national surname chiming

Chapter 101 The scent of flowers comes from bees, but the fertilizer of the ground will definitely attract flies

After checking and accepting the military production and the drill of new weapons, at the end of February and throughout March, there was nothing for Shen Shuren to worry about in Huangzhou's military.

Continue to mass-produce according to the plan, equip all the existing musketeers with bayonets and long-handled battle axes, and practice tactics step by step, and the troops will be completely new in early April.

As for the drills of the original pikemen and other auxiliary arms, there is no ambiguity, and everything is going according to plan.

After Yan Yingyuan and Zhang Mingzhen arrived, Shen Shuren also assigned some military training tasks to them and adjusted the troop establishment.

Shen Shuren has guards in two prefectures with a strength of 7000.Zuo Zixiong has always been the governor of Huangzhou Weidu, while Zhang Huangyan was temporarily in charge of Suizhou Wei.

But Zhang Huangyan is a civil servant after all, even if he can fight, he shouldn't be directly in charge of the general staff.

This time, Zhang Mingzhen is a genuine military general, and he can directly be placed in the position of Suizhou Weidusi.

Shen Shuren was quite relieved about the loyalty of these people. After all, in history, they were all naval generals under the King Lu's lineage. Zhang Huangyan and Zhang Mingzhen had cooperated with each other for ten years.I believe that these two people can get along very well in this life, and Shen Shuren doesn't need to worry about interpersonal relationships.

In addition, these officials dug by Shen Shuren, no matter more or less, will bring some family members and personal soldiers to take up the post together, as many as a hundred or as few as dozens.The most was Zheng Chenggong's side, which brought six to seven hundred people directly at once.

Finally, after a total calculation, this time about 1000 troops were added to the Huangzhou Army, increasing the total number of troops from 7000 to [-].

And the increase is all elite soldiers-the most elite soldiers in the late Ming Dynasty are the generals' personal soldiers and servants.

With 8000 people, Shen Shuren simply expanded each guard to 4000 people, and temporarily divided each guard into two battalions, each with 2000 people, and one private guard. This is also to build a backbone framework in advance for further military expansion in the future. .

After all, Shen Shuren recruited a lot of low-level civil servants and military generals this time. Besides Zhang Mingzhen, there is another Yang Jinjue who is also treated as the capital, but he does not have a third guard on hand for Yang Jinjue to serve as the capital. Military power at the garrison level, waiting to win battles and expand the army.

Civil officials in other jurisdictions who have not been restored for the time being and cannot officially take office can also perform some guest missions first.

Fortunately, the treatment given by Shen Shuren is absolutely generous, and the level is also guaranteed, and the people below can bear it.

……

Putting aside the work of building the army for the time being, Shen Shuren can spare time throughout March to sort out the progress of civil affairs and farming in Huangzhou during the period after he left.

There is nothing to say about this one, after all, the cycle of agricultural production and water conservancy construction is very long.I haven't seen any qualitative changes in a few months.

It is nothing more than to let the idle people resume production as much as possible, renovate terraced fields, and fully accelerate the planting and promotion of new crops.

Before Shen Shuren came back, the spring plowing had already been completed, and this year's corn had already been planted.Corn can only be planted once a year, so there is no rush in this regard.

Shen Shuren persuaded the farmers to inspect for more than ten days, but there was nothing he could do.Only after going deep into the folks and listening to the feedback from the corn farmers under his jurisdiction, Shen Shuren realized that the farmers in Huangzhou generally had no experience in threshing corn, and even the farmers in Fujian during the same period were not very good at threshing, which was very time-consuming and laborious.

It took less than 30 years for corn to be introduced to the Central Plains. Farmers in the Ming Dynasty were not so good at summarizing, and before that they planted them casually.

After learning about this situation, Shen Shuren gave a few hints within his ability, provided some ideas, and then drew a sketch, asking the blacksmiths to help make a simple iron hoop screw thresher, the kind that can be operated by hand.

Although he had never farmed in his previous life, he had watched all kinds of farm work videos on TikTok, as well as the daily life of Huanong Brothers. He could still recall the shape of this simple machine operated by one person.

After finishing this matter, Shen Shuren did not stop doing anything, and tinkered with a few small farm tools that can save labor for farmers and have a very simple mechanical structure.
For example, the "long-handled sickle with a net bag" used by farmers in the 20th century later, so that farmers no longer have to bend over to hold the straw with one hand and wave the sickle with the other when harvesting.Instead, you can cut off a large area by sweeping directly while standing to avoid lumbar muscle strain.

Harvested crop straw bundles can also be dropped directly on the net bag, and then dumped to one side after collecting more than a dozen catties, which prevents farmers from having to grab the straw with their hands and throw crops back if they can’t cut three or five knives.

Of course, this new type of long-handled net sickle also has limitations, that is, it cannot harvest crops that are prone to lodging. When encountering lodging, you have to bend down and hold it with your hands to harvest.Especially when harvesting leeks, who makes leeks like to lie flat? The farmers have to bend down to help the leeks up before cutting.

Ancient crop varieties have not been improved, and their lodging resistance is not as good as modern varieties.Only richer farmers will buy this new sickle, and poor farmers who are so poor that they can only have one sickle continue to use the old tool.

In addition, there are some small tools for farmers to determine the spacing of the seeds when sowing, similar to the wooden handle compass with a rope tied between the two legs of the boxing king Shang Yagami, and there is also a leaking seed on it. For small bags, the two-step operation of digging holes and planting is combined to complete, saving half of the workload without bending over.

A total of three or five kinds of small tools have been tinkered with, and the specific details need not be repeated. Anyway, they are all simple products that can be seen on Douyin in later generations.

These things, within a short period of ten days, during the process of Shen Shuren personally going to the counties to persuade the farmers, he made whatever he thought of, and the efficiency was so fast that the civil officials and small officials who followed him were stunned. The old gentry of the townships were also dumbfounded. They had never seen a civil official with two ranks of Jinshi who could propose so many practical and useful tool improvements for agricultural production.

The small official of the household house did some calculations, and the series of operations by Master Futai can at least save farmers [-]-[-]% of the workload in the harvesting process, and it can also save a lot of labor in the planting process.Although it can't increase the output, it can make a unit of labor force more than one to two percent of the area of ​​land.

This is not to say that it is the work of Shennong, but at least it is a virtuous government.

……

A month of inspections to persuade farmers to rectify, the time soon came to the end of March.

The corn planted in spring is growing well, but the potatoes planted before Shen Shuren left last winter are already in harvest season.

Potatoes can be planted in two seasons a year, and the harvest will start in the middle of March, and the second season will be planted in early April.

The reproductive rate and plant-to-income ratio of potatoes are higher than those of corn, so with the harvest of potatoes this season, the newly obtained yield is enough to cover all the land suitable for planting potatoes in Huangzhou, and even more than half.

The seed propagation of new crops is geometric progression, at least a dozen times each season. Last winter, potatoes were only enough to grow two counties, but now they must be expanded to two or three prefectures.

After enough seeds, Shen Shuren finally issued a ban.

Change the previous policy of "all corn and potato harvests must be reserved, and only a very small part can only be eaten as a test".Change to "Allow about [-]% of the potato harvest to be directly eaten by the people."

Once the ban was lifted, the poor in Huangzhou finally had the opportunity to taste this kind of agricultural product that they had grown for more than a year, so that they would not just stare at it but not eat it.

At the same time, Shen Shuren checked the reproduction effect of the animal products he organized, and found that the Indian big-breasted chicken (the male line of the white-feathered chicken), tilapia, and pangasius industry have also bred very well, and they can be sold in batches. enough for everyone to eat.

These new species, which have a fast reproductive cycle and can reproduce one generation in three to four months, have also entered the list of banned species this time.

At the same time, to make a digression, in fact, as early as the beginning of March, Shen Shuren's "breeding of new livestock products" plan added another pillar——

At that time, Zheng Chenggong had just arrived in Huangzhou, and the Zheng family was also very grateful for Shen Shuren's willingness to take care of their eldest son.Shen Shuren told Zheng Chenggong nearly two years ago that he wanted to acquire many excellent overseas species.Now, after two years of searching, the Zheng family has come back with another blockbuster product: a meat pig similar to the Great York white pig produced by the crossbreeding of British and Southeast Asian pig breeds in later generations.

The Zheng family didn’t get it from the UK this time, but it took a lot of trouble. It is estimated that they placed a lot of money with Western merchants. The Western merchants tried their best to collect it when they came to China for trade this time. It may be in the Middle East or It was originally produced by accidental hybridization along the eastern Mediterranean coast.

All in all, under the guidance of Shen Shuren, a large white pig that barely grows faster than the black pig and produces more meat has been introduced to China since then.For specific follow-up breeding, you will definitely have to slowly do experiments and crossbreed for genetic selection, maybe you can get better improved varieties.

……

After more than a month of busy persuading farmers, in early April, the whole Huangzhou entered the joy of a bumper harvest and the busyness of cultivating the second season of potatoes.

After the catastrophe that lasted for more than ten years, it is rare for the common people to live a life where everyone can barely eat enough, and the farmers can occasionally eat a few tails of tilapia.

Although such a scene of a paradise outside the world has only been realized within the prefecture of Huangzhou, it can only be seen in this base area deep in the Dabie Mountains.

While the harvest was bumper, Shen Shuren also waited for two pieces of good news: In late March, the court finally sent an envoy to announce some news.

First of all, I told the local officials in Huguang that the imperial court had officially approved the "Please open the Lijin Pilot Project in the Three Provinces of Southern Thieves" written by Shen Tingyang, the carrier of the Ministry of Households. Silver is at the discretion of the locality.

The imperial court will not take this money, but after the lijin levy is launched, the imperial court will also reduce the military pay for the bandit-suppressing troops in these three provinces, so that the imperial court can use the saved silver to plug holes elsewhere.

It is equivalent to the military salary of the bandit suppressing army in Huguang area, a considerable part of which has to be raised by Huguang's lijin, and the same is true for Nanzhili.

Shen Shuren operated Lijin, who had been waiting for several months, and finally his last boot fell to the ground.

At the same time, the imperial court's imperial order to Shen Shuren also narrated his previous achievements, and commended him for his perfection of the Lijin policy, and he also made a lot of suggestions, and he was formally awarded the Hubei military preparations. title.

When Shen Shuren heard this statement, he also felt a little ironic in his heart. He originally thought that he could get the appointment of promotion and preparation work more than a month earlier.

After arguing for a long time, it turned out that Chongzhen was worried that he would not be rewarded for doing more things in the future, so he slowed down the pace, and only promoted him to the position at once after the official announcement of the Lijin pilot project.

"Congratulations to Mr. Futai! Oh no, it's time to praise Mr. Tai!" After the envoy left, the local civil and military personnel in Huangzhou praised Shen Shuren and praised him endlessly.

Shen Shuren was very modest: "Hey, what kind of platform is Bingbei Dao, and not all Taoist priests are worthy of praise, everyone, don't give too much credit."

All the subordinates insisted in unison: "Master Daotai has both civil and military skills, and knows how to manage money. He can also persuade farmers to care for the people and let the poor under his rule have enough to eat. There is nothing wrong with such a benevolent government!"

Shen Shuren couldn't hold back the crowd, so he reluctantly allowed everyone to call him that. After that, he hosted a three-day banquet in the magistrate's yamen to formally celebrate his promotion and thank the emperor for his kindness.

The tilapia and chicken obtained from the harvest were further used as rewards and banquets, and they were no longer limited to the consumption of officials.

Unexpectedly, it is reasonable that as the tree sinkers allow them to eat potatoes and tilapia, these new species will definitely spread.

Around mid-April, that is, only a dozen days after Shen Shuren was promoted, the above-mentioned species naturally spread among the people to the next few counties in Suizhou Prefecture that were still controlled by the thief He Jin——

The people did not have any malice at all, they were just poor refugees who moved between counties. I heard that Xiaogan County sells potatoes, which are not only edible but also very productive.Therefore, there must be refugees or squires who came to try to get a little bit, and after taking it back, they secretly looked at it.

When Anlu County and other places closest to Xiaogan County knew about the widespread existence of potatoes, the news soon reached the ears of He Jin, the "King of Zuojin".

He Jin stepped up and dispatched scouts to infiltrate and inquire, and soon heard that Shen Shuren in Huangzhou had a kind of potato, several high-yield fish, and a high-yield chicken. Enough to multiply and sow a whole house.

After further inquiry, I heard that ordinary people in the whole territory of Huangzhou and Xiaogan County of Suizhou can barely eat enough, which makes the thief who is still half-starved even more tempted.

Fortunately, He Jin is not a fool, he knows how Liu Xiyao died last year, and his strength is not much stronger than Liu Xiyao.

Therefore, He Jin did not directly act rashly, but immediately disclosed the information to "Ge Liyan" He Yilong, and Lin Chengcheng, trying to gather the strength of the three battalions to discuss how to eat this piece of fat.

"What? Shen Shuren governs the place so well? This has already helped us plant the fields in the entire Huangzhou so well? Let's just eat it?" When He Yilong and Lin Chengcheng heard about it, they couldn't help it. Surprise flashed.

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PS: The farming transition chapter is a bit of a running account, and it is also for the purpose of quickly changing maps and introducing new enemies.

(End of this chapter)