Great Tang Dynasty

Chapter 665 Omen of Great Drought
Dairy cows became popular in Chang'an City.

Merchants are eager to make profits, and they go to buy one after another.

But even so, it will take a month or two before a large number of cows appear in Chang'an City.

Time passed slowly, and after February, the weather in Chang'an became more and more sweltering.

This year's Chang'an City has very little rainfall, which can only barely guarantee the normal growth of crops.

For those that are not growing well, they can only be irrigated with automatic water trucks.

However, even so, if you want to have a good harvest, it depends on your luck at the end.

This morning, the officials of Sinong Temple told them about the situation.

"My lord, there is little rain near Chang'an City this year. I'm afraid we need to invest in more automatic water tankers."

Li Shimin already knew about these situations, so Li Shimin did not refuse this request, but agreed with his nod. Although it cost a little money, if the crops did not grow well, the impact would be great.

And just after the people from Sinong Temple finished speaking, Li Chunfeng suddenly stood up.

"Your Majesty, I am watching the stars at night. I am afraid that there will be a severe drought in the Tang Dynasty this year. I should make full preparations as soon as possible."

Li Chunfeng is a celestial master who specializes in astrology and divination. After he said such a sentence, the expressions of the officials in the court suddenly changed.

If it is only the decrease in the amount of rain near Chang'an City, it is not enough to make everyone feel that there is something, but if it is a sign of severe drought, then the situation is different.

The so-called severe drought means that the land is cracked, the ponds are dry, and the crops are difficult to grow. Even if you have an automatic water tanker, but there is no water, how do you irrigate?

Perhaps, many people can't even afford to drink water, let alone irrigate crops.

The damage caused by the severe drought is frightening.

Above the court, there was a lot of discussion, and some people were panicked.

But there are also people who feel that Li Chunfeng is scaremongering.

"Li Daochang, don't think that the amount of rain in Chang'an City this year is not much. You say that there is a sign of severe drought. The amount of rain in Chang'an City is not much, but as long as the investment in automatic water trucks is increased, the crops will have a good harvest. What's the problem."

"That's right, the sage is virtuous and wise now, and God blesses me in the Tang Dynasty, so why is there a sign of a severe drought?"

"Li Daochang is ridiculous. The rainfall in Chang'an City is low, so you say it is a sign of a severe drought? If there is a lot of rainfall in Chang'an City, do you still say that there is a sign of a severe flood?"

"........."

People have the characteristics of self-deception, and they will not choose to believe what they don't want to see unless it really happens.

Nowadays, many officials in the court are like this. They don't want to accept or listen to Li Chunfeng's words.

Li Shimin didn't want to hear it either, but he was an emperor after all, and he had to be more cautious about many things, whether he believed it or not.

"Li Aiqing, what you said is true. Is there really a sign of severe drought in Tang Dynasty?"

Li Chunfeng nodded: "Your Majesty, I can't go wrong when I watch the stars at night. The top priority is to notify the officials of the state capitals as soon as possible and let them check the situation of their own land. If there are really signs of severe drought there, they should report to the court as soon as possible. , so that the imperial court can discuss countermeasures, and those who can divert water, and those who cannot divert water, must take some precautions.”

Li Chunfeng's so-called prevention is naturally worth the problem of rebellion and food.

If there is a severe drought, it will cause famine. If the supply of food and grass is not timely, the people there will not be able to survive, and they will inevitably rebel. Therefore, any disaster cannot be ignored.

These words are still not pleasant, and there are still some people in the court who object. Li Shimin thought for a moment, glanced at Qin Tian, ​​and asked, "Qin Aiqing, as a minister, what do you think about this?"

Qin Tian really didn't see the sign of a severe drought. Although he can also read the stars, he is not good at looking at the weather.

However, since Li Chunfeng said it, it would be better to believe it or not.

Therefore, after thinking about it, Qin Tian stood up and said, "Your Majesty, it doesn't take much trouble to ask the state governments to investigate the situation. For the sake of safety, I feel that Li Chunfeng's words are reasonable. There are many things that should be done or must be done. If It will be too late when things really happen before we go to make up for it.”

Qin Tian's words are quite convincing, and many officials in the court also expressed their approval, Li Shimin nodded: "Okay, let's order it down, let the officials of the state government investigate, if anyone dares to hide it and not report it, I will never report it." Forgive me."

After Li Shimin's order was issued, someone immediately distributed news to all parts of Datang, asking officials from all over to investigate.

Now, if they don't know that there may be a severe drought in that place, they can only use this stupid method.

In fact, as long as there is a severe drought, there will usually be some omens, and now the investigation can almost see some clues.

The guards have already been dispatched, and everyone just needs to wait for the results.

On Qin Tian's side, he was still busy.

On the alpine pasture, many mares are already pregnant, and there should be almost a lot of horses born by the end of the year.

In addition to these, the number of cows is increasing one after another. However, the current milk production is a bit small, not enough for Qin Tian to make yogurt, and yogurt is the best thing to drink iced in summer.

Sweet and sour, it is the best taste in the world, and the thicker it is, the better it tastes.

Therefore, Qin Tian doesn't need to be busy on the alpine pasture. Qin Tian is busy, and it has to do with farming.

The weather in March is already unbelievably hot. Although the crops outside Chang'an City do not have enough rain, they are growing well. In another month or so, they will almost have a bumper harvest.

After the wheat harvest, most of the soybeans or other simple crops are planted in Chang'an City, but rice can be grown in some other places.

Rice is a plant that is commonly grown in the south and in some places in the east. Even in some places near central Sichuan, rice is also grown.

The planting area of ​​rice is even wider than the planting area of ​​wheat.

From Qin Tian's point of view, although Datang has a large rice planting area, the output is not as high as imagined.

The main reason is that people in Tang Dynasty planted rice relatively single, and rice actually has hybrid advantage, that is to say, if rice is hybridized, the rice grown is better, such as vigorous growth, well-developed root system, and large ears. Many, strong resistance and so on.

If Datang's rice production can increase and wheat planting can be popularized in the south, it will be of great help to Datang's food demand.

Now, Qin Tian wants to tell the people in Sinong Temple about the hybrid rice and let them experiment.

These people in Sinong Temple specialize in the study of plants, so there are people who experiment with planting various crops. It is actually very suitable for Qin Tian to ask them to do experiments on hybrid rice.

(End of this chapter)