The Lone Star of the Tang Dynasty

"Your Majesty, isn't this the plough and rake used by the farmers to plough the land? The Ministry of Industry is here to make this?" Duan Lun felt incredulous, why should the Ministry of Industry produce this kind of agricultural tool that is almost necessary for every household in an ordinary peasant household?

Li Er explained: "It was the Ministry of Industry that made it. Now that the troubled times have subsided, the people are in need of recuperation, and if they are allowed to make their own products, they may delay the agricultural time. Summer has arrived, and it is the time when families are in dire need of a rake, and it is obviously inappropriate to let them build their own. "

Duan Lun nodded in understanding, but the doubts in his heart were not completely eliminated: "But, Your Majesty, why bother the Ministry of Industry to make a rake for the people? As Your Majesty said, this is the time when the people use the rake, since every household has it, why do you need to make it again?"

When Li Er heard this, he couldn't help but laugh proudly, and Du Ruhui and Wei Zheng also looked at each other and smiled, as if they knew the secret.

Duan Lun, eldest grandson Wuji and Fang Xuanling were confused and didn't know why.

"Your Majesty, the structure of this plough rake is not complicated, and although the manufacturing cost is not high, the manpower required for mobilization is quite large. Why do you need to devote so much manpower to this at this time?".

Fang Xuanling, as the core figure of Tiance Mansion Group, is accustomed to being thoughtful, so he naturally can't let go of this matter easily.

Du Ruhui saw Fang Xuanling's doubts, patted him on the shoulder, and revealed with a smile: "Old Fang, you have been busy with affairs recently, and you may not know about it yet. A few of us went to the outside of Youzhou City to investigate...... You should be able to figure out why, right?"

When Fang Xuanling heard this, his eyes flashed, and he quickly thought of an important person: "Are you going to see Gongzi?" or are you negotiating with Gongzi?".

Li Er laughed loudly, and did not respond positively to Fang Xuanling's question, but turned the topic to Duan Lun: "Ziming, as the secretary of the Ministry of Works, what are the mysteries in the design of this plow, why don't you think about it carefully?"

Duan Lun looked at the drawing in his hand again, and noticed that this paper was from the high-quality snow-white paper newly sold by Yunshang Youyou in the west of the city, and the texture was as tough as a knife blade, while there were slight wrinkles and sweat marks on it.

After repeated inspection, I didn't notice any special design at first, and even mistakenly thought that it might be some kind of modified composition of a powerful bow and arrow.

Suddenly, Duan Lun's eyes lit up and he discovered the key difference: the straight plow on the drawing was not the straight plow used by ordinary people, but the curved plow!

He was stunned and asked, "Your Majesty, is there a mistake in the drawing? Why is it a curved plough and not a common straight plow?"

Li Er smiled and explained: "You don't know this, the curved plow is more labor-saving than the straight plow." "

Hearing the word "labor-saving", Duan Lun was shocked, and it was hard to imagine that the plough rake could achieve such an ingenious labor-saving effect in the design. Although at first glance this plough is nothing special except for the curved wheel, it actually contains great innovative value.

Duan Lun secretly admired in his heart, if it can really reduce the physical exertion of the people when farming, whether it is to allow the ploughing cattle to get a better rest during the labor break, or to allow the farmers to have spare energy to cultivate more fields, it is undoubtedly a great contribution.

At this time, the eldest grandson Wuji's face was solemn, and he arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, this matter must be carefully considered, and you must not act rashly!"

Li Er was stunned when he heard this, and wondered in his heart: "Why is it absolutely impossible?"

"Auxiliary, isn't this matter of great benefit to the country and the people?" His Majesty Li Er asked rhetorically.

The eldest grandson Wuji looked worried and responded: "Your Majesty, this matter is indeed beneficial to the people's livelihood, but the current treasury costs a huge amount of money, and the government treasury only has more than 100,000 taels of silver left. In a few days, the war will follow one after another, and many expenses need to be prepared urgently. If we neglect the long-term reserves of national strength because of a momentary act of benevolence, I am afraid that the foundation will be shaken and the overall situation will be affected. "

Although this may sound harsh, it is full of profound considerations for the actual state of the country's finances.

The eldest grandson Wuji was secretly proud in his heart, knowing that this advice was not only to the point, but also a practical issue that was difficult to refute, and it was expected that His Majesty Li Er would definitely adopt it, and he could take this opportunity to further consolidate his influence in the court.

Unexpectedly, Li Er did not deal with it as seriously as the eldest grandson Wuji expected, but smiled slightly, and changed his words: "The auxiliary machine is very worried, but ...... Have you ever wondered what it means to save the plow?".

The eldest grandson Wuji was stunned when he heard this, he thought that Li Er would agree with his point of view, but he didn't expect the topic to suddenly turn to the efficacy of the plow rake. Although he was skeptical, he still explained according to common sense: "Your Majesty, this kind of process improvement, even if it can save a little manpower, is not more than one-tenth or two. "

Li Er gave a shocking answer: "No, the key to this zigzag plough is that it can greatly reduce the force required for farming, and the plough that originally had to rely on ploughing oxen to pull can now be operated by manpower." Just imagine, in the past, a pair of people and a ploughing ox could only reclaim one acre of land a day, but after using the curved plow, it may be directly doubled to two acres. "

Then, Li Er's eyes were blazing and he asked: "Auxiliary machine, do you remember how much wasteland in my Tang Dynasty territory has not been exploited? According to the records of the Han Dynasty, more than two-thirds of China's land has not been effectively reclaimed. "

The eldest grandson, Wuji, was deeply shocked by this sudden calculation, and was dumbfounded, his mouth wide enough to swallow an egg, and his chin almost touched the tip of his toe. The possibilities brought by this number are staggering!

"If all these vast wastelands are reclaimed, even if the tax system remains unchanged, the annual revenue flowing into the national treasury will increase exponentially!"

Li Er's words made the eldest grandson Wuji fall into deep thought, realizing that he might have underestimated the far-reaching impact of this seemingly inconspicuous agricultural innovation.

The eldest grandson, Wuji, is known in the Tiance Mansion team for being sleek, spicy and sophisticated. Whenever he spoke, he was always able to skillfully accumulate merit, prestige and influence for himself. This time, he intended to play the role of a loyal minister, pointing out that at a time when the treasury was empty and war was approaching, if the newly introduced agricultural implements did not have a significant effect on saving labor, it would not only be difficult to win the gratitude of the people, but could actually make the country's finances worse.

After some careful calculations, the eldest grandson Wuji was full of confidence and thought that Li Er would definitely adopt his suggestion.

What he didn't expect was that the labor-saving effect of the Quyuan plough far exceeded expectations, and it could even be pulled without ploughing oxen!

The eldest grandson Wuji was dumbfounded and incredulous: "Your Majesty, this matter ...... Is this serious?".