save the bachelors

Chapter 4353 [Dilemma]

"Brother, your suggestion is very good." Xiang Nan nodded, "If we form an alliance with any of them, it will break the current situation of the three powers and promote the outbreak of war.

But we Song clan are not fully prepared yet, those crops have not been promoted on a large scale, the steel mill has not been completed, and the weapons, armor, artillery and gunpowder have not been equipped on a large scale.

So we need more time. The later the war breaks out, the better it will be for us. Therefore, we must not only listen to our elder brother and not form an alliance with any clan, but also pursue the strategy of "building high walls, storing up food, and slowly claiming the throne". Let them fight each other, and we just focus on developing our own. "

"Build high walls, store up food, and slowly claim the throne? Very good, very well said, let's do it this way." Song Que smiled, "They think they can bribe me, Song Que, with a little bit of profit. They really underestimate me."

In the end, the Song clan politely declined the alliance request from the three major clans, saying that they had no intention of rebelling and only wanted to live in peace.

The three clans naturally knew that he was talking nonsense. If they only wanted to live in peace, why would they buy the entire Pegasus Ranch? Are they hoarding so many war horses just for fun?

But even though everyone knew it, no one said it out loud. After all, the Song clan was very powerful, and no one of them could be sure of winning if they attacked it.

Moreover, as long as it fights, the other two families will take the opportunity to attack it. By then, even if it defeats the Song family, it will not be able to escape the fate of being annexed.

So they could only let it go. Fortunately, the Song clan had not formed an alliance with any clan, which was a good thing.

The wedding banquet lasted for a full eight days, during which time the guests left one after another.

Xu Ziling and Shi Feixuan were the last group to leave. They planned to retire from society, wander around the world, and stroll along the beautiful rivers.

"Master Zhong, Feixuan and I are leaving." He said to Xiang Nan, "You and Miss Yuzhi take care of yourselves."

"Don't worry." Xiang Nan nodded, "You are welcome to come and play with me anytime. Guilin's landscape is the best in the world. You can go and have a look."

"Okay." Xu Ziling said with a smile.

……

After a while, the crops planted by the farmers of Song Queming finally reached the harvest season.

When people picked the sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, peanuts, etc. and weighed them, they were all amazing. The yields of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn were very high.

The yield of sweet potatoes per mu reaches 4,000 kilograms, that of potatoes reaches 3,500 kilograms, and even the yield of corn is more than 500 kilograms, which is much higher than the yield of rice.

  The key is that sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn are all delicious. Sweet potatoes are sweet and taste better than taro; potatoes are also crispy and soft. After corn is ground into flour, it is boiled into porridge and steamed into cakes, which are also very fragrant.

Peanuts are very delicious whether eaten raw or fried. Peppers are appetizing, and tomatoes are sweet and sour...

Song Que was very surprised by the yield and taste. "Very good, very good. This yield is much better than rice. If this method is promoted, no one in Lingnan will go hungry anymore."

Lingnan is mostly mountainous and hilly, with few plains, so it is not suitable for farming.

Even in modern times, the cultivated land area in Lingnan is only 30 million mu. In comparison, the cultivated land area in Yanzhao, which is not much different in area, is as high as 90 million mu.

Therefore, food in Lingnan has always been a problem, which has forced the Song family to live in a corner and be unable to conquer the north. But now that there are more than 1,000 kilograms of grain per mu, the problem of insufficient arable land has been solved.

Only with enough food can we feed enough people, support enough troops, and have enough food and money to fight. So these high-yield crops are truly God-given.

"Zhong'er, it's our Song family's honor to have you as our son-in-law." Song Que said with a smile. "You're welcome, Dad. It's my honor." Xiang Nan waved his hand and smiled.

……

Afterwards, the soap and glass produced in the Song family workshop began to be put on the market for sale, and the sales were naturally very good.

Especially glass products, such as glass mirrors, glass cups, glass pots, glass statues... they are extremely popular and one piece would cost hundreds or even thousands of jars.

But in fact, its materials are not expensive, just cheap quartz sand and plant ash. Just by processing it, the profit can be tens or hundreds of times.

Song Que was very moved. This was simply "turning stone into gold" and making a huge profit.

As these goods were sold all over the country, they also brought a lot of income to the Song clan. A large amount of copper coins and silver flowed into Lingnan, greatly increasing the financial reserves of the Song clan.

Half a year later, the small blast furnace led by Xiang Nan was officially built. Iron ore from Jiangmen and Qingyuan, and coal from Ganzhou and Pingxiang, were used together to produce steel.

At the beginning, they could produce 2,000 kilograms of steel a day. Later, as they gained experience, they could produce around 4,000 to 5,000 kilograms of steel a day. And what they produced was steel, not iron.

Steel is more resilient, elastic, and ductile than iron, and is more durable and corrosion-resistant. Therefore, weapons made of steel are sharper and more durable, and armor made of steel is stronger and more durable.

It can be said that weapons made of steel are of better quality than weapons made of iron. It is for this reason that ancient people valued "steel" more. In order to obtain steel, iron had to be hammered repeatedly, so there is a saying that "steel is made through repeated tempering."

During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao once asked skilled craftsmen to make five precious swords, with the inscriptions of "dragon, tiger, bear, bird and sparrow" on them. They were called "Bai Pi Dao". One was awarded to Crown Prince Cao Pi, one to Cao Zhi, one to Cao Lin, and the remaining two were for his own use.

The reason why the knife is called "Bai Pi Dao" is because it is made of steel that has been tempered a thousand times, and it is extremely precious. That is why Cao Cao regarded it as a treasure.

It can be seen that during the Three Kingdoms period, steel was also extremely rare, and its value was probably higher than gold and silver. Therefore, when Song Que saw the refined steel, he was very excited.

Even if the output of the small blast furnace is not as high as Xiang Nan said, reaching tens of millions of kilograms a year, but being able to produce two to three million kilograms of steel a year is already quite impressive.

……

With the promotion of agricultural crops, the forging of steel, and the hot sales of glass and soap, the strength of the Lingnan Song clan is expanding rapidly and is strengthening visibly.

The strengthening of the Song clan also made the other three clans increasingly fearful. They realized that if the three clans did not quickly decide the winner and achieve unification, then once the Song clan's strength expanded to a certain extent, Song Que would definitely send troops north.

By then, with the strength of the Song clan, the three major clans would be defeated one by one. Therefore, they had to decide the winner and unite as one to be able to fight against the Song clan.

But this also faces a problem, that is, if the three families start fighting, their strength will be damaged. At that time, the Song family will take the opportunity to send troops north and kill him while he is sick, which will also be troublesome for them.

The three major clans were extremely anxious and uneasy facing this dilemma. They wanted to take action but were afraid to do so, and were in a dilemma for a while.

But at this time, something happened that stirred up the situation in the world.

Happy National Day to everyone!