Tomorrow is 515, the anniversary of the starting point, and the day with the most benefits. In addition to the gift bag and school bag, this time's "515 Red Envelope Flip" must be seen, how can there be a reason not to grab the red envelope, set the alarm clock high~

"The Ministry of Water and Agriculture has no opinion, whether the empire fights a war or not, corn can be widely planted next year. This thing is really a good thing, people can eat livestock, they can steam cakes to eat, they can boil porridge, they can make wine, and they don't even waste crop stalks. If His Majesty wants to negotiate terms with the Great Song Dynasty, it may not be effective to use guns alone, it is better to use corn to negotiate terms with the Great Song Dynasty. We provide them with corn seeds, pesticides, and we can teach them how to plant. ”

"If you plant on sloping land and dry land, you can harvest two stones per mu, and if you plant it in good land, you can harvest four or five stones per mu. The Imperial Farm grows two crops a year, more than ten stones. The northern Han people on the farm said that if it is planted with wheat and sorghum, the yield per mu will be higher. I don't believe that the Great Song Dynasty didn't need such a divine object, no matter whether it was a war or not, having food to eat was fundamental. ”

Huang Tao, the minister of the Ministry of Transport, Water Conservancy and Construction, and the Ministry of Agriculture, who has been working with the old man in the Yellow Sea in recent years to focus on cultivating the corn seeds brought back by Hong Tao, not only in Jinhe Bay, but also in the port of Kalamba, the port of Malacca, and the Liren Mountains on Hainan Island for secret planting experiments. Through several seasons of cultivation and harvesting, the temperament and temperament of this fresh crop have basically been figured out. Now that he was sure enough to let the corn grow anywhere, he provided Hong Tao with another big killing weapon!

“…… Huang Tao, your weapon is much more powerful than a cannon! You don't have to kill people but save people to achieve the goal, this is the highest level, admire and admire! Listening to Huang Tao's words, Hong Tao directly stretched out two thumbs up to express his sincere admiration. Huang Tao, the Minister of Agriculture, is very competent. If his relatives can be as diligent, hard-working, and comfortable doing these basic tasks as he is, he doesn't mind turning the emperor into hereditary. Unfortunately, this fantasy is ultimately impossible to realize.

In the thirteenth century, food was as powerful as the atomic bomb, with which came the population, and with the population came the productive forces and the source of soldiers. Swords and guns can only destroy, but cannot build, and grain fundamentally increases the strength of the country. Therefore, food is more powerful than any weapon.

But could corn be used as an atomic bomb in the thirteenth century? Hong Tao thinks it's a little bit close. First of all, the corn yield of this era is not as high as that of later generations, and the corn of later generations has experienced hundreds of years of selection, cultivation, as well as genetic engineering, genetic engineering improvement, plus the role of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, not the real corn yield, but the great progress of the entire agriculture-related science and technology.

The corn that Hong Tao brought back from Mexico is not yet in that yield, but after hundreds of years of cultivation by the Mayans, it is not as useless as some people think. Corn does not pick the ground, does not need much water, is drought-tolerant, cold-tolerant, and barren-tolerant, and is easier to grow than grain crops such as wheat and rice. What are these advantages? Very useful! This characteristic allows a lot of land that is not suitable for growing food to be turned into fertile land. Even if it's not a land of fish and rice, it's still okay to be self-sufficient.

That's a big advantage! Think about it, if a country has only 100 acres of land suitable for growing wheat, millet, sorghum, and rice, these outputs can feed a thousand people. Now that the corn has come, all the hillside land and wasteland that used to be far away from the water source, the land is relatively barren, and the climate is not very good have been used, which is equivalent to another 50 acres of land, which can feed another 500 people. See, a little corn. The country has increased its population by half, and it is still full. Is the country strong? Isn't it a little bit stronger?

That someone said, the nest head is not delicious, mixed with milk powder, tofu powder, brown sugar and white flour together is not very delicious, occasionally eat a meal of cakes to boil small fish, if you gnaw the nest every day, you must not be able to stand it!

Let's say that. It depends on when to say it. You don't need to go back hundreds of years to the Song Dynasty, you just need to travel to your grandparents' generation, dare to say so, you will be scolded as a loser on the spot, and the big-eared melon seeds with a quick temper will be smoked. Grain. As long as you can eat enough food, it is good grain, and no one will entangle coarse grain and fine grain in the Song Dynasty, and this problem still exists even after liberation.

It was indeed a good idea to use corn seeds and planting methods as conditions to exchange benefits with the Southern Song court. Hong Tao is not afraid that corn will spread out, even if the Mongols and Europeans will plant it. The Golden River Empire has passed its embryonic period, and its root system is now well developed and has strong resistance in many ways. At this time, the more prosperous, wealthier, and more populous human society became, the more the Golden River Empire sucked blood. Just imagine, if you have to choose a blood-sucking side, which side would you choose?

"I don't know anything about diplomacy or strategy, so let's talk about something practical. The musket is now produced in 500 pieces a month, almost ten months ago, and in addition to the 3,000 sold to the Song court, there are still more than 2,000 in stock. If we were to go all out, we would have to triple the daily output. In total, more than three hundred deck guns were sold to the Strait Company, and the number of guns was sufficient, but the ****** stocks were not enough, and a part of the muskets had to be left. ”

"I have a suggestion, the fire and medicine factory on the edge of the galaxy should not be expanded, that thing is too big and dangerous, even if it is placed on the side of the galaxy, it is not a good thing. The port of Malacca has not been producing red phosphorus, so it is better to build a fire and pharmaceutical factory there, and we can send some skilled people to watch the point. In this way, the output can be increased quickly, and it will not be doubled or less, and it will always be enough for us to use and sell to the Great Song Dynasty. Seeing Huang Tao being praised so much by Hong Tao, Qi Zu, the Minister of Industry, was a little unconvinced, and also shook the contribution of the Imperial Metal Group. In fact, he had already written a paper report to Hong Tao about these things, and now he said them again in public just to show off. A person who is purely engaged in technology does not compete for officials or money, but whoever surpasses him in technology is very, very uncomfortable, even in other industries.

"Hey! Uncle Qi's method is good, I will approve your report after the meeting in a while, you send someone to Malacca Port to keep an eye on the matter of the gunpowder factory, I can rest assured that you will do something! "You can criticize Huang Sha, you can ridicule Cixi, you can encourage Huang Tao, and you have to change your tactics to deal with Qi Zu. The old man didn't want anything else, just said that he was very good at doing things, especially what Hong Tao said, and he listened to it the most.

"But when you say that, I think of a good bargaining chip, and that is gunpowder! The Great Song Dynasty has been developing artillery, and the cannon body has been made, but the cannonballs can't hit far, which is their big heart. Don't look at the empire and the Great Song Dynasty have always been allies, but the Great Song Dynasty has always wanted to have a little say at sea, if we use the establishment of a gunpowder factory in the Great Song Dynasty to help them produce gunpowder as bait, will they be able to give up some things that they were originally reluctant to give? The affairs of the maritime merchants will be better solved, right? Huang Tao's thinking just now did give Hong Tao a wake-up call, if you want the Great Song Dynasty to make fundamental concessions, then you have to give it enough benefits, let it look greedy, what benefits can make it so greedy? Just one corn is not enough, if you add gunpowder, Hong Tao thinks it will be more reliable.

"This ...... Not so good! Your Majesty, once the naval guns of the Great Song Navy Division can hit far, then the advantage of the Royal Navy will be reduced a lot. After all, we have a lot fewer ships than the Great Song Sailors, so we will be very passive. In addition, as Minister Ci said, the Great Song Dynasty is a big colander, and before a thing is done, others will know, in case the formula of gunpowder is taken away by the Mongols and the big cannibals, the threat to the Royal Navy will be too great. Kong Pei, who had not squeaked, heard that Hong Tao was going to build a fire and medicine factory in the Great Song Dynasty, and had to stand up against his top boss.

"The formula of gunpowder is not a difficult technology, as long as the imperial gunpowder is sold to the Great Song Dynasty, they have the physical object, and it won't take too long to figure it out, and the result will be exactly the same as what Minister Kong feared. So, we might as well take advantage of the fact that the fire and potion recipe is still valuable, and use it to exchange it for what we need. As for the issue of the comparison of naval strength, I don't think there is too much to worry about. The navy is a comprehensive branch of the armed forces, which embodies the comprehensive strength of a country, and shipbuilding technology, smelting technology, chemical technology, and textile technology must all keep up, and in addition, it must also have complete navigation technology, so that the navy can give full play to its due combat effectiveness, and it is far from enough to rely on a few artillery pieces. ”

"In fact, even if the artillery of the Great Song Dynasty is loaded with our gunpowder, it is far from our artillery in terms of range and power. In terms of chamber pressure, inner wall processing, barrel length, weight, and shell sealing, the artillery of the Great Song Dynasty still has a long way to go. All in all, I think that the Great Song Dynasty has mastered the gunpowder formula, and it will not pose a substantial threat to the Royal Navy, at most, if we start a war with the Great Song Dynasty in the future, it will be a little difficult to fight on other people's territory. However, this war empire is trying its best to avoid it, and I am afraid that it will not be able to fight in the short term. Any technology is time-sensitive, so it's not much of a threat. “

Hong Tao understands Kong Pei's concerns, but disapproves. Muskets can be sold to the Great Song Dynasty, why can't gunpowder? The reason why the Great Song Dynasty was weak to the outside world was not technology, but a set of effective state systems. If the officials of the Southern Song Dynasty were like Wu Jue and Meng Heng, they put most of their minds on national interests, and a small part of their minds were devoted to their own gains and losses, and they did not need to help themselves, Mongolia would not be able to defeat it. But if the officials of the Southern Song Dynasty are like Shi Songzhi, Zhao Fan, Zhao Kui and others, unless they go into battle shirtless every time to help the Southern Song Dynasty charge into battle, the Southern Song Dynasty will be played to death by themselves sooner or later.

PS.5.15 "Starting Point" is raining red envelopes! Starting at 12 noon, grab a round every hour, and a large wave of 515 red envelopes depends on luck. You all go and grab it, and the starting coins you grabbed continue to subscribe to my chapters! (To be continued.) )