The Maojin knife from the late Jin Dynasty

Chapter 84 Supporting Facilities
Liu Tai began to actively fight against the locust plague, and the disaster response plan was divided into a winter wheat promotion plan to solve future food problems, and a plan to dredge local water channels and rivers to mobilize the labor force of the entire Taishan County, and even include the army to implement this matter.

In fact, although Liu Tai believes that winter wheat is the future trend, the promotion of winter wheat is not easy.

The cultivation of any crop is related to the people's rations for a year. At least before they see tangible benefits, experienced farmers will not change their farming habits easily. After all, for them, changing crops requires taking very high risks.

Therefore, some farmers chose to accept Liu Tai's winter wheat and start farming first with the idea of ​​​​making three shots if there were dates or not.

At Liu Tai's request, Zhao An and his village chiefs often went to the fields to assist the old farmers in cultivating the fields.

The most important thing is to help old farmers implement the knowledge of turning the soil and using sunlight to kill locust eggs.

Liu Tai himself went to the fields himself, firstly to spread the knowledge of soil plowing and explain the truth to farmers.

Secondly, Liu Tai wanted to ask the old farmers if they had any techniques for high-yield farming.

If possible, Liu Tai would like to compile a book about the techniques mentioned by these old farmers and then promote them.

Under such circumstances, Liu Tai, who had been running in the fields these days, found that some people actually chose to abandon their fields and did not cultivate winter wheat. This made Liu Tai feel a little incredible.

But they didn't waste the land. They also followed Li Tai's advice and turned over the land to dry it. Some even used plant ash to fertilize the land.

But they have no intention of planting winter wheat. On the contrary, they seem to be planning to use this locust plague to leave the land fallow.

This made Liu Tai a little confused, and he immediately asked the farmer why.

"Reporting to the county governor, the whole family went to help the officials to dig for water conservancy, so we chose to rest the fields this year!"

The old farmer said sincerely, "As long as you are willing to work on this water conservancy project, the officials will take care of the food.

When the water conservancy project is repaired, who knows whether we will be able to eat this food again.

So everyone in the family went to help with the water conservancy project, which was cost-effective for us! "

When Liu Tai heard this, he was a little surprised and asked, "Is this really a good deal?"

"A good deal! Why isn't it a good deal?" the farmer said seriously,

“Although the county governor’s promotion of winter wheat is for everyone’s benefit, there are too many variables in changing the crop.

The little old man has never planted this kind of winter wheat before, and he doesn't dare to hoe it easily. It is better to wait until everyone grows it and see what the result is.

As for eating from the government now, at least until next year when I can plant more familiar corn, I will be more confident.

If winter wheat is really better than corn, and the land is here, it won’t be too late to plant it then! "

Liu Tai, who was running in the fields, was thoughtful when he heard this very small farmer-like answer.

After all, the people at the bottom have their own vision and their own way of living.

My own efforts to promote winter wheat have brought hope to many farmers, but after all, winter wheat is not the staple food of this era.

To be more precise, people's cultivation of corn has become a kind of path dependence. If the locust plague had not caused a shortage of crops, it would have been more difficult to promote winter wheat on their own.

Moreover, winter wheat was grown by people in this era, and it was not an imported product. However, if the wheat was not carefully ground and turned into delicious flour, this kind of thing would be despised by people of this era.

Therefore, some farmers who have farmland only choose winter wheat when Liu Tai guarantees that the government will purchase it.

But there are some families who have a lot of grain stored in their homes, especially farmers who know what winter wheat tastes like. In their eyes, winter wheat will never become a staple food, let alone replace corn.

If Liu Tai had not launched another project to dredge the water canals in Mount Tai, they would have chosen to plant winter wheat. After all, survival was the most important thing.

But they found that this water conservancy project was not the kind of corvee where the court would directly arrest you to do corvee work, and you had to bring your own dry food to work.

But after the government provided food, and as long as they were willing to work, they would have something to eat, they decisively chose to carry bricks for the water conservancy project.

Although moving bricks during this period of time is hard work and is only for food, in the eyes of this kind of people, moving bricks for water conservancy projects is just a transitional grain like planting winter wheat.

Since they are all over-grain, why don't you use this period of time to let the elderly in the family stay and recuperate in the fields, while the stronger ones in the family move bricks to survive, and plant corn again next year.

But if winter wheat is cultivated this year, it will not be easy to cultivate corn next year.

At least during spring plowing, winter wheat is still growing. Even if you want to switch back to growing corn, it will not be easy.

Liu Tai soon discovered that this situation was not uncommon in Taishan County, especially those who were relatively close to water conservancy facilities, had fields, and had a lot of food stored at home. Most of them had this idea.

Liu Tai discussed the situation he had collected with Chu Hui.

Chu Hui thought that Liu Tai was angry about this incident and couldn't help but ask, "Does the general want to force the people to cultivate winter wheat?

If so, just adjust the tax rate so that the people who grow winter wheat will be taxed less, and the people who grow corn will be taxed more! "

Liu Tai shook his head when he heard Chu Hui's words and said: "There is no need for this, the people in the fields know best what is suitable to plant.

They prefer to plant corn instead of wheat because the technology of corn is more mature than that of wheat.

Unless they see the benefits of wheat over millet, even if we impose orders, we will only force the people to cause trouble! "

When Chu Hui heard Liu Tai's words, he was somewhat relieved. No matter how you put it, as long as Liu Tai doesn't make trouble, the people below will basically not be affected, and this kind of concern for the people at the bottom is also What Chu Hui admires the most.

Taishan County, which has now experienced a locust plague, actually has no troubles. After all, the most important thing is to spend this year smoothly and obtain enough food.

"But..." Liu Tai said, "the people who grow winter wheat need some care after all."

"I wonder what you think?!" Chu Hui became a little curious when he heard Liu Tai's words.

Since Liu Tai does not intend to use taxation to adjust the two, and he will not use other tough measures, then what method will Liu Tai use to solve this matter.

"I want to connect the water conservancy project under construction with the wheat fields where wheat is cultivated!" Liu Tai said. "Oh?" Chu Hui said with a straight face, "General, you must not divert water to the fields where winter wheat is planted. Those fields that are not cultivating winter wheat and preparing to plant corn next year do not divert water. This will inevitably lead to chaos!"

"Where are you thinking!" Liu Tai heard Chu Hui's words and said, "How could I do such a sinister thing!"

"Huh!" Chu Hui breathed a sigh of relief and asked Liu Tai curiously, "How is the general going to do this?"

"I want to have Jie Fei build an official water mill in an area with rapid water flow during the construction of the canal!" Liu Tai said to Chu Hui.

"Water mill? The water mill developed by Du Wuku?" Chu Hui heard Liu Tai's words and asked curiously,
"What does your Majesty want these things for? It's probably a lot of work to build, but do you want them to be available to the people for free?"

"The water mill is not free for the people to use. After all, maintaining the water mill itself is a troublesome thing, and the people will never take care of the public goods that are free to use."

Liu Tai shook his head and said, "So, every time we grind the materials we get, we get one out of twenty."

When Chu Hui heard Liu Tai's words, he couldn't help but frowned and said, "If one out of twenty is a bit high, the people may not be able to use it!"

Liu Tai thought thoughtfully after hearing Chu Hui's words, and replied, "Then the common people can also give us the chaff and soybean meal that have not been ground by water mill to deduct the ground refined grain."

"What does the general want with these things?" Chu Hui couldn't help asking.

"I want to get some chickens and ducks to raise. These things can be collected and used as livestock feed in the future. People can't eat them, but that doesn't mean livestock can't eat them!" Liu Tai explained to Chu Hui.

"If you use these to replace the finely ground grains, I think the people will be happy!" Chu Hui nodded.

However, Chu Hui thought for a while and continued, "But if this is the case, will the people be happy to plant winter wheat?"

“If you want to change people’s farming habits, it must be a long process. Only when people see the benefits will they be happy to farm.

As the government, we must do our best to build supporting facilities for the people so that the people can personally experience the benefits.

Naturally, the people don't need anything more from us, the government, and they are willing to fight for their own interests. "

Liu Tai continued, "For example, planting winter wheat and planting corn.

If winter wheat is eaten directly, it does taste coarser than corn, but if it is ground into powder, the taste of the two will be almost the same!

Therefore, we need to build a large number of water mills to solve the worries of farmers who will cultivate winter wheat in the future. "

"But so what, the two have only reached the same standard, and winter wheat even has an extra process!" Chu Hui looked at Liu Tai and said, "This means that the people need to work harder, and there is no actual benefit. ah!"

“Normally this is true, but don’t forget that winter wheat is sown in autumn and harvested in early summer, which allows people to avoid the hottest summer.

For the people, I believe they are very happy to save themselves the trouble of farming in the hottest summer! "

Liu Tai said, “For us, as the farming time changes, it will become more convenient for them to perform corvee service in the future.

It seems like it’s just a change in farming food, but it’s actually an optimization of the overall production structure of the entire region! "

Chu Hui couldn't help but froze when he heard Liu Tai's words. He really didn't realize the convenience brought by this change in food without looking at some things from the overall perspective.

This is why although the water mill was invented during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it had to wait for the Tang Dynasty to really promote wheat on a large scale.

In fact, for Liu Tai, because of the arrival of Xiaoglaihe morale, winter wheat is at least better than corn to survive in this era.

It's just that in this era, the upper-class nobles could eat flour products ground into powder, but they never thought of improving the living conditions for the lower-class people.

The foreigners from the north live in infighting and turmoil every day. They don't even have time to Chineseize the national system. They have no time to study the relationship between wheat stone grinding and flour.

But what Liu Tai hopes is to tap into every potential of this era as much as possible, especially if there are ready-made technologies, and he can produce results by simply contacting them. Liu Tai likes it even more.

Wheat, at least to Liu Tai, is definitely a more important food than corn.

History has proven that wheat can replace corn as the staple food in the north, which means that wheat is the development direction of the staple food in the north.

And compared to eating current corn, Liu Tai feels that white steamed buns with sauce are the best food in the world!
Of course, the promotion of wheat is not just because it is the staple food of the future, but because Liu Tai will definitely be involved in various projects in the future, which will definitely require a lot of labor.

By that time, migrant workers, a special type of work that has become the tear of modernization, naturally appeared in Liu Tai's eyes.

If Liu Tai wants to develop the economy in a short period of time, he naturally needs to work hard as a migrant worker and play scissors.

In order to make farmers more efficient as urban laborers, wheat farmers are easier to exploit than corn farmers.

Therefore, Liu Tai will definitely build supporting facilities for wheat cultivation in the internal affairs. At present, he is only planning to build a water mill. In the future, he will definitely build roads from wheat fields to the water mill based on the water mill, and connect them into one large area.

Even his own farm will work hard to study the winter wheat farming technology in all aspects. Simply put, winter wheat is the son of the food of this era to him, at least until he has the opportunity to unify the world, this will not change!
Of course, if the world is unified, the version will need to be updated. No matter how high the population limit of winter wheat is, it will not exceed [-] million, so the son of the crop version will be changed to rice, but now winter wheat represents the future.

Chu Hui saluted Liu Tai very respectfully at this moment, and then said, "I will make relevant administrative orders, please rest assured General Liu, and I will also take advantage of the situation to spread some rumors so that the people can feel the benefits of cultivating winter wheat." !”

"Well, this aspect is to encourage the people. When the winter wheat is harvested, I will conquer Gou Xi!" Liu Tai said seriously to Chu Hui.

"General, prepare to conquer Qingzhou?!" Chu Hui couldn't help but be surprised when he heard Liu Tai's words.

"Well!" Liu Tai nodded to Chu Hui, "This head-on confrontation with Gou Xi made me realize that if I fight against Gou Xi under normal circumstances, I am afraid that whoever attacks will suffer.

But Gou Xi sits in Qingzhou and has the resources of the entire Qingzhou. He will definitely recover faster than my Taishan County.

So when I fight him, the only chance I can see is the thin line between me having food and him not having food.

Winter wheat is harvested in early summer, and corn is harvested in late autumn. If I want to defeat Gou Xi, I only have this half-year window! "

"I understand!" Chu Hui heard Liu Tai's words and replied seriously to Liu Tai.

　Let me continue to be lazy for a day.There are six more chapters left, I'll mark them.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)