At the end of September, there was a hot scene in the fields of Denglai, where everyone was harvesting sweet potatoes, and there were so many of them that it was almost too busy.

How to deal with these sweet potatoes, Zhao Yan gave a solution a few months ago.

At this time, the displaced people recruited this year came into play, and the old and weak and women who had not been assigned to the cantonment began to work in the well-established workshops.

According to the plan, some of them will be made into dried sweet potatoes, and some of the sweet potatoes will be used to make sake and make vermicelli. Sweet potato vermicelli, a type of vermicelli that tastes very smooth, does not taste as good as rice vermicelli, but it is better to store it for a long time.

Zhao Yan didn't think of making sweet potatoes into noodles at first, because he didn't know that noodles were made of starch, and after he made sweet potato powder, a helper on the side asked in confusion: "Why don't you make noodles?" ”

Zhao Yan knew that the original dried noodles were made of starch, although Zhao Yan was also born in the countryside, but he had never seen the production of vermicelli, and he lacked common sense in this regard.

At the same time, Zhao Yan also reacted that the dried noodles in Huangxian County were not the famous Longkou dried noodles in later generations.

Dried longkou noodles are made from soybeans and sweet potatoes. After finding this idea, Zhao Yan was overjoyed and finally found a way to preserve sweet potatoes for a long time.

The process of making vermicelli is to first beat and separate, first clean the sweet potato, soak the sweet potato in water for three or four hours, and then stir and clean it with a wooden hanging.

Then there is the beating, the Institute of Science and Technology specially designed a kind of animal power beater, the production efficiency is much faster than the efficiency of manual beating, but the beating efficiency is not very high.

After beating, the pulp is filtered with water and a filter cloth, after which the pulp is separated, and the potato pulp is used for feed and winemaking, and the potato pulp is used to make sweet potato vermicelli.

In this era without mechanization, to make these sweet potatoes into powder, the labor intensity is very large, and later generations have a one-stop mechanical process for making sweet potato vermicelli, but there is no in this era, except for an animal power beater, the rest rely on hand. Fortunately, Zhao Yan recruited many homeless people last year, and the manpower is always enough.

In order to process the sweet potatoes in a timely manner, Zhao Yan divided the production of vermicelli into two parts, with the people of Tundi handling one part by themselves, and the old and weak women and children who remained in Zhaojiabao and were not resettled in Tundi.

The 400,000 tun people who were allocated to the tun land also joined the production of vermicelli on the premise of ensuring that they could plant grain smoothly in the spring of next year.

There is nothing wrong with processing this year's sweet potatoes, but the sooner you finish processing, the more vermicelli you will get, because if the sweet potatoes are left for a long time, they will produce saccharification and the starch extraction rate will be significantly reduced.

According to the test, although the yield of the sweet potato varieties that Zhao Yan found from Fujian is higher, the starch ratio is only 15%, which is much lower than the varieties that are generally 18% or even 19%.

There is a way out for the sweet potato production and budget in the past few years, and it has not reached the output of 4 billion catties, and there are only about 3.5 billion catties.

Due to the discovery of the processing method of vermicelli, this year, in addition to 500 million catties of sweet potatoes to be transported to soup soup and the rations of the people in Tundi, the rest were all made into sweet potato vermicelli.

3 billion catties of sweet potatoes can be made into 450 million catties of sweet potato vermicelli, carefully calculated, the weight of vermicelli per mu is twice as high as that of wheat, and the potato residue can also be used for brewing and feed, which seems to be more cost-effective than planting wheat.

In the era of low wheat yield, it is indeed much more cost-effective than growing wheat, but it is more troublesome to make dried flour, and it is necessary to be more industrious.

For those who have settled down, hard work is not something they have to deliberately pursue, and their enthusiasm for labor is very high.

In addition, each tun has a tun chief to organize, and this kind of production organization is a way of guidance, but the tun people do not have to do this.

Most of the potato residue is used as feed, only a small part is used for winemaking, and there are not many wines planned to be brewed this year, after all, the liquor made from sweet potatoes is similar to the low-grade things like vodka, and you have to see the market reaction first, if the market demand is large, it is not too late to increase production next year.

According to Tang Zhengze's statistics, there are 400,000 pigs, 250,000 sheep, 3 million chickens, 800,000 ducks, and 60,000 geese in the pen this year. 110,000 cattle, 120,000 mules and horses.

In addition to vigorously developing agriculture, the breeding industry is also the main direction of development, and every household has chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep, cattle, horses, some pigs, some chickens, and some cattle and horses.

However, the number of individual breeding is generally not large, and if you raise too much, you can't farm and train, but it is also better to raise a little per person with a large number of people, which is a lot.

In addition to individual breeding, there are special farms in each tun land, and the output of the farm is also one of the measures of the performance of the tun chief, which is calculated in the year-end assessment.

Among these breeding projects, raising chickens is undoubtedly the most convenient, and raising ducks is also very convenient. Circle the wasteland, smash the beasts inside, and drive the chickens into the woods of those hilly areas, and one or two people can raise thousands.

Raising ducks is by the river, it is very easy to raise hundreds of thousands of heads in a river, this breeding method has been very mature in the south, and it is directly introduced from the south, and there are duck farms in all rivers in Dengzhou.

Last year, there was a chicken plague, more than 200,000 chickens died, more than 100,000 ducks, Zhao Yan was so distressed that he didn't sleep well for two days, and then a farmer offered a way to smoke chicken pens and duck pens with chili peppers.

Raising chickens and ducks is most afraid of chicken plague, the incubation period is short, the spread speed is fast, a death is a large area, and it is possible to make trouble every year, absolutely people are not very guarded, since there is this pepper smoking method, chicken plague has been eliminated.

The reason why such a flourishing aquaculture industry can be developed is mainly because there is enough feed, sweet potatoes, corn, and sweet potato vines can be used as feed.

Poultry farming is undoubtedly developing the fastest, and pig farming is also developing rapidly. Poultry and pigs have a higher feed conversion ratio and reproduce twice as fast.

Cattle, sheep and horses not only have a lower feed conversion rate, but also the reproduction rate is not fast, a horse and sheep, generally give birth to one, two, occasionally give birth to three or five, cattle are less.

As far as feed is concerned, cattle and horses need soybeans as concentrated feed, while sheep are also fed soybeans soaked in salt water during the farrowing period, and pigs can eat whatever they have and can eat grass.

Corn stalks, sweet potato vines, sweet potatoes as roughage, soybeans as concentrate feed, cattle and horses usually have to go out to graze, if you want to raise well, you have to raise like an uncle.

In this era of displacement, there is always no shortage of manpower. Raising horses first, raising cattle second, and developing eggs, meat and milk. Huang County only began to tuntian in the autumn last year, although the aquaculture industry has developed rapidly, but it has not yet reached saturation, and there is still great potential for development.

The harvest in autumn made the people of Tundi smile, although they were busy, they were happy.

However, Zhao Yan and the top management of the gang were not so happy, and news kept coming from Jingshi that Zhao Yan's sale of illicit salt had caused a storm in the city, and through the Di newspaper, it became known to the world.

"According to the latest news, the Holy Lord has issued an order for the official to move to Hancheng, and it is estimated that in a few days, the eunuch will arrive in Shandong. What do you think should be done? Zhao Yan glanced at the people sitting in a deep voice, although his face was not very good-looking, but he was very calm.

"We have strong soldiers and horses, and we are not afraid of the order of the saint, if the lord does not want to go, there are many ways. It's just that adults, how far do you think this degree should be controlled? Liu Heng thought for a while and asked.

"We are waiting for the town to guard Denglai, aiming at Pingliao. If you arrive in Hancheng and attack Liaodong, you will not mention the long distance, even if Jiannu enters the customs and invades, it is beyond the reach of the whip to rush to the aid of the Beijing Division. Everything this official does is for the people. What the Holy God does is also the people. However, if the saint is deceived by others, how can we stand by and let the villain succeed? Zhao Yan said solemnly.

Since he traveled to this era, he has never had the idea of rebellion, and he even regarded himself as a Ming minister, and everything he did was to fight the Manchus more effectively. But his loyal ministers are more towards the nation.

Chongzhen has Chongzhen's style of acting, he has his style of acting, although he regards himself as a minister, but Zhao Yan does not necessarily do what Chongzhen says.

"Although this official does not believe in the Lunchang Dynasty and the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period, he believes in the righteousness of the nation. At present, our enemy is Liaodong Jiannu, so it is not advisable to have too much tension with the Shengshang, if we can get the support of the Shengshang, then it is the best, how to refuse to go to Hancheng so as not to arouse the suspicion of the Shengshang, we still need to discuss it carefully. Zhao Yan continued.

The so-called national righteousness, the high-level people present all know what it is, and the most propagated under Zhao Yan's rule is also the idea of nationalism, which is an indispensable force for a country.

Later generations of Korean sticks pursued this policy, but it is a pity that their ancestors left them too little, which caused them to behave strangely ridiculously. But it is undeniable that Korean sticks are very united, and most people use domestic products.

In order not to make the nationalist ideas he promoted become as ridiculous as a stick, Zhao Yan also emphasized tolerance.

Although not every country that does not implement nationalist ideology is fooling the people, it is certainly not possible for a country that ignores the people. It's a very powerful force, and anything that doesn't see the light of day can be exposed to the risk of angering the public.

"What the saint is angry about is nothing more than that the prince touched the profit of private salt, and the two Huai salt transport divisions took advantage of the fire to rob, which made the saint angry. This year, we have a huge profit in sea trade, and next year's income will be even greater, and it doesn't matter if there is salt profit. If the prince wants to ease the relationship, he can give up some of it and hand it over to the imperial court. As for moving the town, the old man died in Kong Youde's military disaster, and the son did not pass the filial piety, and the army was also to avenge his father, and now the family revenge has not been avenged, so he cannot move the town. Zhao Quan said suddenly on the side.

"Hmmm! That's a good idea. Zhao Yan nodded contemplatively, and asked Zhao Quan: "According to Uncle Quan, how many taels of silver should we pay?" ”

"This year's salt profit is 4 million taels, plus the income from the bandits when the mercenary battalion goes out to escort, there are also 5 million taels, and the annual income of the imperial court's salt tax is only 2 million taels, and even if the salt tax is sharply reduced by half, there are hundreds of thousands of taels, so we will make up for the shortfall." Zhao Quan said.

"My lord, no." Liu Heng said loudly at this time: "The lord wants to ease the relationship with the saint, it is useless to make up for it, and the saint will inevitably have new suspicions, if you really want to hand over the silver taels, you should have more." ”

"Then pay three hundred taels and go up! The emperor is not easy either. Zhao Yan was a little stunned after speaking, Zhao Quan heard this number, his face twitched twice, obviously very painful.

"It's not enough to pay the salt tax, and since the matter of the main salt seller has reached the court, then it is necessary to try to get involved in the salt industry in the name of justice. At the same time that the lord can pay the salt tax, he will ask the saint to reform the salt industry in Shandong......" Liu Heng then said the operation mode of the series of channels, and even the details were clearly considered.

In the end, it is the one who reads the books of the sages, and there are many ways to do it.

…… On the third day of October, the holy decree was transmitted to Huang County.

"Fengtian carrier, the emperor's edict said: Zhao Yan, the general soldier of Shandong, smuggling salt industry, has a dry law, the original smuggler of salt should be beheaded, but he is young, but also brave in battle, loyal and righteous, is really a rare good general, pardon his crimes, awarded the dragon and tiger general seal to show his merits, that is, to change the town of Shaanxi Hancheng, the court law is selfless, if there is a recidivism......"

This holy decree first counted the guilt, then pardoned, and then gave a sweet date to the dragon and tiger general, and then intimidated it.

The Ming generals are divided into three ranks, the hussar generals, the Jinwu generals, the dragon and tiger generals, and the dragon and tiger generals are also the highest ranks, and if they want to be crowned, they will be knighted.

In addition to these three generals, there are some generals with other titles, such as General Ping, General Zhenqiang, etc., but they are generally used in the land of three sides and nine sides.

It is very difficult for military generals to get knighthoods, and in the late Ming Dynasty, only when they were desperate in the end, they were crowned a few warlords, such as Zuo Liangyu, Liu Zeqing and others, all of whom were knighted, one had poor military discipline and one had poor combat power.

Zhao Yan didn't have any feelings for this dragon and tiger general, and after receiving the holy decree, Zhao Yan entertained the eunuch who passed the decree, and gave him a thousand taels of gold, which made the eunuch smile.

Then Zhao Yan handed over the prepared recital to the eunuch and asked him to pass it on to Chongzhen after he returned. Zhao Yan did not use the normal channels to present the recital.

Zhao Yan's recital is very long, I am afraid that there are seven or eight thousand words, far exceeding the number of words stipulated by Chongzhen. Those courtiers often wrote two or three thousand words on a trivial matter, just like writing a paper in later generations, and Chongzhen's head was as big as a fight, so they issued a restriction order.

Although Zhao Yan's recital is long, the words are very concise.

"In recent months, the villain in the court slandered, and there was no excuse for the crime that he wanted to add, and the minister was deeply frightened and angry, and the soldiers and horses trained by the minister, and the money and food needed were all self-raised, when did the court pay the full salary? Didn't Your Majesty know that 'the money does not leave the palace'? The auxiliary ministers lived in the deep and high temples, sold their official positions, corrupted and corrupted the law, and all the salaries and silver were deducted layer by layer, and less than half of them were in the hands of military attachés. However, if the military attache is promoted, and he needs to go to Beijing to bribe the minister, if the salary is 100,000 yuan, the civil official will withhold it, and the military general will bribe, how much money will be used for military affairs? The generals of all walks of life who were seen by the ministers and thieves were all only supporting their families, and the rest of the soldiers and civilians regarded them as discarded. As far as the ministers can see, most of them are only four or five hundred, and there are only dozens of few. Let's ask such soldiers and horses, how can they fight with the Jiannu wilderness? However, the officialdom is accustomed to it, and the ministers are sad.

Resist Jiannu, the officials and soldiers rely on them, but the high walls are deep, the officers and soldiers can not chase down the defeat and cannot escape, the Jiannu can go after the defeat, the victory can be pursued, and it has been established in an invincible position, if the officers and troops are defeated, the soldiers and armor will be lost, and the soldiers and armor will be innumerable, and the Jiannu will be stronger, and I will be weaker than the Ming Dynasty.

At the beginning of the Jiannu rebellion, because the officials of the court and the central government regarded Liaodong as a place to make money, so that Jiannu sat on the big and Liaodong was erosive. Tens of millions of Liao rings in the imperial court, and there are also geometries used for military affairs? At present, the official army is also shrinking within the city walls, allowing Jiannu to gallop under the city. Although the city is high and the walls are thick, how can it be unbreakable in the long run?

The ministers do have the profits of smuggling salt, but the people who smuggle salt in the world are not only one of the ministers, and the land of the two Huai is boiling more than one billion catties of sea salt throughout the year, and the number of official salt is only two or three billion catties, but where does the number of prolific ones exist? How can you pour back into the Hayer? It's a joke.

In the Song Dynasty, salt tea was monopolized, and the annual income and taxes were tens of millions. The salt tax is only 2 million, and the tea tax is less than 200,000. The number of people in my Ming Dynasty is less than that of the two songs? The people of the Song Dynasty ate salt several times as much as they do today? It's also a joke.

Daming salt profits, are all invaded by the magnates, the two Huai salt merchants are the most, the two Huai salt merchants are extremely rich in net worth of tens of millions of taels, no less than a few households, millions of taels on the rich, no less than dozens of households, and hundreds of thousands of taels on the rich, so much that they can not be counted. These salt merchants often bribed ministers, and every time they made a move, they were no less than tens of thousands of taels, and all kinds of rare toys were offered.

In addition, the major salt merchants in the two Huai provinces do not pay land taxes, do not pay commercial taxes, are not enough to settle the people, are not enough to serve the country, are poor and extravagant, and collude with the ministers to damage the interests of the country. If Your Majesty confiscates the wealth of the two Huai salt merchants, the military expenses will not be exhausted for ten years, and then the disadvantages of the military affairs will be reformed, why worry about Liaodong not being appeased?

Since the beginning of the year, the minister opened the beach in Laizhou to dry salt, and the salt sold was less than two Huai ten less than two, if it is counted all over the world, it is not as good as one, so far it has entered more than 3 million taels of salt profits, deducting the cost of work, there are also 3 million taels, and the ministers will send soldiers and horses to send salt profits to Beijing.

The two Huai Salt Transport Divisions were slandered because of the smuggled salt sold by the ministers and the sharp reduction of the salt tax. The ministers are selling private salt, and the official salt in various places can be stopped? The people killed by the ministers are all illegal salt dealers, but there are people who kill the government? What he wants is nothing more than bribing the two Huai salt merchants to make profits, and they also take advantage of the fire to collect salt taxes.

Although the amount of official salt is not as good as private salt, the annual sale is not less than 2300 million catties, and the amount of illegal salt sold by the ministers is also limited to this amount, and more than 3 million yuan is recorded in the account. The price of official salt is not less than 50% higher than that of private salt, and some places, even several times, have an annual income of 2 million taels? How can tax silver grow its own wings and fly to the sky? It is nothing more than re-entering the bag of the upper and lower wardens of the salt transportation division.

The minister in Denglai line small salt is also out of nothing, the minister sells the private salt, than the rest of the private salt is of better quality, the price is better, how to talk about squeezing the people? The people of Denglai can testify to it, but Sun Yaoguang, the prefect of Laizhou, accepted bribes from salt merchants, and His Majesty can find out the truth and falsehood after a secret visit......"

In this piece of music, Zhao Yan refuted the false accusations of those officials one by one, and the wording was extremely fierce.

(To be continued)