He pointed to the basket he brought and said: "I can grind a basket of beans this year, and a basket of wheat can last until March next year."
Zhao Hanzhang praised, "Yes, it seems that you have served a lot for the court this year. Can you plant your own land?"
"It's been planted. All the wheat seeds distributed by the Yamen have been planted."
Zhao Hanzhang smiled even deeper and asked: "How many acres have you planted? Is the land good?"
Zhao Hanzhang asked carefully, and then said: "There is a shortage of cloth in the Central Plains now. You want to plant some mulberry and hemp next year. Is there any suitable dry land?"
He became distressed and said: "The land allocated to me by the Yamen is good, but it is a waste to use it to grow hemp. Now beans can also be ground into powder. The military men also said that they would use beans to feed horses. I want to grow more beans. When the time comes,
Sell the money to buy cloth."
He smiled sheepishly and naively, "Girl, I don't have a wife this year. There's no weaver at home, so it's useless to grow mulberry and hemp."
"How can it be useless?" Zhao Hanzhang said with a smile: "When the time comes, you collect the mulberry and sell it to the girl you like. Once you get used to it, maybe she will like you?"
"You only know how to grow wheat, rice and beans. If you don't have a chance to talk to the girls next year, how can you get a wife?"
The young man suddenly realized that what the general said was right, so he became entangled, "Well, how much should I plant?"
Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said: "There are ridges, right? If you don't want to use a whole piece of dry land for planting, then plant it next to the ridge, the one close to your home. You can leave three inches to plant mulberry and hemp, and you can still sit on it in the summer."
Let’s enjoy the cool down below.”
The young man thought about it and realized that it was true. He nodded repeatedly, "I'll ask anyone who has the seeds when I get back."
There may be few mulberry seeds, but there should be many hemp seeds. Zhao Hanzhang turned to Zhao Yunxin and said, "Write this down and ask the counties to add mulberry and hemp seeds later."
Zhao Yunxin agreed.
Zhao Hanzhang scanned everyone's feet and clothes and found that there were only a few people wearing shoes and socks. He couldn't help but feel distressed and told them: "When you go back, you should pay attention to keep warm and take care of your body. Next year, grow more mulberry and hemp, and strive to have them all next year."
Put on new clothes and new shoes and socks.”
Everyone agreed loudly.
Zhao Hanzhang invited Li Xiang and Li Ban to see the operation of the water mill. The two were shocked when they saw the beans poured into the millstone, and the millstone was ground into fine bean powder without any help.
"This is……"
"This is water power and water conservancy," Zhao Hanzhang said: "I know that Shu also has a lot of water, and people live along the water. If this is the case, why not also build water mills to save the people's effort?"
Li Ban immediately knelt down and said: "General, please reward the craftsmen of Shu."
Zhao Hanzhang supported the person with one hand and said with a smile: "This matter is not urgent. We will discuss it later. This water power can not only benefit the people, but also the army."
Zhao Hanzhang took him out of one water mill and to the other. There were no ordinary people there, but there were still soldiers guarding the water mill, and there was a constant buzz of clanging noises inside.
Walking inside, a wave of heat surged through the shop floor, and Li Ban saw that they were using the bar he saw just now to drive the hammer to strike iron...
Li Xiang's eyes were bright, and he wanted to rush up and take a closer look, "I have long heard that the Zhao family's army has excellent weapons. Among them, the Zhao family's spear heads, broadswords and long swords are rare in the world."
Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said: "That's how it was done."
Li Xiang pulled Li Ban's sleeves and motioned for him to kneel down again.
Li Ban became entangled. If this was about people's livelihood, Zhao Hanzhang might agree to it if he knelt down. But this was related to important military and political matters, could she agree?
But Li Ban still gritted his teeth, turned around and knelt down towards Zhao Hanzhang again, and just as he was about to speak, Zhao Hanzhang had already reached out to grab him, pulled him up, and said with a smile: "I know what your highness means, let's go back and talk in detail."
Since she brought them to see it, it was certainly not in vain.
In fact, Shu is also a borderland for the current Jin Dynasty.
After they surrendered, they also had to undertake border defense tasks. The areas they headed west to were formerly Tibet and western Sichuan, currently belong to the Qiang ethnic group.
The Qiang people are not unified within themselves, and each tribe is currently independent. But from her perspective, they will definitely invade eastward in the future, so they must be prepared in advance.
Moreover, the Li Xiong clan is also a Qiang clan.
With such favorable conditions, how could Zhao Hanzhang not want them to go east to take back that large piece of land?
So Zhao Hanzhang wants to cooperate with them in depth.
This water mill and iron-making recipe are her sincerity.
There is no need to think about the recipe for making steel, and it is impossible to completely copy their iron tools, but giving a new recipe to further develop their iron tools will not only benefit the military, but also benefit agriculture.
Li Xiang was silent for a moment, knowing that the main event was coming.
They talked for a long time yesterday and had initially agreed that Chengguo should submit to the Jin Dynasty, but they had not yet reached an agreement on some details.
Zhao Hanzhang took them to see salt and iron-making in a water mill today. It was obviously an inducement. If they still didn't agree, would it be a threat?
Li Xiang naturally didn't want to come to this point, and neither did Li Ban.
The two discussed it and sat down with Zhao Hanzhang to have a good talk.
Because Li Ban is the prince, Li Xiong gives him great decision-making power, so he can make decisions on the spot.
Not to mention Zhao Hanzhang, as long as the two of them reach an agreement, the matter will basically be settled.
Both of them were straightforward people. Zhao Hanzhang had already shown his sincerity, and Li Ban was unequivocal and immediately settled the matters that had not been discussed yesterday.
Li Ban said that he could submit his credentials to the emperor tomorrow.
Zhao Hanzhang burst out laughing and said cheerfully: "The imperial court will prepare the rewards for King Cheng and the Crown Prince before tomorrow."
The matter was settled and everyone returned to the city happily.
Ji Yuan had received the news in advance and specially met Li Ban at the post station to finalize the details of going to court with him tomorrow.
Li Xiang looked at the proud Ji Yuan, but still felt a little uneasy. He turned to ask Zhao Hanzhang: "General Zhao, craftsman..."
Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said: "Three days before the envoys return to Shu, I will give you the list. They can say goodbye to their families. The crown prince and envoy Li can also choose again. If there are any unsuitable ones, they will be replaced."
Li Xiang was stunned, "Don't their family members follow them?"
Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said: "I will not force their families. Of course, if Shu provides good conditions and is willing to treat the craftsmen well, I think they will also be willing to migrate."
Li Xiang's eyes were bright and his degree of freedom was so high, which meant that Zhao Hanzhang had no intention of controlling those craftsmen.
"My lord, no, I will lower my rank and pay my respects to you, General."
Zhao Hanzhang raised his hand, said goodbye to them and looked at the time. Seeing that it was late, he hurriedly said: "I made an appointment with Princess Hongnong at noon, let's go back quickly."