The next morning, Zheng Rubao took Li Xiao, Xu Xiuqing and others to a saline-alkali place in the north of Chifeng City. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Zheng Rubao pointed to the white frost crystals on the saline-alkali ground and said: "My lord, please see, these white things are saline-alkali, and this soil is commonly known as burnt soil, which means soil that can burn saplings and seeds. The fertility of this soil is very poor, it is easy to harden, and it is difficult for wild grasses to grow. It must be completely modified before it can be used. ”

Xu Xiuqing said beside him: "In this case, how to start?" ”

Zheng Rubao hurriedly said: "Generally speaking, the treatment of saline-alkali land should be carried out in three steps. The first step is to remove the salt. ”

Li Xiao nodded and said, "Rubao, you can tell me in detail." ”

Zheng Rubao said: "The so-called salt removal, is to completely shovel the crystalline salt soil on the surface of the saline-alkali land, it is now late autumn, the land has not yet frozen hard, you can send people to complete this work first." ”

Xu Xiuqing sighed, and hurriedly asked, "Is this the case that the work of removing salt has been completed?" ”

Zheng Rubao shook his head: "It's not so easy, it's just to remove the salt skin on the surface." After shoveling off the surface crystalline salt skin, it is necessary to dig a diversion ditch to attract live water to diffuse and dissolve the salt in the soil, so that the salt in the soil is dissolved in water, one can be discharged through the drainage ditch, and the other can penetrate into the lower layer of the land with water. According to my original experience, it takes about three days to irrigate one row, three times in a row in a mild saline-alkali area, and six times in a severe saline-alkali area, before the work of salt removal is truly completed. ”

Li Xiao said with a smile: "Rubao is a knowledgeable person in the end, and he is very organized. So what's the next step?"

Zheng Rubao also smiled, he scratched his head and said, "I don't dare to say that I know how to do it, it's just a little experience." The second step is ploughing. ”

Xu Xiuqing interjected: "This student can figure out that it should be the meaning of turning the land over and cultivating it completely, right? ”

Zheng Rubao nodded: "That's exactly what it means." It has been observed below, under normal circumstances, the distribution of saline-alkali in the soil layer is, the surface layer is more, the lower layer is less, after tillage, the remaining saline-alkali in the surface soil after desalination can be turned to the lower edge of the cultivated layer, and the soil containing less saline alkali in the lower layer is turned over to the surface. Ploughing can also loosen the soil layer, reduce soil moisture loss, and effectively prevent the soil from returning to a saline-alkali state. According to experience, spring and autumn are the seasons when the return of salt is heavier, and this is the most advantageous time to start ploughing. ”

Xu Xiuqing smiled and said, "I see." ”

Zheng Rubao smiled and said, "The last step is to fertilize." It should be noted that fertilizers such as saline and alkali should not be used, such as commonly used agricultural fertilizers such as plant ash. It should be directly drenched with human and animal feces. In this way, the salinity in the soil will be reduced, and the soil fertility can be effectively increased. ”

After Zheng Rubao finished speaking, Li Xiao groaned for a while, he knew that the reason why Zheng Rubao only drenched human and animal manure was because this kind of organic fertilizer was weakly acidic, which could be neutralized with the salinity in the soil. The plant ash is weakly alkaline, so it is not available. Of course, Zheng Rubao of the Ming Dynasty did not know the chemical principle, but it was rare for him to be able to figure out this method.

Li Xiao smiled and said to Zheng Rubao: "Zheng Rubao, just do what you said." Priority should be given to the remediation of those mildly saline-alkali lands to ensure that the silkworm work can be carried out smoothly. ”

Zheng Rubao hurriedly said: "Lord Li, don't worry, from the end of autumn now to the beginning of spring next year, there is enough time, and there are 1,000 laborers, enough to plough all these saline-alkali lands." ”

Li Xiao asked again: "Rubao, this manpower and material resources, this official can ask Xu Xiuqing to do his best to assist you, can you guarantee that by the beginning of spring next year, all the saline-alkali land will be renovated?" ”

Zheng Rubao replied: "My lord, in the work of removing salt, one laborer can complete the removal of 1 mu of salt skin of mild saline-alkali land and half an acre of salt skin of severe saline-alkali land in one day, so that it will take one month to remediate 30,000 mu of mild saline-alkali land, and it will take more than 3 months to remediate 50,000 mu of severely saline-alkali land." After shoveling off the salt skin, it is necessary to send people to open a canal to irrigate the land from the river water, dilute the salt, eliminate soil compaction, generally the mild saline-alkali land should be irrigated every three days, and the severe saline-alkali land should be irrigated every two days to discharge the old water that dissolves the salt, and introduce new water from the river. When the shovel skin is completed, the ditch can also be dug well. Therefore, I think that from now to the beginning of spring next year, there will be nearly five months of intake, which is still enough to complete. ”

Xu Xiuqing nodded and said: "The manpower allocation of shoveling salt and digging canals will be arranged by you Rubao, if the manpower is really insufficient, I can transfer some manpower from the captives who built the city wall to you." ”

Zheng Rubao said gratefully: "Thank you Lord Xu for your support." ”

Xu Xiuqing said with a smile: "This is a trivial matter, Rubao doesn't need to be polite, but what should I do next?" ”

Zheng Rubao replied: "After the salt is completed, you can start plowing immediately, generally speaking, a cow can plough one and a half acres of land a day, I have calculated the time, and when we are about to start ploughing, the autumn ploughing in Xinghe Village has already ended, and it is just right to borrow ploughing cattle from them to use." In the same land as the ploughing, the prepared human and animal manure is sown to neutralize the salt and increase the fertility of the land. ”

Xu Xiuqing interjected with a smile: "If mulberry leaves are produced in the future, those idle plots that cannot be used for planting can be used to set up sericulture workshops and silk reeling workshops, so that it is convenient to produce mulberry leaves to process." ”

Zheng Rubao said with a smile: "The adults are thoughtful, but it is very good to do this. ”

Li Xiao on the side also smiled, he nodded slightly, and did not speak.

In fact, in Li Xiao's heart, there is a bigger vision that he did not say.

That is, in the future, Li Xiao plans to sell not only raw silk, but also silk. If raw silk is spun, dyed and processed into silk, the profits will skyrocket further.

In his previous life, Li Xiao had seen some information on the processing of silk in the Ming Dynasty, and generally speaking, raw silk had to go through several processes of boiling, bleaching, dyeing and rewinding before being spun. During this process, there is some loss of raw silk consumption. According to statistics, in a place like Songjiang Province where the textile technology is mature, about one and a half catties of raw silk can make one catty of silk.

As for the price of silk, each piece of silk is generally 5 zhang long and weighs 24 taels, depending on the type of quality, each horse is about 8~20 taels of silver, and a few excellent quality can reach 30~40 taels of silver. If the price of silk is estimated at a low value of 10 taels per horse, then each load of half-raw silk can be woven and dyed into a load of silk, about 80 horses, and the price can be as high as 800 taels of silver!

Moreover, this is only the domestic market price, the export price generally needs to be doubled or tripled, and the price of a load of silk is expected to reach more than 2,000 taels!

In this way, even if the consumption of woven silk is added, then the export price of silk of the same weight is 10 times higher than that of raw silk!

It can be easily calculated that 30,000 acres of mulberry orchards made of improved saline-alkali land, according to the minimum output, can produce 150,000 catties of raw silk, according to a load of 120 catties, that is, 1250 quintals of raw silk, then, about 840 quintals of silk, about 67,200 horses, then, if sold in China, the total price is more than 670,000 taels. And if it is exported, the price can reach an astonishing figure, which can definitely reach more than 1.5 million taels!

What's more, growing mulberry and silkworm and weaving satin is a sustainable industry and a renewable resource. Gold and silver will be mined, but raw silk and satin can continue to be produced year after year.

It's man-made! If this seemingly useless saline-alkali land can really become the land for planting mulberry trees, wouldn't it have laid a solid economic foundation for the rise of Chifengwei.

A sense of pride was inexplicably stirring in Li Xiao's heart.

This kind of feeling of leading his subordinates and working together to create a world is really good.

After Li Xiao returned to the Thousand Households Official Hall in Chifeng City, he received a letter from An Qian, the governor of Jintang City, who sent someone to expedite it.

An Qian told Li Xiao in the letter that more than half of the earthen city walls without bricks had been repaired in Jintang City, and the families of more than 700 soldiers and soldiers who had come from Chifeng City had been settled. All kinds of official offices in the fort, such as the Department of Commerce, the Department of Industry, the Department of Civil Affairs, the Department of Money and Grain, and other daily administrative agencies, have all been built, and as long as Li Xiao transfers officials, these departments can start operating immediately.

Seeing these news, Li Xiao was very pleased.

However, when he looked down again, his feelings were very complicated.

An Qian wrote in the letter that the invasion of the border by the Tatars for more than three months led to a large number of displaced people in Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi and other places that had been ravaged by war. The last time Li Xiao returned, although he took with him more than 12,000 displaced people from the North Xuanfu Road, now almost two months have passed, and there are a large number of displaced people from other parts of Xuanfu, and even from Datong and Shanxi, with more than 20,000 people, who have gathered around the Jintang City under construction and refused to leave.

An Qian sighed that this large number of homeless people, because Jintang City can give two bowls of thin porridge every day to hang their lives, and because after the completion of Jintang City, there are a lot of job opportunities, so although the weather is getting colder and colder, no one is willing to leave. It's just that now Jinjiazhuangbao's acceptance capacity is saturated, and it is really impossible to absorb them anymore.

If these people continue to stay outside Jintang City, An Qian is worried that soon winter will come, and the extremely cold wave from the Mongolian Plateau will definitely freeze most of the displaced people to death quickly. If this is the case, although the lives of people in the troubled world are like grass, it is still too sad to face such a tragedy that will happen under their own noses.

After reading the letter, Li Xiao sighed softly.

He knew very well what An Qian wanted to say to himself.

At present, in addition to the cost of building the city wall and related buildings in the fort, there are only 70,000 or 80,000 taels of silver left, and these silver must be used to buy food and pay salaries to ensure the living needs of the soldiers and craftsmen in the fort. Now the war-torn Xuanfu Town, the price is expensive, the grain is difficult to buy, and the silver taels in An Qian's hands are really not enough, Li Xiao secretly thought, now An Qian should be struggling to support. Otherwise, I wouldn't have written a letter that looked like a report on my work, but was actually a request for assistance.

It's just that when the capacity of Jintang City has reached its limit, are the two places in Shandong still capable of accepting more displaced people now in Chifengwei and Tielong City?

Li Xiao quickly calculated a detailed account in his heart.

At present, the fields that can cultivate grain have been allocated, and the job opportunities that can accommodate the displaced people are: first, salt farms, second, mulberry fields, third, military horse farms and saline-alkali land economic breeding farms, fourth, all kinds of shops in Chifeng City in the future, and fifth, gold mines, copper mines and other mineral workshops that are now in a state of exploration.

Now there is a very big problem, that is, these places that require manpower are still under construction, and the fastest operating salt plant will not officially start production until two months later, and it can only absorb more than 2,000 people, and it is impossible to absorb more manpower.

Moreover, even if all the projects are built and operational, Li Xiao estimates that at most more than 10,000 people will be absorbed, and the remaining labor force will still not be able to accommodate it.

In Tielong City, because all kinds of iron-making equipment are not yet complete, more than 2,000 people in Henan Province and more than 2,000 local people in Shan County who have taken refuge in Li Xiaojun because they are homeless, are currently working to excavate and crush iron ore in preparation for the future production of iron and steel. It can be seen that the Iron Dragon City, which has not yet been officially put into production, is also unable to absorb more labor.

Of course, Li Xiao could completely ignore these homeless people and let them freeze and starve to death. Because now the officials in the prefectures and towns all over the Ming Dynasty are almost all doing this.

It's just that if he really does this, Li Jingxiao feels that he can't pass the threshold of conscience.

These people, from Shanxi and Datong, traveled thousands of miles to Jintang City, originally thought that they could find a chance to settle down here, and change the fate of dying and helpless, if they could only freeze and starve to death, what a miserable thing it would be!

"Go and call Mr. Wozi, the official has something to discuss with him." Li Xiao instructed the sergeant on the side.

The sergeant obeyed his promise, and soon Chen Zilong strode into the living room.

Li Xiao let Chen Zilong read An Qian's letter, and then asked him what to do with these homeless people.

"My lord, these homeless people, just like our army last time, pick out the young and strong people, and bring them all from Xuanfu Town to my Chifengwei." Chen Zilong said without thinking.

"Oh, why do you want to do this?"

"My lord, the concern of the students is that so many people have gathered outside Jintang City and have high expectations for our army, but they have been treated indifferently by our army, and those people will be greatly disappointed and full of resentment. If there are unscrupulous people among them who take the opportunity to incite the people to make trouble, then I am afraid that there will inevitably be a bloody dispute outside Jintang City, and such a result will cause both the displaced people and our army to lose and be injured. ”

Chen Zilong's solemn words made Li Xiao nod his head unconsciously.

Yes, people are forced to run out of life, and there is nothing else that can be done. Now that Jintang City has not been completely repaired, these more than 20,000 people are really making trouble, and it is really a question whether the general army of Jintang City, which has less than 2,000 people, can successfully suppress the displaced people.

"Wozi, it's just that these homeless people really moved to my Chifengwei, but it is difficult to find a suitable job for a while, and the food supply will become more and more tight." Li Xiao said worriedly.

"Master Li, just ensure that these people live, as for the job position, we can always find a way to arrange and digest it slowly, not to mention that our army will expand the army in the future, and it can also be selected from such displaced people."

A wry smile flashed on Li Xiao's face.

Yes, in this chaotic world at the end of the Ming Dynasty, in this era when life is as cheap as grass, it is good to ensure that these people live, and the rest can only be said later.

Li Xiao quickly thought in his heart, if these more than 20,000 people came over, if the same supply was guaranteed, the rate of food consumption would be doubled! Li Xiaojun's existing grain reserves will quickly run out of stockpiles.

Even if these homeless people are only given gruel to eat, food consumption will increase greatly. After all, there are more than 20,000 mouths, and the amount of food consumed every day is staggering.

Grain, grain, food for dogs, if only it could be conjured into food.

"Are you worried about the lack of food?" Seeing Li Xiao's sad face, Chen Zilong asked in a low voice.

Li Xiao's eyes lit up: "What is Mr. Chen's good plan?" ”

"The students are thinking, shouldn't those large and small landlords on the border of Zhaoyuan County and on both sides of the Beiluan River share their worries for our army? How unreasonable is that! Chen Zilong snorted coldly, and a hint of coldness suddenly flashed on his face.

(Thank you for the wise man inaction, the shadow of the cold wind, the person who reads, the monthly pass of the 546740789 brothers, thank you for the reward of the brothers of Maha Immeasurable, thank you for your support) (To be continued.) )