Chapter 370 Inspecting the autumn harvest in the fields
Li Siye thought for a moment, then nodded to Bai Zhubo and said, "Oh, keep talking."
Lord Bai's thin waist was bowed very low, then he straightened up slightly, crossed his hands and said, "Here."
"Envoy Li and Governor Pei, commercial tax revenue is the bulk of our Shule Town's wealth. Last year's commercial tax revenue was 150,000 guan. After excluding 30% of the revenue handed over to the Governor's Office, there was still 105,000 guan.
Guan Qian. Only the military pay of the Shule Army and the salaries of Shule officials will cost 72,000 Guan. The remaining money in the treasury is only 33,000 Guan. We must prepare manpower to cut grass and stock up for winter this year.
Food and repairing the city walls will also cost a lot, and of course there are still 20,000 guan in the treasury to prepare for emergencies in the coming spring."
Li Siye understood clearly that this wealth and income were just a carrot and a pit, and there was no room for him to use it. He couldn't help but asked with some disappointment: "This general is planning to build veterinary stations in several cities under Shule Town to shoe horses.
, we are also planning to increase the number of farms and introduce improved varieties, but we can’t spare this little money?”
Master Bai took a step forward, bowed and crossed his hands and said: "Actually, the remaining money accumulated in the treasury cannot be used for 20,000 guan, 10,000 guan is enough."
Li Siye patted his knees and made a decision: "Ten thousand guan is ten thousand guan. If you have 10,000 guan, do ten thousand guan's things."
Although the smug enthusiasm last night has subsided, even though many of the things he imagined are unrealistic. He wants to equip every Shule soldier with a horse, but lacks fodder and cannot expand the number of horses. He wants to improve the life of the soldiers and promote logistics to make compressed biscuits and bacon.
Unfortunately, Shule's agricultural products are too single. If he wants to introduce wheat to expand his fields, and if he wants to improve Mazheng and build a veterinary station, all these will require money. He doesn't know if this can be done. If not, he will have to use Congling's resources.
Gold is in reserve.
Unsatisfactory things in life are common, and the same goes for things he does. He doesn't think about the unsatisfactory things, but if he thinks about the things that can be done, he feels much happier.
"Master Bai, you will be with me from today on, and I can allocate accounts at any time."
"Here."
Pei Guoliang also narrowed his eyes and smiled and said, "Is there anything that Ambassador Li Zhen needs me to do, but please give me your instructions."
"Oh, I dare not give orders, but I really have something to ask of Governor Pei. I ask the Governor to draft an announcement in the name of Shule Governor's Mansion to recruit horse veterinarians and blacksmiths from all over Qixi, who are equivalent to non-staff personnel of the Shule Army.
, Salary is negotiable."
"Negotiable?" Pei Guoliang asked uncertainly.
"That's right, it's negotiable."
"Okay," Governor Pei clapped his knees and said with great ambition, as if he was doing something extraordinary: "Leave this matter to me."
After the things here were over, Li Siye immediately bid farewell to Pei Guoliang's house. Many things were complicated and he needed to settle them one by one.
After leaving Pei Guoliang's residence, Li Siye decided to take advantage of the highland barley harvest season in August to check out the Tang Army's fields on the west bank of the Chi River and learn about the situation on the ground. Before leaving the city, he arranged for Yan Xiaosi to send someone to deliver a message to Congling Shouchu.
, ordered Yu Gou, the Congling guard envoy, to come to Shule Town.
Highland barley has strong adaptability to bad land conditions and can be grown in pastoral areas close to pastures or arid sandy lands close to the Gobi. Therefore, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with a cooler climate has become its main production area. Shulejun in
There are seven settlements on the west bank of the river, with a total of 350 hectares of farmland, almost all of which are highland barley fields.
The jade-belt-like river meanders through the greenery on both sides. Li Siye led everyone to patrol along the riverside, and soldiers and civilians participating in harvesting could be seen everywhere.
The method used by the Shule Army to establish farmland was to open up wasteland for the army, attracting people to plant the cultivated land, and extract 30% of the land rent during the autumn harvest. However, most of the Shule residents were not used to farming, so so far, half of the fields had to be cultivated by the Tang Army themselves.
Recruiting soldiers are usually unwilling to engage in production, so this kind of forced labor makes the army less enthusiastic about participating in farming, and naturally there will be no high output. Because production is not active, the Tang army is more willing to plant highland barley, which does not require high land.
, crops that are easy to work with, but wheat is rarely grown.
The maturity period of wheat and highland barley is in July and August, but this time is also a period of frequent military campaigns in Tang Dynasty. People and crops will be affected by the climate, dormant in the cold, and fighting in summer and autumn. Therefore, population is also a factor restricting the development of agriculture in Shule.
Li Siye reined in his horse and stopped at the edge of the field. He put his hands together and looked at a group of people not far away loading barley onto oxcarts. Judging from the uniform white clothes, they should be the Tang army who were harvesting in the autumn.
He turned over and dismounted, and Yan Xiaosi immediately stepped forward and asked, "General, do you want me to call their leader to come over and ask."
"Okay." Li Siye replied calmly.
Yan Xiaosi immediately rode his horse and ran over, holding the riding whip and showing high spirits in front of the soldiers. Li Siye felt a little uncomfortable when he looked at him. But humans are animals like this, who doesn't have some problems, and those who have no problems are true saints, as long as they don't
If there is accumulated evil, it can be used. When the water is clear, there will be no fish.
Xiao Si quickly brought one of the team members to Li Siye screaming and shouting. As soon as the team members saw Li Siye and saw the goldfish bag hanging on his belt, they became nervous. It turned out that it was really a strange thing.
Famous general.
He hurriedly bowed and crossed his hands: "I see you, General."
In order to make him less nervous, Li Siye tried his best to ask in a warm tone: "Are you from my Shule Army?"
"General, I am the captain of the team stationed in the camp where the poison is donated, and I am harvesting highland barley."
Qiandu, this is an ancient country in the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty. It is in its current location. They used the ancient name for Tunbao.
Li Siye asked with a smile: "The harvest of highland barley this year is pretty good."
The soldier's answer was quite honest: "As for highland barley, if the harvest is bad, it won't be much worse, and if it's good, it won't be much better."
Li Siye asked again: "Is there any wheat field in the military camp? How many hectares have been planted?"
"It seems that I have only cultivated a hectare of land. My subordinate is just a team leader and doesn't know much."
Li Siye pointed to the other side of the river and asked him: "The land on the west bank looks quite fertile. Why is it not cultivated on the west bank?"
"I seem to know something about this. When Fumeng Zhongcheng was the envoy of Shule Town, he planned to reclaim the land on the west bank as wheat fields, but later he fought with Tuqishi, so he put it aside and never implemented it."
"Oh, I understand." Li Siye turned his head and looked across the river valley. The rolling hills were covered with green grass. There were about a hundred hectares of flat land by the river. If this land could be planted into wheat fields, the Shule Army would
The problem of a single ration will definitely be greatly improved.
He turned around from his horse and saw that the team was still waiting there, so he waved his hand and said, "Go down and do your work."
"Here."
…
On their way back to Shule City, Li Siye secretly guessed that the yield per mu of wheat should be slightly higher than that of highland barley, but its adaptability to bad environments is not as strong as that of highland barley. Highland barley is used as a base grain to cultivate in semi-pastoral areas to ensure a good harvest during droughts and floods.
, expanding wheat cultivation is used to change the diet structure, which is very scientific.
He had already made a decision, and when he returned, he ordered that troops be mobilized from all the cities and towns in Shule Town and organized into a reclamation team of two thousand people, which he would personally supervise.
At the moment when I entered the city gate, I remembered another thing. The wedding date with Twelve Niang was coming soon, and it seemed that I couldn't go there in person. Who should be sent as a suitable person to supervise then? Someone who has no weight in the army can't do it.
, after all, at the moment only Zhao Chongxun can control the situation better.
It's up to him. Let him stay in Tuntian District for more than a month first, and then I will go over and replace him after I get married. This matter should be mentioned as early as possible to give him psychological preparation.
They rode through the market in Shule Town. This market is fixed. The official area is within these two streets. There are many warehouses built by caravans around the market, making this city the most prosperous on the Silk Road.
transfer station.
The sound of hawking in the market could be heard, and he closed his eyes to listen. When he came to the street, the road was blocked, but there were vendors setting up stalls with sheep felt beside the road, and several people gathered around the stalls to pick and choose.
Yan Xiaosi raised his horsewhip in front and said angrily: "You are so bold and cunning, and put your stall in this narrow alley to block traffic! I'll blow it up!"
Several customers dispersed in a panic, and the vendor turned pale with shock.
Li Siye stopped him and said, "Xiaosi, don't be unreasonable!"
Yan Xiaosi had no choice but to take back the riding whip he raised high and lead the horse to the side.
On the vendor's sheep felt were placed a dozen small bowls that had just been carved. He held a carving knife in his right hand and a semi-finished poplar wood stake in his left hand.
Li Siye immediately became interested. He got off his horse and squatted in front of the stall. The vendor thought that the other party was trying to arrest him, so he hurriedly kowtowed and confessed: "General, forgive me, but it is true that all the stalls on Kuan Street have been occupied by others, so I had no choice but to move here."
I came from a remote alley, but I didn’t expect to block the road.”
Li Siye laughed and said, "I can't control whether you occupy the road or not. I just came to see your goods." He grabbed a small bowl on the felt and asked, "How much does this cost?"
"Sixteen cents each."
"It's much more expensive than a porcelain bowl."
The vendor relaxed and defended himself: "This wooden bowl is sold to families with children at home. It is strong and not easily broken. Besides, making such a bowl requires a lot of workmanship. Calculated, we don't make much money."
ps: Thank you for passing on the torch of the desert, and the distant 123 starry sky is red for the reward.