Three Kingdoms.

  Chapter 1586 What is better than the cold

  Although it has basically entered spring now, the cold wind is still howling and refusing to stop, desperately stabbing a small knife into the gaps in the clothes and armor.

  Fei Qian could not help wrapping himself in a cloak, but felt that this brocade cloak couldn't hold back the wind...

   It seems that every little ice age is a disaster for farming peoples.

When the mild climate continued, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty smiled and ate and dressed. Not only did they not think about expanding outward as much as possible to obtain more resources, but they tried all their strength to get rid of the burden of using troops from the outside world. The Eastern Han Dynasty So, so is the Ming Dynasty.

   When the temperature drops, the northern nomads have to gather and go south in order to survive. One side is muddling along, and the other is survival. The morale of the two armies may be more than doubled at the beginning. After the standing soldiers of the farming nation on the front line of defense are defeated, they will often snowball. It is also difficult to recover from defeat.

  Of course, if there was no King Li Chuang in the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen would have been delayed, just like if there had been no Dong Zhuo, Liu Bian might have lived a few more years.

  External factors are very important, but internal factors are more important.

   Now, Fei Qian is preparing to strengthen some internal factors for the Chinese nation, so that when future generations face suffering, they will have more means and more preparations.

  Why do the traversers tend to act confident at the beginning?

  Because the traveler knew the general direction of the future at the beginning. However, with the passage of time, this sense of direction will gradually deviate and disappear. When history takes a different path, the traversers, like ordinary people, have some feelings about the future that is no longer clear and clear. fear.

   For example, cotton.

  In this valley to the north of Chang'an, the small dam built in advance of winter has already broken the ice, and the water flows down mixed with broken ice, flows through the valley and then rushes to the Guanzhong Plain. The finely crushed ice **** shone with colorful brilliance under the sun, illuminating the emerald green color in the valley.

  Zaozhi Zaozi Jingzheng was standing outside the valley, and was welcoming Fei Qian with a dozen bachelors of agriculture and engineering.

  Bachelor of Agriculture is actually a very suitable position for poor families. One reason is that the children of ordinary noble families look down on these positions, and the other reason is that ordinary people do not have enough knowledge to take up these positions, because the standards for political performance are straightforward and clear, and if they are done well, they will also be loved by ordinary people, so It has also become a ladder for many poor families who want to re-enter the political world.

   As for the bachelor of engineering, many craftsmen in the Huang family, and some people from the Mohist family took up the post.

  So from a certain point of view, the Bachelor of Agriculture and the Bachelor of Engineering are undoubtedly the two probes that General Fei Qian of Zhengxi penetrated into the bottom of the Han Dynasty. Whether they can become two important pillars in the future depends on the future development.

   Feiqian jumped off the horse, and under the protection of the guards, entered the valley with Zaozhi.

  There are sentry towers around the valley, roadblocks and fences on some intersections, and irregular patrol soldiers, not for anything else, but to prevent the ignorant farmers of later generations from digging up hundreds of thousands of fruits and vegetables...

   Farmers are guilty of ignorance, but are they not guilty if they are lax?

After entering the valley, the camp is blocked at the entrance. Behind the camp are planned places where various plants are planted. On the right side, close to the mountain wall, there are two two-story wooden houses and a large one. In the open space, there are some utensils placed on the open space, which is obviously the place for the Bachelor of Engineering.

  The road under our feet is paved with **** and gravel, and has been compacted. It looks dry and smooth, and walking on it will not raise much dust.

   Entering the camp, Fei Qian sat down in the hall, and glanced slightly.

  The camp is very simple, and even in some places there are still big wooden piles, which have not yet been completely bricked and petrified.

Originally, this valley was the former site of the palace that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty chose to be responsible for planting at that time, but most of the palace was built by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to show off his martial arts, and he didn't pay much attention to it, so naturally this so-called most advanced agriculture in the Han Dynasty at that time The base was only a flash in the pan, and there were no deeds or results left.

But in the hands of Fei Qian, it has regained its vitality. The semi-permanent camps are still being built one after another, mainly in the slack time of farming. After all, the most important thing is still the cultivation and planting of new plants, as well as technical information. Sorting and imparting, these things are far more valuable than building an exquisite palace.

"Zijing, thank you..." After Feiqian and the others sat down, the first thing he did was to stand up again, saluted Zaozhi again, and said solemnly, "Zijing's skill is comparable to expanding the earth." , It is really a blessing for the great Han society!"

  Zao only quickly avoided the table and bowed, saying: "I just dare not be."

Fei Qian stepped forward to help the jujube, and then said to the other agricultural and engineering scholars in the hall: "In ancient times, Juesheng, the people lived long and long, and there were fields for farming, and the lights passed on the salary. Shun plowed, and Yu also farmed. Zhou Dian Han's family , the prosperity of the country! Farmers and workers are the foundation of the country, you must remember the responsibility, the greatness of the contribution, the contribution lies in the community, and the contribution lies in the future!"

  The Bachelor of Agriculture and Bachelor of Engineering who had been injected with chicken blood responded repeatedly, and then bowed again, then retreated, giving space to Fei Qian and Zaozhi.

Fei Qian took off the tiara on his head, handed it to Huang Xu who was beside him, and said, "Zi Jing, what you said just now is really not a polite word, this time cotton was planted, your name , It must have been passed down through the ages... By the way, I brought some special products from Sichuan and Sichuan, remember to go home and have a look when you have time... Okay, let's not talk about this, cotton, let me have a look..."

   Before he could say thank you or anything, Fei Qian changed the subject.

  Maybe I don’t think so myself, but Fei Qian knows that cotton is an important material to resist the cold. With cotton, human beings can adapt to colder regions...

You must know that the climate before the Little Ice Age was very warm. For example, it is like Vietnam, Laos and other places in later generations. One or two single clothes throughout the year is enough, but now suddenly In a short period of time, this kind of place has become the three provinces in the Northeast. How can ordinary people live without warm clothes for a lifetime, or even several lifetimes?

  Before there was no air-conditioning, the hot weather belonged to everyone, and the cold weather belonged to individuals. Because the weather is hot, everyone is hot. If it is so hot, you can’t wear anything or peel off your skin, right? But when it’s cold, the poor must be the poor who don’t have extra clothes, and the rich and the rich are naturally not afraid. Can be added layer by layer...

Therefore, when a large-scale cold current surged, firstly, after the Northern War, the population dropped very sharply, and secondly, many poor people could not stay and fled one after another. Therefore, the Jin Dynasty after the Three Kingdoms naturally could not maintain its status in the north. In the following period of time, the countries established in the northern part of the land of China were all regimes of nomadic peoples wearing cows and sheepskins.

  So jujube, the cotton grown now, can be said to be a little new hope to change this situation, a little precious kindling.

  Of course, this fire still needs to spread out and burn more vigorously.

  Zao Zhiren brought up some cotton that had been harvested for a season, with a look of reminiscence on his face, and said: "This is the new one that was planted last year... We didn't know it at first, so we used this..."

Zao only smiled wryly and shook his head, "I used the method of growing wheat and rice before. It should be because the method was not very correct, but I failed to grow a few seeds... It was true at that time... Later, after the lord went to Sichuan and Sichuan, Longyou and A Semu man came and brought some other seeds, and this is considered to be a bit of improvement...Last year we planted 27 mu, this year we should be able to expand the number of 100 mu..."

   "Semu people?" Fei Qian thought about it while holding the cotton, "Oh, it was mentioned in Gongming's briefing back then, but why didn't it say that Semu people also had seeds?"

Zao just shook his head and said: "I'm not too sure about this, but at that time the Semu man kept saying that he would hand over the seeds in front of the lord, but he took it out after hearing that the lord had arrived in Sichuan and Shu ..."

   "Wonderful goods to live in?" Fei Qian frowned.

  Zao was silent and did not answer.

   Fei Qian looked down at the cotton, thought for a while, and said, "Forget it, it can be regarded as a contribution, let's see you when you have time..." After finishing speaking, Fei Qian focused his attention on the cotton.

  The few cotton flowers in the hands are not as white, fluffy, and not as big as in the memory of later generations, but they still feel light and warm.

  The slightly yellowish cotton thread is not long and not soft enough, which means that it takes more effort and time to weave, but in this era, such cotton is already the best...

  Of course, at this point in time, the best cotton in the whole world is not in Asia, but in America...

  Maybe after having cotton, you can try to cross the Bering Strait?

  In ancient times, it was said that Asia and America were actually connected together. Even now, if the Little Ice Age comes, the Bering Strait will be frozen, and maybe you can walk directly through it...

   Then there may be corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and of course, American gold and silver...

   For a while, Fei Qian's thinking spread out, and he was a little dazed.

   Having said that, America has so many resources, why didn't a huge dynasty form?

  Fei Qian held the cotton that was smaller and much yellower than the later generations, and suddenly felt a little bit, after all, it was still a matter of domestication.

  In the Americas, there is a lack of domesticated agricultural crops, and there are no plants such as wheat and rice that have been domesticated for a long time. Corn, the main food crop in the Americas, has an ear of the original variety that is only as thick as a finger, has a low yield, and has a hard shell outside the corn kernels. By the time Europeans arrived in America, corn was domesticated by Indian farmers to about one-third the size of the current ear of corn. Other crop varieties are also very difficult to domesticate, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, sunflower seeds, pumpkins, etc., are not as productive as they are now. The original sweet potato is only slightly thicker than human fingers, and it is not as big as later generations.

   After all, purposeful domestication and purposeless selection are two completely different concepts. When you see good fruit, pick it first and eat it, and naturally there will be no follow-up goodness.

"The ancient ancestors found wheat grains among the weeds, and then continued to plant them from generation to generation, selecting the best from the best, and only then did the current Zhuanghe..." Fei Qian solemnly put the cotton on the table, and said, "Now We have this... Let's start now... We need to grow bigger, with more velvet and longer varieties...Once a year is still a bit longer, let's see if we can plant them in the greenhouse..."

"In addition, we also need some Zhuanghe that can grow in the cold winter..." Fei Qian continued, "In this way, there are cotton, cold-resistant crops, and cattle and sheep, which can be closed to form a cold-weather farm. The food chain, um, is something that can be harvested and eaten for a whole year by the people of the big man in cold weather..."

  Why is it difficult for nomads to develop a brilliant civilization?

  Of course, if someone insists on An Yuan Dynasty, then there is nothing to say...

To have a civilized society, there must be a lot of fine division of labor, and it is impossible for people who are always in a state of labor to sit down and think about cultural and cultural civilizations. Therefore, all nomadic peoples, even if they are powerful for a while, will disappear in the world. In the long river of history, only by sticking to the agricultural land can more grains slowly precipitate the flames of civilization.

  In the past, the cold areas could only rely on fur to keep out the cold, but now there is an additional plant that will be cheaper and more convenient in the future to keep out the cold, which will invisibly expand the scope of more and larger farming...

   "Cold-resistant?" Zao only frowned and said, "Isn't there enough winter wheat?"

   Feiqian shook his head and said: "Winter wheat lasts too long, and it is not really cold-resistant. If it encounters a cold spring, it may not be possible to freeze to death directly..."

   "So..." Zao pondered for a moment, then said, "Why don't you try growing some millet?"

   "Mi?" Fei Qian repeated, thinking for a while.

   Millet, because the taste is worse than millet, and the output is less than millet, so basically most of it is replaced by millet now. And because of the yield, even some places do not grow millet, but wheat and sorghum.

However, millet is the first batch of Zhuanghe domesticated by the Chinese people, and because millet is more drought-resistant and barren-tolerant, it has a stronger growth ability and has an advantage in competing with weeds. It has a short growth period, short plants, and consumes less land than There is less millet, so it is relatively more suitable to be cultivated as a crop suitable for alpine regions.

   "I will choose millet!" Fei Qian decided, "Find a place here to try planting first, and then go to Yinshan Mountain. If Yinshan Mountain can adapt, then you can go further north...for example, Jiuyuan Changshan area..."

  While speaking, suddenly a soldier ran over excitedly and reported loudly: "General Qi, there is news from Heluo that an angel is coming!"

  (end of this chapter)