After returning from the Tamapa Mountain open-pit iron mine, Qin Dong was not idle, on the one hand, he arranged for people to take slaves to dig iron ore, and recruited free people from all over the territory to mine and pay wages. On the other hand, he personally went to the field to inspect the farming situation.

Now that many farmers have started farming on both sides of the Maricha River near the camp of Pana, it is no longer possible to plant spring wheat at this time, and it is too late to plant corn, which can be harvested in the autumn and used as winter grain, and then planted after the corn is harvested.

Qin Dong saw that many peasants were turning the soil with hoes in the fields, and some were still using people to pull the plows, Qin Dong was very puzzled, all these years, why did they still use people to pull the plows? Our Hun Empire has nothing else, there are as many livestock as cattle hair, and it is much faster to pull the plow with livestock, right?

He turned his head and asked the official in charge of farming: "How do these people use hoes and manpower to pull plows?" Don't we have livestock? ”

The official replied, "My lord, these people are basically converted from slaves to freemen, and they have no property, and they certainly cannot afford to buy cattle, sheep and horses, so they can only pull the plough with their own hoes and manpower!" ”

Qin Dong thought for a while and said: "This is not good, it is too delayed to work like this, pass on my order, select some sturdy cattle from the livestock under the name of this general and rent them to these people, the rent can be cheaper, and the cultivation can not be delayed any longer!" ”

Qin Dong is not a saint, he can give his own cattle to these people for free, some things can't be done too much, human nature is greedy, today they are free to use, tomorrow they will ask for more, if this situation forms a habit, it is very unfavorable to Qin Dong's rule.

The agricultural official bowed down and promised: "Thank you on behalf of these peasants, and you will definitely do a good job in this matter." Don't waste time on farming! ”

"Well, let's go. Let's go check it out! Qin Dong nodded and took the lead towards a farmer who was plowing the land.

Qin Dong could see that this was a Roman. About forty years old, this person saw a large group of extraordinarily dressed dignitaries coming over, and immediately stopped, he recognized Qin Dong, his heart was a little excited, and he immediately saluted: "I didn't expect the adults to come, Filip to meet the adults!" ”

Qin Dong nodded and said with a smile: "I'm just here to see your farming situation, if there are any difficulties, you can find Lord Sando to solve them!" ”

Sang Duo, the official of Nong Sang, who was in charge next to him, nodded and said that he would follow Qin Dong's orders and help these people who had turned from slaves to freedmen to deal with the problem.

"Thank you, sir. Your Excellency, you are a good person! Filip said hurriedly.

Qin Dong couldn't help but slander, don't issue a good person card, I'm not that noble, as long as you take the initiative to pay taxes, thank God if you don't evade taxes, he looked at the plow beside Fili and asked, "What kind of plow is this, why does it look like this?" ”

But the plough had the shape of a plow, and it had a shallow ploughshare. Only shallow ditches can be made, all made of wood, and there is no iron, so it is strange that this can be plowed. Filip tied a rope to the bottom of the plow, and a man behind him helped him hold on to the handle.

Qin Dong asked, "How much land can you two cultivate in a day?" ”

Fili replied, "My lord, this is a good land. Close to the river, the soil is relatively soft. We worked hard to cultivate two yugrams (the ancient Roman unit of measurement of area) a day.

One eugram is equivalent to five-eighths of an acre, Qin Dong calculated. It was found that two eugrams were only equivalent to 1.25 acres, and two people could only plough 1.25 acres of land in a day to the best of their ability? What an underground efficiency?

Qin Dong looked at the plow, it was newly made by the carpenter's workshop, and the workmanship was not bad, but it was definitely not good for plowing the field, the efficiency of this plow was too underground.

Ancient China was far ahead of other countries in many aspects, the biggest advantage was its iron plow, in history, the fact that the West was backward is that for thousands of years, millions of people ploughed the land in a very inefficient, extremely consuming way, resulting in the greatest waste of time and energy of the peasants, only China got rid of the shackles of the inferior plow very early. It was not until the Chinese plough was introduced to Europe that it was copied by the Europeans, and the branch cultivation method and seed seed planter were implemented, which directly caused the agricultural revolution in Europe.

Qin Dong said: "Your farming method is too wasteful of time, seeing that it is about to enter the summer, and the late cultivation will affect the harvest, I have just ordered that someone will send cattle over tomorrow to rent to you for farming, as for this rent, Sando, how much do you think is appropriate?" ”

Sandor calculated and said, "My lord, looking for the current market, a cow can earn two silver coins a day by working!" ”

Qin Dong immediately decided: "In this way, I will collect one silver coin a day!" ”

"Yes, my lord, I will arrange it as soon as I go back!" After Sandor finished speaking, he immediately said to Fili: "Thank you for your kindness!" ”

"Thank you, your lordship, you are so merciful, God will bless you, your lord!" Fili and the other peasant saluted at the same time.

Qin Dong said again: "I saw your plow, this plow is not good, the weight is too light, and it is all wood, even if this plow is all made of iron, the ploughing is not fast, tomorrow I will let the blacksmiths create a new plough, and test it here with you!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

Qin Dong immediately drew a picture of a Chinese iron plough with parchment paper after he returned, his family was a farmer in his previous life, and it was a mountainous area, it was difficult to implement mechanized farming, he had seen adults drive water buffaloes to plow the ground with iron ploughs when he was a child, and he could still remember the shape of the iron plow.

After drawing the drawings, Qin Dong immediately found a blacksmith to create an iron plough according to the appearance drawn on the drawings, and asked the carpenter to make a bent wood set on the neck of the ox.

The next day the iron plough was built, Qin Dong ordered the guards to rush to Fili's field with the iron plough and tools such as bent wood and ropes.

After arriving at the field, Fili and several officials from the agricultural mulberry had been waiting there, Qin Dong ordered the oxen to be driven down the field, let the two ends of the bent wood be tied with thick ropes around the neck of the ox, and the two ropes were tied to the pull ring of the iron plow, so that Fili could hold the handle of the iron plough with his right hand, and the whip of his left hand drove the oxen forward.

When the oxen, driven by Filip, moved the iron plough which had been inserted into the ground, the ox walked at normal speed, and the iron plough moved forward with the same speed, and the turning of the iron plough turned the earth over, leaving a ditch half a foot deep.

This speed, this depth, stunned all the onlookers, the peasants, and after a short silence, everyone let out cheers of joy.

Qin Dong saw that the iron plough cultivation efficiency was very high, and the actual post-tillage ability was also fully reflected, but it was too wasteful to use all iron for a pair of iron ploughs, and he couldn't afford it, so he ordered the blacksmiths to only build the plowshares of the iron plow, and the other parts were all made of very strong and heavy wood. (To be continued......)