After Lao Zhu learned about Beiping's two major sources of wealth, he suddenly became curious again.
"Sir, Beiping is a vast land with few people and good land. We looked inside and outside Yanshan and found that we can farm and produce crops. How is Beiping's grain output now? Can we eat it? Is there any grain left?"
After all, being an old farmer, Zhu Yuanzhang still cared about food.
Zhang Ximeng couldn't help but sigh when he heard this.
"My lord, I originally wanted to talk about this later. It is not easy to explain the food in Peiping... Since my lord has asked, let's go to the camp and talk slowly at the same time!"
Lao Zhu frowned slightly, saying that he might not understand other things, especially business and industry. Lao Zhu was willing to be a student and listen carefully, but he couldn't figure out the farming thing?
Who are you looking down on?
Zhu Yuanzhang asked decisively, and Zhang Ximeng could only tell Zhu Yuanzhang his research experience... This time he was in Peiping, giving lectures for an extra long time, and did not respond to Tian's plan. In fact, he was studying these issues.
Agriculture and animal husbandry are the top priorities.
After all, no matter what you do, you have to eat. And agriculture and animal husbandry also provide raw materials for industry and commerce. Without solving this foundation, developing industry and commerce will be a joke.
But when Zhang Ximeng started to study it, he immediately realized that this matter was troublesome and not as easy as he thought.
He even gained a new understanding of the eventual collapse of the northern military household system.
First of all, I would like to say that one line of the Great Wall can be cultivated and farmed. This line basically coincides with the 400 mm precipitation line. Obviously, this is not because the person who presided over the construction of the Great Wall is a traveler, nor is it a coincidence, but this line
The line separated the boundaries between farming and nomadic herding.
If there is a lot of rainfall, you can farm. If there is not enough rainfall, you can only graze.
However, if you can plant it, you can plant it, but because you are stuck on this line, you are more likely to encounter drought. If there is not enough rainfall in any year, the north will definitely suffer disaster.
When the seasons change from spring to autumn, there are still dusty days, and locusts often fly over the grasslands.
Generally speaking, along the Great Wall, the farming conditions are far worse than those in the blessed land of Jiangnan, and the grain output is also much lower.
Some fertile fields in the south of the Yangtze River can harvest one stone and five stones in one season, three stones in two seasons a year, and irrigated land can harvest even more.
But the line on the Great Wall is not good. It can generally be grown for one season, and the yield is less than one stone.
"We all know this, but the north is vast and sparsely populated, with few people and few fields. Every household can be allocated more fields. Even if the output is less, the number of fields can be made up."
Lao Zhu said seriously: "We don't think it's a problem."
Zhang Ximeng’s smile never faded, “What my lord said is certainly right, but I can’t bear to look into it... It is true that we can plant extensively in the north and get a small harvest, but if we want to plant extensively, we will consume more seeds, labor, and waste more time. My lord has been planting fields, this kind of
The situation and what it represents should be very clear!”
Lao Zhu was startled for a moment. It was indeed true. Farming was a matter of seasonal importance. From planting to harvesting, there was no delay. Often, the harvest would be completely different within a few days.
This is especially true in the north.
You say that you will plant more fields to make up for the lack of yield, but how do you calculate the extra seeds, labor, and time you have to spend?
There is another layer here. Even if there is a bumper harvest, the grain needs to be harvested, threshed and returned to the warehouse.
With the vast land and sparse population, roads, carriages, and granaries are needed... Without adequate infrastructure, even if more grain is harvested, it cannot be successfully stored in the warehouse.
If it cannot be put into the warehouse, it will rot in the ground if it is thrown into the ground. The food that you have worked so hard to grow will be thrown away in vain.
This kind of situation is not uncommon even in later generations.
Zhang Ximeng and Lao Zhu analyzed the situation all the way, and basically explained clearly the problems of growing food along the line of Peiping and the Great Wall.
To sum up, limited by natural conditions, droughts are frequent here, planting is difficult, and yields are low, requiring several times the hard work and greater investment.
The final harvest was very limited.
"My lord, thanks to our strong military strength, we can drive away the Mongolian soldiers and horses. If the Mongols come back, harass the border and rob the people of food. Natural and man-made disasters have come together. I am afraid that the border will collapse. The personnel guarding here
, and had to give up the land and flee back to the mainland."
Zhang Ximeng said: "In fact, it does not require that the land has no harvest and cannot be cultivated. As long as the investment in farming is too large, the risks to be borne are too many, and the harvest is very little, it will cause the people to abandon the land and give up the land. After all, everyone has to survive.
"
Lao Zhu frowned and was very worried. A farming matter really stumped him.
"Mr. Zhang, if that's the case, then recruit more people, reduce land taxes for the people, give them livestock, mobilize soldiers, and assist the people in farming... Isn't this enough?"
Zhang Ximeng smiled helplessly, "Of course these are all fine, but they have to be counted in the court's expenses. And they are all temporary measures, treating the symptoms but not the root cause!"
Lao Zhu gritted his teeth and said, "Then what solution do you have to solve the problem?"
Zhang Ximeng said: "I can't say what the root cause of the problem is, but I feel that we can start from these two major problems and confront each other, and maybe we can come up with a solution."
"you say!"
"The first issue is the cost of farming. Can we use criminals to farm, or even hire labor from outside... First, we can reduce this cost. Then we need to build roads, bridges, and granaries to help the people solve their urgent needs."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "All of these are fine, but it sounds like it's treating the symptoms rather than the root cause, which is pretty much what I think!"
Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "This is about how to overcome risks... I thought that individual farmers could no longer do it."
Lao Zhu was startled for a moment, "What do you mean, sir? Does it require the common people to unite, just like in Henan, where village communities cooperate to cultivate acres of land?"
Zhang Ximeng shook his head, "It still doesn't work. Henan is recovering temporarily, and the land will be handed over to the people in the future. Secondly, Beiping is infested by Hu Feng, and there are no stable village communities at all. It is impossible to hope to imitate Henan."
Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while, then suddenly smiled and said: "Listen to what Mr. Wang said, there must be a way. Tell me and listen."
Zhang Ximeng said: "There is indeed a way, and that is to prepare for the establishment of a reclamation company."
"Reclamation Company?"
"Yes! With the current situation in Peiping, small farmers cannot survive and village communities are out of the question. We need a larger-scale reclamation company with stronger risk-taking capabilities!"
Zhang Ximeng analyzed to Zhu Yuanzhang that it must be strong enough, with more personnel and a larger scale. In this way, many problems will be easily solved.
For example, when it comes to drought, if a single farmer cannot handle it, and the government takes action, it will cost more than it gains because of its slow response and huge costs.
But if there is a company with thousands of people, it can divert water and dig wells by itself to solve the problem. Even if it cannot be solved, it will not go bankrupt all of a sudden.
Moreover, the reclamation company can build its own roads, build granaries, raise livestock, and hire workers.
This point is very important, and Zhang Ximeng said it very implicitly... But Zhu Yuanzhang understood it. If he was just a farmer, it would be really difficult for him to hire people to work for him.
But if it were a company, hiring some prisoners to help harvest food, wouldn't it be natural?
You can even hire workers from outside. To put it simply, you can get labor from the Goryeo and Japanese countries to work for the company.
Moreover, facing such a large-scale reclamation company, it is also convenient to provide relief. If you have any problems, you can talk to the court.
They were fully able to accept funding from the imperial court, and at the same time they were able to provide sufficient food to supply the northern military expenditure.
Lao Zhu pondered for a while and asked: "Sir, look at this, can you let the court officials be responsible for farming..." Before he could finish speaking, Lao Zhu swallowed his words back.
If it is left to the officials, their first goal must be to satisfy the court's appetite, especially to please the superior officials, which will definitely not be sustainable for a long time.
The core essence of this farming company is to fight risks through huge scale. At the same time, relying on scale to earn enough profits can it be maintained smoothly. Not only can it live well, but it can also provide enough food for the army.
, and even allowed Peking to become self-sufficient.
But at this point, one thing has not been explained clearly: how to make money?
Without machines or fertilizers, it is not difficult to calculate how much work a person can do without sleep and how much he needs to be paid.
Even if the farming company is more efficient than a single farmer, there is not much profit to be extracted.
At this point, the answer is readily apparent.
Labor must be brought in from outside and squeezed hard, doing the most work, eating the least food, and exhausting all means to squeeze out enough profits to sustain everything.
Lao Zhu took a deep breath and said, "Sir, is this the true meaning of using troops against Japan?"
Zhang Ximeng pondered slightly, and then said: "My lord, in fact, external labor alone is not enough. We still need sufficient talents who can manage and operate properly to truly succeed."
Lao Zhu thought for a moment and nodded seriously, "Don't worry about this. We have seen through it all. Peiping lacks everything except the talents that Mr. Wang said! There is really an abundance of talents here, and they are everywhere!
The one who flirts with other women looks good to me! Anyway, he is quite thick-skinned!"
Zhang Ximeng was dumbfounded, even if you are right, we don’t have to be so direct, be subtle, be subtle!
Lao Zhu was too lazy to talk nonsense. He finally understood. It was not that Zhu Di was suitable for Peiping, but that the current situation in Peiping shaped Zhu Di at this moment. They complemented each other and completed each other.
What Lao Zhu didn't know was that his words just now saved the unlucky guy who was seducing someone else's wife... Shameless people like him are also bullied among prisoners and have to be tied to a urine bucket.
, smoked to death.
Originally, he was going to be sent to cut trees. After a year and a half, he could bury his bones in the mountains and fertilize the land.
But just what Lao Zhu said, he was sent to farm. Fortunately, this guy knew some medical skills and had a small medicine shop at home. After arriving at the farm, he luckily cured the livestock's disease and became famous all of a sudden...
...many years later, the food giant Ximen Daguan will still recall that calm afternoon.
It turns out that we have also been in prison with His Majesty!
(End of chapter)
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