1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 966 Shepherd
On August 1680, 8, Chongning Prefecture (now Bendigo, South Australia), Wangjiang County (now Echuca, Australia).

On the vast grassland, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy wrapped in an old cotton coat, sitting on the hillside, holding a thick book, reading with gusto.Not far from the boy, there are more than 100 cattle and sheep scattered, and a shepherd dog runs around cheerfully, chasing back those cattle and sheep that tried to go far away one by one, faithfully fulfilling the duty of herding for the young master.

"Why doesn't this Tang monk listen to advice every time, and is caught by monsters again and again. If I were the Monkey King, I would simply throw away this pedantic Tang monk, and turn to Leiyin Temple with a tendon, and take the scriptures from myself. Take it back!" Yang Zuyuan couldn't help commenting to himself when he saw the rise.

Hearing the barking of a shepherd dog in the distance, Yang Zuyuan reluctantly put the book in his satchel, stood up, and looked at the sheep in the distance.

A disobedient bull broke through the border fence of his own pasture, and led a dozen Hanzhou long-haired sheep (Merino sheep imported from Spain) into other people's pasture territory, grazing the pasture on the ground happily .

Seeing this, Yang Zuyuan immediately ran to a pony more than ten meters away, turned over and jumped on it, lightly knocked on the horse's belly, and ran over.

The current number of livestock in Qi State has increased by a full 30 times compared with 40 years ago.In particular, the number of wool-producing sheep has grown explosively. This made Qi stop importing wool from India, Persia, Arabia, and Ottoman regions in 1670, and completely realized self-sufficiency in raw materials for the local wool textile industry.

The increase in wool production came from the government’s massive investment in improving sheep husbandry. During this period, large and small pastures were surrounded by fences, and dams and underground ditches were built for irrigation. The quality of pastures was greatly improved, and the size of sheep Increased, the wool yield also increased accordingly.

These professional shepherds have changed from free and unrestrained land enclosures to owners of pastures of various sizes.They rely on grazing for a living, and sell beef and mutton, cowhide, wool, and milk to intermediary businessmen or directly to food processing factories in neighboring towns, and then exchange for corresponding grain and other daily necessities.

Of course, the increase in wool production is also due to the continuous improvement and optimization of sheep by the professional and technical personnel of animal husbandry in Qi State for many years. 20 years ago, the Spanish Merino sheep were plundered by Barbary pirates. After several rounds of crossbreeding and careful breeding, the Merino sheep had greatly changed in terms of production performance, and they were also named Hanzhou long-haired sheep.At present, this kind of long-haired sheep can be roughly divided into two types: wool and meat.

Hanzhou long-wool sheep have inherited most of the living habits of Merino sheep, and are especially adapted to inland arid and semi-arid climate conditions. It is not suitable for areas with a lot of bushes.Winter and spring are the gestation and lactation periods of ewes, and they need to be supplemented with hay, silage and concentrate.Moreover, this kind of sheep is highly gregarious, and lambs are born once a year, 1-2 lambs each time.

An adult Hanzhou long-wool sheep weighs about 80-120 kilograms. The wool is slender and soft, and the length of the hair is about 10 centimeters. , is the shepherd's favorite money-making tool.

The expansion of cattle and sheep populations and the multiple increase in wool production did not actually increase the overall income of the shepherds.Because the purchase price of wool has dropped by 20% compared with [-] years ago, and the price of beef and mutton has also dropped by varying degrees compared with decades ago.Correspondingly, the prices of industrial products required by some herdsmen have risen to a certain extent due to inflation, which indirectly offsets the increase in the income of the herdsmen.

Although herdsmen complain about this, they can only simply think that the growth of livestock and wool is too large, exceeding the market demand, so that they have the economic paradox of "increasing production but not increasing income".But in fact, this is a typical "industrial-agricultural scissors gap" problem in the process of industrial economic development. It is the invisible economic exploitation and price squeeze of the weak agriculture and animal husbandry by the booming industry.

Compared with farming by farmers, grazing is free and unrestrained, but the distance between the various pastures is far away, and the places where people are located are relatively sparsely populated.Therefore, for young people aged fifteen or sixteen, Yang Zuyuan prefers life in the city.There are noisy streets, rich and varied commodities, horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians coming and going, as well as the school he yearned for and his acquaintance classmates.

However, as a child in the family who can "do the job", Yang Zuyuan had to stay in this vast and lonely pasture during the entire winter vacation, with more than 100 (heads) of cattle and sheep as companions.

The "Journey to the West" in the satchel has already been read no less than twice, but in order to pass the boring and boring period during the herding, he took it from the bookshelf and put it in the satchel, and glanced at it from time to time.

Alas, there is still more than half a month before the school starts, and when I think about it, I feel more and more difficult.It would be great if we could make our home in the city!

However, thinking about the conditions at home, Yang Zuyuan couldn't help feeling a little discouraged.There are eight brothers and sisters in his family, and he is the third eldest. He has a 19-year-old brother and a married sister. The brother works in Fucheng to save money for his wife.There are five younger siblings under him, and the income of the whole family depends on the more than 100 sheep and eight cows raised by the family.

During the winter and summer vacations, when I can help herding, my father will go to the county to do some odd jobs to earn some extra income and supplement the family.Because both myself and a younger brother go to middle school to study, and the purchase of books, board and lodging, and other learning equipment costs a lot of money every year, about 30 to [-] yuan.These days, there is no shortage of food and clothing, and there is no shortage of change, but if you want to buy a house in the city rashly, just want to be prosperous and lively, it must be very unrealistic.

If there is an accident in the family, such as illness or a disaster in the pastoral area, it may be necessary to sell a few animals to maintain the daily needs of the family.

Now, his parents pin their hope of growing their old Yang family on him and his brothers, hoping that they can study hard in middle school and have a good future.If they can perform supernormally and get admitted to university, it will be enough to change the fate of their entire family.Of course, even if you don’t go to university, you can still find a good-paying position in the society if you go to a professional technical school in Nandu (now Melbourne).

"Boy, your cattle and sheep have crossed the border!" A thin man galloped over on a horse, and a long sheep whip made a cracking sound in the air.

"Oh..." Yang Zuyuan knew he was wrong, he rode his pony towards his cattle and sheep in a muffled voice, and hurriedly drove them back to his pasture.

"Hey, boy, can you bear the days of grazing?" Sun Yinzhong waved his whip to help Yang Zuyuan drive the cattle and sheep, and said jokingly, "I'm afraid this is a job that you, a scholar, hate very much." The smell of sheep, the smell of horses, and at a glance, there is no one who is talking. Is it completely different from the days in the school?...Oh, yes, at your age, there are people in the school. No girl you like? A young girl in the city must be so radiant that you can't sleep because you think about it all day long, right?..."

"..." Yang Zuyuan glanced at him, not wanting to talk to this restless and wretched uncle, lightly tapped the horse's belly with his calf, and wanted to return to his pasture.

"Hey, boy!" Seeing that the other party ignored him, Sun Yinzhong was a little annoyed, "If you have read a little, you will look down on people! Let me tell you, the boys in my family are not bad at reading, but they will have to take the exam in the future." A college student. If you pass the college entrance examination, you will be an official family member, and maybe you can go to Chang'an and become the prime minister of the emperor's cabinet! Well, you may also become a general!"

"After taking the college entrance examination, you may not be an official family." Yang Zuyuan couldn't help retorting: "Being an official family requires an exam. Even if you pass the exam, you need to start from the bottom, step by step, and become the emperor's cabinet." Minister, it will take decades. Besides, if you enter the government, you may not get a high salary."

"Ah?!" Sun Yinzhong was stunned, "what's the matter, isn't it possible to get rich when you become an official?"

"Officials are corrupt and accept bribes, but they will be severely punished by the emperor. A few months ago, a prefect was hanged by the emperor for corrupting money." Yang Zuyuan pouted, "Your child will become an official in the future. If you dare to be greedy for money, I am afraid that in the end, you will have to give me the last ride!"

"Mother, I'm still thinking about it. If someone in the family becomes an official in the future, I can rely on his power to turn all the pastures here into the pastures of my grandson's family." Sun Yinzhong said in a daze: "If that's the case, My old grandson will become the largest rancher here, with countless cattle and sheep, endless shearing, and endless beef, and there are endless piles of gold and silver in the house."

"Hehe..." Yang Zuyuan heard the uncle claiming to be an old grandson, and immediately thought of the image of Monkey King in the "Journey to the West" he just read. Well, he is thin and small, with a thunderous face, and he has the charm of a great saint. "You don't need to Relying on the boy in the family to be an official in the future to fight for you, you can turn into the supernatural Monkey King, pluck some hairs on your body, breathe the fairy breath, and you can turn into countless cattle and sheep and gold and silver that can't be piled up."

"I want to become the omnipotent Monkey King!" Sun Yinzhong grinned, not hearing the boy's sarcasm at all, "In the future, whatever you want, you can change into whatever you want, and if you have nothing to do, you can go to heaven to eat it!" That flat peach, stealing that golden elixir, going into the sea to play with the Dragon King, how comfortable it is!"

Sun Yinzhong, who immigrated to Qi State 20 years ago, is naturally illiterate, and has never read vernacular novels such as "Journey to the West", but there are teahouses for storytelling and newspaper reading in the county.During the New Year's Eve, you can go in and sit for half a day for a few cents.Nibbling melon seeds, drinking an untold number of cups of tea, listening to a paragraph or two with relish, more or less just for fun, to fill up the desolate spiritual world in my heart.

"Who's here?"

One, one, and one were discussing the plot and characters in "Journey to the West" word by word, when they heard the shepherd dog barking loudly, they immediately looked over in search of prestige.I saw six or seven riders coming from the south, walking slowly, and pointing at the cattle and sheep scattered around from time to time.

"Damn, could it be a thief who came to steal livestock?" Sun Yinzhong muttered to himself, and pulled out the long knife hanging under the saddle, "Son, stay here and don't move. I'll go over and see what's going on first !... If there is any trouble, immediately run back and call someone!"

"...Be careful!" Yang Zuyuan was a little nervous, took out a dagger from his arms, looked at Sun Yinzhong who was galloping away, and shouted from behind.

Shouting, Sun Yinzhong rushed towards the group of people, and in a short while, he quickly approached. However, he seemed to have met someone he knew well, and after saying hello, he put away the long knife he was holding.Afterwards, chatted enthusiastically with a group of people who came.In less than a moment, he dismounted from his horse and led the people towards his own cattle, as if he was graciously introducing the cows he herded.

After hesitating for a long time, Yang Zuyuan also rode over on his pony.

"Zhang Mujian, this is the third child of Yang Zhicai's family." Seeing Yang Zuyuan coming, Sun Yinzhong smiled and introduced to a tall and thin man: "He is currently studying in a middle school in the county, but he is the most educated in our pastoral area. Young man. Oh, by the way, besides more than 100 sheep, his family also raised nine cows. Cows... Hey, son, how many cows do you have in your family?"

"My family has seven cows and two bulls." Yang Zuyuan looked suspiciously at the other men in leather clothes, who seemed to be from the city, and two of them had faces of Westerners.

"Hello, young man." A barbarian with a baby face greeted Yang Zuyuan enthusiastically, speaking in perfect Chinese.

"..." Facing several strangers, Yang Zuyuan looked a little at a loss, holding the reins with both hands, and nodded to them numbly.

Seeing this, Casper Warren shrugged his shoulders at several accompanying companions, and then continued to ask the supervisor in charge of the area about the cattle herd and herds.

Casper Warren's father was a German who was recruited by the Dutch East India Company in the early days and came to the remote East Indies to work as an armed guard.After the service period expired, he switched to Hanzhou with a few companions and became a merchant sailor.

After working for ten years, after accepting the naturalization ceremony at the Qi State Immigration Department, he took an oath of allegiance to Qi State forever, became a naturalized official citizen, and then settled in Nandu.

Old Warren took out his savings for many years and established a butter workshop in Nandu City by virtue of the skills he mastered when he was an apprentice in a butter workshop, to produce this noble food popular in European courts.

Butter is extremely nutritious and is the crown of dairy products.Moreover, only five or sixty catties of milk can extract about two catties of butter, which shows its preciousness.Once the old Warren's butter workshop was put into production, it was immediately loved by some wealthy people.Add a spoonful of butter to coffee and tea, or use it to make desserts and candies to enjoy a European aristocratic style.

After more than ten years of development, the "Dingji" butter of the old Warren family has become the most prestigious food factory in the entire Nandu Prefecture, even in Changji Prefecture (now Ballarat, Australia), Jiangling Prefecture (now Australia) Geelong City in the south), and Nan'an Prefecture (now Adelaide, Australia) established a semicolon, and the sales of butter products were extremely large.

Butter is made by separating the cream and skim milk in the milk, ripening the cream and stirring it.This requires a lot of milk sources. Therefore, as the young owner of the "Dingji" butter food processing factory, Casper Warren—of course, he prefers to be called by his Chinese name, Pan Qingfeng—so he went around to collect milk sources. , And also go deep into various ranches, trying to directly build supply channels on these large and small ranchers, so as to reduce more procurement links and save costs.

As the local government that manages the ranch, it naturally supports this kind of business request that can increase the income of the herdsmen and improve the local political performance.The pastor personally led several entourages to accompany him all the way, and spared no effort to inspect the many pastures under his jurisdiction in detail.

It should be known that during the peak milk production period of a dairy cow, the daily milk production is about 25-40 kg.During the evaporated milk period, the daily milk production is also around 5-20 kg.Under normal circumstances, the lactation period is about 300 days.

However, the shepherd simply does not have proper storage and transportation tools, let alone the extra money to use freezing methods to extend the shelf life.Therefore, in the pasture, the milk that cannot be consumed can only be poured out in vain, causing huge waste.

Naturally, the rich and powerful "Dingji" butter food factory does not have any economic and technical difficulties, and can smoothly store and transport the milk produced in the pasture to the processing factory in the city.

Three years ago, a water-cooled cooler powered by a steam engine was successfully developed by the Royal Academy of Sciences and Chang'an Industrial Research Institute. With the help of this cooler, milk can be cooled in or near the dairy farm. This method is very helpful in ensuring that the milk reaches its destination fresh.

And, with the development of the railways, people began to try to transport milk from the pastures to the towns to promote the consumption of dairy products.It is said that entrusted by the Ministry of Agriculture, several research institutes are conducting unremitting research and experiments on how to put milk into containers like cans, which can be sterilized without damaging the taste and fat of milk.

I believe that with the support of science and industry, the animal husbandry in Qi will usher in a period of rapid and healthy development. For many herdsmen, this is like a fortune from heaven, and it will increase their income.

(End of this chapter)