When the surrounded soldiers saw Han Du, they said with a slight cry in their voice: "Master Marquis, the seeds we brought are broken."

"It's broken? What's broken?" Han Du didn't react at the moment.

The soldier had no choice but to raise his finger and point to the inside of the box and said: "When the villain came today, he suddenly saw some leaves coming out of the gap. When he opened the box, he saw that all the seeds had sprouted and were covered with leaves."

Is it bad if the seeds germinate and grow leaves? Of course they are bad, at least in the eyes of everyone. This is like rice. When it is dried and well preserved, it will be fine for three to five years. But as long as the rice gets damp

If it sprouts, it's over.

In the eyes of everyone, since they are all seeds, the rice seeds are finished when they germinate, and the germination of these seeds is no exception.

Han Du reached out and picked one up, and sure enough, he saw that there were three or five buds growing in every depression on the skin, and there were one or two light green leaves on the top of the long buds.

"This is not broken." Han Du glanced at everyone and said calmly.

"Is what the Marquis said true? Is this really not bad?" The soldier was most concerned about the quality of this and asked quickly. Although it was not his fault, he was just the first to discover it, but in his heart

But there is always a sense of guilt. He deceives himself by thinking that if he hadn't discovered it, wouldn't it mean that the seeds were not bad?

It was precisely because Han Du saw the guilt in his expression that he directly said it was okay.

"Of course, you don't believe what I say?" Han Du threw it into the box and said calmly.

How dare the soldiers not believe what Han Du said? He quickly bowed and nodded and said, "Believe it, I believe what the Marquis said. If the Marquis says it's not broken, then it means it's not broken. That's good. I was really scared to death just now."

Han Du smiled when he saw this, turned around, walked up the steps, and left.

Fang Xiaoru saw Han Du's expression changed, and knew that the matter might not be as simple as Han Du said, so he quickly followed Han Du up.

When they arrived at Han Du's house, Fang Xiaoru closed the door behind her back.

Looking at Han Du sitting on the ground, he said in a deep voice: "There are no outsiders here now. What is going on? Can you tell me?"

Han Du smiled awkwardly, then faced Fang Xiaoru calmly and sighed: "I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

"Are those seeds really bad?" Fang Xiaoru was shocked when he heard Han Du's words. He knew very well how important these seeds were to the people of the Ming Dynasty. They didn't even exchange more gold for these seeds.

In order to bring these seeds back, now that the seeds are broken, Fang Xiaoru is not afraid of a bolt from the blue.

Han Du shook his head and denied: "It's not broken now, but it will be soon if we don't deal with it."

The first half of the sentence made Fang Xiaoru feel relieved, but the second half of the sentence suddenly made him feel excited. He asked sharply: "What on earth is going on?"

Han Du gave a bitter smile and said: "When these things sprout, they must be planted in the soil, otherwise they will completely rot over time."

Fang Xiaoru immediately understood why Han Du had a bitter smile on his face. If this was the Ming Dynasty, it would be simple, just plant it directly in the soil. But now we are on a ship, where can we find land to plant these things?

"Then how about we stop the ship and save these things first?"

Han Du suddenly raised his head and looked at Fang Xiaoru. Seeing that he was not joking, Han Du said with a bit of laughter and tears: "You mean, let's get off the ship and plant the grain, and wait until the harvest is harvested before setting sail back?"

"Then do you have a better idea now?" Fang Xiaoru also knew that his suggestion was a bit absurd, but it was better than watching all the food rot, right?

"Don't mention it yet. This is a solution. But what should we do? Are we going to waste more than half a year here?" Han Du rejected Fang Xiaoru's idea without thinking. He has been out for more than a year.

If I have to stay here for more than half a year, then by the time I return to Ming Dynasty, three years will have passed.

It lasts three years since I came out. Maybe Anqing would think that he died at sea and shed tears all day long. Even now, Han Du is eager to return home, wishing for an instant

Returning to Daming, who would be willing to stay here?

After hearing what Han Du said, Fang Xiaoru sat down immediately. Since Han Du didn't agree, he couldn't think of any other way besides this.

Han Du suddenly had an idea and thought of something.

When Fang Xiaoru saw it, he was surprised and said: "Do you have a solution?"

Han Du nodded with a half-smile and said, "I have an idea, but..."

"But what?" Fang Xiaoru didn't care so much. When he heard that Han Du had a solution, he asked quickly.

Han Du thought for a while and patiently explained to Fang Xiaoru: "Actually, we don't have to get off the boat to plant these grains in the soil. We use some boxes to load the soil. It doesn't need to be too much, as long as it is two feet thick.

, you can also grow these things.”

"Is this okay?" Fang Xiaoru asked with some confusion when it was the first time he heard that food could be grown in this way.

Han Du nodded heavily and said: "It's definitely possible, but in this case, we will need to carry a lot of soil onto the ship. As a result, the load of the ship may be a huge problem."

Fang Xiaoru nodded subconsciously after hearing this, agreeing with Han Du's statement. The weight of soil is not light. Since those things are to be planted on the ship, a lot of soil is naturally needed. If there is too much soil, it will naturally take up a lot of the load of the ship.

There are only two solutions, one is to plant less, so that the soil required will naturally be greatly reduced and the ship can bear it. But if this is the case, the seeds that can be brought back to the Ming Dynasty will also be greatly reduced. For every kilogram of grain added

By planting, the people of the Ming Dynasty would be able to grow such food as early as possible.

Obviously, neither Han Du nor Fang Xiaoru would choose to give up grain unless absolutely necessary.

Since the grain cannot be reduced, the load can only be reduced.

Fang Xiaoru pondered for a while and finally said: "The cannons on your warship are so densely packed that each one weighs several hundred kilograms. Why don't you abandon them?"

Han Du was stunned for a moment, then reacted immediately, and then said with a smile: "Don't joke with me. Whether we can go back smoothly depends on these cannons. Although the sea is calm now, we are here.

The last section of the road has to turn back to the south. The Japanese country is the place we must pass through. If we don't have cannons, won't we be torn apart by the Japanese pirates?"

"Oh? Is that so?" Fang Xiaoru really didn't know how to go back this time, but now that Han Du said this, he no longer had the thought of giving up the cannon.

Han Du nodded dullly.

"I can't bear it this way, and I can't bear it that way, so what do you think we should do?" Fang Xiaoru spread his hands, indicating that he had no choice but to look at Han Du's thoughts.

Han Du pondered for a moment, then slowly raised his head and looked at Fang Xiaoru and said, "There are still people on this boat."

"Human? What do you mean!" Fang Xiaoru's voice suddenly became sharp.

There were many people on the fleet, including naval officers, some Yin Di'an people, and the captives. Fang Xiaoru could guess without thinking that Han Du must be referring to those captives. There were thousands of those captives. If

If it can be completely emptied, enough space can be left for growing food.

And since they are those prisoners, Han Du's meaning may not be too wonderful.

Sure enough, Han Du ignored Fang Xiaoru's sudden change of expression and said in a deep voice: "These people are guilty of heinous crimes. Even if they return to the Ming Dynasty, they will die. Originally, I brought them back just to clarify the canon.

Xing, since we are unable to take them back now, wouldn't it be the same to kill them all here?"

Fang Xiaoru suddenly opened his eyes wide, looked at Han Du in disbelief, and said in a deep voice: "That's more than a thousand lives, and most of them are women and children. How can you do it?"

To be honest, Han Du really didn't want to do it. Originally, Han Du had never thought about executing this person with his own hands.

These people wanted to take them back to Ming Dynasty and hand them over to Lao Zhu.

Anyway, if Lao Zhu accepts it, there are many people who are willing to do such dirty work.

But now due to sudden needs, it is impossible for Han Du to bring these people back to the Ming Dynasty. Compared with them, Han Du feels that bringing food back to the Ming Dynasty is more important.

Seeing that Han Du's expression had softened, Fang Xiaoru quickly said while the iron was hot: "Those are just women and children, why do you need to let your hands be stained with blood? Just let them off the boat here."

Han Du sat up in vain and sighed: "Do you think they can survive if you put them off the boat?"

Seeing Fang Xiaoru's expression of confusion, Han Du raised his hand and rubbed his forehead and said: "You also know that most of them are women and children. Once they are allowed to disembark, can you guarantee that the local indigenous people will not attack them? You saw

I have never seen what it is like among the cannibals. If there is a cannibal here, their fate will probably be even more miserable."

When Han Du mentioned the scene of cannibals, Fang Xiaoru couldn't help but feel a little chill in his heart. He had only read about cannibalism in history books, but he never imagined that it would be such a hellish scene. Fang Xiaoru suddenly fell into deep thought.

Han Du's statement is not unreasonable. There is no way that a group of women and children could be rivals of those dehumanized cannibals.

Han Du and Fang Xiaoru discussed it, but neither could convince the other.

However, Handu still ordered the fleet to dock, cut down the wood to make a box, fill it with soil, and use it for planting potatoes. The corn could not be stored after being dried, so there was no sign of germination.

Hearing that food could be grown in this way, the navy officers all showed disbelief. In their opinion, growing food requires land. Although there is soil in this wooden box, it is too far away from the land. How can it be possible to grow food?

?

But after they buried the peeled potato sprouts in the soil according to Han Du's instructions, within a few days, sprouts actually emerged from the soil, and they were growing well.

Among the navy soldiers, there were also some who had a background in making trouble. When they saw that the Marquis could grow food like this, they were simply amazed by Han Du. They were all eager to try and took the initiative to take care of the crops.

Since Han Du brought a lot of tomatoes and potatoes, since he wanted to plant them now, he would naturally need a large number of wooden boxes. Soon, with the efforts of the navy soldiers, as long as there was free space on the eight large ships, they were put in

He took out the wooden box and planted grain.

In the past few days, Fang Xiaoru never gave up trying to persuade Han Du.

"Do you really want to kill them all?" Fang Xiaoru's eyes fell on the captives on the coast who were working hard to cut down trees to make boxes and cultivate soil. The men worked together to cut down the trees and saw the wood into pieces of wood, and the women helped cut the wood into pieces.

The wooden boards were paneled together to make wooden boxes. Even the children were not idle. Their young hands picked up the soil from the ground, put it into the wooden box, and then slowly flattened it with force.

Han Du glared at Fang Xiaoru angrily, and asked in a deep voice: "Do you know what the crime should be if you release a prisoner from the imperial court privately?"

Fang Xiaoru's eyes showed a cunning look, and he said seriously: "How can we say that you released imperial prisoners privately? Our ships are obviously powerless. If we bring these people, it is impossible to bring back the grain. Who do I think?

Which one is more important, the emperor can understand."

Han Du glanced at Fang Xiaoru with a strange expression, wondering where he got his confidence. If Lao Zhu knew how to write "understand" two words, he wouldn't have made all officials afraid like this.

But what Fang Xiaoru said was right. He really couldn't do anything to these thousands of women and children. If it was a battle on the battlefield, when it was a life-and-death fight, Han Du would kill tens of thousands of people without blinking an eye. Now he has to deal with more than a thousand

Han Du really couldn't make up his mind to attack defenseless women and children.

"Just die," Han Du secretly gritted his teeth and decided to let these women and children go.

But even if they are released, these women and children cannot be left here casually. As Han Du said, if they are only left here, the outcome waiting for them will probably not be good.
To be continued...