Chapter Twenty Cotton Tree Flower

  Bullied Yuan Chonghuan for a while.

  Yang is very satisfied with the reform.

  The greater the achievement, the higher the ability.

  At night, vigorous and energetic, they tossed and turned Empress Xiao for half the night, tossing her around until she was exhausted.

  The next day at dawn, the enthusiasm was still high, and after a round of singing poetry with the ministers, which was sung with great passion and fervor, there wasn't much to do so they ended the court session early.

  Back in the Kun Ning Palace, Empress Xiao Luoli had just gotten out of bed and was lazily sitting in front of her dressing table getting ready. Several palace maids were attending to her, Yang Guifei waved her hand and several palace maids knowingly left.

  Yang Reform saw the back of Queen Little Lori and felt a heat in his heart. He hugged Queen Little Lori from behind, his two hands restlessly embracing her beautiful body.

  "Your Majesty, you... this... in broad daylight." The queen, Little Lori, was still overwhelmed with shame. A faint blush immediately floated onto her tender little face.

  Yang Reform looked at the slippery smiling face, touched it, and couldn't bear it anymore. He lowered his head and kissed the little mouth of Queen Little Loli deeply. The two small hands of Queen Little Loli also involuntarily wrapped around Yang Reform's neck. Gradually losing strength to support herself, she had no choice but to rely on Yang Reform's hug to avoid falling down.

  Yang Reform ended the deep kiss, only to find that Queen Little Loli's two eyes were half-closed, with a misty atmosphere above her eyes, already in a state of being at your disposal.

  Embracing the scorching body and looking at the small figure in front of him, Yang Gaofeng felt a chill run down his spine.

  The empress suddenly let out a soft laugh, pushed away Yang Gong, blushed and said: "Your Majesty, spare me, hehe, I know that the cotton flowers in the imperial garden are blooming today, it's just the right time to admire them, shall we go take a look?"

  The queen's interruption caused the evil energy in Yang's abdomen to suddenly dissipate, as if a valve had been opened, and with a "whoosh", it was completely released.

  "Poplar flowers? Blooming? This, seems to be winter, right?" Yang Gaizhi asked in surprise. In the mind of an otaku, as long as there is snow, it's winter. The accumulated snow outside hasn't even melted yet, how can there be flowers blooming? Is this poplar flower like the plum blossom that blooms in winter?

  The queen smiled and said: "They are a few in the imperial garden, which is warmed by a hypocaust. The cotton tree does not easily thrive in the north."

  Yang was shocked by the reform: Greenhouse? This thing has been around since the Ming Dynasty? I remember someone in the Qing Dynasty still made money from it.

  Yang asked: "Your Majesty, when did this greenhouse appear?"

  "It has been in ancient China, and both Tang and Song dynasties have it. Your Majesty can see that 'White radish and yellow cucumber are on the market, but they are rare; In the dish, I suddenly feel a sense of glory; The times are clear, and the alleys are full of peaceful industries, which is much better than Zhou people's Ode to the Wei' - whose poem is this?" The empress asked back.

  "Whose poem is this? It seems to be saying that cucumbers can be eaten in the greenhouse? Is it possible? These cucumbers have been able to be cultivated in greenhouses for a long time?" Yang Reform was surprised, whose poem is this? But at least it can be confirmed that it is from before now. In other words, before the Ming Dynasty, people could already eat cucumbers grown in greenhouses.

  "This is 'Cucumber' by Lu You, also known as Lu Fangweng, a famous poet of the Southern Song Dynasty." The empress explained.

  "Shrimp rice? Lu You's?" Yang Gaizhi was shocked, he had studied Lu You's poem "The king's teacher is determined to conquer the Central Plains, family sacrifice without forgetting to inform his father" and remembered it vividly. He didn't expect that Lu You would have eaten greenhouse cucumbers. In Yang Gaizhi's memory, there was a time-traveler who made a fortune with greenhouse cucumbers in the Qing dynasty. It seems that relying on time-traveling is not very reliable either!

  Is it because of different dimensions?

  Yang was dragged by the Empress to the Imperial Rear Garden in a confused state of mind after his reform thoughts were disordered.

  The backyard of the palace was specially cleaned up. The stone-paved ground was very clean, with several rows of potted plants, and the "small trees" in large flower pots were full of purple and red flowers. It looks great.

  In this "winter", seeing such beautiful flowers, Yang's mood is particularly comfortable. I think the greenhouse technology is not covered. I think I can also cultivate some cucumbers to eat, but now it's already spring, no need to use a greenhouse.

  Looking at these bright red kapok flowers, I thought of the greenhouse cultivation and ornamental plant cultivation. Yang Reform also recalled that chili peppers were initially introduced as ornamental plants in history.

  Thinking of this, Yang reform suddenly moved in his heart. Chili pepper, he had seen it in a post before, and it was very useful.

  Well, it's good, Yang is interested in reform.

  Then he asked: "Taibei, who is in charge of this 'Gonghouyuan'?"

  Wang Chengen replied: "It is Zheng Huai Zhong, a eunuch of the inner court." (A name that was pulled out of thin air.)

  "Is anyone there?" Yang asked, looking around at the eunuchs in the Imperial Bodyguard.

  Wang Chengen looked around and replied: "Replying to Your Majesty, he is present. Shall we call him over for an audience?"

  "Hmm, call him over, I have some more questions for him today."

  "Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Chengen replied to the emperor and turned around to instruct a small eunuch beside him. The little eunuch listened to Wang Chengen's words and immediately bowed his head and quickly walked away with small steps.

  Before long, a eunuch was summoned. He wore casual clothes, a black hat, a round-collared shirt with a belt, and a cloud-swallowing embroidery on his chest. He looked like he was in his 40s or 50s, with hair that was half white, looking like a kind elder.

  "Your humble servant Zheng Huai Zhong pays homage to Your Majesty, may you live for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, and ten thousand more." Zheng Huai Zhong had already fallen to his knees, knocking his head in greeting.

  "Are you Zheng Huai Zhong? Get up, I have something to ask you. By the way, this wooden cotton flower you prepared for me is very nice, I like it." Yang reform's first impression of Zheng Huai Zhong was not bad. He looked at him with a friendly and approachable appearance.

  "Your humble servant Zheng Huai Zhong thanks Your Majesty for the praise." He then got up.

  "Zheng Huai Zhong, hum, you're quite familiar with the ornamental plants in this imperial garden (note: called 'Gong Hou Yuan' during the Ming dynasty and 'Yu Hua Yuan' during the Qing dynasty), aren't you? I see that your hibiscus is planted quite well!"

  "Your humble servant... replies to Your Majesty, your humble servant has some knowledge of these ornamental plants and has raised many rare flowers." Zheng Huai Zhong replied.

  "Is that so? Such as Zheng Huai Zhong, I heard there is a kind of plant introduced from overseas, called chili pepper or something, don't know if you've seen it?" Chili peppers were introduced to China in the late Ming dynasty, and now it's already the Chongzhen era. Yang Reform thought he could try his luck, looking around the imperial palace of the Great Ming Dynasty to see if there was such a thing.

  "Your Majesty, this 'pepper'... I don't seem to have heard of it. I'd like to ask about its characteristics and appearance, perhaps I can know its other name." Zheng Huai Zhong thought for a moment before answering Yang. However, serving the Emperor is the only thing eunuchs do, so they serve very thoroughly. Not having seen it before doesn't matter, hurry up and ask the Emperor what that plant looks like, then have someone fetch it back. Are you afraid of displeasing the Emperor? If the Emperor is pleased! Then this eunuch will have face, and in the palace, he'll be able to eat well. This eunuch won't have suffered that one cut in vain.

  Yang Gaizhi heard this and felt discouraged, but also thought that Zheng Huai Zhong was right. Perhaps it was just a different name for the same thing, with different aliases. Yang Gaizhi continued: "This thing is probably an annual crop, not very tall, about two or three feet high, with green leaves, and fruit about the size of a thumb, initially green in color, but turning red when ripe. The fruit has a spicy flavor, so it's called chili pepper. Inside the fruit are several seeds, shaped like small pancakes."

  Yang tried hard to recall what the spicy pepper he had eaten was like. He described everything he knew, but Zheng Huai Zhong still didn't give him a definite answer.

  Zheng Huai Zhong pondered for a moment, then said: "I'll report to the Emperor, I'm afraid I haven't seen this kind of plant before, but I will send someone to search for it. If it's really as the Emperor said, it should be found soon."

  Yang's reform is very disappointing. It seems this chili pepper still needs to work hard to find its way!

  "Alas... is that so? What a pity." Yang reform's face showed a painful and regretful expression.

  Zheng Huai Zhong saw the emperor's painful and regretful expression, so he made up his mind to immediately send someone to search for it, no matter where in the world, to find this thing called "chili pepper". What is the Imperial Household Department for? To put it bluntly, its biggest "business" is to help the emperor find those rare flowers and strange treasures.

  In the old days, our idol in the eunuch world, Zheng He, held this very position of inner court official. His job was to find rare and precious treasures for the emperor, as well as unusual flowers and plants. He even led a fleet on an expedition overseas to spread the emperor's virtue. What an honorable thing that was! It has always been the pride and model for us eunuchs. I must work hard and make a good impression in front of the emperor, so that one day I can take on tasks like Zheng He did. After all, it's no secret that the emperor loves exotic things from overseas!

  Thinking of this, Zheng Huai Zhong felt his blood boiling with enthusiasm and a strong fighting spirit. He secretly set a goal for himself to find the "Chili Pepper".

  Yang's reform was a pity that he did not find the chili pepper, but he would never have thought that in his own imperial palace, there was actually another eunuch who became "Zheng He" and became the second "Three Treasures Eunuch". If he had known, he would definitely have sighed, what a wonderful world we live in.

  The interest in sightseeing has dissipated, and Emperor Yang and Empress Zhu are preparing to return to the palace. On the way, Empress Zhu asks Emperor Yang: "Your Majesty, how did you know about this 'chili pepper'?" Empress Zhu is very interested in knowing how Emperor Yang knew about chili peppers.

  Yang thought that Chongzhen, the emperor in history, was a "house man" who rarely left the Forbidden City and the palace. He was even more of a "house man" than himself. It's hard to believe that he knew about this "spicy pepper".

  Yang's reform can only be nonsense: "Hehe... I also heard people say that it should be introduced from overseas, and some people in the south are planting this thing. It is said that this thing can expel rheumatism. I think in the humid region of the south, it should help my subjects to expel rheumatism, so I asked, actually I'm not very clear either!"

  The speaker had no intention, but the listener had a mind. Zheng Huai Zhong, who hadn't gone far, happened to overhear the conversation between the emperor and empress. Upon learning that the emperor was asking about chili peppers for the sake of his subjects in the south who were affected by dampness, he thought to himself: "This emperor is truly a good emperor! A wise and enlightened ruler!" He became even more determined to find the "chili pepper" and help the emperor alleviate his worries.

  Overseas? The South Seas?

  Also, thank you for the reward, this is the first time I've received a reward, I'm very happy, thanks again!