85_85536 Two days later, William received no reply from the Archbishop of Krakow, nor did he receive any other news. Losing his patience, he began to promote his own planting techniques.

After promising the serfs that if they did well, they would be exempted from the tax of 10% of the autumn grain this year, the enthusiasm of the serfs of Baudelaire, Sandomit, and Vitra was greatly increased. New farming techniques are being rapidly promoted. At the same time, William also began to implement another, more advanced intercropping technique.

Intercropping techniques of wheat and soybeans. Ridge formation, soybeans are planted on the ridge, and when they are ripe and harvested, the bean plants are buried in the ridge, flattened, and then the ridge becomes a ridge. In this way, the harvest is more than the rotation of four nurseries, and the results are faster. It's just that there is a lack of excellent alfalfa forage grass in the intercropping, which has a certain impact on animal husbandry.

"But this year, grain is the most important hard currency. You can't do it without enough food. William thought about it, and then decided to change some of the fields to wheat and soybeans. At the same time, some wasteland was specially opened up to grow alfalfa grass.

In addition to this, William began to consider the sources of two other fertilizers. There are three kinds of agricultural fertilizers, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, the most important nitrogen fertilizer, the best source is human and animal manure, fermented fertilizer. Originally, because of religious issues, this source could not be used. However, after William learned that Father Peter was not actually a professional god, but a two-faced man, he had an idea.

After obtaining the approval of Father Peter, William began to issue his first decree as the heir to the Hereford family, the future Duke of Court, in the name of cleaning up public health, the Health Management and Epidemic Prevention Act

The regulations stipulate that all farms are required to build collective toilets. Dig deep into the manure pit. Defecation is carried out in a special toilet and offenders are subject to a fine. At the same time, for a large number of poultry caused by cattle breeding, sheep and horses, pig raising, and poultry raising, livestock manure should also be collected and put into a unified septic tank. The manure will naturally ferment in the public toilet and become a source of manure.

As for phosphate fertilizers, this one is more difficult. In addition to natural phosphate rock, only animal bones have a high phosphorus content. This is also the reason why ghost fires are often seen in the cemetery, and those ghost fires are actually phosphorus fires contained in bones.

At the same time, one of the reasons for the high crop yield in the Jiangnan water towns in southern China is that there are various small fish in the paddy fields, and the phosphorus rich in fish bones becomes a natural fertilizer after the fish die.

William's territory is close to the Vistula River, which is rich in fresh food and catch. Originally, all the leftover fish bones and other things were lost, and this time, William issued his first decree as the Earl of Vitra, who was also the heir to the Hereford family, and the future Duke of Court, a decree that made people laugh and cry:

Fish Bones Collection Order

The decree required that all bones consumed in Hereford, Baudelaire, Sandomit, Vitra and Circassian be handed in. Whether it is fish bones, crab shells, shrimp shells, shells, pigs, horses, cattle and sheep bones, all kinds of bird feathers and poultry bones, all must be handed over, collected by a special person, and then crushed into powder.

The source of potash fertilizer is plant ash. No coal mines have been found in William's domain. It was as strange as the Britons who had discovered open, shallow, and large quantities of high-quality anthracite coal on their own land, and William did not catch up. At present, most of the firewood used in William's domain is still wheat straw. Therefore, the amount of plant ash produced by domestic heating is extremely large.

When these three things are mixed together, there are all three kinds of fertilizers such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium...... Although it is true that it is not as good as chemical fertilizer, and it is slightly insufficient in quantity. But having is better than nothing.

Thus, William, while promoting the new techniques of farming, added one more thing, that is, he traveled from farm to farm, commanded the people to build public latrines, and ordered the stewards of each farm, the mayors of each town, and the squires to carry out the two decrees he had issued.

After that, there's the issue of soybeans.

Xia Lumi once went to William and asked him why he planted so many soybeans and why he didn't grow a little more grain: "William, if you eat, eat soybeans or something at every meal, isn't it a little tired." The feed used as a war horse is not used that much...... Do you want to use it to raise pigs? That's a waste, isn't it?"

"It's used to squeeze oil. William said as a matter of course.

“...... Oil?" Charlumi was inexplicable.

"Yes, soybeans won't be of any use other than oil extraction, right?" William's eyes sparkled: "Of course, in addition to oil extraction, other food processing should also be carried out." Charlumie, have you ever heard a proverb?"

"What proverb?"

"The one who sells soybeans never loses money?"

"Why?" said Charumi, still puzzled.

"Because if soybeans can't be sold, you can use beans to eat raw bean sprouts, or use soybeans to squeeze oil, or make tofu, and if you can't sell tofu, you can make stinky tofu, or use beans to grind soy milk and drink, you can ferment to make soy sauce - in short, soybeans are very useful, and you don't have to worry about this. Definitely make money that is. ”

It's like William said. Beans in this era really had no other purpose than to eat. As for the use of soybean fats to make margarine, or the use of industrial fats and fats, there is no shadow at all...... Well, such a high-tech thing, at the moment William has not thought of engaging in it. As long as the soybean oil extraction can be done well, then the Hereford family will have a lot of money.

In this era, the vast majority of fats and fats used in the human world are animal oils, of which lard is the most. Vegetable oil, on the other hand, is traditional olive oil.

The problem is that there are limits to the growth of olives and they can only be grown in subtropical Mediterranean climates...... This cheapens several countries in the South. That is, the countries surrounding the blue sea. In those countries, olive oil is a very important trade commodity. It is even called liquid gold. Those countries that are geographically more northerly can only look at the greed.

However, soybeans are much better, annual herbaceous plants, with a short growth cycle, and they are not very picky about geographical conditions or anything. Bean root also has the effect of nitrogen fixation, which can be said to be one of the best cash crops in the classical era. And the soil method of oil extraction is not very difficult. In William's Psychic Reading Room, there are also things related to this - mainly thanks to the documentary "A Bite of China" that I watched before, which has a detailed description of the local method of oil extraction.

Although it is not entirely true to say that documentaries or something. But the approximate process should be * not far from ten.

Soybean oil is extracted, and the leftover soybean cake can be used as high-grade feed, or it can be further processed to process soy sauce, or make tofu or something...... Considering the receptivity of people in this era to new foods, William felt that the future of tofu was promising.

In this way, in addition to being busy with agricultural reform, William began to be busy again, opening an oil mill. And the tools and labor used for oil extraction are not available in the north. So William asked the merchants to go to the warm south and find a reliable olive oil extractor to come here. Although the oil extraction process of the two crops is slightly different, it is much the same. It's better than a human operation. And the harvest of soybeans will not wait until autumn, and William still has a lot of time.

Agrarian reform, the land produced more food crops, and then soybean oil. Both of these are very "lucrative" things. Whether it is grain or oil, it is a well-known hard currency in this era, something that can be sold for a lot of money. Imagine a bumper harvest of your own grain and soybeans, and then export it in exchange for a big bill...... William was full of ambition.

Although agriculture is never as profitable as industrial manufacturing. But the problem is that William's current situation can be said to be poor and white. He had no capital, no technology, and not enough burghers and industrial workers. All he had was a large number of serfs and large tracts of land.

The Grand Duchy of Mazovia, as well as the southern part of the Kingdom of Ruthenia, as well as the vast lands along the Black Sea coast that are currently under the rule of the Tartarian Khanate, are fertile lands for cultivation. Water is abundant and the terrain is flat. In such a situation, those who do not vigorously develop agriculture are simply idiots.

Taking a step back, even if William wanted to develop industrial manufacturing, he would have to have money. Yes, he had to have capital.

At present, the price of grain and edible oil remains high due to the lack of production and farming technology.

In the present year, a hundred kilograms of semolina can reach the price of seventeen silver marks in a normal year, from spring to summer when the grain is harvested. During the summer grain harvest, the autumn grain harvest decreases considerably, reaching ten silver marks. In winter, it is maintained at twelve to fifteen silver marks.

And each silver mark, that is, the small silver coin commonly used in the territory of the Ostrogothic Empire, has a standard silver content of 70% and a weight of about 5 grams. William's salary for the soldiers of the New Army was five silver marks per month. And the commission of the mercenary is four times this figure, reaching twenty silver marks per month.

At present, the five territories owned by the Hereford family have more than 600,000 acres of land on the books. Because the accounts have not been touched for a long time, they are not accurate. If the land is thoroughly investigated and concealed, and the land is cultivated privately, William feels that the number of acres can be doubled.

Today, the Circassian county, which William presided over and initially implemented agricultural reform, yielded about 170 kilograms per mu. William believes that with all the fertilizer available, the yield per mu can reach 200 kilograms.

The Circassian county has abundant water resources, which are not comparable to other territories. Then the requirement is lowered a little, which is one hundred and fifty kilograms.

William's agricultural tax burden was slightly lower than that of other nobles, and he had to pay sixty percent, or ninety kilograms.

The average grain per mu is 90 kilograms, and the number of acres is 600,000 mu. Then it will be 5,400,000 kilograms, and according to the lowest grain price, 100 kilograms and 100 silver marks, that is, 540,000 silver marks. It doubled in summer and autumn, one million and eighty thousand.

In other words, if William did nothing and only grew food and raised soldiers, he could afford a standing army of 18,000 new troops, or 4,500 mercenaries.

This force was enough for him to overthrow the current Grand Duke of Mazovia. It was even enough for him to be the king of Germany