——Outside Pingyuan County

Preparations for land reclamation are in progress. Hundreds of gentlemen in long robes and township officials are running around in every corner of Pingyuan County under Ma Qiang's orders, looking for places to reclaim land.

Pieces of iron tools traveled across mountains and rivers, passing through Bohai County to Pingyuan Country, where they were assembled into usable agricultural tools.

The high-quality horses that were supposed to be used on the battlefield are now learning how to plow the land. The Wuhuan cavalry looked distressed as they watched their comrades put on leather ropes. The only thing that made them feel better was that this was only temporary.

After the livestock team from the grassland arrives in the plain country, these comrades can return to them.

Ma Qiang set up a huge blackboard in the open air. Hundreds of elected captains sat in front of him, all holding pens and bamboo slips in their hands.

During these days of study, these captains have learned how to write simply. Even if they don't know how to write for a while, they still know how to record it in a way they can understand.

Next to Ma Qiang, there are several old farmers sitting. Some of these old farmers are from Youzhou, and some are from the Qingzhou Plain. They are all experienced in farming for decades. I heard that the Prime Minister is going to teach everyone how to open up wasteland.

, and let them make mistakes, they are both nervous and proud.

Ma Qiang was drawing a picture on the blackboard. In order to let everyone see it more clearly, he drew it while sitting on a ladder. Yan Fa and Yang Chi were holding the ladder below.

In fact, he has never farmed before. When preparing for lessons, theory is more important than practice. Whether it will work or not, these veteran farmers still need to check.

"Okay, everyone, be quiet, class is about to begin!" Ma Qiang turned around and shouted, the sound was not loud, but the effect was very good, and everyone stopped making any noise.

"The land we want to open is all brine land. I call this brine land saline-alkali land.

Let me first briefly explain why there is Lu Di so that you can have an idea.

Although our Pingyuan country is not close to the sea, it is still very close. Less than fifty miles past Yanci and into Le'an country, you can see the sea. The sea is salty and there is salt in it, but where does this salt come from? I can tell you

You guys, all this salt is brought from the river.

I know you have questions, isn't the river water fresh? The river water is indeed fresh, but it is not pure fresh water, but salt water with extremely low salinity. These salts are brought from deep in the land, such as Yuyang,

Or in Yizhou, don’t they all find salt from deep in the land?

The salinity of the river water is so low that you can understand that in a large pot of river water, there is less than as much salt as a strand of your hair, so we cannot feel it. This water is not only flowing on the surface of the river, but also underground.

While flowing, if the ground is dry and there is little water, these salts will slowly accumulate and eventually form a brine.

Now that you know what the brine is, you should know how to manage it, which is to divert water to wash away the salt on the ground. The water will take away the salt, and the natural brine can be restored.

Therefore, when you open up land, you have to do two major things! The first is to open up wasteland! The second is to build water conservancy!

The gentlemen from Red Star Camp and local officials are helping to plan local areas and water conservancy channels.

Water conservancy must be coordinated with the field ridges, and open ditches and hidden pipes must be built on every acre of land. The water in the open ditch and hidden pipes must be led to the dug water collection area, and then discharged into the river through the water collection area, allowing the salt water to go where it should.

Places to go!"

Ma Qiang drew his grand plan for everyone on the blackboard. It is not difficult to control the saline-alkali land. The difficulty lies in who organizes everyone to do it. The difficulty lies in who will pay for the initial costs.

"So after we have finished cultivating the land, we cannot farm immediately. Instead, we should first soak the fields to reduce the salinity of the fields. Soaking the fields, as the name suggests, is to introduce water into the fields, and then soak the fields for a period of time to allow the salt in the fields to dissolve into the water, and then

Drain it out. As for the standard of soaking...it's enough to wait until the fields are dry and there are no white salt crystals. I think in our fields, soaking them two or three times is enough.

Since we have just reclaimed land, the salinity in this brine land will not be reduced too much at once, so we only plant two kinds of things in all the brine land this year - millet and artemisia!"

The old farmer below, who was listening with great interest, immediately changed his face. Is there a villain around the Prime Minister? This sorghum is just fine, what kind of weeds should be planted?

What is Artemisia? There is a saying in the Book of Songs: The deer roars, and the Artemisia in the wild is eaten. I have a guest, Deyin Kongzhao. In the eyes of the world, this Artemisia is just a worthless weed.

It’s not easy to open a field, so planting it is not a waste!

How many people still don’t have enough to eat?

An old farmer clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and said, "Prime Minister! The common people have something to say!"

Ma Qiang happened to be thirsty. He waved his hand and asked the green orange on the side to hand him some water. He nodded and said, "Please speak frankly."

The old farmer took a breath, and then said, "The grassroots people think that the wormwood is just a weed and has no use if it is planted. It is better to plant all the millet. Anyway, it can be eaten."

Ma Qiang returned the finished bowl to Qing Cheng, and then smiled and said, "What I said is probably your confusion. Let me explain.

Due to the high salinity and alkalinity of this brine land, most plants cannot grow well. I think I know that such land cannot support wheat. Even if it can support wheat, the yield will not be too high.

Among the five grains, millet is the most tolerant plant to salinity. Let's put it this way, even wheat cannot survive in saline-alkali land, but it can grow like no one.

And the artemisia I'm talking about is Artemisia annua, which is a kind of medicinal material. Because the cost of cultivating these brine fields is high and the harvest is less than other fields, I let you plant artemisia. First of all, this is also a kind of medicine that can be used very easily in the brine fields.

Secondly, it is a plant that grows well. Secondly, when dried, Artemisia annua is a very popular feed for sheep. Thirdly, our Prime Minister's Office will purchase this medicinal material at a high price to subsidize everyone."

The first two old farmers got over it after listening to it, but the third one realized that this was Ma Qiang's attempt to subsidize everyone. He couldn't help but feel a soreness in his nose. After so many years of official coming and going, this was the first time he heard an official say this.

I'm afraid that everyone's farming harvest will be poor, so I want to subsidize everyone.

As for why we don’t just buy millet at a high price, we are probably worried that some villains will purchase millet and sell it to the Prime Minister’s Office. After all, although Artemisia annua is not valuable, it really takes a lot of effort to purchase it in large quantities. After all, no one

These things grow on their own in the wild.

Although the people Ma Qiang wants to subsidize this time are the people who open up wasteland and plant brine, and these people seem to be called by the Prime Minister from home, there must be two reasons for one thing. This is benevolence! The people of Pingyuan Country seem to have finally

There is hope.

Ma Qiang was in class, and Jia Xu was listening with shock. It seems that these methods can be used in Xiliang if they are modified.

From this point of view, wouldn’t Xiliang one day become the granary of the West?

And that Artemisia annua, although I don’t know what Ma Qiang’s meaning is, but from the news heard from all sides, Ma Qiang has never done any loss-making business. Many times you think he is losing money, waiting for him to come up with something.
Chapter completed!