The convoy traveled quickly across the Henan Plain and arrived in Huguang a few days later.
Once you arrive in Huguang, everything will be completely different.
The crops are growing very well and there are many livestock.
There are many sheep in Henan, while in Huguang you can often see dark and sturdy buffaloes.
There are several large buffaloes, which look very huge. They usually enjoy the cool air in the streams and rivers, and look very leisurely while eating water plants.
There are also cows and their calves. The calves are splashing happily in the water, looking very lively and happy.
Someone was farming in the fields nearby, and the buffalo probably belonged to his family.
Li Tiezhu was very curious: "With so many buffaloes, wouldn't the licorice be enough?"
"Licorice?" The old farmer hesitated for a moment, then smiled.
"That's grown in the north, right? Are you from the north, young man? We don't grow millet here, we grow rice and wheat."
Li Tiezhu is from Tianjin Wei, and of course he is familiar with the farming situation in the north. After harvesting the millet, the straw under the ears is licorice, which is sweet licorice. Livestock loves to eat it. Gan means sweet, not dried, and of course licorice is also
To be dried.
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If there is no natural pasture, sheep and donkeys are generally raised.
Because cattle eat too much, it is too difficult to raise cattle just by growing licorice after planting millet.
So when he saw so many buffaloes, he would be very surprised and thought that licorice was not enough to feed so many cattle.
The old farmer told them that after entering Huguang from Henan, due to the abundance of water and grass, they could just drive the cattle to streams, lakes, and rivers. They would eat fresh grass in normal times and some beans, fresh grass and hay in winter.
This hay is not millet-producing millet, but sun-dried fodder.
Moreover, in the winter in Huguang, there are a lot of evergreen shrubs and grasslands, so even in winter, the buffaloes have something to eat.
The old man went to the field to clear weeds and had no time to chat with them for the time being.
Li Tiezhu followed Wang Hongyu and continued walking by the fields.
I saw that the farmhouses in Huguang are not much different from those in Henan, but the pig pens are larger than smaller.
The pig pen here in Huguang is completely separate from the farmhouse where we live, and the single building is about the same size.
After observing for a while, I saw that there were nearly 10 pigs inside, instead of just a few pigs per family in Henan.
Li Tiezhu went to see so many pigs in someone's house, and a strong peasant woman came out of the house and shouted loudly: "Which pig do you like? We will sell it directly."
Seeing how tall and strong the man was, with the appearance and temperament of a martial artist, the peasant woman immediately saw an opportunity for business.
This is indeed true. Wang Hongyu arranged for Zhou Yijie and Meng Biao's men who had followed from the capital to be responsible for logistics along the way.
But after meeting up with my eldest brother’s family in Kaifeng, they treated me to a good meal, but I didn’t spend any money to give back, so it’s just right to buy some now.
Families in Henan have little to support them, so it's hard for them to take the initiative to buy them, lest they become "forced buyers" due to their power.
There are a lot of people raising food here, and they took the initiative to mention it, so of course it’s ok.
"How many pigs should I buy? It's time for these pigs to be put on the market!" Seeing Wang Hongyu's interest, the farmer woman directly selected three pigs.
Wang Hongyu knew that in the Ming Dynasty, there was no need to specifically call pigs pigs. There was no need to avoid the sound because the Ming Dynasty emperor's surname was Zhu. The Ming Dynasty emperor himself would call him that. Zhu Houzhao, the only Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty who banned pig raising, also directly stated it in the edict.
Write the word "pig".
If the edict is like this, there is no need for people to be taboo about it.
Literary prisons and other such things, except for Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's suppression of landlords and literati, there were no so-called "literary prisons" in other periods. It is not the same thing as the literary prisons of the Qing Dynasty, where people killed people, burned books and banned speech.
I bought three pigs and saw that the harvest had been completed not far away and they were preparing to transplant rice.
Huguang has a warm climate, fertile land, and abundant water resources. The winter wheat harvest time is earlier than that in Henan and Beizhili.
By this time, the winter wheat harvest had already been completed, the fields were now filled with water, and the rice transplanting had already been completed.
Wang Hongyu said after looking at the farmers who had finished their hard work: "With the wheat harvested this year, the yield per mu is expected to be 300 kilograms, right?"
The old farmer replied: "Thank you for your auspicious words. This year is a good year and we are expected to produce 240 kilograms of wheat."
Sure enough, even at the core of Ming Dynasty's grain production, without scientific exploration and technological progress, the yield per mu could not increase.
"If nothing happens, we can produce 300 kilograms of rice this year."
Right~
In Huguang, rice and wheat are planted in rotation.
The yield of winter wheat per mu is 240 jins, and that of rice is 300 jins per mu. This is a good year.
If the yield per mu is really going to increase, rice has the greatest potential.
Grandpa Yuan will live forever, and generations of rice technology explorers will live forever.
Hybrid rice cannot be produced in this era, but there are various superior rice varieties, especially in Southeast Asia. Therefore, the food issue must be solved as soon as possible, so that more people can be supported in industry, mining, technology, and the military.
The weather in July is getting hotter and hotter. It rains every now and then, and the air humidity increases.
The body of the eldest brother Zhou Dunji was embalmed with lime, but as the summer heat gradually increased, there was still a risk of corruption.
Next we need to speed up the pace.
When they arrived at Hanshui River the next day, Wang Hongyu sent Zhou Dunji's eldest brother Zhou Zhaoan to protect the coffin and rush to Yunyang by boat. The entire Hunhe army also took boats to protect it.
As soon as we crossed the river, another boat came behind us, and an old friend came.
Ai Youzhi.
"I chased all the way and finally caught up in Xiangyang~"
When he saw Wang Hongyu, they immediately started talking.
At this time, Ai Youzhi had been promoted to Tongzhi of Xiangyang Prefecture, which was a higher level than his previous chief.
Also coming with him were Chief Assistant Ye Xianggao, as well as the Ministry of Husbandry and the Ministry of War. Before Ai Youzhi took office, the Ministry of War received official documents from the court. During the period when Wang Hongyu's Hunhe Army was in Yunyang, the food and grass were provided by Xiangyang Prefecture and Yunyang Prefecture.
bear responsibility.
Xiangyang produces a lot of grain, and Yunyang is in the mountains. Of course, we need to have Ai Youzhi, an old friend, as the second in command to provide full support.
Ai Youzhi is full of expectations for this friend who helped her in the most difficult time. He will not only handle the food and grass well, but is also ready to cooperate in depth with Wang Hongyu.
The mountain products of Yunyang are very attractive to the upper class of Xiangyang and even the entire Huguang.
In the past, there was no unified organization. The mountain people in Yunyang relied on backpacks and shoulder poles to transport back the rice exchanged for mountain products. There were only sporadic transactions between the two places.
Friends met again to discuss the coordinated development of Xiangyang and Yunyang, especially since the shipping on the Han River is very convenient for the flow of materials between the two places.
Wang Hongyu thought more. He heard from Zhou Zhaoan and others that the local population in the counties around Yunyang was not large. Over the years, refugees from several surrounding provinces gathered in the mountains of Yunyang far more than the locals.
Because there is little arable land and limited grain output, there are many hidden dangers. To develop Yunyang, the first issue is food. Solving the food problem is the key.
The most indispensable things in the mountains are bamboo, medicinal materials, and mountain products. As for the specific development, we will determine the development direction after on-site inspection.
The second group of Zhou family members arrived at Xiangyang Prefecture in Huguang. They also came from behind. Wang Hongyu asked half of them to take a boat upstream from the Han River to catch up with the coffin guarding team to Yun County.
The other half planned to follow Wang Hongyu on the land route for investigation. The planned route was from Gucheng County to Jun County via Wudang Mountain.
Most of these people are Zhou Dunji's comrades-in-arms. They have veterans scattered in Wudang Mountain and Yunyang, and they all have contacts.
At this time, the great hero and sworn brother who followed Zhou Dunji went into the mountains to inspect and felt proud to contribute some manpower. Following this young general, he felt rejuvenated.