Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1630 Announcement Five
August is also the harvest season in Yunnan.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, many places began to harvest wheat one after another.

The mansion soldier Kong Er also put down the swords and guns he had practiced for a long time, and went down to the fields to harvest with his family and tribesmen.

To be honest, this is a rare spectacle.

When he was recruiting soldiers, Kong Er would not go to the ground at all, and he looked down on such things.But when it is for his own benefit, he is willing to do it, and he works very hard.

It turns out that warriors can also do farm work!

Yunnan's planting technology is not too backward - of course, this is localized.

In the two Beijing areas of Nanzhao, perhaps due to the heritage of the ancient Dian Kingdom or extensive exchanges with the Central Plains, the farmland water conservancy facilities they built are very complete, and the production and application of farm tools are also very extensive, and the overall output is not low.

However, these areas are now in the hands of the imperial court, such as Dali Mansion, Kunzhou, Yaozhou, Tengzhou, and Quzhou, which implemented counties and counties, a large number of immigrants, and cleared household registration.

In terms of planting varieties, Yunnan mainly uses rotations of rice, wheat, and miscellaneous grains.

In this regard, it is even more advanced than the Central Plains.

In the northern region, millet was still the main variety before the Tang Dynasty.After entering the Tang Dynasty, the proportion of wheat planting increased day by day, and even increased sharply since the middle and late Tang Dynasty. In all fairness, planting wheat is indeed more cost-effective than planting corn, and the yield is slightly higher. Daxia has also been promoting wheat planting in places where conditions permit, replacing corn as much as possible.

Nanzhao seems to have directly skipped the stage of planting millet. The rice-wheat rotation is flourishing. Looking around, except for some areas, most of the farmland is planted with winter wheat after the autumn harvest.

Tonghai Dudu Mansion is no exception.

In this place that had just been changed to Tonghai Prefecture (under the jurisdiction of Jianshui, Tonghai, Jiangchuan, Wenfu, and Baping counties), the immigrants from Jiangnan were not familiar with growing wheat, but under the guidance of officials from Sinong Temple, after two or three years of adaptation, they directly rotated rice and wheat.When the land is not strong enough, plant miscellaneous grains again and slowly, and this cycle gradually improves.

This year, the Kong Er family's rice yield is close to two dendrobiums per mu, which is much higher than the output of one dendrobium of wheat, so the more they harvest, the happier they are, and they even hum a miscellaneous song.

Across a small road on a field ridge, more than a dozen carriages headed westward with difficulty, towards the direction of Baping City.

Kong Er straightened up, but saw many people with high noses and deep eyes.

"The craftsman who pulls sweat!" A clear understanding rose in his heart.

In the past year, a lot of craftsmen have come to Tonghai Prefecture, and there are always hundreds of households.

There are many things he is good at.

There is a blacksmith who specializes in making farm tools, which solves the urgent need for farming in Tonghai Prefecture.

There are cobblers who can use Yunnan's rich herd resources to make clothes and even various leather products.

There are carpenters who can make all kinds of tools, furniture, and even build houses.

There are tailors, and you are good at making Jibei (cotton) clothing. After all, there are so many such things when sweating.

There are also coppersmiths, who specialize in making copperware, and the source of copper is Kunzhou.

Recently, several copper mines have been discovered near Kunzhou, the largest of which is located in the newly established Longdi County (now Stone Forest).

However, copper mines were also discovered in Tonghai Prefecture this year, located in the northeast of Tonghai County (in today's Huaning County). King Yan has sent people to explore, determine the scope of the mine, and prepare for mining and smelting.

In fact, there are many mines in Yunnan, but these are not the only ones?As early as four years ago, when Master Wang captured Yunnan, the sage sent people to explore and search for minerals.

After a few years, there are still some achievements——

In the mountains south of Yaozhou (in today's Shuangbai County), someone found copper and tried a furnace.The second-level officials of Yunnan Road and Yaozhou were ecstatic and flew to report to the saint.

Copper mines were also discovered in Dali Mansion, mainly in the mountains on the Erhai Lake side.

In the territory of Jianchuan Dudufu, there are natives smelting "red copper". The imperial court heard about it and sent people to check it, and there really was a mine.

……

Almost all of Yunnan has copper, and every prefecture has it. The difference is the size.

And with the discovery of these copper mines (often accompanied by metals such as gold, silver, lead and tin), everyone knows that it is impossible for the imperial court to give up this place.

Next, what Yunnan will face will be swarms of officials, merchants, sergeants, and common people. This land in the south of the world will undergo a major reshuffle, resulting in irreversible and permanent changes.

Gold, silver and copper, the court is going crazy!
The abundance of copper mine resources greatly enhanced the status of coppersmiths, and many people were even pardoned as slaves and became common people, which can be described as a leap in life.

On the carriage, Ali also turned to look at Kong Er in the field.

After the two looked at each other, he quickly moved away. As a craftsman who had just been pardoned as a slave, he still had low self-esteem in his heart, and he subconsciously didn't dare to hold his head up high.

But this land is really nice.

The almost invisible rice in Bahan is everywhere here, and the yield is still very high, feeding too many people.

What's more, the people in Yunnan developed a lot of hilly farmland that he thought was not suitable for farming. They worked tirelessly to raise water for irrigation and harvest food.

If the people of Ruoba Khan have this kind of energy and this kind of technology, I am afraid that more than 100 million people can support them.

The carriage staggered and moved forward slowly.

Passing through the hills, you can see bright red fruits and golden rice fields everywhere.

Down to the river valley, the curling smoke in the village makes people intoxicated, this is the taste of life.

As they approached the city, the sound of tinkling iron could be heard endlessly, and there were carts full of food, fruits and vegetables, which were sent into the city for the nobles to enjoy.

Although this place is not as prosperous as it is for the time being, but judging by the momentum of rapid development, it will be a matter of time!

******
After the carriage entered the city, it stopped in front of a magnificent mansion.

The gatekeeper inspected it carefully, waved them in, and finally stopped on a pitch.

This is Yanwang Mansion, the place where the man who holds the highest power in Tonghai Prefecture lives.

Of course, this is just one of his residences.In the mountains to the southwest, there is another courtyard.

These two places were designed by the imperial court and built by enlisting common people and captives, which shows the power of King Yan in the court.

"Did you bring the things here?" Shi Renyuan, the head of the palace, hurried over and asked.

"Here we are." The foreman immediately lifted the tarpaulin covering the carriage, and said respectfully, "The first batch of soap is here."

Ren Huan walked over slowly, picked up a piece, sniffed it lightly, and said, "It's different from the batch that Ba Khan brought back."

The foreman Cao Sanlang bowed and said: "Don't blame the long history. Tonghai Prefecture can't find those fragrant leaves and essential oils. We can only replace them with local flowers and trees. In addition, the oil used in this batch of soap is pig ointment, not the oil squeezed from olean fruits."

"So that's the case." Ren Huan nodded, and then helped Cao Sanlang up, saying: "There is no need to do this. Now that it is finished, you are an official."

"Thank you Changshi, thank you Your Highness for your kindness." Cao Sanlang wept with joy and was very excited.

Ali half understood, but he knew that the nobles must have given a great reward, that's why the foreman was so excited.

well!In fact, the main credit for making the soap belongs to him, but he is the one who pulls the sweat, so he is destined to miss this opportunity.To be pardoned as a slave and get some rewards is already great--in fact, it's also good.

"Don't rush to get excited." Ren Huan laughed and said, "The rewards are more than that."

"Changshi please give me instructions." Cao Sanlang bowed his head and said respectfully.

"Tonghai prefecture already has a Confucianism school, and His Highness wants to follow the example of the Central Plains, building engineering and medicine. If you have time, you can go to teach, and you don't need to teach how to make soap. Well, you were originally a herb collector, right? Both of these schools can teach, and His Highness will definitely reward you." Ren Xuan said.

In fact, various miscellaneous studies existed in the Tang Dynasty.

At the county level, there are Confucian classics.

At the state level, there are classics, arithmetic, and medicine.

The new dynasty of Daxia was elegant and political, and there were classics, mathematics, medicine, and agriculture at the county level.At the state level, there is another engineering school—in fact, it mainly teaches iron smelting.

At the Guozijian level, there are more miscellaneous subjects such as construction.

To tell the truth, in the Tang Dynasty, students in miscellaneous subjects were dissatisfied with recruiting students, and their prospects were mediocre if they passed the examination.

Due to the attention of saints, the status of miscellaneous studies has been greatly improved in Guochao, but it is still struggling due to the power of tradition.

The main destination of mathematics talents is the squares and cities of various prefectures, and they are accounted for by businessmen who concentrate on transactions during the exposition.

A small number of mathematics talents also major in construction, so they can be construction scholars. Although they are very profitable, their status is not high.

Not to mention engineering and medicine, which are too professional, so far no one has become a high-ranking official.

Among the miscellaneous subjects, Wang Yong, the supervisor of the Shaofu, had the highest achievement, but this was the only case.

But don't say it hasn't changed.

Compared with the Tang Dynasty, among the green-robed junior officials (ranks six to nine) of the Guochao Dynasty, the number of people with miscellaneous academic backgrounds has greatly increased, and the number is several times higher than that of the previous Tang Dynasty. Most of them are agricultural students. This is a positive aspect.

With this change as a foundation, the next reform will come naturally—it is very important to break the habit. If you can’t break it for a while, then boil the frogs in warm water, so that people can slowly accept the facts and reduce resistance.

The reform of the sage was mainly set on the imperial examination.

As early as the scientific examination in the 13th year of Jianji, it was the first time to obtain a place for Jinshi according to the way.

In the first year of Tongguang, Yunnan, which participated in the Daxia scientific examination for the first time, gave two Jinshi places, which were selected by the children of the Duan family and the Gao family respectively.

In the fourth year of Tongguang (919), the reform continued.

The disciplines with fixed quotas according to Dao will be expanded to two: Yunnan Dao will have two Jinshi quotas and one agronomy quota.

There is no doubt that this is a major change.

Anyone who has experienced it knows how difficult the Confucian classics Jinshi exam is. The competition is fierce, and thousands of troops need a little luck to walk across the single-plank bridge.

Although the Huafeng in Yunnan is not prosperous, the difficulty is not as high as other Taoism, but in the Nanzhao era, there were many children of the noble family studying Chinese classics, and there have been many more in recent years, and it is not so easy to take the exam. Hundreds of people first take the Xianggong exam, and then go to the capital to take the Jinshi exam. It is very difficult to fight all the way.

So, how about trying that agronomy quota?Although it is a miscellaneous subject, it is naturally looked down upon by economics students, but if you pass the exam, you are very likely to become an official, isn't it better than empty-handed?

The most important thing is that agriculture is easy to test.

There are only a few textbooks: "The Book of Fansheng" written by Fan Shengzhi of the former Han Dynasty, "The Moon Order of the Four People" written by Cui Shi of the Later Han Dynasty, "Qi Min Yao Shu" written by Jia Sixie of the Later Wei Dynasty, and "On Blood Vessels" by Wang Yong of this dynasty.

The four imperial textbooks don't have a lot of content, so the exam questions come from them.To be fair, it is much easier than taking the Jinshi exam.

Moreover, the first three books have been circulated for many years, some people may have been involved, and it is relatively easy to learn.

I heard that Si Nongqing Liang Zhixia has been compiling an agricultural book for more than ten years, focusing on the different uses of different types of fertilizers, such as cow dung, chicken manure, plant ash, and bone ash. After long-term experiments, Si Nong Temple found that different types of fertilizers have different effects.

The book may also include the best planting methods of millet, wheat and fruit trees, and the planting of new crops of rye and sugar beet.

There are even different processing methods of crops, which are all-encompassing and complex.

If this book is presented to the palace after it is completed and is approved by the sage, it is likely to be listed as a textbook, and the difficulty of the exam will increase again.

Good morning exam, this is the most reasonable.

As Yan Wang's confidant, Ren Huan knew the news.

If you ask him what his attitude is, of course he applauds!Although he was born as a Confucian scholar, he really didn't pass the Jinshi exam, and he was already full of anger. He has always been in favor of the sage raising the status of miscellaneous studies, let those bastards cry, haha.

Uh, Ren Huan may have forgotten his origin, but he is not a pure awl either.In the battle of Huliupo in history, he followed Li Sizhao and fought fiercely with Liang Jun, and he was extremely brave.

After the war, Li Cunxu was taken aback by his performance: "Confucian scholars are also broken and evil? The courage of the benevolent is so strong"-the literati must fight in battle, this is the "elegant government" since the Tang Dynasty.

"The long history has orders, and the servant must obey them." Hearing that Ren Huan asked him to give a lecture, Cao Sanlang was both happy and worried, but he still agreed.

"Why are you afraid?" Seeing the foreman's worried face, Ren Huan smiled and said, "Teach well, and you will have a bright future. The sage can give a place in agriculture, and he will also give opportunities in medicine and engineering in the future."

He is not talking nonsense.For miscellaneous subjects, one is that the number of people who take the exam is small, and the other is that the level is low. This time, the number of quotas for agronomy is fixed, which is considered a major reform.

In other words, even if your level does not meet the expectations of the imperial court, as long as your grades are better than others, this quota is yours, and the imperial court will "hold your nose" to admit it.

Agronomy can provide quotas, and other disciplines can naturally.

And when the number of officials with miscellaneous studies reaches a certain number, they will naturally become a force. It is not that simple to reduce their quota and only respect Confucianism (Jinshi).

Perhaps, this is the real purpose of the sage, for which he did not hesitate to lower the admission standards and fix the number of places.

Many people said that he was a martial artist messing around, but Ren Huan just smiled at this.

But then again, Wu Fu is indeed a very good shield, hiding behind, the saint can do a lot of "deviant" things.

After more than 100 years of suppression by Wu Fu, Confucian scholars are not so high-minded anymore.It is already thankful that the saints can attach importance to the selection of officials through imperial examinations, stop the phenomenon of martial arts occupying officials in large numbers, and improve their status.

"Jianwen and martial arts..." Ren Huan secretly laughed in his heart: "Perhaps the Confucian scholars have never thought that the meaning of this 'wen' is too broad, and the sacred heart is unpredictable."

(End of this chapter)