Luo Sandao was once a pirate on Dala Island.

After being captured by the East China Sea fishery, he followed the fleet quietly and walked on the sea for several years.

After he followed the fleet to Chang'an City for the first time, he immediately lost the idea of ​​continuing to go out to sea.

Luo Sandao, who is almost forty years old, wants to find a yard in Chang'an City and live his next life comfortably.

Anyway, his net worth is over ten thousand yuan, and as long as he doesn't spend money big, it's enough for him to use it.

However, plans often fail to keep up with changes.

Originally, Luo Sandao thought that the days when he stayed in Pingkangfang every few days, and went to the winery and teahouse to listen to books and watch operas every day, which was a beautiful day that even a god could not compare to.

However, after really living such a life, he became tired of it in less than a year.

He felt that his life seemed to have lost its meaning and lived a confused life every day.

So, on a whim, he actually signed up for the assessment of Guanshishan Academy.

Of course, I definitely didn’t pass the exam!

As the first institution of the Tang Dynasty, the entrance examination of Guanshishan Academy is no longer like when it was just established, and any scholar can pass the entrance examination.

A middle-aged man like Luo Sandao who is barely able to say that he is a literate and snippet, is absolutely impossible to pass the exam.

However, although the exam failed, it did not affect Luo Sandao's visit to Guanshishan Academy to listen.

As a member of the Donghai fishing crew, he was naturally taken care of by the guards of Guanshishan Academy and was basically free to enter and exit most of the academy.

Until one day, when he went to the Agricultural College to attend a course, he found that the teachers were actually talking about promoting pepper cultivation.

His interest was immediately raised.

Spices such as pepper, cinnamon, or nutmeg are very common in Southeast Asia.

As a pirate in the South China Sea, Luo Sandao is more familiar with these things than most people in the Tang Dynasty.

Now that he heard that Guanshishan Academy Agricultural College could successfully plant pepper in the Tang Dynasty, he was immediately excited.

The opportunity is here!

A new challenge in my life is here!

Coincidentally, Guanshishan Academy Agricultural College also needed to find several capable people to go to the northwest to promote pepper cultivation. The two sides hit it off, and Luo Sandao became the first partner of pepper cultivation demonstration bases.

Not only can you enjoy the guidance of the Agricultural College for free, but you can also obtain the seedlings of pepper trees at extremely low prices.

In just over two years, Luo Sandao has planted more than 500 acres of pepper forest on the wasteland in the north of Liangzhou.

Now, the first batch of pepper trees have begun to blossom and bear fruit.

Luo Sandao devoted all his wealth and finally started to make a profit.

"The head of the house, no, a group of uninvited guests broke into the pepper forest, and our team of guards were all subdued. Should we send a warning signal quickly and let the people from the Liangzhou Police Station come and let us go?"

Luo Sandao, as usual, took a nap at noon, woke up and brewed a pot of tea and sat in the yard to taste tea.

However, before I even started drinking the first cup of tea today, Zhuo Dafei ran back in a panic.

In order to facilitate transportation in the future, Luo Sandao's pepper forest is located near the cement road from Liangzhou to Suzhou. In order to avoid thieves coming to steal pepper, Luo Sandao specially hired a guard team of more than eight people to guard the pepper forest.

Unexpectedly, something happened today.

"The guards were all subdued? How many people were breaking in?"

After all, Luo Sandao was also a pirate leader, and he didn't get confused when he heard Zhuo Dafei's words.

"I was all subdued. I saw something wrong from afar and ran back to report the news. The other party didn't seem to have a lot of people, but his skills seemed to be very good. Our guards were no match for them at all. It seems that after the pepper started to bear fruit, it eventually attracted the covetousness of outsiders."

Zhuo Dafei was involved in the sea with Luo Sandao in his early years. Naturally, there was no problem with loyalty, but his ability was very average.

Luo Sandao now has nearly a hundred people, so he naturally needs a loyal person to help manage it.

Zhuo Dafei now bears the burden of the Luo family butler.

"So, the other party just put the guards in uniform, and did not do anything else?"

Luo Sandao keenly noticed that this time the uninvited guest did not seem to have any particular malice.

"It seems like this!"

Zhuo Dafei thought about it for a few seconds and said, "Those people all look gentle, but they don't look like horse thieves. Besides, our peppers have just started to pick them, and even if they come here to grab them, they can't grab too many things."

Luo Sandao purchased 5,000 acres of land at a price of almost free in one go, but now he has only developed about 10% of the land.

Luo's Pepper Forest is far from reaching the point that is worthy of being robbed by horse thieves.

You should know that there are slave hunting teams from Northwest Trade around Liangzhou and troops stationed nearby. No horse thief would come so blindly to rob.

On the contrary, after entering the Western Regions, the risks will be greater.

"Let's go and have a look!"

Luo Sandao quickly jumped onto the horse in the yard and followed Zhuo Da to fly out.

It is a blessing or not a disaster, it is a disaster that cannot be avoided.

Luo Sandao felt that he shouldn't be so unlucky.

...

"Is this the pepper tree? There are not many peppers on each tree. No wonder peppers are so expensive."

Just as Luo Sandao was rushing over nervously, Li Shimin and his group stood in front of a row of shrubs, constantly pointing fingers.

When Li Kuan saw these very average-looking pepper trees, his face was a little bad.

What's the situation?

Is pepper trees not suitable for the climate here in Liangzhou?

Logically speaking, it is most suitable to try planting spices from Nanyang in Lingnan. Now they are placed in Liangzhou...

Li Kuan was also a little guilty.

It seems that later generations have never heard of the pepper planting in Liangzhou.

Even during the Zhenguan period, Liangzhou was still a place with fertile water and soil, and the climate could not be close to that of Southeast Asia.

These people from Guanshishan Academy Agricultural College have cultivated pepper seedlings, and they will not have a very large yield when planted in Liangzhou.

Of course, considering the high price of pepper, even if the yield of pepper trees in Liangzhou is very low, it will not be a loss.

However, this way, Li Kuan felt that his plan needed to be changed.

Plans can never keep up with changes.

It seems that after returning to Chang'an City, I need to give a lecture to the people of the Agricultural College. I cannot always focus on the School of Physics to avoid the Agricultural College from taking detours.

"Ahem!" Li Kuan cleared his throat and said a little embarrassedly: "Of the shopkeeper, normally, the peppers produced by the pepper trees should be string by string. These pepper trees are probably a bit unacceptable, so the yield is not very high. However, although these peppers grow averagely, I see that there are several pepper trees next to them, which seem to be quite good. If it really doesn't work, you can plant pepper and pepper at the same time."

At this time, Li Kuan missed potatoes at any time.

If the "Yang Benman" brings potatoes back from America, it can quickly solve the problem of Longyoudao economics as a cultivation project, so how can the Agricultural College keep making trouble there?

Fortunately, the pepper tree cultivated by the Agricultural College would not have a single pepper, otherwise he would not know how to take Li Shimin's words.

You can't deliberately follow Li Shimin's words: "Yes, it's because the pepper tree has very few results, so the price of pepper is expensive?"

Such lies cannot withstand the scrutiny of time at all.

However, when I think about it now, I can't blame the students of Guanshishan Academy Medical College.

For them, being able to cultivate pepper trees and still have smooth results, this is success.

As for the fact that the fruit rate of these pepper trees is less than one-tenth of that of Nanyang, they may not know at all.

Because none of these students have been to Nanyang and have seen the pepper trees in Nanyang with their own eyes.

In this way, it is not surprising to create an erroneous relationship.

"I roughly calculated that although the yield of these pepper trees is not very high, based on the pepper price in Chang'an City, the pepper produced by a mu of pepper forest can be at least tens of stagnant. Eliminating various costs, one mu of land can earn at least tens of stagnant of money. These pepper trees are still of promotional significance."

At this time, Laiji stood up to express his support for the promotion of pepper tree planting.

"This is not wrong. If a mu of land can earn ten cents of money, it will be enough to attract everyone to come to the northwest to plant pepper."

Cen Wenben also expressed his support for a rare occasion.

"You can try to plant a batch, but it is not advisable to continue to expand the demonstration scale. If the trial planting in Lingnan is more successful, the price of pepper will inevitably fall rapidly, and the pepper forests here in Liangzhou will become very embarrassing."

It is not too late to repair the sheep.

Since it was dug by Guanshishan Academy Agricultural College, Li Kuan of course had to try his best to fill it in.

Fortunately, the area of ​​the first batch of pepper forests was limited and they could make money in the early stages, so this pit was not a big deal.

However, it seems that the cultivation of pepper is no longer able to assume the role of cotton in Shuozhou.

This is also the reason why Li Kuan thought of promoting pepper cultivation.

As a local spice crop, the yield of peppercorns has not been very high, and the people of the Tang Dynasty have not yet fully developed the habit of eating peppercorns.

However, thinking about the peppers that will be back from the Americas soon, Li Kuan felt that the matter of increasing the yield of pepper can be put on the agenda.
To be continued...