After more than half a year of peace, Shuntian Prefecture ushered in its first big harvest. The whole prefecture planted nearly two million acres of winter wheat, and it took more than ten days to harvest it. According to rough statistics, the yield per mu was about two stones.
, received four million stones of wheat, enough to feed the entire population of 500,000 for two years.
The success of increasing wheat production is not only the result of farmers' hard work, but also the production and rational application of chemical fertilizers. Especially the 10,000 acres of experimental fields, with an output of up to four stones per mu, directly increased the output. And Shuntianfu lacks
Water, although there is a lot of arable land, there is not much land suitable for growing food, and a lot of land can only be abandoned, so studying how to increase production is a top priority, otherwise the population will increase in value in the future and we will not be able to support it.
In order to harvest wheat, Beiping City began to have another holiday. Many people were busy in the fields. After harvesting the wheat, they took the time to plant cash crops such as soybeans and hemp from the previous season. Some wastelands were also opened up and new crops were planted on trial.
Cotton, sweet sorghum and other cash crops introduced from the south are really a busy scene.
Wan Lei also had dozens of acres of good land outside the city, but he did not plant it. Instead, he gave it to Chongdao Hall and used it as an experimental field. Although Chixin and Xiaodao had moved to Chongdao Hall, they still came to see Wan Lei from time to time.
Ask all kinds of questions. Wan Lei will also arrange some small research projects for them and let them work on them themselves. Among them, they are responsible for the production and application of chemical fertilizers, and the annual profit of the chemical fertilizer factory is the source of funding for Chongdao Hall.
This morning, Wan Lei was discussing with Tie Xuan the mutual trade issues with Tatar. According to the agreement between the two parties, in one month, the Tatar trade delegation will drive a large number of cattle and horses to trade. Of course, these cattle and horses are not
It's free, Shuntian Mansion must prepare the agreed goods in advance.
Now that Shuntian Prefecture has a bumper grain harvest, if the Tatars want grain, they can sell part of it to them. However, the existing iron mines have been depleted, and finding new mines has become an urgent matter. Otherwise, not only will the ironworks be unable to operate, but
Even the newly built steel plants cannot start smelting normally.
Shuntianfu is not a major iron ore producing area, so the mineral deposits are relatively rare and scattered. The few small mines found in the past few months are not of mining value. This really gives Wan Lei a headache. After all, iron and steel plants
These are all projects that cost huge amounts of money. If they cannot be produced normally, they will lose everything.
There is a newly discovered rich mining area outside the Great Wall, but it is owned by the Tatars. Although it is not far from the Great Wall, if you rush in and start mining, you are afraid that you will be dissatisfied with the Tatar country. For this reason, Wan Lei asked Tie Xuan
Send a mission to discuss mining matters.
What Wan Lei likes most is to get ready-made iron ore. The Mongolians mine out the iron ore, select it, and then transport it here. They use grain to deliver it. This saves a lot of unnecessary trouble. But I am afraid that the Mongolians are too greedy.
, setting the price of iron ore at a high price, or substituting inferior quality for good quality, using stones as ore. In order to avoid unnecessary disputes, necessary consultations must still take place.
In fact, it is beneficial for the Tatars to mine in exchange for food and supplies, because they do not have to dig it themselves, they only need to capture prisoners to work as miners. Anyway, they are fighting a civil war now, so there will naturally be no shortage of prisoners of war. And they
If you exchange for food and weapons, your strength will also increase, you will be able to fight a protracted war, and you will naturally not be afraid of being attacked by surrounding hostile tribes.
After negotiating these matters, the two began to talk about conscription. After a year, about 4,000 people reached the age of eighteen and reached the age of serving as soldiers. In addition, some refugees joined Shuntian Mansion for nearly a year. According to the prior agreement,
, those people should be converted into regular citizens and should enjoy equal rights and obligations. However, the Peking Army is insufficient and should be expanded.
Recruitment is originally a matter of the Military Commission, but in order to do this job well, of course, the publicity work must be done well in advance. Although most of the older generation in Peiping City hope that their children will serve as soldiers and eat the royal food, and then they will be glorious in battle.
However, those young people may not necessarily think so. After all, the city of Beiping has been peaceful for nearly a year. Everyone has jobs and food to eat, so there is no need to risk their lives.
In fact, Wan Lei also knows that the quality of soldiers is largely determined by the environment. Generally speaking, people living in difficult mountainous areas have tougher personalities, and their folk customs are sturdy and not afraid of death. However, in economically developed areas, they are just a mess.
It's really not difficult to eat, and only those who are willing to fight desperately are not forced to do so.
Although Shuntianfu is not an economically developed area now, it is still very easy to make a living. The fear of death has begun to spread, and no one wants to be a soldier and suffer hardships. In order to change this situation, in addition to vigorously promoting the glory of being a soldier,
Soldiers must also be given certain material benefits and preferential policies to ensure their lives, especially after retirement.
Therefore, improving the military service law is also a top priority. Wan Lei communicated with Tie Xuan at this time, mainly to prepare the other party and cooperate with each other to complete this arduous task. When the two were discussing this matter,
A government official came to report that Mrs. Liu wanted to see her.
"Mrs. Liu, do you want to see me?" Tie Xuan looked at Wan Lei with some surprise. Wan Lei raised the corners of his mouth and said, "Please ask her to come in."
It has been more than half a month since Liu Jing was brought to Beiping City, and Wan Lei has been keeping him aside. Unexpectedly, he still couldn't lose face and actually sent a wife over. Wan Lei couldn't help but laugh when he thought of this.
: This old guy really wants to save face and suffer the consequences.
Soon, Mrs. Liu was brought into the meeting hall by the yamen servants. She originally came to see Tie Xuan, but she didn't expect that Wan Lei was there, so after being stunned, she knelt down to thank Wan Lei. Fortunately, Wan Lei saw
Quickly, he stopped her and asked her to sit down and talk. However, this made her feel even more embarrassed, and she couldn't say a word for a long time.
Wan Lei glanced at this woman who was over forty years old. Although she was not pretty, she looked very energetic and was many times smarter than her pedantic husband. Wan Lei also noticed that she was shrewd.
A little bit, so she didn't rush to extend an olive branch to Liu Laoyue. Now that she's better, she actually came to the door first and brought a small box. I don't know what kind of treasure it contains.
"Mrs. Sister-in-law came to our Shuntian Mansion. I wonder if she is used to living there." Tie Xuan was ten years younger than Liu Jing, so he naturally had to address him respectfully to show respect.
"Very good, it's just that our Liu family has caused trouble for Lord Tie and Young Master Wan."
"What's the trouble? Madam-in-law said that, she's too out of touch." Tie Xuan started to laugh. He already knew Wan Lei's overall plan, and he didn't mess around with it at this time. After all, winning over someone is a technical job, and it's easy to be impatient.
Without hot tofu, whoever loses his composure will lose the initiative.
Mrs. Liu saw that Tie Xuan kept being polite to her, but Wan Lei smiled and said nothing, and had no intention of winning over her old Liu. She couldn't help but feel a little guilty in her heart, and even doubted that the other party was just saving their family.
She had no other motive than saving people for the sake of saving them. If that was the case, how could she negotiate terms with others?
Thinking of this, Mrs. Liu lost her temper and handed over the box and said: "My Zhong Jing has nothing to do and compiled a few short books. I originally wanted to leave them to Zhi'er to read, but Zhi'er is still young.
I’m so young that I can’t understand it. I’m just taking the liberty to leave this book alone, but I’m going to show it to Mr. Tie to have a look at and ask for some corrections.”
"Mrs. Sister-in-law is really thoughtful. Mr. Liu is very talented and his works must be good. I will read them carefully. If Mr. Liu writes anything in the future, I would like to trouble Madam-in-law to lend it to me so that I can have a quick look at it." Tie Xuan was still very polite.
"My Zhong Jing only has a false reputation and doesn't have much practical knowledge. His writings are not as good as those of Lord Tie and Young Master Wan. As long as the two of them don't dislike him, it will be fine." Seeing that Wan Lei still didn't express his opinion, Mrs. Liu deliberately patted her horse.
fart.
"Mrs. Liu is joking. I'm just a postmaster. How can I dare to compete with others?" Wan Lei blushed and said: "I'm too busy on weekdays and don't have time to read. I don't have any ink in my chest. Really.
I am so ashamed. If someone could excerpt some exquisite articles from the book for me to read in my spare time, I would be very grateful."
"Master Wan never forgets to study despite his busy schedule. He is really a model in the academic world. I just don't know what books Master Wan likes to read on weekdays. My Zhong Jing is very free and can review the books on his behalf and pick out the best." Mrs. Liu took another photo.
What a flattery, and finally asked again.
"I usually want to read hundreds of schools of thought, including poems, songs, yin and yang, and so on. However, the contents in ancient books are complicated and full of omissions. It seems too laborious. If someone can classify them into
It’s a volume, so I can flip through it to whatever I want to read, so that’s the best thing.”
"Young Master Wan has such a wide range of interests, he is really an extraordinary person. I am just one person, Zhong Jing, with limited strength. I am afraid that I will not be able to complete this important task."
"Mrs. Sister-in-law, to tell you the truth, Nephew Wan loves reading the most. Our Shuntian Mansion is planning to build a large academy where we will collect all kinds of books for Nephew to read. Now everything is ready, but we just lack some experts who are familiar with classics.
So the plan has been delayed in being implemented," Tie Xuan said.
"Oh, that's it. If you don't dislike my Zhong Jing's lack of talent and lack of knowledge, why not..."
"I'm afraid this isn't very good. Mr. Liu values integrity the most. We can't put him in an unjust situation for our own convenience." Wan Lei frowned.
"Young Master Wan, don't worry too much, I will definitely convince him. It's just that my Zhong Jing is pedantic, so I ask you to take care of me in the future."
"In this case, I would like to thank Mrs. Liu. Regardless of whether this matter is successful or not, I would like to thank you very much." Wan Lei quickly stood up, cupped his hands and bowed deeply.
"Young Master Wan is so polite. I haven't been able to repay you for your life-saving kindness. This little thing is what I should do." Mrs. Liu quickly stood up and returned the gift. Although her face was very frightened, she felt confident in her heart.
Because her husband's job was settled. Although he was just managing an academy, he was still connected.
ps: There are 200 chapters. It has persisted for so long because of the support of book friends. If you think it is good, please give it a flower collection.