At present, there are three channels for the source of saltpeter on the side of the big man.

1: The excrement of all the permanent population, plus some stinky fish and rotten shrimp after being piled up with nitrate.

2: Saltpeter brought from India by Westerners.

3: Saltpeter collected from the Ming Dynasty.

The current situation is: except for the first channel, which can produce saltpeter stably, the last two channels are very unreliable, and the arrival time is intermittent, and can only be used as unplanned materials.

What about the use of saltpeter?

The number one is naturally the army. Whether it is black powder used in the army or diatomaceous earth nitroglycerin used in mines, a large number of saltpeter are needed as raw materials.

In second place is the kiln base itself. Industrial production requires the consumption of large quantities of triacids and two alkalis, of which nitric acid is one of the essential and most widely used chemicals.

After the consumption of the above two departments, if the ...... If there is still a little saltpeter left, then it will be possible for the agricultural sector to get a little urea for farming.

Therefore, at the beginning of the grain company, they did not count on urea, an agricultural killer. You must know that the cultivated land area that has been reclaimed in Tainan is 300,000 mu, and in the next few months, Mishuo's plan is to double the total amount of cultivated land, so whether that urea is the same or not is a drop in the bucket.

Unless one day the fleet lands in the Bay of Bengal and then brings mining machinery and a small railway to the king who occupies the saltpeter mine there, there is no solution to this shortage of raw materials, and Mi Shuo and they have already been mentally prepared.

This is also the reason why Liang Lotian and his team unanimously decided to expand the soybean planting area when they inspected it today.

Leguminous crops have rhizobia and natural nitrogen fixation ability, which is equivalent to bringing their own nitrogen fertilizer, which to some extent circumvents the problem of urea. Therefore, usually the first crop of newly cultivated field land must be planted with a wave of leguminous crops to fertilize the land.

This lack of fertiliser was not seen in later generations – it was common for farmers to over-fertilize the land.

Therefore, golden soybeans have become the most suitable crop in the current agricultural situation in Tainan.

......

Soybeans are the most productive of soybeans, native to China, and are called "soybeans" in ancient texts. This crop is not only rich in vegetable protein, but also produces soybean oil, which is one of the most important social crops.

Soybeans are extremely versatile, first of all, glycerin, which is used to make mine explosives, can be refined from soybean oil. In addition, the paint made by mixing soybean oil with tung oil is exactly what can be produced in the current kiln area.

Soybeans are not only used for grain, various soy products, soy sauce; Its protein is also extracted to make a variety of food ...... For example, some synthetic steaks, crab sticks, etc. are mixed with soy protein, and the dicks can't eat it anyway.

The soybean cake after being squeezed out of soybean oil is a high-quality protein feed, which is very popular with livestock. In addition, soybean cake can also be used to fertilize the field, but this use has been replaced by chemical fertilizers in later generations. And because the big man is too poor here, the bean cakes are used to feed the livestock, and there is no surplus to use as fertilizer.

In later generations, soybeans, which originated in China, have become one of the world's most productive crops. Those countries in the Americas, which relied on their vast plains, became soybean exporters...... China imports 300 million tonnes of soybeans every year for feed and oil extraction. This has also become one of the country's weak spots: as soon as the trade war starts, feed and meat prices immediately start to fluctuate.

This is no way around: whether industrial or agricultural, the plains can produce far more wealth than the mountains, and the cost is far lower than that of the mountains.

......

After confirming that all the newly reclaimed cultivated land was put on the soybean project, Liang Letian and Mi Shuo returned to the electric three-wheeler and continued to drive east.

Not far further on, there is the regular field crop area. On the plains as far as the eye can see, there are large fields of potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn. Ant-like farm workers are working in the fields, and tractors the size of black dots can be seen moving slowly in the distance.

These three are the staple food crops that have been screened and finally selected by grain companies.

The average temperature in July and August is around 33°C, and even in January and February, the coldest months of winter, the average temperature is around 16°C.

In addition, the local water source is abundant, so except for some tropical plants, most of the crops can be sown and grown in the Tainan Plain...... It's nothing more than a question of how high or low the yield is. In fact, many northern crops grow better in warmer Tainan.

In the later Tainan Plain, the main crops were rice and sugarcane. These two kinds of "high-end goods do not have much market for the current big people, or rather, they can't afford to wait for the two masters in a short period of time."

Rice and sugarcane are both crops that require a lot of fertilizer and careful management in the field, and this is where the shortcomings of the public are concerned.

If you don't have enough fertilizer for cash crops like sugarcane, you will have low yields...... Although everyone knows that sugar was a hard currency in the 17th century, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice, so it is better to consider filling her stomach first.

The same is true for rice. Rice fields that need to store water are not only prone to attracting dreaded mosquito armies, but also need fertilizers and delicate irrigation systems, as well as field management.

So the sown area of these two crops in Tainan is not large at the moment.

It was the potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn that really jumped on the stage.

The Age of Discovery was the era of close exchanges between the East and the West, and many plant seeds were spread during this era. Among them, potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn were basically introduced to the Ming Dynasty in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

The three crops of the Americas that have sprung up are the real "Gospel of Rulers", "the Great Killer of Imperial Stability", and "the most resistant crops in the Xiaoice Age".

It's a pity that Brother Chongzhen is one step too late, one step ...... Tears are running, Chinese actors have collectively supplemented calcium.

As a time-traveling public who is well versed in history, he will naturally not let go of these three big killing weapons. Therefore, in the existing more than 150,000 acres of rotational mature fields, most of them are planted with these three crops.

In later generations, the yield per mu of improved potatoes can reach 3,000-7,000 catties. Yes, this is not a satellite, and it is not uncommon for some places to produce 10,000 catties per mu.

Due to the inability to keep up with all aspects of the conditions, the yield per mu of potatoes is usually about 1500-1800 catties. Of course, this yield is satisfactory enough for the existing conditions, and no more can be desired.

The yield per acre of sweet potatoes is about the same as that of potatoes. These two crops can not only be eaten freshly, but also provide raw starch for food factories to make a variety of easy-to-store foods.

As for corn...... In later generations, Taiwan's corn industry took a different path: fruit corn.

Fruit corn is a type of super sweet corn. The skin is thin and juicy, and it can be eaten raw, and the thin skin breaks when you bite into it, and the juice overflows, just like a fruit.

Naturally, they don't grow such a petty bourgeoisie - ordinary corn suitable for field cultivation is their dish.

In addition, in addition to field corn, in Kinmen Island, where the water and soil are suitable, the grain company also arranged for the reclamation of sorghum and corn fields - the Kinmen sorghum wine of later generations is famous, and it does not hurt after drinking, which is a very good Taiwanese specialty.

......

The above three crops are the confidence of the large number of immigrants from the Ming Kingdom. These high-yielding, fast-growing crops, combined with rice purchased from Hangzhou and South Asia, have withstood waves of balloon-blown populations.

The reason why the Great Golden Dragon Empire, which is located in a corner, can develop rapidly is rooted in this endless farmland.

Liang Letian and the others walked along the dirt road and through the fields for a long time before they arrived close to the central mountain range and hills.

The scenery along the way is monotonous: except for the newly opened soybean fields, which are thriving staple grain fields, the rest are bare abandoned fields.

Due to the lack of fertilizer here, the cultivated land is usually abandoned for a year or two after planting for a season or two to restore the soil. This method was also often used in later generations of large farms, whether it was a compacted field that used too much chemical fertilizer, or an ordinary field with insufficient soil fertility, it could be restored by abandoning the land.

...... From the Chehkan District Government, to the east, the hilly area is about 40 kilometers away. And it's not far from the Central Mountains.

In the mountainous areas, there is a gravel layer underneath the soil layer, so the area of arable land in the hilly area is zero. In other words, there will be no one to farm the land in the middle of the plain until the millions of acres of land suitable for cultivation are developed.

So in that case, what are Liang Letian doing here?

There are water conservancy projects in the hilly area.

The Central Mountain Range is the source of all the streams and rivers in Tainan. The renovation project of lakes in hilly areas near the central mountain range has been a key project of the Ministry of Agriculture since the beginning of this year.

The importance of water conservancy projects to agriculture cannot be overstated. The agriculture sector and the infrastructure sector, including the former large office, have also invested a lot of resources in water conservancy.

When it comes to water conservancy, it's not just about agriculture. The traversers suffered a big loss in terms of water conservancy - just a few months ago, Chen Youguang, the first traverser to die unnaturally, died in a summer storm.

After that incident, the water conservancy construction, which was originally quite steady, suddenly increased the speed by one gear. Savvy the power of the primordial storm in the 17th century, the traversers quickly mobilized a large number of men and equipment to begin to add water conservancy.

The main canals of farmland that had been repaired before were all widened, and the creeks and rivers that had only been cleaned and repaired before were all widened and deepened.

At the same time as a series of agricultural canals and river water conservancy projects were being excavated on a large scale, a series of reservoir projects in the Central Mountains were also put on the agenda to completely solve the water conservancy problems in Tainan. You know, because there were too many resources to be used, the original big office was going to build an upstream reservoir in two years.

What Liang Letian and the others came to inspect today is the prelude to a series of reservoir projects: the renovation project of lakes in hilly areas.