After crossing the Great Wall of Bailishi, you will enter the Danshui River Valley. It used to be the place where the Qin and Zhao armies fought, and now it has become the chicken, duck and goose breeding base of the Zhao State.

How to hatch chickens, ducks and geese in batches has actually troubled Zhao Guo for a long time, it is impossible to find thousands of hens to hatch in Zhao Guo, and not all hens can hatch eggs, so they can only artificially hatch chicks.

However, how to control the incubation temperature at about 38 degrees has always been a difficult point. It wasn't until a disciple of the public loser made a simple water thermometer based on the principle of thermal expansion and cold contraction that this problem was solved.

I don't care if it's 38 degrees or not, I just need to know that the temperature is controlled at a point where the water column is just enough to hatch the chicks.

After the temperature is controlled, the rest will be easy to do, the fire kang is supported, the eggs are put in, and the bedding is covered.

Although a large number of eggs were lost at the beginning due to the failure of the water thermometer, the size of the fire was not well controlled, and the eggs were steamed directly, or the temperature was not enough, and the embryos froze to death, etc., but with the gradual improvement and proficiency, now the chicks can be hatched stably.

Ben stepped forward to show the token, and although the guards felt that the identities of Zhao Kuo and the others were a little unusual, they still asked them to wait outside for a while.

When Li Yun, the person in charge of the farm, saw the token, his face suddenly changed, and he hurried out.

"Meet the king, meet the queen." Li Yun came out to take a look, sure enough, it was Zhao Kuo, and hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted, he was Li Muqin's eldest brother, so he naturally knew Zhao Kuo.

"This king has traveled here, come and see." Zhao Kuo said with a smile. There are three brothers in the Li family, Li Yun, Li Mu, Li Qi, among which Li Mu has the strongest ability, Li Qi is second, although Li Yun is older, but he is still slightly inferior to the two younger brothers, plus he grew up in Qin since he was a child, and later followed his father to Zhao State, Zhao Guo did not trust them very much, so he has been idle at home until Zhao Kuo took office, so he was responsible for managing the farm.

"The king, the queen, please." Li Yun stretched out his hand and said.

"Aren't outsiders allowed here?" Zhao Kuo looked around, and walked inside with the broken slave in his arms.

From the outside, the farm is very large, some of it is built on flat land, and some of it is built in the mountains and in the danshui, and the outside is fenced off with nets to prevent the chickens from flying out.

"In the past, you could visit casually, but then these chickens contracted the plague and many died, and the rest were all killed and sent to the barracks. The doctor here said that it is easy for outsiders to bring the virus in, and since then, outsiders have not been allowed to come in. Li Yun said.

The plague brought the newly developed Zhao State back to the pre-liberation period, and most of the chickens and ducks suffered except for the geese that survived, otherwise the scale would have expanded at least several times now.

Although Zhao Kuo has always said that everyone can eat meat during the New Year's holidays, he knows that this goal is completely unrealistic, and he can eat enough because of the popularity of Quyuan plough and ploughing oxen, so that everyone can cultivate more land.

With the conditions of Zhao State, even the cheapest fish and meat cannot satisfy all the people. Similarly, although large pastures have been built on the grasslands, it is unlikely that everyone can eat beef and mutton.

But one can't work, two can't, then a few more, fish to catch, large ranches to plan, farms to build, three together, there will always be a chance for everyone to eat meat in the future.

The entire Zhao Kingdom is only more than five million people, even if one person has one catty, it is only more than five million catties, Zhao Kuo doesn't believe it, Zhao Guo can't even take out this bit of meat.

"......" Zhao Kuo looked around, a little silent, the farm is ventilated on all sides, the top is open, not far from the official road, people come and go, others can pass the virus in a circle from the outside, and this broken net can't stop it.

However, it is also right not to let outsiders in, and it can reduce a lot of unnecessary troubles and accidents, and there is no need to investigate the reasons in detail.

"This is the hatchery room, which is specially used to hatch chickens, ducks and geese. This farm is mainly for chickens, ducks and geese just because of the proximity to Danshui, and some are bred by the way. After hatching, it is sent to the indoor breeding next to it, and after half a month, it can be put outside. Li Yun said.

Soon, several people came to a large open field, where a layer of thatch was spread, and a group of palm-sized chickens pulled the thatch with their feet, rummaging for insects under the grass.

"After we plough the field, sprinkle some porridge or boiled millet on it, and then spread a layer of fresh thatch on it, and small white insects will grow under the grass, which grow very fast, plus small insects such as earthworms and grubs in the field, which can basically meet the food of chickens."

"We only need to feed the food once in the evening so that the chickens grow faster. Every once in a while, change the land. Wait until the second year, change a large piece of land, and the previous piece of land will be planted with crops, and so on. Li Yun pointed to the open space in front of him and said.

In these years, there is no indoor farming, and there is no feed, not to mention that it can't be made, and even if it can be produced, the cost is high.

Not to mention feed, Zhao Guo was reluctant to give food to the chickens, so he could only raise some small insects. The advantage of this method is that it saves food, and the chickens that are bred are also more delicious, and even the probability of giving birth to internal qi is much higher than that of other chickens, after all, there is still a difference between eating meat and eating a vegetarian diet.

The disadvantage is that the breeding area required is too large, just look at the scope of the farm, from the mountain to the Danshui River, all of which are used to raise chickens.

However, Zhao is vast and sparsely populated, large tracts of land are vacant, and food has always been in short supply, so this method is the most suitable.

"This method is good, has it been promoted?" Zhao Kuo asked.

"It has been promoted, and now all farms use this method to raise chickens." Li Yun said.

"What about geese and ducks?" Zhao Kuo asked.

"Ducks are generally raised in rice paddies, where they can feed on weeds, floaters and pests in the field, and duck manure can also be used to fertilize the fields and then drive them out when the rice is starched." Li Yun said.

"Geese, because they eat much more than ducks, are easy to eat rice seedlings. Moreover, it is large in size and has strong destructive power, and it is easy to overwhelm the seedlings when it falls into the rice field or flapps its wings, and the geese only eat grass and do not eat insects, so it cannot remove pests from rice. Therefore, it is cultivated in rice fields, but in lakes or rivers with abundant water and grass. But when the rice is harvested, chickens, ducks and geese can be driven in. ”

"It turns out that there are so many doorways in it, no wonder the king has always said that it is better to read ten thousand books than to travel ten thousand miles." Liu Ping said with emotion.