In ancient times, people consumed a lot of food because it was basically manual labor and non-staple food was quite scarce compared to modern times, so the demand for staple food was great. Generally speaking, if the economic situation of the common people can ensure food and clothing, an adult man will need to eat a lot of food in a year.
He ate about 600 kilograms of grain.
In other words, an adult man needs an average of two kilograms of food a day, which may seem incredible to future generations.
Six hundred kilograms of grain, which means almost six acres of land, does not include taxes.
Coupled with some other consumption, if a person wants to survive normally, he must cultivate at least ten acres of land.
This is also the reason why a family in ancient times often cultivated dozens of acres of land.
There is no way, we can’t survive without enough seeds.
What is the concept of a thousand catties per mu? In other words, one acre of land can meet the consumption of one person for a year.
When grain production is high, people will have surplus food at home, and their ability to withstand disasters will become stronger.
Why did the imperial court pay great attention to any natural disasters in ancient times?
Because the people have no surplus food at all, if there is a natural disaster and the people have nothing to eat, and if someone with good intentions takes advantage of it, the people will rebel.
Although the Yellow Turban Uprising at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty had a lot to do with land annexation and the imperial court's mediocrity.
But the most important point is that there were some natural disasters at that time, and the court was unable to provide relief, so the people followed Zhang Jiao in rebellion.
Rebellion can lead to death. For ancient people, who would be willing to rebel as long as they could survive?
Therefore, the production of grain is related to the stability of the court.
"I dare not deceive Your Majesty. I have planted potatoes once this year and harvested more than 600 kilograms from half an acre of land." Lin Xuan said.
Although potatoes cannot be completely regarded as a staple food, there is no problem in eating them together.
If there is a natural disaster, it would be nice to have something to eat.
Li Shimin calmed down and asked: "Since you have already asked people to be planted this year, why are you telling me now?"
Lin Xuan said: "Your Majesty, there are only one hundred kilograms of potato seeds. I am afraid of being destroyed by others, so I can only plant them privately. I originally planned to wait for a few years to promote the planting before telling your Majesty. But now it is about the grassland.
, I have to say it.”
Li Shimin pondered: "Are you sure this potato can be grown on the grassland?"
Lin Xuan nodded and affirmed: "Your Majesty, don't worry, can I guarantee this?"
"Guarantee? What guarantee do you have? You have never planted on the grassland." Li Shimin said.
"This potato was introduced from the Western Regions. The person who sold the seeds to Chen at that time said that even if the wasteland can be planted, no matter how bad the grassland is, it is still better than the wasteland." Lin Xuan said.
Just kidding, Inner Mongolia was famous for its potatoes in later generations.
But he definitely couldn't say that, so he had to blame it on the merchants from the Western Regions.
"You got so many good things from merchants in the Western Regions, why can't others get them?" Li Shimin looked at Lin Xuan suspiciously, how could Lin Xuan get so many unknown things from merchants in the Western Regions?
Why didn't others discover the use of these things, but Lin Xuan could?
"Your Majesty, many vegetable seeds were brought back by Zhang Qian. But before Zhang Qian, didn't the Han Dynasty have any contact with the Western Regions? Why didn't anyone bring the seeds back? For merchants in the Western Regions, they do business to make money. Where are they?
They are not sure that the seeds can be planted in the Central Plains. Even if they can be planted, how much are the seeds worth? The potato seeds were specially collected for me by a merchant from the Western Regions. The merchant brought back dozens of seeds for me.
There are only three kinds that can be grown," Lin Xuan said.
He wanted to take this opportunity to find a reasonable source for those seeds.
It will be easier to explain if the system will reward other seeds in the future.
"Three types? What else is there?" Li Shimin asked quickly when he heard that there were three types.
Potatoes can produce a thousand catties per mu, but what about the others?
"The other two, one is a seasoning for cooking, and the other is a new vegetable." Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin was a little disappointed when he heard that it was not food.
"How many seeds are there in potatoes now?" Li Shimin asked.
"Your Majesty, potatoes themselves are seeds. I harvested more than 600 kilograms in total, which can probably be planted on three acres of land." Lin Xuan said.
"It's too little. Can't we ask the Western Region merchant to bring more?" Li Shimin asked.
The grassland is vast and thousands of miles away. If you want to occupy the grassland, you must move the people there and build a city on the grassland. Such a small amount of seeds will have to wait until the moon is gone.
Lin Xuan said: "Your Majesty, it is a bit troublesome to store potatoes. The merchants from the Western Regions have to transport them thousands of miles. The cost is too high. Even if the merchants from the Western Regions are willing to transport them, they can't transport much. It is meaningless. Nowadays, potatoes only need to be cultivated for a few years.
It’s enough, and after more than ten years, it can be rolled out across the country.”
Li Shimin nodded and said: "You must do a good job in planting potatoes. This matter is related to whether you can occupy the grassland, so you must not neglect it."
"Yes!" Lin Xuan responded.
No need for Li Shimin to tell him, he would do it.
"Now that we've finished talking about the grassland, tell me, what's the purpose of your visit this time?" Li Shimin asked.
Lin Xuan chuckled and said: "I have a new business this time, and I am looking for a partnership with Your Majesty."
"You said you're not short of money, can you stop focusing on making money all day long?" Li Shimin said with a bit of hatred for iron.
Although he also likes money, he uses money as a tool to realize his ambitions.
Lin Xuan obviously has talent, but he is always thinking about making money. In his opinion, it is a complete waste of talent.
Lin Xuan secretly cursed: "Why didn't you say this before? Now that I'm not short of money, I feel disgusted."
Li Shimin looked at Lin Xuan's expression and knew what he was thinking. He glared at him and said, "I want you to focus more on national affairs."
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, this is a state matter." Lin Xuan said somewhat innocently.
Li Shimin said angrily: "Then tell me, what kind of national affairs is making money?"
"Your Majesty, now that we have potatoes, the price of food will definitely get lower and lower in the future. The low price of grain will hurt farmers. People not only rely on food to fill their stomachs, but also rely on selling food to buy daily necessities. In the future, there will be more food.
The prices have gotten lower, but the people are still poor," Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin sneered: "You are talking as if if you make money, you will distribute it to the people."
Lin Xuan spread his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I will definitely not distribute the money I make to the people, but I will hire the people and pay them wages. The people farm the land and are idle for several months throughout the year. During this time, they will
You can come out and work and make money.”
During the Tang Dynasty, the technology of the Central Plains was still leading, but after the Tang Dynasty, the technology of the Central Plains began to slowly fall behind.
Although there are reasons for this being divided into classes of scholars, peasants, industrialists and merchants, the fundamental reason is the imperial examination.
The imperial examination gave poor families the opportunity to change their destiny, but the development of the imperial examination fell into a morbid state.
Everything is of inferior quality, only reading is of high quality.
Under this kind of thinking, various technological innovations are slow.
Many people say that the weakness of the Qing Dynasty was related to its isolation from the country.
But can we become strong even if we don’t close the country?
It's just the difference between weak and very weak.
The fundamental reason is the result of years of neglect of craftsmen and the impact of the imperial examination.
If the technology of the Qing Dynasty was similar to that of other countries, or the difference was not that big, they would not have chosen to close the country.
Lin Xuan knew that if the status of craftsmen was not improved, everything would eventually become inferior.