Chapter 376: Treasure

Chapter 376: Treasure

The air in the Qianqing Palace was filled with the faint scent of burnt fireworks and firecrackers. This was how the palace celebrated the New Year—from the day after the Little New Year until the Lantern Festival, fireworks were set off daily in front of the Qianqing Palace.

Xin You entered the Qianqing Palace with a relaxed look and bowed to Emperor Xingyuan.

Emperor Xingyuan was somewhat surprised.

He had expected Ayou to show some emotion.

"Rise and be seated."

A eunuch brought over a brocade stool, and Xin You sat down quietly.

"Ayou."

"Your subject is here."

"At the New Year's Eve family banquet, you were wronged."

Surprise flickered in Xin You's eyes: "It's already in the past, and I've let it go."

This response left Emperor Xingyuan speechless.

Originally, after comforting Ayou, he had intended to advise her to be more tolerant when dealing with the Empress Dowager in the future, as she was, after all, an old lady. But bringing it up now would make it seem like he was harping on the matter.

"The Empress Dowager is tough on the outside but has a soft heart. Don't take it to heart."

"Yes," Xin You replied straightforwardly.

Of course, she wouldn't take that old lady seriously.

"You can't miss the family banquet in the future," Emperor Xingyuan added, seeing that Xin You didn't seem to be agreeing out of spite.

Xin You looked up at Emperor Xingyuan, her tone calm: "The Empress Dowager thinks I shouldn't be at the palace family banquet."

Having finally found a legitimate reason to refuse, she would be a fool to agree again.

"The Empress Dowager only made a few comments—"

"Only by going along with the Empress Dowager's wishes will she stay happy."

This was truly irrefutable, so Emperor Xingyuan had to drop it, thinking he would bring it up again later.

Xin You was tired of dwelling on the topic and brought up something she had been thinking about: "Since Your Majesty called me to the palace, I have something to report."

Emperor Xingyuan straightened his expression: "What is it?"

Unconsciously, he adopted the demeanor of a monarch addressing his subjects, which Xin You noticed and was pleased to see.

Whether he would agree to her proposal or not, at least he was taking her words seriously.

"The new policies are good, but they have their downsides."

Emperor Xingyuan was surprised: "Drawbacks? Go on."

"With the land tax reform, those who own more land pay more taxes. I believe the results will be visible in this year's tax revenue."

Emperor Xingyuan nodded in agreement.

He wasn't highly educated, but he had a knack for arithmetic. He had long pressured the Minister of Revenue to secretly calculate with him and was eager to see the tax revenue generated by the new policy's pilot program.

"Then what are the drawbacks?"

"The drawbacks aren't immediate; they lie in the future."

"The future?" Emperor Xingyuan looked at the bright-eyed girl and suddenly remembered her words when she persuaded him to implement the new policy.

Back then, she had said that the current problems weren’t deeply rooted, and with the authority of the founding emperor, if they didn’t implement the new policy now, were they just going to leave it for their descendants?

"Are you worried that the new policy won’t be effectively implemented in the future?"

Xin You shook her head: "Worrying about this is pointless; people’s minds are unpredictable."

Emperor Xingyuan understood what she meant.

Even if he pushed hard for the new policy, how could he ensure future generations would follow through?

"Under the new policy, people without land won’t have to pay taxes. Without this burden, the number of children people have could easily double or more."

Emperor Xingyuan's eyes lit up: "That's a good thing!"

After the war, the newly established dynasty was in dire need of more people.

"It’s fine for now, but the land’s output is limited. After two or three generations, when the population outgrows the land’s capacity, chaos could break out."

As Xin You spoke, Emperor Xingyuan’s face shifted.

He got it—this could happen!

No, in a few generations, this was bound to happen!

Emperor Xingyuan was stunned, while Xin You pressed her lips together.

The new policy’s benefits were immediate, and the potential problems years down the line didn’t need to be brought up. She brought it up to chip away at the national policy of maritime prohibition.

Of course, she wouldn’t openly advise lifting the maritime prohibition. Once people saw the benefits of overseas trade, their attitudes would shift.

"Ayou, since you brought up the risks of the new policy, do you have a plan?" Emperor Xingyuan quickly reacted.

Xin You paused before answering, "My mother once mentioned a crop from overseas that could serve as a staple food. This crop grows well on poor soil and yields an incredible amount—"

Emperor Xingyuan perked up at the mention of it growing on barren land, and when he heard about the high yield, he leaned in and asked, "How high?"

Xin You hesitated and asked, "What’s our grain yield per mu?"

Agriculture is the foundation of the country, and Emperor Xingyuan was very familiar with this data. He immediately said, "The yield varies depending on the land and region, but on average, it’s between two to three dan per mu."

After saying this, Emperor Xingyuan tentatively asked, "Is the crop you mentioned capable of yielding five to six dan per mu?"

If it couldn’t double, it wouldn’t be considered an extremely high yield.

Xin You smiled: "It can yield dozens of dan."

"How much?" Emperor Xingyuan stood up directly.

"You heard correctly, this crop can yield dozens of dan per mu."

Emperor Xingyuan sat back, leaning in closer to Xin You: "Ayou, is a mu overseas the same as our mu? Are the measurements different?"

Xin You smiled and said with certainty, "It's calculated based on the size of one mu of our land."

Hearing this, Emperor Xingyuan couldn't stay seated. He stood up, paced back and forth a couple of times, and then walked over to Xin You. "Ayou, is there really such a high-yielding crop in the world? You better not be fooling me!"

"How dare I deceive Your Majesty."

"What is this crop called?"

"It's called sweet potato."

"Sweet potato?" Emperor Xingyuan repeated the unfamiliar name, his heart racing with excitement.

If sweet potatoes truly existed, no matter how they tasted, at least the people wouldn't go hungry!

Xin You seemed to know what he was thinking and smiled. "Sweet potato has an extremely high yield, enough to solve the problem of food shortage caused by the population surge many years later due to the new policies."

"Excellent, truly excellent!" Emperor Xingyuan began pacing again.

Every ruler wants to see their population thrive, as people themselves are the best resource.

Xin You timely reminded, "But this crop is found overseas."

Emperor Xingyuan's steps halted, as if he'd been splashed with cold water.

The maritime ban was his own policy.

Even now, he believed opening the seas would do more harm than good.

"The court periodically sends envoys to neighboring countries to demonstrate our nation's power. If there is a plan to send envoys this year, we can discreetly assign some people to find sweet potatoes."

"Discreetly?" Emperor Xingyuan was puzzled.

"A crop with such high yields, adaptable to any soil, and suitable as a staple food—countries that have it would surely treat it as a treasure and would not easily let it be taken away."

Upon Xin You's explanation, Emperor Xingyuan nodded involuntarily.

That made sense. If Great Xia had such a treasure, he'd surely execute any foreigner trying to smuggle it out.

Emperor Xingyuan remained silent for a moment, then asked, "Was it your mother who told you all this?"

"Yes."

Emperor Xingyuan fell silent again.

Unlike the ban on private overseas trade for commoners, the court's exchanges with foreign countries had not stopped. They sometimes sent envoys to other countries and also received foreign envoys who came to Great Xia.

The ships and sailors were ready. If sweet potatoes really existed overseas, as Ayou claimed, it would be well worth searching for. Even if they couldn't find it, it would just be a regular diplomatic trip, with little to lose.

Emperor Xingyuan quickly made up his mind: Go!