Zhu Qi thought for a while and said: "The third uncle is very cautious, only two acres of each are planted, peanuts and tobacco I don't know very well, but the sunflowers are very beautiful, many people have gone to see it, the potato yield is very large, the yield per mu is 4,000 catties, everyone was stunned at that time, the ground is like a cornucopia, how can not be dug up, it is said that the yield of peanuts is also very high, this year planted a thousand acres, after harvest, can be used to extract oil." ”

Fanning was looking forward to it, and he asked with a smile: "Is it still smashing the oil with a wooden hammer now?" ”

Zhu Qi's head shook like a rattle, "Directly use the steam engine to press the oil cake, now the steam engine has been widely used, weaving, rice, threshing, winemaking, wells, pumping, brick making, especially this year to build a small steam engine, only the size of a table, very widely used, now is studying, how to use the steam engine in farming." ”

"Have you thought of anything?"

"Last year, someone proposed to fix the steam engine in the field, tie it to the iron plough with a rope, the steam engine rotated, and the rope pulled the iron plough forward, but everyone objected, it was too troublesome, it was better to use oxen, after building a small steam engine this year, everyone brainstormed, and someone proposed to build a boat that could walk in the field, with four wheels in front and rear, wouldn't it be able to walk in the field? You can plough the ground, you can sow seeds, you can put on a sharp knife, and you can even harvest wheat. ”

Fanning secretly admired the infinite wisdom of the people, and actually thought of the prototype of the tractor, and he asked with a smile: "Has it been made?" ”

Zhu Qi shook his head and said, "A group of young students at the school who are learning steam engines are in charge of building this kind of machine that can walk on its own, and there are still any results. ”

Fanning smiled: "When you go back this time, buy more rubber in Baozhou, the belt made of rubber is very suitable for driving the shaft to rotate, tell the students about this idea, maybe it will inspire them." ”

Zhu Qi nodded solemnly, "I remember!" ”

.........

The steam-engine ship was much faster than a traditional passenger ship, and it sailed day and night, and three days later, the ship arrived in Yangzhou.

This time, Zhu Qi came to the Great Song Dynasty with two main tasks, one was to reach an agreement with the imperial court to exchange stainless steel for ordinary pig iron, and the second was to pick up the immigrants to the North Island, including more than 400 Song Dynasty people who took the initiative to go to the North Island and 5,000 families of the Liao Han people who immigrated to the North Island, and 3,000 families of immigrants to the South Island also went to sea on their ships.

The second task is clearly more significant.

This time, there were as many as 30,000 Han Chinese in Liao who were willing to emigrate overseas, with a total population of 150,000, which greatly surprised the Song Dynasty, and these 30,000 households were basically the lowly class of Liao, including slaves, craftsmen, soldiers, musicians, etc., who were brutally exploited from generation to generation.

Even if they return to Liao, they have no land and property, no status, and are widely despised by society, and at the same time, they do not have a strong sense of belonging to the Great Song Dynasty, so they are willing to go overseas to live a new life.

Moreover, they were strongly attracted by the promise of a hundred years of tax exemption and hundreds of acres of private land in the southern continent, and the heavy taxes of the Liao State made them have a great fear of taxes, and they were attracted to the tax exemption and land property for a hundred years.

The time of departure is these two days, 22,000 of the 30,000 households took 150 large ships to the southern continent of Xinqi Province, located in the southeast corner of the southern continent, is the year before the beginning of the development of a new state capital, where the land is very fertile, the climate is cool, more livable than Dingnan Province.

Another 8,000 families went to the South and North Islands, and this time Zhu Qi brought seventy large ships, as well as eight hundred soldiers and dozens of retinues, who would assist him in transporting the people to the South Island.

Fanning arrived in Yangzhou in the morning, and the Yangzhou government and the main generals of the garrison rushed to the dock to welcome Fanning.

The governor of Yangzhou is Fan Ning's uncle Fan Chunren, the second son of Fan Zhongyan, who won the respect of Zhao Ji, the son of heaven.

Yangzhou is now the transit center of the Great Song Dynasty's overseas materials and population, and its status is very high, although it has not yet been upgraded to a government, but the chief officials must be served by senior officials above the fifth grade.

The commander of the Yangzhou garrison was Zhang Jian, the commander of the navy, who led 8,000 troops and hundreds of warships to garrison the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

However, Zhang Jian happened not to be in Yangzhou, and went to inspect the Wuchang area of the Yangtze River, and Fan Ning was received by the deputy general Li Ying.

Fan Ning saw that Li Ying stammered and explained to himself that the main general had gone on a routine inspection, so he smiled slightly: "General Li don't worry too much, I am not here to inspect the army this time, but to visit immigrants as Xiangguo, so you can accompany you." ”

Li Ying breathed a sigh of relief, and personally rushed to the immigration camp to maintain order.

Fan Ning smiled at Fan Chunren and said, "I forgot that you were in charge of Yangzhou, and I had brought the child with me if I knew it." ”

Fan Chunren smiled slightly: "Then don't blame me for not reminding you in advance, I didn't know you were coming, the documents from the imperial court were only delivered yesterday, and it is estimated that you are already halfway there." ”

"Then next time! Next time, I'll bring a big family to fight your autumn breeze. ”

"Huh! A warm welcome will be given. ”

The two laughed a few words, and Fan Chunren asked, "Go to the city to rest for a while, or go directly to the immigration camp." ”

"It's still early, let's go directly to the camp!"

The two got into the carriage and, under the protection of dozens of horseback guards, headed for the emigration camp in the eastern direction of the city.

In the carriage, Fan Chunren said with a smile: "It's a little inappropriate for me to call you by seniority, call you His Royal Highness the King of Chu, I guess you are not happy, it is more appropriate to call you an official position." ”

Fan Ning smiled and said, "You can call me Little Fan Xianggong, this title is the most suitable for you." ”

Historically, Fan Chunren was the Xiangguo of Song Zhezong, known as the Cloth Yi Xianggong, and some people called him the Little Fan Xianggong.

Fan Chunren nodded, and asked again: "Is Xiao Fan Xianggong familiar with the Cheng family in Yangzhou?" ”

'Yangzhou Cheng Family' made Fan Ning's heart move, thinking of the fat man Cheng Ze and Cheng Yuanyuan, who almost married Su Liang, but this is almost twenty years ago.

He asked lightly, "Why did you suddenly ask about this?" ”

"Is that so?"

Fan Chunren explained: "The third pier of the Yangzhou government is ready to be sold, there are many competitors, two days ago the head of the Cheng family found me, he said that he is your friend, I hope I can take care of it, give priority to the Cheng family, I am a little confused, when did you have a relationship with a person like Cheng Ze?" ”

"What does he look like now?"

"He is very obese, at least weighs 200 pounds, and he is notoriously stingy in Yangzhou, and he is nicknamed Cheng Tiezhu."

Speaking of this, Fan Ning Chunren was surprised: "Could it be that you really have a friendship with him?" ”

"I can't talk about friendship, I've dealt with each other for a while, that year I went to Beijing with Su Liang and Li Dashou to catch the exam, I met him in Yangzhou, he also had to go to Beijing to catch the exam, we lived together after entering Beijing, and then I despised him as a person, and after the imperial examination, I divided my own things, but Su Liang and his sister had no fate, and almost married his sister."

Fan Chunren smiled and nodded, "It's similar to what he said, he didn't exaggerate, he also said that the most regretful thing is that he didn't promote the marriage between his sister and Su Liang, his sister is actually married well, and she is also a wealthy family in Yangzhou, right?" ”

Fanning thought for a moment and said, "So be it! For the sake of a little affection back then, Zhu Xiaolin's No. 5 pier can be resold to him, and as for the wharf of the government, don't talk about favors. ”

"Does little Fan Xianggong want to see him?"

Fanning shook his head, "There's no need to meet, I don't want to mention the past!" ”

Fan Chunren nodded, and no longer mentioned the matter, and the carriage sped up and drove towards the migrant camp a few miles away.

The camp of immigrants is in the east of Yangzhou City, where a fixed barracks area has been formed, covering an area of tens of thousands of acres, which can accommodate up to 200,000 people, specially for the transit of immigrants, it is simply a small county town, and all kinds of facilities are relatively complete.

These people have been living here for more than a month, patiently waiting for the day of departure.