Chapter 173: Sweet Potatoes at the End How could Li Zhen not think of such a good place in the Bering Strait?
But since he knew the Bering Strait, he knew how dangerous it was — at least in the twentieth century, very few ships passed through it to make their way to Alaska.
Some people may ask, the Bering Strait is the closest strait between the Asian continent and the American continent, and the narrowest point is only more than 80 kilometers.
It makes sense, but it only makes sense.
Is this really the case?
Of course, it's not that simple.
When Li Zhen thought of looking for the American continent, the first thing that came to mind was the Bering Strait, and the reason was that it was close enough that as long as he passed through the sea area of 80 kilometers, he could land on the American continent.
But after a field trip, Li Zhen found that things were not so simple at all.
The Bering Strait freezes in winter and melts in summer, and no matter what season you go from, there are restrictions of one kind or another.
First of all, the Bering Strait is frozen in winter, and you can't go by boat, you can only take a sleigh or walk there, which is indeed the safest way, but don't forget, since Li Zhen is going to the Americas, it is definitely impossible to send only dozens or hundreds of people, and without tens of thousands of people, they can only deliver breakfast to the indigenous Americans.
But can the ice in the Bering Strait support tens of thousands of people and more to walk on it?
It's on the edge of the Arctic ice cap, not to mention more than 10,000 people trampling on it, and even if there is no one, it will crack without warning, and it's not safe at all (this is really not alarmist, although the Bering Strait is frozen in winter, the ice will break and break at any time without warning, there are many wide ice crevasses, and now many people will hike across the Bering Strait in winter, not so much on foot, but as they swim over).
Li Zhen didn't dare to risk the experiment, if it didn't work, halfway through, if the ice couldn't bear the weight and shattered, it wouldn't be one or two people who died.
What's more, the Bering Strait in winter is really cold, and you may freeze to death.
As for going in the summer, you can't go.
In the summer, the ice melts, which requires boats, and the narrowest part of the Bering Strait is only more than 80 kilometers, but it is not wide, and ordinary small fishing boats can pass through, and there is basically no danger.
The problem is that in the summer, the Bering Strait is not only seawater.
In the summer, there are countless ice floes there.
In summer, the Arctic is in a polar daylight state, the ice melts, and a lot of broken ice will be blown into the North Pacific Ocean by the monsoon through the Bering Strait, and then swept by the major ocean currents and drifting back and forth in the northern North Pacific Ocean (those who have studied the ocean currents can find that the North Pacific Ocean Warm Current, Alaska Warm Current, and thousands of cold currents just form a circle, encircling the northernmost part of the Pacific Ocean), and the ship is not only difficult but also very dangerous to travel - you must know that the Titanic sank after hitting a giant iceberg.
If it's a big iceberg, it's okay, you can see it from a distance, with the speed of the ancient wooden boat, as long as you find it in advance, you can still avoid it, I'm afraid of the kind of small ice floe that is half floating in the seawater, if the boat hits, it's a big hole - the defense of the wooden ship is not as strong as the iron ship, even the iron ship does not dare to drive in the ice floe, and the wooden boat is not a sinking one.
So Li Zhen will not take this road until the last resort, but according to the previous situation, if there is no high-yield crop, it is simply impossible for Li Zhen to stabilize the interior and then wave his troops to fight.
Therefore, before returning to Lingnan, Li Zhen had already determined that if the grain production of Datang did not increase significantly within five years, he was ready to take the risk of going to the Bering Strait to give it a try, as long as he was careful, he should be able to let most people pass safely.
But not long after he made his decision, that is, today, Wang Dewei actually brought him good news.
"Hahaha......"
Li Zhen really couldn't stop laughing, he was so happy, with sweet potatoes, he could finally solve his worries, and Datang's hegemony could be expected.
"Uncle Wang, you've done me a great favor."
After a long time, Li Zhen reluctantly quieted down and patted Wang Dewei's shoulder vigorously: "Not only did you help me a lot, but you also made a peerless feat for the Tang Dynasty, for my Chinese people, and for countless ancient sages - don't worry, as long as the sweet potato can be popularized, as long as its yield can exceed three hundred catties, I will personally ask my father to ask you for a duke." ” "Wow!"
After listening to Li Zhen's words, everyone was stunned, and they all looked at Li Zhen in disbelief - opening and closing his mouth is a duke, is the current duke so easy to obtain?
However, they quickly reacted, if the yield of sweet potatoes can really be as exaggerated as Li Zhen said......
No, don't be so exaggerated, as long as it can exceed three hundred catties, the reward of a duke is really not much.
This is not a sweet potato, this is a fairy food that can live countless people, as long as someone still eats sweet potatoes in the future, they can remember Wang Dewei's contribution - this is a great achievement that can make people famous for thousands of years, what is a duke?
Thinking of this, everyone's eyes turned red.
Just now, Liu Renliang and those people didn't even want officials for the sake of sweet potatoes, which shows how much credit this sweet potato has.
And now this sweet potato was actually taken away by a Qiu Ba.
That's really ......
It's so unwilling.
Envy, jealousy, and hatred among them.
"Your Highness, no."
Wang Dewei thought that Li Zhen was crazy with joy, and hurriedly waved his hand and said: "My subordinates just want to take the sweet potatoes and give them to Your Highness to taste, but I haven't thought about what merit I want to make, and besides, this sweet potato was also brought by Brother Sai, and my subordinates ......
This is really inappropriate, and I ask Your Highness to take back your order. ” "No need to shirk, you can afford this duke, as for Sai Qunxiong, you don't have to worry about him, since I can remember your credit, I naturally won't forget him."
Li Zhen set his eyes on Sai Qunxiong again: "Sai Qunxiong, your sweet potato has solved a big problem for my Tang Dynasty, since this palace has rewarded Wang Dewei who introduced sweet potatoes to this palace, you are naturally indispensable as a treasure donor......
Tell me, what benefits do you want?
” "Your Highness, I don't want any good."
Sai Qunxiong shook his head first, and then said his request: "There is only one request, we were brought to Datang by the storm, and it is estimated that we will not be able to go back in this life, I only hope to take my people to live a good life in Datang, as long as Your Highness is willing to accept us, not only this sweet potato, we are willing to dedicate everything we bring to Your Highness." ”