Chapter 921, Daming's Autumn Harvest: Liaodong Chapter Great Harvest
"Woo~"
In the wheat fields of Nanshan Village, a steam harvester makes a whining whistle as it moves forward.
As the machine walked in the fields, followed by a large number of Nanshan Village villagers, everyone was very shocked when they looked at the wheat straw neatly spread on the ground and then looked at the bags of packed wheat.
The machine can not only harvest wheat, but the harvesting speed is really fast. It can also remove the wheat from the ears, eliminating the need to drop the wheat in the future.
As the machine walked back and forth in the field over and over again, the wheat field of one acre was quickly harvested, and bags of wheat were placed in the field. All that was needed was to carry the wheat back.
"Isn't this too fast?"
Ding Dazhu sighed with his eyes widened.
"From now on, farming will just involve driving the machine around in the field?"
Someone next to me sighed and said.
"No, these shoes don't need to be stained with mud. There are cultivators for cultivating the land, and machines for harvesting wheat. In the future, we may be able to produce all kinds of machines."
"I heard from Brother Damao that the Jingcheng Machinery Factory has also developed a rice pounding machine. In places where rice is grown in the south, they no longer need to pound rice. They can just use a machine to pound rice."
Ding Dazhu remembered Li Damao's words and said quickly: "I heard that there is also a flour grinding machine. Our wheat is put into the machine and it comes out directly as flour."
"real or fake?"
"Of course it's true. Brother Da Mao still lies to people?"
"That's right. We already have machines for harvesting wheat, so what's so weird about machines for grinding flour?"
The villagers in Nanshan Village kept discussing, looking at the harvester in the field, their eyes lit up.
Calculating carefully, the harvester in front of me doesn't take much time to harvest an acre of land. It just needs to walk back and forth in the field to harvest an acre of wheat.
With such a machine, no matter how many wheat fields there are, you won’t be afraid.
On the steam harvester, Li Damao controlled the machine once and calculated silently again.
"According to this speed, we can harvest almost ten acres of land in one hour. If we count five hours in one day, we can harvest almost fifty acres of land. My own family has nearly two thousand acres of land, and it can be harvested in twenty days."
."
"If you work from morning to night every day, it will only take more than ten days. This efficiency is still good. When you finish harvesting your own wheat, you can also help others harvest wheat, and you can make a lot of money."
"There are two thousand acres of wheat. Without this harvester, my whole family would not be able to finish harvesting even if we stay in the field without rest all day long."
After calculating the account carefully, Li Damao couldn't help but laugh happily.
“It’s better to have a machine!”
Along with the roar of the machine, the wheat field is slowly decreasing, and bags of wheat are placed at a distance in the field, which is very beautiful.
Busy time is always short-lived, and soon it's evening.
Li Damao parked the machine at the edge of the field and looked at today's results. A large field of wheat had been harvested, and he felt very accomplished.
"It's similar to what I calculated. We can harvest about fifty acres of wheat in one day."
Li Damao checked again and there was nothing wrong with the calculation.
However, Li Damao was not happy for long, and soon he began to frown again.
Not for anything else, because there is so much food in the house that there is no place to put it.
Not only was his home filled with grain both inside and outside, but even the granary built by Li Damao this year was quickly filled with food, and there was no place to store the grain.
Li Damao's family has a great harvest.
After careful weighing by Li Damao, Li Damao's family's wheat field yielded almost two dan of wheat per acre, and the output of these two thousand acres of wheat was almost 4,000 dan.
(Note: According to the record in Volume 3 of "Hejian Chronicles", "A man cultivates 34, 40, 50 acres of land and harvests more than one stone of wheat per acre." The wheat field output of Hejian Prefecture recorded here is somewhat special in the Liaodong region.
First of all, the land in Liaodong is more fertile. It is black soil. Secondly, wheat in Liaodong lasts longer and the yield is better. So it works out to almost two stones per acre. Well, that’s about it. One stone is 120 kilograms. Ming
A pound in the Chao Dynasty is sixteen taels, so it weighs almost 200 pounds, but this is in the shell.)
With so much grain, Li Damao, who had been farming all his life, felt like he had suddenly become rich for the first time. There was so much grain that there was no place to put it.
In the past, before immigrants came to Liaodong, they were busy all year round, with their faces facing the loess and their backs to the sky, but the whole family could not get enough to eat at the end of the year.
Most of the food grown with so much hard work has to be handed over to the landlord. The remaining food is not enough to feed the family.
Now it's good. Not only do I have a lot of land, but I also have a bumper harvest of grain. In addition, the Liaodong region has been exempted from taxes for several years by the emperor, which means that all the grain belongs to me.
Li Damao opened his belly to eat more than 4,000 shi of grain at once, which was enough to feed Li Damao's family for many years.
“There’s no place to put it!”
Li Damao looked at the bags of wheat in the field, with a smile on his face and a sad face at the same time. For the first time, he felt the pain of too much food.
"What are you worrying about? Let's pile it up in the field first, pad it with wheat straw below, and cover it with wheat straw above. When you're done, you can sell the grain."
"With thousands of dan of food, how can our family eat all of it?"
Li Damao's wife said simply and neatly.
"Okay, I'll do as you say."
Li Damao nodded and quickly got busy.
In the entire Liaodong region, every household is in a similar situation to Li Damao.
In the fifteenth year of Hongzhi's reign, Liaodong had a great grain harvest.
The entire Liaodong region is immersed in busyness and at the same time immersed in the joy of the harvest.
Every household with a small family has planted hundreds of acres of fields, and the average is several hundred acres. With such a large amount of fields, it is another year of great harvest.
The fragrance of wheat is everywhere, and every household is piled with grain inside and outside. Each granary can no longer hold it. Many people have to be like Li Damao and pile up part of the grain in the wheat fields. There is really no food.
There is no place to store this food.
….
Since ancient times, all dynasties have attached great importance to farming. Food is a major issue related to the national economy and people's livelihood. The same was true for the Ming Dynasty.
Chen Xin, the chief envoy of Liaodong, was walking in a wheat field in plain clothes. He looked at the large wheat fields in front of him and then at the fiery harvest scene, and his whole body smiled.
"Congratulations, sir, congratulations, sir!"
"We have a great harvest in Liaodong this year. I believe you will be promoted soon."
Beside Chen Xin, an official saw Chen Xin smiling and immediately flattered him.
"Haha, I may not be promoted high, but some verbal praise from above is definitely indispensable."
Chen Xin smiled happily and shook his head.
"Sir, today is different from the past~"
"The current Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is Liu Jin Liu Gong. I heard that Liu Gong has always been very fair in his work. He formulated a detailed examination system as soon as he took office. Among the examination systems, the most important thing is for local governors like you.
In terms of several indicators, including population, taxation, grain production, and infrastructure construction, you have done very well in every one of them, and you will definitely be promoted."
Hu Benhui thought for a while and continued.
"This year, the population of Liaodong has increased by more than two million, the tax revenue has exceeded five million taels, and now there is a bumper harvest of food. Your Excellency, this performance is very impressive."
"My lord, even if you are not promoted this year, your political achievements will definitely be impressive. With more accumulation, it will only be a matter of time before you are promoted."
"Haha, I hope it's as you said."
Chen Xin smiled and replied.
Liu Jin became the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. The position of the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is very powerful. He is in charge of the assessment and promotion of officials all over the world, and is known as the Heavenly Official.
As soon as he took office, Liu Jin immediately formulated a series of very complete examination systems, which were quickly promulgated after the cabinet's deliberation and Emperor Hongzhi's approval.
Regarding the new examination system, the officials who were sitting on their seats naturally complained bitterly, and the memorial to impeach Liu Jin flew to the desk of Emperor Hongzhi like snowflakes.
But for officials who have made achievements and work conscientiously, this examination system also means that they have hope for promotion, because the system clearly states that the examination results will be combined with the promotion system.
If you want to be promoted, you must show outstanding political achievements. If you don't have any political achievements, there is absolutely no possibility of promotion.
As the chief envoy of Liaodong, Chen Xin is a local official and is considered a key assessment target. According to the new policy formulated by Liu Jin, at the end of the year, he will go to the capital to report on his duties to the emperor, the cabinet, and the six ministries.
Report on this year's work, and then decide whether to reward or punish based on political performance.
In Liaodong, the population is growing rapidly, tax revenue is also growing rapidly, and this year's grain harvest is bumper. In addition, many roads and reservoirs have been built this year. Chen Xin will be more confident when he goes to the capital to report on his work at the end of the year.
Chen Xin is considered a relatively accomplished official, so he still prefers Liu Jin's style of doing things. He formulates a detailed examination system. If he does well, he will be promoted. If he does poorly, he will not only lose the official position, but will also be held accountable.
If it were in the past, Chen Xin would not come to the countryside in casual clothes and just read newspapers, drink tea and just go about his life in his government office.
If you want to get promoted and make a fortune, you still have to rely on money to move around and make connections. And Chen Xin is relatively incorruptible and doesn't have much money to give gifts and make connections. He is already very satisfied with his current position.
"Let's go and find a few farmers to ask about the situation this year and see if anyone has any difficulties. We, the government, will try our best to help solve them if they can."