After learning just how capable Zhao Qingzhu was, Zhu Yunwen began to look at this girl with new respect.

With such a skilled martial artist as his Crown Prince's consort, his future safety would be greatly enhanced.

This was something Zhu Yunwen had not anticipated.

After all, he liked Zhao Qingzhu, not because Zhao Qingzhu was skilled in martial arts.

It was Zhao Qingzhu's personality and kind heart that made her so skilled in martial arts a pleasant surprise.

Zhu Yunwen's departure from the capital was not made public.

Apart from Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhao Qingzhu, almost no one actually knew about it.

After all, traveling is fraught with danger, and exposing one's whereabouts would only make one a conspicuous target.

Leaving the capital in a low-key manner would actually make it less likely to attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.

The next morning, Zhu Yunwen left the palace, wandered around the capital several times, and disguised himself several times before arriving at a small alley where he had arranged to meet Zhao Qingzhu.

There, ten officers of the Imperial Guard, all dressed in ordinary clothes, were already standing there waiting.

Apart from Zhao Qingzhu and ten Jinyiwei centurions, Zhu Yunwen did not bring anyone else with him on this trip, just like before.

After all, in terms of intelligence, he could have taken many precautions on the road.

As for martial arts skills, Zhao Qingzhu is capable of holding her own against anyone, which is absolutely reliable.

When it comes to dealing with the troubles one might encounter while roaming the martial world, the Embroidered Uniform Guard can be said to be extremely experienced.

After all, everyone knows that the Embroidered Uniform Guard is extremely difficult to deal with.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards also had their own unique methods for dealing with officials. As long as they were by Zhu Yunwen's side, he was not worried that they would not be able to accomplish anything in certain places.

Today, the imperial city of Nanjing belongs to Yingtian Prefecture.

They were to head west and south to Xijiang to find Yang Shiqi, the most powerful Grand Secretary in the early Ming Dynasty.

The journey will take you through many places, and at a normal riding speed, it will take about five or six days.

Of course, barring any unforeseen circumstances, there shouldn't be any problems.

That same day, Zhu Yunwen and his entourage left Nanjing on horseback and entered the Jiangnan region.

The Jiangnan region has always been incredibly prosperous, and the people there live very well.

The people, events, and scenery encountered along the way made everyone realize that the Ming Dynasty was indeed prosperous.

After traveling for only two or three days, as they approached the Xijiang region, the people's lives gradually became more difficult.

Many people work hard in the fields, and most of them are thin and look like they are starving.

This is understandable, since during the Ming Dynasty, apart from a few ancient capital cities, the Jiangnan region was relatively prosperous.

Besides, life was quite difficult in the southwest, northwest, and north.

It is also due to the geographical environment, or perhaps it is because the mountains are high and the emperor is far away.

Along the way, he witnessed the hardships of the people's lives, which made Zhu Yunwen realize that he had a long way to go and a heavy responsibility to bear.

There are many things to do.

In fact, the most important thing is good policies that concern people's livelihood.

While a nation's strength is important, its foundation and essence ultimately come from the people at the grassroots level.

Only when the basic needs of ordinary people are met can a country truly become strong and powerful.

People's livelihood is nothing more than clothing, food, housing, and transportation.

These four things were considered extremely difficult problems to solve in ancient times.

As a person from a later era, Chen Ye had plenty of food and clothing from a young age, and his living and travel were very convenient, even beyond what these ancient people could imagine.

Having grown accustomed to modern life, Zhu Yunwen realized how difficult the conditions were for ordinary people when he saw their daily lives in ancient times.

I won't go into detail about travel, since it's the least important of the three basic necessities: food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

In ancient times, most ordinary people did not travel far from home, so if there was any impact, it would be on development.

There's a saying that's been passed down through generations: "To get rich, build roads first."

Of course, that's all hindsight. If you can't even get enough to eat, wear, or live comfortably, how can you get rich or build roads?

Therefore, Zhu Yunwen felt that he should take the lead in finding ways to solve the people's problems with food, clothing, and shelter.

Especially when it comes to food, the idea of ​​going hungry is absolutely unacceptable.

Once you're hungry, you can't do anything.

Only when you are well-fed can you build a house, and only when you are well-fed can you make good clothes to wear and keep warm.

However, once you enter the Xijiang area, you'll see that much of the land is quite barren.

The crops planted were clearly not up to expectations.

Especially now that it is the dead of winter, there is almost no food to grow.

Foods like sweet potatoes and potatoes, which could largely solve the problem of people's food supply, had not yet been introduced from overseas at that time.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunwen's eyes suddenly lit up. Riding on horseback, he instantly pulled himself back to reality and almost blurted out:

"By the way, sweet potatoes and potatoes?"

Zhao Qingzhu, who was standing to the side, was startled and looked at Zhu Yunwen, saying:

"What's wrong? Why is it red? Why is it tacky?"

A look of surprise appeared on Zhu Yunwen's face as he looked at Zhao Qingzhu and said:

"Along the way, the people had almost no food in their fields. Even the vegetables they planted could not survive due to the freezing weather."

Winter is approaching, and the people have almost no food to get through the winter. This problem must be solved. Therefore, I must find a way to get sweet potatoes and potatoes.”

Zhao Qingzhu was still somewhat puzzled, and Zhu Yuntong knew that it wouldn't be clear to explain it to her in just a few words.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "I read in a book that in a place far overseas, called the Netherlands and the Philippines, there is a food called sweet potato and potato."

These two foods, once planted, will yield a large quantity, are easy to store, and taste excellent, which will definitely solve the people's food problem to a great extent.

Zhao Qingzhu looked at Zhu Yuntong, her big eyes still filled with confusion and bewilderment.

Zhu Yunwen, however, continued thinking to himself:

Potatoes and sweet potatoes have occupied a significant portion of the food supply in modern times.

If we could have possessed this during this period, solving the problem of feeding ordinary people would be a piece of cake.

Although food was plentiful in the Ming Dynasty, the production of most foods was very small.

Rice and wheat products typically produce only one ear per seedling, unlike hybrid rice varieties that can produce many ears, increasing yields several times over.

Zhu Yunwen admitted that he was incapable of developing hybrid rice under the conditions of ancient times.

There was no way to improve the existing grains, as he was not an expert in this field.

However, he could find a way to bring back those mass-produced food seeds from other parts of the world.

It's similar to how Zhu Di, after becoming emperor, sent Zheng He on voyages to the Western Ocean to bring back various seeds from all over the world.

However, Zhu Yunwen planned to carry out this feat ahead of schedule.