In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 258 With food in hand, don't panic

Lin Rui only brought hundreds of light cavalry with him, so it only took him three days to reach Wuyuan County.

At this time, the entire Wuyuan was like a large construction site, with young men and women building cities and forts everywhere.

In April, Lin Rui retired more than 5 frontier troops from Datong and came to Wuyuan to open up wasteland. Together with the remaining 5 naturalized Han women, the population of Wuyuan reached 16. A total of 32 field guards and more than 300 production teams were established.

Since Wuyuan has a flat and open terrain with numerous rivers and lakes, more than 300 production teams are located almost evenly on the vast plains, and all castles are built along the rivers.

In the 12 wards near the Yellow River in the south, more than 100 small forts for the production team have been completed, and acropolis, county towns and ditches are being built.

The areas around each small fort are also lush and green. Although there was no time for fertilization last year, they were directly cultivated this spring. Although the growth of the wheat is not as good as that of the naturalized ten guards, it is still better than the wheat in the fields in the Datong area. Not bad at all.

Obviously, the climate in the Wuyuan area is very suitable for the growth of wheat. With abundant water resources and sufficient manure, the conditions are unique.

"Lu Shangshu, I think everyone is in good spirits. Thank you for your hard work."

Looking at the neat wheat fields and the laughter and laughter from time to time, Lin Rui nodded appreciatively at Mrs. Lu and the other girls, obviously very satisfied with this harmonious scene.

After receiving the king's approval, Mrs. Lu and the twelve ladies in charge of farming all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Majesty has given you the reward, and my concubines dare not take the credit. What we are doing today is all thanks to the concerted efforts of everyone. The main reason is that the crops are growing well, which gives everyone hope. In addition, the King's grace allows everyone to From now on, we will marry each other and build separate houses to live in, so everyone works very hard and almost no one is lazy."

Mrs. Lu has been staying in Wuyuan since she came last year. She is very excited when she looks at the originally desolate wilderness. In less than a year, castles have been built one after another, and the fields are full of crops. With emotion, the other ladies had similar moods.

Obviously they all like this quiet and harmonious day.

"Well, although everyone is very motivated, the corresponding reward system and competition measures still need to be improved as soon as possible to avoid laziness over time. We can let the guards compete with each other and set a production standard. As long as If the standard is met for five consecutive years, then the guard can be entrusted with a full contract."

Lin Rui nodded, then thought about it and suggested.

He knows that although the enthusiasm is high now, this kind of big pot rice cannot be eaten for a few years. It can be as little as two or three years, as long as four or five years, before adjustments must be made.

After all, the lessons learned from past lives are there.

"Your Majesty, my servants and concubines are ignorant. What is this big contractor...?"

Mrs. Lu thought about it for a long time and couldn't figure it out, so she had to ask carefully. The other ladies were also full of questions.

"What is this big package for? It means that the property is distributed to each household, and all the land of each production team is rented under the name of the individual, and he is responsible for the land he cultivates..."

Lin Rui explained patiently that he planned to proceed step by step. Next year or the year after, he would first cancel the canteen and open it separately, and then start dividing the fields the year after.

The girls' understanding ability is still very strong. Lin Rui just said it once and almost understood everything.

Initially, they thought that the big contract system was some novel system created by the king, and they were full of expectations. Who would have thought that it was actually a simple matter of dividing the land and cultivating it individually.

The girls are all helpless, but they actually prefer this kind of collective work and farming, which is like a big family system.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will ask the Ministry of Agriculture to formulate relevant systems and measures as soon as possible. I believe everyone will work harder by then."

Mrs. Lu nodded, but she didn't care about the system. Anyway, she would do whatever Lin Rui told her to do.

After all, compared to these helpless ladies, she and Wan'er no longer have to worry about future support.

"Please explain these matters and let the assistant ministers take charge. The Ministry of Agriculture in the grassland will also be abolished and replaced by the Ministry of Agriculture in Datong. I have other arrangements for you and others..."

Lin Rui waved his hand and talked about the future arrangements. Now the Ministry of Agriculture has more than 5000 ladies and maids, of which there are more than 1000 experienced ladies and more than 2000 literate maids. It’s such a waste on the grassland.

After all, there are only five farms in Hetao, one county and Guihua. He doesn't plan to farm in other places, so he simply can't have so many people.

There are more than 300 ladies here in Wuyuan who serve as agricultural officers for various production teams and guards, and there are only a thousand young ladies and maids to assist. As long as a Zuo Shilang is dispatched to coordinate, they can be completely independent from the Ministry of Agriculture.

The naturalized side only needs more than 100 ladies and five to six hundred young ladies and maids. They can also be independent and manage it alone.

In this way, the more than 3000 extra ladies and maids from the Ministry of Agriculture can be brought back to Datong and a new statistics department will be established to conduct statistics and surveys on the situation in various places.After all, how many people and land does the entire Xuanfu of Datong have, and how much of it is occupied by young people?How much do wealthy households account for?He knew nothing about the conditions of shops and restaurants in various cities. This kind of blindness would be extremely detrimental to future governance and formulation of national policies. It would be like a blind man crossing a river, which would definitely lead to big problems.

As for relying on the data reported by scholars and officials from various places to govern the country, it is not as true and accurate as his own guesses and estimates.

As a modern person, Lin Rui naturally knows the importance of data. Only with accurate data can he be aware of the situation, formulate corresponding policies, and compare the changes before and after the implementation of the policies.

It is undoubtedly the most appropriate for Mrs. Lu and these ladies to be responsible for the statistical investigation work.

When Mrs. Lu and other ladies heard that Lin Rui was disbanding the Ministry of Agriculture and letting Datong's Ministry of Agriculture replace them, their faces all turned pale. It was not until they heard what Lin Rui said that they secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Rui then asked about the general situation of Wuyuan.

"Can you estimate how much food we can harvest this autumn?"

"Back to your Majesty, if nothing goes wrong, the 120 million acres cultivated this year can yield at least one stone per mu. In the autumn harvest, we should be able to harvest 120 million stone of grain. If we exclude the annual rations of these twelve weeks, at least we can still Save 100 million shi of wheat.”

Mrs. Lu replied immediately without thinking, her tone was slightly trembling, it was obvious that she had already calculated it.

The other 12 ladies and the 12 Qianhu next to them were also very excited and excited.

After all, there are only more than 6 of them in total, and they have cultivated 120 million acres of fields intensively. This is still the first year, and the output is limited. When the land matures next year, I am afraid that after one year, they will have to buy 200 million shi of wheat.

Lin Rui also took a breath of air and was overjoyed.

"Okay, then you will leave 60 shi of grain and transport the rest back to Datong. From now on, the imperial court will no longer transport grain like Wuyuan or even the entire Hetao."

"Your Majesty, including the twenty guards who have just arrived, the total population of the Wuyuan area is only about 16. According to the ration of two shi per person per year, it is enough to leave 30 shi."

"Yes, Your Majesty, now that our country of China is a new country and there is a shortage of food everywhere, leaving 30 shi of food is more than enough."

Everyone was shocked when they heard that Lin Rui wanted to keep half of the food. Mrs. Lu quickly reminded her, and the other ladies also helped explain.

Obviously, these ladies know very well how much food rations each guard needs every day. 60 stone of food is simply not enough to eat in one year.

"Hey, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you can't finish it. You can handle the excess food yourself. You can raise some chickens and pigs, or you can trade it with the Mongolians for cattle and sheep. Not to mention that everyone can eat meat every day from now on, at least every other day. Eat meat."

Lin Rui waved his hand, as long as the guards could maintain such output, he would naturally not be stingy with the grain, allowing everyone to work hard for a year and live a tight life.

After all, this is only the output of 12 guards, and there are 20 guards not yet counted.

Of course, the food was in the hands of these ladies, so he would be so generous and let them watch the distribution. If it were the officials and scholars of the Ming Dynasty, he would never be so confident and generous.

After all, it is impossible for these ladies to sell the excess grain, or secretly hide it and eat it privately. The grain will definitely be spent on the people who work in the fields.

Seeing what Lin Rui said, the other 12 ladies didn't say anything more. They were all overjoyed, and the eyes of the 12 Qianhu households were all shining. With so much food, they can basically eat beef and mutton from now on. .

"Can you estimate how many acres of land can be reclaimed in the entire Wuyuan?" Lin Rui asked again while walking towards a nearby castle.

"Back to your Majesty, if all the land that can be cultivated is cultivated, I estimate that it is possible to reach 500 to [-] million acres.

Unexpectedly, there is such a treasure land on the grassland, which was really wasted by the Mongols in the past. "

After thinking about it, Mrs. Lu replied that now the twenty guards who had just arrived have been settled, and the 20 acres of land of each guard have been measured. However, there is still a large amount of land at the foot of the mountain that has not been measured, so it is roughly possible. The number of acres of cultivable land in Wuyuan has been estimated.

"Well, we will first cultivate and cultivate the land according to the number of [-] acres for each guard. After the castle, houses and living facilities are completed, we will slowly reclaim the excess land. We will not use the places that are not easy to cultivate."

Lin Rui said that he had already arrived at the door of the small castle. At this moment, except for the logistics staff, everyone else in the castle was basically working, so the huge castle seemed empty.

When you walk into the castle, you will see a huge square. The ground is all compacted and flat. The two rows on the left and right are full of cave-like cubicles. The overall plan is almost exactly the same as on the drawings.

(End of this chapter)