When Pan Geng moved to Yin, I initiated Jian Shang

Chapter 501 The first day of the first year of Yan ()

"I heard from Luan Pheasant that their teachers didn't do much to teach them how to write articles."

Xue Ji spoke softly: "Perhaps we don't have many suitable teachers here. You may have to come by then."

Xin Qu raised his eyebrows slightly.

It is indeed a problem.

In recent years, I have been busy with external conquests and internal project construction, and the teaching materials in the school are still the same.

First: "Myth"

Second: "Dictionary"

Third: "Arithmetic"

In other words, from beginning to end, there are few articles in the true sense that tell people what "beautiful" is.

Basically all the articles nowadays imitate Xinqu's articles.

But Xin Qu could write in vernacular Chinese, but when it came to correcting official documents, in order to solve the presentation problem, he was even less able to write in classical Chinese, so a lot of articles were half-written.

But if this is all the case, it can barely be justified. After all, I can still understand it even if I am half-literate, and this volume is in front of me.

Anyone who understands can tell that it was this person who proposed the implementation of a dog-raising policy in Yanfang.

As one of the six domestic animals, dogs in this era are not only used for hunting and housekeeping, but also for food.

Raising dogs on a large scale can also solve a problem that troubles them.

That is, the destruction of rats began to appear.

That's right! With the large-scale infrastructure construction carried out by the Xin family throughout the last year, humans began to live together, the hierarchy of nobles became more and more perfect, food production began to increase, and more and more people had savings in their homes.

Once you have a lot of savings, you have to hide them.

There are very few granaries, and everyone keeps them in jars and jars.

However, at this time, due to the imperfect glazing technology of pottery, the quality of pottery varied. Some actually absorbed too much water, causing the grain in the pot to mold and sprout.

Then, it is inevitable to dry it, or place it in a dry and ventilated place with the air open.

At this time, the mouse smelled the smell and came.

In an era before cats were widely popularized and before they were domesticated, dogs were the best companions to guard homes and frighten away rats.

As for the domestication of cats, Xinqu had already ordered people to catch wild cats in the forest.

Wild cats have appeared in the Yanshan Mountains.

It is the direct ancestor of China’s native cats.

In fact, wild cats are not small animals without the ability to migrate, nor do they rely on humans to move.

China's native wild cats are most likely to have evolved naturally from carnivorous species that migrated from the Ice Age. At this stage, they mainly live in the mountains and forests of Southwest and South China.

In other words, there are some in the north, but very few.

After all, it’s too cold in the north, so wild cats feel more comfortable living in the south.

In addition, these cats are hiding in the woods, and humans have not yet begun to enter agricultural society on a large scale. Most of the food output is only enough for the current year, so urban agglomeration is not obvious, far less than the birth of house mice.

On the contrary, field mice outside the city have always been a worry for farmers.

At least until the Qin and Han Dynasties, northern folk still worshiped foxes as auspicious animals. Before the Zhou Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty even worshiped owls as the name of the mysterious bird.

Owls are most likely owls, and owls are also good at catching mice, so these beasts are highly respected.

But at least cats must have appeared in the pre-Qin era.

There is a saying in the Book of Songs, Daya, and Han Yi: There are bears and bears, cats and tigers.

From this time on, the word cat appeared.

As for the hunters under Xin Qu's rule, after entering the mountains, they often encountered a small beast, which often looked at them with eager eyes and was very wild, and it was not a mountain raccoon.

Because they had seen that some mountain civets would bite this kind of kitten to death.

Mountain civet is a type of ocelot.

These cats are smaller than ocelots, and they overlap in the food chain. Therefore, in places where ocelots are often seen, there is a high probability that wild cats will not be seen. So Xinqu didn't hold out much hope and asked the hunters to catch a few of them. If they could catch some alive and start domesticating them in the north in advance, it would be possible for a hundred years at most for cats and dogs to live a life of both cats and dogs in the north.

As for where these wild cats come from, Xinqu’s idea is that they migrated from the south.

Because the food chain of mountain civets overlaps with that of free-range domestic cats in rural areas, in ancient times where wilderness was everywhere, there was some doubt as to how much food farmers could really provide.

This is why civet cats are so self-reliant that they often run out to wander, because they are most likely only half-full and then need to go hunting on their own.

The independent character is most likely a result of competition with carnivorous animals of the same size such as mountain civets.

This is competition that takes thousands or even tens of thousands of years to create, and it is also the fundamental reason why the size of domestic cats is controlled.

Otherwise what you will see is a replica of a giant Australian wildcat.

It should be noted that when there are no overlapping competitors and natural enemies in the food chain, the giantization of cats is a natural evolution that will inevitably occur. Because there is sufficient food and they are invincible, how can they not grow taller if they are inherited from generation to generation?

As for whether it was brought by humans? It is difficult to evaluate, because cats are difficult to domesticate and have their own territorial awareness. Even if you take them away forcefully and migrate with you, they may disappear one day.

In this age where everything depends on walking, there are no sails to support the voyage!

Just like Australia, there were no cats originally. It was only after the development of shipping technology that the descendants of Asian domestic cats were brought over.

In just a few hundred years, Australian wild cats have become what they are now.

Therefore, Xin Qu is inclined to believe that local cats are constantly bred from the competition with leopard cats in Southwest and South China.

After all, leopard cats and domestic cats in the traditional sense were in a competitive relationship on the same food chain in the underdeveloped natural environment in ancient times.

However, the time of domestication may be relatively late. After all, it was not until the large-scale application of iron tools in the Warring States Period that human output had enough to be hidden in the home and aroused large-scale visits by house rats.

Dogs can no longer deal with these nasty rats digging holes, so it is necessary to raise dogs and kittens to solve this problem.

Therefore, the real peak of cat raising appeared in the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty also introduced Champa rice, started double-cropping rice production, and brought the population of the Central Plains into a new era of expansion.

It perfectly coincides with the time when cat slaves flourished on a large scale.

All in all, raising dogs and cats is to ensure that your savings will not be destroyed by rats.

Xin Qu also frowned slightly. Whether it was articles or raising dogs, it meant that Xin's current food production had begun to increase.

The clan has enough energy to do more things.

Do you want to support yourself?

Or should we wait to catch the cat and then tame it?

After all, you can't have too many dogs, although they can be used to eat...

"Forget it, whatever." Xin Qu muttered, and said, "If you want to raise dogs, you can, but your family must have three years of food reserves to raise more than three dogs.

Also, write your article for me first.

If I find out that you raise a dog for hunting, you can go to school for five years to see if I catch you.

The current hunting income is too low. It can only be used as a side job, not as a main job!

Farming and weaving are our true vocation! "

After writing, Xin Qu took out the bamboo slip and stamped it with his private seal.

Suddenly he wanted to raise a cat. After all, cats are very partial to food and like to eat meat. It is difficult to see bugs and mice in the place where cats are raised, and they are also independent in character.

Just when Xinqu was thinking wildly, Xue Ji put away his dried bamboo slips, and then Xinqu realized that he wanted to read the next one.

He reached out and opened it, then dipped his fingers in some tea and drew a chart on the table.

This is a regular report sent by the school, talking about the changes in the children's academic performance in the past twelve months.

One of the most conspicuous things is that Luan Pheasant's academic performance has changed the most. But when Xinqu finished drawing the chart, his tone was a little more serious: "Go to the school and bring me all Luan Pheasant's paper scores."

"I brought them all back." Xue Ji came to the corner and took out a stack of bamboo slips stained with a lot of dust.

Xin Qu frowned slightly and took it. After opening it and reading it, his cheeks twitched slightly and he looked at Xue Ji: "When did this kid learn to control points?"

(End of this chapter)