Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 137: People value their virtues

Huan Xi's promotion of locust farming technology did not cause much repercussions in the southern region.

After all, the main function of tillage technology is to retain moisture in the soil.

In the south, there is sufficient rainfall, but the soil and climate are very different from those in the north.

But Quyuanli was different. When Huanxi sent the finished product and drawings to Jiangling and Jiankang respectively, it immediately attracted the attention of Huanwen and the court.

In the original time and space, Quyuan Li first appeared in the Jiangdong area in the late Tang Dynasty, so it was also called Jiangdong Li.

At that time, the Quyuan plow was introduced to the north and became popular, and there was also a little story about it.

In the fifth year of Emperor Yizong's Xiantong reign in the Tang Dynasty, a northern businessman came to Jiangdong to purchase goods and ordered a batch of Quyuan plows. When delivering the goods, the merchant saw that the Quyuan plows were short and small, and the plow shafts were still curved, so he thought that the other party used remnants of the plows. The defective product fooled him, so he took the lawsuit to the county government.

The county magistrate then proposed that northern merchants compete with straight-column plows and curved-column plows to see which one was better, and the merchants readily agreed.

On the day of the competition, the tall straight-shaft plows quickly took over and plowed faster, but their steering was clumsy and they were always overtaken by the curved-shaft plows.

In the end, the straight-shaped plow was the first to finish plowing the land with a slight advantage. However, the northern merchants thought that they were ignorant of gold and jade, so they happily returned to the north with the curved-shaped plow.

The reason is that the traction methods of straight shaft plows and curved shaft plows are different.

The straight-shaft plow is tall, so it requires two oxen and three men to operate it.

When plowing, the two oxen are about seven or eight feet apart, with a crossbar in the middle. The two oxen carry the bar, and the shaft is followed by the plow.

One person pulls the ox in front, another person sits on the pole and steps on the shaft to control the depth of the plowshare into the soil, and the person behind supports the plow handle.

The curved shaft plow is small and easy to control. It only requires one ox and one driver. The farmer can hold the plow handle with one hand and whip the ox with the other hand.

Therefore, even though the straight-column plow plowed the land faster than the curved-column plow in the competition, the northern merchants happily accepted the curved-column plow and brought it back to the north.

After all, farming should not just be about speed, but also the overall cost.

A straight-column plow requires two oxen and three men, while a curved-column plow only requires one ox and one man. Using a curved-column plow instead of a straight-column plow can free up the labor force of one ox and two people.

Whether in the vast plains in the north or the hills and mountains in the south, it is inevitable that the curved shaft plow will replace the straight shaft plow.

Especially the hilly and mountainous areas in the south are more suitable for the use of curved shaft plows.

Huan Wen got Quyuan Li as if he had obtained a treasure, and the court was also vigorously promoting it.

After all, the difference in labor costs between the traditional farming method of two cows and three husbands and the current farming method of one cow and one husband is more than a tiny bit different.

Empress Dowager Chu was very happy that Huan Xi could give her this birthday gift. She wrote a letter for Huan Xi in her own handwriting, expressing her gratitude in the letter.

After Huan Xi received it, he treasured it and made new copies of the calligraphy.

Of course, the happiest people are the people. After all, they are the direct beneficiaries of the widespread application of Quyuanli.

Both the Jiangnan area and the Guanlong area were grateful to Huan Xi for this.

The people of Guanlong called Quyuan plow Huan Gongli.

There was no day left, and there was only one Duke Huan in their hearts.

Who is Huan Wen? Really unfamiliar.

The people in the south of the Yangtze River called Quyuanli Xiaohuanli. After all, Huanwen was somewhat famous in the south.

This name not only distinguishes it from Huan Wen, but also highlights the characteristics of the curved shaft plow being smaller than the straight shaft plow.

Jingzhou, suburb of Jiangling.

Because of the climate, spring plowing in the south is earlier than in the north.

Huan Wen waved the whip in one hand and supported the plow handle with the other, driving the cattle to plow the fields.

In ancient times, in order to show the importance they attached to farming, rulers would personally go to work in the fields before spring plowing, which was the gift of joining the fields.

According to legend, the emperor’s homeland had a thousand acres of land, and the princes had a hundred acres of land.

In the past, Huan Wen would go to the fields during spring plowing to set an example for the people under his rule, but he would only work in the fields for one day, and then someone would take care of it for him.

After all, as the lord of the three states of Jing, Yi, and Ning, how could he spend so much time and energy on the fields.

After a busy day in the fields, when he returned to Linhe Palace, Huan Wen sighed to Sima Xingnan:

"The Quyuan plow that Xi'er presented to me really helped a lot."

Sima Xingnan smiled and said:

"Isn't that right? When the old slave used to plow the fields, he had to let Jingxing (Xi Chao) lead the oxen in front, Yanwei (Xi Chisel) hold the plow behind, and sit on the pole himself. It's not as convenient as it is now."

When Huan Wen heard Sima Xingnan mention chiseling teeth, he felt unhappy, but he didn't dare to show it.

A native of Xiangyang who was good at chiseling teeth, he was erudite and famous for his articles.

Huan Wen left Jingzhou and was recruited into the shogunate as a lieutenant. He followed Yuan Qiao to guard Xiakou.

When Yuan Qiao was still alive, he often praised Xi Zhezhi in front of Huan Wen. After the conquest of Shu, Xi Zhezhi was recalled to the shogunate by Huan Wen. He replaced Huan Xi, who was staying in Chengdu at that time, and served as the governor of the Western Cao Dynasty. He valued him very much. The relationship between the two Very intimate too.

Soon after, Xi Chiazhi was promoted to Biejia. When Huan Wen attacked Nanyang, he was left behind. But such a confidant who was deeply trusted by Huan Wen had his heart set on Jin Dynasty.

Not long ago, Huan Wen specially sent Xi Chuangchi as an envoy to Jiankang. Xi Chuangchi was received by Sima Yu, the king of Kuaiji.

Returning to Jiangling, Huan Wen asked Xi Zhizhi: How is King Kuaiji?

How could Huan Wen not know Sima Yu's abilities? This question was just to test Xi Chizhi. He hoped that after meeting Sima Yu, he could see the situation clearly and assist him wholeheartedly in the future.

But he was accustomed to chiseling teeth, but he didn't appreciate it. He replied: "I have never seen it in my life."

Huan Wen was furious. After all, he was able to follow Huan Wen to cultivate the land with Xi Chao, which shows how much he valued Xi Chizhi.

But not everyone is like Xi Chao, who can devote himself to Huan Wen's cause of usurpation.

But there are always people like Xi Chizhi who let themselves down. They have to be loyal ministers of the Sima family even if they have a bright future.

After that, Huan Wen found an excuse at random and demoted Xi Zhizhi to join the army as a Hucao, and alienated him from then on.

If anyone mentioned this person in front of Huan Wen, he would definitely be angry, but since it was Sima Xingnan, he had no choice but to be angry and dare not speak.

After all, the old slave is used to it, and Sima Xingnan has always been open-minded.

Just listen to Sima Xingnan continue:

"When Xi'er asked you for some people, you took away half of his army horses, a total of fifteen thousand.

"Now he is sending you a plow, but have you ever seen him asking for benefits from you?"

It turned out that Sima Xingnan had not forgotten that incident. When he thought that Huan Xi was forced to venture eastward to fight with others in order to snatch the population, he could not even catch up with Aman's Full Moon Wine and Hundred Days Banquet.

Thinking of her son going through life and death for this, the mother will inevitably feel heartbroken.

Huan Wen's face turned red and he hesitated, not knowing how to defend himself. He had no choice but to excuse himself, otherwise he would be nagging Sima Xingnan for a while.

At the same time, Yin Hao was also inspecting the paddy fields.

In order to raise food and grass for the Northern Expedition, he reclaimed 1,000 hectares of paddy fields in Huainan. One hectare equals one hundred acres, and one thousand hectares equals one hundred thousand acres.

The reason for this embarrassment was caused by the Huan family and his son.

Huan Wen withheld taxes from Jing, Ning, and Yi prefectures, and Huan Xi withheld taxes from Yong, Qin, and Liang prefectures. Although the imperial court still controlled Huainan, Yangzhou, Jiangzhou, Guangzhou, and other places, it still had to support the ministers.

Due to the land annexation of the gentry and the household registration policy, the actual taxes received were very few.

In the south, there are two kinds of household registration. One is Baiji, which refers to the expatriates who migrated from the north to the south. Because they use white paper to write on the register, they are called Baiji.

The indigenous people in the Jiangnan area use yellow paper to write in the registration book, which is also called yellow book.

Initially, white expatriates were not required to undertake military service, corvee service, or pay taxes.

It was not until the Xianhe period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 326-334) that Prime Minister Wang Dao led the first civil war, and all the preferential treatment for Bai expatriates was cancelled.

However, policies are repetitive, and it is inevitable that people will die and political power will cease, such as Wang Anshi's reform.

After Wang Dao's death, Bai expatriates once again enjoyed preferential policies such as military service, corvee service, and no need to pay taxes.

The Eastern Jin Dynasty could only collect taxes from the Huang natives in the south of the Yangtze River, and the Huan family and his sons withheld taxes from the six states, forcing Yin Hao to cultivate paddy fields on his own to supply military rations.

When Hou Zhao was in chaos, Chu Pei led the Northern Expedition with 30,000 cavalry. Not only did the imperial court only have 30,000 troops, it really could not afford a larger army.

Yin Hao watched the farmers in the fields operating the Quyuan plow easily. Even though he had a bad relationship with Huan Wen and Huan Xi and his son, he couldn't help but admire:

"Although Huan Bodao (Huan Xi) behaved rebelliously, he finally did something that benefited the country and the people, far better than his father."

After finally praising Huan Xi, he also had to step on Huan Wen. Who would have thought that when he was young, Yin Hao had also been friends with Huan Wen, and the two were equally famous in Jiangzuo.

Yao Xiang attached great importance to agricultural production, and the wide application of Quyuan plow in Huainan and Jiangnan areas naturally could not escape his eyes. Through his five younger brothers who were serving as officials in Jiangnan, Yao Xiang managed to get several finished products and tried them himself. After that, craftsmen were immediately organized to disassemble and imitate it.

Beyond Guanlong, Yao Xiang took the lead in bringing Quyuanli to the northern region.

He pointed to a curved shaft plow being used in the field and sighed to his brother Yao Chang:

"I heard that Huan Xi set up Jiqiaoyuan in Guanlong and gathered together skilled craftsmen. This curved shaft plow is the product of Jiqiaoyuan.

“Nowadays, using the curved shaft plow to plow the fields can save a lot of manpower and animal power.

"I want to follow suit and ask skilled craftsmen to make more utensils similar to the curved shaft plow for me. What does Jing Mao think?"

Yao Chang sneered:

"Brother, Huan Xi worked hard and worked hard to make this curved shaft plow, but in the end, it was easily copied by others.

"Now that Xuzhou is in crisis, my brother should recruit troops and strengthen his weapons instead of using money to support those craftsmen."

When Yao Xiang heard this, he nodded slightly and felt that what Yao Chang said was reasonable, so he stopped insisting.

Of course, Huan Xi was not without gains after Qu Yuan Li became popular in various places.

Folks call this plow Huan Gong plow and Xiao Huan plow, which is the best proof.

　Next chapter before twelve o'clock in the evening

　　

　

(End of this chapter)