Chapter 144 Iron Coupon to Avoid Death
Chapter 144: Death-Free Certificate

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at the potatoes on the table with fiery eyes and said excitedly: "Such a rare thing, I will immediately issue an order to the whole country to start promoting potatoes!"

However, Ye Xuan immediately stopped him upon hearing this, saying, "Your Majesty, you must not do that!"

"Why do you say that?" Zhu Yuanzhang's face immediately became serious and he looked at Ye Xuan.

If Zhu Yuanzhang had not known Ye Xuan well enough, he would have almost thought that Ye Xuan was exaggerating on purpose, and when he saw that Ye Xuan was going to promote it nationwide, he was afraid that he would be exposed, so he spoke out to stop him.

Ye Xuan saw the questioning look on Zhu Yuanzhang's face and immediately understood.

"Your Majesty, firstly, there are only about 2,000 kilograms of this plant. Although seeds are fruits and fruits are seeds, even if all 2,000 kilograms were planted, it would not be enough to meet the needs of the whole country."

"Secondly, although this product is said to be miraculous by the merchants in Southeast Asia, and has excellent resistance to diseases and ability to adapt to the environment, it is still unknown whether it is true or not. If we rashly waste manpower to promote it, if something goes wrong, I am afraid it will hinder the promotion of potatoes."

Zhu Yuanzhang was relieved after hearing this. He pondered for a moment and said, "What you said makes sense. So what do you think we should do?"

Regarding the promotion of potato cultivation, Ye Xuan had already thought carefully about it on the way here.

Hearing this, he said without hesitation: "I think that the main planting area in the early stage should be limited to the vicinity of Yingtian Prefecture, and a place should be selected as a potato cultivation base. At the same time, a small amount of potatoes should be sent to various parts of the country for trial planting to observe how potatoes can adapt to different environments and soils."

"When Yingtian Prefecture is able to grow potatoes on a large scale and has irrefutably proven its yield, we can promote it nationwide. By then, not only will we not encounter any resistance, but we will even get everyone's full cooperation."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it carefully and realized that this was indeed the truth.

It is difficult to promote anything new, especially food varieties.

For example, farmers in the north were growing wheat well, but suddenly the imperial court issued an order that the people were not allowed to grow wheat and had to grow a crop they had never heard of.

Even if the government talks a lot of nonsense, the people will never agree.

You can say they are short-sighted or ignorant, but no one would easily abandon known and stable harvests to plant something they have never seen before.

This is human nature.

Zhu Yuanzhang also came from a peasant family, so he naturally understood the farmers' concerns.

Hearing this, he nodded and said, "My dear minister, what you said makes sense. I will do as you say."

"As for the trial planting site, it is not easy to requisition it from the common people," he said, looking at Yunqi and said, "Yunqi, choose a suitable imperial farm as the place to plant potatoes."

Yun Qi immediately nodded and accepted the order.

Zhu Yuanzhang originally planned to make this matter public in the court and commend Ye Xuan in front of the court officials.

After all, if potatoes are successfully promoted, Ye Xuan will have indirectly saved countless lives, and will be able to further enhance the national strength of the Ming Dynasty.

With such a huge contribution, it would not be an exaggeration even to confer the title of duke or marquis on him!
However, this proposal was rejected by Ye Xuan on the spot, on the grounds that Ye Xuan only wanted to serve the Ming Dynasty silently and did not need any false reputation or praise.

This moved Zhu Yuanzhang almost to tears, and he kept clapping his hands on the table, praising Ye Xuan as a pillar of the country.

But Zhu Yuanzhang could never have imagined that Ye Xuan did not want to be made public. He was just used to keeping a low profile and was worried that his great achievements would arouse the jealousy of some people, thus causing some unnecessary trouble.

However, the commendation can be waived, but the silver reward cannot be reduced.

However, the specific amount made Lao Zhu feel troubled.

To say that Potato has made immeasurable contributions, any amount of reward would not be excessive. But it is precisely because of this that it is difficult to decide. You can't give him 100,000 or 1 million, right?

If he gave too much, Mr. Zhu would feel bad; if he gave too little, he would feel embarrassed.

In the end, he simply slammed the table and gave a symbolic reward of 10,000 taels of silver, plus an iron certificate of immunity from death.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought he was very kind, but you should know that the iron certificate of immunity from death was only issued in small quantities to the old brothers who followed him to conquer the world.

But Ye Xuan knew the value of this iron certificate of immunity from death. When Old Zhu really wanted you to die, even more iron certificates of immunity from death would be useless.

However, when the Ministry of Works, which was responsible for casting the iron certificate of immunity from death, leaked the matter, the whole court was in an uproar!

You should know that in the entire Ming Dynasty, there were only twenty or thirty people who obtained the iron certificate of immunity from death, including Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, Chang Yuchun and others.

Who are Li Shanchang and others?
He is a Duke!
Who is Ye Xuan?
A Jinyiwei is only a thousand households!

"What did you say?"

In a bedroom in the Duke of Korea's mansion.

Li Fang, who had caught a severe cold after falling into the water, stared at the servant half dead, and said in disbelief: "You said that damn bastard Ye Xuan actually received the death-free certificate awarded by His Majesty!"

The servant also said in disbelief: "The imperial edict has not come down yet, but this is from Mr. Zhang of the Ministry of Works who is responsible for casting the iron certificate, so it should not be false!"

"Ye Xuan, who on earth are you?"

Li Fang, who was already weak due to a high fever, vomited blood in anger.

…………

Left Vice Minister of Works, Zhang Mansion.

"Dad, what you said is true!" Zhang Quandan looked at his father in disbelief.

Zhang Qiao glared at Zhang Quandan and said unhappily, "The style of the death-free iron certificate was personally reviewed by your father. The name Ye Xuan is clearly written on the template. How could it be fake?"

After that, he stroked his goatee and said, "I used to have some doubts about Ye Xuan's identity, but now it seems that he is indeed the illegitimate son of His Majesty! Otherwise, why would he even give him the Iron Certificate of Immunity from Death!"

"This must be because he is worried that after his death, the princes will not be able to tolerate Ye Xuan's existence and may quarrel with each other, so he left this as a backup plan!"

"That's right, that's right. Otherwise, how could someone be given a certificate of immunity from death for no reason?" Zhang Quandan agreed.

"Oh my god!" Zhang Quandan exclaimed, and then became complacent: "Luckily, Ye Xuan and I have become close friends now, otherwise it would be really troublesome!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qiao felt for the first time in his life that his son was so pleasing to the eye.

Patting Zhang Quandan on the shoulder, he said, "Son, from now on, the most important thing for you is to befriend His Majesty's illegitimate son at all costs. Whether your father can make further progress in his lifetime depends entirely on you!"

Zhang Quandan proudly stretched out two fingers and rubbed them back and forth, saying: "The monthly pocket money..."

Zhang Qiao waved his hand and said with some pain: "Gagaga, as long as the money is spent on Ye Xuan, I won't feel bad!"

(End of this chapter)