MM Racing Chapter 269 Tea
Chapter 269 Tea
If one day, the imperial court opened up tea trade with the Xiongnu, Qiang and Xicheng areas, it would certainly purchase a large amount of tea from the Wu Yue area in the south.
However, to run a successful tea garden, a lot of human resources must be invested. More importantly, tea is a strictly controlled commodity, and the profits it brings cannot be competed with or shared with others unless they are multiplied by dozens or even hundreds of times.
They may sell tea cakes at a high price and use the profits to subsidize tea farmers. Under this model, farmers in the surrounding areas will see that people in the same area have made profits, and they will inevitably spontaneously develop more tea fields and join the tea trade.
Later, just like other major industries such as salt and iron, a specific agency will be set up to be fully responsible for the purchase and sales channel management of tea, so as to make everyone involved in the industrial chain rich through macro-control and expansion of the industrial chain. The whole world is for the pursuit of profit. At that time, if thousands of Jiangnan soldiers worked hard in the tea garden, what counterattack strategy could the uncle and nephew of the Jia family have?
Ying Zheng didn't believe it. As long as he lived by hard work and maintained his dignity, he wouldn't have to worry about being in front of the court. Ji Bu stood at a distance and observed all this. He frowned inwardly. This kid's behavior was really unpleasant. He wanted to trap this kid and teach him a lesson.
However, considering the harshness of Qin law, doing so would not only attract the attention of grassroots administrators, but could also lead to more serious problems. Therefore, Ji Bu just rubbed his nose and turned around to express his dissatisfaction with practical actions. At this time, an old man named Shubao holding a plowing rake slowly led his plowing ox to the front.
The new straight-beam plow has a rotating plow disc in front, which greatly increases its flexibility. It does not need to turn or adjust frequently when changing direction, saving a lot of labor. Shubao did not drive the cattle forward directly for the time being, but stayed where he was to make adjustments. Seeing this, Ying Zheng turned to the village head beside him in confusion to ask the reason. The village head secretly sighed at the limited agricultural knowledge of this "young master" and replied with a smile:
"You are not very familiar with agricultural production, so you may not understand some of the links." "In the past, the Legalists set 240 steps as the standard unit of measurement for one mu of land. There are two reasons for this: first, because the Qin State was vast but had a small population, they hoped to encourage farmers to grow more food by increasing the allocated land area; second, because farmers at that time had to use oxen to farm, and an ox could only rest for a while after working 240 steps continuously."
Do you know about the Legalist system? Why not start with the Pangu period? Although he couldn't help but complain, Ying Zheng forced himself to do it, smiled and nodded, and continued to ask: "Is this the new plow provided by the government?"
Oh, my lord, the village head seemed to shake his head and said, "It is true that the government provided these new plows, but the quotas in various places are still quite limited. According to the local distribution plan, by the time it is our turn, we may have already had children."
"More than ten days ago, I led a few craftsmen to the county town, carefully observed the style of the plows, and made a few of my own based on the new plows in the palace!"
"Now it seems that my decision was correct. The new plow is indeed easy to operate. Your Majesty is indeed extraordinary!"
After the clerk finished speaking, he glanced at Fusu and thought, they have the same surname and seem to be of similar age, but the pampered young man in front of him doesn't know the difference between grain and wheat, while the monarch is far-sighted and cares about the people!
It's better not to say anything, in order to maintain civilization, respect others and yourself. However, since you can praise my contribution, I can choose to forgive your "taboo" behavior... When seeing Shubao seriously start farming again, Fusu thought silently in his heart.
How could farmers, who are often considered conservative and slow to accept novelties, actively design and produce new plows without proving the actual effectiveness of the new agricultural tools?
At this time, Fusu noticed a small pile of black and sharp objects in the soil wall beside the field. Hmm? Is this place also used as fertilizer? I don't remember anyone applying fertilizer outside the official farmland... Pointing to a pile of manure in the distance, he asked, "Old man, are you going to pile manure here too?"
The clerk's eyes suddenly widened: "Hey, this rich young man actually knows about fertilizer?"
This old man, who is he looking for to die with him... When Li Cheng, who had just returned, heard the clerk's words, based on the principle that the master should be humiliated and the servant should die, he quickly glanced at the clerk's neck, his eyes were like a sharp blade, as if he was ready to behead him at any time.
The clerk was unmoved by this and continued, "Although I don't understand why this operation is done, I know your majesty's reputation for wisdom and wisdom. Since your majesty has ordered Gongtian to carry out this kind of fertilization, I will naturally follow this example!"
After observing this clerk who was sentenced to suspended death sentence and then granted amnesty, Fusu felt a little understanding in his heart: Perhaps this is the case, this is the wit and way of survival of farmers.
After a period of visiting and experiencing the field work, Fusu's interest gradually faded, and then he raised a new question again, "Are there other agricultural tools in the village?" In particular, does the key agricultural tool, the plowing machine, exist?
"Young master, you even know about the plow cart?" The clerk was a little surprised, and his eyes were once again focused on the young noble's gaze.
This young man is so bold that he even knows about such subtle rural affairs? ... Li Cheng noticed that his eyebrows were raised again and a barely perceptible smile flashed in his eyes.
The clerk nodded and said, "It's the planting season on the master's land. If you want to see it with your own eyes, you can go there at any time." He didn't realize that such a conversation had caused Fusu to have some subtle emotional fluctuations.
Crossing several ridges, as he approached the depths of the field, he could vaguely hear his previously silent uncle singing happily in the fields. This old Qin man is loud, but never long-winded! A sentence that appeared in his mind at some point emerged in his heart, and then he stopped and thought.
Such vulgar and popular music is not suitable to be sung in front of children...but if he is his son's horse trainer, then the situation is understandable...
After waiting for a while, Fusu witnessed farmers working with plow seeders. The obvious identity marks on their faces showed that they were bound, not completely free, serfs.
There were massive tax cuts, and the people who were exempted from tax were those serving sentences and those who owed debts to the government, but slaves were not treated so well.
Although Fusu was reluctant, he said no more.
Reducing the number of prisoners is indeed beneficial to the national economy and people's livelihood. After all, using prisoners' labor is more cost-effective than recruiting ordinary people.
If the slave policy were abolished, it would be equivalent to affecting the interests of all recipients of the 22nd level of military nobility. Most of the slaves employed by these nobles had status and worked for the government.
Most of them are descendants of captive families captured when Qin conquered the six kingdoms.
Slavery that has lasted for generations cannot be changed overnight. What Fusu needs to do is to crack down on the behavior of individuals keeping slaves and gradually replace Han slaves from officials, using Qiang, Hu or Nanman to fill the vacancies.
Just as Fusu was lost in deep thought, the village head beside him pointed at the seeder in operation in the distance and said, "Sir, please look! This is a pair of three-legged plow seeders that I built with my own hands based on the model of the county."
Fusu examined the three-legged plow seed drill pulled by the tractor and asked, "Is this seeding efficient?"
What does efficiency mean? Hmm... I understand... The head of the village clasped his fists and said, "The emperor is really very smart. I learned from the engineers in my county that this thing is so exquisite that it is unimaginable, as if it were a fairy from heaven."
Ha~~~ Your sentence has also been reduced to life imprisonment. ... Looking at the jubilant Li Cheng, Fusu thought to himself.
Li Zheng immediately further explained, "There are three openings at the bottom of the three-legged seeder. During the sowing season, the seeds will slide down the legs into the ground. At the same time, the sowing tool will spread the soil on top and compact it. The entire process of turning the field, sowing, and covering the soil is completed almost simultaneously. It's amazing!"
"After this period of experimentation, if the preliminary farmland preparation work is done well and the cattle's diet is adequately guaranteed, then about one hectare of land can be planted in one day!"
"More importantly, the three-legged seeder is used to sow grain. The plow blade underneath can penetrate deeper into the soil. The key is to save labor, and the efficiency is far better than the traditional manual sowing method."
Li Cheng's eyes lit up as he asked, "One jiafen means one jiafen of land? Is it equivalent to about one hundred mu of land?"
Haha, what a typical young master. .. After taking a look, the village head found that the jade pendant tied around Li Cheng's waist was more valuable than the county magistrate's. He immediately said passionately: "How can there be falsehood? How can you know the truth if you don't try it? It's just as the master said."
Uh... Lord... When Li Cheng heard the title, his lips twisted slightly and he looked at Fusu next to him and replied: My name is Doctor, why do you call me Lord?
You are a doctor! No, you are not a fifth-level doctor, but a title respected at the eighth level of the public carriage... Putting aside the laughter in his heart, Fusu realized that the word "public" was not very appropriate, especially as an equal to Li Xin who had personally attended the battle to destroy Chu. After all, he was born as a village head, and Li Xin was one of the leaders of this war. The two were incomparable in terms of power and status.
So what if he is a doctor? Is he special? The village head roared inwardly. Then he bowed and saluted: "Greetings, sir. I was indeed rude just now. I hope you can forgive me!"
After hearing the explanation, Li Cheng smiled and said, "It's not wrong if you don't know."
Then, the man lifted up his clothes, bowed his head, took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his sleeves, walked into the farmland, took the wooden plow from a slave in charge of farming, and tried the experiment himself.
Only in painting and experimenting did Fuzhu Su occasionally watch others operate.
After all, his goal is to build a basically usable new system, and in subsequent stages, he will adjust and improve it based on feedback from "users".