Before establishing Kunkaisi, Zhao Hao had made up his mind to invite this agricultural master to come out and protect Kunshan like Pan Jixun did.

Unfortunately, Ma Yilong was not as easy to fool as Lao Pan. Zhao Hao wrote a letter himself but failed to persuade him. He also asked Wang Mengzhu to write a letter but still failed. He had no choice but to come to the door and invite him personally.

Speaking of which, this was the first time that Master Zhao came to visit his thatched cottage in person. Before that, even great men like Wan Mizhai, Li Shizhen, Li Lunming, and Pan Jixun had never received such treatment.

Ma Yilong did not seem flattered at all, and said with an expression that no room for negotiation: "It is useless for you to come in person. I will not go with you. It does not make sense for you to leave Liyang and plant your land in Kunshan. Can your land in Kunshan grow gold?"

"Of course gold can't grow, but maybe rare things can grow." Zhao Hao waved his hand, and several guards came forward each carrying two baskets. The baskets were covered with red cloth, as if they were gifts for him.

"No merit, no reward." Ma Yilong refused at first. "Even if you bring mountains of gold and silver to me, I will not go to Kunshan."

"Haha, don't speak too early." Master Zhao waved his hand, and the guards peeled off the red cloth piece by piece.

Amid the exclamations of the Wuben Academy students, Ma Yilong saw that there was no gold, silver or treasure in the basket.

Instead, there are emerald green cucumbers, white and tender lotus roots, purple grapes, golden cantaloupe, and green and lush watermelons...

Before getting off the boat, Zhao Hao specifically ordered water to be sprinkled, which made the various fresh fruits and vegetables look even more tender and tempting.

Although the south of the Yangtze River is green all year round, nothing grows in the fields in winter. The students were shocked to see these fruits and vegetables that shouldn’t appear in this season.

Many people secretly swallowed their saliva. If they could chew a cucumber or eat a slice of watermelon at this time of year, they would brag about it for the rest of their lives.

Ma Yilong was not as ignorant as his disciples. Looking at these out-of-season fruits and vegetables, he asked tentatively: "Are these grown in the fire room?"

He shook his head and said, "No, most vegetables like sunshine, so you can only grow chives and yellow sprouts in the fire room."

Ma Yilong picked up a green cucumber, took a bite and said, "Cucumbers can't grow without sunlight. Hmm, it's quite sweet..."

Zhao Hao thought that with mountain spring watering and sufficient farm fertilizer, of course it would be sweet.

But it seems that I haven’t washed it yet...

“How did you grow it?” Ma Yilong was eating with gusto and couldn’t help asking curiously.

"You'll know when you go to Kunshan." Zhao Hao said with a smile, "Come to my place and I'll build you a ten-acre greenhouse so you can grow whatever you want all year round. Okay?"

"Okay..." Ma Yilong was delighted and almost agreed. But then he shook his head with difficulty and said, "No."

"Why?" Zhao Hao asked in a lost voice.

"Only the rich can enjoy these off-season vegetables." Ma Yilong said sternly, "I studied farming to solve the food problem for the common people. If I were to build a greenhouse with you, wouldn't that be a wrong path?"

"Then Mr. Menghe should go to Kunshan!" Zhao Hao laughed and waved again.

The guard then brought up another basket, still covered with red cloth.

"Look what this is?" Zhao Hao looked at the other person with encouragement.

Ma Yilong lifted the red cloth and saw the basket full of golden sticks.

The students gathered around curiously, and were all amazed by the golden and neatly arranged sticks.

"What is this thing? It's so pretty."

"Can I eat it?"

"I think it's terrible. It's so hard that it can break my teeth." Obviously, no one recognized this thing.

"This is the corn I told you about." Shanchang Ma said its name right away.

"Yes." Now it was Mr. Zhao's turn to be surprised. He didn't expect Ma Yilong to know everything. Then he suddenly realized, "Mr. Menghe has eaten in Beijing?"

"No." Ma Yilong shook his head and said, "The late emperor gave some to Zhang Taiyue. He said it was a tribute from the Portuguese in the early years and was only planted in the Jiashu Office of Shanglin Garden. It was called 'Imperial Wheat', also known as corn. Zhang Taiyue gave me some and asked me to try planting it. Unfortunately, it got caught in the rain on the way and became moldy and could not sprout."

"Then why didn't Mr. Menghe ask him for another copy?" Zhao Hao asked curiously.

"Most of the things in the palace are flashy and not edible for ordinary people." Ma Yilong criticized, "I'm not interested in them."

"Hahaha, Mr. Menghe is totally wrong!" Zhao Hao laughed and said, "It's true that this thing comes from the royal family. I asked Her Royal Highness the Princess for it, but it's definitely not flashy. Maybe we shouldn't call it 'imperial wheat' or 'maize', but 'corn', or corn or corn, would it sound more approachable?"

"It doesn't matter what it's called." Ma Yilong was not annoyed, because Zhao Hao's understanding of agriculture and agricultural products had already impressed him. He asked humbly, "Mr. Zhao said that this thing is not flashy, so I wonder what are its advantages?"

"It's so tiring to talk while standing." Master Zhao held his waist.

"Go get a chair."

"My throat is so dry..." Zhao Hao coughed lightly again.

“Bring the tea!”

"It's already noon." Zhao Hao was quite thick-skinned.

"Please come into the academy." Ma Yilong finally realized that he was not very polite in treating his guests.

~~

I had lunch at Wuben College.

The academy is built on the mountainside. It is spacious and full of farm atmosphere. Various fruit trees, mulberry trees and hemp are planted everywhere. There is also a fish pond with ducks and geese.

Shi Jizhi was half a teacher in the academy. He arranged for the guests to sit in a large shed made of bamboo and straw beside the fish pond.

At this moment, the winter jasmine and forsythia are in full bloom, and the snow-white pear blossoms are also blooming. The warm spring breeze blows, reminding people that a season called "spring" has quietly arrived.

For lunch, they used the vegetables that Zhao Hao brought to prepare an expensive vegetarian meal. They also steamed a few corn cobs and asked Ma Yilong to inspect the goods.

While waiting for the corn to come out of the pot, Zhao Hao introduced to him in detail the characteristics of corn's resistance to cold, drought and barrenness, as well as its good adaptability to the environment.

"It can be used as a staple food to feed the people. Its yield per mu is nearly twice that of wheat. But the biggest advantage is that it can be grown anywhere and does not compete with wheat for land." Zhao Hao boasted enthusiastically, "And it can also replace rice and wheat to make wine. Corn stalks can also be used as feed. It is really full of treasures."

At this time, the servant brought hot corn cobs.

Ma Yilong picked up a piece of hot corn, blew on it, took a bite impatiently, and then closed his eyes and chewed it carefully.

"It's sweet and quite fragrant." After a while, he opened his eyes and said, "But this won't be enough to eat."

"It can be ground into cornmeal and made into steamed buns, corn bread, and pancakes." Zhao Hao actually had someone grind cornmeal, but it made his throat hurt, so it had to be mixed with white flour to make it taste good.

Now they are trying every means to trick Ma Yilong to Kunshan, but of course they cannot expose their weaknesses.

Steamed corn on the cob tastes much better...

"So, we can try growing this thing." Obviously, the yield of corn that has not been improved through selection cannot shock Ma Yilong.

But it doesn't matter, Zhao Hao still has a trump card.

He then asked mysteriously, "Have you heard of Amway... oh no, sweet potato?"

ps. Third update, please give me your monthly votes! There is one more update!