Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 780 Waiting for the opportunity

After Su Chen cured Ling'er's illness, he left Hangzhou and immediately returned to Jinling City.

He was very busy during this period. He was not only studying military tactics, but also conducting experiments. There were medical experiments, such as developing anti-inflammatory and bactericidal drugs, antidiarrheal drugs, etc., as well as new food that was easy to carry during marches - instant noodles!

The earliest record of boiled noodles made by mixing wheat flour with water was in Liu Xi's Shi Ming (Explanation of Names) in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which shows that boiled noodles were already produced in the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, at that time, the technology for making portable and boiled instant food should not have appeared.

It was not until the time of Qi Min Yao Shu that there was a record of instant food made of wheat flour boiled in water. This is "cut noodle porridge". But Su Chen wanted to make noodles into noodles and instant noodles, so that they could be carried with the army.

When marching south, Su Chen planned to bring some pasta in addition to rice and corn in the marching rations. It was convenient and easy to use and would improve the boring ration structure.

At the same time, Su Chen also planned to build noodle processing factories, pickled vegetable factories, textile factories, pharmaceutical factories, oil presses, etc. in Jinling. All of them would be government-operated, similar to the state-owned enterprises in later generations, to control the economic lifeline, so as to recruit workers and mobilize the labor force in the city.

Especially female labor. In ancient times, the reason why women had a low status and no say was because they could not be officials, could not study, could not do business, and apart from farming, they stayed at home. Their labor force was not fully released, and they did not have sufficient economic ability, so they had no social status.

It will be different in the future. It will be an era of the rise of women. Online shopping consumption power, consumer users of film, television and cultural and creative products, etc. will all be dominated by women.

Su Chen was not doing these things deliberately just to improve the social status of women in ancient times. He just felt that in ancient times, the population was small, and if men were the only ones to work, farm, fight, etc., and women's labor force could not be brought into play, it would be a waste of social resources.

Only when men, women, old and young each perform their duties, have something to do, can be self-reliant and create value, can the social structure be healthy.

The road is long and difficult, but if you keep going you will reach your destination; if you keep moving forward without stopping, there will be a promising future!

Therefore, Su Chen began to establish these state-owned factories one after another, and also relaxed the restrictions on recruiting women. For example, textile factories, garment factories, dyeing workshops, etc., were definitely dominated by female workers.

Su Chen handed over the business affairs to Bai Suzhen to manage, plan and formulate rules, and then handed them over to the officials of the government to coordinate.

Since Su Chen was able to establish a government office after being crowned king, Yang Ling'er gave Su Chen more centralized privileges, allowing him to set up institutions and offices within the government office to handle government affairs.

In ancient times, "Kaifu" meant that high-ranking officials such as the Three Dukes, the Great Generals, and the Generals could set up their own offices and select their own subordinates. In the Han Dynasty, the Three Dukes and the Great Generals could set up their own offices. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the qualifications for setting up offices were relaxed, and the governors of various states in the Jin Dynasty who were also in charge of military affairs and had the rank of general could set up their own offices. In the Western Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties, there were a total of 24 armies, each of which had a Kaifu General, referred to as Kaifu, and the full name was the General of Cavalry and Kaifu Yitong Sansi. Under the Kaifu General was Yitong General, whose full name was the General of Chariots and Cavalry and Yitong Sansi.

The princes of the Tang Dynasty accepted the emperor's orders and opened their own offices and yamen to handle their own military and political affairs. The princes who opened their own offices could freely appoint and dismiss subordinate officials, and even had the right to formulate and implement some laws and policies.

In the shogunate, there are generally official positions such as "Chief Li", "Cheng", "Canjun" and "Zhubu". Su Chen selected some of his own people, as well as young Confucian scholars and Juren recommended by Han Xizai to take up these positions.

Bai Suzhen was wearing a green silk dress of the Jiangnan color, which was the dress of noble ladies in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. Her upper body dress was a gauze shirt with wide sleeves and a front opening. Her slim waist was tied low in a long skirt that trailed on the ground. Her hair was tied into a "startling swan bun" with a golden hairpin on it that was still flashing, complementing the beauty of the other party.

Although Bai Su Su has been married for more than a year, her waist is still very slender, not much different from that of a young girl. However, with the nourishment and irrigation of love, her chest is more upright and her buttocks are more rounded, which is obviously the result of her husband's marriage. Bai Su Su is more beautiful. She walked to Su Chen with light steps and smiled at him, "The instant noodles and dried noodles you researched are really innovative. After they were launched on the market, they are selling very well. The workshop is processing them day and night, but the flour is gradually in short supply and needs to be transferred from all over the country, even from the north."

Su Chen nodded. He also knew that although wheat had been cultivated for a long time as one of the five grains in ancient times, it was mostly cultivated in the north and the yield was not high. It was mostly consumed by wealthy families.

"Well, pasta cannot be the main food for the people because the current farming technology and per-acre yield are insufficient. Coupled with natural disasters and wars, people don't have much surplus food at home and it's easy for them to go hungry." Su Chen said with emotion.

"Yes, although we have plenty of rainfall in the south of the Yangtze River, we can only harvest once a year after all, and the food is limited. After paying the food tax and other levies, the people can barely have enough food for a year or two. Once a natural disaster or man-made disaster occurs, refugees will starve to death." Bai Suzhen sighed lightly. Although she was a female businessman, she was very familiar with the lives of ordinary people. She did not have the arrogant and aloof thinking of the powerful.

"Isn't rice harvested twice a year in Jiangnan?"

"Two harvests a year, haven't you heard of that?"

Su Chen was stunned for a moment, and suddenly thought of the record in the paper he had read. The introduction and promotion of Vietnamese Champa rice during the Northern Song Dynasty increased the rice production in the Jiangnan region from "one harvest a year" to "two harvests a year". From then on, the proverb "When Suzhou and Lake Tai are ripe, the world is full" became popular.

"It turns out that the time is not right, and rice in Jiangnan is still harvested once a year. If Champa rice from Vietnam is introduced to Jiangnan and planted in the Taihu Lake Basin, the grain output in Jiangnan can be doubled, and military rations will be sufficient." Su Chen was somewhat excited. This time when he sent troops to Southern Han and Lingnan, he could send people to Vietnam, India and other places to look for Champa rice, bring it back for cultivation, and combine Champa rice with late rice to make a double-season rice, which would greatly increase grain production.

The so-called "Champa Rice" is a rice variety commonly found in Indochina countries. It has the advantages of high yield, early maturity and drought resistance. It has not yet been introduced to the Northern Song Dynasty and Jiangnan.

A smile appeared on Su Chen's lips. It seemed that he had an extra task to accomplish this trip south. If he could cultivate and eat the crops one day earlier, he could benefit the people of the world one step earlier and also increase the grain reserves of the Wu State.

"SuSu, you are such a blessing to me!"

Su Chen smiled slightly, moved forward, kissed Bai Su Su's cheek, and put his arms around her slender waist, making Bai Su Su blush and a little shy.

"What's wrong, sir?"

Su Chen laughed: "Haha, now that you reminded me, I have some new ideas that can improve the national strength of my Wu country."

Bai Su Su praised: "You have a lot of ideas, which are original and amazing. I really don't know where these ideas of yours come from. I can only attribute them to your amazing talent."

Su Chen pursed his lips into a smile, all these thoughts of his came from the future world, but unfortunately as a time traveler, he could only know them by himself and could not tell anyone, otherwise, he would be regarded as a monster!