Before going to the Baiyi Battalion to take office, Wu Feng had nothing to do, so he inspected his new territory accompanied by Song Shannei.

The Lingbao area, known as "seven mountains, two plateaus and one river", most of the land is a hill formed by the remaining veins of the Qinling Mountains.

Yuzhou, commonly known as Henan, has vast plains and dense rivers, and is one of the most fertile areas in the Middle Earth, and has the first city in the mainland, Luoyijing. However, although the Lingbao area is also located in Yuzhou, it is also located on the bank of the Yellow River, but it is densely covered with hills. On the other side of the Yellow River, Bingzhou is known for its mountainous area, but the land in the Fenglingdu area directly opposite is better than here.

Most of the arable land here is mountainous, and the grain production is limited, and in the event of a drought, it is more likely that there will be no harvest. Therefore, there are many fishing villages in this area, and they use fishing to meet their food needs.

"It's not easy for people to live. Wu Feng looked at the land under his feet and sighed: "The lack of high-quality arable land leads to hard work all day long to fill your stomach." ”

In order to make the people rich, it is necessary to vigorously develop commerce (no-. However, there are too many ordinary people engaged in commercial handicrafts, and no one grows food.

Middle-earth is mountainous, and even Henan and Hebei, which are famous for their vast plains, are densely packed with mountains and rivers, and there is not much land with high grain production.

Song Shannei said: "In the vast land outside of Middle Earth, it is said that there are many places with huge plains, not small plains like the Henan Plain, but can fit entire states into it. ”

Wu Feng said: "Yes, I know. In fact, according to ancient legends, during the Wuzu period, the entire continent was occupied by our yellow-skinned people, and those white-skinned people were just invaders from another world. Now they occupy more land than Middle-earth......"

In Wu Feng's view, not only are cultivators, but also the Western spell masters are the enemies of martial artists. Even if there is no such powerful figure as Scurry in the West. If he can unify Middle-earth in the future, he will also wield troops to the west and seize those vast plains.

He sighed again: "It's rhetoric to say this after all. Now I'm thinking about how to develop the territory I have now......"

Song Shannei said: "Hey, I really envy you, now you have your own territory......"

Wu Feng said: "Why don't I ask the hall master to divide one or two villages for you?"

Song Shannei smiled: "No need. If I want to change jobs in the future, I will take the territory and work hard to develop. It's also making wedding dresses for others, what's the point?"

The difference between Song Shannei and Wu Feng is that in Song Shannei's eyes, the common people are not so important after all.

Wu Feng looked. Even if you have to leave in the future, if you can develop an area and let the people here live a more prosperous life, it will be happy for you. Both the samurai and the common people were human beings. Can do something for your fellow human beings who also have yellow skin. Why not do it?

Wu Feng said: "The size of my territory is limited now, and I don't have a chamber of commerce under my control, so I don't have the ability to develop business. If we want to build, we can only encourage the people to produce and increase grain production......"

Song Shannei said: "It is not easy to increase grain production. In such a place where there is little fertile land, the common people do not have the enthusiasm for production, and are accustomed to watching the sky and eating, and eating more food when there is more. Eat less if you have less food, as long as you don't starve to death. After all, no matter how good the harvest is. After paying the taxes, there is almost no surplus to sell......"

Wu Feng nodded and said, "Yes, the harsh environment may not cause diligence, but it is likely to cause laziness." If, no matter how hard you try, there is little change, the people will of course lose the motivation to work hard. ”

Song Shannei said: "In ancient times, there were some law-changers who forced the people to work hard through coercive means to increase their income. But human nature is afraid of trouble, and while increasing income, it also becomes more tired, so the common people may not be grateful, but hateful. Most of those who change the law do not end well, and they are often criticized in later generations. ”

He is about the same age as Wu Feng, but he has a very thorough view of the world.

Wu Feng said: "That's right. However, it is not easy to make the common people work harder, and at the same time let them increase their income, and at the same time ensure that the lord receives more taxes. This is especially true in this hilly area......"

He suddenly had an idea and said, "I thought of it." ”

Song Shannei was surprised: "What did you think of?"

"If it's just to improve people's lives, wouldn't it be better to plant cash crops instead?" Wu Feng said.

Song Shannei said: "It is true that hilly areas are not suitable for growing grain, but are more suitable for cash crops. It's just that the grain output in this area is already small, and if we switch to cash crops, what will happen if we encounter a shortage of grain?"

Wu Feng smiled and said, "I'm just operating in my own territory, so I won't affect the agricultural pattern of the entire Lingbao region." Moreover, the hall master has recently taken such a large amount of money, and he should really buy a large amount of grain reserves from the plain area, and he can use it in the future, whether it is to use soldiers or disaster relief. ”

What he said was that Deng Aihou had obtained the treasures of the Valley of Forgotten Worries for hundreds of years, and he could undoubtedly buy a large amount of grain. In particular, he signed an agreement with Xue Yiren, and he could buy a large amount of high-quality and inexpensive rice and flour from the Hanzhong area.

Food-deficit areas must stock up on large quantities of food when money is abundant. Otherwise, once a disaster strikes, the entire region can be destroyed without the need for the enemy to send a single soldier.

At the same time, the devastation of agriculture caused by war, as well as the plague caused by the decomposing corpses, can also cause food shortages, which are often devastating.

Song Shannei said: "Yes, what the people want is not food, but money that can be used." As long as they have money in their hands, they will naturally work hard. ”

Wu Feng said proudly: "Except for a fishing village, my fiefdom is maintained by planting. The hilly soil here is relatively fertile, but the terrain is uneven, which leads to low food production. This kind of soil is more suitable for growing small apples. ”

Song Shannei said: "Apples, the kind of fruit trees that came from the Anatolian region of the Western Desert?"

Wu Feng nodded: "Yes." It was the stronghold of the Turkic League, and it was the place where Scurry, the hero of the Western Desert, made his fortune. A plateau that is not too barren but not fertile, with low grain production, and countless tribes fighting openly and secretly. It's your life and death at every turn. People may have to kill their neighbors' entire families for a bite to eat. Only that kind of place can produce a hero who is much more terrifying than Xue Yiren. ”

"That kind of character. Not what we're going to think about. However, I believe that even if he does one day be able to enter from the Western Regions, he will be driven back by the Middle-earth coalition forces. Song Shannei said: "The population of the Western Desert is still too scarce after all......

Wu Feng smiled, what he wanted was to gather the forces of Middle-earth before Scurry unified the Western Desert, defeat it outside the Western Regions, and be killed into the hinterland to burn and loot. In the end, even if the counterattack was won, what glory would there be for the cultivators of Middle-earth?

"As for fishing, I have my own ideas. In the south. Fish ponds are common and can greatly increase the income of the fishing industry. There are frequent droughts in the north, water is scarce, and winters are long. Therefore, there are not many fish ponds. But I want to come. As long as the lord pays for digging the fish pond, it is better to repair it than not to repair it, and the fish are fed in the pond, which will inevitably have more harvest and more stability than if they have to go to the rivers to fish......"

Wu Feng continued: "I heard that southerners even plant a large number of mulberry trees at the edge of the pond to raise silkworms and feed the fish with silkworm dung. Fish manure enters the pond mud and can fatten mulberry to form mulberry ponds. This creates a virtuous circle. Although Yuzhou is northern. But it's not too cold, and this method works. Nowadays, there is a lack of high-quality timber and dilapidated houses, so bamboo-based fish ponds may be more beneficial, but the environment here is really not suitable for planting bamboo, so it can only be done......"

In fact, Wu Feng only saw these methods from books, and he didn't understand the specific operations.

But as a lord, you don't have to do everything yourself. It is only necessary to hire people who are familiar with relevant knowledge to guide you, and you can get the industrial construction on the road.

It seems that this is all a trivial matter, and it seems vulgar. However, it is these that are related to the survival of the common people.

Wu Feng summoned a group of security chiefs, including Hong Meng and Qin Yu.

"Do you know anything about civil affairs construction?" Wu Feng asked.

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads.

I just listened to Hong Meng: "This is not what a samurai should do......"

Wu Feng shook his head and said, "Why shouldn't it be? In the Great Song Dynasty in the south, in the Northern Yan in the Yanyun region, many extremely capable civil affairs experts are also martial arts masters with superb martial arts cultivation. Even many powerful leaders have personally participated in guiding the construction of civil affairs. You have indeed forgotten that warriors are also members of the people......"

When a group of people heard this, they couldn't help but feel ashamed.

Wu Feng said: "You are the most basic managers, you should do the most basic affairs, not collect taxes and catch strong men, you feel that you have completed the task." I'm busy and can't do everything myself, so I'm planning to build a mulberry fish pond and start growing apples in the hilly area. I will hire a specialized agricultural technician to guide you in these matters, but you must also know something. Let's use the leisure time of cultivation to practice, and I will bear the cost of cultivation, but I must have detailed accounts. After completing the course, I will conduct an assessment to observe your specific performance in civil affairs construction. For the best performers, I will hand over one of the six villages in the territory to his agent, who will have the right to take half of the tax that should have belonged to me. If you perform the worst, I will have your salary withheld for two to three years!"

Wu Feng paused, and added: "Those who perform better will also be rewarded with additional salaries, and those who perform poorly will be punished by salary deductions!"

The heads of the guards had different expressions.

An ordinary little lord would definitely not be as troubled as Wu Feng.

However, the reward offered by Wu Feng is indeed rich enough. It's just that the punishment is really not small.

Wu Feng did not report his management method to Deng Aihou, he seemed that it was his own private matter. If it reaches Deng Aihou's ears, then explain it.

This is his style, authoritarian and resolute.

Song Shannei is his friend, so how to manage it will be discussed with Song Shannei. Deng Aihou, as the boss, didn't bother to ask, and cut it first and then played.

After a while, Hong Meng was the first to say: "Without rewards and punishments, there is no motivation to work." The lord is really a wise man, and I am the first to raise my hand in favor. ”

Wu Feng smiled: "Okay." Based on your words, you will be paid twice the monthly salary in the next three months! ”

After all, this group of security chiefs are all people who want to improve their status, and they shouldn't be like ordinary people, like taro in a bowl.

All the security chiefs also verbally expressed their approval, but a few people still had a faint look on their faces.

Wu Feng could see at a glance that these were a few lazy people, and it seemed that who would be punished had actually been decided before the real reward and punishment.

His mind had already drifted up into the sky and looked down, seeing what the land would look like a few years later. The dense fish ponds on the lowlands form a dense water net, fresh fish are running around, and spring silkworms spin silk on the dense mulberry trees. On the hills, bright red apples are everywhere.

These are all white flowers and silver, and they are the lifeblood of people's lives.

In Wu Feng's view, money is actually the foundation of the operation of this world, and if this problem cannot be solved, there is no way to talk about the way of a gentleman. (To be continued......)

PS: It's on the shelves, thank you brothers and sisters for your support!

Chapter 143: Planting Small Apples: