living in 16th century england

Chapter 47

Did Matthew collaborate with the enemy?This must be done carefully.

Child Matthew once thought, is Andrew's craftsmanship too trendy?Why is the yield per mu so low?It was later discovered that he had wrongly blamed his father, because other families were similar.

有记载这时英国农夫播种一磅小麦，能收获7磅。1比7，已经远远高于欧洲大陆的1比4.5。农夫安德鲁已经很优秀了。

No way, I was hungry when I was a child, forcing a guy who didn't know how to farm to study agriculture every day.Later, I changed to raising sheep and gave up.

Ireland is a ghostly place that is not suitable for growing wheat.In fact, only the south of the UK is suitable for this crop.The general range is around the north of London, and then south.Until modern times, southern England was an important wheat-producing area in the world.

Of course, if you insist on planting, Ireland and Scotland can also do it, including tobacco.It's just that the unit cost is higher and the output will be lower.

After all, the climate in this place is very strange, neither cold in winter nor hot in summer.Matthew still wears his woolen vest and even wears a coat.

Here comes the question, what are the Irish who don't eat potatoes eating now?
More than half the grain received by Matthew's fleet in Ireland consisted of oats.There are also some dairy products. No one wastes fresh milk in this era.

Even Europeans don't think oatmeal is a good thing.A Roman said: "This thing is only good for feeding horses in our place."

Compared with wheat, it has low yield, competes for water, grabs light, and has a rough taste.However, crops that can be favored by humans must have advantages: competition for water and light means that they are easier to live, and the yield is low, but they do not need to be taken care of deliberately.It's not a problem as long as it's big enough.Therefore, the land left by wheat has become the world of oats.

Ireland is that kind of place.

There is another place in Europe called Germania.I mentioned it specifically because the Germanic barbarians defeated Rome by chewing oats.

Many people probably think that don’t Europeans eat meat?What does oats have to do with the felling of the Romans?
Oatmeal is called oatmeal in a large oriental country. There is a saying in some areas, which is called "the oatmeal for forty miles, the cake for thirty miles, and the buckwheat noodles for twenty miles."

That's right, this stuff can hold your hunger, and it's also very nutritious, and its energy density is higher than that of rice.It is not a problem for infantry to maneuver for thirty or forty miles after a meal.

Matthew has always believed that food has always been a part of force.Food to carry hunger, of course, is good food.

Of wheat, barley, rye, and oats, the price of oats was cheapest in the British Isles at this period.Wheat can be sold for 6.2 shillings per unit, but oats only cost around 1.7 shillings.Even if the oatmeal is rough and difficult to handle, isn't that too big a difference?
Matthew is speechless about the weights and measures of this era.If he wants to find out, he needs to write a tens of thousands of word paper.

Finding ways to sell worthless things at high prices is the basic professionalism of a capitalist.

In addition to reselling this thing to make money, he is planning to use it for industrial production~

~ Oatmeal.

The cost is so low, just right.

It’s not difficult to make oatmeal~ Shell the oatmeal and steam it, then flatten it with a hydraulic mill and dry it, maybe you can add some salt, a kind of instant food that can be sold for hundreds of years is born .

Matthew believes that this is even simpler than that shitty instant noodles~ There is enough time to grind flour into noodles, and this place has basically been sent to the place of reincarnation of the five grains.

Instant noodles should be soaked in water, and oatmeal can be soaked or put in your pocket as a snack.

Unpalatable?If you find it unpalatable, you are not hungry.

Here comes the problem, he wants the oats, but he doesn't want to give the gold coins.what to do?
That's right, this pervert likes to collect gold coins, and things like shillings and pennies are traded first.

No way, no matter what Matthew knows, the Spaniards will ship gold and silver to Europe in the future, and silver is the absolute bulk.

If Zhang Juzheng did not support silver, it could depreciate all the way to the 21st century.One policy can make Europeans frantically look for silver, affecting the world for hundreds of years.This is the real superpower.

In order to keep more gold coins, accountants will barter as much as possible.This type of trade is also common in this era.What do you want?I'll give you anything as long as I have it.Farmers may be farm tools and knives, while landlords may be swords and guns.As for the other products that were thrown around, there was no definite number.Germanic linen?next time?It will be gone next time.

Only Plymouth ironwork is common.So, Matthew is an arms dealer.Sold weapons, farm tools and various things to Ireland and Scotland.

Is this collusion?
Bartering is a form of trade that is often more profitable than using equivalents.A flashy swift sword has been exchanged for 5 tons of food.If you use money to buy so much food, at least it will not be less than 12 pounds.

For a medium-sized manor, the income is almost the same.

Matthew believes that if the dried oatmeal is packaged in wine barrels, it can be preserved for a long time.Isn't something that doesn't leak water just a big can?At least the shelf life on board is much longer, right?The requirements are not high, and three months will do.

Wine barrels were just needed in the age of great voyages. They were basically high-tech, and they were so widely used that "barrels" became a unit of measurement.But Matthew isn't interested in this stuff, it's too skillful, and it takes at least five years for a newcomer to be an apprentice, which is too slow.It is necessary to poach people to quickly form production capacity, but the profit is just like that, why bother?You can't kill all the other local tyrants, can you?
His original idea was to improve the crew's food assortment, which would save money over bread and roasts.Let the crew have a more balanced nutrition and reduce diseases. (fog)
But this is just an idea.For example, drying, he plans to combine it with the furnace of the foundry.Save heat from being wasted in vain.Smith believes that as long as it is dust-proof, get an airtight box, leave an air hole, and put a shelf over the stove, it is not complicated at all.

Since it is a hypothesis, it is impossible to keep all the harvested food. Where did it end up?The first is the Plymouth Port Freight Yard, which happened to be soaring in population.

And then there's...France.

So this black-hearted capitalist is really collaborating with the enemy?
But France is too close.There are many people who do this.The main business of the Hanseatic League is also to sell grain, and it will transport grain from northern and eastern Europe to earn the difference and earn more.

The accountants also shipped to Iberia, where the beer was more lucrative.Where the navigation industry is developed, the demand for fresh water is higher.

In fact, if there were not too many pirates in the Mediterranean, Matthew even considered selling to Muslims in North Africa.

What are the consequences of doing this?The most direct is that there is very little food stored in the British Isles.

It is recorded that in the account book of a certain manor for a certain period of time, only two years mentioned the surplus grain of the past year.Only 2% of the years have surplus grain.

But it can't be blamed on Matthew, how many boats does he have now?
The biggest culprit is probably beyond anyone's imagination, and that is the system of paying taxes in currency.

Because farmers had to sell almost all of their surplus grain in order to be able to pay their taxes.

First, half of the farmers own less than 10 acres.According to Matthew's calculations, this number is a critical point.The lower you get below this area, the harder life becomes.

This will involve mu yield.According to records, the average yield per mu in England in the early 16th century was about 120 pounds.That is about 55 kilograms.

10 acres is just over 60 acres.But it is impossible to use all of this area to grow grain. At this time, most farmers in England use the dichotomy method.Plant half and leave the other half fallow.There are also a few places that use the rule of thirds, like Matthew's farming and animal husbandry plan, but they don't have that many cattle and sheep, and the land cannot be 180 acres.This mode of production is actually more suitable for manor owners.

There are also forests to live in and raise cattle and so on.Both require area.

But even a family of five, two adults and three children can plant 30 acres.The average income grain is only 1650 kg.

Why a family of five?Because below this number, the population cannot grow. In the 16th century, England's population increased rapidly.Change the previous few hundred years of population downturn and reduction.

In addition, there is a common sense ~ maybe only farmers in a big eastern country know the top skills of intensive cultivation, and in terms of yield per mu, it can be said that it has beaten the world for 2000 years. 55 kg is the level of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

According to a family of five, 30 catties per person per month.At least 900 kilograms of grain must be left behind.If it is less than this number, nine out of ten will not be full.Non-staple food is very scarce in this era.Of course, if there are younger children, this number will be less.

Then leave 235 kg as seed grain.The remaining 515 kilograms of grain were sold to cover taxes and other expenses.

Is there any food in stock?impossible.

Talking about so many food issues is first of all because of the accusation of collaborating with the enemy, and even more because Britain has to spend huge sums of money to buy food from abroad in the subsequent war.

To whom did the farmers and landlords sell their surplus grain?

Matthew suddenly felt that this was so interesting.He can't afford to buy out England's surplus food.

So the truth is, despite the enclosure movement, England was a grain exporter for the last 16 years of the 200th century.

According to records, during this period, Britain exported an average of 90 tons of grain per port. After 50 years, an average of 300 tons.The trend is more and more.

While the land enclosure is getting worse and the population is growing rapidly, has the UK actually become the granary of Europe?This reminds Matthew of another big oriental country.

So the question came again, the farmers obviously did not starve themselves to death, so what happened to the peasant uprising later?But this is a bit far.

The next day, Matthew had lunch at Xiaoyao Palace.

Henry VIII had no appetite, and Matthew feasted on it.

The so-called accusation of collaborating with the enemy was a joke in Henry VIII's eyes, and he didn't take it seriously.That this kind of thing can be written in a private letter has already explained a lot of problems.

There are many Englishmen who sell grain and knives, including Henry VIII himself.

The royal family is the largest landowner in England. As long as the profits are used as political achievements, the managers in various places are of course pure market animals.

Henry VIII regretted it. He should listen to this guy talking nonsense about the food problem after eating.

He dropped the knife in his hand heavily: "I am indeed buying food to prepare for war, but hearing you say that, am I being taken advantage of?"

Matthew still had a piece of salted fish in his mouth, and said vaguely: "Isn't it?"

Henry: "..."

Matthew: "Instead of letting the two sides of the Hanseatic League make money, it's better to buy the surplus grain of the peasants and landlords."

"It's definitely cheaper than buying the Hanseatic...I tell you, Irish oats only cost 1.7 shillings. What's the price of the Hanseatic?"

Henry VIII: "...I don't know, how could I ask about such a trivial matter?"

Matthew smiled: "I guess it's the same. Who is responsible for the food purchase? You might as well ask when you have time."

Henry VIII looked strange: "It is the person who accused you of collaborating with the enemy."

Matthew's eyes widened in surprise, and the thoughts in his mind turned.Then he couldn't help but said, "If I were the Hanseatic League, I would buy grain locally in Ireland, Scotland and England, and then sell it to you at a higher price."

Henry VIII was shocked at first, and then his face turned black, revealing his murderous intent.

(End of this chapter)