Chapter 358 Plant a grain of millet in spring and harvest ten thousand seeds in autumn
Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong in history were really a pair of good friends who fell in love and killed each other.
The two fought from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the fall of the Tang Dynasty, but in the end no one could do anything to the other.
However, Zhu Quanzhong overthrew the Tang Dynasty, but Li Keyong always regarded himself as a Tang official, and Li Cunxu waited until his death to establish the Later Tang Dynasty.
Li Keyong is from Shatuo, and the hometown of Shatuo people is Daibei.
In order to deal with Li Yunze, the imperial court gave the rich Hedong to Li Keyong to increase his strength.
Li Yunze counterattacked quickly, forcing the court to arrange Zhu Wen to be the boss of the Daibei Expedition Camp. This not only cut off Li Keyong's contact with the Daibei Shatuo tribe, but also became its nominal boss.
Of course, Li Yunze knew very well that Li Keyong might be a little reckless, but Zhu Quanzhong was definitely a clear-minded person.
Such a simple strategy to drive away tigers and swallow wolves cannot be hidden from him.
It doesn't matter if you can't hide it, this is a wise strategy.
The northern land is barren, and Zhu Wen neither has Li Yunze's time and space gate, nor is he a good hand at managing internal affairs. He maintains the current size of the army by relying on the money and food exchanged from horse trading with Li Yunze.
Li Yunze gave him the opportunity to expand his territory, and Zhu Wen would definitely seize it.
Having a territory means having a population, taxation, food, supplies, etc.
For the vassal towns, expanding their strength is more important than anything else. Even if it means turning against the powerful Li Keyong, Zhu Wen will not hesitate to do so.
Of course, to Li Yunze, these things are just trivial matters that are not worth mentioning.
Although Li Keyong's reputation was great, in his own eyes it was just that.
As for Zhu Wen, he is a master at playing with power, but it is a pity that Li Yunze plays more tricks than him.
Since it cannot pose a substantial threat, of course there is no need to care.
What Li Yunze values at this time is the upcoming autumn harvest.
He does have a portal, but facing the huge consumption of materials, sometimes he is a little unable to do what he wants.
This is especially true for bulk consumables such as food.
It is not difficult for Li Yunze to provide food for thousands or even tens of thousands of people.
Even if hundreds of thousands of people need it, he can deliver it even if he grits his teeth.
But when the numbers expand to millions or more, the capacity Li Yunze can mobilize is not enough.
If we want to feed millions of people, local food harvest is the most important.
This year almost every household has been allocated a field, and Li Yunze has also been exempted from all field taxes.
In addition to the construction of water conservancy projects and the provision of agricultural tools, seeds, and insecticides, the ruffians in the countryside were wiped out, and all kinds of wealthy temple owners who made money were directly eradicated.
With so much good news, the grain harvest in Li Yunze's jurisdiction this year has been unprecedented.
It's really unprecedented, the kind that would shock you when you mention it.
Even after thousands of years of development, the Central Plains is a truly mature farmland. But its grain output, at least in Li Yunze's opinion, is far from enough.
The yield per mu here is only a few bushels per kilo, but it cannot sustain more than two shi.
Converting it, it is equivalent to a yield of 200 to 300 kilograms per mu.
What we are talking about here is mature farmland, which is the first-grade farmland. If we replace it with inferior farmland, the lower-grade farmland would only weigh about 100 kilograms.
The limitations of human farming are that the number of acres each labor force can cultivate is not very large.
The output is so low, and there is still enough grain left, and countless people are exploiting it, so it is normal to not have enough to eat.
If a person cannot even eat enough, he will naturally not have the energy to do other things.
Therefore, having enough food has been a top priority for thousands of years.
This year, the grain output in various places under Li Yunze's jurisdiction is generally close to 500 kilograms!
In this era, it is definitely an earth-shattering number, a number that is enough to make countless farmers cry.
Old farmers who have been tending crops all their lives never thought that one acre of land could produce so much food.
The main reason for the huge increase in grain production is the new grain varieties brought by Li Yunze, as well as the shockingly lethal pesticides, and of course soil-based fertilizers.
Grain seeds cannot be planted only once a year. It is true that such grain seeds have high yields, but it would be very fatal if they cannot be planted again.
Although the yield Li Yunze selected is not as high as that of high-yielding grain varieties, and there is also the problem of gradual degradation of seeds, it is at least a hundred times better than not being able to plant seeds at all.
As for pesticides, it is much simpler. Li Yunze can just place an order and buy it directly.
Moreover, pesticides can be formulated and diluted with water to act on a large area of land.
The more critical reason is that the pests in this era have absolutely no resistance to pesticides.
As long as you use pesticides, you can get it done directly.
There is also soil fertilizer.
Modern fertilizers are indeed effective, but the demand is too high and they cause great damage to the land.
Developing modern chemicals before comprehensive industry will do more harm than good.
So Li Yunze used soil fertilizer, which is not as effective as industrial fertilizer, but better than nothing.
It is also relatively easy to obtain and does not cause much harm to the soil.
It is precisely because of the superposition of various favorable factors that the miracle of yield per mu is close to 500 kilograms.
But there are many things after the miracle.
"I don't understand. What else is there to try?"
In the county office of Chenliu County under the jurisdiction of Bianzhou, Li Yunze looked at the case being heard in front of him and impatiently interrupted the county magistrate's endless nonsense: "Jiedushi Yamen has already ordered that the purchase price be lower than per bucket."
Anyone with two hundred coins will be treated as a profiteer."
Speaking of this, Li Yunze pointed at several grain merchants in the lobby, "These guys buy grain at a price of one hundred cents per bucket. This has undoubtedly violated the orders of the Jiedushi Yamen. You can judge it here."
What exactly are you interrogating?"
The county magistrate was sweating profusely and he was hesitating and didn't know what to say.
Li Yunze glanced at him with a stern look, "Needless to say, I know that it's nothing more than these grain dealers giving you so many benefits and colluding with each other to pressure the farmers to sell grain at low prices. If the farmers hadn't gone to the Jiedushi Yamen to file a complaint,
I didn't know you were so bold.
"
These words were so serious that the county magistrate hurriedly came out from behind the case to bow and apologize.
"You are all elites in the school, selected through examinations and assigned to the local government to make decisions for the people." Li Yunze, standing with his hands behind his back, sighed softly, "I treat you well. The annual salary is not only enough to support the family but also
There's quite a bit left over. I thought I'd wait for you
I know how to devote myself to civil affairs. I didn’t expect that in just a short time, I would be no different from those people who worked in the yamen before. It really disappoints me."
Many officials in the county government came out to salute one after another, with different expressions.
Li Yunze trained a group of new civil servants, thinking that they would be different from the old civil servants, at least energetic.
He never thought that just a short time later, collusion with profiteers to oppress farmers appeared, which really disappointed him.
Although this may not be the case for all newcomers, it is obvious that this is not a special case.
He has made up his mind to carry out a large-scale investigation after returning, and then strengthen the supervision of new people.
Of course, he must resolve this situation as soon as possible.
"Jiedu." Perhaps sensing Li Yunze's murderous intention, the county magistrate insisted, "It's not that we are evil. In fact, the minimum for collecting grain is 200 fen per dou, and the maximum for selling grain is 200 fen per dou."
At this price, grain merchants will not make a profit but only lose money, and they will not be able to do business.
If it continues, it will affect the livelihood of the people in the city."
Li Yunze looked sideways at the county magistrate and said something calmly.
"quibble!"
"The Jieduzhi Yamen collects grains at 200 cents per dou in various places. There are also special grain stores in various towns that sell grain at the price of 200 cents per dou. How can it affect the livelihood of the people in the city?"
Li Yunze had no intention of giving the grain merchants a way out, he was just using economic means to drive them away.
Moreover, most of these so-called grain merchants were sent from surrounding vassal towns, because the grain here in Li Yunze was not only plentiful but also cheap.
Long before the autumn harvest, Li Yunze had already made arrangements to buy the surplus grain from the people as a reserve.
The purchase price and sales price are fixed for this purpose.
Food, as a strategic material, certainly cannot be taken advantage of by others.
As for the county magistrate's sophistry, he just wanted to gain a chance for himself.
Li Yunze was too lazy to say anything more. He waved his hand, and a group of tooth soldiers immediately stepped forward and dragged the grain merchants and people in the yamen out.
After interrogation, the unclean ones among these people will be dealt with.
The news of a good harvest in the area under the control of the Xuanwu Army attracted numerous prying eyes from all around.
There is no way, in this era, food is the most important strategic material.
If the Xuanwu Army's fighting power hadn't been too strong and Li Yunze's reputation was too great, countless evil wolves would have pounced on them, biting and plundering them.
Under such circumstances, it is a very civilized behavior for them to send people over to buy food.
Li Yunze, who was not short of money, bought almost all the surplus grain from various places and hoarded it.
With so much food hoarded in his hands, Li Yunze also had his own plans.
He first sold a batch to Weibo Town in the north at a lower price, so that Weibo Town, which had just ended its internal strife, would be honest for a while.
Weibo Town has 100,000 troops and is very powerful in combat.
That is to say, there is a lack of a truly strong leader, so nothing much has been accomplished.
Li Yunze decided on the strategy of going south first and then north, and first used them as a wall to block many powerful vassals in the north, especially Li Keyong in Hedong.
Then he provided support to the Huaixi Army and used them to detain Yang Xingmi.
Of course, Li Yunze was very wary of Yang Xingmi, who established the Wu State. Before he could use his hands, he had to arrange an opponent for him to consume his time and energy.
The last word is the offensive against short-term goals.
The Zhongwu Army, Yicheng Army, Yongping Army and Dongdu Defense Envoy who secretly participated in the Xuanwu Army's encirclement network were Li Yunze's next targets.
In the name of dividing the fields and distributing food, he lured the people under the rule of these young men in the west to flee to his place.
On the one hand, it weakens their strength; on the other hand, it makes them impatient and takes the initiative to attack.
There were not many warriors in the late Tang Dynasty who were really smart. Most of them were reckless men who relied on the steel swords in their hands to run rampant.
Some of the Yicheng Army entrenched in the Xingyang area could not bear the desire to plunder and crossed the border into Bianzhou to surround a county town that was said to contain hundreds of thousands of stones of grain.
After learning the news, Li Yunze immediately laughed and patted Zhang Hui's thigh.