A gentle warm breeze fluttered the robes of Zhan Xingchang and Xiao Ming.
After inspecting the public school in Qingzhou, Xiao Ming and Zhan Xingchang continued on to check the construction progress of other public schools in the county outside Qingzhou City. With the school term approaching, Xiao Ming didn’t want to delay things for another year.
After confirming that the public schools were ready for students, he ordered all prefectures and counties to start preparing for the opening of school.
At the same time, another farming season had arrived.
“Your Highness, the winter promotion last year was very effective. At the start of spring this year, many commoners came to the government office asking about how to grow potatoes. But we’re not sure if we have enough potato sprouts,” said Pang Yukun.
With the farming season starting soon, no one was more excited than Pang Yukun. For days, he had been waking up early and personally visiting villagers outside Qingzhou to ask about their farming.
To him, nothing was more important than farming.
“There won’t be enough. The current sprouts are probably only enough for the people of Qingzhou. The other counties will have to wait. But I’ll figure something out. If the harvest is good this year, I’ll set up seed cultivation bases in the other prefectures next year,” Xiao Ming said.
In his domain, potatoes could be planted twice a year. The first season was from March to April, with harvests in June or July. The second season was from August to September, with harvests in November or December.
This season was exactly the right time to plant spring potatoes. Starting last year, Xiao Ming had asked Kui Wu to cultivate potato sprouts. But since the initial stock was small, there still weren’t many sprouts available.
Pang Yukun looked a bit regretful. He said, “What a pity. If the entire domain could plant this high-yield crop, the people’s lives would improve quickly.”
“We can’t be too greedy. Even if just the people of Qingzhou plant them, the harvest will be substantial. Also, these potatoes were carefully managed by Kui Wu, so the high yield isn’t guaranteed in the hands of regular farmers. If they can get three or four times the usual yield, that would already be good.”
“Three or four times is already great,” Pang Yukun said with satisfaction. Then he asked, “Your Highness, what about corn and chili peppers?”
“We won’t give those to the commoners yet. First, we’ll use them for the slave plantations. Later, we can promote them to the people. If they want to plant them, we’ll give them seeds. If not, that’s fine too,” Xiao Ming said calmly.
Pang Yukun nodded. Corn and chili didn’t produce high yields and were barely enough for the slave plantations anyway.
After a moment, he remembered something and asked, “Your Highness, didn’t you say there’s a crop even more productive than potatoes? When will we be able to plant that?”
Mentioning it brought a wave of frustration to Xiao Ming. During the last expedition, Yue Yun had risked his life at sea, but unfortunately, they had failed to bring back sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes were even more productive than potatoes and could be stored for longer periods.
When Xiao Ming was a child, he often ate sweet potatoes. The surplus would be sliced and dried to make sweet potato strips, which could last a long time.
Sweet potatoes could also be turned into vermicelli, spicy noodles, and other delicious foods.
“It won’t be long. I’ve already asked the Dutch to transport a batch of sweet potatoes to Dengzhou. It should be arriving soon,” Xiao Ming said.
Like potatoes, sweet potatoes originated in the Americas. To the Western powers who had colonized the region, sweet potatoes were nothing new.
So when Xiao Ming asked Claire to buy some, he readily agreed. In his eyes, this was a good start to trade with Dengzhou.
Pang Yukun grew even more excited. “In that case, I’ll be waiting for Your Highness’s good news.”
With that, Pang Yukun and the other officials prepared to go to the countryside to supervise farming.
At the same time, Xiao Ming’s mind drifted to Ryukyu. After over a month of training, he thought Yue Yun might now be ready to lead a fleet to take control of the Ryukyu main island.
As he was thinking, the sound of horse hooves echoed outside the governor’s office. A scout entered shortly after.
“Your Highness, urgent news from Dengzhou—Ryukyu’s main island has been taken by Japanese pirates. Michira Castle has fallen!” the scout reported anxiously.
Xiao Ming frowned. Just when one problem was settled, another came up. He had thought the takeover of Ryukyu would go smoothly. Clearly, something had gone wrong.
“How did Yang Chengye receive this information?” Xiao Ming asked sharply.
The scout replied, “It came from the Dutchman Rhodes. His forces are mostly made up of Japanese mercenaries, and now all of them have betrayed him. Rhodes said if the Dutch fleet hadn’t been stationed at Fort Zeelandia, it would’ve fallen too. Now the Dutch are asking Your Highness to send troops for assistance.”
“This situation is getting interesting,” Xiao Ming said thoughtfully.
The timing of the betrayal was too perfect. The only explanation was that Japan was unhappy with the Dutch alliance with Xiao Ming, so they moved first to take Ryukyu and claim it for themselves.
It seemed that the Japanese pirates were overly confident. They must believe they could easily defeat the Great Yu Empire. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be planning to invade via Goryeo.
It wasn’t confidence, it was arrogance.
After a moment of thought, he said to the scout, “Go back and tell Yue Yun to hold his position for now and wait for reinforcements from Qingzhou. Have Rhodes wait a few more days.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” the scout replied and quickly left.
Once the scout was gone, Xiao Ming began to think deeply. After spending so much time at the top, he no longer trusted anyone easily, especially when it came to fragile alliances like this one.
He couldn’t be sure if Ryukyu’s fall was a real Japanese plan or part of a Dutch scheme. If the two were working together to set him up, rushing to help could cost him dearly.
He had to investigate first.
With that in mind, he sent for Wang Xuan. The secret guards were already monitoring Fort Zeelandia. If anything suspicious was happening, Wang Xuan would know.
Soon, Wang Xuan arrived at the governor’s office. He seemed unaware of Ryukyu’s fall. “Your Highness, I haven’t received any reports about Ryukyu yet. But news from that region is slow, it may take a few days.”
Xiao Ming nodded. “Once you hear anything, report to Dengzhou immediately.”
“Your Highness, are you going to Dengzhou?” Wang Xuan asked.
“Yes. Whether it’s Japan’s plan or the Dutch’s trick, it seems war is unavoidable. The barbarian tribes are already restless. We can’t afford any setbacks on our sea routes,” Xiao Ming said worriedly.
With that, he set off for the Qingzhou military camp. This time, he had to show his claws.