Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 257 251. Everything is ready
Time passed quietly and winter came. Although Jingzhou is located in the south, south of the Qinling-Huaihe line according to modern geography, it is just above the line, so the temperature cannot be said to be too high.

Under such circumstances, even in Jiangling, snowflakes began to fall, and the land further north was already covered in silver.

With the rapid development of tools and material technology in Jingzhou, the winter, which was not too cold to begin with, seems even less important.

Stoves, fireplaces and even heated beds are nothing new to Jingzhou. Some inns have even introduced "heated beds with large bunk beds", which are said to be unexpectedly popular.

As for keeping warm, although Feng Xi already knew that there was cotton in Nanzhong and Liangzhou, the two places were currently out of reach, and the environment in Jingzhou was not suitable for large-scale cotton cultivation. Therefore, current warm clothing still relies on primitive methods such as animal hair and linen.

In terms of food, the small-scale mixed economy that Feng Xi had previously promoted has begun to improve. The animal husbandry in Jingzhou has improved significantly compared to before. Although it is not yet so luxurious that every household can eat meat, ordinary families can still have a meat meal occasionally.

One thing Feng Xi has always been curious about is why people nowadays don’t eat pork, but instead eat mutton, chicken and even beef.

Feng Xi soon got the answer to this question. Once in a while, he ate the pork now, and the taste was really unforgettable for Feng Xi in his life. The fishy smell almost made him vomit on the spot, and it was completely unpalatable.

After talking with Ma Liang and Huang Quan, Feng Xi realized that even pork that was so hard to swallow was considered a luxury, but because of its terrible taste, few people were willing to raise it, which created a vicious cycle.

Finally, Feng Xi personally visited and investigated several wealthy pig-raising families in the area, trying to find out the cause, and soon discovered the problem.

First of all, pigs of this era were omnivorous and were almost always kept near or even inside toilets, so there was no need to explain what they ate.

The second important issue is that no one has ever castrated these pigs. If pigs are not castrated from childhood, they will become extremely smelly when they grow up.

Feng Xi immediately found a pig farmer near the governor's mansion and asked them to castrate half of the newborn piglets for comparison.

At first, the family was reluctant. After all, castration meant a decrease in the birth rate, which would affect future business. Even a smelly and fishy pig could still be sold for some money.

In the end, Feng Xi paid out of his own pocket to buy the piglets, but asked this family to foster them. He felt at ease only after he personally watched the workers, who were not very skilled in the job, castrate the pigs.

As a result, not long ago, the family discovered that these castrated pigs grew faster than other pigs and were much fatter, and seemed to be really different from ordinary pigs.

Feng Xi didn't have the time to wait for the pigs to grow up, so he asked the family to slaughter a castrated pig and a non-castrated pig at the same time. The result surprised everyone: the pork from the non-castrated pig was still fishy and smelly, and almost impossible to swallow.

The castrated piglet was completely the opposite. Its meat was fresh and tender without any strange smell. When roasted or stir-fried as Feng Xi had promoted it, it tasted so delicious that everyone who ate it drooled.

Feng Xi was very satisfied with this. He immediately asked the Dahan Daily to publish this discovery on the front page after returning. He also called on those who were able to raise more pigs, keep some as breeding pigs, and castrate the remaining piglets for sale, which could not only supplement the family income but also enrich the meat market. At the same time, Feng Xi also planned to set up some farms himself, in order to satisfy his own appetite and to set an example to attract the interest of other businessmen.

In this era, the division was not so strict, and it was not strange for officials to have private property. Therefore, the breeding farm that Feng Xi was in charge of was quickly established, and the manpower was simple, and some Feng family members were directly found from Nanjun.

Now Feng Xi has become the Grand Commander of Ji Han. He is the master of the family and is even more prosperous. Didn't the elder invite him here before? Now he has found some people to raise pigs and chickens. Many people are eager to come and join him.

However, the only problem is that castration of pigs is a technical job. If you want to become an expert, you can only take it slowly. In addition, it takes time for pigs to grow, so this farm did not get off the ground quickly.

However, Feng Xi had already made a lot of money by investing in furniture and selling fruit wine. In addition, he also had shares from Zhang Fei, which made Feng Xi's life, which was not poor to begin with, even more luxurious.

The idea of ​​fruit wine was also inspired by Feng Xi. Originally, winemaking at this time still relied on crops, such as wheat and rice. It can be said that a cup of muddy wine could feed a family of common people for several meals. This is also one of the reasons why alcohol was banned in difficult times in successive dynasties.

However, fruits and the like do not seem to matter. For one thing, things like dates and plums are not very filling, and some of them even have an appetite-stimulating effect. Naturally, they are not as efficient in filling the stomach as carbohydrates.

Secondly, wine itself is a luxury item in some sense, and using fruits to make wine does not harm the poor, so this is one of the reasons why Feng Xi dared to do this.

It has only been half a year since the recovery of Jingzhou, and the situation is already thriving. As for the military, Feng Xi plans to march eastward to attack the Eastern Wu next year as long as there is no plague or disaster.

The night is long and dreams are many. The Eastern Wu had already been extremely weakened by Feng Xi. If it weren't for the intervention of Cao Wei and the death of Old Liu, who transferred back the main force of the Eastern Expedition Army, Feng Xi would have taken advantage of the situation and advanced eastward. How could the Eastern Wu have spent the winter so comfortably?

Feng Xi basically doesn't have to worry about any matters, big or small, now. After his subordinates become proficient in their work, they will only seek Feng Xi's opinion on some matters that they are not too sure about. They can handle other matters by themselves.

Feng Xi was very comfortable as a hands-off boss, which was in stark contrast to Zhuge Liang, who took care of all the affairs, big and small, in the late Han Dynasty.

Thanks to this, Feng Xi also had the energy to micro-manage some things, such as occasionally thinking of some titles or content for the newspaper, or personally arranging spies to inquire about the situation in Jiangdong.

As the old saying goes, knowing yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger. Although Jiangdong is like a weak hyena, a dog can still jump over the wall when it is desperate. Feng Xi despises Jiangdong strategically, but still attaches great importance to it tactically.

Although he had killed many capable ministers and generals in Jiangdong, there were still more good generals ready to fight. If he entertained contemptuous thoughts, he would surely fail.

Feng Xi stood up and looked at the map behind him. This map was extremely accurate, and the mountains and rivers on it were even more accurate. This was the work of some spies that Feng Xi asked Deng Ai to train. With these maps, the resistance to the army's eastern expedition would definitely be reduced a lot in the future.

(End of this chapter)