Just as Zhu Yuanzhang was imagining how many people could be fed if sweet potatoes were grown throughout both northern and southern Great Ming in later ages, he saw Liu Bang send another two passages.
[Liu Bang: Old Zhu, can you work out how far Wanli's twenty-first year was from your time? Also, what year would the end of the fifteenth century by the Western calendar be? How many years would that be from your time?]
[Oh, and do the South Seas refer to the ocean south of the Qin-era South Sea Commandery? If the South Seas aren't far from Great Ming, and those Westerners have already taken sweet potatoes there, couldn't you send your navy to seize some sweet potato planting stock?]
When the delighted Zhu Yuanzhang saw Liu Bang's second passage, his eyes instantly lit up.
"Of course!"
"If those Westerners have already brought sweet potatoes to Luzon by now, we can send the navy to seize some planting stock!"
"Then we can spread them throughout the provinces south of the great river, and even the northern provinces. Our Great Ming will never have to fear famine again!"
At that thought, he immediately replied to Liu Bang to discuss the matter.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: I don't even know exactly which emperors Great Ming will have after me. How could I work out how many years separate Wanli's twenty-first year from now?]
[But I do have some guesses about where the Westerners mentioned in the answer came from.]
[The Song and Yuan dynasties before our Great Ming collectively called the ocean and islands south and west of the Qin-era South Sea Commandery the Western Ocean. Luzon, mentioned in the explanation, is a large island in the Western Ocean. A few years ago, a native chieftain of Luzon even sent envoys