Zhu Hong didn't know what gift Chen Xi gave to those civil officials and generals, but only knew that Chen Xi had prepared for two days, even if it was not gold, silver and jewelry in the wooden box, it should be a good thing.

However, the civil servants who came to the banquet felt that Chen Xi was stingy. According to the weight, there would be no valuable things in the wooden box. Only the generals were very enthusiastic because they all hoped to make achievements with Chen Xi.

The generals of the various garrison offices now highly praised Chen Xi, the governor of the three provinces. Before returning to the mansion, they left the street where the governor's yamen was located, and they immediately opened their wooden box. It was indeed not a valuable thing inside, only a letter.

The letters written by the governor and governor himself are naturally extraordinary.

The generals did not dare to neglect them. They put their letters in their arms and went home to read them carefully. Only then did they realize that Chen Xi was going to give them a "opportunity" to achieve success.

It is not so much a private message from the governor, but rather a strategy to combat the Japanese.

In the letter, Chen Xi discussed the origin, roughly the number and location of the Japanese pirates, and analyzed the personnel structure and difficulties of pacification, and described the plundering methods used by the Japanese pirates, and proposed specific strategies to suppress the Japanese pirates and pirates. In the end, Chen Xi said that he was just a civil servant and was powerless in pacifying the Japanese. He hoped that the generals who saw the letter could give him a more detailed "Plan for Punishing the Japanese".

At the end of the letter, Chen Xi stated that whoever wrote "Preventing the Japanese Strategy" well would recruit who would join him to fight against the Japanese pirates and make achievements. He explained that he would recommend it to the court in the name of the governor of the three provinces and request His Majesty to appoint talents.

Because the world has been peaceful for a long time, nine out of ten military generals of the Ming Dynasty were hereditary, and they did not even have a chance to be promoted in their lifetime, let alone be appreciated by the emperor.

Now Shen Xi put a big cake that looked beautiful in front of them, told them the details of the Japanese pirates, and if they have the ability to divide the cake by themselves, they will get military achievements, and the governor will regard it as his own and recommend it to the court. If they don’t have the ability, it’s impossible for Chen Xi to not give him a chance.

When the general saw the letter, he was ready to beat his hands, as if his credit was at his fingertips.

Unfortunately, they can play with swords and guns on weekdays, but they are not familiar with military strategies... they are useless!

But the credit is in front of you, and you must bite the bullet and take it forward even though you know you can't get enough of it. This is an excellent opportunity to get close to the governor. After the spring, you will fight against the bandits, and the main opponent is the Japanese pirates. If you can't choose yourself and be selected by others, let alone the credit will be gone, and you will say that you can't bear the face, why are you not as good as others?

On the side of the military generals, Chen Xi ignited their enthusiasm for making achievements, and the situation on the side of the civil servants was roughly similar.

Many civil servants opened the wooden box on the carriage when they returned. The first thing they saw was a strange-shaped thing, which was black and almost thought it was a stone and threw it away directly. After pinching the skin, they even pinched out water, and the weight was not as heavy as the stone.

Most people were stunned for the first time when they came into contact with crops from foreign lands... What the hell is this? The fresh ginseng? Or Polygonum multiflorum? Then they found that there was a letter in the wooden box.

When I opened the letter, the letter was originally a few greetings from Chen Xi, and a narrative of the past history of the officials who came to the letter.

The general meaning is, you, I have been paying attention to you for a long time. After I took office, I encountered many disagreements. You did not cause trouble for me like those evil people. I was grateful and prepared to use it. So I investigated some of your past experiences and found that you died at the age of three and your six-year-old mother was gone. Later, after my own efforts, I passed the Jinshi exam and sent it to Guangdong Province as an official. I was going to focus on you and recommend it to the court in the future. Unfortunately, my master was still unknown and I was worried.

Seeing this, these officials couldn't help but think:

Do you want to use such unreliable reasons to be sensational? You have never even looked at me in front of you, and you just said you want to promote and reuse it. Who are you lying to?

But in the end, I still had some expectations in my heart, and couldn't help but continue to watch. Even if I felt awkward, I would rather believe it was true.

The civil servants who attended the banquet this time had the lowest rank of seventh rank, namely the magistrates of Panyu County and Nanhai County, and the fifth rank of the Maritime Commission and the sixth rank of the Civil Service Commission. More of them were officials from the yamen of the General Administration and the Censorate Commission.

After all, in addition to the officials of the two yamen themselves, there are also officials from the sub-court roads, the sub-guard roads, the military preparation roads, the auxiliary roads, the water conservancy roads, the field roads, the river roads, and the salt law roads, which are extremely complicated. Although the two yamen have never dealt with Chen Xi, the one who confronted Chen Xi head-on was always Zhang Yuanying and Lin Tingxuan. The officials below were only responsible for running errands and did not have a head-on conflict with Chen Xi.

Then read the letter.

Chen Xi wrote in the letter that he was ordered to go to the local area to pacify the bandits, and the civil servants could not help much, but they could do their best to assist in the dispatch of money and grain...

The Censors' Office was helpless, but the Chief Secretary, the Chief Office, and the two magistrates felt that it was not a big deal. Even if they could not use the grain from the treasury, they could mobilize local gentry to donate it. But if this was a great achievement, they themselves did not believe it.

Chen Xi also said in his letter that in addition to trying to pacify bandits, he also had to do a major event that the emperor personally ordered. This matter was related to the fate of the Ming Dynasty and involved millions of people with enough food and clothing. The imperial court introduced the Folangji crops. It was reported that the two crops could be high-yield, and one mu of land could produce six or seven hundred kilograms of grain. Unfortunately, the seeds were scarce. If cultivated well, everyone in the Ming Dynasty would have food to eat, and the country would be prosperous and the people would be safe. By then, the Ming Dynasty would be strong and would be invincible in the battle against foreign barbarians...

When most civil servants saw this, they sneered!

It’s simply nonsense, bragging so much that you can’t say that the yield per mu is 10,000 kilograms? I have a vast land and a wealth of materials. Folangji people are foreign countries, where did the high-yield crops come from?

However, some officials frowned. They had a wide range of ways. They had heard about some things before, such as Chenxi planting two strange things in the backyard of the inn. According to the people in the inn, the crop had matured in just three or four months. I heard that the yield was very amazing. In less than two parts of the field, two or three hundred kilograms of grain were produced. Because the planting area was to be expanded next year, even the commander Li Che was looking for fertile fields for Chenxi.

The person who is interested was excited and quickly looked down. Chen Xi expressed his purpose in the letter that he would go north to pacify the enemy in the coming year, and he was busy with official duties and limited ability, so he wanted to find someone to help him cultivate this crop together. If there were any results, he would mention the merits of these officials in the memorial to the emperor, so that the court would reward him as appropriate. Even if the court could not receive the reward, Chen Xi would also be kind and rewarded in the future.

Chenxi explains that the seeds of one of the crops are the names of sweet potatoes. When the weather is warmer, you can cut them into small pieces and plant them in the soil. As long as you take good care of them, you can sprout in a few days. You can try them in a small area in the backyard first, and after spring begins, you will have more varieties. After sprouting and growing into vines, you will plant the vines in batches. Within a year, you can plant a seedling into one acre of land.

Chen Xi said that he could only say so much. If anyone has any results, he would report to him and record his merits one by one.

The letter should be said to be long or short, but the content inside made the officials have different mentalities after reading it.

Most of the officials who went to the Governor's Office to attend the banquet were trying to curry favor with Chen Xi, the upstart in the court. They mainly knew that Chen Xi had made great contributions and had the halo of Hanlin lecturers, Eastern Palace lecturers and Japanese lecturers. They might be the Six Departments or Cabinet Prime Ministers. In their capacity as theirs, giving gifts to Chen Xi was the best way to get closer, but Chen Xi did not accept gifts and was worried, Chen Xi took the initiative to show his goodwill and gave them an excellent opportunity to surrender.

Grow sweet potatoes.

If they plant well, Chen Xi will ask the court for their title. Even if the court does not commend him, Chen Xi will remember his name. This "remember" mainly means to treat him as his own person. If Chen Xi really becomes a Grand Secretary of the Six Ministry or Cabinet in the future, he will naturally be promoted and reused.

There is another type of person who is extremely annoyed by Chen Xi, but is forced by Chen Xi's power and has to attend.

Most of these people have good official positions and do not need Chen Xi to ask for merit and promote them. There may be backers behind them that they do not need to surrender. After seeing Chen Xi's letter, they threw them aside disdainfully.

Want to use these little tricks to deceive people? I don’t want credit and don’t want to stand aside with you. What can you do to me?

But after another thought, it’s not right, could this be a conspiracy?

I will send everyone a letter and a sweet potato, and let us go back to plant it. If we plant it well, we will naturally be able to speak. If we don’t plant it well, we will report it to the court, saying that I deceived the emperor and ruined the precious sweet potato seeds and wanted to cure my sins. What should we do?

This is not true, it is not true if you lose it, it is simply a life-threatening person!

Officials will consider their interests first when doing things. Whether they want to move closer to Chenxi or disdain for him, as long as those attending Chenxi's banquet will treat sweet potatoes with a rigorous attitude.

As the governor of the three provinces personally appointed by the emperor, Chen Xi was responsible for heavy responsibilities. How could he dare to make fun of sweet potatoes easily? No matter what, he had to be treated with caution!

The first thing these civil servants did when they returned home was to put the sweet potatoes in their house. If they were anxious, they would invite experienced old farmers to plant sweet potatoes on the same day. Although it was the winter of the Little Ice Age, the temperature in Lingnan rarely was at freezing point for a long time. It was only necessary to raise a few seedlings by covering straw, building greenhouses, or finding land near hot springs to plant them.

To make contributions, you must be quick. If you wait for spring to start again, it may have been promoted on a large scale by then. Who cares about your little seedlings?

What I fear most in everything is those who are determined, especially those who are ambitious in the officialdom. If you encounter a rare opportunity to curry favor with your boss, you will definitely spare no effort.

Chen Xi just gave each civil servant and one sweet potato, which was more effective than giving each gold, silver and jewelry! At this time, Chen Xi was extremely proud. Those censors staring at me, if you have the ability, go and sue me for bribery. You should tell me, what kind of bribe is this official who gave each sweet potato?

You don’t have to worry about laughing at people’s big teeth when you say it!

But Chen Xi really "bribed". What he sent out was the contribution of large-scale cultivation and promotion of sweet potatoes in the Ming Dynasty, and it was also an opportunity to keep it in history.

Even if these people cannot be kept in history, Chen Xi can still win people's hearts through this incident. Since a governor has to work for three years and now he still has two and a half years of office, he can no longer let the people from the Sansi Yamen lead the nose. He wants to tightly win over the local officials around him and use it for his own use.

Next, Chen Xi will arrange a series of civil and political measures in Guangdong Province. Military and political measures require strong support from local officials. At present, he only gathers civil and military officers around Guangzhou Prefecture. Next, he will also gather all civil and military officers and generals from Guangdong, Fujian and Guangxi to build a stable rear base!

ps: First update!

Today I try to resume the third update, and the emperor asks for subscription and monthly ticket support!
Chapter completed!