Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

Chapter 1266

“Xiao Wu, you and I are different. You are more concerned about the development of rubber trees in the Ming Dynasty, while I am concerned about the issue of governance.”

"If the rubber tree is indeed as you say, and can produce continuously, then the development of industry by the science and technology institute is also indispensable."

"Then the imperial court can completely utilize the relationship between the two to make Yunnan more stable and easier to control!"

Upon hearing Zhu Biao's words, Wei Wu was taken aback at first, but then immediately understood what he meant.

As Wei Wu just mentioned, besides Qiongzhou, the most suitable place to plant rubber trees is Yunnan.

Yunnan, on the other hand, was precisely the region where the imperial court lacked sufficient control, because there were too many local chieftains who were fickle and unpredictable.

They might surrender to the Ming Dynasty today, but they could rebel tomorrow, and then we'd have to keep sending troops to attack and suppress them, which would be very troublesome.

This is why the Ming Dynasty specifically left Mu Ying here to guard the area, but the rubber trees offered another possibility.

As the saying goes, if you have enough to eat and enough money to make, no one will want to rebel. This applies not only to the Han people but also to these chieftains.

If rubber trees were introduced to Yunnan and the local people planted them, the imperial court could then purchase the rubber trees' produce.

This essentially gives those at the bottom a continuous opportunity to earn money and improve their lives.

If people can live peacefully, no one will want to rebel. Even if the chieftains are ambitious, their people will not follow them.

Rubber trees, an economic crop, have a production period of several decades, and the source of their acquisition is controlled by the imperial court.

This kind of ecosystem has a very significant effect on the imperial court's control over the order and maintenance of stability in this region.

Once Wei Wu understood this, he could comprehend Zhu Biao's reaction, although Zhu Biao's joy came a little too soon.

Seeing the expression on Zhu Biao's face, Wei Wu hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"Brother, although rubber trees will indeed help control Yunnan, it may take a long time."

"Ok?"

Upon hearing Wei Wu's words, Zhu Biao was taken aback at first, then quickly asked:

"Xiao Wu, what do you mean by saying it will take a long time?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Wu spread his arms and shrugged, saying with a hint of helplessness:

"Brother, although I obtained nine thousand plants, these plants have only been cultivated for one or two years and are all still in the seedling stage."

"It will take four to six years for these saplings to grow into large trees before they can be tapped."

"This is just a sapling. If it were planted from a seed, it would probably take about eight years to mature."

At this point, Wei Wu paused for a moment, giving Zhu Biao some time to organize his thoughts, before continuing:

"After these rubber trees are planted in Qiongzhou, they will need to wait six years to mature before they can produce seeds."

"It will take eight years for the seeds to be sent to Yunnan and planted until they mature, so it will take a total of fourteen years!"

"In other words, if we want to use rubber trees to maintain stability in Yunnan, we will have to wait at least fourteen years."

After hearing Wei Wu's explanation, Zhu Biao's initially high spirits instantly calmed down; fourteen years was too long.

However, Zhu Biao did not give up. After a brief silence, he once again expressed his thoughts.

"Xiao Wu, since there are a total of nine thousand plants, why not plant them separately, with six thousand in Qiongzhou and three thousand in Yunnan?"

"If we start from both sides at the same time, the crops in Yunnan will be able to start producing in six years, and the seeds produced will also be planted."

In fact, Wei Wu's idea was to plant everything in Qiongzhou, since geographically, Qiongzhou was indeed more suitable than Yunnan.

As long as the Academy of Sciences can use the rubber, Wei Wu doesn't think there's much of a problem with the stability in Yunnan.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has powerful firearms, we can simply send troops to wipe out those unpredictable chieftains no matter how much they try to change their ways.

Anyone who dares to cause trouble should be dealt with directly, but Zhu Biao clearly doesn't think that way; he prefers to handle the Yunnan issue more gently.

Since Zhu Biao had said so, Wei Wu couldn't very well contradict him, so he nodded and said:

"Then let's listen to our eldest brother! But rubber trees are quite delicate, and they need someone to take care of and watch over them when they are first planted."

"Otherwise, if someone sabotages it, this batch of saplings will be wasted, and I'll have to make a trip to deliver the saplings when they're planted."

Upon hearing Wei Wu's response, Zhu Biao immediately smiled, though he had been worried that Wei Wu would object.

After all, it was Wei Wu who provided the items, so he could offer his opinion on how to arrange them, but he was unwilling to control Wei Wu's decisions.

Thus, with mutual respect, it was finally decided that 3,000 rubber tree seedlings would be planted in Yunnan.

At the same time, Zhu Biao would send someone to Yunnan in advance to inform Mu Ying to mark out a piece of land there and station his troops nearby.

This way, they can choose a good planting location and also protect the rubber seedlings with the help of the soldiers, which can be said to be killing two birds with one stone.

After the rubber tree seedlings issue was settled, the bidding conference was drawing to a close.

Just then, Wei Wu flipped his wrist and took out two walkie-talkies and a special charger from the system's inventory.

"Brother, take this back to the palace. You and Uncle Zhu can each have one. That way, we won't have to go through the trouble of sending someone over if anything happens in the future."

"Anyway, there are generators in the palace now. If you need anything, just use the walkie-talkie to contact me. It's much more convenient than sending someone over."

Having spent time on the grasslands with Wei Wu, Zhu Biao naturally knew the convenience of walkie-talkies and reached out to take one.

After the bidding conference ended, Zhu Biao immediately returned to the Eastern Palace, wrote two letters in his own hand, and arranged for someone to deliver them.

One letter was sent to Mu Ying in Yunnan, while the other was sent to Qiongzhou Prefecture, so that they could make plans in advance.

After returning home, Wei Wu enjoyed the company of his wife and wife while carefully taking care of the pregnant Zhu Yuxuan, leading a very comfortable life.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye. One day, Wei Wu was taking a walk with Zhu Yuxuan in the garden when the walkie-talkie suddenly rang.

"Xiao Wu, can you receive this?"

Wei Wu took out a walkie-talkie from his pocket, put it to his lips, and replied:

"Brother, what's the matter?"

"The two people who guided U.A. High School have been thrown into the Imperial Prison by me!"