Number of People

  Chapter 2218 Guizi scroll instillation, sowing

  Wheat waves swaying gently, looking from a distance, there is a strange golden beauty, which is a symbol of a good harvest and also heralds hope.

  A dozen or so riders ran over unhurriedly along the river bank, kicking up a cloud of yellow dust.

  The farmers resting on the ridge of the field looked into the distance with some vigilance, until they saw several riders wearing official robes, and then they were relieved.

  The harvest is about to be harvested. At this time, we must not be negligent. Although the rebels in various places have almost been wiped out, and the rest have gone to Hedong, but who can say clearly?

  If there is a rebellion at this time, the farmers will naturally be very nervous after half a year of hard work.

Shaanxi has been in drought for several years. Even the Guanzhong Plain can no longer stand this kind of toss. Taxes were raised, and at the same time, relief was opened, and to a certain extent, the local area was given rest. It was this kind of expectation that made everyone long for a good year this year.

  A good year needs to start with the summer harvest. The summer harvest can lay the foundation for the year, and the autumn harvest is even more critical. If the summer harvest is poor or delayed, don’t think about the autumn harvest.

  The two-year three-crop system has good requirements for weather and irrigation, even the Guanzhong Plain depends on the weather.

"This year's situation is not bad, Junyu, you have caught up with a good year. If it was last year, you would be in a state of distress." Feng Ziying reined in the horse and looked at the wheat fields along the Weihe River, "But this is not the case. It means that you will have less work, and when the weather is good, it means that there will be higher demands on Xi'an Prefecture, and it is estimated that next year the imperial court may no longer exempt Shaanxi from taxes, so you have to make good use of this year."

   "I didn't intend to live a good life when I came here." Lian Guoshi also laughed, "With you here, will you let me live a good life?"

  Everyone around laughed. The governor and the magistrate have a close relationship, which is a good thing for everyone, and the negotiations between the two yamen will be much easier when it comes to matters involved.

"The days of hard work are more challenging, and you are more fulfilled when you do it. It is not in Jun Yu's nature to sit in the office of the chief envoy and spend your days leisurely." Feng Ziying responded. : "Xi'an is the best benevolent in the province. It should be taken as the vanguard. It has to show the appearance of the best benevolent in the province. The situation in other prefectures and prefectures has improved this year, but it is not enough. Xi'an also has to make contributions."

   Lian Guoshi understood what Feng Ziying meant, and nodded: "Do my best, but don't push us too hard in Xi'an, we have to let people take a breath, and we will have to live next year."

"How about Hancheng and Huayin?" This is also a question that Feng Ziying is concerned about. In order to have a new situation, agriculture alone is not enough, and industry and commerce must be vigorously developed. However, Shaanxi's resource endowment is different from that of Beizhi. Can adapt to local conditions.

"The conditions in Huayin are more suitable. The Fan family plans to start mining in Huayin. However, it will take time to prepare and invest in the early stage, but it is already on the right track. In addition, the Fan family plans to cooperate with the Cao family in Xianyang. A cement factory, the Cao family plans to set up a cement factory alone in Weinan, and the Cao family is also preparing for an iron ore and iron smelting factory in Hancheng, and the scale of investment is not small."

Lian Guoshi is quite satisfied with the Cao and Fan families. At least they have proved their sincerity and determination with their investment. The capital invested by the two companies is more than 300,000 taels. This is not a small amount for the Shaanxi area. .

"Well, at present, the Cao and Fan families are only willing to invest in the Guanzhong Plain. I suggest that they consider the Yan'an Mansion, but they still have some concerns. They feel that the investment cost is too high, and they are worried that the income will not be enough. These businessmen are too concerned about the gains and losses. It's gone." Feng Ziying shook her head slightly.

"Ziying, it's not bad. Just for the mining and construction of the two iron mines, thousands of people will be employed, and this is a long-term operation, which means that at least thousands of families can make a living on this, just like cement factories. There are thousands of people, and the transportation also requires hundreds of people. According to the so-called industrial chain you calculated for us, this is scary, and it will have to pull tens of thousands of people to make a living."

Feng Ziying, Lian Guoshi, and Zheng Chongjian constantly instilled some concepts and "new words" they brought over from later generations into them in their daily communication, explained their meanings to them, and enabled them to apply these new concepts and Thoughts bring to those around them.

"Well, Junyu, I'm relieved if you think so. Although the Guanzhong Plain is rich in land, it is narrow and densely populated. If there are no major disasters and wars, the population will grow rapidly. As local officials, we are the biggest The responsibility is to ensure the stability of the place, but the population growth will almost double in 20 to 30 years. Under such circumstances, we can foresee how the people on the Guanzhong Plain will make a living in the future?"

Lian Guoshi was slightly surprised by Feng Ziying's words, "Ziying, do you think that vigorously developing industry and commerce can feed the growing population? But if there is no increase in food, it will be difficult to make ends meet on the iron and cement produced by these industries and commerce alone. Yes."

"Don't look at it that way, Junyu. The Guanzhong Plain is known as the land of abundance, but in fact we can all see that there is still a big gap in water conservancy facilities. Many irrigation canals are in disrepair for a long time, and water seepage is very serious. But if cement can be widely used, irrigation The effect of the canal can be greatly improved, and more irrigation facilities can be built better. In addition, if iron materials can be used cheaper and more widely, transportation costs and farming costs can be reduced, which is equivalent to With the input of manpower, food production can harvest more, this is just the most basic and simple truth,..."

  Feng Ziying talked eloquently, facing the dry people in the governor's yamen and Xi'an government office, it can be regarded as teaching them a lesson.

"And iron, cement and even more new things are invented and created, which can greatly improve the production efficiency of our various industries. For example, horse-drawn carriages are lighter and run faster. For example, ships can be made larger and more durable. Wind and waves, more goods are loaded, and some new technologies have been released, and the grain yield per mu is more. For example, we have introduced new crops, and we can even create some new medicines, which can cure diseases that could not be cured before. Already..."

  The whole group listened thoughtfully.

  The governor’s idea is very good, and it feels like a pie, but the changes brought about by the two crops of potatoes and sweet potatoes are huge and real. This is the most typical example.

  They have all eaten potatoes and sweet potatoes by themselves, and some have eaten them for two or three days in a row, just to experiment to see if the potatoes can withstand hunger, whether they can be full, and whether there are other abnormalities after eating.

  The result is true. The sweetness of sweet potatoes is very refreshing, especially steamed and baked. Steamed and baked potatoes are equally delicious and quite filling. Some people even think that this taste is better than corn.

  Several officials in Xi’an Prefecture went to Yan’an Prefecture to inspect potato and sweet potato planting, and then sent a group of people to study, and then came back to start experimenting in several counties in Xi’an Prefecture.

Although it is an experiment in name, the scale is much larger than the experiment in Yan'an Mansion. It is often thousands of acres. Xi'an Mansion is so arrogant, and there are dozens of corners. The experiment was carried out on a land of dozens or hundreds of acres. Of course, this was the result of Feng Ziying's guarantee in exchange for his chest.

"Take this potato and sweet potato as an example. This is the credit of Mr. Xu. He spent several years studying in Tianjin Wei to localize the cultivation and planting of these crops introduced from Xiyi, and screened out the varieties suitable for our middle soil cultivation. , and also summed up a set of how to optimize the planting technology, and passed it on to everyone, I was thinking, for our poor places in Shaanxi, there is nothing more important than filling the stomachs of ordinary people. Isn’t it a good thing that such new crops and technologies are constantly introduced to meet the needs of more people? Like cement, it is widely used and in great demand, and it can also greatly improve roads and water conservancy facilities Isn’t it necessary to develop more such items for the sturdiness and durability of city defenses and buildings?”

"Then should we put more thought into this kind of agronomy and engineering? If those reliable and hopeless scholars can put some thought into this aspect, maybe they can make a breakthrough?" Feng Ziying paused After a while, "But to attract these people to study this kind of thing, you must give them some ideas, such as setting up some official positions in the yamen, or giving some money, silver, grain and salary subsidies,..."

  Feng Ziying was eloquent and spoke freely.

He knew that he couldn't stay in Shaanxi for too long. Among the dozen or so people present, there were councilors from the chief envoy, officials from his own yamen, and officials from the Xi'an government office. They all wanted to stay in Shaanxi in the future. If they go on, then whether they can't listen to my words, or they can listen to them, at least it can be regarded as a seed sown in their hearts, and maybe it will germinate at a certain moment.

In addition to instilling these ideas among these officials, Feng Ziying also plans to exert influence in the government schools, so that more young scholars can know about these situations, and also show her supportive attitude, that is, to subtly influence them from different angles. To promote the popularization of all kinds of science.

  Although I don't have this ability yet, but I have done my best, and some people will benefit or feel enlightened from it, so it's worth it.

   And I will not be in Shaanxi in the future, people like Lian Guoshi and Zheng Chongjian can still play a role and continue to promote my "unfinished business".

  (end of this chapter)