Go back to the Ming Dynasty to be a thousand households

Chapter 41 Sowing seeds, raising pigs, raising ducks and feeding fish ([-])

Yang's mouth just kept saying "Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah."

She groaned for a long time, then turned her head and said to Huang Laifu: "My son, these horse-drawn plows and cogwheels are quick to work, but the price of these things should be very expensive."

Huang Laifu said: "If you go back to your mother, you need 2 taels of silver to buy this columbine cart, 5 taels of silver for a horse-drawn plow, 2 taels of silver for 2 horses, and 12 taels of silver for a set of things."

At this time, the prices of horses in the Daming Horse Market vary, and they can be roughly divided into five types: top horses, top horses, middle horses, dismounted horses, and foals. Four pieces of silk each; middle horses worth three stones of rice and three pieces of cloth and silk each; dismounted horses worth two stones of rice and two pieces of silk each; foals worth one stone of rice and two pieces of cloth.

Regarding the horses used for plowing, Wuzhaibao only had the original draft horses, and there were about a hundred horses for riding, which was far from enough. At least a hundred draft horses had to be purchased from outside.Huang Laifu entrusted Qu Yuanrui to purchase them, and Qu Yuanrui contacted a horse dealer in Yima City, Yansui Town, and bought a hundred middle and high-grade draft horses at a price of 6 taels of silver each.

The 10 farms in Wuzhaibao have a large demand for these ancient mechanized tools. A farm needs at least 10 sets of columbine carts and horse-drawn plows, and 10 farms need 100 sets. Nearly 2000 taels of silver.This kind of equipment cost, I am afraid that only Huang Laifu in the entire Ming Dynasty can afford it.

At this time, the people of Ming Dynasty, especially in the northwest and southwest, not to mention the iron plow for ox plowing, many places still use the original coupling plowing method, and many plow tips are still made of wood, which cannot penetrate deep into the land at all.Even in the south of the Yangtze River where agriculture is relatively developed, many farmers there have no cattle and yoke their wives to plows as cattle.Among the many poor peasants in Daming, ten households may not have a farm animal and a pair of plows.Even some poor peasants have to rent their hoes from local landlords.

The lack of equipment is one, and there is another one. If you use these mechanized equipment in the Central Plains or Jiangnan where there are few people, you are afraid that there will be conflicts with the people competing for employment opportunities, which also affects this high-input, high-yield farming methods.But in Wuzhai Fort, of course, these problems don't exist. Huang Laifu hopes that the less people he can farm, the better he will be, and the more people he has will be of great use in the future.

After hearing Huang Laifu's words, Huang Sihao and Gu Qianhu looked at each other, but did not speak.Qu Yuanrui stood beside Huang Laifu, with a calm expression on his face, even though Huang Laifu was spending all his money now.Only He Fuqian could not stop hissing, and muttered: "It's too expensive...it's really too expensive..."

Huang Laifu didn't feel much. He was used to the large-scale mechanized operations of later generations. The situation in front of him was just a drizzle for him. He said with a smile: "Don't worry, everyone. If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools. These investments will definitely be worthwhile in the future." It pays off."

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Seeing the plowing and sowing methods of horse-drawn plows and columbine carts, Huang Laifu's confidence greatly increased. He asked all farms in Wuzhaibao to seize the farming season and sow seeds as soon as possible.

Immediately, the farms and farms in Wuzhaibao launched a vigorous spring plowing and planting plan. After the horse-drawn plows and columbine carts were transported to various farms, the farming method of one ox, one person, and one plow was completely abandoned in Wuzhaibao. Fully ancient-style mechanization.Most of the newly reclaimed land in Wuzhaibao is located in the plains, which is also conducive to the use of this large-scale mechanization.

In various farms, the villagers who were transformed from military households or civilian households used horse-drawn plows and columbine wagons in amazement. Everyone had different feelings about this ancient mechanized equipment, some were shocked, some were frightened, There is joy and so on. This kind of farming method has a huge impact on their minds.

On April 1590, 4, the second farm of Wuzhaibao.

"Oh my god, these horse coupes are too scary..."

Qiu Hongma, head of the first village, got off the columbine cart and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his calloused hands, his thick black face seemed to be full of lingering fear.Qiu Hongma lived to be more than 40 years old and considered himself rich in farming experience, but he couldn't tell when he used the horse-drawn plow and columbine cart for the first time.

This columbine cart not only sows quickly, but also has a bucket on the columbine cart. The bucket is filled with sieved fine dung. Fertilization, soil covering, and suppression were completed at one time, and [-] acres of fertilization could be sown and fertilized in one day, which scared Qiu Hongma, who considered himself a good farmer.

When he was farming like before, the sowing and fertilization were all done by hand. I don’t know how much effort it would take to cover a few acres of land in a day, and the effect was not necessarily good.

After hearing Qiu Hongma's words, the surrounding soldiers also interrupted one after another.

"Yes, yes, the first time I saw this horse plow, I was also taken aback..."

"My hands were shaking."

"According to this speed, the farm's [-] mu of land will be fully sown. I'm afraid it will take only a few days. My old Li has been planting land for decades. To be honest, this is the first time I have seen such a speed."

"Fast is fast, good is good, but these things are too expensive, how could we afford them in our family before?"

"Yeah, only young and old are willing to spend money like this."

Qiu Hongma came back to his senses, untied the draft horses in front of the couch, let them drink water and eat some horse food, he patted the horse's back lovingly, and said loudly: "Let's rest for a while, after lunch , everyone continues to work, don’t be lazy, whether you can be judged as the first-class villager, first-class villager and annual reward depends on how well we do our work.”

Qiu Hongma was originally a military household in Wuzhai Fort, and a brother in his family was a banner soldier in Wuzhai Fort. Like other military households in Wuzhai Fort, he used to live a poor life. He was appointed as the head of the first village of Wuzhaibao Second Farm. After several months of recuperation, his originally rather disheveled face has revealed a good color.

Qiu Hongma cherishes the present life very much, and usually works desperately, even with the hundreds of soldiers under his command, he is also pressed very hard.

Hearing what he said, all the villagers naturally agreed...

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The situation in the No. [-] village of Wuzhaibao No. [-] Farm is just a microcosm of the feelings of the people in Wuzhaibao. The mechanized production method is quietly affecting the thinking of everyone in Wuzhaibao.But no matter what, the spring plowing and planting activities in Wuzhaibao are going on vigorously everywhere.

Among the 20 mu of land in Wuzhaibao, in addition to most of the fields planted with spring wheat, there are also some fields and the fields of various farms that are planted with soybeans, rapeseed, alfalfa, and turnips.

Rapeseed and turnip can be fed to pigs and sheep, and they are excellent feed, which will play a great role in the future development of Wuzhaibao's breeding industry.Soybeans can be ground into tofu, and tofu residue can also be fed to pigs.Alfalfa is also an ideal feed for livestock and poultry. The mixed feed processed from alfalfa stems and leaves can increase the lactation of dairy cows, improve the quality of wool by feeding sheep, and help to increase the reproductive rate and fattening rate of various livestock.

Not only that, leguminous crops such as soybeans and alfalfa have the ability to biologically fix nitrogen.At this time, Daming generally used manure and rotting weeds as fertilizers.And planting these leguminous crops can improve the characteristics of the soil without using chemical fertilizers, and can also effectively improve the fertility of the land and increase the yield of crops.

Moreover, alfalfa has strong adaptability and can be planted on some hillsides. It can be harvested two or three times a year. It has always been known as the queen of grass.There are many places for grazing in Wuzhaibao. For example, vigorously planting alfalfa can provide high-quality feed for the future development of animal husbandry in Wuzhaibao.

As a latecomer, Huang Laifu has a lot of computer data, of course he understands this, and immediately mobilizes the people of Wuzhaibao to plant these crops everywhere, thinking that he will build artificial pastures in the future.

March 1590, 4 AD.

The spring plowing and sowing plan in Wuzhaibao was basically over, which made everyone heave a sigh of relief.Everyone had smiles on their faces, looking forward to the future.However, the end of the spring wheat planting does not mean that the farming work is over, and some agricultural sidelines in Wuzhaibao are in full swing again.

April 1590, 4 AD.The First Farm of Wuzhaibao.

Not far from the Qinglian River, there is a relatively low-lying area. This area is useless for crops, but it is another treasure land for Huang Laifu.

Huang Laifu planted large tracts of rapeseed and turnip beside these low-lying lands.On the low-lying land, hundreds of ponds were dug, and the ponds were full of fish.On the edge of the pond, nearly a hundred pig houses, hundreds of duck pens, hundreds of chicken pens, and a large vegetable field were built.

Now the countless piglets in the piggery are eating all kinds of hog grass and various feeds made by the farmer, but after the rapeseed, turnip and alfalfa grow up, the piglets can eat these .Pigs pull down pig manure, not only can fertilize the field, chickens and fish in the pond can also eat the things in the pig manure, and it is easy to become fat.Ducks can go to the pond to eat, or go to the river to eat fish and shrimp.

Such recycling of poultry, planting, and feeding is actually a comprehensive agricultural and sideline business model that integrates agriculture, fishery, fruit and vegetable industry, etc.Not only can it be profitable, but it can also promote a virtuous cycle and balance of production and ecology.

When Huang Laifu planned all this, even the old military households and old women who had the most abundant farming and breeding in Wuzhaibao had to express their admiration for Huang Laifu's approach.

(End of this chapter)