Zhao Kuo has been to many places, but this is the first time he has come to Yan State, especially in the Northeast region. He thought that as a large granary for later generations, it has a high development value, but when he saw the situation in Yan land himself, he felt much colder. First of all, the climate in the Northeast region is too different. In Shanggu, Yuyang and other areas, the climate is relatively normal and suitable for crop growth.

However, the land in western Liaoning and eastern Liaoning is a bit cold and the climate is not suitable for farming.

The crops here are difficult to grow. Compared with the crops in the Central Plains, they have stronger cold resistance and their harvests are not too high. The climate is the biggest problem. In the too cold Liaodong and other areas, farming is not very achieved. The temperature difference here is very large. The climate is still good, and the wild grasses grow very lushly. After investigation and inquiries, Zhao Kuo determined in his heart that if he wanted to develop the Northeast, he could only develop Shanggu, Yuyang and other areas.

The climate of the three counties of Youbeiping, western Liaoning and eastern Liaoning is too harsh, and only some areas are suitable for development.

Zhao Kuo determined the target, and the peasant disciples were also exploring the fertility of the land. It has to be said that part of the land in the northeast is still very fertile. The remains of wild grasses and forest animals accumulated over the years nourish the land, so that the soil here does not need to be improved too much, but the soil cannot be said to be without problems. It is precisely because of the fertility of the soil that reclaiming and plowing land has become a problem.

The biggest problem comes from today's technology. If you want to reclaim the land, you must have advanced agricultural tools... Zhao Kuo realized that the Northeast became the largest granary later because of technological factors. Today's industrial level is not enough to fully develop the place. However, Zhao Kuo was not disappointed. The area of ​​Shanggu County, which is suitable for farming, can exceed that of several counties in the south. If it can be developed, as long as part of it is developed, there will be a lot of gains.

As long as the cost may be huge, Zhao Kuo's vision has never been just in today's era. He has seen it for a long time and there are many benefits of developing the Northeast. First of all, with the development of science and technology in the future, after he sets a precedent, this place will definitely attract more attention in the future. Perhaps the future Northeast granary will appear hundreds of years in advance, which is worth it.

In addition, if this place can be developed, it will play a huge role in border security. Think about a county with extremely developed agriculture and millions of farmers. Do enemies outside the border dare to look here? Do you dare to rob? The farmers in Qin State are soldiers who take up weapons. Combining many factors, developing the Northeast is a good choice. In addition to climate and soil, there is also water source.

Zhao Kuo doesn't have to worry about this. There is sufficient water source here, and the snow-cumulated water in spring is also conducive to crop growth. In addition, the temperature is low and there are few pests. Overall, some areas here are still very suitable for the development of agriculture, but they just cannot reach the level later. However, with the development of technology in the future, it will definitely be able to develop here. Zhao Kuo finally chose the Shanggu Yuyang area as the development target.

Slash-and-burn cultivation is the norm in this era, and crop rotation has just taken shape. The so-called crop rotation is to plant different crops according to different seasons. This is not the agricultural science and technology tree pointed out by Zhao Kuo, but the theory proposed by the Farmers Exhibition. The crop rotation technology was officially promoted on the real historical line in the Western Han Dynasty decades later, and it happened to be today.

Common crop rotations in later generations include cereal rotation, bean rotation, grain and cash crop rotation, water and drought crop rotation, grass field rotation, etc., but not many can be achieved now.

Zhao Kuo was thinking about the future development map in his mind. The Central Plains, which had been developed, has a vast land and sparse population, abundant water resources, and a fertile land in the northeast... suitable for the northwest of economic crops. The problems of grain and land are the biggest factors affecting China. Because of the large population, land distribution and grain supply are prone to problems, but the resources that China itself has are also very amazing.

Zhao Kuo and his peasant disciples began to assist local officials, promote the latest agricultural technologies, teach breeding methods, and encourage local people to carry out cultivation and development. The Yan people respected Zhao Kuo very much, and even the Hu people in western Liaoning and Liaodong. When they knew that the person in front of them was Zhao Kuo, they were so excited that they could not speak. Zhao Kuo had a very high reputation in the local area, and could even be comparable to that in Qin Zhao.

They are also willing to listen to Zhao Kuo's words, change according to what he said, and do things according to what he taught.

Although Zhao Kuo set his development target in the north, he did not give up on the western Liaoning and Liaodong areas. Due to the climate here and the underdeveloped technology, it is impossible to plant too much food here. Zhao Kuo proposed the idea that the forestry industry can be developed here. Forests are also a very important resource, especially regeneration. The forests here are dense, which are suitable for the development of the forestry industry.

There are also some areas in Liaodong, which are suitable for the development of animal husbandry and mining.

This is a treasure land.

When Zhao Kuo came here, he was not only exploring agriculture, but also to check the situation of the people. The people of Yan State lived a good life. Most people think of Yan State as heavy snow and poor. In fact, the land of Yan State is very fertile, and the people here live a good life. With backward agricultural technology and tools, their grain production can already exceed that of some countries, and they can even deliver grain to other countries.

The Yan State had almost never encountered a problem of food shortage. The people had surplus food at home. Of course, it was not considered to be the Hu people in Liaodong. No wonder the Hu people in Liaodong accepted the rule of Qin so happily. Yan State did not treat them as human beings at all. Zhao Kuo even felt that if the per capita income of various countries was selected, Yan State could rank among the top because he did not regard Liaoxi and Liaodong as human beings at all. Although the Hu people here tended to be Chinese in terms of culture and language, and even wore Yan State's clothing and intermarried with Yan people...

The people in other parts of Yan land had a very good life, and they did not have much resistance to Qin, because many areas of Yan State were taken down by General Qin Kai, and General Qin Kai was a contemporary of Zhao She... Therefore, people here did not have much recognition of Yan State, so they naturally would not have no resistance to destroying their Qin State. They were even a little happy because the taxes of Qin State were lower.

Among the current countries, Qin's taxes are the lowest and have a strong temptation to the people. Even if other countries know about it, they cannot follow suit, because Qin's national strength is strong, and even very low taxes can allow him to support his army, but Qi Chu could not do it.

Zhao Kuo stayed in Yan for a while, and then waited for his old friend. Yes, Dong Chengzi came. Because of his research on the law, he was recruited to Xianyang and met the King of Qin, which was highly valued. Because he was familiar with the culture of Yan and had very good abilities, he was sent to Yuyang as the prefect. The two old friends met again, and the prefects from other places also arrived one by one.

The prefect of Shanggu is called Feng Quji, who is the eldest grandson of Feng Ting, the prefect of Shangdang of Korea in the past.

The prefect of western Liaoning was named Le Shu, who was Zhao Kuo's favorite disciple and Le Yi's grandson. Le Jian died of illness in Zhao State. The grief of grief Le did not lead the troops to fight. Instead, he studied horse uniforms carefully. After the demise of Zhao State, he was recommended by Han Fei, and thus became a minister of Qin State. The prefect of Liaodong was called Wang Wan, who was also a talented minister and was highly valued by the King of Qin.

With these people coming to help, it was much easier for Zhao Kuo to do anything. He met his old friend Dong Chengzi in Yuyang. He looked much stronger than before. He smiled and pulled Zhao Kuo into the mansion. After greetings, the two talked about their development plans for Yuyang. Zhao Kuo also told him all his thoughts over the days. Zhao Kuo said seriously: "The land here is fertile and the weather is cold, so there is no need to conquer corvee to build canals..."

"Before corvee labor, you must think more, otherwise problems will occur."

Dong Chengzi listened carefully to Zhao Kuo about the local situation and asked the officials to record it.

Zhao Kuo then went to see several other prefects and discussed the development of Yan land with them. Zhao Kuo was busy in Yan land for nearly a year, exploring the situation everywhere, appeased the people, mobilizing the people to cultivate, and quickly promoting agricultural technology. During this period, Yan land also experienced an autumn harvest. After experiencing the destruction of a war, the grain output this year was higher than the previous year, which shows the huge advantages of the system.

Zhao Kuo participated in the reclamation, farming, harvesting, and even liquidation here, and wrote a letter about the local customs, development, and future trends, and sent it to Xianyang. This letter became a very important reference for future generations to study Yan land. Until the end of the year, heavy snow fell on the Yan land, and the whole world was covered by white snow. The snow here was very heavy. In some places, the snow on the ground could reach people's knees.

Zhao Kuo walked out of the courtyard, even though he was wearing thick clothes, he could still feel the deep cold.

He has never been so cold, perhaps because of the problem here, or perhaps because he is really old... Zhao Kuo still walked out of the courtyard. He wanted to know the problem of keeping cold in Yan land. People here would prepare firewood in advance and basically did not choose to go out in winter. Because there were no cold-resistant materials such as cotton. But there was coal at this moment, and coal had been used as early as the Spring and Autumn Period.

Zhao Kuo vaguely remembered the honeycomb coal, but he didn't know how it was done, so he could only go back and negotiate with the people from the Mo family.

As for cotton, you can probably go to the Western Regions to find it.

Zhao Kuo felt that it was necessary for him to walk to the Western Regions and bring back the things he knew that the Central Plains did not have, including cotton, various crops, fruits and so on. Because the road to the Western Regions was not opened, many things were not passed into the Central Plains. Zhang Jian went on a mission to the Western Regions and brought back a lot of things. The Han Dynasty even opened up the Silk Road. Zhao Kuo felt that it was necessary for him to go to the Western Regions and bring in those good things.

Zhao Kuo walked around the place for a few times, but when he returned to his mansion, he suddenly fell ill.

Perhaps because he was suffering from cold outside these days, Zhao Kuo began to have a fever and headache. Speaking of which, Zhao Kuo rarely gets sick because he is very strong, and fever is even more rare. He suddenly fell ill, but he frightened many ministers in Yan land. Medical officials from all over the country also came quickly to treat Zhao Kuo. Zhao Kuo was still very strong. After several days of recuperation, he returned to his original condition.

However, local officials dared not keep him anymore. The cold winter here was too cruel, especially for the elderly. Therefore, when the King of Qin sent officials, he did not dare to send too many elderly people. If something happened to Zhao Kuo here, no one could bear the anger of the King of Qin. After Zhao Kuo recovered, he did not take the risk to go out again. When the weather improved, the imperial physician sent by the King of Qin had arrived.

Zhao Kuo did not want his family to worry about him for no reason. Just as the matter here was almost done, the rest could be handed over to local officials, so he left like this.

Zhao Kuo suddenly fell ill this time, which really scared many people. Zhao Kuo sat in the carriage and looked at the people who were preparing to farm along the road, and rushed towards Xianyang without any haste.

In the 17th year of the Qin Dynasty's rule, in this year of history, Qin officially destroyed South Korea, thus opening the prelude to the destruction of the six kingdoms. Now, Qin has basically completed unification, and the only surviving countries are Chu and Qi. When Zhao Kuo's carriage came to Xianyang, Zhao Kang came to greet him. Zhao Kang looked very worried. Seeing his father's thin appearance, he was really worried.

Only Ying Zheng and Zhao Kang knew about Zhao Kuo's illness, and no one else knew about it. This was also a good thing.

"The pacification of Yan land was faster than expected. Unexpectedly, the people of Yan State did not want to resist Qin State. They quickly pacified the country, and many local people were willing to serve as officials. Therefore, the king was considering the use of troops against Chu State. Liao and the general insisted on asking you to come back and then discussing." Zhao Kang talked about domestic affairs. The Qin people originally thought that it would take several years to appease Yan land and arrange officials and other matters.

Unexpectedly, the behavior of Yan State itself was not popular with the people, and the officials trained by the King of Yan, the appeasement work here went very smoothly. The farming last year was also very smooth, and the officials recruited from Yan State were very useful, and Qin should thank King Yan State. This made Qin State focus on the great power in the south, Chu State. Chu State has always been a powerful country.

Over the years, he has also brought a lot of trouble to Qin. It has a vast territory and a large population. It is really not easy to destroy Chu.

Coupled with Zhao Kuo's previous deterrence, the Chu State felt a sense of crisis. Xiang Yan continued to train his army, and the entire Chu State was constantly strengthening its military strength. The King of Qin did not want to give them such an opportunity and was ready to quickly destroy them.

ps: The destruction of Chu State will definitely be the climax of this book, so stay tuned.

By the way, Lao Lang has been a little busy these days and may be later in the next chapter when dealing with family affairs.
Chapter completed!