Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 363: Rice-wheat rotation is a national policy!

Wuling County, Lingyang.

In late summer, by the Lingshui River.

Lingyang Chang Zhang Yi, who had just taken office, was wearing official uniform, sword and seal, and was sitting on the banquet. Although he is young, his expression is serious and intimidating.

On the left and right sides, the groomsmen and pavilion chiefs of each village pavilion bowed their hands to Zhang Yi and said hello, then sat down according to their seats.

"County Lord, Lingyang Zhixiaxiang Pavilion, Qiang Fu and the pavilion chief, a total of 18 people have arrived." Merit Cao Jingpan said with cupped hands.

Zhang Yi, courtesy name Bogong, was born in Qianwei, Yizhou, after the Zhang family in Wuyang. My great-great-grandfather Zhang Hao once served as Sikong, and his great-grandfather Zhang Gang served as the prefect of Guangling County. Both generations of my grandfather served as officials.

Since Liu Bei conquered Shu, he has tried to win over the local powerful and powerful families in Bashu. Zhang Yi was initially the secretary, and Li Yan governed Qianwei County. In order to gain the support of the Zhang family in Wuyang, Zhang Yi was promoted to Xiaolian.

After the war against Shu, for the sake of Qi Zhiyi and Liang Erzhou, a large number of officials from Wu Chu were transferred to Shu for governance. The vacant official positions in Wu Chu were filled by talented people from Bashu. Against this background, Zhang Yi was assigned to Lingyang County under Wuling County as the county magistrate.

Zhang Yi straightened his back, looked around at everyone, and asked, "This summer's harvest is about to end. I wonder how the harvest will be?"

"I am reporting to the Lord of the County that I have received great blessings from you. The weather is good this year and there is no war. Each household has sufficient manpower. It is expected that there will be a good harvest this year." Xiong Hang, a rose man in Baigong Township, coughed a few times and replied.

Xiong Hang was born during the reign of Emperor Huan. He is over sixty years old and will be in his seventies. The elders are quite prestigious in Lingyang County and are mostly respected by the villagers.

Seeing that it was Xiong Hang who answered, Zhang Yi softened his tone and said, "It will be good if we have a good harvest. The king has issued an edict to divide the households into nine classes. The county governor ordered to check the people's income in order to prepare for tax collection this year. At the moment, all counties are doing statistics. I don't know. How do you guys check?"

"Because the Lord of Ma County has been reassigned, there is no one to take charge of this matter. But please rest assured Lord Zhang, Pan has ordered people to start checking the income of each household. It will not take long before each township pavilion will hand it over to the County Lord, and the autumn will not be delayed. Collect the tax." Jing Pan said cooperatively.

"Correct!"

The Qiangfu and the pavilion chief who were present seemed to have thought about this matter, and promised: "Please rest assured, Mr. Zhang County, we dare not forget the matter of dividing the people's income."

Zhang Yi's face darkened, and he warned: "Before taking office, Mr. Jiang told me that checking the wealth and poverty of households is a major national tax matter. Before this year's calculation, the number of households rich and poor, and the autumn tax collection , be sure to complete the preparations. Otherwise, if the governor blames you, he will send a postal supervisor to patrol. I hope you will remember it."

"promise!"

Under Zhang Yi's verbal threats, Qiangfu and the chief of the pavilion present realized the seriousness of the matter and pledged their support one after another.

Seeing everyone like this, Zhang Yi slowed down his tone again and said: "Jing Gongcao will distribute the official documents with details of the compensation and taxes to everyone. However, I have called you here, and there is something that requires your cooperation."

"Please speak carefully, County Lord, and I will do our best to help you." Xiong Hang spoke first.

Zhang Yi signaled to distribute the official document to everyone present and said: "When the king issued an edict to change taxes, he once again issued an order to promote wheat farming and implement the method of rice and wheat rotation. Do you know this?"

“Rice-wheat rotation farming?”

As soon as this statement came out, everyone present whispered.

Not long after, Ran Sheng, the pavilion chief who was more than thirty years old, said: "County Lord, the order for rotation of rice and wheat was issued three years ago. We also conveyed this order to the people, urging farmers to cultivate wheat in autumn. .”

After a pause, Ran Sheng showed an embarrassed look and said: "However, there are few things like Sumai in Jingchu, and many villagers don't know about Sumai. The Lord of Houma County bought a batch of Sumai from Wuhan to Lingyang, trying to persuade farmers The work was delayed because of wars and redeployment of people."

"That's it?" Zhang Yi questioned.

"Cough cough!"

Xiong Hang coughed twice and interjected: "Not only that, the taste of Sumai is rough, not as good as rice. After the Lord of Ruma County ate wheat for the first time, he lamented that the wheat rice was hard to eat. Even when the poor people ate it, they often said it was bitter. It was suspected to be slightly poisonous, so the matter of rotating cultivation of wheat and wheat was abandoned."

Over the past three years, except for the slow promotion of rice-wheat rotation farming technology in the capital Hanchang, Poyang, Lujiang and other counties, most of the Wu-Chu area has either known about this policy or does not understand it.

Since rice is eaten in the south, wheat is almost not popular in the south. Most people don't need to say that they know the techniques of growing wheat, and they don't even know about wheat. However, this is a true portrayal of the agricultural era. The spread of science and technology is so slow that it is unimaginable.

Wheat appeared in the Central Plains during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. However, by the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, wheat was still not the main crop of the Han Dynasty. The land of Kansai does not like to eat wheat, but the land of Kanto has areas where wheat is grown. Pushing back to the time of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, the world's population surged, the Yellow River in Guandong overflowed, and grain and grass production decreased significantly. The central government of the Western Han Dynasty issued a document to vigorously promote the cultivation of wheat in the Yellow River Flood Zone of Guandong, so the promotion was successful.

However, it is different in the south. Rice has long been the product of farming in the south. Southerners like to eat rice and are not interested in wheat.

As for the reason why we are not interested in wheat, it is because we lack the motivation to grow wheat. In ancient times, we used the technology of steaming rice to make rice and cooking it to make porridge. Oatmeal cooked from wheat has a very thick bran, which makes it very unpalatable as a grain and not as good as rice or millet. In northern agricultural society, wheat rice is eaten by poor people.

It was not until the advent of the mill that grinding wheat into flour that could be made into bread, that it gradually became a staple food. However, grinding wheat requires a lot of manpower and material resources. It is not as convenient as rice, so it is naturally difficult to integrate into the southern agricultural society.

As for why rice-wheat rotation technology appeared in the South?

The core lies in the fact that people from the north moved south. The north brought with them the habit of eating noodles. Coupled with the population increase, rice-wheat rotation farming was popularized in the south.

Although Huo Jun promoted the technology of rice and wheat rotation in Wancheng and submitted it to the Wuhan Center. But how difficult it would be to get the technology of rice-wheat rotation to flourish in every southern state and county in just a few years!

Zhang Yi frowned and asked: "Although it is difficult to eat wheat, if it is cultivated, it can increase, so why don't the people cultivate it?"

Seeing that Zhang Yi was young and probably from a wealthy family, Xiong Hang explained: "Not only is it hard to eat wheat, but the common people grow wheat and there are few people who can harvest it, and it is not easy to store. Therefore, the common people are willing to plant large and small garlic. , either fishing for a living, or spinning silk."

A series of problems such as the unpalatable taste of wheat, lack of farming skills, and lack of economic driving force have become difficulties in promoting rice-wheat rotation farming in the Southern Han Dynasty.

After all, the success of promoting Sumai in the Western Han Dynasty was due to the following two important reasons. For example, Sumai has been cultivated in Guandong for hundreds of years, and many people accepted it. Guandong suffered from the flooding of the Yellow River, which reduced food production and caused widespread famine.

Zhang Yi remained silent. He was the county magistrate for the first time and wanted to implement good policies, but he was faced with many difficulties.

Ran Sheng was cautious and said: "County Lord, the king has not ordered the counties to implement rotational cultivation of rice and wheat. It is better to put it aside for now and do our best to verify the household income to avoid delaying the October plan."

"No!"

Zhang Yi stood up from the table and questioned: "Rice-wheat rotation is a national policy, which benefits the country at the top and the people at the bottom. I don't understand. Why can't this great good thing be implemented?"

As he spoke, Zhang Yi looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty does not allow counties at all levels to forcibly plant wheat, mostly because you are worried that officials will run rampant and destroy the people's rice crops. How can you be slack now because Your Majesty does not have such an edict? malfeasance?"

"Starting from today, we must promote rice and wheat rotation, provide income to households, and collect taxes. These three things must be promoted. Anyone who fails to do his best will be punished personally."

As he spoke, Zhang Yi saw that the officials present were disapproving and swore, "I am plowing the wheat fields myself, and I will let the people know the benefits before taking action!"

"promise!"

Seeing that Zhang Yi didn't look like a faker, the officials didn't dare to deal with it, so they bowed their hands and said, "We will do our best to do it!"

After the pavilion chief and Qiang Fu left, only Zhang Yi and the county officials were left in the venue.

Jing Pan presented the scarf and said: "County Lord, I have written down all the difficulties in implementing rice-wheat rotation farming."

As he said that, while Zhang Yi was browsing the silk, Jing Pan said: "Sumai is hard to eat and has a bitter taste, as everyone knows. However, Pan listened to the commander of the county and said that he could grind it with a stone mill. , and then made into flour cakes, which many northerners like to eat. From what I can see, if we can get the method of stone grinding to make cakes, it may be beneficial to the promotion of Sumai."

Zhang Yi nodded slightly and said: "Northern people eat flour cakes, which are made from wheat. However, stone mills cannot be used by ordinary people. They are mostly treasured by powerful and wealthy families. But what you said is true, and I want to implement it. You can't grind wheat without a stone."

"I will sort it out and report the above problems to the county governor."

"promise!"

The method of rotational cultivation of rice and wheat was first promoted in Wuchang. The yield per mu was two crops per year. After three years, Wuchang agriculture has become self-sufficient. The increased grain production and the prosperity of Wuchang made Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang increasingly aware of the importance of rice-wheat rotation.

After three years of testing, in the year when Liu Bei became king, in addition to reforming the tax law, rotational cultivation of rice and wheat was established as a national policy of the Southern Han Dynasty, and an edict was issued asking all counties to promote the method of rotational cultivation. But policies need to be implemented carefully, especially when it comes to agriculture.

Liu Bei adopted Zhuge Liang's suggestion and asked the county guards and magistrates to try their best to implement it, but it did not involve assessment indicators. Let county officials report the difficulties in the implementation process to the central government, and then formulate detailed policies based on previous planting experience in Wuchang to help promote the rice-wheat rotation method.

There are many county magistrates like Zhang Yi who are assigned by their superiors to promote rice-wheat rotation farming.

(End of this chapter)