When Ying Zheng was young, his paranoia was not that serious.
At least at this time, he believed Li Yunze's words and arranged for people to start collecting and producing the corresponding materials.
Then, he rolled up his robe and led the cows in the front, while Li Yunze started to plow the ground in a test field with the curved shaft plow behind him.
By the way, the technology of accelerating the domestication of cattle into farming cattle by putting a ring on their noses was naturally provided by Li Yunze.
After plowing an acre of land, Ying Zheng personally felt the effectiveness of the Quyu plow. He took the honey water handed over by Zhao Gao and drank it. He said happily, "Master, with this thing, the number of new fields cultivated by Da Qin will be certain."
Greatly increased.”
There is actually no shortage of land these days, not even fertile soil.
What is really lacking are the people who cultivate the fields.
The number of acres of land that a strong laborer can take care of is limited. Without large-scale animal power, ten acres of land per person is the standard, and fifteen acres is the limit.
Of course, this is intensive farming, and the kind that just sows the seeds and waits for the harvest is not counted.
Among them, the ones that most affect efficiency are the plowing and sowing in spring, and the harvesting of grain in autumn.
How much land can be cultivated during spring plowing is directly the most basic harvest.
After all, the ground must be plowed thoroughly before it can be cultivated.
Usually you have to dig at least one foot deep.
In this era of low productivity, the poor Guizhou leaders have never seen any mechanization, and even cattle are rare.
They usually use their own hands, waving wooden hoes, to hoe the ground with hoe after hoe.
It may take a strong laborer one day of hard work to cultivate one acre of land.
But at this time, the curved shaft plow was used, and it took only a short time to plow it.
This is an improvement in efficiency, which allows Da Qin to cultivate more fields.
With more fields, the harvest will naturally be greater.
If you harvest more, you will naturally be able to feed a larger population.
With a larger population, there will be more people to provide various supplies and corvee services, and of course military service.
How does the so-called national strength come from? This is how it comes about!
Although Ying Zheng is young, he is very knowledgeable in this area.
Looking at the excited Ying Zheng, Li Yunze smiled and called to a group of Mohist disciples on the edge of the field, "Bring the columbine over here."
After drinking the honey water, Ying Zheng asked in confusion, "Master, what's the columbian?"
"The three major aspects of farming are plowing, sowing and harvesting."
Li Yunze said earnestly, "The Quyuan plow and the cattle snatched from the grassland have barely solved the problem of insufficient land reclamation capacity. The cultivation of arable land and the cultivation of grain after arable land are equally important."
Farming in the primitive era was direct slash-and-burn cultivation, burning a piece of land with a fire, then scattering the seeds randomly like water, and then leaving it alone.
The result of this kind of farming method is naturally a "pleasant" harvest during the harvest season.
In other words, the harvest is about three to five bushels more than the seeds that were thrown away.
Later, someone finally came up with the idea of intensive farming. All the cultivated land must be dug up, and when planting seeds, they no longer scatter them, but put them into the pit one by one.
If plowing the land with a hoe was a labor of strength before, then sowing seeds is a labor of effort.
If you bend down to sow seeds one by one, you really won’t be able to straighten your back when you get home.
Improving efficiency in this area will naturally increase gains.
Ying Zheng, whose interest had been completely aroused, walked around the fields with his hands behind his back, not caring that his feet were already covered in mud.
As a king, and faced with natural disasters, he naturally knows what food production means.
"Master, this columbine..."
"Don't rush."
Li Yunze waved his hand and said, "We'll talk about it when we see you."
Fortunately, the Mohist disciples did not keep Ying Zheng waiting for too long, and they moved a columbist over in a short time.
"This columbine is composed of three legs, so it can be called a three-legged columbine."
Li Yunze explained to Ying Zheng who was walking around the columbine: "You see there are three ditchers below, so it is called a three-legged columbine. When sowing, an ox is used to pull the columbine, and the columbine legs dig ditches in the flat land.
Sowing seeds, covering and suppressing them at the same time can be said to be one of the best ways to save time and effort."
Hearing this, Ying Zheng asked with a smile on his face, "Master, how effective can it be?"
Li Yunze thought for a while and said, "With such a machine, it can probably cultivate an acre per day."
‘Hiss~~~’
As soon as the words "One day, one acre of land" came out, there were gasps of amazement all around.
This effect is really terrifying.
If you bend down to sow seeds one by one, how much can you do in one day? Three to five acres?
Even if a person can bear it, his waist can't bear it.
"Whether it's a plow or a columbine, these are all applications of physics." Li Yunze never forgets his responsibility as a teacher and reminds Ying Zheng that "mathematics is the foundation, physics and chemistry are practices. Don't feel boring,
Having these is the real skill.”
Ying Zheng naturally nodded repeatedly, and then hurriedly asked Zhao Gao and others to quickly hitch the columbist to the cattle, and just show it on the spot and experience it for themselves.
There is nothing magical about the columbine. It is just a wooden tool. Li Yunze also made some improvements, such as replacing some parts with iron tools to reduce the wear rate and increase the service life.
Pour grain seeds into the bucket, and with the dragging of the cattle, the columbine legs can also be said to be triangular plowshares, going deep into the ground several inches deep into the ground. Through the seed holes behind the triangular plowshares, through the control
Put the seeds into the deep soil one at a time.
Although it is only the earliest mechanical equipment, its utility ratio is the ceiling of this era.
Historically, columbines would only appear more than a hundred years later, and the efficiency of the entire farming system in Middle-earth was more than ten times higher than that of Europa, which was still cultivating slash-and-burn farming at this time!
Such an advanced civilization was destroyed, enslaved, and given away to outsiders under the invasion of barbarian tribes from generation to generation!
Li Yunze may not care much about other things, but he really treats the matter of fighting barbarians and eradicating wild boar skins as his career.
After Ying Zheng finished experiencing the powerful sowing efficiency of the columbine, Li Yunze stepped forward and asked, "How?"
"Okay, okay, okay!"
Three good words in a row fully express Ying Zheng's joyful mood at this time.
With food, he can feed more troops and conquer a larger territory.
He has not yet felt the power of chemical fertilizers.
But he has personally experienced the power of physics, especially practical physics.
This kind of power made Ying Zheng feel intoxicated.
"Master."
Ying Zheng, whose face turned red because of his excitement, asked eagerly, "Everyone has seen the artifacts for plowing and sowing. What about harvesting?"
When it comes to harvesting, Li Yunze's first reaction is naturally a combine harvester. As soon as the engine starts, it is really harvesting in tracts.
He shook his head, threw away such impractical things, and signaled to the Mohist disciples on the field ridge to bring over the sickle.
Putting the sickle into Ying Zheng's hand, "When harvesting, use this."
Looking at the sharp farm tools made of steel, Ying Zheng's first reaction was "Such a good knife, why aren't they equipped in the army?"
The Qin Dynasty is like this. A country owned by an army, it thinks about the army first in everything.
Even the great king Ying Zheng, when he saw a high-quality sickle, he immediately thought of equipping the army with it.
"Recently, smelting technology has improved, and both output and quality have been improved." Li Yunze explained with a smile, "The army will have better equipment, so the king does not need to worry."
After hearing this explanation, Ying Zheng finally turned his attention back to the sickle.
"It's very efficient just to harvest what's needed."
Li Yunze did not explain the utility ratio of the sickle, but focused on its quality: "This is forged using a new smelting method. Coking coal is used as fuel, which greatly improves the quality of the iron. Impurities, especially the sulfur content, are reduced.
, which has improved its toughness and is no longer so brittle. By the way, the proportion of carbon content, do you still remember what I taught you?"
"Remember." Ying Zheng nodded vigorously, "More than 20% carbon is pig iron, and less than 50% carbon is wrought iron. Only between pig iron and wrought iron can it be steel..."
Except for the Mohist disciples, no one around them could understand what the master and disciple said.
It can’t be said that I don’t understand it. I can only say that I understand it but don’t understand its meaning at all.
"With enough good steel, we can create more useful tools." Li Yunze gestured to the columbine and sickle on the side, "This will improve production efficiency and obtain more materials."
However, Ying Zheng’s understanding was “Shouldn’t we make more powerful weapons and armor?”
Li Yunze also rolled his eyes when he said this: "Stop hanging out with those generals all day long from now on. You are the king, and you have more things to care about than just the military."
In front of Li Yunze, Ying Zheng naturally made repeated promises.
But when Ying Zheng returned to Xianyang City to handle government affairs and came back to class after a month, Li Yunze was asked a question that surprised him.
"Master, you taught me the ratio of gunpowder and the effects of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal. I want to know what will happen if I change the ratio?"
"Change the ratio?" Li Yunze looked at him slightly surprised, "Why do you say that?"
"There is a Mohist disciple who specializes in making gunpowder, named Wuhe." Ying Zheng responded, "He said that changing the ratio can reduce the speed of burning and releasing energy, so that it will not be so violent and can be used for other purposes."
These words successfully aroused Li Yunze's interest, and he took the time to ask, "What is it used for?"
"He said that when he used it to build roads and mines in the mountains, he saw that the flying debris and wood were so powerful that he thought of controlling the power of gunpowder and binding it in a container to push stones and even iron tools quickly.
Fly out..."
Listening to Ying Zheng's description, Li Yunze already understood.
No matter in which era there are smart people, as long as they are given a chance, they can break through the sky.
What Ying Zheng keeps describing here is artillery!