Before fleeing famine, I evacuated the Duke's mansion and stockpiled tens of billions of suppli

Chapter 40 Someone Throws Mud at Me

A gust of wind blew by, and a cloud of white ash was raised from the pale saline-alkali land, making people blinded.

At this moment, Obscure Moon really wanted to drag Zhang Xiang's grandson over and beat him up.

Ok?You call this eighty acres of fertile land?
In fact, Zhang Xiang cannot be blamed for this incident, because most of the land assigned to him by the Minister of the Ministry of Finance is saline-alkali land, and Zhang Xiang has never been to the field to see it, so he does not know that the good land has been replaced by saline-alkali land.

As for why, because the head of the Gongsun family, Gongsun Li, is the cousin of the Minister of the Household Department.

During this trip on the boat, Fang Qishan and Xu Jingyang offended Gongsun Li all over the place. Gongsun Li had written a letter to his cousin in Hebei as early as on the boat, crying about his experience in the letter.

No, Gongsun Li seized the opportunity to kill them and give you saline-alkali land, so that you will be blamed and scolded, and you will not be able to pay taxes.

Most of the saline-alkali land in the Ganjiang River Basin is caused by the backflow of river water. The terrain here is flat and the amount of evaporation is large. Once the river water backflows, the land will become agglomerated and salinized.

In late autumn, the salinity and alkali began to seep out of the ground. In winter and spring, the ground looked like it was covered with snow, and nothing grew.

In the rainy summer and autumn seasons, the saline-alkali land was full of water, and the crops were all drowned, leaving only frogs jumping around in the water.

This saline-alkali land can be said to be watery in summer and autumn, white in winter and spring, only seeds are planted but no grain is seen, and there will be nine shortages in ten years.

Seeing the barren, gray, and barren fields, the faces of Ozuki and his party were not very good-looking. What is the difference between this saline-alkali land and the dry land in his hometown?
You can't grow food, and it's useless to own more land!
Moreover, it is very difficult to improve saline-alkali land. Even in modern times, improving saline-alkali land will cost an extremely high cost.

"Father, what do you say, a farming captain?" Miyue turned to look at Xu Jingyang.

"Uh, I'm going to settle accounts with that kid Zhang Xiang!" After Xu Jingyang finished speaking, he rolled up his sleeves and rushed to the barracks to find Zhang Xiang.

Seeing the miserable scene in the field in front of her, Er Ya Niang sat down on the ground and cried, "How can people live like this? After walking so much and dying so many people, it's all for naught in the end."

"Aniang, don't cry, no matter how hard it is, we've made it through, and there will be a way." Brother Erya comforted me.

Ozuki remembered that she opened a space blind box before, and opened a few bags of chemical fertilizers, but the saline-alkali land cannot be solved by a few bags of chemical fertilizers.

I remember that I used to take a geography class, and the book talked about some methods to control land salinization.

Either plant economic crops suitable for growth in saline-alkali land, such as alfalfa, wolfberry, sand date, sunflower, and cotton.

Either plant some trees that can improve soil quality, such as white willow, Populus euphratica, and Fraxinus mandshurica, and then use livestock manure, plant ash, and straw to fertilize the land.

However, planting cash crops is not enough to satisfy one's hunger, and the output is limited. Even if you sell them, you can't exchange them for much, and you have to pay [-]% of the tax.

The method of fertilizing the land and planting trees is too slow to produce results. Maybe the Yuan Dynasty will perish and the land has not been improved.

It is not realistic to use chemical agents such as calcium sulfite and phosphogypsum. After all, there were no such things in ancient times.

Using ditch irrigation and salt drainage method, guest soil method, and underground ditch drainage method are too large and inappropriate, after all, we are not professional.

The formation of saline-alkali land is closely related to the local climate, groundwater, and topography, and generally there is no immediate solution.The cost of improving land salinization in modern times is very high, let alone ancient times when productivity and technology were very backward.

Brother Erya sighed: "Hey, let's go back first, wait for Uncle Wu to come back and listen to what Daying has to say."

"Yeah, it's not an option to be stupid here, and we have to hurry up and build a house."

"I hope Uncle Wu can come back with good news. Maybe Vice General Zhang can exchange a piece of land for us."

Everyone was talking about it, and then walked back.

Obscure Moon turned her head and took another look at the white-spreading saline-alkali land. She felt that this matter was really difficult, and it would be too troublesome to solve the salinization of the land.

During these days, Dad and Vice General Zhang have a good friendship, so it shouldn't be a big problem to move around.

It was already noon when the Xu family returned to the station, and everyone was so hungry that their stomachs were growling.

Er Ya Niang is not in the mood to cook right now, so she directly throws large and small river fish, river prawns, clams, crabs, wild garlic, and mushrooms into the pot, and puts some pancakes made of cornmeal on the edge of the pot, and then covers the pot A pot of simmering.

Unexpectedly, the stewed river seafood in this pot was surprisingly delicious.

When the lid of the pot is lifted, a strong smell of shrimp and crab comes to your face. The golden corn tortilla is stained with fresh fish, and the fish and shrimp have the fragrance of corn tortilla. The fish and shrimp are plump and delicious, and melt in your mouth.

The golden tortilla soaked up the rich soup, and Ozuki almost swallowed it with his fingers.

After eating, Ozuki stroked her round belly and lay down on the grass beside her to digest.

Fortunately, there is delicious food to comfort the lost mood, otherwise how would I live this day~
The industrious Xu family men started making adobe bricks to build the house as soon as they finished their meal.

They chopped up the stalks, mixed the excavated clay with the stalks and water, and then filled them into the wooden frame mold that Xu Jingyang bought in the city.

Then use a hammer to pound it firmly and level it, remove the clay bricks from the mold and dry them in the shade, then stack them vertically and staggered, and then move them to a place with sunlight to wait for the sun to dry.

In this way, the first batch of earth bricks used to build the house was ready.

Luyue and a group of children were also helping to remove the mold, their hands were muddy, and they pressed a handprint on the clothes, which made Er Ya Niang feel distressed for a while.

Just when everyone was working in full swing, Xu Jingyang rolled up his sleeves and walked back from the river.

Obscure Moon was the first to see Xu Jingyang, and yelled crisply: "Daddy! How is the talk with Vice General Zhang? Can we change the land?"

Hearing Obscure Moon's greeting, Xu Jingyang walked over with a sullen face.

Everyone saw that Xu Jingyang's face was wrong, and they knew that the conversation must be unpleasant.

"Uncle Wu? Vice General Zhang refused to change the land for us?" Brother Er Ya put down the hammer in his hand, and then asked while standing by the tent.

Xu Jingyang spread his hands, then sat down on the rock, and sighed: "Oh, what place to change, it's the same everywhere, Zhang Xiang doesn't have fertile land under his hands."

It turned out that Zhang Xiang's threshold was broken through early this morning, and the soldiers all said that there was no grass growing in their fields, and they were all clumps of white clay.

Later Zhang Xiang reported the matter to General Fang, and Fang Qishan understood the key point after thinking about it for a while. The Hubu Shangshu who was in charge of the field was Gongsun Li's cousin, and Gongsun Li took this opportunity to take revenge on them.

After listening to Xu Jingyang's narration, everyone was filled with indignation: "Then what should we do next? General Fang promised to give us fields before, but now we can't grow crops in this land. What will we eat then? And what will we pay taxes on?"

Obscure Moon listened, and complained silently in her heart, this Gongsun Li is really an old villain
Then, Xu Jingyang took out a cloth bag from his sleeve, and opened it in public.

Everyone looked up and saw a handful of seeds wrapped in a cloth bag.

Xu Jingyang explained: "This is the Nitraria seed given by Doctor Huang. It is said that this herb is resistant to drought and barrenness, and can be grown in saline-alkali soil."

Then, Xu Jingyang said: "This herb can promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. It is also a regular medicinal herb in the army, and its yield is extremely high."

Zhang Jia picked up a handful of herb seeds and sniffed them, then said, "However, if you want to grow non-food crops, you have to pay nearly [-]% of the tax!"

Brother Erya also echoed from the side: "Let's not talk about whether anyone will buy this herbal medicine in large quantities. The tax alone can kill people. This... is not enough to eat."

"That's right, that's right, it doesn't feel right."

The military farming system was originally intended to solve the problem of food and clothing for soldiers and their families. Therefore, the imperial court received a [-]/[-] split for planting food in the field, but [-]/[-] for the cultivation of other cash crops.

Xu Jingyang shook his head after listening: "No, no, no, I think this herbal medicine is still bought by someone and can be sold. Think about it, we will march to fight in the future, and then there will be blood in the war, and the bleeding needs medicinal herbs to treat it. The market is still huge.”

"But the tax on growing medicinal herbs is [-]%! This is too much, and we all have to go hungry."

Everyone talked about each other, discussing in a hurry.

Obscure Moon listened and did not speak, in fact, the method of planting medicinal herbs is not impossible, but it is a bad idea.

Everyone discussed for a long time, but there was no result. Zhang Jia, who had a bad temper, was a little anxious to get angry.

"Then General Fang doesn't care about this matter?" Zhang Jia was so angry that he smashed out the hoe in his hand: "We will go to the front to fight, and then our family will suffer from cold and starvation in the rear? So what does this have to do with crossing rivers and demolishing bridges?" the difference?"

"Oh, you kid, why are you still in a hurry to get angry?" Er Ya Niang patted Xu Jia beside her, and then handed him a bowl of tea.

Xu Jingyang waved his hand and said, "Oh, General Fang has General Fang's difficulties. This must involve a court struggle, and we don't understand."

Hearing this, Miyue complained to Xu Jingyang in her heart, you know the struggles in court the most, right?
Then Xu Jingyang said: "However, General Fang has gone to the Minister of the Household Department to discuss this matter, so why don't you wait patiently?"

Obscure Moon interrupted and asked: "Father, what is the origin of that Gongsun Li?" She wanted to know the background of our big villain.

Xu Jingyang: "Hey, Gongsun Li is a nouveau riche who started selling private salt. Now he has defected to Yuan Wang, became a salt merchant in Hebei, and even made a marquis. If I were in power, this kind of desperado who sold private salt would I have already punished the nine clans."

Um?and many more!

Selling private salt?

Hearing this, Miyue's eyes suddenly lit up, and then asked: "Father, what is the current price of salt in Da Yuan?"

"What I saw in the city was twenty shimi for two catties of salt. The price of salt is still very high. Hebei does not produce salt, and salt is usually shipped from the sea, so Gongsun Li is so valued." Xu Jingyang replied. .

Ozuki asked again: "Then is there any regulation prohibiting the sale of illegal salt?"

Xu Jingyang tilted his head and thought for a while: "Da Yuan has just been established, and it seems that no rules and regulations have been promulgated yet."

"Great!" Hearing this, Miyue jumped three feet high excitedly: "Hahaha! We are going to get rich overnight!"

Then, Ozuki pointed in the direction of the saline-alkali land and said: "It suddenly occurred to me that we can extract salt and alkali from this land, the salt can be sold, and the alkali can also be used to make soap and washing powder."

Ozuki's proposal made everyone stunned for a while.

It is the first time I have heard of digging soil and boiling salt to make alkali.

What is alkali?What is soap?What is laundry detergent?
Seeing everyone looking at her in surprise, Ozuki had no choice but to explain: "Uh, I saw an overseas classic from Mr. Nalan, which recorded these methods."

"Oh", everyone nodded, most of the people sitting here were peasants who had never read a book, so they believed what Ozuki said.

"It's still useful to study." Er Ya Niang looked at Ozuki with adoring eyes, feeling that her little head was full of wisdom, and then she tugged at her son's ear and said: "When you make money in the future, you must give me a doll." Let's go to school."

"Yue'er, do you really know how to boil salt to make alkali?" Shen Yinxing hugged Miyue aside, and whispered to her ear.

In Shen Yinxing's era, it was all about high technology and hard work, so she didn't know much about these.

Obscure Moon patted her chest, and said confidently: "Don't worry, Auntie, soon we will be able to live in a big mansion with three entrances and three exits."

When she was a child, she had seen her grandma boil noodles with alkaline soil, and the steamed buns steamed with flour alkali were white, big, and fluffy.

The method of boiling salt is also very simple, but it is time-consuming and labor-intensive.

The method of using saline-alkali soil to boil salt to make alkali is almost widely known in modern times, but I am afraid that no one has tried it in ancient times.

Obscure Moon thought for a while and told everyone: "Don't spread this matter, don't tell others, keep it secret, if we tell it, we won't have any money to earn!"

Everyone nodded after listening: "Well, this is our Xu family's secret!"

Calculating the seasons, alkali production in winter and salt drying in summer, it is now in late autumn and September, after the first wave of salt is boiled, alkali production can begin in winter.

When Ozuki talked about the seasons, everyone felt that time waits for no one.

The building of the house can be done slowly, and when the salt is boiled to make money, it is fine to hire people to build the house directly.

So that afternoon, Xu's family carried poles, bamboo baskets, hoes and shovels to the saline-alkali land.

At this time, the eyes of everyone looking at this saline-alkali land have gradually become fanatical.

Although this land does not grow crops, it grows gold!

Seeing this gray and white saline-alkali land again, Obscure Moon's eyes also swept away the haze, and his face was full of joy.

Not to mention salt, alkali is more useful.

This can be regarded as turning waste into treasure!

Haha, I guess Gongsun Li is going to die of anger, we can still directly compete with him for business!

Hi, what's this called?

This is called, when someone throws mud at me, I earn him [-] with mud!

　Thank you @人间火火926 for feeding the monthly and recommended tickets, thank you @头嘉呀呀@红红@有话好说@三秀@咩ah[email protected]Recommendation tickets from Xingyue.bd and the treasures whose names are not displayed)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)