Chapter 488 The first step in social development is to liberate the labor force
"Yes, we haven't calculated it before, and we really didn't know that the output of this village is so high. Since the land is so productive for growing food, why are so many people still hungry?"
"Because there is so little land in the hands of the people!" He Yunxi said, "A farm family may have seven or eight people, or more than ten or twenty people, but a family's land may only be a few acres or dozens of people."
You have to pay taxes on the grain produced by the mu, and the rest is yours. And a family cannot only eat, but also have to wear clothes, and may also get sick. The output of the family may be barely enough for everyone to live on, but
If there is one person who sees a doctor and takes medicine, then the family's life will be very good. But if people eat whole grains, how can they not get sick?"
He Yunxi's words silenced everyone.
Seeing that their feelings were not so intuitive, He Yunxi gave another example: "If a family has ten people and ten acres of land, and it is all high-quality land, then their annual output is 7,500 kilograms.
If they pay a tax of 30% on wheat, they can get 5,250 jins in the end. If the flour milling rate is higher, they can get 4,200 jins of flour. The family eats less, one and a half jins per person, then their family
The flour can last them for 280 days, which is almost nine months. This output is not enough to feed their family for a year. And a family of ten people and ten acres of land is still very small in real life.
, not to mention all of them are top-notch places.”
"Yes, there are at least a dozen people in the village." Lu Yunqing nodded.
"And there isn't that much land at home. Some families don't have land yet, so they can only go to the tenant landlord's house." Lu Yunjiao said.
"Sister Yunxi, your head is spinning when you hear a lot of numbers." Liang Jinan said, "To put it this way, people's lives are really miserable."
The three little bullies were silent.
In the past, they only thought that the people's lives were relatively poor, but they didn't know that they didn't even have enough to eat.
"This doesn't include getting dressed to see a doctor." Duan Zhengyu sighed.
"And you can't just eat staple food without vegetables." Liang Jinqi continued.
"Sister, if you put it this way, wouldn't it mean that people's lives are always hopeless?" Pei Xiaojun asked.
"Of course we have to find ways to change the status quo!"
"How to change it?"
"The first point is to look for high-yielding crops. For the same acre of land, the yield of wheat is 750 kilograms, and that of corn is 1,200 to 1,400 kilograms. Do you think it is more cost-effective to grow corn or wheat?
"
"Of course we are planting corn." Liang Jinan said.
"But the corn is not that delicious." Liang Jinqi felt a little disgusted.
"I know about corn, but the yield per mu is not high!" Pei Xiaojun asked with some confusion.
"That's because the planting method is wrong!" Lu Yunjiao said, "The corn my sister-in-law planted last year had such a high yield."
"Sister, you are awesome!" Pei Xiaojun gave He Yunxi a thumbs up.
"I have told the emperor about this method. The emperor may verify it. I don't know if it will be promoted this year." He Yunxi said.
"The corn is not too high," Liang Jinqi said.
"So we need to look for crops with higher yields." He Yunxi murmured.
"You just said this is the first point, are there any other points?" He Jingtai asked.
"The second point is to improve productivity and shorten planting time." He Yunxi said.
"I know this!" Liang Jinan raised his hand and said, "If one person plows the land, it may take two or three days, but if you use oxen, it may only take one or two hours. So, should we raise more oxen?"
"
"This is true. We can also start from other aspects."
"Other aspects?" Lu Yunqing raised his head and asked.
"That's right. Take plowing for example. In addition to people and oxen, are there also agricultural tools?" He Yunxi said, "To give you the simplest example, you know that sharpening a knife will make it easier to chop wood, right?"
"I know, sir, I said this last time." Lu Yunqing said happily.
"You see, if a woodcutter has not sharpened his knife, and the other has sharpened his knife, the result will be different. If it were a farmer, would the tools they use for plowing also affect the efficiency of plowing?"
"You're right." Several people nodded in agreement.
"For another example, it takes a person five days to plant a piece of land. Now that he has good farm tools and cattle, is it possible to finish the planting in one day?"
"Yes." Lu Yunqing nodded.
"What can we do with the remaining four days?" He Yunxi asked.
The people present began to think again.
He Yunxi continued: "If there are people at home who are studying, they can study their homework in these four days. Those who are good at carpentry can do some carpentry at home, those who are good at embroidery can repair an embroidery, and those who are good at crafts can knit some things. These can be obtained in the city.
If you sell it, you can earn money to support your family. Even if you don't know how to do this, you can also find a part-time job to do it."
Throughout history, the first step in social development is to liberate the labor force.
"You are right. This way the people will have extra income and their lives will be better!" Liang Jinan clapped his hands and praised, "Sister Yunxi, do you know how to improve farm tools?"
He Yunxi: "..." I will go to heaven, do you believe it?
"I don't know how to do this. This is a matter for the adults in the Ministry of Industry." She said, "I just put forward such an idea."
"That's not bad." He Jingtai praised.
The concubine had been listening to their conversation. She moved her fingers, and within an hour, the words appeared intact in the emperor's study room.
After the emperor saw it, he called several adults, and finally the Minister of Industry went out with a sad face.
The emperor asked him to come up with some advanced farm tools. This is really terrible!
He Yunxi and the others didn't know this in the field. After an hour, they finally planted all the sweet potato vines.
Fortunately, there are not many sweet potato vines coming out right now. Otherwise, at their speed, they wouldn't be able to finish planting until dark.
He Yunxi invited everyone to Zhuangzi. After a group of people washed up, He Yunxi took out some pieces of paper.
"This is called a push cart, this is called a twist car, this is a wooden horse, this is..." He Yunxi handed the paper to them, "There are also scooters, these are all for children to play with."
"What is this push cart used for?" Liang Jinan asked.
"For pushing babies. When babies are young, you can put them in the stroller and push them outside to bask in the sun. Or when you want to go out, you can also push them out. It can free up the adults' hands, and more importantly, it is better for the baby.
."
"Why bask in the sun?"
"What's a good idea?"
He Yunxi explained the importance of babies basking in the sun and the benefits of leaving babies to sleep, and then explained other things. Several people felt as if they saw countless pieces of silver flying towards them.