Chapter 80 Winter Wheat
In the days after the harvest, how to sell the surplus grain has also become a major issue on the island.
Leaving aside the 200 yog of rye from the church, Marin and his men had a total of 2,800 yog rye fields (another 200 yog were planted with oats), yielding a total of 8.4 million pounds of rye. However, the population of the island is only 6,000 people. Even if the average person consumes 500 pounds of rye per year, it will only be 3 million pounds, and there will be more than 5.4 million pounds.
Marin thought about it and decided to take out 5 million pounds and pull it out to sell. Each pound of rye is worth 1 pfennig, and 5 million pounds is worth 5 million pfennig, which is equivalent to more than 83,000 ducats.
Originally, Marin was going to sell directly to the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce. However, Kohler, who has traveled outside and gained experience, told Marin that food prices in Europe are very unbalanced.
Kohler heard a Jewish businessman say that the price of food in Europe is the cheapest on the plains of Eastern Europe. In Lviv, Poland (now in Ukraine), because the black land is rich in grain, the price of rye is only 0.5 penny per pound; in Germany, the price of rye is 1 penny per pound; in England, it is 1.5 penny ( pence) per pound; France was about the same as Germany; but in Spain, wheat prices were high. It is said that the price of rye in Barcelona is as high as 2 pfennig per pound, and the price of wheat is as high as 10 pfennig per pound. Italy was originally an important grain producing area. However, because of the war in the past two years, food prices have also begun to soar, which is comparable to that in Spain...
In other words, if the rye was shipped to Spain, the profit could be doubled. Having said that, Marin was also depressed. Because—he has no ocean-going ships...
It was a long sea journey to transport rye to Spain. Be careful not only of the winds and waves of the Atlantic Ocean, but also of the attacks of pirates. The sea is not calm these days. By sea, there is a high possibility of being targeted by pirates. Unless, your ship is an armed merchant ship.
However, Marin now has only a few small boats and cannot go far at all...
In desperation, Marin reluctantly decided to pull the wheat to the opposite England and sell it. England is very close to the island of Texel, only a few hundred kilometers away. Although Marin did not have a large ship, he could hire a larger merchant ship to pull the wheat to England and sell it.
Grain prices are high in England, with rye retailing for as much as 1.5p a pound. Even at wholesale prices, it's 1.2p a pound. If it is sold in the German region, it can only be wholesaled at a maximum of 0.8 pfennig. Pull to England, can be more than half the price.
Of course, because of the French sanctions on Texel, Marin could not use the name of Texel to ship food to England.
To this end, Malin specially sent Kohler to bribe a few impoverished small Jewish businessmen and asked them to come forward to form a "North Sea Chamber of Commerce" in Amsterdam. Then, under the name of the "North Sea Chamber of Commerce", sea ships were hired to transport the rye to England for sale.
Although the British imposed an import tariff of 6p per pound, these are nothing compared to the food price gap between England and Germany.
Moreover, the British currency is relatively full value, similar to the most full value imperial currency issued by the Holy Roman Empire. Unlike the northern German princes, who made bad money indiscriminately. For example, Imperial Finneys contain about half as much silver as British pennies. And the local Finneys issued in Trier and Cologne, etc., contain far less than 25% silver, and almost become copper coins...
Because of the unification of national decrees in the United Kingdom, the coinage rights belong to the royal family, and the British royal family is not as shameless as the royal family, so the coins minted are relatively worthwhile. Therefore, the British economy has always been stable. Trading with Britain is also a good way.
And neither the British nor the French have discovered that the so-called "North Sea Chamber of Commerce" is actually owned by Marin. Therefore, the economic sanctions of the French have failed...
It is no wonder that Marin has experienced the economic tide of China in later generations.
For things like exploiting loopholes, although they are not good at it, they are far from the people of the Middle Ages. Sanctioned by the French, Marin simply changed the "casing" of the goods from Texel Island, and the French were blinded...
These days, there are no secret agents and spies in European countries, and transportation and communication are extremely inconvenient. If something happens on Marin's side, even if it is blatant, it will take a long time for the French side to know about it. What's more, Marin did it quietly, and the French wanted to figure it out, and God knows it will have to wait until the Year of the Monkey.
After disposing of the remaining rye on the island, Marin began to think about what to do next.
Today, in addition to the original 3,200 Ugram arable land on the island, Marin has arranged for serfs to reclaim 3,200 Ugram arable land. In addition to 100 Eugrams to be distributed to Schwarz, 50 Eugrams of cultivated land will be distributed to Frenzberg. The other 3050 yogurts are all Marin's own farmland.
In order to reclaim arable land, Marin used serfs to fill in large swamps and dug a number of diversion canals to get so much arable land.
In fact, there is more land on the island suitable for cultivation. However, Marin is now understaffed, with only a few thousand serfs. In this era, farming is purely manual and not mechanized. Therefore, if there are not enough manpower, more land will be in vain.
And Texel Island is only 20,000 Eugrams in total. Including beaches, hills, and grasslands, 6,400 Eugrams of arable land can be reclaimed, which is already the limit. Because the fresh water on the island is enough to irrigate so many fields.
The island is different from the land. On the land, as long as there is a big river to support it, the fresh water resources cannot be used up, so you can work hard to open up wasteland and make full use of every inch of land. On the island, the freshwater system is separate and independent from the mainland.
Texel, while not short of fresh water, is not unlimited either. Being able to irrigate 6,400 Eugram irrigated fields is already the limit. No more, that can't be done. Otherwise, Marin will definitely reclaim half of the land on Texel Island into arable land.
As Europeans are used to, they are used to the fallow system. Medieval Europeans generally did not grow crops in winter. Because, they want to let the land "recuperate".
In fact, Europeans need to let the land restore its own fertility because they don't know how to fertilize. The Chinese people are different. In southern China, crops have always been planted twice a year.
Except for the southernmost areas where two to three crops of rice are planted a year, most of the rest of the region (mainly the central and southern regions) are actually rotated with rice and wheat. Plant winter wheat in fall and harvest wheat in early summer. Then, rice is planted and harvested in the fall.
Because the Chinese people have always known the use of manure (nitrogen fertilizer) and plant ash (potassium fertilizer), even if they use the land continuously, they can still harvest a lot every year.
So, while others decided to leave the land to grow grass, Marin set out to grow winter wheat...
In medieval Europe, farmers used to grow only one crop a year. Usually sowing in spring and harvesting in autumn. There are also varieties of winter wheat, but after hearing about the growth cycle of winter wheat, Marin almost wanted to scold her...
Because, the winter wheat of the Middle Ages in Europe was planted in late autumn and early winter, and it can grow in a cycle, which really makes people vomit blood. Because, although the winter wheat in Europe in this era was also planted in October and November, the harvest season was actually in July and August of the second year...
And Marin clearly remembered that his family's winter wheat was harvested in May. After harvesting, first put some manure on the ground as a base fertilizer, and then there is still time to plant rice. Then, in October, the rice can also be harvested...
However, the pitted European winter wheat in this era actually grows more than two months longer than the winter wheat of later generations, making it too late to plant other crops in the late spring and early summer. After receiving the winter wheat, the land can only be put on hold for a few more months, waiting for the next round of winter wheat planting, resulting in a serious waste of land. However, it is not surprising that the Europeans still left large areas fallow, which is not surprising...
Wheat is different from rye, and in Europe the price of wheat is much higher than that of rye. In Germany, a pound of rye costs 1 pfennig. A pound of wheat is as high as 5 pfennig. The difference between the two is as high as 5 times. Later, this gap will become even larger, reaching as much as 7 times.
Different from wheat and rye, rye is easier to serve, farming can be more extensive, and the demand for water is not large. Wheat, which is much weaker than rye, requires more water for irrigation than rye.
The Europeans in the Middle Ages cultivated extensively, generally using a light plow to simply turn over the ground, sprinkle rye seeds, and water it, and it was easy. Then, just sit and wait, relying on the sky to collect...
The technologies such as "hole-sowing", deep plowing, weeding, and fertilization of rye that Marin had previously promoted on the island were actually used for intensive wheat cultivation. By now, the serfs were more familiar.
So, when it comes to planting 500 yogurt winter wheat, it goes well. However, because of the use of native European varieties in the Middle Ages, the next wheat harvest will have to wait until July or August next year, which is very pitiful...
However, considering the high price of wheat, even if one farming season is wasted, the price of wheat is five times higher than that of rye, which is enough for Marin to earn more.
But Marin is not satisfied with this. If there are winter wheat varieties with a shorter growth period, Marin can even replant a round of soybeans after the winter wheat is harvested. In this way, the marlin can get a lot of soybean oil and a better feed than oats for the horses. Moreover, soybeans can fix nitrogen and increase soil fertility. Land that has been planted with soybeans and then used to grow winter wheat will be significantly more fertile...
However, in order to obtain winter wheat varieties with a shorter growth period, Europe naturally does not have them at present, and Marin has not studied agricultural technology and will not cultivate excellent wheat varieties. Therefore, he can only consider going to Daming in the east to buy winter wheat varieties with a shorter growing period, as well as "universal" soybeans... Therefore, the big voyage is still very necessary...
And, Marin suddenly remembered, it seems that winter wheat needs potassium fertilizer. Potassium fertilizers help winter wheat survive cold and increase yields. Germany's potash reserves are relatively rich. At one time, Germany was the world's largest exporter of potash fertilizers. Like the Harz Mountains, there are several large potash mines. Marin began to think about whether to send someone to buy those potash mines and use them as potash reserves. After all, relying on plant ash as potash fertilizer is too low...
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