Zhang Ximeng was also called to participate in the harvest. Facing the dense potato fields, he was quite emotional. Potatoes do not require good land, and the fertility requirements are not high. However, the yield is huge and the taste is good. It is like a gift from heaven.
Like my baby.
If you connect it to the environment of the Americas, you will find even more interesting things.
The American Indians lacked horses and cattle, and in some places even used alpacas for transportation...The Native Americans also lacked iron tools and had always used stone tools.
Lacking these two artifacts, the Native Americans could only cultivate by slashing and burning, moving like nomadic people following water and grass. This area suffered from severe soil erosion and could not grow crops, so they moved to another place.
Logically speaking, their level of civilization should be very low, but they have such profound attainments in astronomy and calendar, which is very impressive.
Generally speaking, compared to Eurasia, Indians are like poor children who clicked on the wrong technology tree.
Perhaps God took pity on them and gave them potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn so that these high-yielding crops could save the Indians.
However, if we look at it from another perspective, if America did not have these high-yielding crops, perhaps there would be no Indians. Whether the chicken laid the egg or the egg laid the chicken is a philosophical question.
But one thing is certain, that is, God does not kill people, but Westerners do...
Now that the Ming Dynasty has discovered America first and has the prince of Eastern Rome in its hands, it becomes very interesting what the consequences will be.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ximeng was even a little excited.
"My Lord, let Wang Baobao and the Prince of Fulin Kingdom come too!"
Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while and said with a smile: "Okay, let's call the iron pot here too. We want to use his pot to stew potatoes!"
Good fellow, after a while, these people, including Tamerlane, arrived one after another.
Manuel has become somewhat accustomed to the strangeness of the Ming Dynasty, but to be honest, when he looks at the iron pot, he is still frightened and shuddering.
Is this the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty?
Emperor of the Mongols?
The owner of the most powerful empire?
Why did he perish?
After the fall of the country, how could he be willing to live in the Ming Dynasty?
How could the Ming Dynasty tolerate the existence of such a person?
Crazy, all crazy!
He was an Eastern Roman prince and traveled thousands of miles to the East in the hope of getting help. Maybe he was also a lunatic!
Since they are all crazy, let’s work honestly!
Zhu Yuanzhang gave the order and everyone began to dig the ground to harvest potatoes.
Zhang Ximeng and Wang Baobao got together, and he found that Wang Baobao's health had improved a lot, and his deformed joints had also recovered a lot. He was able to work smoothly and more efficiently than himself.
"Wang Baobao, did you know that these potatoes can be grown in very cold places?"
Wang Baobao was startled for a moment, lowered his head and said, "Then I would like to congratulate the Grand Master."
"It's not congratulations to me, it's to everyone, especially the Mongols in the north, the Jurchen tribes, and of course everyone else." Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "With this potato, the yield of the land in the north will be greatly increased... and I also
I figured out a way to eat it, which is to make the potatoes into very thin vermicelli, vermicelli... just like noodles, rice noodles. In this way, not only can the storage time be extended, but also countless more delicious foods can be produced. So,
Human progress really depends on foodies sometimes!"
Wang Baobao was stunned for a long time, and his whole body seemed to be frozen. Finally, he slowly said: "So, can all Mongolian tribes have enough to eat?"
Zhang Ximeng smiled, nodded and said: "If allowed, I hope everyone can eat enough."
Wang Baobao nodded vigorously, "Great Master!"
After saying this, Wang Baobao worked harder and harder, not even wanting to rest.
Every potato has become extremely precious. This thing is literally worth the lives of countless people!
The northern grassland is like a huge beehive, inhabited by thousands and thousands of terrifying killer bees instead of ordinary bees.
Once the climate becomes cold and there is a lack of food, a heavy snow falls, corpses litter the fields, and all cattle and sheep freeze to death... These people will mount their war horses, pick up scimitars, carry their ancestral bows and arrows, and swarm southward.
.
Killing, looting, death...Civilization disappears, the country disappears, and the people are either turned into slaves or turned into bones at the direction of the soldiers.
It just so happened that the prince of Eastern Rome was also here, so he should have felt more deeply.
But there is also a question here, why are the nomadic cavalry so strong, and why are the farming people unable to resist the nomadic cavalry despite their large size and population?
There is a very simple logic here. With nomadic cavalry and all the people as soldiers, they can often draw one out of two or three out of three. A tribe of three to four hundred thousand people will have more than one hundred thousand string control men who can be drawn out to fight.
.
On the other hand, on the farming side, how should we deal with the enemy?
In the original history, the Ming Dynasty's agricultural tax was thirty to one, which meant that after the common people produced thirty dan of grain, only one dan could be handed over to the court.
And if the imperial court transports this stone of grain to the border areas to recruit soldiers and horses to fight against the nomadic cavalry, there is no telling how much is left.
Even if calculated as one-tenth, the mobilization ability of the farming people is far inferior to that of the nomadic cavalry.
It was okay in the early days of the country. Although my mobilization ability was weak, I had a hundred times the population. In addition, the officials were relatively clean and efficient, so I could still win a crushing game.
By the middle and late stages of the dynasty, corrupt officials were everywhere, and all the national power was only on paper and could not be mobilized at all.
What would be the consequences of forced mobilization?
You can refer to the Qin Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty... These two countries are typical of taking the paper figures as reality, without considering the problem of middlemen making the difference, directly forcing the people to have no way to survive, and they have to pick up swords and guns and rise up.
Does it mean that there is no other way and you have to be beaten?
Of course not.
In fact, there is only one core, which is to improve efficiency.
Take the original example, for example, if the tax is 30 per person, and the people receive 30 dan of food, and if they pay 1 dan, the rest is barely enough for the family to eat, drink, and live.
If the efficiency of ordinary people is doubled and they have sixty shi of food, can they hand over two shi?
Obviously not!
In extreme cases, the court can take away thirty-one stones!
With twenty-nine stones left behind, the people could still live a living without resorting to rebellion.
Let’s look at the results this time. When the efficiency of the people is doubled, how much does the court’s mobilization capacity increase?
A full thirty times!
If you fight against the nomads at this time, it will be a complete victory. There is no doubt that even a fool can achieve the results of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing.
This is only the result of a doubling of productivity... If we fully enter industrialization, productivity will increase a hundred times, a thousand times... The mobilization efficiency is simply indescribable.
For example, during World War I, the maximum mobilization capacity of many industrialized countries was one-tenth. In other words, with a population of 10 million, one million soldiers and horses could be mobilized, and no one in the country would starve to death.
If we put it in the Song and Ming Dynasties, we would calculate it as 60 million people. There is no need to mobilize 6 million people. I am afraid that the 600,000 people with no vacancies would be enough to collapse the Ministry of Household Affairs.
No matter how many people there are, they will probably have to go to Luo with their swords in hand and go directly to the emperor to express their interests. For example, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty conscripted millions of people to attack Goryeo, and this was the end!
Efficiency is everything, and improving efficiency is so difficult.
So only by understanding these can we understand the value of potatoes.
As they watched the potatoes being dug out one after another, some people's breathing became rapid.
For example, Wang Baobao, Tamerlane, and several others... After all, only Manuel is a complete idiot. He doesn't know shit. He just feels exhausted and his hands are scratched.
Blood blisters appeared and the pain was excruciating.
He really couldn't figure it out. Could this Ming Emperor be fake?
He is a majestic emperor, more noble than his father, so how can he do such a despicable job?
It makes no sense!
After working for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang was still unfinished. He took Zhang Ximeng with him to measure the harvest and weigh the potatoes... They harvested a total of 30 acres and got almost 20,000 kilograms of potatoes. The average yield per acre was more than 600.
catty!
Seeing this result, both Zhang Ximeng and Lao Zhu showed meaningful smiles on their faces.
An average of six to seven hundred kilograms per acre is incomparable to the thousands or tens of thousands of kilograms that later generations often weighed.
But in the Ming Dynasty, it was already very impressive.
Especially when they choose hillside land, if they plant rice, they may only get a few dozen kilograms of yield, or even no harvest, but if they plant potatoes, they can get a harvest of several hundred kilograms.
Although a pound of potatoes is not the same as a pound of grain, when you are extremely hungry, grass roots and tree bark can also satisfy your hunger!
"Sir, it's only now that we dare to truly expand to the outside world!"
Zhang Ximeng nodded repeatedly, "Your Majesty is wise!"
At this time, Zhang Chengtian had already reached Manuel's side.
"Do you understand this time? If you want to save the country, you have to rely on these potatoes!"
Manuel was stunned for a while. How could this strange piece of shit save his country?
"What an idiot! You think about it, if you take the potatoes back, you can grow five to seven hundred pounds per acre of land. Your farmers can produce several times the enemy's output, and you will get several times the food tax and organize more
Armed with troops and horses, fight against the enemy! Is that Ottoman still your opponent?"
Manuel seemed to understand, and his whole body trembled violently, but soon he calmed down again, looked at the potatoes everywhere, and shook his head.
"No, it won't work. If those farmers take the potatoes, they will give them to the enemy! Also, let them join the army. These people will not kill the enemy, and they will probably attack Constantinople first!"
This time it was Zhang Chengtian's turn to be dumbfounded, what the hell is your piece of shit Fulinguo?
There is simply no mud to support the wall!
At this time, Zhang Ximeng also came over. He pondered for a while and then said in a deep voice: "So you must change the law to make the people identify with the country and be willing to fight for the country! Rather than it not mattering to them who rules Constantinople!"
(End of chapter)
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