The next day Shen Bing was taken by Xu Ying to make retting fertilizer.
To be honest, Shen Bing is not very willing to mess with this thing because the taste is really unflattering.
It's just that Xu Ying had greeted Wang Jian beforehand, so he didn't want to go now.
Retting is also called simple compost because it is simple and easy to make.
What Shen Bing teaches is the semi-pit fertilization method.
First dig a hole in the ground, about three feet deep, six feet long and wide.
Then two crossed wooden sticks were placed in the ditch, and then garbage and feces were piled into the pit.
Mainly wheat straw, weeds, leaves, etc., it is best to chop them first.
Then add various feces.
Sprinkle some water on the feces and urine in an appropriate amount and add some water to make it moist...not moist and not easy to rot.
Pile them high, like raising a hill, and then apply a two-inch-thick layer of clay on the outside... This is done to maintain the temperature inside the pile, accelerate decay and kill maggots.
Finally, pull out the wooden stick on the previous shelf as a ventilation hole.
It was so simple that Xu Ying found it a bit unbelievable.
"Is that enough?"
Shen Bing replied:
"What else can I do? It's just fertilizer!"
Xu Ying asked with some doubt:
"But if this is the case, where does this fat come from?"
If we really want to talk about it, we have to start with microorganisms...
Forget it.
Shen Bing replied:
"My subordinates don't quite understand either."
"But this seems to be able to produce more fertilizer from a small amount of manure, and it is more fertile."
"Anyway, try it and see if it works."
Xu Ying nodded in agreement.
He has prepared several experimental plots, actually not a few but many.
Xu Ying is quite professional in this aspect, after all, he is a farmer.
Xu Ying's arrangement is to divide a field with the same fertility into several pieces of the same area.
One piece does not use any fertilizer as a reference.
Then it was divided into two categories and six fields.
One is to use ordinary farmyard manure and apply small, medium and large amounts of fertilizer respectively.
The other type is to use retting fertilizer, which also applies small, medium and large amounts of fertilizer.
In this way, the fertility of the retting fertilizer can be compared during next year's harvest.
In addition, in order to avoid unexpected situations such as waterlogging, wind disasters, locust plagues, etc., which may cause the experiment to fail.
Xu Ying opened up several experimental fields in the same way in other places, even in the three counties and even every county in Qin.
This is not purely to deal with occasional situations, but Xu Ying wants to know whether there are differences in this retting in different regions and different climates.
Shen Bing secretly thought that the influence of this farmer's family was indeed extraordinary, and once the experiment was started, it was extraordinary.
But this seems normal.
This experiment lasts for one year. If there is any data, do we have to wait another year?
Therefore, in the first year, you should consider all aspects clearly and complete them at once.
The fielding was carried out step by step in this way. With the heavy investment in water trucks and overturned trucks, all aspects went smoothly.
However, as the agricultural season approaches, there are difficulties in growing food.
This is not due to Yingzheng's poor deployment.
In fact, Yingzheng's deployment was very reasonable. He adopted the segmented deployment method to save time.
The so-called segmented deployment is to divide the deployment distance into two or even several segments for deployment.
For example, there is a distance of 1,500 miles from Xianyang to Handan. It would take at least a month to transfer grain directly over this distance, which would be too late.
But if it is divided into two sections... Xianyang to Pingyang, and then from Pingyang to Handan.
The food teams for these two sections set off at the same time.
That is to say, grain seeds were transported from Xianyang to Pingyang, and at the same time, Pingyang also transported grain seeds to Handan.
In this way, there is no shortage of grain in Pingyang, which is equivalent to transporting grain from Xianyang to Handan.
The shipping time is cut in half.
This allocation method was very commonly used in ancient times when transportation was inconvenient, especially when food and grass were urgently needed on the front lines.
The problem lies in the deployment process...
Zhao Guoxin's popularity was unstable, and due to the influence of Bai Qi's entrapment of 400,000 Zhao soldiers, many people chose to become bandits.
They joined forces with the dispersed Zhao army in the wild, and actually formed large and small bandits with considerable combat power in the three counties.
These bandits naturally have to rob food if they want to survive.
But at this time, another team of grain teams was on the road...
So today there is a small team, and tomorrow there is a small team, and from time to time a food team is intercepted by bandits halfway.
There have even been cases where bridges have been vandalized.
This is usually done by small-scale bandits. They cannot defend against the grain convoy team, so they can only destroy the bridge and block the grain transport team in front of the river for the night, so they can fish in troubled waters and steal grain.
If it's just stealing food, that's it.
Perhaps out of hatred for the Qin army, after stealing the food, they would often set fire to the food that could not be taken away.
As a result, the food shipped to the three counties was very tight for a while.
This has nothing to do with Shen Bing and his team. They are unarmored artillerymen, and it is not their turn to suppress bandits and protect food supplies.
only……
A large number of soldiers were transferred out of the city to either protect food or suppress bandits, and Handan had important villages and fields and cities to defend. The army of more than 100,000 under Wang Jian's control was actually in short supply of soldiers.
Then finally one day, Shen Bing received the order:
"The artillery division will be responsible for city defense starting today."
"At the same time repair the city wall."
…
There's nothing wrong with that.
At this time, almost no one will come to attack the city.
Let the craftsmen be responsible for city defense, and they can also repair the city while defending it, so no labor is wasted.
Shen Bing and his party were in charge of the north gate.
This is somewhat ironic. At that time, Shen Bing and others were attacking the north gate, and now they have to fill the gaps created by their trebuchets.
But Shen Bing can't complain, because this is much better than farming, at least he doesn't have to suffer from mosquitoes and leeches.
While Shen Bing and others were busy in the three counties, someone in Yan State was keenly aware of the danger.
"Report..." A spy sent a piece of information to the prince of Yan Kingdom, Ji Dan.
Ji Dan unfolded the information and took a look, and immediately took a breath:
"Did Wang Jian really occupy all the cultivated land in Zhao?"
"How can they cultivate so many fields?"
The spy raised his hand and replied:
"Absolutely true."
"They made a water wheel, which was turned over to cure drought. It is said that it was made by an engineer named Shen Bing."
"These waterwheels, if overturned, can divert large amounts of river water into ditches for irrigation."
"So the drought in the three counties of Zhao is no longer a concern."
Ji Dan was surprised again and began to think:
Something bad is going on!
After Qin destroyed Zhao, it bordered Yan.
He originally said that there was a drought in Zhao and the Qin army could not attack.
Now that the severe drought in the State of Zhao has been cured, Wang Jian has gathered all the cultivated land...
This is obviously for next year's Northern Expedition.
In fact, Ji Dan misunderstood what he thought.
The Qin army will destroy Wei first no matter what.
On the one hand, Wei is more likely to be destroyed if it is surrounded.
On the other hand, the Wei State is behind Qin. If it is not destroyed, it will be like a thorn in the back.
But the Ji Dan authorities were so obsessed that they took it for granted that Yan would be next.