After participating in the autumn ploughing ceremony, after Li Xiao returned to Chifeng City, Xu Xiuqing, the director of Chifeng City, reported something to Li Xiao, who was in a good mood. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

"Your Excellency, after the completion of this clearing of the fields, I have counted with the personnel of the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department, and now there is still a large amount of saline-alkali land in my Chifengwei that has not been utilized. Among them, there are about 30,000 acres of mild saline-alkali land, which are scattered in the townships and towns of Chifengwei, and about 50,000 acres of severely saline-alkali land, mainly concentrated in the northern part of Chifengcheng. ”

Li Xiao sighed, and sighed secretly in his heart, these saline-alkali lands, crops are difficult to grow, grain and wheat are difficult to harvest, how to use it, it is really a difficult thing.

Can it really only be so idle?

Of course not.

"Xiuqing, if you give the order again, anyone who can use the saline-alkali land to generate economic benefits for our army will be rewarded by this official. This military order must be notified to both Red Phoenix City and Iron Dragon City. ”

"The students obeyed."

Three days later, it was dinner time another day, in the general military camp of Tielong City B in Shanxian County, Shandong, a group of newly recruited auxiliary soldiers from the Henan people who had originally built Tielong City began to eat after training.

And the auxiliary soldier Zheng Rubao has no appetite.

Sitting in a corner, he held a hot bun in one hand and a steamed pork dumpling in the other, looking at his teammates who were eating wolf-eating next to him, but he sighed deeply.

Zheng Rubao unconsciously remembered the past.

He will always remember that day, he had been coerced by the thief Black Scorpion Department, and was finally rescued by Li Xiaojun and became one of the thousands of Henan people who were allowed to stay in Li Xiaojun.

As he stayed in Li Xiaojun, the more Zheng Rubao regretted that he had joined Li Xiaojun too late.

He is a native of Yucheng, Henan, in the continuous famine disaster and the invasion of the bandits, Zheng Rubao's family was lost, leaving him alone, and finally had to become a coerced common man among the thieves of the Black Scorpion Department, relying on his life.

After the Black Scorpion Department was annihilated by Li Xiao, Zheng Rubao then joined Li Xiao's army as a homeless person like those Henan people, and then continued to build a city in Iron Dragon City. Some time ago, Li Xiao ordered the expansion of the army, and Zheng Rubao was fortunate to be selected into the B General Army of Wang Yi's Shou Department. But because of his average physical fitness, he was not selected as a soldier, but was just an unknown auxiliary.

Although he is only an auxiliary soldier, Zheng Rubao cherishes his current life.

This feeling has been around for a long time, and it seems that when he took over his household registration book from the official of the Civil Affairs Department of Tielong City that day, put on a waist card engraved with his name, and ate hot and sufficient food, Zheng Rubao had this feeling of stability from the bottom of his heart.

And as time passed, he felt more and more that he was inseparable from Li Xiaojun's flesh and blood.

However, there is no contradiction between cherishing the present life and longing for a better future.

Zheng Rubao, who was in the auxiliary array, once looked at the rewards received by those soldiers with military merits, and also looked at the elated appearance of those soldiers who shared the land of Chifeng with envy.

Zheng Rubao faintly felt in his heart that he could actually do a big career, but he didn't have a chance for the time being.

Some time ago, when he saw the award notice posted by Li Xiao in the barracks of the whole army, he could clearly feel that his heart was pounding.

However, at that time, he did not have the courage to recommend himself, Zheng Rubao had an inexplicable inferiority complex, and always felt that his suggestions might not be adopted, and he was made fun of by his companions in the army.

Until yesterday, when he read Li Xiao's military order specifically for the saline-alkali land, Zheng Rubao could no longer hold back the strong idea of wanting to get ahead in his heart, and he decided to try it anyway.

If you lose face, you will be ashamed, what you are afraid of, it is better than not daring to let go of a stuffy fart.

Zheng Rubao gave himself courage in his heart.

It's just that when he made up his mind, gobbled up the food in his hand, and went to the Civil Affairs Department of Iron Dragon City, he found that he was still a little hesitant.

This Red Fengwei Commander Li Xiao really cares about the advice of such a small auxiliary soldier as himself?

Zheng Rubao lingered outside the Department of Civil Affairs for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and walked in.

Zheng Rubao didn't expect that the officials of the Department of Civil Affairs, after listening to his suggestion, were overjoyed, and hurriedly took him to see Wu Liang, the director of Iron Dragon City.

Wu Liang was also extremely happy when he heard Zheng Rubao's suggestion, and hurriedly sent someone to send him to Chifeng City immediately.

When Zheng Rubao was introduced by Xu Xiuqing to Li Xiao's Qianhu Official Hall, it was already dark, and Li Xiao was preparing to rest in his room, when he heard Xu Xiuqing shouting outside, and hurriedly opened the door to let them in.

As soon as Xu Xiuqing stepped into the door, he said to Li Xiao with a happy face: "My lord, this Sergeant Zheng Rubao has just suggested to the students that he has an excellent method, which can not only tidy up the saline-alkali land, but also increase the economic income of our army. ”

Li Xiao suddenly became interested, and hurriedly asked the two to sit down and talk in detail.

Zheng Rubao was restrained, sneering and sitting down diagonally on a stool.

"Zheng Rubao, if you have any good suggestions, please tell this official in detail." Li Xiao said with a pleasant face.

Zheng Rubao heard Li Xiao's cordial words, his heart warmed, and he hurriedly said: "Lord Li, I heard Lord Xu say that there are 30,000 acres of mildly saline-alkali land and 50,000 acres of severely saline-alkali land in my Chifengwei, and it would be a pity if such a large amount of saline-alkali land was discarded." ”

Li Xiao sighed: "This salinity is not because the official doesn't want to use it, but the crops on it are difficult to grow, and there is no good way, so it can only be idle temporarily." ”

Zheng Rubao hurriedly said: "My lord, these saline-alkali land, in fact, is not useless, according to small experience, after the improvement of saline-alkali land, its salinity will be weakened a lot, although it can not be used to grow food, but can be used to grow other alkali-tolerant crops, such as mild saline-alkali land after improvement, can be used to plant mulberry, severe saline-alkali land after improvement, can be used to grow alfalfa, Suaeda salsa, salthorn grass, quinoa and other cash crops. ”

Hearing Zheng Rubao speak like this, Li Xiao smiled and said: "Oh, I didn't expect that this saline-alkali land still has such a purpose, Rubao, you have opened the eyes of this official." ”

Seeing that Li Xiao was very interested, Zheng Rubao also came to the spirit, and he continued to talk eloquently: "Lord Li, the villain understands this, this is because when I was in my hometown in Henan before, I also planted mulberry trees in saline-alkali land. The villain knows that this mulberry tree is a tree that is tolerant to weak salinity and low temperature and drought, and can be planted on improved saline-alkali land. If the mulberry tree can be successfully planted on mildly saline-alkali land, it can raise silkworms and reel silk, which can be a great source of wealth for our army. If the adults can trust me, the villain is willing to transform the saline-alkali land for the adults to plant mulberry trees and various cash crops. ”

Zheng Rubao's words made Li Xiao unconsciously happy.

He has read the historical materials of the Ming Dynasty and knows that the profit of raising silkworms and reeling silk is extremely high, and if the saline-alkali land can be improved and used to grow mulberry and silkworms, it is the best.

In the relevant information of Songjiang Mansion at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was recorded that at that time, each mu of good mulberry field could produce 1,600 kg of mulberry leaves, 10 kg of silkworms, 100 kg of cocoons, and 10 kg of silk reeling. The price of raw silk in the Ming Dynasty was about 6~7 yuan of silver per catty, and the price was about 72~84 taels according to the calculation of 120 catties per quintal. In other words, if Li Xiao can have 30,000 acres of fertile land, then he can get 300,000 catties of raw silk every year when he grows mulberry reeling silk, and he can get 180,000 taels of silver when he sells it!

Moreover, if raw silk is only sold domestically, the price is not too high, and the real profit is the export trade.

Overseas trade data at the end of the Ming Dynasty show that at that time, many foreign merchants bought raw silk from Guangzhou, and then sold it back to European countries, or transshipped textiles from Mexico and other places in the Americas, and their purchase price was about 160~180 taels per quintal, which was more than twice the domestic market price! If it is a high-quality raw silk with good quality, good quality, sufficient amount and no fraud, it can be as high as 260~300 taels per quintal!

Li Xiao unconsciously remembered the records in the history books of his previous life, that Zheng Zhilong, a sea merchant and a sea coward, because he completely monopolized the trade with Japan, after trafficking the raw silk produced in Fujian to Japan, the price per load was as high as an astonishing 600 taels! This almost terrible price, reaching more than 9 times the price of the domestic market, is really a complete windfall profit!

Therefore, the raw silk trade has become an important source of wealth for Zheng Zhilong's rapid rise, and even along the coast of Fujian, there is also a children's folk song such as "a boatload of filaments goes east, and a boatload of silver goes home".

"My lord, these mulberry fields improved by saline-alkali land, mulberry leaf yield, of course, can not be compared with the best fertile fields, generally speaking, such improved mulberry fields, about 1,000 pounds of mulberry leaves, can reel 5 to 6 pounds of silk."

Zheng Rubao said this, Li Xiao is quickly calculating in his heart, if he opens up these 30,000 acres of improved mulberry fields, according to the minimum yield, he can produce more than 150,000 catties of raw silk every year, if it is sold in China, it can get 90,000 taels of silver per year, and if it is sold overseas, it will be 200,000 taels of silver!

Li Xiao decided in his heart that in order to speed up and make full use of the time, he transferred 1,000 people from Henan Province in Tielong City to Chifengweilai, and Zheng Rubao commanded and coordinated the 30,000 mu of mildly saline-alkali land as soon as possible.

Li Xiao stood up with a smile, walked over and patted Zheng Rubao's shoulder, and said with a smile: "Zheng Rubao, your suggestion is very good." In this way, I will transfer you from the Iron Dragon City Auxiliary Corps, and in the future, you will serve in the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department of Chifeng City, and you will be the head of the Mulberry Silkworm Division, and you will be in charge of the Mulberry Silkworm Division in the future. ”

After learning that he would have 1,000 manpower for his command, Zheng Rubao suddenly looked happy, he quickly stood up from the chair, bowed down and said to Li Xiao: "Please rest assured, Lord Li, the little one will serve the adult wholeheartedly." ”

Li Xiao nodded, and then asked, "Zheng Rubao, how long will it take for the mulberry field to improve, and when can the mulberry start planting?" ”

"My lord, mulberry trees can only be planted in the spring, so in the next arrangement, from now to the spring of next year, it should be possible to use these four or five months to first renovate the 30,000 acres of mild saline-alkali land and 50,000 acres of severe saline-alkali land, so that they can reach the conditions that can be used." Zheng Rubao replied calmly.

Li Xiao sighed, and then Xu Xiuqing on the side interjected: "Zheng Rubao, then you said that after the improvement of this heavily saline-alkali land, can it be used to plant mulberry trees?" ”

Zheng Rubao hurriedly said: "My lord, this heavily saline-alkali land, because the soil contains too high a saline-alkali component, if you want to improve it to the extent that you can plant mulberry trees, it will cost too much manpower and money, and the time will take too long. Another point is that the heavily saline-alkali land, because of its groundwater content, has been seriously invaded by seawater, and even if the improvement is successful, the probability of becoming saline-alkali land in the future is very high, so these lands are really not suitable for planting mulberry trees. ”

Seeing that Li Xiao and Xu Xiuqing both looked thoughtful, Zheng Rubao continued: "However, these heavily saline-alkali lands, after being improved, are still excellent for growing crops such as alfalfa and quinoa. In the future, it can be used as a horse farm for our army, and can also be used to raise cattle, pigs, rabbits, chickens, ducks and other animals, especially pigs and cattle. Suaeda and Salt Horn can be used as traditional Chinese medicine. ”

Zheng Rubao's words made Li Xiao and Xu Xiuqing laugh out loud.

Li Xiao was very happy in his heart, he didn't expect that this road would not lead to the other road, and he was worried about how to build a horse farm for more than 700 horses in Chifeng City.

In fact, Li Xiao had heard of a kind of wood salt tree in his previous life, which is most suitable for planting on heavily saline-alkali land, produced at the junction of Heilongjiang Province and Jilin Province in China, with a height of six or seven meters. After the "sweat" evaporates, what is left behind is a layer of salt as white as snowflakes. When people found out about this secret, they gently scraped off the salt with a knife and used it for stir-frying at home. It is said that its quality can be compared to that of refined table salt.

However, now the origin of this wood salt tree is the territory of Houjin, and Li Xiao cannot obtain the tree species, so he has to give up.

Li Xiao looked happy, turned his head to Xu Xiuqing and ordered: "Xiuqing, but take 50 taels of silver as a reward for advice, reward Zheng Rubao, and post a notice in the whole army to show his merits!" ”

Xu Luqing went away as promised, and soon, Zheng Rubao trembled and accepted the 50 taels of heavy snowflake silver, smiling widely.

"Lord Li, you value it so much, and you will definitely improve this saline-alkali land and do it well for your adults as soon as possible!" Zheng Rubao looked excited and said loudly to Li Xiao.

Li Xiao laughed, praised him a few more words, and said to Xu Xiuqing: "Xiuqing, this matter of improving the saline-alkali land, you will temporarily assist Zheng Rubao, and the required funds and manpower will be given priority, and the land must be transformed as soon as possible, and crops such as mulberry and silkworm cultivation will be planted, and alfalfa and quinoa will be planted to create benefits for our army as soon as possible." ”

Xu Xiuqing replied: "My lord, please rest assured, the students will try their best to assist Section Chief Zheng, and they will never delay the matter of our army planting mulberry and silkworms." (To be continued.) )