Before coming to the Zhao Mansion, Su Hao had already thought out the terms of the deal with the Zhao family, which was to transform the large red soil wasteland at the foot of the mountain for the Zhao family. The method of transforming red soil land in later generations was very standardized, and it was nothing more than the application of quicklime.
Neutralize the acidity, apply phosphate fertilizer to increase the phosphorus content of the soil, and then plant green manure crops to increase the organic matter content in the soil. In this way, for a few years, the red soil can basically be transformed into a middle-yield field.
Su Hao was able to find small phosphate mines, so he didn't have to worry about the source of phosphate fertilizer. Once he had coal, he could just go to the mountains and mine the limestone that can be found everywhere to burn quicklime. The cost per hundred kilograms would not exceed 4 cents of silver. According to 8
If you sell it to the Zhao family for a split of the silver price, you will get half the profit, so why not do it?
Su Hao supports the Zhao family in transforming red soil land. In addition to wanting to avoid the cost of renting a mountain farm, Su Hao also has a goal of using the Zhao family as an advertisement to attract more farmers to buy the lime and phosphate rock powder produced by Su's Trading Company.
There are a lot of red soil wastelands in the Jiangnan area. If it can produce a demonstration effect, Su's Trading Company can make enough money from this business alone.
Apart from personal profit-making motives, transforming red soil wasteland is also a project that benefits the people. The overall situation in Fengcheng County is that there are many people and little land. Increasing the effective supply of cultivated land can increase the county's food production. As long as the food is rich, other areas can be developed.
The industry has a foundation.
From Zhu Xi's point of view, the cake Su Hao drew for him was really full of temptation. As Su Hao said, a thousand taels of silver will eventually be used up, while owning land can last for many years.
Profitable year after year. If you can really transform the 50 hectares of wasteland under your name into middle-income farmland, and then rent it to farmers for farming, the rent for one acre of land will be half a stone meter, and the income will be 2,500 stone a year.
It is equivalent to more than 1,000 taels of silver, which is much more than the rent collected from Su Hao.
Zhao Luo was a dandy and didn't understand these business methods. When he saw Zhu Xi and Su Hao both looking happy, he knew that this choice was a win-win result, so he couldn't help but become happy and quickly ordered his servants to prepare a banquet.
I wish both parties a successful cooperation.
At the banquet, the guests and hosts exchanged glasses of wine, and the guests and hosts chatted happily. When Zhao Luo was happy with his drink, he boasted to Su Hao and others about his travel experience. At one time, he said that he had had a chat with a group of scholars in a certain academy, and at another time, he said that he had a conversation with so-and-so.
The great scholars had a close relationship with each other. Su Hao didn't know much about the social customs of the Ming Dynasty. Listening to Zhao Luo's nonsense really gained him a lot of knowledge.
"By the way, have you ever heard of the Wenling layman Li Hongfu?" Zhao Luo asked Su Hao and Ma Yu while holding a wine glass.
"I have never heard of it," Su Hao said. He had never heard of most of the celebrities Zhao Luo mentioned. The celebrities back then were all cultural people. As a geologist, Su Hao had no chance of interacting with them.
Woolen cloth?
Ma Yu nodded and said, "Mr. Fengling is talking about Li Zhi and Li Hongfu of Huang'an, right?"
Zhao Luo said proudly: "Yes, that's him. However, Mr. Hongfu had already left Huang'an and went to Macheng in the twelfth year of Wanli. When I went to visit him, he lived in Zhifo on Longtan Lake in Macheng.
I have devoted myself to writing books and occasionally giving lectures, and have attracted many followers. I was lucky enough to listen to it twice, and it is really better than ten years of reading."
Ma Yu's eyes showed admiration and said: "Mr. Fengling has actually listened to Mr. Hongfu's lectures, which really makes Wansheng envious. Wansheng once heard the former Gu Jiaoyu of the academy talk about Mr. Hongfu. Gu
The imperial edict also paid homage to him and called him the greatest Confucian in the world."
"Deserving it, deserving it, Mr. Hongfu is definitely worthy of being the greatest Confucian in the world." Zhao Luo said repeatedly.
Su Hao heard the two of them talking lively and couldn't help but poke Ma Yu and asked: "Brother Duwen, what kind of layman are you talking about? Who is he? Is he really such a god?"
"That's natural." Ma Yu said, "He once studied with Mr. Wang Dongya. After Mr. Dongya passed away, Mr. Hongfu became the great master of Xin Xue."
"Uh... who is this Mr. Dongya? I am stupid and don't know anything about these great scholars in this world." Su Hao himself felt embarrassed.
Ma Yu knew that Su Hao was just a scholar from the countryside. He was able to pass the exam as a scholar only by relying on some rote memorization. His academic foundation was not deep and his knowledge was even more superficial. He could not compare with scholars like Ma Yu who studied in the city.
Seeing that Su Hao was not ashamed to ask questions, Ma Yu briefly introduced the relationship between the characters to Su Hao:
The so-called Mr. Dongya, whose real name is Wang Zhu, is the son of Wang Gen, the founder of the Taizhou school. Wang Gen is a disciple of Wang Yangming, the founder of the mind science. Wang Gen is from Taizhou, Jiangsu, and he learned the mind theory from Wang Yangming.
After that, he returned to his hometown and founded the Taizhou School. There were many elites under his disciples, including Wang Dong, Xu Yue, Zhao Zhenji, He Xinyin, etc. Among them, two of the most famous ones were the great thinker Li Zhi and the other a great politician.
Xu Jie, who served as the chief minister of the cabinet during the Jiajing period...
Li Zhi is a native of Quanzhou, Fujian. He was born in the sixth year of Jiajing. He passed the imperial examination at the age of 26. He later served as the magistrate of Gongcheng in Henan, a doctor of the Imperial College of Nanjing, a doctor of the Imperial College of Beijing, a member of the Ministry of Criminal Justice in Nanjing, and the prefect of Yao'an in Yunnan. He served for three years.
After becoming the prefect, he was tired of this kind of life and began to slack off in work. As a result, he was impeached and ordered to retire.
After he was dismissed, Li Zhi did not return to his hometown. Instead, he lived with an old friend named Geng Ting-li in Huang'an, Hubei Province, where he wrote books and lectured. In the twelfth year of Wanli, Geng Ting-li passed away, and Li Zhi moved to Macheng, where he has been until now.
Li Zhi's biggest characteristic is his flamboyant personality. According to his autobiography, when he served in any yamen, he always fought with his superiors and colleagues. After abandoning his official position, he focused on
He wrote books and spread his thoughts. He claimed to be a heretic in the traditional Confucianism of Confucius and Mencius, and called his works deviant. He opposed all kinds of hypocritical benevolence and morality, saying that those Taoists "were named Shanren, but they were of the same mind."
Merchants talk about morality, but aim to get through it."
"Haha, this old gentleman is quite interesting. If I have the opportunity in the future, I will definitely go and pay my respects." Su Hao said. In his mind, the ancient Confucians should be the kind of people who would quote scriptures and say something at every turn. "Confucius said
"Shiyun" people, I can't imagine that there are people who claim to be heretics of Confucius and Mencius. Such people are worth getting to know.
"When you want to leave, be sure to tell Zhao that he will go with you." Zhao Luo said.
Su Hao shook his head and smiled: "I'm just talking. There are so many things to do right now, who knows when I will be free. Mr. Fengling, I think you are usually very leisurely, which is really enviable."
Zhao Luo sighed: "It is boring to be leisurely for a long time. When my uncle returned to his hometown, he gave me a stay-at-home order and prohibited me from leaving Fengcheng. I was allowed to take care of the family business at home. In fact, Mr. Zhu is in charge of this business.
That’s fine, I’m just a superfluous person.”
"Why would my boss say this? I'm already old, how many more years can I still take care of my boss?" Zhu Xi said quickly.
"As you said, Mr. Zhu, you are in very good health in old age. It doesn't matter if you work for another 20 years." Zhao Luo said.
Su Hao smiled and said: "Mr. Fengling is really blessed in the midst of blessings. Brother Duwen and I are miserable when we want a quiet desk but can't."
"I would rather be as busy as you two. By the way, Master Su, when you start mining coal and burning lime in the future, Zhao should also go and watch. Maybe you can also help Master Su." Zhao Luoyong begged.
said in a tone of voice.
Su Hao couldn't help but laugh when he saw that Zhao Luo, an uncle in his 40s, was as playful as a child. He agreed: "Mr. Fengling, if you want to see coal mining, you can go at any time. In fact, we still have
There are more interesting things, I wonder if Mr. Fengling is interested in participating?"
"What's going on?" Zhao Luo asked.
Su Hao said: "I have informed Mr. Han of Mingzhi County that I plan to build a reservoir, which is a large pond, in Luoshan, south of the county this winter. It is planned to be able to store one million cubic meters of water. Brother Duwen and some students from Longguang Academy
We will soon go to the Luoshan area to conduct geological survey. If Mr. Fengling is interested, he can also go."
"Is there such a good thing?" Zhao Luo was indeed moved by what Su Hao said. He looked at Ma Yu with sparkling eyes and said, "Brother Duwen, if you don't think Zhao is stupid, I would like to go with you.
Zhao has never heard of a pond that holds millions of cubic feet of water during the survey. If he can play a role in this matter, he can have an explanation to his ancestors in the future."
"This..." Ma Yu hesitated. In his opinion, Zhao Luo is just an old dude. It's okay to chat and brag together, but asking him to go surveying with him seems a bit wrong.
The feeling of his mouth. But seeing Zhao Luo's expectant look, he couldn't say no directly. In any case, he was still enjoying the banquet.
Su Hao responded readily: "No problem, I have the final say on this matter. Mr. Fengling, please make some preparations in advance. The conditions in the mountains are difficult, and Mr. Fengling must be prepared to endure hardships."
"I haven't mentioned it yet. Even though I'm just a member of the Communist Party of China, Zhao can still endure hardships and hardships." Zhao Luoniu said coaxingly.