Li Hang entered Huaiyuan County with his entourage.
It was really not easy to trek all the way in the middle of winter. Moreover, the trip was a bit dangerous, which made him, a veteran envoy who was accustomed to travel to various major forces, still feel frightened.
Now he just wants to drink some wine to relieve his fatigue.
The winter scenery in the countryside is a bit monotonous.
The fields were dusty, the stubble of crops had been turned outside, and there were livestock pens everywhere. The number of cattle was greatly reduced, and most of them were bullocks, bullocks and calves. Old cattle were rarely seen.
Most of the cattle in the pen are beef cattle, with fewer dairy cows, mainly for obtaining beef, tallow, horns and hides.
Horns and hides are military supplies and can be tax deducted. Beef and tallow are processed by yourself and are usually sold.
The value of cattle bones is also quite a lot. King Xia's "highest instruction" stated that the bones of livestock can be burned and used as a fertilizer called "phosphate fertilizer", which can be spread on farmland to make wheat grow well.
The effect of combining alfalfa, livestock, and wheat is so wonderful. Alfalfa helps farmers "beg" a lot of nitrogen from nature. According to the principle of energy conservation, with the same cultivated land area, you can produce meat, milk, fat, and beans.
The total energy of wheat combined should be higher than the total energy of carbohydrates produced by simply growing wheat, not to mention that crop rotation also reduces losses caused by pests and diseases.
Li Hang didn't understand these principles, but he could see that Lingxia's life was getting better.
"I've been away from home for a long time, and I miss Shuofang Shengshao. This drink is much more refreshing than the spring wine we drank in the south of the Yangtze River." Li Hang swallowed and said, "Look at this vineyard, the scenery of the north, look at it
Be kind."
In addition to cultivated land, there are also residences and gardens. Depending on the situation in each place, it is usually twenty or thirty acres. Of course, this number is only theoretical. In some places, there are many people and little land, and the cultivated land is less than twenty or thirty acres. Others
I talked about a homestead. But in Helong and Shuofang, where there were originally sparsely populated areas, it was not difficult to do this.
In addition to building houses, common people in the Kanto area basically plant mulberry trees in their gardens. But in Kansai, the situation is more complicated. Fortunately, in Guanzhong, there are many people who grow mulberries and raise silkworms, but in Shuofang and Helong, almost every household
Planting fruit trees, especially grapes, is the most common.
The grapes are good, sweet, and can be used to make wine. Even today, winemaking has become the mainstream. In the years when King Xia ruled the northwest, wine became very popular, and almost every village had a winemaking workshop. Farmers occasionally made their own wine, but the quality varied.
, not very common.
"You can stop for a while before offering wine sacrifices, and eat a few bowls of wine before leaving. Anyway, we are not in a hurry for a day or two." A follower said.
Li Hang did not stop and continued to ride his horse forward, saying: "Business matters are important."
They had passed the countryside and were very close to the city.
When we get here, the situation in the fields is completely different. There are also cows in the livestock pens, but the number of cows has greatly increased. This situation is actually quite understandable. Farmers cannot finish the milk on their own.
They are mainly sold to people in the city. Considering the transportation distance, of course, the closer to the city, the better the sales.
A new workshop was built outside the city wall. It was very busy and there seemed to be a lot of people there.
Li Hang's sharp eyes seemed to see a familiar figure, and others also saw him.
"Isn't it Li Jijiu? I pay my respects to all the officials." Jin Chongwen, the shogunate's envoy, ran over from a distance, his face smiling like a chrysanthemum.
"What is Little Ambassador Jin doing here?" Li Hang reined in his horse, looked at the workshop, and asked.
"Yang Yue and Yang Dutou were victorious in the expedition to Qibei and captured hundreds of thousands of cattle, sheep, horses and camels. The king was very happy and ordered the rewards to be distributed to the shogunate and state and county officials." Jin Chongwen replied.
"Is it possible that the captured cattle, sheep, horses and camels were divided?" Li Hang was very excited when he heard the news. He was in a good mood and joked.
"How can that be impossible?" Jin Chongwen said with a smile: "It's just a reward of some meat, I will buy it here."
"What kind of meat?" Li Hang asked.
"Ham." Jin Chongwen said, "Both cured and smoked."
Li Hang suddenly became interested. When he went to western Zhejiang, when Qian Liu entertained him, there was ham. He said that this product came from Jinhua County, Wuzhou and was very delicious. Li Hang was full of praise after tasting it, but it was pork.
Can ham, beef and mutton also be used to make ham?
"There is so much meat in Lingzhou now? Do you have to make ham?"
"There are more and more old cattle. Now every autumn and winter in the countryside, every household slaughters cattle and sheep to make cured meat. Over time, some people go out to collect cattle and slaughter them in their own factories to make ham."
"I see." Li Hang has been an official for a long time and really doesn't know much about the daily life of the people.
At the same time, he was also very moved that one day, there would be so many cattle in Lingzhou that someone could open a factory to slaughter, pickle, and smoke hams. He had been to Du Zuo Yuan and knew that the craftsmen in the Zuo Yuan worked together and worked together to make tools that were comparable to those of a single individual.
There are more blacksmith blocks and they are much cheaper.
Ham factories should also be able to process beef much faster than farmers. As for the price, it's hard to say because farmers often don't include the time and labor they spend into their costs, and often sell it very cheaply, which makes people very speechless.
But how can I put it, the factory has manpower and space, can build stoves, smoke hundreds of hams at one time, and build large salt ponds to soak countless meats in them, so the advantages are not small.
The emergence of factories shows that there are more and more people in the city and they have money to buy the things produced by the factories. This is a major premise.
After leaving the ham factory, Li Hang and his entourage entered the city. He went back home first, took a shower and freshened up, then changed his clothes, and hurried out of the city, heading straight to the Shaw Family Courtyard in the west of the city. When he arrived, it was already
at dusk.
Coincidentally, the dinner Shao Shude entertained him also included ham.
"The emergence of the factory cannot be achieved by just giving an order from me." Shao Shude, who had just climbed up from Absi's daughter, was very talkative and said in a somewhat proud tone: "If no one buys it, the factory will not be able to continue, so naturally it will only
It can be closed down. The ham factory in the southeast of the city is owned by Zhang Yanqiu's nephew. I have told them long ago, what is the use of putting all the money and silk in the warehouse? The best thing is to make money make money. Lingxia Lao Niu Yue
More and more are coming, and the grassland tribes are still importing cattle and sheep, and they have long been unable to handle them, so they have to go to the factories."
This kind of factory that appeared naturally made Shao Shude very happy, a hundred times happier than if he ordered to open a factory himself.
Being able to naturally promote growth shows that there is objectively existing soil, which is more vital than what you can only encourage the growth of seedlings.
First of all, the first prerequisite is that there are too many cattle. It is difficult to handle them by traditional methods. We can only find ways to improve efficiency. This is the supply side of production.
On the demand side, a large number of old cattle have been put on the market, causing beef prices to fall year by year. The "dumping" of grassland tribes has caused prices to plummet. At the same time, because Lingxia has been stable for many years, the output of grain, meat and milk far exceeds that of Henan and Hebei.
There is no longer a need for so many people to farm. More and more people are engaged in other industries, and the income obtained from these industries is enough to meet their food, clothing, housing and transportation expenses.
You see, the demand side market has also emerged.
The maturity of these two aspects has given rise to the emergence and development of many new things. Among them, solving the problem of eating is the most fundamental. Otherwise, everyone needs to be driven into the fields to produce food, and no one will go to the blacksmith.
Shops, brick kilns, forest farms, carriage shops, etc. If the number of small handicraftsmen and factory workers cannot be expanded, the consumer population cannot be expanded, and industrial development cannot be discussed.
If there is no market, if you develop Mao's industry, it would be good to have limited-scale small handicrafts.
"The king's thoughts are far-reaching, and I can't match them." Although Li Hang didn't understand much, he still praised subconsciously.
"Well, it's useless to tell you this." Shao Shude laughed and said, "How about we go to Hangzhou?"
"Qian Liu rushed to attack Dong Chang, but Chang couldn't support it and retreated to the city. Ming, Tai, Wen, Chu and other states stood by and watched, and some even helped Qian Liu. I think Dong Chang's defeat is imminent." Li Hang said: "Huaihe
On the human side, An Renyi, the governor of Runzhou, and Tian Fan, the governor of Xuanzhou, attacked Suzhou. Qian Liu was defeated for a while, but remained unmoved and continued to attack Dong Chang."
"Qian Liu is courageous." Shao Shude said.
"Qian Liu has said that he would like to serve the king as a brother and jointly attack Yang Xingmi." Li Hang said again.
"Let's destroy Dong Chang first and take over the states in eastern Zhejiang." Shao Shude said: "Yang Xingmi has occupied his prefectures and counties in western Zhejiang. Qian Liu will definitely not give up. If he can make a difference in the southeast, it will not be a bad thing. Zhong
What does Chuan Ke have to say?"
"Zhong Chuan was originally panic-stricken, but after seeing the conflict between Yang Xingmi and Huaixi Zheshuai, he made up his mind and did not want to provoke Yang Xingmi. I am ashamed that I failed to get his promise for this trip." Li Hang said.
He did not mention that on the way from western Zhejiang to Jiangxi, he was attacked and killed by bandits and almost died. Anyway, Tingwangsi and Datong Horse Racing will report it, so the king will definitely know about it, but there is no need to complain at this time.
.
"It is said that a mouse is short-sighted and foolish." Shao Shude shook his head and said, "Yang Xing will attack him secretly in the future. Let's see if someone can save him."
"Zhong Chuan does not seem to have much ambition, he is a household dog." Li Hang agreed: "If you are not careful, you will be captured by the secret trade."
"Yang Xingmi, who has not organized his affairs internally, has so many military leaders to support himself, and yet dares to start a war on both sides at the same time. Sooner or later, there will be a big disaster." Shao Shude said: "It should not be on him, it should be on his son as well.
On the body."
Shao Shude was also a little annoyed with him. Wouldn't it be better to conquer the southeast? Is it worth it to have to help Zhu Quanzhong get rid of the fire?
"Your Majesty, why not send troops to capture the Huainan states first?" Li Hang suggested.
"You have never led an army to fight, so you don't understand this." Shao Shude shook his head and said: "The states in Huaixi are in ruins and cannot support the army for a long term campaign. Furthermore, even if some states and counties in Huainan are captured, there are still gaps in between.
The two towns of Eyue and Huaixi are not that simple. Now we still have to attack Zhu Quanzhong. I wanted to lure him to attack Ruzhou, but he didn't fall for it. It doesn't matter. If he doesn't come, I'll go!"
Seeing that Pang Shigu was pretending to be dead and not going to fight day by day, but only repairing the fortress, Shao Shude did not intend to wait any longer. A few days ago, he had just ordered that the Shaqi tribes would not disband and return for the time being, but would equip them with enough horses to go south.
Heyang obeyed the dispatch of the Huaizhou camp. As soon as the river froze solidly, the entire army went south and penetrated directly into Zhengzhou, first cutting off the retreat of the large Liang army in Heyin and Sishui.
Zhu Quanzhong suffered a loss last year, but the bad situation prevented him from making effective adjustments. We have to guard Sishui Pass, right? If we don't guard it, it will open up a road and let the Xia army from the northern front swarm in.
The flat Zhengzhou Plain will only become more uncontrollable.
"You're tired from the journey, let's rest for a while." Shao Shude looked at Li Hang and said, "The twelfth lunar month is coming soon, so we can't still run outside."
"What a waste of effort it is to work hard for the great cause of the king." Li Hang said with a smile: "I only wish to see Quanzhong destroyed early and the world unified."
"Quan Zhong can't stand up anymore." Shao Shude also said with a smile: "If no one is willing to block the knife for him, when I take Chen Xu Cai away, I can go straight to Xuan Wu and let the world see his ugly appearance."
"I've been waiting for this day." Li Hang said, "Hey, after listening to the king's words, I was so exhausted that I wanted to go out immediately and run for the king."
Both of them laughed. If the situation was like this, everyone could see it. It was the same on Xia Jun's side and the same on Liang Jun's side.
Li Zhong hurriedly walked in and handed Shao Shude a military report.
"Okay!" After reading this, Shao Shude slapped his thigh and said with a smile: "The main force of Wei Sheng's army has left Biyang and entered Caizhou. The first battle this winter will begin soon."