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Chapter 38 Experimental Field and Political Center(1/2)

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"How much was the harvest last year?" Shao Shude went straight to the experimental field under Lingzhou City as soon as he got off the boat.

Although it was the first time last year that the three-crop rotation system was implemented and he couldn't see much of it, he was still very concerned about it.

The field belongs to Longxing Temple, which was returned to Guanzhong last year, and Master Biancai took some monks to Dijinze to preach. A new branch of Longxing Temple was built there to explain Buddhism to the grassland bastards.

The great truth.

The people who cultivated the experimental field were the farmers of the original Longxing Temple, which was also the village of Shao Dashuai. During the three years of the experiment, taxes and labor were exempted, so everyone was still very motivated.

"Commander, you can harvest one bush of dendrobium from one acre and seven measures of it," reported Pei Yuan, a farewell man from Lingzhou.

This number is the average figure for 300 households. The high one has two huks of dendrobium, while the low one has only one husk. A total of 60 hectares have been planted, and the wheat harvest has exceeded 10,000 huks of dendrobium.

"How many seeds were sown?" Shao Shude asked again.

"Sow two bushels per acre," Pei Yuan replied.

If you sow two bushels of seeds per acre, you are planting densely. No wonder you can harvest seven bushels of seeds per acre.

Shao Shude did a mental calculation and found that the seed-to-harvest ratio is 1:8.5, which is not low, slightly better than normal. But it is not much better. After all, this is dense planting. Many farmers do not scatter two buckets of seeds per acre when sowing.

Unless the land is extremely fertile and nutrient-rich.

But it doesn’t matter, this is only the first year. It will take two years for the fallow nitrogen-fixing farmland to see the results when planting food. I hope to increase the yield to more than 10, or even 1:15, that is, sow two buckets of seeds and harvest wheat.

Two or three dendrobiums, that would be perfect.

Shao Shude once went to Hengshan Dangxiang to see that their agricultural production is really extensive. The mountains mainly plant millet, wheat, and highland barley. They scatter a little more than a bucketful of seeds, and then don't care about anything, just wait for the harvest in August. One acre

On average, the field harvests about five buckets of grain, and the seed-to-harvest ratio is within 1:5, sometimes only 1:4. This is really a trap.

If the rate of return drops further, it would be better to just let it go. This is true.

The seed-to-harvest ratio is the most critical indicator of grain harvest. The so-called increase in yield actually increases the rate of return. For millet and wheat, 1:4 is on the low side because the yield per mu is less than one hug; 1:6 and 7 are

The normal level is because it has reached the average passing line of "one stone per mu" in the country, that is, one and a half bushels of seeds can be sown and one bushel of grain can be obtained during the autumn harvest.

Farmers in Longxing Temple spread two bushels of seeds per acre and planted them at high density. They probably also used a lot of Yellow River sediment and livestock manure to fertilize the fields, just to get a yield of seven bushels per acre to make themselves happy.

Alas, officials must have taught them to do this, but they must not have expected that Shao Shude would ask how many seeds were used.

Wufu actually still understands this these days?

"One household has sixty acres, what about the other forty acres?" Shao Shude asked.

"Back to the Marshal, a total of sixty hectares of Dawan alfalfa have been planted. One mu can produce dozens of stones per year, which can feed a grassland bullock for a year, or there is still a little surplus. Twenty mu can feed more than twenty people.

A cow." Pei Yuan replied.

"How busy is it to raise twenty cows?" Shao Shude asked.

"A family of six should be... very busy." Pei Yuan hesitated.

Shao Shude didn't say anything. As an official, it's good to know the figures. Is it realistic to expect him to go deep into the farmers' homes and ask for help?

It must be extremely hard and tiring for a family of six people, big and small, to do farm work and take care of livestock. Shao Shude dares to say that these three hundred families must have squeezed out every ounce of their energy, otherwise it would be impossible to obtain

The yield per mu is one dendrobium and seven bushels.

Perhaps there is also a profit motive in it. If you don't pay taxes for three years, all the income is yours. The more you work, the more you get, which can indeed mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers.

"Commander, we will sow wheat seeds in March and April. After we are done with the work, alfalfa will sprout in May and we can use it as pasture until the middle of winter. It just happened to be open." Seeing that Pei Yuan was dumbfounded by the question, Zhao Zhi, the judge of the shogunate's camp, stepped forward.

said.

"Are there other pastures?"

"Coming back to the Commander-in-Chief, after discussion with my colleagues in the Camp and Field Department, I think turnips can be planted and used as pasture."

"Find another piece of land to try."

"As commanded."

"How much manure does a bullock produce in a year?" Shao Shude asked again.

Pei Yuan and Zhao Zhi were both stunned, as if they had encountered something incredible.

It's so degrading to ask this question! Is the commander really a martial artist? In his early years in the Tiande Army, he must have farmed, right?

Shao Shude shook his head. In fact, he didn't know. He only knew that the excrement pulled by one cow in a year could be used to fertilize one acre of land, which might be a little insufficient. It would be better to use three cows to fertilize two acres of land. So.

, in order to achieve enviable high yields for many years while maintaining soil fertility, of course we must not forget the contribution of fallow nitrogen fixation.

The seed to harvest ratio must be raised, 1:10 is necessary, and 1:15 is the goal.

"Find another piece of land to cultivate improved seeds."

The two of them understood what Marshal Shao said. In fact, farmers have the awareness of saving seeds and selecting seeds. Every year, they will sow the wheat with the fullest grains. Does Marshal mean that they need better seeds?

"Do you all know about horse politics?" Shao Shude said: "If a good horse is matched with a good horse, the best foal will be selected and cultivated from generation to generation. The same can be done with seeds. Let's get started. The money, land, and manpower required

, come to find someone."

"As commanded."

The high yield of food in later generations depends on four major factors: improved seeds, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and water conservancy. Forget about pesticides, water conservancy has been developed. There is indeed no chemical fertilizer, but it can be replaced by manure. All the manure a cow pulls in a year will be smashed.

In the acres of land, the efficiency is a bit low, but there is no other way, we can only do this.

Before traveling through time, read the novel yourself. Someone in ancient times could just say a word and fertilize the fields with manure or river bottom silt, and it seemed that they could immediately obtain high yields. Then passers-by would be amazed and gain both fame and fortune.

This is just conjecture!

Didn’t the ancients know about retting? Of course they did. But why is the effect still not good? There is not enough manure or silt!

Human excrement is only one-tenth of that of cows, which is enough to fatten the fields! Nitrogen-fixing fallow fields and cow dung fertilizing fields are a multi-pronged approach to replenish the soil fertility consumed by high yields.

In addition, there are improved varieties, which are actually the same as horse administration. They require long-term cultivation and a bit of luck.

Currently, only the Khan of Guanbei can implement the three-crop rotation system. Controlling so many grassland tribes and obtaining enough cattle is also a major reason. Take your time, if one acre of land can harvest two or three bushels of wheat, the entire

The food production in the seven prefectures will increase greatly. By then, his prestige will be even higher. Who in the town dares to rebel?

Li Shao went to Huaiyuan County, and Shao Shude moved directly into the Jiedushi Mansion after entering the city.

He first asked people from the Lingzhou shogunate to find household registration and farmland information.

After the capture of Lingzhou last spring, the local population experienced a big leap. Originally there were only 40,000 people, and even including hidden households, there were only 50,000 or 60,000, and the full number of households was less than 10,000. However, in the past year, 4,000 farming households have been established.

Party items, then two groups of 30,000 people from Guanzhong households arrived.

With the influx of 3,600 households of various types of craftsmen, sailors, artists, and nearly 20,000 people. In addition to the 3,400 households of immigrants from Guandong who were allotted as usual, the current eight counties of Lingzhou (including the county that is about to be established)

Dingyuan, Feng'an) already has more than 26,000 households and a population of more than 130,000.

So many people came in, but it was basically past the farming season and they were unable to cultivate the land and harvest food in time. Only some people who came early and planted some fields were able to get a little harvest. These people were the thirty who relied on Wang Chongrong.

With tens of thousands of millets and wheat being raised, the outbreak of grain production in Lingzhou will mainly depend on this year.

In the first year of Guangqi, the actual area of ​​land planted in Lingzhou was only more than 6,000 hectares. The shogunate did not know the specific output. Because of the war last year, the two states of Lingyan were exempted from taxes. If you estimate it, you should have harvested one million hu of rice and wheat.

, hundreds of thousands of grains and beans.

In the second year of Guangqi's reign, Lingzhou's food production should have increased dramatically. With the increasing population, this place is destined to become the richest place under its jurisdiction.

"Huaiyuan County..." Shao Shude's finger crossed back and forth on the map.

Huaiyuan County was Yinchuan in later generations, and Marshal Shao now had the idea of ​​moving the political center here from Xiazhou.

The scale of the government army is getting bigger and bigger. If 200,000 people live in Xiazhou, it will far exceed the carrying capacity of the land, and grain needs to be transferred from other states and counties. However, Xiazhou has no water transportation and the cost is huge, so it is no longer suitable to continue

It existed as a political center.

Huaiyuan County is a good new "capital city".

The plain area is vast, the climate is suitable, which is conducive to irrigation, and the Yellow River water transportation is convenient. The last point is very critical. Water transportation can greatly reduce the cost of various commodities, and at the same time, it can also be communicated to long distances. Timber, livestock, cloth

, leather, iron ore, coal and other various commodities can be transported here at relatively reasonable prices for consumption by the huge population who are not engaged in production.

Grains and fruits from the Yinchuan Plain can also be transported to other places at low prices and sold for profit.

To put it bluntly, "Fortress Jiangnan" has a strong population carrying capacity, and he can move tens of thousands of yamen soldiers and their families to live around Huaiyuan County without worrying about damaging the environment.

If you want to send troops, it is very convenient, just walk along the Yellow River. The advantages of large water transportation volume and low cost will greatly reduce your military expenditures, and also reduce the intensity of civil war. You will not have to worry about the people missing the farming season.

Troops can be sent out multiple times a year without disturbing the people too much.

The last point is also very critical. It is close to the grassland. After the political center is moved here, the crackdown on the grassland tribes who refuse to surrender will be intensified, and the surrounding security situation will also be improved.

"Huaiyuan County needs to build a new city!" Shao Shude pointed his finger at a certain spot on the map and said.

Chen Cheng, Zhao Guangfeng, and Liang Zhixia jumped when they heard this. Building a city requires a lot of hard work, and this is not a "bad city" like the Yanzhou built by surprise during Dezong's reign. The commander-in-chief's intention, these people are smart.

Everyone can see that this is to move Liliu from Xiazhou, so this city cannot be built hastily, and must spend a lot of money.

Materials don't matter, the problem is manpower.

"What is Zhu Quanzhong doing now?"

Chen Cheng and others were used to the commander's jumping thinking, so they immediately replied: "Last year, Qin Zongquan defeated Zhu Quanzhong in Bajiao Town. They are still in a stalemate, with each other winning or losing."

Shao Shude was somewhat impressed when he heard this.
To be continued...
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