When Zheng Fuguang drilled oil in Lake Maracaibo, the Xintianfu Agricultural Machinery Factory finally finished debugging the newly assembled tractor.

At this time, it was already late April, and the autumn harvest around Xintianfu had come to an end.

Most of the farmland outside the city has been harvested and has entered the stage of ploughing and sowing wheat.

In order to find a place to display the new machine, Zhu Jingyuan asked the guards to ride out on horseback and run a big circle.

Finally, in a corner of the moat block of the outer city of Xintianfu, a small field of corn that had not yet been harvested was found.

This field belongs to the "No. 202 Farm in the Outer City of Xintianfu" for cultivation.

So Zhu Jingyuan decided to go to this farm to "help with the work".

Zhu Jingyuan called two staff, brought eight guards, and Zhao Youde, the treasurer of the Huangzhuang who was in charge of managing this area.

All of them changed into camouflage uniforms suitable for work, and put the harvester, mouldboard plough, harrower, and seeder on four wheels.

A group of people drove two 64-horsepower tractors, dragged tools with tow buckets, and went to Farm 202 with people.

Around a small intersection, there is a large courtyard in all four directions, and signs are hung at the entrance of the courtyard.

They are the four farms of 201, 202, 203 and 204.

Zhu Jingyuan parked the tractor in front of the 202 Farm and entered the compound with Zhao Youde, the shopkeeper of the Huangzhuang.

There is a straight road into the courtyard, with a large warehouse on the left and a large stable on the right, in which a dozen horses are raised.

Further on, there are five small courtyards on each side, a total of ten small courtyards, which are the houses of the ten families of this farm.

It is said to be a small courtyard, which is also relative to the compound of the entire farm.

In fact, the area of each yard is not small, and it looks at least 1,000 square meters or more.

The main house is two-storey, and there are more than four horizontal rooms on each floor, and the depth is relatively large.

There are at least two rooms in the east and west, and there are at least two rooms in both of them.

At the end of the ten courtyards, facing the way into the door, there was another great house.

It is a place where various festivals are held, and there is also a collective canteen on the farm.

During the busy time of the farm, they eat canteen meals in the farm, and when the farm is not working, each family cooks their own meals.

The cost of the canteen is counted as the operating cost of the farm, and is deducted from the final harvest of grain and profits.

The cost of cooking at home is at your own expense, so in fact, the farmer actually likes to eat in the canteen.

Zhu Jingyuan was going to come to help the farm, and the farmers of the farm had received the news in advance.

It's just that Zhu Jingyuan didn't want to move too much, so he asked them not to go out to greet them, just in the courtyard of the farm.

After breakfast today, men, women, and children all came out and waited at the entrance of the compound.

Zhu Jingyuan followed the shopkeeper in, and the dealers immediately bowed in a mess:

"I've seen His Highness ......"

"Hello everyone, you're welcome......"

Zhu Jingyuan returned the salute casually, and at the same time observed these people a little.

There are a total of ten households, and it is estimated that there are nearly 80 people.

On average, each family has four to five children.

In fact, at least one-third of these 10 families are relatively young, and they have not reached the age of stopping childbearing.

The couples in their forties were all surrounded by six or seven children.

And the complexion is very good, the adults are relatively strong, and the children are more watery.

At first glance, there is no shortage of oil, more than half of the people belong to the slightly fat level, and there are not a few people with big shoulders and round waists.

It's the busy farming season, and the clothes I'm wearing are obviously short clothes suitable for work, but I don't seem to find any patches at a glance.

It shows that these ordinary peasants are now quite wealthy in terms of food and clothing.

Their house is large enough for each child, and the stables are not just for pulling horses, but also for riding.

In the end, to Zhu Jingyuan's slight surprise, a blonde and blue-eyed Tessie woman appeared in this large group of people.

Zhu Jingyuan suddenly looked at it a few more times with some curiosity.

Zhao Youde, the shopkeeper of the Huangzhuang who followed him, also saw it, and immediately went to ask the director of this farm, Liu Laohan, who was in his fifties.

Liu Laohan immediately called the woman and the man next to him over, and at the same time introduced Zhu Jingyuan:

"Your Highness, this descendant is the eldest son of the old Li family, named Li Qingsong.

"As a soldier in the team of our Huangzhuang, according to the rules, it is not separated from households for the time being.

"Which one did he go to last year...... The place called Dongyi Country was on an errand and became the local flag chief.

"This Xiyi girl's name is Erica, and she is the translator of the Dongyi country, so she has to follow him.

So he took his daughter back to see his father and daughter-in-law.

"A few days ago, we held a banquet in the village, and we delayed the farm work for two days, which slowed down the corn harvest time of our village by two days."

"They will return to Dongyi in a few days."

These two people are Li Qingsong and Erica, who came back from leave in Dongyi Kingdom.

Li Qingsong finally settled the affairs at home and prepared to go back in a few days.

As a result, I didn't expect that in the past few days at home, I happened to meet Zhu Jingyuan to "help".

When he came to Zhu Jingyuan, he hurriedly bowed again.

Erica was even more nervous, she never expected to meet Prince Dashi here!

And Erica is a naturally bold character, and instinctively shouted nonsense while saluting with extreme excitement:

"I've seen Your Highness...... Your Highness, you have actually come to Yinzhou! ”

Zhu Jingyuan was also a little surprised by the experience of these two people.

I didn't expect that there was this bit of corn left in the 202 farm, just because of the two of them.

Zhu Jingyuan was in a good mood, so he smiled and joked:

"I am now the governor of Yinzhou in the Ming Dynasty, and theoretically, the Dongyi country where you are located is also under my control, so you two are actually my subordinates......"

After Erica reacted, she immediately bowed down again and said:

"It's a pleasure to be able to serve you......"

Zhu Jingyuan smiled and waved his hand:

"I just happened to design a new agricultural machine, and I see that there is still some corn on your farm, and I am going to use your land to try my machine, and you two will go and see it together."

Zhu Jingyuan did not continue to chat with them, and beckoned Zhuang Shang to go out to the field together.

The adults went to lead the horses, set up the carts, and prepared to go down to the fields to work.

The children joined in the fun, and a group of people went out in a hurry.

The farmland behind each Zhuangzi's compound is the land that each farm is responsible for cultivating.

Therefore, if you want to go to the field, you can go out of the house, but it is not easy to finish the work.

The area of the outer city of Xintianfu is a square with a side length of 27 kilometers, and the interior is divided into nine squares with a side length of 9 kilometers.

Each square is divided into nine small squares with a side of three kilometers, and each square is divided into nine farms with a side of one kilometer.

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In order to increase the population of each settlement, every four farmsteads were placed at an intersection in four directions,

Each farm usually has about ten households, responsible for a kilometer of land with a length and width of one kilometer, and an area of one square kilometer.

One square kilometer is 1,500 acres, and on average each family cultivates 150 acres of land.

In reality, however, the land was not subdivided into households, and all the people on the farm had to work together and share the profits together.

Because the land cultivated on the farm nominally belonged to the emperor, all the families of the farm were only the farmers - the employees of the farm.

But the emperor, who was too far away, actually did not participate in the specific operation at all.

These employees do not receive wages, but "dividends" of profits.

Thirty percent of the income of the Huangzhuang goes to the emperor, forty percent goes to the employees, and thirty percent is used to build roads, canals and other infrastructure.

The emperor received 30% of the farm's revenue, a percentage that at first glance seems high.

But this is not a few percent of the "income" as in the ancient dynasties, but three percent of the final "profit".

What the emperor wants is not taxes, but also profit dividends, of course, according to profits.

Since it is a profit, it must be calculated after deducting the cost.

This includes raising horses, making farm tools, buying seeds, spending on the canteen during busy farming hours, and two sets of work clothes for adults every year.

If, as in previous dynasties, taxes were calculated in proportion to the actual harvest, it might be only half or even less.

If there is a disaster year, if there is no money from farming, then there is no need to hand over a penny, and the emperor has to pay for the rescue.

In addition, the large-scale use of horse farming and the large-scale use of various auxiliary machinery make the scale of land that can be cultivated very large.

The average family can cultivate 150 acres of land, which is very close to the limit of what they can accomplish.

There is also a large amount of wasteland in Xintianfu, which can be quickly developed into fertile land or pasture, but there are not enough people to do it.

At present, the abundance of living materials of the peasants in Xintianfu is very close to the limit of self-cultivation in the agricultural era.

Before mechanization, they were given more land, and they really couldn't grow it.

The two tractors brought by Zhu Jingyuan stopped at the edge of the field, and the workers and soldiers worked together to move the machines off the tows.

Load the corn harvester on the tractor and align the corn output with the tow bucket behind.

Adults and children at the farm are watching.

Children are more curious, while adults are scrutinizing.

It's not that they haven't seen machines, it's just that most of the previous machines are not easy to use, otherwise horses would have been used a long time ago.

The steam engine is too heavy, the efficiency is low, and the coal is burned, and it is very difficult to replenish and recharge, and it is difficult to control the power.

The gasoline engine is boring, although it runs fast, but it can't do heavy work.

The two tractors brought by Zhu Jingyuan looked no bigger than the original gasoline engines.

And the corn harvester, which is mounted on top of the tractor, looks quite heavy. 、

The point is, they seem to be ready to let the tractor drag the bucket to the ground, and the things on this cart are too heavy.

The farmers at the scene did not have much expectation, worried that the machine would not work.

The machine here is finally ready, and it is ignited again with empty cartridges.

The tractor, equipped with a corn harvester, immediately went into the field.

The machine in front collects the corn, and at the same time breaks the straw directly, and the corn is output to the tractor dragged behind the tractor.

After going to the ground, the machine basically did not stop at all, and continued to move forward very steadily.

This set of machines drove directly over, and the four rows of corn were directly harvested, and the straw was also processed.

At the same time, the second tractor took off the trailer and replaced it with a suspended four-share plough.

Following the corn harvesting machine, he directly turned over the straw field.

A group of adults ready to do their work were a little at a loss as they watched the two machines roar forward.

"My mother, these machines don't look big, and they don't get stuck at all!"

"The harvester in front, this brings so many things, can it still walk?"

"This is a four-plough plough, two horses pull up to two plowshares, and the plough is shallower than this, and it walks slower......"

"The point is, it stands to reason that these are machines, and the machines can keep working if they don't break, and the horses have to rest."

"You have to be careful to control the rhythm of the two horses so that the two horses share the effort evenly, otherwise the horses may get injured."

"This car...... People just drive and walk, it's so worry-free......"

"This is finally a good farm machine!"

The Ming people were not surprised by the machine, but were surprised that the machine was really easy to use.

Daming farmers and farmers, the demand for agricultural machinery is very strong, because now the field is really too much to grow.

So seeing that the tractor brought by Zhu Jingyuan was usable and easy to use, the enthusiasm quickly came up.

The machines in front of Erica grabbed Li Qingsong's arm and said with a shocked expression:

"This harvesting machine, which does several times at a time, is many times faster than horses and people."

Li Qingsong was also very surprised and stunned:

"The point is that you can drive a car alone, and you don't need to control the horse carefully......"

In the end, Zhao Youde, the shopkeeper of the imperial village, looked at these people and said:

"The most important thing is that you don't have to raise horses! How much manpower and food has to be saved! ”

Liu Laohan, the director of the 202 Farm, said to the shopkeeper next to him:

"Shopkeeper, if we use this kind of machine in the future in the village, then can we double the field!"

Zhao Youde calculated more carefully:

"I'm afraid it's more than double, I estimate that in the past, ten families had one farm, and in the future, it is estimated that three will be enough.

"However, His Highness's idea does not seem to be ready for everyone to plant more fields, His Highness has other arrangements......"

Zhu Jingyuan's demonstration can be regarded as a great success, and the two tractors worked all morning without any breakdowns.

It seems that in the past half a month, the craftsmen have really carefully debugged.

In the afternoon, Zhu Jingyuan tried to use a seeder, and the two tractors worked all afternoon without obvious failure.

In the evening of the same day, Zhu Jingyuan returned to the farm with the peasants and entered their canteen together.

Before the official dinner began, the men, women and children of the farm looked at Zhu Jingyuan, waiting for him to say something.

Zhu Jingyuan thought about it for a while and sorted out his thoughts:

"Everybody sees how these machines work today, and they're obviously very suitable as farm machinery.

"With these machines, the speed of all kinds of farm work is at least three or four times faster, and the key is that you don't have to keep horses in your spare time.

"In the future, it may only take two or three families to complete the work on one farm of the previous ten families.

"So everyone should be wondering by now if they can break down a farm into two or even three.

"Let the extra people go and open more fields and farms, each with only three families.

"In this way, the income from the farm, which used to be shared by ten households, will now be divided between three households.

"This is equivalent to tripling your earnings!"

A group of honest farmers nodded their heads again and again, this was the problem they cared about the most.

Because the farmers of Xintianfu receive a proportional share of dividends rather than a fixed amount of wages, they are very enthusiastic about doing more.

Zhu Jingyuan looked at the reaction of the farmers and continued to explain his thoughts quite seriously:

"Since the machine has just begun to be used, it has not yet undergone long-term testing and accurate accounting.

"So out of prudence and on the safe side, we can't just shrink the population of a farm to three households for the time being.

"First of all, try to keep only five households, and let these five families share the profits of the original ten households.

"The other five families did not open up a new farm, but went to the city with me to work as laborers.

"Now Huangzhuang is building new factories on a large scale, and the most important one is the factory that produces these agricultural machines.

"Go to the city as a worker, produce more machines for other farms.

"Let the other farms also send half of the population to the city to work as workers."

A group of farmers began to think, some had begun to nod and expect, but others had not yet fully understood.

Liu Laohan, the director of 202 Farm, had questions:

"Your Highness, half of all the farms have been sent into the city to produce agricultural machinery, so it shouldn't be used up!"

Zhu Jingyuan laughed directly when he heard this question:

"Of course not, the most important thing in the production of agricultural machinery is the highest priority, but not all.

"Once the farm machinery is able to meet the demand, other people can go on to produce other things.

"Including clothes, shoes and hats, electric fans, washing machines, bicycles, cars, yachts, etc.

"All in all, we still have more to do if we meet our basic needs of safety, food, clothing, shelter and transportation.

"Then go and do what makes our lives better."