Plugging Jiangnan, that must be his own purpose, but it is not the last.

Xu Qilin smiled and said: "The importance of Ganzhou is not in its wealth and development, but in its geographical location and its security barrier to the Central Plains. ”

Wang Fangyi nodded and said, "After the conquest of Gaochang, Hexi will become the backing, which can be described as safe." ”

Xu Qilin smiled and didn't speak.

As far as the present situation is concerned, no one regards Tubo as an enemy, even if it once reached Panzhou. In fact, Tubo's strength is indeed insufficient, and no one would have thought that it would become a strong rival of the Tang Dynasty after a few decades.

And the Western Regions really won't become the henchmen of the Tang Dynasty, and Tubo is from the direction of Longyou to occupy Hexi.

Of course, Xu Qilin said too much and looked too far, and there was no need for that, let alone believing. What he has to do is just to do his duty in Ganzhou, and make it a little worse when Tubo marries the princess of the Tang Dynasty.

At this moment, there was a sound of horses' hooves, and it was Luda who rushed over with dozens of people, and nearly half of them looked like Hu people.

Seeing Xu Qilin, Luda jumped off the horse from afar and stepped forward to salute.

"Get up!" Xu Qilin raised his hand and said, "You're going to leave so soon?" ”

Luda bowed his hand and said, "Back to Ah Lang, I have already recruited all the manpower, and I don't dare to delay more." ”

Xu Qilin nodded and encouraged: "Herding cattle and sheep and raising horses are your strengths, and you don't have much to say." But this livestock farm is a variety of operations, and you have to discuss many things with Steward Zhou. In addition, it is also your job to learn to read and write from him. ”

"Ah Lang lifts, the little one understands everything." Luda gave a deep salute and said, "Please rest assured, Ah Lang, the little one will do his best, get along well with Steward Zhou, and run the livestock farm well." ”

Well, being able to say this shows Ruda's growth. Xu Qilin smiled and bowed his head, and said a few more words before letting Luda take people away.

To the west of Zhangye, near the border of Jiuquan, Shandan County, there are beautiful waters and lush grasses, and the mountains are warm in winter and cool in summer, so it is most suitable for the development of animal husbandry.

Xu Qilin naturally wouldn't let go of this gain, so he handed over this burden to Luda, which was regarded as a reward for his loyalty for so long.

Grazing cattle and sheep, raising war horses, and making milk cool, which not only has economic benefits, but also has military significance. Although Datang is not short of war horses now, there is no shortage of places to raise horses.

But in ancient times, the number of war horses was still a measure of strength, and the more the merrier.

Moreover, when he first arrived in Ganzhou, Xu Qilin used a horse-drawn plow in order to speed up the cultivation. Therefore, horses in Ganzhou are not only the mounts of the army, but also can play the role of ploughing cattle.

When it comes to plowing the land with horses, many people may think of a movie called "War Horse", which is a European thing.

In fact, China's horse farming technology has existed very early, and it is determined through historical books that it comes from the Han Dynasty. After the Western Han Dynasty, the quality and quantity of iron farming tools increased greatly, spread rapidly, and horse ploughing and ox ploughing were common in the Central Plains.

However, the actual situation in China determines that ox farming is the most popular, and the number of horse farming is very small.

First of all, the number of horses in the Central Plains Dynasty was not too much, and the number of war horses was even less. To maintain a strong army, it is necessary to have a large war horse.

And the horses in the hands of the people, as the driving force for pulling carts, will also be requisitioned by the state in large quantities once the war breaks out.

The second is that there is no technological progress due to the lack of application, and the improvement of harnesses and the application of horseshoe palms have made horse farming mainstream throughout Europe. Interestingly, yokes were introduced to Europe from China.

But in Xu Qilin's view, the main reason for the popularity of cattle farming in China is that the cost of raising horses is too high for ordinary people to afford.

As the saying goes: cows eat grass, horses eat grain. In the absence of natural grassland, raising horses in the Central Plains, even if it is a horse pulling a cart, will consume grain.

If it is a war horse, the consumption will be even higher, even to an astonishing level. According to the calculations of the ancients, the land needed to raise a horse could feed twenty-five people if it was used to grow grain.

Cattle are different, they are more tolerant of rough feeding, and even if they don't eat very well, they can still be cultivated. In this way, the output of ploughing the land with oxen is of course higher.

And Xu Qilin was forced to use horses to plough the land, and he also knew that this method could not be popular in the Central Plains, let alone the paddy fields in the south.

But he wants to speed up the construction speed, and Ganzhou has a lot of land, which is suitable for the large-scale cultivation method of horse farming.

In other words, in a small-scale peasant economy where men and women weave, it is more economical to cultivate a small area with a small amount of land, using cattle, and horse farming is too expensive.

After such practical experience, Xu Qilin found another reason for the popularity of cattle farming in China. Horse farming is suitable for large-scale plantation economy, while cattle farming is suitable for family farming.

The bottleneck of the lack of arable cattle restricts the development of the agricultural economy, and the use of horses without cattle is high in feeding costs, but horses can pull carts and pack animals, which is more than cattle. In other words, there is one more way to operate.

As for the feed problem in the Central Plains, Xu Qilin also has a solution. As long as there is enough grain to produce, a part of the field can be divided to grow alfalfa or soybeans.

Xu Qilin prefers to plant soybeans, as long as the soil and environment are suitable, soybean cake and soybean meal after soybean oil extraction are concentrated feed for horses.

The idea is there, Xu Qilin did not rush to play His Majesty Li Er, but first made a pilot in Ganzhou. It just so happened that Ganzhou was a very suitable place for growing soybeans, and Xu Qilin got a treasure.

Therefore, in addition to cotton, the second cash crop that Xu Qilin planted in large quantities is soybeans.

In China, soybeans have been cultivated for a long time, and they are also known as soybeans, one of the five grains, but they were only used as raw materials for oil extraction very late.

This matter used to be very confusing to Xu Qilin. In later generations, soybean oil was everywhere, but in ancient times, there was basically none?

In fact, like cattle and horses, people think about the input-output ratio. The oil content of soybeans is low, and the oil yield of the pressing method is less than 10%; Sesame seeds, also called flax, can obtain 35% of the oil yield.

Therefore, in ancient times, meat oil was the main edible oil, and sesame oil was the most vegetable oil. Soybeans, therefore, are also planted less, and people have not noticed that the by-products of processing, soybean cake and soybean meal, are excellent animal feed.

Xu Qilin also noticed that people at this time, even in winter, rarely eat bean sprouts. That's the so-called "** vegetable", and there are a lot of vitamins!

Of course, he would not have known that it was not until the Song Dynasty that bean sprouts were commonly eaten, becoming the vegetarian umami trio alongside bamboo shoots and mushrooms.

Similarly, bean sprouts are rarely eaten, and tofu has never been seen. Xu Qilin doesn't particularly like to eat, but he has discovered the fallacy of historical records or legends.

Later generations of scholars have also studied the origin of tofu in detail, and debated endlessly, and Liu An's "right to invent" in the Eastern Han Dynasty is afraid that it will not be guaranteed.

Because in the documents of the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, there is no written record of making or eating tofu. Most scholars believe that tofu may have appeared in the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty and became popular in the Song Dynasty.

Either way, Xu Qilin has discovered a wide range of benefits from growing soybeans. In addition, the yield is higher than that of sesame, and there is also the role of land nourishment, so a large number of cultivation was finally carried out in Ganzhou.

What to plant, isn't the main consideration of economic benefits? Soybeans are so widely used, but no one grows them?

When soybeans are planted in large quantities, it will not be so difficult for families to raise horses. If you have a horse at home, you always work in a short period of time to plough the land, and if you are idle to pull goods and run transportation, isn't it another income?

Xu Qilin had in mind a series of chain effects, rather than letting farmers be shackled to that one-third of an acre. Relying on the output of the land, food and clothing are already good, when can you get rich?

You have ten acres of land, one acre of cotton, one acre of soybeans, and the rest of the grain. In less than two or three years, the family's clothes, bed covers, and feeding animals will basically be taken care of.

If you pull your foot or make a small deal in the slack time, after three or five years, it will almost be a well-off home, right?

Xu Qilin thought very well, so he was ready to complete the pilot in Ganzhou, speak with full and detailed data, and change the current production and life of Datang.

These goals are still a bit long-term, and they can't be seen in a few years, but as soon as he arrived in Ganzhou to take over, he brought happiness and surprises to his relatives in the capital.

……………

When His Majesty Li Er arrived at Bingxia Palace, the meal had already been arranged. The little girls were waiting to be anxious, and Xincheng was even more greedy to lick her lips and keep sniffing the aroma of meat in the air.

"Father, are you so late?" Xincheng stroked his little belly, saying that he was hungry.

Hahahaha, His Majesty Li Er stroked his beard and smiled dryly, and said: "It's my father who is not good and makes Xincheng starving." ”

With that, he sat down in his seat, waved his hand, and said, "Then let's begin!" I also want to know what specialties Qi Lin has sent, and what new dishes the chef of the Xu family has made? ”

Xiao Zhao jumped down and instructed the palace people to open the food box, put it on the table the same, and make introductions.

"This is braised beef made with wild yak meat in Ganzhou, this is a cold dish made with Ganzhou fat cabbage, this is braised pork knuckle with fat cabbage, and this is lamb skewers grilled with Ganzhou cumin......"

Xincheng swallowed, and she felt a little embarrassed in her voice. The son giggled, gave the little sister a chopstick beef, and said, "Eat, Xincheng." ”

"Eat them all, move your chopsticks!" His Majesty Li Er stared at the plate of hair cabbage with hair entangled, and asked suspiciously: "This hair is called hair cabbage?" ”

Xiao Zhao nodded his little head and said, "My brother said in his letter that this hair cabbage grows on the ground, and it is the same variety as mushrooms and fungus. ”

Oh, His Majesty Li Er carefully picked up a pair of chopsticks, put them in his mouth and chewed them, and kept bowing his head: "It tastes good, and the taste is better than lotus root and staghorn vegetables." ”

Xu Hui seemed to be a little allergic to this cabbage, the chopsticks stretched halfway and then retracted, took a piece of beef and chewed it, nodded and said, "The meat is tender and very delicious." ”

The son chewed in his mouth and nodded his head again and again.

Xincheng is holding a bunch of mutton to eat, the taste is unique and delicious, which is very different from what he used to eat.

Xiao Zhao explained beside him: "My brother said in the letter that this hair cabbage has the effect of detoxifying and clearing heat, regulating the lungs and dissolving phlegm, and is very beneficial to the body of His Majesty and Her Royal Highness the Princess. ”

"Qi Lin has a heart." His Majesty Li Er bowed his head lightly, and he ate very deliciously.

"I didn't expect there to be so much delicious food in Ganzhou." Xiao Zhao sat down, but there were still words of envy on his lips, "The blue sky, white clouds, deserts, grasslands, and oases can all be seen in Ganzhou, and I want to go and appreciate them." ”

"That's not going to work." Xu Hui refused without discussion, paused, and said in a softened tone: "Let Qi Lin take you there when you grow up." ”

Xiao Zhao knew that this was no fun, so he lowered his head to eat and was silent.

His Majesty Li Er smiled and said, "It's thousands of miles, but it's not like you can go there." Wait for Qi Lin to return to Beijing to report on his work, and then talk about taking you there. ”

Xiao Zhao immediately raised his head and asked, "When will Your Majesty call him back to Beijing to report on his work?" ”

This-His Majesty Li Er blinked his eyes and said, "It will take a year to see how well he does over there." ”

Oh, that's a little bit of hope. Xiao Zhao's face was a little pale, he was still a child, and after eating for a while, his face gradually returned to his smile.

"Father, go see the big yak after eating!" The son raised his head and said with a smile: "I have rushed to the Imperial Garden, and I heard Xiao Zhao say that it is very powerful." ”

"Go and see, I still have the government to deal with." His Majesty Li Er has seen yaks since he has seen them, but he also wants to let his beloved daughter in the deep palace see the new species.

Xiao Zhao added on the side: "There are three yaks in total, one is slaughtered at home, and the remaining two are sent to the palace. There are also things such as hair cabbage and cumin, which are tribute from my brother. I also brought the recipe for cooking. ”

"Wow." It's great that the new city has finally made a sound, and it will be able to eat it in the future.

His Majesty Li Er smiled and said, "Qi Lin has already reported on the report, I told him not to waste money, he has traveled thousands of miles, and he will not send it in the future." ”

Xu Hui nodded and said, "Your Majesty is wise. The concubine also had to write a letter to tell him that as long as he governed Ganzhou well, he would serve the court and live up to His Majesty's expectations. ”

The little girls looked at each other, unhappy, but they didn't dare to say anything against it.

"Ai Concubine, I said that Qi Lin will enjoy it wherever he goes." His Majesty Li Er smiled and pointed to the dishes on the table, and said, "What's the matter, you should be completely relieved now." ”

Xu Hui smiled and said: "The concubine is indeed no longer worried, Qi Lin expressed great confidence in the letter, and after two or three years, His Majesty will be returned to Jiangnan." ”

After a pause, she continued to smile: "He also wrote two lines of poetry, which is a vision of Ganzhou's future." ”

"It's just two lines of poetry-" His Majesty Li Er stroked his beard and smiled: "I said that he was holding back poetry, and Concubine Ai also defended him." Well, how about I listen to these two verses? ”

Xu Hui was also very helpless, and the little brother collapsed in one sentence or two, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he was holding back poetry.

"Although it is two sentences, the concubine looks very good." Xu Hui still defended his younger brother before he opened his mouth and recited: "I don't want the snow on Qilian Mountain, and I mistake Ganzhou for Jiangnan." ”

His Majesty Li Er pondered for a moment, nodded with a smile, and said, "It is indeed an excellent poem." Qi Lin has such ambitions, I will wait to see the plug in Jiangnan! ”

.....................