Chapter 1339 Agriculture (1)

Chinese people have a natural love for food. No matter how hard life is, they never give up the pursuit of delicious food.

As early as the Han Dynasty, the imperial court discovered that the yield of wheat per acre was higher than that of millet, so it advocated planting wheat, but the efforts for hundreds of years achieved little results.

After eating wheat rice, Zhao Hanzhang unilaterally believed that wheat was not promoted in the past because wheat rice was less delicious than millet rice.

It was not until Zhuge Liang invented steamed buns, and dumplings became popular in the upper class after Zhang Zhongjing of the Eastern Han Dynasty, that the proportion of private wheat cultivation began to increase.

However, because wheat shelling and grinding require a lot of manpower, folk-grown millet still ranks first among the five cereals.

It wasn't until the world was in chaos and there were years of famine that the people gave up their taste for a short time and turned to planting a large amount of wheat and soybeans, two crops with high yields.

Now that the world is stable, people have begun to grow millet again, but this time, the planting rate of wheat is higher than that of millet. Even with the promotion of the imperial court, the planting rate of rice, which has always been at the bottom, has begun to increase.

One is because the yield per mu of wheat and rice is higher than that of millet, and the other is because Zhao Hanzhang has promoted stone mills and water mills for many years. Especially after she came to the throne, she required every village to have a stone mill, and ordered all states and counties to If there is a place adjacent to water, small and medium-sized water mills should be built for the convenience of the people.

Water mills are not only convenient and labor-saving to pound rice, but also grind flour quickly and cheaply.

However, there were always areas beyond the power of the imperial court, so for-profit mills began to appear among the people, powered by livestock and water power.

It's hard-earned money.

After Zhao Hanzhang heard about it, he praised them for their hard work and intelligence, and put the design drawing of a small water mill drawn by Fu Tinghan in the newspaper, so that people who were interested in doing this business would avoid a lot of twists and turns.

As a result, more people are growing wheat.

As for big landowners, big families, and big bureaucrats like Zhao Hu, Wang Dao, and Ji Yuan, they directly eliminated millet and planted large quantities of wheat and rice that were more delicious and had higher yields per mu.

Compared with ordinary people, they have no shortage of labor to refine their grains, and because they can take greater risks, they contact Sinong Temple privately, buy the improved seeds they have cultivated, and plant them in front of everyone.

Sinong Temple also needs a lot of data for research, so it will not refuse. As long as the people who come to buy seeds sign a contract to ensure that the seeds are not leaked, they will sell them all.

The planting data will be reported back to Sinong Temple.

Over the past two years, they have done some good things and some bad things, but overall, there are much more good things than bad things.

However, the return rate of agriculture is low. Even if only one acre of ten acres of land is damaged, the losses will be greater than the gains from improved seeds. Therefore, everyone is more cautious and is not as enthusiastic about the improved seeds produced by Sinong Temple as they were at first.

Shen Ruhui came to the palace this time to complain, and to promote their newly developed Luoyang South No. 2.

"With fewer people recognizing improved varieties, I collected less data, and the time limit for research was extended, especially for rice. I found that the increase in rice yield was higher than that of wheat, but its changes were also greater, and it was more biased toward Luoyang. This area is cold and dry, and many places are not suitable for growing rice." Shen Ruhui wants to go to Jingchu or southern Yuzhou to do research.

Zhao Hanzhang saw that he seemed to be very interested in rice and asked, "Is Shen Aiqing specializing in rice now?"

"Not really, but I think growing rice is also very interesting," Shen Ruhui said: "Six of the ten people in the temple are studying wheat, three are studying rice, and one is doing miscellaneous things, so I think there are enough people studying wheat. too much."

And because Zhao Hanzhang recruited wise men, even illiterate old farmers who had good ideas about planting could receive a salary from Sinong Temple. Nowadays, the temple is crowded with people.

If it weren't for Shen Ruhui's strict management, there would be as many people in Sinong Temple as there are people in Gewu Temple, which is really scary.

Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment and agreed that Shen Ruhui should go to Jingchu to conduct experiments during the rice planting period, but did not agree with him staying permanently. "I will ask Wang Yifeng to arrange a test field for you. No matter the conditions, you can bring a few more people with you when you go. Let them Record data."

She paused and then said: "The Jingchu area is indeed suitable for growing rice, but there are places in the south that are more suitable than Jingchu. I heard that the weather in the south is hot, and even winter is as warm as spring and summer. Those places can Plant two crops of rice every year.”

The first thing Shen Ruhui thought was, "Can the land fertility support it?"

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said: "Of course you can add fertilizer. We are an experimental field. We are looking for speed, enough fertilizer, and are not afraid of losing soil fertility. People can choose freely. Our goal is to increase the yield per mu, not just the total quantity."

When Shen Ruhui heard that it was true, he began to think about places further south, and said sadly: "Did your Majesty mean the Jiaozhou area?"

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, "Jiaozhou, the Hepu County area of ​​Guangzhou, Zhuyazhou, etc. all meet the requirements."

Shen Ruhui: "But there is a miasma there, and they are all barbarians. I go..." Wouldn't this cost him his life?

Zhao Hanzhang comforted him softly and said: "Aiqing will go to Jingchu first to try. As for Guangzhou and Jiaozhou, there is no rush. Zhao Shen has been there for more than a year. I believe that it won't be long before Sinong Temple can do experiments wherever he wants." Where to experiment.”

Zhao Shen didn't know that Zhao Hanzhang had so much confidence in him. He had just climbed over a mountain. The legs of the soldiers accompanying him were shaking a little. The mountain was too shaking...

The guide stood aside and looked at Zhao Shen mockingly.

I saw Zhao Shenzheng looking up at the mountain opposite with bright eyes, and exclaimed: "What a mountain!"

When I saw the spring water flowing from the mountain stream, I couldn't help but sigh again, "What a wonderful water!"

Zhao Shen directly knelt down and drank the water. The water was cool and slightly sweet, refreshing. His eyes were bright and he shouted loudly: "Come and drink water. This is the first time that I have drank such sweet water in my more than 20 years of life." ."

When the soldiers heard this, they immediately came forward to drink water. Everyone's eyes lit up and the fatigue on their faces dissipated a lot.

A soldier exclaimed: "If this were in Luoyang, the streams in the mountains would have stopped flowing long ago. Even if they continued to flow, they would freeze. How could you still drink them directly? The weather here is really strange. It doesn't snow in winter. It’s so cool and warm, and there’s green everywhere.”

Zhao Shen said: "The world is full of wonders, and there are even more wonders than this. If you follow me, if nothing else, your knowledge will grow longer and longer."

Soldier: ...Actually, they don’t have to increase their knowledge. After looking at the green eyes, they don’t have Zhao Shen’s love and just want to cry.

When can I go out?

Zhao Shen was not in a hurry. Seeing that everyone was tired and there was a water source, he asked everyone to rest where they were. He walked around with a Bagua plate. After calculating for a while, he sighed: "What a treasure land of Feng Shui, if Split a cave here to practice, and your life will be satisfying."

The guide heard from the side and his heart was scratched like a chicken's claw. He wanted to go forward and ask, but he didn't dare.

After Zhao Shen finished his work, he took out the Di newspaper he had received before and read it, frowning, "I know the new spinning machine, but what is a sewing machine?"

Good night