Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 200 Experimental Field and Political Center
"How much was last year's harvest?" Shao Shude went straight to the experimental field under Lingzhou City as soon as he got off the boat.

Although it was the first time last year that the three-crop crop rotation system was implemented, and nothing could be seen, he was still very concerned.

The fields belonged to Longxing Temple, and they were brought back to the government last year. Master Biancai even brought some monks to Dijinze to preach. The great truth of the Buddha.

The farmer who cultivated the experimental field was the original householder of Longxing Temple, who was also the food town of Marshal Shao.During the three years of the experiment, taxes and labor will be exempted, so everyone is still very motivated.

"Marshal, you can harvest one bushel and seven buckets per mu." Pei Yuan reported from Lingzhou Biejia.

This number is the average number of 60 households. The high ones broke two dendrobiums, while the low ones only had one dendrobium. A total of [-] hectares were planted, and more than [-] dendrobiums were harvested.

"How many seeds were planted?" Shao Shude asked again.

"Sow two buckets of seeds per mu," Pei Yuan replied.

Sow two buckets of seeds per mu, which is dense planting, no wonder you can harvest seven buckets of dendrobium.

Shao Shude calculated in his mind, the seed-to-harvest ratio is 1:8.5, not too low, and slightly better than normal.But it is not much better. After all, this is dense planting. When farmers sow seeds, they will not sow two buckets of seeds per mu unless the land is very fertile and nutrient-rich.

But that's okay, this is the first year, and it will take two years for the fields left fallow to fix nitrogen to see results when they are planted for food.It is hoped that the rate of return can be increased to more than 10, or even 1:15, that is, sowing two buckets of seeds and harvesting two or three bushes of wheat, that would be perfect.

Shao Shude once went to Hengshan Dangxiang to see that their agricultural production was really extensive.Millet, wheat, and highland barley are mainly planted on the mountain, and a bucket of more seeds are scattered, and then nothing else is left, waiting for the harvest in August.An average of five buckets of grain is harvested per mu of land, and the seed-to-harvest ratio is within 1:5, sometimes only 1:4, which is really too bad.

If the rate of return is further reduced, it is better to forget about grazing. This is the truth.

The seed-to-harvest ratio is the most critical indicator of grain harvest.The so-called increase in production actually increases the rate of return.When planting millet and wheat, 1:4 is low, because the yield per mu is less than one dendrobium; 1:6 and 7 are normal levels, because it has reached the average passing line of "one stone per mu" in the country, that is, one and a half buckets of seeds are scattered , get a grain of grain in autumn harvest.

Farmers in Longxing Temple sowed two buckets of seeds per mu and planted at a high density. Usually, they probably made a lot of Yellow River silt and livestock manure to fertilize the fields, just to get a yield of seven buckets per mu to make themselves happy.

Alas, the officials must have taught them to do this, but they must not have expected Shao Shude to ask how many seeds were used.

Wu Fu actually understands this these days?
"A household with [-] mu, what's the situation with [-] mu?" Shao Shude asked.

"Returning to Commander, we have planted a total of [-] hectares of Dawan alfalfa and [-] hectares of beans. The annual output of alfalfa is dozens of stones per mu, which can feed a prairie bullock for a year, or there is a little surplus. Twenty mu, You can raise more than twenty cows." Pei Yuan replied.

"Raising twenty cows, is it too busy?" Shao Shude asked.

"A family of six, it should be...it should be busy." Pei Yuan hesitated.

Shao Shude didn't say anything.As an official, it is good enough to know the numbers. You still expect him to go deep into the farmhouse and ask about his health. Is that realistic?
A family of six people, big and small, must be busy with farm work and take care of livestock. It must be extremely hard and tiring.Shao Shude dared to say that these three hundred households must have drained every ounce of energy from him, otherwise it would be impossible to obtain a yield of one bushel and seven bushels per mu.

Perhaps there are also interests driven in it.Three years without paying taxes, all the income is their own, more work, more pay, can indeed mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers.

"Marshal, sow wheat in March and April. After the work is done, the alfalfa will germinate in May and can be used as a pasture until the middle of winter. It just turns off." Seeing that Pei Yuan was dumbfounded by the question, Zhao Zhi, the shogunate camp judge, stepped forward Said.

"Is there any other grass?"

"Back to Commander-in-Chief, after discussing with the colleagues in the Field Division, they think that turnips can be planted to see, or they can be used as pasture."

"Try another piece of land."

"As ordered."

"How much manure does a steer produce a year?" Shao Shude asked again.

Pei Yuan and Zhao Zhi were all stunned there, as if they had encountered something unbelievable.

Asking this matter is too humiliating!Is the commander really a warrior?When you were in the Tiande Army in the early years, you must have planted land, right?
Shao Shude shook his head.In fact, he doesn’t know either, he only knows that the manure pulled by one cow in a year may not be enough to fertilize one mu of land, and it is best to fertilize two mu of land with three cows.Only in this way can we obtain enviable high yields for many years while maintaining soil fertility-of course, the contribution of fallow nitrogen fixation cannot be forgotten.

The seed-to-harvest ratio must be raised, 1:10 is required, and 1:15 is the goal.

"Find another piece of land to cultivate fine seeds."

The two of them understood Shao Dashuai's words.In fact, farmers have the awareness of saving and selecting seeds, and they plant the wheat with the fullest grains every year. What does the commander mean, do they need better seeds?

"Do you know the horse government?" Shao Shude said: "Pair good horses with good horses, and the foals born will be selected from the best and cultivated from generation to generation. The same can be done with seeds. Let's start to do it. The money, fields, and manpower required , to find someone."

"As ordered."

The high grain yield of future generations is nothing more than four factors: improved seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, and water conservancy.Forget about pesticides, water conservancy has been engaged in.There is indeed no chemical fertilizer, but it can be replaced by manure. The manure pulled by a cow in a year is thrown into an acre of land. The efficiency is low, but there is no way, it can only be like this.

Before time travel, I read novels by myself. In ancient times, a certain person only needs to say, use manure or river bottom mud to fertilize the field, and it seems that high yields can be obtained immediately, and then passers-by are amazed, fame and fortune.

This is conjecture!
Didn't the ancients know about retting?of course I know.But why is the effect still not good?Not enough dung or silt!
The human feces are only one tenth of that of cows, which is enough for a fat fart field!Nitrogen fixation and fallow, cow dung fertilization, and a multi-pronged approach can supplement the soil fertility consumed after high yield.

In addition, there are good breeds. This matter is actually the same as Ma Zheng. It takes a long time to cultivate and a little luck.

The three-crop crop rotation system is currently the only one that can be implemented by himself, the Guanbei Khan.Obtaining enough cattle is also a major reason for controlling so many grassland tribes.Take your time, if one mu of land can harvest two or three dendrobiums of wheat, the grain production of the entire Dingnan Qizhou will increase greatly.At that time, my prestige will rise to a higher level. Who in the town would dare to rebel?
Li Shao went to Huaiyuan County, and Shao Shude lived in the Jiedushi's mansion directly after entering the city.

He first asked the people of the Lingzhou shogunate to find the household registration and farmland information.

After capturing Lingzhou last spring, the local population ushered in a big leap.Originally, there were only 4 people, and counting the hidden households, it was only 3 to 2, and it was less than 13 households.But in the past year, [-] farming households were compiled first, and then two batches of [-] private households in Guanzhong arrived.Then there were [-] households and nearly [-] people from all kinds of craftsmen, sailors, and entertainers.In addition to the [-] to [-] Kanto immigrants who were assigned as usual, the eight counties of Lingzhou (including Dingyuan and Feng'an, which are about to be established as counties) now have more than [-] households with a population of more than [-].

So many people poured in, but it was basically past the farming season, and they failed to plow the land and harvest food in time.Only those who came early, planted a little field, can get a little harvest.These people are supported by Wang Chongrong's 30 dendrobium millet and wheat. The outbreak of Lingzhou's grain production mainly depends on this year.

In the first year of Guangqi, the real area of ​​land sown in Lingzhou was only more than [-] hectares.The shogunate does not know the specific output, because last year's war, the two prefectures of Lingyan were exempted from taxation.If we estimate it, we should have harvested a million dendrobium of rice and wheat, and hundreds of thousands of dendrobium of miscellaneous grains and beans.

In the second year of Guangqi, the grain output in Lingzhou should have increased dramatically.With the increasing population, this place is destined to become the wealthiest place under its control.

"Huaiyuan County..." Shao Shude's finger scratched around on the map.

Huaiyuan County is the Yinchuan of later generations. Marshal Shao now has the idea of ​​moving the political center from Xiazhou to here.

The size of the government army is getting bigger and bigger. If 20 people live in Xiazhou, it will far exceed the carrying capacity of the land, and grain needs to be allocated from other states and counties.But Xiazhou is not accessible by water, and the cost is huge, so it is no longer suitable to exist as a political center.

Huaiyuan County is a good new "capital".

The plain area is vast, the climate is suitable for irrigation, and the Yellow River water transportation is convenient.The last point is very critical. Water transportation can reduce the cost of various commodities by a large percentage, and at the same time, it can communicate to far away places.Timber, livestock, cloth, leather, iron ore, coal, and other commodities can be transported here at a relatively reasonable price for the consumption of a large unproductive population.

Grain and fruits in the Yinchuan Plain can also be transported cheaply to other places and sold for profit.

To put it bluntly, the population carrying capacity of "Shangjiang Jiangnan" is strong, and I can move tens of thousands of government soldiers and their families to live around Huaiyuan County without worrying about damaging the environment.

It is also very convenient to send troops, just walk along the Yellow River.The advantages of large water transportation volume and low cost will greatly reduce their own military expenditures and also reduce the intensity of civil masters' recruitment.I will not have to worry about the people missing the farming season, and I can send troops many times a year without disturbing the people too much.

The last point is also crucial.Here is close to the grassland, and after the political center moves here, the efforts to crack down on grassland tribes that refuse to surrender will also increase, and the security situation in the surrounding area will also be improved.

"Huaiyuan County needs to build a new city!" Shao Shude said, poking a finger somewhere on the map.

Chen Cheng, Zhao Guangfeng, and Liang Zhixia's eyelids twitched when they heard this.Building a city is a lot of hard work, and this is not the "bad city" of Yanzhou that was built by surprise during the reign of Emperor Dezong.These people can see the general's intentions. This is to move Lisuo from Xiazhou, so this city can't be built hastily, it must be spent.

The material is nothing, the problem is manpower.

"What is Zhu Quanzhong doing now?"

Chen Cheng and the others have become accustomed to the general's jumping thinking, so they immediately replied: "Last year Qin Zongquan defeated Zhu Quanzhong in Bajiao Town, and they are still in a stalemate, with each other winning or losing."

Shao Shude was somewhat admirable upon hearing this.

Zhu Wen's army is actually somewhat similar to his Dingnan army, that is, they were all built from scratch by the coach and built up bit by bit.Shao Shude started with 50 people in the Tiande Army, and gradually expanded. Zhu Wen took 500 people to Xuanwu to take office, and gradually formed an army.

The advantage of this is very obvious, that is, the prestige of the coach is very high. Even if the general wants to rebel, the middle and lower level officers will not agree.Unless the army was not formed by the commander himself, but was voted in by other feudal towns. For example, when Zhu Wen was in his later years and Dinghui rebelled, his army was the surrendered Zhaoyi Army, which had never been reorganized.

Li Quanzhong of Youzhou Town was defeated once, and immediately rebelled, and the sergeants did not object, and there were many similar situations in other towns.So why didn't Zhu Wen's subordinates rebel?There are too many people who surrendered to Qin Zongquan in the past two years. It is really rare that Zhu Wen suffered such a big defeat under his hands and no one rebelled.

Compared with Zhu Wen, Li Keyong, who inherited tens of thousands of Hedong Yamen out of thin air, is still struggling to balance, and uses the Hu soldiers from the Shatuo headquarters and the five northern tribes to mix sand into it, and does not give power to the local aborigines in Hedong. I still trust the Daibei Group that started with me.

The Difficulty Army was formed by himself, the creator, not the successor.Before the expedition last year, when reviewing the troops in the north of Xiazhou City, the sergeants cheered loudly, and everything they passed responded.How stupid would it have to be to rebel in this case?I'm afraid that as soon as he showed his signs, he was directly tied up by his sergeants and dedicated to the commander-in-chief to claim credit.

But then again, when my territory grows and my power becomes stronger, it is inevitable that I will encounter people who bring their territory and troops to vote directly. How should I deal with it?It is certainly a good way to directly deprive its army and break it up, but can people agree?If you really do this, I am afraid that no one will vote for you.

Zhu Wen encountered too many such things in his later years, and it was inevitable to cut down the feudal clan.And once you cut down the domain, people will either rebel or surrender to the enemy. People who "bring funds into the group" are so troublesome, but you can't "make movies" with only your own money.

Ding Nanjun, I own 100% of the shares now, but there will always be small shareholders joining in the future, right?Equity will always be diluted, how should I face it?

"Very well, Zhu Quanzhong is still fighting with Qin Zongquan." Shao Shude smiled and said, "What is my righteous brother doing?"

"Making horses and fighting hard, prepare to go to war at the same time in the north and the south, attacking Datong and Zhaoyi." Zhao Guangfeng replied.

"That's good, there is still time." Shao Shude said with a smile: "The construction of the seven prefectures is the key. After Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong have a little bit of clues over there, the grain, cattle, sheep, and goods in the seven prefectures should be ready." With a great increase, the old land of Helong should have recovered a lot. At that time, XX can take the next step."

His territory is in the northwest, so there are many disadvantages, but there are also many advantages.At least, without having to fight endlessly with ruthless people like Qin Zongquan, you can farm, accumulate wealth, and build an army with peace of mind.

There are advantages and disadvantages in the world, it all depends on how to operate.In the match against Zhu Wenwen and Li Keyong, he did not fall behind.Maybe, a little bit ahead?
(End of this chapter)