Wentang

Chapter 819 Agricultural Research
Next to Sixingping, there is a manor covering an area of ​​[-] mu, which was bought by Yueshan as a land for agricultural research.

He wrote down some methods of cultivating fine seeds he knew, and called dozens of people who have researched on crops to do research.

This unit is temporarily affiliated with the Department of Biology, and usually systematically studies science knowledge, and studies crops after studying.

This work has been going on for nearly ten years, and there are some results but not obvious, or compared with the investment, this gain is not enough to pay off.

But Yue Shan was not disappointed, and invested resources as always.

He knows that in the case of insufficient technological level, he can only use the most stupid method to learn and summarize bit by bit, and maybe one day this road will work.

In June, it was the season of harvesting summer grain. Yue Shan, who was busy with his own affairs, suddenly received an invitation from Fu Jiting from the Crop Research Institute.

Said that the potatoes were harvested, and asked him to go over and give pointers.

Yue Shan immediately guessed that this must be fruitful, and literati like to beat around the bush when they want to save face.It's called advising in the name, but it's actually letting yourself go and see the results to show your merits.

However, he is really looking forward to the results of the Agricultural College, which has finally paid off after so many years.

So he temporarily put down what he was doing and went to the test field.

"Dean, you're here." Seeing him coming, Fu Jiting greeted him with a happy face.

"But you have good news to tell me?" Yue Shan asked straight to the point.

Fu Jiting knew that his little thoughts had been exposed, and said a little embarrassedly: "A little insignificant result."

"Go, talk while walking." Yue Shan said.

"Yes." Fu Jiting led the way, and they walked into the field together.

It is impossible to plant potatoes on [-] mu of land, but there are common crops such as sweet potatoes, corn, wheat, cotton, and rice.

Seeing these crops growing much better than outside, Yue Shan didn't show much joy.

These crops should grow well, the most fertile land, sufficient water source, deep plowing and careful cultivation, farm manure can be used casually...

It can be said that all the farming methods available at the moment have been used to ensure that these crops grow under the best conditions.If they don't grow well, there is a big problem.

If ordinary people manage the land in the same way, the crops will not be worse than these.However, is it possible for the people to grow crops in this way?impossible.

There is not enough fertilizer and water, and the family does not have the energy to take care of hundreds of acres of land so meticulously.

These good growths are the result of good care, not the seeds.And the reason why Yueshan spent so much money to build this manor is to study the improved species.

So there is no need for him to be happy.

The experiments here are divided into two types. The first one is to select the best and educate the best. As the name suggests, it is to select the fullest fruits as seeds and cultivate the next generation.

The second is hybridization. A single variety such as potatoes and corn cannot be tested for hybridization, but native crops such as rice can.

In particular, rice is the key object of cross-breeding, because this road has already been cleared by Mr. Yuan in his previous life. If he can't grasp it, he will really be ashamed of his reputation as a traverser.

Although he doesn't know how the hybridization test is done, he can slowly explore.He only needs to come up with the concept, and Fu Jiting will do the rest.

There is also cotton. The cotton seeds from the Western Regions have a relatively low cashmere rate.

The Datang Ocean Exploration Fleet discovered a new cotton variety on Nanzhan Buzhou (Australia), and the cashmere rate far exceeds that of Western Region cotton.

Now they are trying to breed southern cotton, and when the variety stabilizes, they will promote it nationwide to replace Western cotton.

"After several years of selecting and cultivating the best potatoes, the yield of potatoes has also been greatly improved. Yesterday we dug a portion of the land, and the yield reached 250 jin."

Yue Shan said, "Have you done a comparative experiment?"

Fu Jiting said: "I did. With the same seeds, we selected a piece of land to cultivate according to the planting methods of ordinary people. We dug a portion of the land yesterday and the yield was 180 catties."

The earliest yield of potatoes per mu was about [-] catties, and with better care, it could reach [-] catties, which is already the highest yield.

Now, the yield of the experimental field can reach [-] catties per mu, and that of ordinary farmland can reach [-] catties per mu. This yield increase is very large.

Even if ordinary people do not have the conditions to take care of them a little bit worse, and then discount the yield of [-] to [-] catties per mu, this is a very gratifying increase in production.

Datang now has nearly [-] million mu of arable land, excluding the low-yielding inferior fields, it will be calculated as [-] million mu. Even if the yield per mu is increased by [-] catties, it will be a terrifying increase overall, not to mention the increase of [-] per mu. catty.

Yue Shan nodded, and then showed a happy smile: "Okay, very good, if the quality of this breed can be stabilized, you will be the heroes of the Tang Dynasty, and you will be famous in history."

Fu Jiting also showed joy, and said: "It's all under the command of the headmaster. We just follow your orders to conduct experiments, and you are the first to do it."

Yue Shan smiled and said: "I don't lack this credit, I won't fight with you, what should be yours is yours."

Fu Jiting said gratefully: "On behalf of everyone, I would like to thank the dean for his kindness."

Being famous in history is everyone's pursuit. Yue Shan doesn't care about this opportunity, but Fu Jiting can't.This is probably his only chance in this life, how could he let it go.

When they arrived at the potato field, many people had already gathered here. When they saw Yue Shan coming, everyone came up to salute. Yue Shan also greeted everyone one by one.

Then there is excavation, no one is hired, everyone does it together.

Yue Shan himself took a shovel and dug out a potato that was as big as two fists, several times the size of the original egg.

There are also a few egg-sized ones, and the remaining finger-sized ones will be skipped.

But don't think it's not important to have a big finger. For the common people, potatoes, no matter how small, are food, and they are reluctant to waste them. Collecting them all is a considerable amount.

He changed several places and dug several trees in a row, all in the same situation. Now he finally believes that the output of the experimental field can reach [-] jin.

Then he went to the nearby comparison field to dig a few more. The difference was obvious. Not only was the total amount reduced, but there were also fewer fist-sized potatoes, but it was much better than before.

After digging for a while, he stopped, not because he didn't want to continue digging, but because he couldn't dig anymore, because two blisters appeared on his hands.

Seeing these two blisters, he really couldn't laugh or cry, he didn't practice martial arts less, why is he so fragile.

He didn't continue to be brave, he put down the shovel and dragged Fu Jiting and others to understand the overall situation of the manor.

"Now there are 230 seven official members in our manor, 66 senior members, and the rest are young people who are still in the learning stage."

"Actually, we are also learning. A lot of knowledge in biology can be applied to agronomy. We will go there to attend lectures when we have time."

Yue Shan emphasized again: "Not only biology, but physical chemistry is also very useful for agronomy. I have told you this many times. In the future, you should not only study biology, but also physical chemistry."

After hesitating for a while, Fu Jiting still said: "It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that I have studied chemistry and physics, but I don't know how to connect it with agronomy."

Yue Shan sighed, and it's not their fault, it's just that the level of technology is too low to connect them together.

"You all know that the land needs to be fertilized. The fertilizer produced after retting, such as plant ash, manure, etc., can increase crop production. Do you know why fertilization can increase crop production?"

Fu Jiting subconsciously wanted to say that people have to eat, and fertilizer is the food for crops, so they will naturally grow well when fertilized.

But then it occurred to me that this is not the principle of fertilization to increase production.

So the words that came to his lips became: "Please give advice to the dean."

Yue Shan said: "Crops need trace elements to grow, and fertilizers contain these trace elements, so the crops will grow well when fertilized."

"But there's a limit to the amount of micronutrients in fertilizers, and there's a limit to how much they can increase yield."

"If we find the trace elements needed for crop growth and produce them in large quantities as fertilizers, the crops will grow better. And this requires the use of chemical means."

Hearing this explanation, Fu Jiting was very pleasantly surprised: "Dean Xie pointed out, listening to your words is better than reading a lifetime of books."

"It turns out that the principle of fertilization is like this. In the future, I will definitely study chemistry knowledge and strive to find the trace elements needed for crop growth as soon as possible."

Yue Shan said with satisfaction: "That's right, it's good to have this kind of heart. In the future, research results can always be achieved."

Then he said sternly: "But we must remember that chemistry is a dangerous thing, and some seemingly good things may actually be deadly poisons."

"Don't easily associate chemistry with food. Even if you want to do an experiment, don't easily eat the things produced by chemicals."

"You can first use the house mouse as the experimental subject to conduct experiments, and wait until the house mouse eats it and there is no danger before giving it to people."

Fu Jiting said: "Yes, I will proceed cautiously."

Yue Shan knew that he didn't listen to his own words, so he could only intervene when he studied these things in the future.

Or take him to see the hazards of chemicals in person after a while, maybe he will be able to listen to it.

"There are already more than 200 people in agronomy. I plan to establish an agricultural college to specialize in agronomy. What do you think?"

This time Fu Jiting was no longer as simple as being surprised, but almost jumped up in excitement: "Really?"

Yue Shan understood his feelings very well, and said with a smile: "Really, I actually have a plan in this regard for a long time. It's just that the conditions are not mature, and forcing the establishment of an agricultural college is just a joke, and it will increase the pressure on you."

"Now that your research has achieved preliminary results, I will go to the palace tomorrow and invite the saint to come here to check it out in person, and then we can start the subject openly."

Fu Jiting said again and again: "Thank you Dean, thank you Dean, I will definitely not let you down."

Yue Shan said: "It's not over yet, all the teachers and students of the Agricultural College have the status of museum affairs officers, and you will also eat the emperor's food in the future."

On the contrary, Fu Jiting hesitated a little, and said: "This is not good, other disciplines have not enjoyed this kind of benefits. The Agricultural College has enjoyed it. It is unfair to students of other disciplines, and it will also cause criticism."

Yue Shan was very happy that he thought so, but he naturally had his own plan, so he said:
"Physics, biology, and chemistry students can work anywhere after they finish their studies. The agricultural college is not good. Its employment scope is too narrow. If you leave the agricultural college, you will starve to death. Only by giving you an official position can you concentrate on studying agriculture."

"Moreover, the enrollment standards of the Agricultural College will be higher in the future, and the number of enrollments each year will be very small, so there will be no problems."

In the previous life, the professional agricultural colleges that were the most difficult to get a job in were definitely at the forefront. It’s okay if there were few corresponding jobs, and the requirements for diplomas were still high. Every postgraduate diploma wanted to enter the laboratory is almost a dream.

This is true in the 21st century, let alone in ancient times.

Yue Shan didn't want to entrap the students. The agricultural college could be opened, but it was necessary to provide an official status as a guarantee.

It's just that in this way, the scale of the Agricultural College must be limited, and the imperial court's finances will not be able to afford unlimited enrollment.

It doesn't need to be much, just enrolling a hundred students a year is enough.

Some of them stay in the academy to do research, and some can be assigned to various places for field research.

Especially for the saline-alkali land along the coast, if the country can find a way to control it, the country can create hundreds of millions of acres of fertile land out of thin air.

But this situation will definitely not last for too long, and it will turn into an ordinary university in a maximum of 30 to [-] years, and the package allocation treatment will be cancelled.

After knowing the reason, Fu Jiting felt relieved, and at the same time was full of gratitude to Yue Shan.

Soon the people working there dug two acres of potatoes from the experimental field and the ordinary field, and after weighing them separately, they found that the weight was similar to the estimated weight.

The yield per mu of experimental fields is 470 jin, and that of ordinary fields is [-] jin.

After the data came out, everyone couldn't help cheering.

At this time, Fu Jiting announced that Yueshan opened an agricultural college, and that everyone had the status of a museum affairs officer.

This completely pushed the atmosphere to a climax.

All the hard work and dedication have paid off, is there anything more gratifying than this?Many people even cried with excitement.

Yue Shan could fully understand their feelings. It was similar to the situation faced by Gewuyuan back then. They relied on their passion and interest to study crops.

My family doesn't understand, I have almost no friends, and I've been looked down upon by others...

But now, they can pat their chests and say loudly that we are members of the agricultural college, the affairs officers of the museum, and eat the imperial food of the country.

I am also grateful to Yueshan and the others from the bottom of my heart. They used to spend money and effort to bring everyone together to study agronomy, and now they are given a formal and decent status.

They couldn't help but be grateful.

Afterwards, the excited people cooked a big meal together, even took out the wine, and indulged once.

Yue Shan was still in the old habit, he just had a meal with them, and he still didn't drink a drop of wine.

He didn't come home until evening.

Li Lizhi's heart ached when she saw the blisters on his hands, and she wished she could bear it for him, which made him both funny and moved.

The next day he went to the palace early in the morning, intending to invite Li Shimin and others to the test field to have a look.

(End of this chapter)