After inspecting and auditing all the salt farms, Chi Fei found that the output of each salt farm had decreased significantly.

In particular, the three salt farms using the Yantian method used to produce salt once every half a month, but now it can only be produced once a month.

The main reason is that after entering the winter, the daylight hours become shorter, which is a normal phenomenon that there is no way.

However, this reduction in production will still have a certain impact on the future income of the whole army.

After all, the main source of income for the northwest authorities now lies in the sale of salt and sea trade, and the core product is this white salt.

A decrease in the production of this white salt will naturally have an impact on future income.

In addition, in order to settle the hundreds of thousands of displaced people, a large amount of silver and grain needs to be consumed, it can be expected that the supply of military rations for the Northwest Army will become relatively tight in the next two years.

The main reason is that the type of food is too simple, and it would be nice if there were other food supplements.

As a modern person, Chi Feinaturally knows that the best life-saving food in ancient society was sweet potatoes and corn.

Not only is it highly yielding, but it is also cold and drought tolerant, and it is extremely adaptable, and it can be cultivated in large quantities even in arid and barren areas such as the northwest.

It is definitely the best life-saving food in a famine year, and it can also be used as a supplementary food in normal times.

But the problem is that he can't find either crop at all.

He had asked many people, even the erudite Mr. Zhang Wenxuan, but no one had heard of or seen similar crops.

In addition to asking people everywhere, Chi Fei also assigned another additional task to Zhao Yaoguang and An Yang, who were far away in Jiangnan to do business with those big salt merchants, that is, to ask local farmers and foreigners if there were any crops similar to sweet potatoes and corn, and if they found them, they would send them as soon as possible.

But so far, there has been no news at all.

In his plane, corn was native to Central and South America, and sweet potatoes were native to South America.

And this world is very similar to his world, if sweet potatoes and corn were also found here, most of them would be native overseas.

In other words, these two crops would not have been able to be started without the foreigners.

It seems that the key to finding it lies in the foreigners.

Thinking of this, Chi Fei gradually had a plan in his heart.

……………………

"Ah Zhen, you're here." Seeing her brother-in-law who she hadn't seen for a few months, Ning Yabai was very happy.

He only returned to Jiujiang yesterday after completing the defense inspection work in the northeastern prefectures, and today he met his long-lost brother-in-law.

"It's been almost ten days since I came back. The eldest brother has worked his patrol. "I haven't seen him for so long, Chi Fei saw that his eldest brother was not only dark but also thin, but he was in good spirits.

"It's not hard, I'm used to it. In the past, when I was patrolling in the northwest, it was called hard work, and I often couldn't see a family for several days or even ten days, and I had to spend the night in the field almost every day.

Spending the night in the wild is nothing, the main food is all dry food, and that's the most disgusting. Now the northeast side is much better, and every day or two there is a post station where you can rest and cook.

When the Chinese New Year comes, our brothers will get together and call Ah Zhi over. It's been a long time since I've seen that girl, so I miss her. ”

Ning Yabai has always been silent, restrained and steady, and rarely says so many things at once like today, it seems that he is in a really good mood.

Chi Fei smiled: "Big brother wants to see Ah Zhi, what's the problem, I'll call her over later, let's have a meal together."

It's that the second brother is now guarding Zhangnan, but he hasn't seen anyone for almost half a year. ”

"When I went to Zhangnan with Uncle Dingbei to inspect the defense, I also saw that kid. He complained that he was bored to death in Zhangnan, doing nothing all day, and missed you and Ah Zhi very much. ”

"The second brother has a lively temperament, which is no wonder.

By the way, big brother, I came to you this time because I wanted to discuss something with you. ”

"Okay, you say."

Chi Fei told him his plan in detail.

After listening to what he said, Ning Yabai asked with some surprise: "You mean, you want to send a large number of people disguised as merchants to infiltrate Jiangnan and the southern coastal areas to deal with those foreigners?" ”

"Yes, because there are a lot of people that need to be sent, so I specially came to discuss this matter with you, eldest brother."

"What do you want to do with the sweet potatoes and corn?"

"The biggest advantage of these two crops is that they are not picky, especially corn, which is very drought tolerant and cold-tolerant, and can be grown on a large scale even in the barren and arid areas of the northwest.

What's more, these two crops have extremely high yields, and the output of only twenty to thirty acres of land is enough to feed a family of ten. ”

When Ning Yabai heard this, he stood up suddenly, with a very shocked expression on his face.

"Is there really such a high yield?" His voice even raised several degrees from the shock.

"That's true. These two crops can be eaten not only by people but also by livestock, and they are excellent life-saving foods in famine years.

It's just that the origin of these two crops is far overseas, so they can only be obtained through foreigners, and there is no other way. ”

"As long as foreigners have seeds, we can buy them.

No, you have to get your hands on it anyway, no matter what method you use.

As long as these two crops are available, there will be no shortage of grain in the northwest in the future, and the peasants will not have to go hungry all day long.

Great, great! Ning Yabai clenched his fists as he said excitedly, and his whole face became red, even more excited than when he first heard about the salt drying method.

No wonder he was so excited, because Ning Yabai was not a noble son who didn't understand farming and didn't distinguish between grains.

On the contrary, in order to let him and Ning Yafeng have a deeper understanding of the northwest, Ning Zhiyuan not only personally took his two sons to the battlefield, but also let them see with their own eyes what kind of life the local farmers lived.

After seeing the life of local farmers with their own eyes, the two brothers Ning Yabai and Ning Yafeng knew that it was not easy for farmers in the northwest to be.

They often eat a meal in a large restaurant in the capital that may eat up the entire year's harvest of a family of five in the northwest.

To take the simplest example, the production capacity per mu in Jiangnan reaches two stones, and two buckets of seeds are used, and one is planted and ten harvested.

If the daily ration of two liters for an adult is calculated, it will be at least three and a half acres to eat, and a family of ten will need thirty-five acres.

This is still the best field in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is planted with rice to have such a harvest.

If it is replaced by barren land like the northwest, half of the yield per mu is good, and generally only one-third of the harvest is obtained. That's the difference.

Therefore, in the northwest, if you want to feed a family of ten, you can't do it without hundreds of acres of land.

In the south of the Yangtze River, if a family owns hundreds of acres of land, it can be regarded as a small landlord, but in the northwest, it can only maintain food and clothing.

Even the minimum requirement of maintaining food and clothing must be achieved under favorable weather conditions. If the weather is bad that year, the harvest will be reduced again and again.

Sometimes when the harvest is bad, farmers can only survive on bran rice, and they can only eat one bran rice a day.

That miserable scene was something that the two brothers, Ning Yabai and Ning Yafeng, had never dared to imagine before they witnessed it with their own eyes.

Because they have seen too many such situations, the brothers who were originally supposed to be clothed and fed by the Zhenguo Mansion never dared to waste a single grain, let alone make a mentally retarded behavior like the losers of other families, who spent a lot of money just to smile at a certain Qinglou Oiran.

Even many families in the capital can't understand why the Tangtang Town Guogong Mansion is so simple in terms of food, clothing and life, and it is not at all like what the Zhong Ding family should be.

If you want to say that acting for the sake of fame, it won't be decades at a time, which is really incomprehensible.

In fact, the real reason is very simple, after witnessing the lives of so many peasants in the northwest, where can the children of the Ning family, who have been rooted in the northwest for generations, still bear to live that kind of extravagant and wasteful life.

It is precisely because she knows very well about the grain production situation in the northwest that Ning Yabai is so excited.

If someone else had told him about it, he would have been skeptical unless he saw it with his own eyes.

But brother-in-law Chi Fei used one unheard of but really effective method after another to help the Ning family tide over one difficulty after another, and none of them missed, so the Ning family, from the head of the family Ning Zhiyuan to the two brothers, all believed in what Chi Fei said.

Since he said that there is, then there must be such a crop in the world.

Seeing that the eldest brother agreed to his proposal, Chi Fei took out a large stack of printed pictures from the baggage he brought over.

These drawings are the original drawings of sweet potatoes and corn that he first drew by sketching, and then asked craftsmen who are good at engraving to engrave according to the original drawings, and finally printed thousands of copies of the finished product.

Chi Fei showed one of the pictures to Ning Yabai, "Big brother, the pictures on this picture are sweet potatoes and corn, we can send someone to take these pictures and ask the foreigners if they have seen these two things."

If the foreigner has the best seeds, we can buy them on the spot. If not, we can pay a lot of money to ask foreigners to bring it across the sea. ”

Looking at the incomparably clear pictures on the paper, Ning Yabai was not only curious, but also deeply moved.

is so well prepared, it can be seen that my brother-in-law is really attentive.

If this matter can be accomplished, not only in the northwest, but also in the whole Great Wei, the hungry people are willing to set up an immortal card for their brother-in-law, wishing him a long life.

"Ah Zhen, don't worry, I will arrange someone to do it immediately, and I will definitely find the seeds of these two crops as soon as possible." Ning Yabai made a very solemn promise.

"Then it's troublesome big brother. In addition, when the eldest brother arranges people to do this, he can explain to those people when dealing with foreigners, and by the way, recommend our port on this side of Jiujiang.

Let's just say that our port on this side of Jiujiang not only has many tradable items, which is no worse than Jiangnan, but most importantly: customs duties are completely free. ”

"Tariff exemption? Do you really want to be so generous to foreigners? Ning Yabai asked with some surprise.

In his impression, it was normal for foreigners and merchants to collect tariffs, and he had never heard of anyone who would not collect tariffs.

Chi Fei said with a smile: "Big brother, there are actually not many foreigners who come to Dawei, and even if you collect tariffs from them, it is actually very limited.

And almost all of our silk, porcelain and other items come from Jiangnan. Those foreigners are not stupid, why don't they buy goods locally in Jiangnan, but have to come all the way to Jiujiang to do business.

Therefore, we need to absorb foreigners to trade through tariff-free.

As long as there are many foreigners who come to trade, other merchants from all over the world will naturally gather here to buy foreign goods.

Coupled with the great preferential treatment of full tariff exemption, I believe that in a few years, our Jiujiang will gradually become a larger maritime goods trading center in the Central Plains.

As for how we get it out of it, it's actually quite simple.

As early as half a year ago, I asked my father-in-law to buy all the land in Jiujiang Port.

After the port of Jiujiang prospered, we built a large number of shops, inns and warehouses, and by the time the rent was enough for us to make a lot of money.

Isn't that far better than imposing tariffs that are not much in the first place? ”

Looking at his brother-in-law who was confident, Ning Yabai couldn't help but think of what his father had said to him: The northwest is vast and sparsely populated, and the land is poor and weak, so it is impossible to support the army. At the beginning, for the sake of food and grass, the Northwest Army even almost became a bandit army.

But because of Ah Zhen's various miracles, now the northwest can not only stand on its own, but also have a new atmosphere.

Ah Zhen is a unique talent in the world, with him, the Ning family can compete for the world.

Looking at the picture printed with sweet potatoes and corn in his hand, Ning Yabai deeply sympathized with his father's thoughts.

Such a genius is actually the son-in-law of the Ning family, and it is really the blessing of the Ning family.

The Ning family can indeed compete for the world.

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