kingnovel Chapter 1344 Ji Benchang is a master at playing dumb.
Chapter 1344 Ji Benchang is a master at playing dumb.
Seeing Ji Benchang limping into the Imperial Study, Lan Youguang chuckled: "Minister Ji, did you miss me so much that you broke your leg on the way?"
Ji Benchang ignored him and rushed straight toward the emperor.
Eunuch Hong was startled and quickly stepped forward to stop him: "Oh dear, Lord Ji, what's wrong with you! Be careful not to offend His Majesty!"
"I have something to say! Something urgent! Something important! Something extremely urgent!" Ji Benchang gasped for breath, intending to shout out his congratulations to the Emperor, but then he caught sight of Prime Minister Cui standing to the side, and his voice abruptly stopped.
"...Prime Minister Cui is here too?"
Looking at that cunning and calculating face, he managed to calm himself down a bit.
Cui Xiang stared at him intently for a moment, then smiled and said, "Lord Ji, you've come at the right time. I and the other officials were discussing the reclamation of Shazhou with His Majesty."
"Reclaiming wasteland in Shazhou?" Ji Benchang's pupils shrank, and his expression instantly tightened.
Could it be that... Prime Minister Cui already knows the yield per acre of the new crop?
The thought had barely crossed his mind when he immediately suppressed it.
wrong.
The new crop has only been harvested for a little over half an acre, and even he doesn't know its exact yield per acre, so how could Prime Minister Cui possibly know?
But... that old fox, Prime Minister Cui, never gets up early for nothing.
There must be a demon in the abnormal situation!
Ji Benchang had a gut feeling that something was amiss, and secretly probed, "Shazhou is mostly sandy land. Ordinary grain crops would surely perish if planted there. In previous years, when Shazhou suffered from famine, the Ministry of Revenue always allocated grain as an emergency measure. Why did the Prime Minister suddenly bring up the matter of land reclamation today? Could it be that you are worried about the Ministry of Revenue?"
A sinister glint flashed in Cui Xiang's eyes. Before he could speak, Lan Youguang stepped forward and said, "Lord Ji, you're too late to know. Something has happened in Shazhou!"
Ji Benchang's heart skipped a beat: "What happened?"
Lan Youguang said, "Now rumors are spreading all over Shazhou, saying that after the imperial court has high-yield rice, it will no longer care about their poor land, causing panic among the people! If the imperial court does not order the reclamation of wasteland, the Qiang people will covet it, the people will rebel, and Shazhou Prefecture will be in danger!"
"What?!" Ji Benchang appeared shocked, but his expression was actually incredibly exaggerated: "Oh dear! That's really too dangerous! Shazhou is all sandy soil, and rice can't be grown at all. What, what should my Ministry of Revenue do?!"
As he spoke, he began to pace back and forth in the imperial study.
He kept muttering to himself, "Now, the only thing that can solve our urgent problem is a high-yield crop that can be grown in sandy soil! No, no, I must write to Lord Shen immediately and ask her to conjure up a suitable crop! We'll plant it in Shazhou Prefecture next year!"
Cui Xiang: "?"
Yue Zhenchuan: "?"
Lan Youguang: "Lord Ji, how dare you speak such nonsense before His Majesty! Did you also hit your head the day you broke your leg? Shen Zheng is a human, not a god, what do you mean by 'can't change'?"
In his opinion, Ji Benchang is just too stingy; he's gone crazy from being so stingy!
The Minister of Revenue will have to be replaced sooner or later!
The Emperor looked at the rambling Ji Benchang, pondered for a moment, and then raised his hand: "You all go out and wait first, Ji Qing stays."
His intuition told him that Ji Benchang's act of feigning ignorance was definitely related to the public fields on the outskirts of the city.
Although Cui Xiang and the others had doubts, they dared not disobey the emperor's will and immediately bowed, saying, "Your subject... obeys the decree."
As he was leaving the Imperial Study, Prime Minister Cui glanced at Ji Benchang and saw that the man who had been pretending to be crazy suddenly smiled at him.
not good!
A warning bell rang in Cui Xiang's mind.
Ji Benchang's move was clearly aimed at him!
"boom--"
The door closed, completely cutting off his view.
Inside the Imperial Study, only the Emperor, Ji Benchang, and Eunuch Hong remained.
"Speak," the Emperor said with a smile, looking at Ji Benchang. "What is it that warrants such a performance from you before me?"
Ji Benchang chuckled, his flamboyance and panic vanishing, and limped over to the emperor's side.
He placed a crumpled piece of scrap paper on the imperial desk.
"Your Majesty, please take a look."
"Stop keeping me in suspense." The emperor picked up a piece of draft paper, looked at the somewhat messy handwriting, and said with a hint of confusion, "Five hundred and thirty-two, four hundred and ninety-six, five hundred and fifty-three..."
There are twelve such nonsensical numbers on the paper, most of which are above five hundred.
The emperor's face lit up with delight, and he boldly guessed, "Ji Qing, these figures... are the yields per mu of that new crop?"
Just as he predicted!
If he remembered correctly, the soil type most suitable for this new crop was that sandy soil!
This grain, which yields over 500 jin per mu and can even grow in sandy soil...
Thinking about it, the emperor's mind was stirred.
For the people of Northwest China, this is simply a great blessing!
In this way, not only will the predicament of Shazhou be resolved, but the people of Ximi, Xinfei and other prefectures will also benefit!
"Excellent!" The Emperor was overjoyed, clapping his hands in approval. "Minister Ji, convey my decree: immediately allocate grain to Shazhou to quickly stabilize the hearts of the people there, and then..."
As he spoke, he suddenly noticed that Ji Benchang's expression was somewhat strange, even "disgusting".
Why are you grinning like an idiot at me?
He stepped aside slightly, then looked Ji Benchang up and down. "I know you're happy, but now that you've seen high-yield rice, there's no need to act like this."
Ji Benchang rubbed his stiff smile and asked, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, what did you just say...?"
The emperor paused slightly, "I said, you are also someone who has seen high-yield rice..."
"Your Majesty, I dare to ask you to add another sentence!" Ji Benchang said again.
Eunuch Hong was surprised.
Has Lord Ji gone mad today? How dare he speak to His Majesty like that!
The emperor's eyes showed displeasure, but he still patiently replied, "I said, I want you to allocate grain to..."
Before he could finish speaking, Ji Benchang bowed again: "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, it is... the first two lines."
Upon hearing this, the emperor immediately crumpled the straw paper into a ball and threw it at him.
"I'm telling you the yield per mu!"
After all that commotion, the emperor was genuinely displeased: "I've only said a few words to you, and you didn't listen to a word? If it weren't for the upcoming happy occasion, I would have fined you two months' salary!"
Hong Gonggong was so frightened that he pursed his lips and quickly gave Ji Benchang a meaningful look.
Ji Benchang gave him a "don't be impatient" look, then held the crumpled paper in both hands and eagerly handed it to the emperor.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger."
The crumpled paper ball was unfolded again.
Ji Benchang's playful demeanor vanished, replaced by a tremor in his voice: "Your Majesty, these figures do not represent the yield per mu of new crops."
The emperor frowned: "What is that?"
So all that he was happy for nothing, and all that goodwill he gave Ji Benchang for nothing?
Ji Benchang's Adam's apple bobbed as he uttered the term he himself had only recently come to accept: "monopoly."
"Monopoly?"
The emperor was taken aback at first, then his expression suddenly hardened.
Although he did not personally till the land, he knew that an acre of land was not just one row.
Looking at the twelve numbers on the paper, his mind almost stopped, and he blurted out, "This acre of land has twelve rows?"
Twelve, weighing 520 jin each.
That is...
More than 6,000 jin?!