Song Dynasty Iron Armored Army

Chapter 239 Searching for New Food Crops
Chai Lin built a total of [-] water turbine pumps, which are too advanced and beyond the scientific scope of this era, so they do not plan to export them.Twelve of them are for personal use, and the other eight are given to Hu's family village for use by my uncle.Moreover, Hujiazhuang belongs to the mountainous area, and there are especially many small streams and rivers. With water turbines and pumps, more land can be reclaimed and more developed.

On the big river beach in the west village of Chaijiazhuang, the Lanjia caravan sent 1.2 new iron-shoeed horses, each of which was short and strong, with a shoulder height of just over [-] meters and a weight of only [-] catties.Regardless of his size and appearance, he is not good-looking, but his body is strong and disease-resistant.

Chai Lin, Wu Yong, Pang Wanchun, Chai An, and Chai Gang are all watching the horses here.

Pang Wanchun was very happy and said: "This will be the mount of our light cavalry from now on. This horse is good. Look at the hooves are really hard."

Wu Yong said: "I don't know much about raising horses, but this horse is really good and very energetic."

Chai Gang was a little worried and said, "Brother, of the [-] horses, [-] were left on the racecourse, and the rest were distributed to Tao's village. I am worried that there is not enough fodder. We are in an agricultural area. There are wastelands and wastelands, but the area is not large. The real food straw for horses is grain straw, but there are not many straws suitable for feeding horses, only a small amount of pea seedlings, bean straw and a small amount of fallen leaves. That is to say, farmers often You have to worry about the grass, you either spend time grazing far away from the village every day, or you harvest a lot of dry weeds in autumn.”

"Don't worry about Gangzi. The population density is not that high. There are far more barren land than farmland, but you need to be a little farther away from the village. When there is a lot of rain in summer, the weeds in the wasteland are as high as one person. At that time, people can mow the grass and dry it in the sun." Dry it for the winter. In addition, we have prepared hundreds of catties of peanut seeds, which will be planted this year. If it is good, it will be popularized in three to five years. Peanut seedlings and peanut cakes are very good for feeding horses. I will think of another way Introduce some new crops, so that farmers no longer have to worry about forage." Chailin said.

"I'm afraid that some lazy people will not move. It seems that horse farmers are strictly selected. Lazy people and households with insufficient labor cannot give them horses." Chai Gang said.

Chailin thought about it, and it was true.There are no good straws for the crops grown now.

In addition to peanuts that have not yet been promoted, there are only pea straw, soybean straw, and grain straw.As for wheat straw and straw, although they can be fed to horses, their nutritional content is very low, that is, to fool horses, and they are not as nutritious as dry weeds.

Corn, corn stalks, sweet potatoes, and sweet potato stalks are all excellent crops with short growth periods and high yields.Corn and sweet potatoes can be eaten by humans or fed to livestock. With high straw yields, they are also good feed for livestock.It's perfect to use corn and sweet potatoes to explode horses, cattle, donkeys and other large animals.

But at present, Da Song has not found any corn to grow, which is really difficult.

Seeing that Chai Lin was distracted, Wu Yong asked, "Brother, what are you thinking about?"

"I plan to find several new kinds of grains to grow, which are drought-resistant and flood-resistant, and the harvest is guaranteed. The straw has good nutrition and high grain yield." Chailin said.

Wu Yong said in amazement: "The current common crops have been inherited for thousands of years. It is not easy to find new food varieties. If we can find the kind of food my brother said, our agricultural areas can catch up with the northern grasslands." There are no herdsmen, and every family has enough meat, and the straw is all meat."

Chai Lin suddenly thought of the submarines and warships rewarded by the construction of the Dinghai Port Dockyard a few days ago. The speed per hour is very high. Can they go to the New World to search for corn and sweet potatoes?

Chai Lin said: "Sir, there is nothing going on in the camp recently, how about I give you a task?"

Wu Yong said: "Brother, you're being polite. If there's anything you need, just arrange it."

"Our military camp and several mines have a large population, and we need to eat every bite. Especially the army, which is our lifeblood. I want to add an egg to the brothers' breakfast every day. The purchases from the villages are too scattered and troublesome. Are you in charge of finding a few places and building a few chicken farms to ensure the supply of eggs for the soldiers?" Chailin said.

Wu Yong said: "No problem, I promise to complete the task."

The chicken farm does not operate externally, it only supplies for itself, and it is under the logistics jurisdiction of the township soldiers, so it is appropriate to arrange for Wu Yongjun to be in charge.Don't look at it as a trivial matter, but it is not easy to do.These days, the chickens are all free-range, and there is no vaccine, and they all rely on their own disease resistance.Therefore, I have no experience in the procurement, cultivation, and construction of chicken coops, and I need to discuss and learn.

In the barracks, Chai Lin came to a private meeting, not many people came, only a few confidantes, all at the rank of chief general.

Wu Yong, Lin Chong, Pang Wanchun, Lu Da, Wu Song, Bian Xiang, Chai Yong, Chai Meng and others.

Lin Chong said, "Brother, what's the matter?"

Chai Lin said: "I plan to go overseas to find new food crops, to provide sufficient feed for large livestock such as cattle, horses and mules, so that the people will no longer suffer from cold and hunger."

"My brother's mood can be understood by everyone, but the danger of going overseas is unknown, and we may not be able to find it. It's better to plant our existing varieties with peace of mind." Lu Da said.

Chai Lin shook his head: "Most of the existing grain stalks are not suitable for feeding cattle and horses. The kind of grain I am looking for is called corn. It is golden in color and can yield a thousand catties per mu. It is resistant to drought and waterlogging. The most important thing is that it can produce two to four to five thousand catties. The other sweet potato is most suitable for hillsides and mountainous areas. It can produce four to five thousand catties of fresh potatoes per mu, and more than 1000 catties of dried potatoes. Sweet potatoes can be boiled and eaten, or sliced ​​and powdered to make vermicelli. Pork stewed vermicelli noodles are delicious. There are five to six hundred catties of sweet potato seedlings and hay in one acre of sweet potatoes, which are rich in nutrients and are excellent forage."

"It couldn't be better. A prairie horse only needs more than 20 catties of grass a day. If there is such a good grain, every household can raise horses, and there is no need to worry about forage anymore." Pang Wanchun said.

Wu Song said: "The main reason is to worry about my brother's safety. After all, no one has been overseas."

Chai Lindao: "Although I don't believe it, Daoist Lingyun approved a hexagram: Merchants help each other, every bull turns into good luck. Only when the iron pestle becomes a needle, can things be done."

"It seems that this trip will take a long time, why don't I go instead of my brother." Wu Song said.

Lu Da said: "Let's go to the Sa family. The Sa family is alone and has nothing to worry about. Help my brother get through this."

"I'll go, I'll shoot the arrow." Pang Wanchun said.

Chai Lindao: "Brother Wu Song is newly married, how can I have the heart to send you there. Don't argue with others, don't worry, I have prepared a very safe boat for this expedition, I will lead the team, Ling Yun said A total of six people, Chang Chang, Lu Yidao Langzhong, Battalion Commander Ruan Xiaoqi, Dian Zhengnan, and Xie Bao went there. During this period, the military power was handed over to Lin Chong and Pang Wanchun. For the reception of new recruits, keep a low profile during this time, and train in the camp with peace of mind."

The reason why Chai Lin went was because other people didn't know sweet potato and corn, so if they found the wrong one, it would be a loss.Daoist Ling Yun is a magic stick, pretending to be a ghost and fooling the local aborigines.Lu Langzhong is a surgeon, he can cure diseases if there is any danger.Ruan Xiaoqi is quick-witted and good at swimming, and can contribute to rivers and lakes.Dianzheng Nan has thick skin and thick flesh, so it is up to him to charge forward.Xie Bao's arrows are also good, responsible for guarding the safety of Chai Lin.

"Yes." The generals agreed.

　Ask for a monthly ticket, ask for a recommendation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)