end song

Chapter 853 Farming and Animal Husbandry
"Moo..."

The bull has been led away.

The officials who came to inspect it were still pointing and talking about it.

"This cow is really strong, with a round nose and tall shoulders."

"Xizhen cattle are a good breed, and the cow is a buffalo from Jinghu Lake. The king said, try to use crossbreeding to improve the breed and increase livestock production."

Xi Jihu was very interested in this, and soon got involved in this topic.

"Do you test the animals?"

"Huh? You, an official from the south of the Yangtze River, also know how to herd animals?"

Xi Jihu said: "Of course I understand. Even northern Huyang and us Jiangnan people can raise them in stacks. It is only said that there is a cattle and sheep department in Lin'an, under which there are supply houses, cheese yards, etc., who are responsible for sacrificing the animals that feast with Gongyan. Raising cattle and sheep in stacks, each stock produces more than [-] mouths of sheep, and enjoys Yan Yan in the palace every year, and eats [-] mouths of sheep."

"Oh? Jiangnan animal husbandry is so powerful?"

In the crowd, there was actually a Mongolian who stood up and said in Chinese: "I don't believe that the Song Dynasty can raise cattle and sheep better than us grassland people?"

Xi Jihu said: "Eastern Zhejiang and Fujian are places where cattle are produced. My hometown worships the gods and kills thousands of cattle at a time."

"If you raise livestock, what about the disease?"

"..."

When Li Xia came back, he heard such discussions.

According to Xi Jihu, in the Song Dynasty, animal husbandry, breeding, breed improvement and breeding, veterinary technology, etc. were very mature.

There are a large number of livestock and poultry in the south of the Yangtze River, and there is also a complete set of institutions for epidemic prevention, such as medicine and honey warehouses, animal husbandry prisons, medical horse hospitals, etc.

Xi Jihu casually mentioned more than forty books on the treatment of animal diseases.

In fact, agriculture and animal husbandry in Song Dynasty were very developed.

Even some agricultural tools and books before the south crossing have been lost. It can be predicted that if the historical trend is followed, more agricultural techniques may be lost in the next hundred years.

Li Xia couldn't help but wonder whether Song could have made a qualitative breakthrough in agriculture if he hadn't been interrupted by the flames of war and gradually decayed.

It is similar to the British Agricultural Revolution and the Enclosure Movement before the Industrial Revolution, and only with the industrial foundation can we talk about other things.

People eat for food.

Agriculture is the foundation of a country.

Although Li Xia is not erudite, this is what he has learned in textbooks after all. The content of the Agricultural Revolution is nothing more than a few points.For example, the use of farming tools, such as the Chinese plow; the promotion of crop rotation, replacing fallow land with fodder crops, some fodder can increase the fertility of the soil, and can be fed to livestock, and the manure of livestock continues to increase soil fertility; improved livestock species , increasing production...

He believes that these methods are suitable for today's Guanzhong.

As the capital of the world for thousands of years, Chang'an was actually overwhelmed.

In the past dynasties, cities and palaces were built here, a large number of trees were cut down, and soil erosion was serious. The population in the Tang Dynasty continued to expand and the war at the end of the Tang Dynasty caused the land to lose its fertility and the area of ​​cultivated land to decrease.

Li Xia moved the palace from Hanzhong to Chang'an. It was only two months since he became king, but a large number of officials and soldiers moved to Chang'an with their families.

With the speed at which the capital gathers population, perhaps two or three years later, Chang'an will need to transport food and supplies from Sichuan and Shu.

Therefore, maintaining the rapid and sustainable development of agriculture has become Li Xia's top priority after the founding of the country.

The officials from Lin'an today gave Li Xia some confidence in two details.

One is that from Lu Xiufu, he saw the incompetence of the Zhao family. Even so, it is still difficult for Mongols to destroy the Song Dynasty; With good guidance, over time, the national strength may surpass that of Mongolia.

……

After discussing around the ox, the group went to see if the newly cast iron plow was being used smoothly by the people.

This time, a young Taoist priest named Sun Deyu who accompanied Li Xia on tour was in charge of the explanation.

"This is called a Shuanghua plow. We only made a batch last winter. How is it different from ordinary wooden plows?"

Lu Xiufu said, "It has two extra wheels."

"Yes! But more than that."

Sun Deyu pointed, raised his head, and introduced it quite proudly.

"This plow was made by me based on the Quyuan plow. It is shaped like a spoon and is more than six feet long. I added a plow, so it can be plowed deep or shallow. The plow wall is like this. If the soil is turned aside, it will be easier to move forward. It can turn over clods of soil to cut off weeds. However, ordinary curved shaft plows are heavy and require great strength, so I added these two wheels."

"Oh."

"Don't underestimate my improvement. First of all, I use iron shafts instead of plow arrows, simplifying the body of the plow without affecting the cultivated land, and making it stronger and more durable. With these two wheels, even if there are no oxen, one person can pull."

As Sun Deyu spoke, he recruited some nearby farmers and said, "Let me tell you, this plow is very useful."

"It's easy to use. If you have cattle, you don't need this wheel."

"Using this iron plow, the furrows are straight and deep."

"..."

Sun Deyu was overjoyed, looked around, and saw that Lu Xiufu was interested in this thing, and said: "Come on, try it on, and plow over there. This thing looks simple, but it is not ordinary. What a blacksmith can make..."

What he said is true. Iron plows and wooden plows seem to be only made of different materials, but the requirements for forging are epoch-making, especially it is extremely difficult to achieve mass production.

Now that the iron plow is manufactured, it is only used in a few places around Hanzhong and Chang'an.In fact, more farmers in the countryside don't even have wooden farm tools, and they are still digging with hoes and hoes in front of the loess.

Li Xia didn't listen to Sun Deyu's bragging, but asked Fuping county magistrate and the old man in the village to ask carefully, knowing how many acres a person could plow before, and how many acres he could plow after replacing the iron plow.

He needs people to write down these actual numbers, and then discuss whether to promote it.

But today, Qin Jiushao accompanied him on a tour and took notes by his side.

Qin Jiushao looked sleepy, as if he thought he was being overqualified.

But he was really talented, and he recorded it casually. When Li Xia asked, he didn't even need to count. How much has the county's land increased production, and then calculate the cost of farm tools, the cost and income have been calculated clearly in two sentences.

Li Xia had heard about it, and had just recruited Sun Deyu and asked him if he could mass-produce farm tools.

Among the disciples that Hao Xiuyang snatched from the Quanzhen Sect, Sun Deyu was both obedient and smart. For the past two years, he has been doing things with an open-minded attitude and receiving his salary with a kind of attitude that comes as soon as he comes, so he has a lot of face.

"Of course, as long as the king says it, Xiaodao will naturally do it properly. But there are still so many weapons and armor to be forged, and there is not enough iron ore, not enough manpower, and especially not enough coal..."

As soon as he complained, Sun Deyu was a little endless. He was not afraid of Li Xia, and he spoke with an attitude of how much money he got and how much he did.

"I haven't brought back coal for more than half a year. Of course, I can't smelt iron. Now I moved to Chang'an, and even the trees are not allowed to be cut down. To let Xiaodao say that compared with Hanzhong, Chang'an is really bare. There is really nothing good. of."

"understood."

It's nothing more than the end of the war, and you can smuggle some coal back with some Mongolian princes.In governing a country, everything is often inextricably linked.

……

Over there, Lu Xiufu tried to pull the Shuanghua plow, he pulled it in front, and Xi Jihu supported it in the back.

By the time Li Xia finished his day's inspection, the two of them hadn't even plowed half an acre of land, but they were already sweating profusely.

The farmers greeted them back to the field, and smiled apologetically, "Masters are honorable, how can they do such rough work."

Lu Xiufu wiped the sweat off his face, gasped for breath, and finally had a smile on his face again.

The frustration and helplessness he had accumulated in Lin'an and his party evaporated in the sweat.

Xi Jihu asked, "Is the land we dug okay?"

The old farmers just smirked and scratched their heads, and said again: "You guys don't do such rough work."

The accompanying officials also laughed.

In fact, many of them may feel that such tours are tiring, and they also tire of dealing with old farmers.But the king of Qin did this, and they must show an attitude of emphasizing agriculture and loving the people.

This is how the atmosphere is formed.

At dusk, on the way from Fengliqu to the posthouse, Xi Jihu sighed and said: "Lin'an is still where the party is fighting against dissidents, but when we arrived in Chang'an, it was completely different. King Qin ascended the throne, did not build palaces, and did not set up guards of honor. "

"It's not that I've settled down so quickly." Wu Ze said, "It's that I've never been impetuous because of being king."

"Such a young man sits on half of the country, and once he stands on his own, the whole dynasty is shaken, but the King of Qin still doesn't care about him. It's true."

"Yes, we all said that the King of Qin is not like a young man." Wu Ze said with a smile: "The King of Qin also joked that he is not as good as Jia Sidao's youthful habits."

"Jia Sidao pretended to be calm and composed, but in fact this time he is facing a formidable enemy."

"It's not necessary if you are facing a big enemy. The imperial court has been in a corner for a long time, and its vision is inevitably too narrow. In fact, the king is called the king of Qin, not for the imperial court to see."

Xi Jihu suddenly realized something, and asked back: "Is it for the Central Plains?"

"That's right, Lin'an doesn't dare to go to war, so we don't care how we react, whether we can be canonized or not. What should be seen is Kublai Khan's reaction. Let's see, uncle. In Kaiping or Yanjing, Kublai Khan may not have time to prepare properly." They will rush to claim the country."

"Kaiping, Yanjing." Xi Jihu chewed on these two place names.

This is an unreachable place, and few people have heard of it in the past few years.

In the past, when considering the general trend of the world, I never had to consider the Sixteen States of Yanyun.

In my mind, the north of the Huaihe River seemed to be a place that I couldn't see, and it was bleak.

But it was only today that they arrived in Chang'an, and even Kaiping, north of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, seemed to be lit up.Analyzing the situation at least backwards, it has to be taken into account.

His vision suddenly opened.

(End of this chapter)