Three Kingdoms

Zhuge Liang and Zao Zhi stood on the edge of the Wei River, looking at the farms on both sides of the bank that were almost connected together.

Most people are lazy, especially when most people gather into a social group, they always feel that others should go back to do it, so they don't have to do it.

Smart people will know how to overcome this inertia and even exploit the inertia of others.

The work in the fields is undoubtedly hard, and there is almost no rest throughout the year. However, for the future of their families, these refugees in the fields seem to have buried their inertia deep in the soil with their sweat.

Especially the refugees who were stationed in the fields had no complaints when they saw that Zao Zhi and others were working in the fields like them and working tirelessly to improve agricultural technology.

Lead by example and you will set an example.

A king with five sages will have five ministers.

As the agricultural director of the entire Hussar political group, Zao Zhi would be lying if he said it was not hard work. Even during the slack season, Zao Zhi still needs to check the plowing situation in the fields, the amount of fertilizer accumulated, etc. from time to time. Often throughout the year, I always have a muddy smell.

Zao Zhi stretched out his hand and picked up a piece of soil, then showed it to Zhuge Liang, "The land of the Weihe River is different from other places... Farming equipment also needs to change with time and place..."

Zhuge Liang immediately grasped the key point, "Zi Jingxiong meant, could it be that the soil quality here is different from other places?" 』

"Of course." ” Zao Zhi handed the clod of soil in his hand to Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang used a little strength, and it turned into powder and fell thinly with the wind.

"What's the difference?" ” Zao Zhi asked with great interest, with a smile on his face. Both of them came from under Lushan Mountain, and they were like a senior leading a junior, and there was a natural sense of intimacy.

Zhuge Liang didn't care that the fine loess stained his clothes, but frowned, took another piece of soil, and crushed it again, "Is this soil so dry?" 』

Zao Zhi nodded, "So the first thing to do here is to "protect the lake"..."

Zao Zhi raised his head, looked around, and said, "This is the middle land of China, and the earth is prosperous." However, if the earth is strong, it will overcome the water; if the water is weak, the fire will destroy it, and it will increase the strength of the earth..."

To put it simply, it is to conserve water and soil, but it was very difficult to explain the problem of soil and water conservation to the Han Dynasty people, so Fei Qian simply used the five elements to explain it, which made Zao Zhi and others understand it at once.

"So we should use wood to restrain the earth, suppress the earth's prosperity, make the five elements balanced, and the heavenly order rotate?" ” Zhuge Liang said, “So, the Hussar has banned the deforestation of mountains and switched to using black soil for heating. Is that all? 』

Zao Zhi nodded.

The people of the Han Dynasty were majestic and majestic, so sometimes they were somewhat rough. Just like the development of agriculture in the Han Dynasty, in many cases it was due to the growth of population, so we had to consider technological updates. It was not a conscious development, but a disorderly progress.

Before the Han Dynasty, many agricultural technologies had already existed. It was only after the Han Dynasty that the growth of population put some pressure on the feudal courts of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, the officials of the Han Dynasty began to consider using higher-yield agricultural products. Agricultural technology, thus allowing some agricultural technologies to be promoted in the Han Dynasty.

From this perspective, the promotion of agricultural technology or the conscious improvement of agricultural output by the Han Dynasty court was not an initiative of the Han Dynasty court, but a forced and forced change. Therefore, in terms of agricultural development, there are some capabilities Just use it, it's a perfunctory feeling.

At the same time, although during the three to four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, agricultural production was always emphasized, and large-scale market trade was formed in some places, they were still satisfied with self-sufficiency, and the few additional outputs were often In the hands of local gentry and wealthy families, it became isolated, with local abundance or poverty, and no unified national dispatching mechanism.

"In the land of Jiyu, there are abundant rivers, so the quality of the fields is also different..." Zao Zhi said as he walked forward, and then when he arrived at a shed, he had someone take out a set of plowing tools, " Before, someone also wanted to plow deeply, but later he got help from a hussar, and then he realized the difference between Guanzhong, so he needed to plow shallowly and plow deeply..."

The special geographical environment on the Loess Plateau requires water to be conserved as much as possible, and the capillary structure of the loess can easily cause water conquest. The way to reduce water evaporation is to loosen the soil and form a protective layer type soil layer on the surface of the soil. Cut off its access to deeper soil.

Therefore, after plowing and harvesting, it is necessary to use a light plow instead of a heavy plow. Even when leveling the land, a softer rake made of wicker or wattle is used instead of an iron rake to avoid damaging the surface. The protective layer.

"The land is different, so the plows are different..." Zaozhi said, "The times are different, so the laws are different... Before Guangwu, people had hundreds of acres, but how many acres are there now?" In Jizhou and Yuzhou, there is even a household with less than ten acres of land. Even if they work diligently, they still cannot escape hunger. They work hard and cannot have enough food and clothing... What is the reason for the land, what is the reason for the people? 』

In terms of land geology, Jizhou and Yuzhou undoubtedly have more advantages than Guanzhong.

Cao Cao and others, including Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu who had already received their lunch boxes, set their bases in Jizhou and Yuzhou because they were the main economic bases of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Because the entire climate in the Han Dynasty was relatively warm and humid, after Guangwu, it became a large river. The downstream area, which was later known as the Henan and Hebei areas, became an excellent area for planting.

At first, the Han Dynasty mainly produced millet and millet, so the name "Sheji" came from this. Later, wheat and barley were introduced. As for rice in later generations, it is not the main crop of the Han Dynasty today. Vegetables and fruits are generally not considered serious crops. Within the fields, agriculture and animal husbandry are widely separated...

The planting industry in Guanzhong gradually declined during the Eastern Han Dynasty. There are many reasons for this, but one thing is that the geographical environment of Guanzhong has undergone tremendous changes from the early Han Dynasty. The most important one is water and soil erosion.

During the Pre-Qin Dynasty, the Guanzhong Loess Plateau was densely covered with vegetation, and even the mulberry forests were as dense as silk. Shanglin Garden was also really "forested". However, with the uncontrolled construction of palaces, they were burned, repaired, and burned. Year after year, ordinary people cut down trees for cooking and heating, which resulted in a large number of trees on the Loess Plateau being cut down. Then the fragile ecological environment was unable to repair itself under the massive destruction of humans, so that the Loess Plateau was like a 40-year-old. For older men, once alopecia areata occurs, they are not far away from losing all their hair.

Therefore, under the same relatively simple agricultural production technology, the areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River that are relatively easy to conserve water naturally outperformed the Guanzhong area where soil moisture protection was important, so that the political and economic center of the Eastern Han Dynasty became Moved east.

It's just that Jizhou and Yuzhou also have a large population. Coupled with serious land annexation, the residents of small households have to work hard to find food and clothing, and have no intention to engage in agricultural technological reforms. However, the powerful nobles who own a large amount of land, in order to obtain more The land will not allow ordinary people to master new technologies to obtain higher output. After all, only ordinary homesteaders can no longer survive, and they will have the opportunity to acquire more land.

As a court, because some vested interests occupy the position, even if some people study agricultural technology, most of them do it out of interest, and then Xinxinran presents the technology to the court amidst the praise, and then I just put it on the shelf and don't care whether these technologies are actually used in practical applications.

Therefore, many descendants of the Han gentry will superficially believe that insufficient agricultural harvests mean that there are not enough farmers to work, so more farmers must be tied to the land. At the same time, the original tax policy of the Han Dynasty was based on population as the main source of income. Yes, so the Han Dynasty and even the later feudal dynasties fell into a strange circle. The more they valued the land and tied the population to the land, the heavier the action became. Even if they thought about turning a corner and turning over another The body is already in extremely difficult conditions, and we can only do everything we can to slow down its slide into the abyss on the original road.

Therefore, the land advantage of Jizhou and Yuzhou has now become a disadvantage that hinders its development. Because the harvest is pretty good, many large landowners will naturally not think about improving agricultural technology. Just like most monopolies, when large landowners monopolize land, they will only think about continuing to occupy more land. When the population increases, When I was growing up, I only wanted to hide the population and pay less taxes, and I would spend more time poaching corners of the court. However, people like Fei Qian who hold a lot of land in their hands but focus on the development of farming technology are like few and far between. .

Zhuge Liang looked at the various tools taken out of the wooden house and couldn't help but be a little surprised, "These...were all made by Brother Zijing?" 』

Zao Zhi shook his head and said, "No." A certain man was plowing in the field and was often confused, so he asked the horseman. The horseman could solve the problem by spinning it, and asked the craftsmen to change it... Kong Ming looked at it, this is a columbine, which means to take out the leakage. When planted in it, it is like pecking. Drink, if the length of the peck is long, it is a deep seed. If it is short, it is a shallow seed. The difference is only a millimeter, even convenient... Well, this thing is a coupling..."

Zao Zhi talked about it item by item, as if he was introducing his toys to his friends, knowing all their functions.

Zhuge Liang listened, but gradually frowned, "These things are all wonderful, but there is only one thing missing..."

Zao Zhi said, "But the price is high?" Is it inaccessible to ordinary people? 』

"Exactly. ” Zhuge Liang nodded.

Zao Zhi also nodded, and then asked people to pack the tools back into the house and put them away, saying, "This is the disadvantage of farming... As for the refugees, when they first got the land, they were mostly diligent and did not care about hard work, but they wanted to Just get food and drink..."

"Kong Ming is worried about this. The price of this commodity is high, and it is difficult for ordinary farmers to support it..." Zao Zhi said as he moved forward, "The oxen and plows can be shared and farmed in rotation. At first, there were no complaints, but now... um..."

Zhuge Liang frowned slightly, "But people's hearts are not enough?" 』

"The human heart..." Zao Zhi sighed, "The same is true for agricultural scholars. It is difficult to be fair... This is a digression... The back hussar has a tool shop, which can be rented, borrowed or replaced. Complaints are suspended..."

Are only the children of aristocratic families capable of scheming?

No, even ordinary farmers will have various disputes over trivial matters after the threat of hunger is eliminated.

"Moreover, there are also new disadvantages..." Zao Zhi glanced at Zhuge Liang and said, "We will discuss this later... Come on, here we are..."

After turning around the grove, there was a stone wall in front of him, blocking his line of sight. After opening the door on the stone wall, Zhuge Liang was immediately stunned by what he saw.

Inside the stone wall was actually a huge warehouse, separated from each other by stone planks and laid with lime and other dry materials. Among them, what attracted Zhuge Liang's attention the most was the considerable amount of various grains stored in categories.

"Here are millet, wheat, rice, millet, beam, millet, yellow, broomcorn, millet, flax, black..." Zao Zhi slowly circled, pointing all the way, and then said, "These warehouses, three There are nine auxiliary places, six in the east of the river, and four in the west of Longxi... They are all kept secret, just for this time..."

The improvement of agricultural technology has brought about an increase in the yield per mu, and some of these increased yields have been consciously concealed by Fei Qian, Zaozhi and others. After all, some of these farmers in the fields even have their own fingers and toes. None of them may be able to count clearly. They just know that the yield per mu is more, but they have no idea how much more it is.

Therefore, during the past few years when Fei Qian vigorously carried out farming, the additional grain production due to the improvement of agricultural technology was accumulated out of the sight of the gentry's children. These hidden warehouses are built in the center of the farming area, and ordinary people cannot enter at all. The purpose is, on the one hand, to resist the attack of Xiao Glacier, and on the other hand, it is also to cope with the current situation...

Fertilized and non-fertilized crops, whether to select improved seeds, etc., are reflected in the final yield per mu, which are basically two different things. With more advanced equipment, coupled with more reasonable ridge cultivation, etc., now Piao The yield per mu of Qi's farmland can almost reach a very large and special high yield. Although there is no such thing as some auspicious miracles or the so-called 100 shi per mu that promotes false increases, most people can achieve the line of 10 shi per mu, which is more than three times the average yield per mu in the Han Dynasty.

Of course, the value of the yield per mu was not achieved overnight. It increased so much all at once, but gradually increased in the following few years. Therefore, the surrounding gentry children had some misunderstandings and solidified perceptions, thinking that the Hussars Farming is just like that, it's just a little more than the average acres.

Although some people know that the Hussar has some food and grass savings, they don't know how much. Moreover, these people calculate according to usual habits and believe that after several military operations of the Hussar, it was basically consumed. In addition, the Hussar was in The public warehouses in Chang'an City do not store much, which makes these people think that they have the truth.

"In addition, there are also straws for war horses..." Zao Zhi smiled, looking at these hoarded grains, his eyes revealed an indescribable brilliance, as if looking at his own children, and as if Looking at your beloved lover?

Everyone knows that Qiusi has a lot of horses under his command, and they all think that the consumption of these horses is amazing, but this is another misunderstanding in thinking. It is true that war horses consume more than people, and they are all big guys with huge bellies. If it is during special preparations for war, or when they are trying to gain weight, let these big guys eat as much as they can, maybe twenty or thirty a day. A kilogram of hay feed is considered a small amount...

But normally, if they are in the Longyou pasture area of ​​Yinshan Mountain in the North, they just feed one more meal at night and let these big guys eat by themselves during the day, so the consumption is not as much as these people think.

Think about the wild horses in nature. No one goes out of their way to give them extra meals, and none of them look hungry or sick.

The reason why the nobles think that the cost of raising horses in Fei Qian is very high is because the cost of raising their own horses is indeed high, and the most important reason for the high cost of raising horses is that the horses are kept in a position where they cannot naturally obtain food for a long time. environment, so they have to require a lot of feed to feed them.

Fei Qian's war horses are generally raised in Beidi and Longyou. These areas have been horse breeding areas since the Qin Dynasty. In many cases, they even raised more than 100,000 war horses. Otherwise, those war horses were raised when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty conquered the Xiongnu. Where does it come from?

In the fourth year of Yuanshou reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty dispatched the largest expeditionary force in history, led by General Wei Qing and Hussar General Huo Qubing, across the desert to attack the hinterland of the Xiongnu. This battle is the famous "Battle of Han-Xiong Mobei".

And in this battle, how many horses did Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty use in total?

"Historical Records: Biography of the Xiongnu" records: "... Naimao sent 100,000 horses to ride, and he secretly followed 140,000 horses, and the grain was not equal to the weight." 』

In other words, there were 100,000 war horses dedicated to frontal combat and fed with millet, and 140,000 "private horses" that did not need to be fed with special grain and fodder. A total of 240,000 war horses were dispatched!

Moreover, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also wanted to leave some stallions and horses for daily use, so it can be roughly calculated that the number of war horses raised by the entire Han Dynasty at that time should be about 300,000...

Of course, there was no national statistics agency at the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and there was no exact value. But if Sima didn't write it randomly, the scale of the Mobei battle at that time was quite astonishing.

At the same time, it also reflects from the side that the Huns had a lot of war horses at that time. Otherwise, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty would not have to use such a large number of war horses. Moreover, because the Xiongnu tribes were scattered, it is impossible to count the number of war horses, but I believe it must be more than that of the Han Dynasty. Some, that is to say, on the Xiongnu side, the number of war horses raised will exceed 300,000...

The total number of horses on both sides, tsk tsk...

So both sides could raise so many war horses at that time, but now even if they are discounted and then broken, Fei lurks in Guanzhong Sanfu and feeds a certain number of war horses with Zhuanghe straw, hay and other feed as a standing force. What problem can there be? And because most of the straw and hay from the village came from our own farms, it was not true that it cost nothing, but it certainly didn’t cost a lot.

It's just that some greedy and short-sighted guys in Guanzhong Sanfu can't see or understand this. On the one hand, these people think that the Hussar's food and grass reserves have been exhausted. On the other hand, they think that the Hussar has to raise so many cavalry, and then feed and other The pressure of waiting must be great. I thought I had grasped the vital point of the hussar general, so I started to act with pride...