"What does the emperor mean to look for new varieties of rice? Could it be that the current grain production of the empire is not enough to satisfy the emperor? Li Xuanqing's words made Wang Jingyu of the Ministry of Agriculture suddenly a little confused, and even Cen Tianshi, who came with him, thought that he had heard it wrong, scratched his head and said: "The empire's grain output of wheat and rice last year alone exceeded the 500 million stone mark, so much grain can't be eaten at all, even if it is open to the Great Food Empire, we are rich and surplus, why do we want to find new varieties?" ”

"Naturally, it's not enough." Li Xuanqing saw Qiaoxi coming over with a document and waved his hand at her, signaling to hand the information in his hand to Cen Tianshi and Wang Jingyu, and continued: "500 million stones are converted into 26.5 million tons, and such a little grain is far from enough. Our grain yield per mu is too small to support the needs of the next step of imperial development. "It's only 26 million tons, which is obviously a fraction of the grain output calculated in 100 million tons in later generations, and this is because he developed the vast Northeast Plain in advance, otherwise I'm afraid that the 80 million people of Datang can achieve food and clothing is a problem. Although the Ministry of Agriculture has made great efforts to invest manpower in the reclamation of the Indochina Peninsula and to plant rice on a large scale after it was taken over, and with the advantage of three seasons this year, the grain output on this side of the Indochina Peninsula has risen in a straight line, but it still cannot satisfy Li Xuanqing.

"It's really not enough, the big brother plans to relax the restrictions on food consumable industries such as winemaking on the one hand, and vigorously develop the dairy industry on the other hand, which requires a lot of food consumption. Moreover, in the next step, the agricultural processing industry will gradually develop along with the reduction of grain prices. Qiaoxi sat on the side and snapped her white fingers and smiled: "Maybe you don't know, what we currently guarantee is the basic food and clothing of the people, that is to say, full food, but with the development of the empire's economy and the gradual improvement of the people's living standards, then the people with surplus wealth in their hands must first have a higher pursuit of food and clothing, so fine food and meat products will become the big demand of the people, which needs to be arranged by the cabinet in advance." Because these are specific industries related to the livelihood of the people, once these industries fluctuate, it will inevitably cause social panic and lead to greater problems. And the subsidies currently implemented by the cabinet to abolish agricultural taxes and mechanize will eventually end up in the pockets of the people. This is tantamount to the Imperial Treasury stuffing money into the pockets of ordinary people. Sir, think about it, after this ordinary person has money in his hands, will he still think that coarse tea and light rice are delicious as before? Won't they go after big fish and big meat? Not going to add a snack to your home? Why don't you buy something finer and more elaborate to improve your family's life? In fact, the two have always been delighted by the increase in grain production, and the thousand-year-old tradition has made everyone have a deep-rooted idea in their hearts, with food in their hands, they are not panicked. The drop in food prices is actually a good thing, as the empire's grain production is enough to keep food prices down for many years. But the two of them are not ordinary people after all, they are at the top of the empire, they can naturally understand that once the price of food falls, the price of all consumer products in the entire market will fall, and this rash price reduction is not a good thing, at least for Cen Tianshi and the two of them do not feel that it is a good thing.

"Therefore, the decline in food prices is only a temporary phenomenon, once the prices of other high-end food and meat products rise, it will naturally lead to a rebound in food prices, and our current total grain output is simply not enough, not to mention that we also need to continue to transfer the agricultural population to industry, so we need a larger food production base." Li Xuanqing rubbed his eyebrows and said: "At present, there are only two ways to increase the yield of grain per mu, one is to increase the fertility of the land, which is basically stabilized after the fertilization is put into operation across the country. Although chemical fertilizers are also being produced in chemical factories, chemical fertilizers are polluting and have many other hidden dangers, and I have not been able to decide whether to promote them. Therefore, at present, the place where chemical fertilizers are used is still monitored by your Ministry of Agriculture, and it is not to be promoted on a large scale for the time being. Li Xuanqing thought for a while and said, "Then there is only one other way, and that is to improve the variety." I don't have any good ways to improve wheat varieties, and I heard that the experimental field of your Ministry of Agriculture seems to have achieved results, and it can be promoted in the next step, and I want to talk about rice today. I would like to say that our current yield per mu of rice is too small, just four stones, which is not enough to support the development of the empire, and it should be noted that compared with wheat, the yield per mu of rice can be increased much more, and the most important thing is that our rice cultivation areas are basically two or three crops a year. Once the yield per mu is increased, it will inevitably bring about a great increase in grain production. ”

"Are the improved varieties still the same as what the Ministry of Agriculture did before?" Cen Tianshi was a little unsure, but Wang Jingyu understood what Bai Li Xuanqing meant, and took over the conversation and said: "The emperor's intention is to go to the southern part of the Indochina Peninsula to find the local Gaochang rice varieties and then come back to try planting, right?" ”

Li Xuanqing nodded and said: "This is the general situation I recorded about the new varieties of rice, but because I haven't seen it, some situations may not be true, and your Ministry of Agriculture needs to screen it on its own." Another point is to find a way to find out if there is wild rice after the past, and if there is one, bring it back to the Central Plains and Jiangnan for trial planting, and try to use the attributes of wild rice to improve the variety, which is also a way of agricultural research. However, after Li Xuanqing finished speaking, he advised: "I remember that I gave you a basic summary of agricultural research from the Ministry of Agriculture before, right?" There are several basic principles and points to note about the improvement and hybridization of rice, you must pay attention to it, otherwise it will be wasted, and you should also avoid other farmland around the rice experimental field, otherwise you will cry once the rice pollen is blown by the wind to your experimental field. After Li Xuanqing learned that the Ministry of Agriculture was preparing to establish an agricultural college and establish agricultural research, he wrote a general outline of agricultural research and the basic points that need to be paid attention to. At this time, Li Xuanqing no longer remembered how Champa rice was promoted in the Central Plains during the Song and Song dynasties, perhaps it was related to the first planting in the imperial palace. But it's okay if you don't remember, as long as you follow those basic points, it shouldn't be a big problem.

"The emperor can rest assured that the outline of agriculture written by the emperor has been regarded as a classic by the Agricultural College." Wang Jingyu clenched his fists and said with a smile: "Increasing grain production is a major event for a thousand years, and Wechen will immediately arrange the most capable people to set off for Zhongnan immediately, and come back as soon as they find it." "Wang Jingyu was originally born as a bachelor of agriculture, and agriculture was also a prominent science in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but it was almost lost later, and Li Xuanqing didn't know where Wang Jingyu's inheritance came from. However, at this time, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture obviously understood what Li Xuanqing meant by improvement and hybridization, and immediately arranged for people to go to Zhongnan urgently after a little discussion. At this time, the newly promoted new type of wheat was also popularized on a large scale in the Northeast Great Plains, and the main wheat producing area in Northeast China caught up with this wave of tide, taking advantage of the dominant position of state farms to promote the climax of large-scale cultivation of improved varieties within the empire.

After more than three months of exploration, the people of the Ministry of Agriculture finally found clues of new varieties of rice in the Indochina Peninsula, and the Zhancheng mentioned by Li Xuanqing was actually near Yanzhou, but because of the geographical location, the people of the Ministry of Agriculture ran around in the tropical rainforest of the Indochina Peninsula for more than a month, and finally found that the rice planted by the local Jing people was Zhancheng rice. What really surprised the Ministry of Agriculture was that this kind of Champa rice was much higher than that of the Central Plains, and in fact, it was the rice grown by the Jing people themselves. However, after careful inquiry and pondering, the people of the Ministry of Agriculture found that this kind of Champa rice is not only high yield, but also very high drought resistance, if it is popularized in the Central Plains and other places, it is very good, and the grain is full, and the round grain of the Central Plains is different, and the rice of Champong rice is slender. According to the yield per mu on the side of the Jing people, even if it is extensive farming, I am afraid that it can reach about six stones. This calculation made the people from the Ministry of Agriculture and the soldiers from the Yanzhou garrison who came to escort them dumbfounded, why is this Zhancheng rice so strange? You must know that Jiaozhou has been included in the Tang Dynasty for many years, and all the military and political departments, including the Tiance Army and the Jiaozhou Provincial Political Envoy's Office, do not know that this usually inconspicuous Zhancheng rice is so terrifying.

"Go, inform the Yanzhou Thorn History Mansion and the Department of Agriculture, and ask them to send someone over immediately." The people of the Ministry of Agriculture couldn't sit still, and directly found the person in charge of the Yanzhou Department of Agriculture, and after the two departments were united, they expanded the scope of the search, and all the farmers who planted this kind of Zhancheng rice in the entire Yanzhou were found, and personally measured the yield per mu, and picked samples, and after the manpower was sufficient, the people of the Ministry of Agriculture simply arranged for Wang Jingyu to find wild rice, and sent a special person to be responsible and applied for the local garrison to send someone to follow him.

The agricultural survey in Yanzhou came to an end two months later, in October of the 10th year of the Apocalypse, when the second rice crop was ripe on the Indochina Peninsula. The Ministry of Agriculture arranged for special personnel to purchase all the Champa rice harvested near Yanzhou, and then directly transported it back to Chang'an. In Chang'an, Li Xuanqing also saw the legendary Champa rice.

"Your Majesty, this is the rice of Champa rice milled out, please look at it, this is the rice produced in the south of the Yangtze River, and the difference between the two is obvious." Cen Tianshi carefully observed for a long time and said: "It's not much like what the emperor said, I plan to taste this taste first, if the yield is high and the taste is better than our local rice in the Central Plains, wouldn't it be possible to promote it on a large scale?" ”

"What is the approximate rice yield of this Zhancheng rice?" Li Xuanqing thought for a while and asked, "If the rice yield of this rice is not high, then it also needs to be considered." ”

"The rice yield rate is a little higher than ours, and the coarse rice can reach about six or seven percent, and if the polished rice is about fifty percent." Wang Jingyu said with a smile: "We are now promoting large-scale rice milling machines to replace the old stone rice mills in the past. ”

Li Xuanqing nodded, Zhancheng rice is indica rice, and it is the same as the current rice varieties in the Central Plains, so it is not a big problem to promote it. Therefore, immediately after that, let the Ministry of Agriculture immediately transport this batch of rice seeds to Guangdong and other places for experiments, and then promote them from south to north one by one, so that in Guangdong and other places where three crops can be harvested in one year, they have been partially planted that year, and after missing the agricultural time, the Ministry of Agriculture has also researched out special rice varieties for large-scale promotion after the second year. In this way, Champa rice, which was 100 years earlier, began to spread widely in the Tang Dynasty.

"Big brother, are you still regretting that you didn't find wild rice? Isn't the Ministry of Agriculture still arranging for people to continue to track it? And I heard that the navy has also begun to issue proclamations, asking the marines to help in various places, I think there will be news soon, after all, this era is a thousand years earlier than our era, and there is a lot of wild rice. Qiaoxi walked to Li Xuanqing's side, looked at the other party in a daze at the flowing water of Qujiang, and held Li Xuanqing's arm and smiled.

"No, agricultural research at the Ministry of Agriculture is on the right track, and the College of Agriculture has been expanding year by year, and agronomy is not achieved overnight." Li Xuanqing said with a smile: "I am counting the promotion of new varieties of wheat in the north and the promotion of Champa rice in the south. ”

"80 million people and 100 million tons of grain, big brother, I feel that this is to let agriculture pass on through the ages." Qiaoxi smiled and said, "In this way, we can rely on double stone fertilizer to stabilize the rice at six stones, and the yield per mu of six stones is enough to make the annual yield of rice per mu enough for all the people of Datang to eat." Then the surplus wheat yield can improve the quality of life of the people. Qiaoxi's words were a little inexplicable, but Li Xuanqing naturally understood, so he smiled slightly: "That's right, there are a lot of articles that can be done in this piece of flour, Qiaoxi and those bread workshops under Feixue can take the opportunity to expand, Chang'an City is the center of the empire, and as long as something spreads in Chang'an, it will spread rapidly in the world." ”

"Don't worry, big brother, I understand this, isn't it just a noodle test or something, it just so happens that the women's technical school that was opened with Sister Feixue before is now expanding, I think about taking out all these baking skills and handing them over, when the time comes, I will ask Brother Zhang to provide them with a little subsidy, and the royal family will fund enough to train a group of good dim sum chefs and bakers or something, wouldn't it be faster if it became popular in the upper and lower classes of Chang'an at that time?" Qiaoxi patted her chest and smiled: "Just leave it to me." ”

"Okay, I can tell those girls who come to study that in addition to the first 100 people who open a store can get funding from the royal family, I will also personally go to the platform for them, inscribe plaques and inscriptions for them, and promote them." Li Xuanqing smiled with interest, unaware that he was going to create a huge team of female pastry chefs in the future. (https:)

Please remember that the first domain name of this book is:. Mobile version reading URL: