New Shun 1730

On Liugong Island, in the newly built lecture hall, the first batch of officers who learned how to grow sweet potatoes and dig vegetable cellars sat there waiting for Liu Yu.

Just like in class on weekdays, the squad leader and the Discipline Inspection Commission waited until Liu Yu arrived and shouted to stand up.

Before these people could say hello, teacher, as usual, Liu Yu pressed his hand to ask them to sit down.

"Today's class is not normal military work. Now the recruits are still eating and recovering. If they are not training for the time being, it will be regarded as a big holiday. There is no need to be so formal."

"You must also know what you need to learn. Speaking of which, you are not Confucian scholars, and you have no idea that a gentleman would look down upon the work of farming. Most of them come from good families. Even if they have never worked in the fields since they were young, they have seen their family members working in the fields. It should be quick to learn this.”

"In the future, when Junggar is pacified and the old lands of the Western Regions of the Han and Tang Dynasties are restored, we may have to farm there. Learn more, it will be useful in the future, so study hard."

On the blackboard, huge words "Be serious when you should be serious, be lively when you should be lively" were posted. Under the school motto, everyone started joking when they heard that this was not a formal course.

"Master Liu, if you say that, who is still serious about studying? The more serious you are about studying, when Master Liu will make a note in his notebook, whoever learns best will go to farm in the Western Regions. Wouldn't that make you want to cry without tears? Who wants to Go to that damn place?"

"That's right. If the adults say this, we don't dare to learn it."

Hundreds of people were laughing there, and Liu Yu scolded: "This thing is not that difficult. If I learn it well, I won't remember it. If I don't learn it well, I may have to remember it: This person has a clumsy brain and is very difficult to learn new things. It’s difficult, so it’s suitable to be a sentry commander or brigade guard. I don’t recommend getting promoted in the future!”

Even though they knew Liu Yu was just joking, these people didn't dare not learn from him, and they all became much more honest.

It is really not difficult to learn. They have learned it in camp since they were young, and their understanding ability is still very high. Planting sweet potatoes and digging a vegetable cellar can be learned in just three to five days.

Seeing Liu Yu holding a thick book of "Sweet Potato Planting and Preservation" written by an old farmer a few days ago, everyone admired him.

There were both the Army and the Navy in the lecture hall, and the two sides were clearly separated. Although they were not separated from each other, they were still together.

Chen Qinghai held the pen, and Du Feng, who was at the same table, whispered: "Brother Qinghai doesn't need to remember these things that the adults have said. In a few days, I'm sure, this book "Sweet Potato Planting and Preservation" will be published in a book."

Hearing that this made sense, Chen Qinghai also whispered to Du Feng during the interval when Liu Yu finished speaking: "Fortunately, we don't have to go to the fields. Warships can't go to the Western Regions. Brother Du, I heard that you Have you received awards from His Majesty in the north? Why did you come here to learn how to grow sweet potatoes? Well, no, you are the only one in our Jinghai Palace official school to pass the exam first? I came to Wude Palace and applied for the exam again.”

Du Feng thought that he couldn't tell you about this, but thinking about what Liu Yu said at the time, it seemed a bit far away now, and he couldn't help but feel a little depressed.

There are only three training ships in the dock now, and another one was built a few days ago. This time it is larger than the last two. The warship was still far away, so I couldn't help but sigh.

These days, I have been studying Latin intensively with Mantou, and I have also given gifts to instructors such as Bering and Cherikov from time to time. I think I have learned a lot about sea skills, but it is a pity that I have no use for them.

A few days ago, people from France came again. It was said that the warship matter had been settled, and the King of France would send a delegation soon. But I heard that because we have to wait for the monsoon, the ship will not be able to arrive until next spring, and the mission does not know when it will arrive.

I heard that there are also several French naval instructors and a major, an officer at the level of "Guard Brigade" who are coming. I don't know if the officer who came here knows Latin. If he doesn't, wouldn't he have to learn French?

Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

I went to Vladivostok last year and performed well along the way. I measured latitude, wind direction, speed, and drew coastline maps, all of which were rated as high. However, the evaluations of Chen Qinghai and Mantou still weighed on him. There were rumors in Jinghai Palace that the trainee captains of the two French cruisers that were about to arrive were likely to be Mi Ziming and Chen Qinghai.

Although it may take a long time to train, it is said that both warships are equipped with sailors and officers, and they have to learn again one-on-one.

But if you think about it, it should be similar. Considering that I should be regarded as your "direct descendant", it seems possible to fight for it, but it will definitely not work in the wrong way: Cherikov can accept gifts, but your Excellency will certainly not.

It's just a quick step, a quick step. Thinking that some of those Rakshasa people could also speak French, Du Feng thought that all his mother's salary this month would be spent on wine, so he should take a step forward and learn French from the Rakshasa people.

"My mother has a leg, why is my life so miserable? Emperor Taizong said that to take the Wude Palace exam, I need to learn geometry and surveying, so I endured the pain and studied it hard; now I have to learn Latin and French... I'm going to die. Damn it, I wonder if this French language is also divided into yin and yang? Suos cultores scientia coronat, I don’t want to seek you at all, but I have to seek you if I want to be an official, you son of a bitch..."

While he was thinking about it, he was muttering something else to Chen Qinghai, and the chalk tip accurately hit his head with a swish.

"Du Feng, stand up. Answer me, can sweet potatoes be stored directly after harvesting?"

"Well……"

Glancing over, he saw the steamed bun next to him quietly waving his hand and said, "No."

"Is it better to make the sweet potato cellar mouth bigger or smaller?"

Glancing again, Mantou made a naval artillery battle flag gesture, which meant "battleship", and subconsciously said: "The bigger the better!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he knew he had been fooled. The village community planted potatoes and raised pigs. There was plenty of land. If the potatoes fed to the pigs could be transported out every year, they could be eaten in Wendeng Prefecture for a few days. Of course, they knew that the smaller the storage cellar mouth, the better.

Sure enough, there was a burst of laughter, and Liu Yu laughed and scolded: "You wait to go to Nanshanbuzhou to plant sweet potatoes in the future!"

…………

The autumnal equinox is early, the frost is late, and the cold dew is the right time to plant wheat. In a blink of an eye, it is August and the autumn grass is yellow.

The cold dew has arrived, and the long-lost sound of celebration in Wendeng City has risen again, with drums and music. The governor Bai Yunhang personally carried a bull whip, wearing an official uniform, and supported a plow cart in a farmland. Next to him were thin and pale farmers waiting for autumn planting.

The cattle of the cattle bureau were decorated with red and colorful ribbons. In order to prevent farmers from killing cattle for food, the cattle raised by the government were finally released.

The wheat seeds allocated by the court have also been distributed.

According to Liu Yu: Officials sometimes do things without thinking. The price of wheat was bound to rise. As a result, the Jiedushi ordered that the grain sold by sea in various places should not exceed 1.5 taels per stone, and also seized two ships to force the sale. As a result, now no merchant ship has come. Merchants are not philanthropists, so they expect to sell at a high price. Since the government has forced the price, the worst thing is not to transport.

This time, it’s good. We can only rely on the government to collect a batch of seed grain from various places and transport it over. It is far from enough for all planting. In some places, private seed loans have risen to the point of "borrowing one and returning four".

Although there are various shortcomings, the autumn planting season has finally arrived.

The sweet potatoes planted at the end of June have not been harvested yet. They can wait for a few more days to prepare for the harvest in winter.

In the past few months, we have eaten a lot of sweet potato leaves and mung bean leaves. With the relief grain issued by the court and Liu Yu's repeated help in extending power to the village, we have finally distributed all the grain perfectly.

There are not many sweet potatoes, mung beans, or carrots, but at least we can survive this winter and avoid the shortage of food.

As long as we can survive until the wheat harvest next year, if the weather is no longer so weird, Wendeng will survive.

Bai Yunhang was happy as he supported the sowing plow.

In the entire Jiaoliao area, not counting southern Liaoning, Wendeng Prefecture performed the best. There were no large-scale refugees and no large-scale deaths of starvation. It is said that some counties were covered with corpses, and the carriages made a clattering sound when they passed by.

It has been a long way to go until now, and it is still seven or eight months before the wheat harvest. These are the most difficult days. There is no leaf to eat because it is winter.

The court allocated another batch of grain, but the other prefectures and counties did not have the help of the army, and the loss, interception and drift were very serious.

Wendeng was awarded for planting a batch of crops to save the famine, and the speed of promotion was "shocking" - this is what was written in the imperial edict of commendation to Bai Yunhang.

Thinking of the imperial edict of commendation personally issued by the emperor, Bai Yunhang couldn't help but squeeze his hand holding the plow cart, and the veins on the back of his hand were exposed.

Not only was there an imperial edict reward, but the emperor also wrote a big word in his own hand to encourage him.

"Can"

This word is very heavy, very heavy.

Looking at the lush sweet potato vines, mung beans and carrot leaves beside the wheat field, Bai Yunhang knew that he owed Liu Yu a big favor, a favor that was heavier than the "can" written by the emperor.

He had not yet told his superiors about the tax-sharing system, but he had decided to take a big gamble.

After symbolically cultivating a little wheat field, the officials and the people knelt down amid the sound of firecrackers.

"Mr. Bai!"

"I will never forget the grace of Lord Bai for saving my life!"

Bai Yunhang was not very moved by the waves of praises. What he cared about was not the gratitude of the people, but the approval of the emperor.

Squeezing out a few tears of emotion, Bai Yunhang said to the people kneeling on the ground: "Please stand up quickly, please stand up quickly. People say that officials are parents, but it is because of the hard work of the people that the country has rice and we have salaries. Fellow villagers, don't be like this... I am just doing my best."

Going down to help up several old men kneeling in front, Bai Yunhang wiped his almost dry eyes with his sleeves and said loudly: "Everyone, everyone! The solar terms cannot wait for anyone. Now is not the time to express gratitude. Please go back to farm quickly. The wheat seeds of the court have been sent out. After that, the oxen of each family have arrived, and Lord Liu has temporarily borrowed horses from each village. Don't delay the farming season! "

"Disperse, disperse, disperse, and go to the fields quickly. Next year will be a good year!"

Everyone kowtowed to him again, and then stood up. More than a dozen families led the oxen issued by the cattle bureau, or some war horses that could not plow the fields at all but could save some effort, and pulled the plow carts and other equipment made by the newly established "Northern Industrial Chamber of Commerce" with a strange name, and rushed to the fields of each family, praying for a good harvest next year.

After returning to the government office, Bai Yunhang wrote a few words "Please try to distribute the land tax into mu" as the beginning after the last hesitation.