Chapter 331 Shock
When Xiao Ye heard about the refugees' method of catching locusts, he couldn't help but exclaim in his heart, "What a wonderful thing!"
After sighing for a long time, he felt very dissatisfied with the officials in the court.
Why didn’t they think of such a brilliant idea?
Actually, it sounds interesting at first, but if you think about it carefully, isn’t it just catching locusts with a net and then drying them to make a fruit dumpling?
Is it possible that no one among all the officials in this room can figure it out?
They watched helplessly as the people of the Great Zhou suffered from locusts and cursed him for being incompetent, while waves of refugees flowed to Lingnan.
Or were these officials, like the noble families who fled to Lingnan, already harboring ulterior motives?
Xiao Ye's eyes suddenly turned cold.
But the official who came to report the situation was too excited to notice his cold eyes, and instead excitedly talked about the news he had obtained.
"They've actually found a way to grow rice using seawater. The refugees are all excited and full of energy. They're saying they want to follow General Lu to the seaside to grow rice, saying they won't have to worry about running out of food even in droughts."
This news immediately shocked all the officials in the hall.
Someone shouted, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How can you grow rice in seawater? Rice can't survive in seawater. Those refugees must be talking nonsense."
"These refugees are really something. They worship the bandits as gods, and they can't even make up good things about them. No one will believe them even if they brag so much!"
Others think that this is a conspiracy of the Lu family, in order to show how capable they are in front of the refugees, so that more court officials and people of the Great Zhou will be shaken and run to Lingnan.
This was an attempt to win without fighting, to shake the foundation of the Great Zhou Kingdom, to make the people completely lose confidence in the Great Zhou royal family, and to make everyone think that the Great Zhou emperor was a foolish and incompetent emperor.
Xiao Ye was furious.
He wished he could send troops right now to capture the Lu family and cut them into pieces. For the ten-thousandth time, he regretted not killing the Lu family directly but exiling them to Lingnan instead.
The official who had returned to report noticed the uneasy atmosphere in the court and belatedly realized it, but still spoke with a steely smile, "But... the refugees have seen the rice we've grown. I heard the people in Lingnan call it seawater rice. It grows taller than ordinary rice, and after you remove the husk, the rice is dark red instead of white. And the rice cooked with it is even more fragrant than regular rice."
"That's getting more and more ridiculous. How can rice be dark red?"
"Exactly! I've never heard of dark red rice."
…
Many officials agreed, and some even felt that if Lingnan really grew rice using seawater, the relatives and friends who moved to Lingnan would definitely not leave any news behind.
Apart from anything else, Minister Lin has great confidence in his own sons and nephews.
If Lingnan really managed to grow rice using seawater, his nephews would certainly send a message back, asking him to find a way to get dozens of acres of land to plant rice.
During the first year of the drought, people were not too worried because they had food stored at home. But after a year of drought, the food stored at home was dwindling day by day, the drought showed no signs of easing, and a locust plague broke out.
Many officials' farms were abandoned, tenants and servants began to flee, and the meals at home became increasingly simple.
Unlike modern times, black rice and other varieties have already been cultivated, and people have become accustomed to rice of various colors.
Everyone thought that this was a conspiracy of the Lu family, or that sea rice was just a beautiful thing imagined by the refugees.
The official who had come back to report earlier said weakly, "A refugee secretly said that when Mr. Lu...the thief showed it to them, he secretly put a few handfuls in his trouser pocket. I traded some meat with the refugee and brought it back. How about we all take a look?"
He felt a little distressed. Initially, the refugee refused to sell him the sea rice. He repeatedly raised the price, even saying he could ask for any terms. Finally, the refugee was tempted, but instead of paying, he asked for twenty pounds of meat.
He felt really bad about exchanging twenty kilograms of meat for just a few handfuls of rice!
After the drought, his family was short of meat!
He paid for all this out of his own pocket!
But at this moment, no one heard the official's inner cry. Everyone's eyes fell on the sea rice.
When the rice is brought out, it should naturally be presented to the emperor for review first.
Xiao Ye's eyes were heavy, and he immediately called the Minister of Agriculture to identify it. Everyone looked at the Minister of Agriculture nervously.
After a while, the Minister of Agriculture said, "Your Majesty, this is indeed rice. Although the appearance and the color of the rice inside are slightly different from ordinary rice, it is undoubtedly rice."
The officials who had just said that it was impossible for Lingnan to grow rice using seawater felt ashamed, but soon, everyone no longer cared about face.
This is something that can save lives.
Everyone is concerned about how to grow rice. Can these rice grains be used as seeds?
If Lingnan can grow it, why can’t they?
At this time, the emperor asked the question that concerned them most.
“Can these rice be planted?”
Amidst everyone's expectant gazes, the Minister of Agriculture sighed, "No, these rice grains were not fully mature when they were harvested. They can be eaten, but they cannot be used for seed."
Everyone was immediately disappointed and exclaimed that the Lu couple was treacherous.
He deliberately used sea rice, which could not be planted, to confuse people and disrupt the world.
Although everyone blamed the Lu family, they were all thinking about how to get the rice seeds.
Some suggested sending troops to recapture all the cities with seaports, while others thought it was too risky to send troops with just a handful of rice.
Given the current situation of the Great Zhou, it cannot afford another military defeat.
Xiao Ye also took this into consideration and ultimately did not send troops, but only sent people to closely monitor Lingnan's every move.
Many officials were also busy contacting their families, relatives and friends who had moved to Lingnan to inquire about sea rice.
After staring at the less than two taels of sea rice for a long time, Xiao Ye finally had it sent to the imperial kitchen, where he asked the imperial chef to shell it and steam it into rice.
The rice bought from the refugees was already scarce, and after removing the chaff, there was even less left.
In the end, there was only a small bowl.
But on this day, half of the people in the palace could smell the strong aroma of rice.
The imperial palace was a place with the most abundant delicacies. Rice was a luxury for ordinary people, but for the imperial palace, it was the most common thing.
But this day was the most ordinary day for the nobles in the palace. They were even tired of eating rice, but this bowl of rice made their mouths water.
Xiao Ye had lost his appetite since his last serious illness. He had no appetite for anything on weekdays. The only reason he could sit here safely and soundly was thanks to various tonics.
But at this moment, looking at the bowl of rice brought to him by the palace servant, a lot of saliva secreted from his mouth, and he felt an appetite for the first time.
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