The Tuntian barracks, located in several royal estates, are almost finished, and the neat rows of red brick houses are pleasing to the eye, although the roofs are still covered with yellow mud and thatch.

Except for some who continued to build culverts, most of the soldiers were sent out to collect forage for the winter along the wooded and grassy strips on both sides of the valley. Some people were left to dig pits in the manor and the barracks, so there were dozens of large earth pits in the Tangming manor and the barracks that were seven or eight zhang long and about two zhang wide. Some bricklayers are using red bricks and cement mortar to build large waterproof pools inside.

Several craftsmen on the estate were instructing, and it seemed that they were already familiar with such work.

Under Li Qi's guidance, these craftsmen are already familiar with the construction method of silage ponds. Silage forage retains more water than hay and is much better used to feed livestock and even chickens and ducks.

Due to the limited conditions, it is not possible to directly treat and store the grass after harvesting as in later generations, but it is necessary to cool the harvested grass into semi-dry and make semi-dry silage. The harvested grass needs to be cooled for two or three days to remove most of the water before it can be cut.

The half-dried forage is cut into a little more than an inch long with a guillotine and added layer by layer into the large pools of brewed grass, which is compacted back and forth with each punch of thickness and sprinkled with a sour soup made from fermented rice flour and wheat bran. After that, a new layer of forage is filled, compacted, and drenched with slurry water......

Silage retains nearly half as much nutrients than hay and is also easier for livestock to digest and absorb. In this way, the same amount of silage can feed more than half the livestock than hay. Comparatively speaking, the effect of feeding pigs and cattle is the best, and mules, horses and sheep are worse.

In later generations, about three catties of feed can produce a catty of meat, in this era, even if you raise pigs, you have to consume at least tons of grass and part of the feed to feed a pig to more than 150 catties.

Li Qi felt the need to gradually promote the intensive farming methods of later generations, although the taste and quality of the meat produced in this way would gradually decline. But in this age when you can't even eat meat, who cares about this?

He hoped that in a few years, the barracks' own farms would be able to ensure their own meat supply.

The time is September, and the order belongs to the third autumn.

After the millet and millet planted in the summer are harvested, the farmlands on the estate are ploughed again, revealing moist soil.

The crops in Jindi are harvested twice a year, but only in fertile fields with irrigated water.

Dry fields that depend on the weather for food are thin, nutrients are insufficient, and crops grow slowly, which is not enough to support two-season cultivation a year.

Winter wheat should be watered with winter water before wintering, which can not only kill unwanted pests, but also protect wheat seedlings from freezing in winter. Due to the lack of irrigation facilities in Jindi, coupled with the small amount of water in autumn and winter, it is not easy to draw water in the river, and the waterwheel is useless, so the area of winter wheat planting in Jindi is not very much.

Now, thanks to the construction of several dams, at least in the four Huangzhuang around Jinyang, after several small reservoirs began to store water in the autumn, the water for winter irrigation is guaranteed.

As soon as the frost fell, the sprouts stopped growing, and the grass in the nearby fields and mountains and forests was cut bare, and only a few straw stalks remained.

The Yucidong Reservoir and the Sanjiaokou Reservoir in Yangqu County had already begun to store water before the autumn rains, and some of the workshops were ready to be put into use when the frost came.

The sound of the impact from the hydraulic workshop can be heard far away in the field, and it is still relatively comfortable to stand on the ground and look at the green wheat seedlings in the field.

In this era, there are not many scholars who are officials, and those civil officials who can think about the people wholeheartedly and are loyal and upright are even rarer.

Zhang Xian is such a good official who is willing to think about the people, and he is relatively upright.

He originally followed Li Sizhao, the general of the Jin army, to sit in Zelu, mainly responsible for civil affairs, and after Li Sizhao unfortunately died in battle, he went to the Jin king's account as the secretary. It turned out that Li Cunmiao wanted him to be the prime minister, but unfortunately he was squeezed out by Guo Chongtao, so he was arranged to be in Jinyang to supervise the army and stay in the northern capital.

When he came to the Tang Ming Royal Manor in Yangqu County to check the growth of winter wheat, the whole person suddenly became refreshed, and the expression on his face with high cheekbones was very exciting: "It seems that the growth is really good!" ”

"Are you and I playing around with thousands of acres of land? If you survive until next year, you don't have to worry too much about not having enough food. Li Qi squatted on the ground, stretched out his hand and pulled out a wheat seedling, and put it in his hand to observe it carefully. Looking at the growth is okay, but the root system is not as developed as the wheat seedlings that have been fertilized in the later world, but the growth of wheat seedlings is better than that of this era.

Zhang Xian also did the same: "What do you mean by this? ”

Li Qi smiled: "Zhang Gong will know if you read more agricultural books, the more developed this root, the better its growth." Just like people, the bone frame is small, and it can't grow into five big and three thick. ”

"Well, the growth is very good, remember to keep the seeds, I think I can distribute them to farmers as wheat seeds!" Zhang Xian didn't care, and said to Li Qi very seriously.

"Seeds are not selected in the field like this, you need to choose the best fields, intensively cultivate, and have to leave special people to take care of them, apply more manure and water frequently, in order to grow strong!" Li Qi smiled and continued to explain to him, "The vicinity of the manor is the real farming that remains. ”

Zhang Xian nodded after hearing this, then patted the soil on his hands, washed it in the ditch at the edge of the field, and then said: "I came here this time because I wanted to ask the prince for something." ”

Li Jiqi looked at Zhang Xian: "Zhang Gong, please speak." ”

"You have watered the head water in this manor, can you also let some of the surrounding granges also use water and get irrigation?"

"Yes, but the water in this reservoir can't be used in vain!" Li Qi said.

"Pluck a hair and benefit the world, I don't know how much the prince wants?"

"It's hard to calculate by square...... In this way, a certain family only receives 20% of the output per mu! Li Qi thought for a while and said that the grain output of paddy fields is twice that of dry fields, and his asking price is not very high

"Twenty percent?! The prince is a little too ruthless! It's just a matter of ......"

Li Qi looked at Zhang Xian and said slowly: "First of all, a certain family is not a saint!" Some time ago, I read "Lu Lan" and read the law of the Lu country, the Lu people are the concubines of the princes, and those who can redeem them will take their money in the house. Zigong ransomed the Lu people to the princes, and let them come, but did not take their gold. Confucius said: 'Give what is lost.' From now on, the Lu people do not redeem people. If you take the money, you will not be harmed, and if you don't take the money, you will not redeem the person. 'The one who saves the drowning in Zilu will be worshiped by the ox, and the sub-road will be accepted. Confucius said: 'The Lu people will save the drowning.' Confucius saw it in detail, and he looked at it from afar. The Ming government should know that the cost of building the embankment is huge, and even a county and a government sometimes cannot afford it. If there is no interest, who in this world is willing to pay money to take the initiative to build dams and embankments? In the long run, who will bear the charge of abandoning the ditch and the desolation of the countryside? ”

When Zhang Xian heard this, he couldn't refute it.

However, the prince's offer in this matter is too black-hearted, right?! He actually asked for twenty percent of the production of the field.

This matter can only be discussed with those estates and large households that require water......