Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1713 You can't imagine the poverty in the past

I enjoyed a delicious meal of mutton here in Borot, a Mongolian. I have to say that this Golden Continent is really the place of choice. The cattle, sheep and horses here are fat and strong, and the mutton is also extremely good. Delicious, and no mutton smell.

After eating and drinking enough, Wen Yongzheng and Xiao Yan led their team to continue heading towards the mouth of the Xibi River, where they were going to take a boat back to Penglai City to rest for a while.

As we get closer and closer to the Xibi River and Penglai Bay, we can gradually start to see large, large areas of reclaimed fields, with faces that stretch as far as the eye can see.

"I have been to Liaodong once, and the fields in Liaodong are similar to here. The fields are very large, and often some fields are tens of acres, or even hundreds of acres."

"I have also been to the south of the Yangtze River. In the south of the Yangtze River, the fields are very small. Even if it is a large flat field, it must be divided into countless small pieces. The largest is only one or two acres, and many are even one-acre fields. They have to be divided into several pieces, and they are often irregular.”

"The fields here and the fields in Liaodong are more comfortable for people to see. The roads are planned straight, and the fields are also large, straight, straight, and square."

Looking carefully at the vast field in front of him with a telescope, Xiao Yan also rang out what he saw in Daming.

"You are young, you may not understand it very well."

"When I was young, at that time our Ming Dynasty hadn't expanded externally, so everyone concentrated in the mainland of Daming. Many families, a family of more than a dozen people lived on a few acres of land, and lived on that few acres of land throughout the year. Tired and exhausted, the result is that I can’t even eat enough.”

"At that time, the land was very precious, it was the lifeblood, and it was passed down from generation to generation."

"Whoever talks about selling the fields left by their ancestors will be poked in the back and scolded as a prodigal."

When Wen Yongzheng heard it, he also remembered his childhood life.

"At that time, it was really poor."

"That kind of poverty is unimaginable to you new generations. You are so poor that you can't even eat enough. Many poor people wear trousers. Several people wear a pair of trousers."

"How many people wear a pair of trousers?"

Someone next to him quickly asked, very curious.

"How to wear it?"

"Of course they are worn in rotation. Those who have something to go out wear pants, and those who have nothing to go out wear at home."

"You young people don't even know the poverty and suffering at that time."

Wen Yong sighed as he spoke, then pointed to the land in front of him and said, "Look at this great plain, what a wonderful land."

"The terrain is open and flat. The land here is fertile and deep, and the water is abundant. In the past, such land would not be wasted at all. It must be reclaimed to grow food."

"But look at the farmland in front of you. It's already midsummer now. However, there are large, large tracts of fertile land, even if they have been reclaimed, no one has planted them. They are just barren here."

"Look at the crops grown here. There aren't many food growers, and most of them grow sugar cane. Why grow sugar cane?"

"Because sugarcane can be used to make sucrose, and the price of sucrose is high, and it is easy to sell."

"As for food, what this Golden Continent lacks most is food. Look at those corn fields and wheat fields, which are overgrown with weeds and seriously lack of care. Because food is too cheap, farming doesn't make money at all."

"If it were placed decades ago, in the mainland of Daming, people would definitely be scolded to death. If you are so reckless, waste the land, and don't work hard, you will be scolded to death."

"The land at that time, even a little bit of land in the corner, was used to grow food, because food is the most precious thing, and it is the guarantee of survival."

Wen Yongzheng also expressed his feelings, thinking of the scene when he was beaten when he was a child because he dropped a few grains of rice while eating, and then thinking about the children in his family, who were picky about what to eat, who ate half and dropped half.

Times have really changed.

The common people are also really rich, because there are too many, too many fertile lands that can be cultivated, and the food produced can't be eaten even if the people of Ming Dynasty open their stomachs to eat.

The grain produced in Liaodong and Hezhong in a year is enough to feed the entire Daming people for several years.

"Was it really that poor back then?"

These young people around me, all of them have just come out of school not long ago, and they all grew up in the new era, so they have not experienced those difficult years.

"I said very lightly."

"None of you know that once there is a great famine, the bark of the tree will be gnawed off, and there will be people who eat Guanyin soil, and the belly will be the same as being pregnant in October, and there are other things that I am too embarrassed to say."

Wen Yongzheng said with a smile.

"What is Avalokiteshvara?"

Immediately someone asked again.

"It's the ashes left over from burning incense."

"Can you eat that too?"

"Is there any bark to eat?"

"I don't know either, only the hungry know."

Wen Yongzheng said with a smile.

At this time, he looked at a farm in front and said, "Let's go, let's go to the farm in front for a rest and see if we can have some tea."

Here in the farm, the farmer Su Laosan was lying leisurely under the tree drinking tea and reading the newspaper.

As the first Su Lao San to go gold panning, he was very unlucky and perfectly missed the opportunity to get rich overnight. He organized more than a dozen expeditions in succession, looking for gold and silver, and returned empty-handed every time. He spent all the savings he had accumulated over the years of sailing.

In the end, he simply chose to lie flat, stopped going out to explore, put away his thoughts and thoughts of getting rich overnight, and returned to his farm instead, and lived a comfortable life as a farmer.

"I heard that the efficiency of this steam cultivator and steam harvester is very high. Using the machine, one person can cultivate thousands of acres of land."

"Would you like to buy one and try it out?"

"This machine is too expensive. A machine costs nearly 300 taels of silver. When will I be able to pay back the cost of this kind of land? The food in this Golden Continent is too cheap."

Su Laosan looked at the newspaper, which reported in detail the agriculture in Liaodong, and mentioned the steam cultivator and steam harvester. He then looked at the price of life, and immediately shook his head again and again.

Food is worthless, and it cannot be sold for a price. The money has been invested, and it is not known when it will be paid back.

"With this money, I might as well buy a few more European female slaves. They can have children and work, and everything can be taken care of in an orderly manner, and I don't have to worry about saying that the machine is broken and needs to be repaired."

Thinking of this, Youngest Su put down the newspaper in his hand and looked towards his farm. He could see dozens of women in his family busy in the field.

Ever since he gave up the idea of ​​going on an expedition, the youngest Su has lived a happy poor life. When he has money, he buys a few European female slaves. The more he buys, the more he buys. Now there are more than [-].

All the things in the house are entrusted to them. As for the youngest Su himself, he just drinks tea and reads newspapers every day. By the way, he makes people in the evening. The children make a bunch of them. At this moment It's a lot of fun to play around the real farm by yourself.

"Discovery team?"

At this time, he saw Wen Yongzheng, Xiao Yan and others coming towards his farm in the wilderness ahead, and he immediately regained his energy.

Although the idea of ​​exploring has been put off, he has always been very concerned about this period, and every time an expedition team passes by, he will go forward excitedly to have a good chat.

"The scale of this expedition is quite large, with more than a hundred people, and how many slaves they brought to work."

Taking a closer look, Su Laosan's eyes lit up. Such a powerful large-scale expedition team is rare, and it will cost a lot of money to set up.

Forming an expedition team often requires a lot of expenses. The manpower, horses, supplies, etc. of the expedition team will cost thousands of taels of silver to organize any expedition.

This is still a small expedition team, and it will cost more to organize such a large expedition team with hundreds of people.

Soon, Wen Yongzheng and Xiao Yan came to Su Laosan's farm on horseback.

"My fellow, we are the expedition team of the Daming Petroleum Company in Penglai City. We pass by your place, can we ask for a bowl of tea?"

"Yes, yes, of course~"

Su Laosan nodded repeatedly, and immediately warmly welcomed Wen Yongzheng, Xiao Yan and other Ming people into his home. As for the slaves, they naturally rested in the open space outside.

"Hurry up and make tea, and bring some watermelon to entertain the guests."

Su Lao San was very enthusiastic, and he was excited when he saw the expedition team, so he hurriedly ordered his woman to prepare.

"Oil company?"

"What is this oil?"

Su Laosan entertained warmly, and chatted with Wen Yongzheng, Xiao Yan and others at the same time.

"Petroleum is a kind of dark oil. It is mainly buried in the ground, so it is difficult to find. This kind of oil is very rare in our local area of ​​Ming Dynasty, but it seems to be of great use now, so our boss also established Petroleum Merchant, let us come to Golden Continent to look for oil."

Wen Yongzheng also replied that the people of this Golden Continent are enthusiastic, whether it is the nomadic Mongolians or the farming Ming people, they are all very enthusiastic, and they are warmly entertained when they come.

"Dark oil?"

When Su Laosan heard this, he was slightly dumbfounded, because not long ago when he was in his own land, he found some dark oil seeping from the soil.

At that time, Su Laosan's family was taken aback, thinking that there was something evil in this place, otherwise there would be dark oil coming out.

"It turned out to be oil!"

Su Laosan's eyes lit up, thinking of the oil underground in his home, if it is really useful in the future, wouldn't it be a fortune?

Those who explored and explored in the past, searched hard for wealth, and never thought that there was oil under their own homes.

(End of this chapter)