses. They had over fifty large ships before setting out, but now only have over twenty, and their crew is less than three thousand."

"well."

Zhao Jun sighed deeply, shook his head, and said, "These routes are all built at the cost of human lives."

This was done not in order to open up America, but to get ahead of the curve.

Some things must be done regardless of success or failure.

So even though he knew that sending people out might be a waste of money and manpower, and that these people might lose their lives, he had no other choice but to do so.

In this way, even if they were forced to return halfway, at least they would have accumulated pioneering experience, and would be fully prepared when they set out next time. Maybe they would succeed one day?

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