After getting up the next day, Li Zicheng immediately asked He Xiaomi to invite Liang Wencheng, and he came to the training ground and trotted a few laps, until his body was slightly sweaty before returning to Houya's home.

Just after breakfast, Liang Wencheng had already come to the study of the back office, Li Zicheng came to the study in three steps and two steps, "Wencheng, it's so early, it's almost too late for breakfast!" ”

"It's not your own urgency, how dare I come so early? I'm so busy all day that I'm dizzy," Liang Wencheng laughed, "I heard that Zicheng fought a beautiful cavalry battle in Triangle City, and the Mongols were almost wiped out, how about it, aren't you tired?" ”

"No, no, it's just a few hundred miles away," Li Zicheng sat down on the main seat and let He Mi serve tea, "Wencheng is a busy man, so I'll just say it bluntly, how are the hundreds of Shaanxi homeless people who gave you last time?" ”

"They," Liang Wencheng suddenly had a headache, "Now that the spring plowing season has long passed, we can only let them reclaim some land and leave it for autumn cultivation," paused, and said: "Zicheng, I really don't know what you think, these homeless people, Weili still has to use grain to raise, there are so many homeless people in Shaanxi, can we afford to raise them?" ”

"If you can raise some, count some, the rest of the homeless people, out of sight," Li Zicheng said leisurely: "Actually, it's not for nothing, isn't it a soldier recruited from them?" How much land have they reclaimed now? ”

"They were placed in the three Zhuangzi of Hekou, Dongsheng and Wangxi around Xining, and the land around the Zhuangzi has almost been reclaimed, and it should be less than 40 acres."

"That's what they're used for," Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Erxi brought back a batch of crop seeds from Jiangnan, with a production capacity of 2,000 catties per mu, just for them to plant and manage." ”

"Two thousand pounds? So much? Liang Wencheng's mouth suddenly looked like a feeding hippopotamus, and his eyes were like two lanterns burning in the dark night, "Zicheng, what kind of crop is this?" Is it reliable? ”

Xining is located in the borderland, the land is barren, the rain is scarce, the grain output has never been high, in terms of wheat, there can be a harvest of two stones per mu, it is very good, about two hundred catties a little more, and these crops have reached two thousand catties, which is ten times that of wheat, if it is not for Li Zicheng has created a miracle one by one, he would not believe that he killed Liang Wencheng.

Even if this was from Li Zicheng's mouth, he still didn't believe it, because he had never heard of any crops in Jiangnan that could have such a yield.

"Haha, this is the beginning, the planting technology may not be up to par, and the yield may not reach the maximum, but a thousand catties is definitely not a problem," Li Zicheng lowered his head and tasted the tea, directly ignoring Liang Wencheng's somewhat exaggerated expression, "These are coarse grains, not as good as white-flour steamed buns, but for the people, at least they can make ends meet and not starve to death." ”

Li Zicheng once read in the novel, Shaanxi has been in drought for several years, crops are almost no harvest, the victims are hungry and do not choose to eat, in the case of extreme hunger, not only sell children and daughters, Yi Zi and eat, but also some people, swallow the red mud pecked by the birds, counting on a little nutrition in the red mud, but the red mud can not be digested, nor can it be excreted normally, and finally the stomach is distended and died.

Compared with red mud, bark, and grass roots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn are indeed inferior in nutritional value to rice and wheat, but the main component is starch, which can ensure the nutrients needed by the human body.

These crops are native to the Americas, brought into the South Seas by the Spanish and Portuguese, and have just begun to be introduced to the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty.

The most important thing is that these crops do not have high requirements for fresh water, which is very suitable for Xining, an area with many mountains, little water, and uneven terrain, that is, the Shaanxi Plateau, where a major drought occurs, even if there is a little water in the cultivation season, the crops will bloom and bear fruit, maybe the yield will be discounted, but at least it will not make the people starving everywhere.

"My lord, now that the spring plowing season has passed, can you still farm?"

"It should work!" Li Zicheng didn't know the exact cultivation time of these crops, but he saw the sprouts on the skin of the potatoes, and besides, the maturity period of sweet potatoes and corn was in summer and autumn, and it was estimated that it was about the same, but just in case, every crop was left a little, and in case the seeds and tubers that went down could not bloom and bear fruit, at least they could come back next time, and there was no need to let Ren Erxi go to Jiangnan again.

Li Zicheng's goal, of course, will not be to give food to the people so early, but to expand the number of seeds indefinitely, and in a year or two, they can be distributed to the people.

Liang Wencheng nodded, and suddenly thought of a question, "Zicheng, since these are crops, what if they are eaten by the people?" ”

"Wencheng, it's up to you," Li Zicheng laughed, "The people haven't seen these crops, as long as you don't tell them that this is a crop, will they dare to eat it?" Of course, you have to give them enough food, and if they are hungry, they will eat even red mud, not to mention these crops......"

"Zicheng, I understand," Liang Wencheng smiled, "I will tell the people that these are military supplies, and it is also appropriate for Weili to feed them with food, and let them do some work for Weili......

The two look at each other and laugh, sometimes, lies are necessary, it depends on your motives and purposes.

These crops were collected by Ren Erxi from Jiangnan for several months, and the people didn't care so much, if they knew that this was food, it would be strange not to be stolen and eaten, and survival was the right of every people.

It's not that the people won't eat it, Li Zicheng's purpose of transporting these crops back is ultimately for the people, but the seeds must be left, and only after the seeds reach a certain amount, can they be circulated in the market as food and finally enter the people's tables.

The people are in contact with these crops for the first time, there is no basic cultivation technology, and Ren Erxi needs to teach the technology personally, Li Zicheng was originally going to give Ren Erxi a few days off, it seems that he can only wait until after cultivation, in order to compensate Ren Erxi, Li Zicheng is ready to give him a share of military merits, first issue some salary, and then reward a few monthly tickets for military merits in the future.

Liang Wencheng picked up a sprouted potato, looked around, and then sneered: "My lord, can the yield of such a crop really reach two thousand catties?" ”

"There is no doubt about this Wencheng, when Erxi was in Jiangnan, he saw it with his own eyes," Li Zicheng remembered various famous dishes such as "roasted potato", "beef roasted potato", "corn paste" and other famous dishes in later generations, especially the popular flavor snacks in the north and south of the river - "potato chips", and smiled unconsciously: "Wencheng, when the harvest season comes, there are more seeds of these crops, I invite you to eat a big meal of these crops!" ”

"Zicheng, let's wait until the harvest season," Liang Wencheng cleaned up the sweet potatoes and potatoes scattered on the table, "Before lunch, I will quickly distribute these seeds and let the people hurry up and cultivate them!" ”

Liang Wencheng left the official office, took the seeds and the officials, and personally went to the three villages of Hekou, Dongsheng, and Wangxi to guide the people in farming.

Li Zicheng met Mu Qingshan in the study again.

"The grass people knock to meet the adults!" Although he is Li Zicheng's future father-in-law, Mu Qingshan is much more restrained than Liang Wencheng in front of Li Zicheng, and he doesn't even dare to sit.

"Don't be polite, get up and speak!" Let his father-in-law kneel down to him, no matter how he says, Li Zicheng hurriedly helped him up, pressed him on the wooden chair opposite, and asked He Xiaomi to serve tea.

Mu Qingshan barely sat down with half of his buttocks, but he arched his hand and said: "The grass people congratulate your lord on the annihilation of the Mongolian cavalry in the Triangle City!" ”

Li Zicheng held the teacup and said softly: "It's not a total annihilation, although the Mongols suffered heavy casualties, their leader still fled!" ”

Mu Qingshan's heart fluctuated, as if he had come to that battlefield with ups and downs, he was a businessman, he just wanted to make a fortune in silence, he was originally not interested in war, and there was no silver he valued the most.

But when he heard that Li Zicheng came to the Triangle City, defeated the invading Mongolian cavalry, and captured a large number of war horses, he vaguely realized something, the Ming army defeated the Mongolian cavalry, and he had never heard of it since the Yongle Northern Expedition.

How did the young Li Zicheng do it? At first, when he got such information, he didn't dare to fully believe it, "After three mouths, the Great Wall also has long legs", the rumors may not be true, but seeing Li Zicheng's understatement with his own eyes, such rumors may not be groundless.

But Li Zicheng didn't want to talk about it, and he didn't dare to ask again, anyway, there were too many weirdness in this young man's body, he had secretly explored, but he found nothing, and he might not be able to peek into the secret for a lifetime.

Li Zicheng asked with a smile: "Master Mu, when will the next batch of pig iron purchased from Xi'an arrive in Xining?" ”

"Back to my lord, the fastest batch is to start from Xi'an, detour to Hanzhong, and then cross the Yellow River to the west, maybe it can be reached in three or five days, and at that time, in order to confuse the King of Qin, take the pig iron in the opposite direction of the eastern line, because of the farther detour, I am afraid it will take some time."

"Oh!" Li Zicheng replied casually, but he was thinking in his heart that when he bought pig iron from the Qin Wangfu that day, in order to prevent the Qin Wangfu from being suspicious, thousands of catties of pig iron were purchased as different merchants, taking different routes, and even transporting them a certain distance in the opposite direction to the east, waiting to avoid the eyes and ears of the Qin Wangfu, and then turning west, so that the road would be delayed for many days.

Last time in the triangle city, Li Zicheng saw the power of the Xining rifle with his own eyes, although it is difficult to become the dominant factor on the battlefield because of the lack of quantity, but the rifle's anti-heaven range and long-range strike ability still make Li Zicheng trust it very much, whether it is in later generations or now, it has been tested on the battlefield.

If there were enough Xining rifles, it was entirely possible to keep Bayar's dozens of cavalry out of range and make them targets for gunners.

I can hit you, but you can't attack me, so that the Mongols will also taste a handful of madness.

Li Zicheng is now unable to expand the army on a large scale, and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers has been raised to a certain stage, and it is difficult to effectively improve it unless it is pulled to the battlefield.

But Li Zicheng would be reluctant to fight with the imperial court for a while, and the size of the Ming Dynasty was too big for Xining, and since the soldiers could not be tempered on the battlefield, they could only rely on rifles.

It is a pity that so far there are only twenty-nine rifles, including eleven experimental ones, and in order to become an army, the number is far from enough, and the manufacture of guns must rely on pig iron.

What annoys Li Zicheng is that there is no iron ore in Xining for the time being, and if he wants a large amount of pig iron, he can only buy it.