The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 383 Planning to Plant Windbreaks Again

What is it like to be buried in a dugout by sand?
It was stuffy and hot, and I had difficulty breathing, until I lost consciousness.
Fortunately.

These dugouts were all built according to the standards emphasized by General Gan.

The roof is supported by beams.

A thick layer of turf was laid on the roof, which was still made of rammed earth.

One year down.

The grass roots had already taken hold in the soil, and even the fierce wind couldn't lift the layer of grass.

With the door closed, sand can hardly get in.

However, the windows in these dugouts are usually small, and once they are covered by sand, there is no air circulation inside.

Also because the rescue arrived in a timely manner.

Of the thousands of people pulled out of dugouts in Hami, no more than 500 died from oxygen deprivation and suffocation.

On the contrary.

The nomadic people who also live in this oasis heard that the number of casualties that day had already exceeded a thousand and was still rising.

This way.

None of the victims' families complained about the safety of living in dugouts.

Is it really safe to live in the city?

not necessarily.

The wooden windows of the General's Mansion were blown away.

Most of the tiles were scraped away.

Seven servants in the manor died and thirty-one were injured.
The commanders of the An Ding Wei, A Duan Wei, Qu Xian Wei, Sha Zhou Wei, Chi Jin Wei, and Huo Zhou Wei came to the General's Mansion to report on their work three days later.

The casualty rates of Shazhouwei, Chijinwei, and Huozhouwei were comparable to those of Hamiwei.

Both the rescuers and those being rescued sighed with emotion.

As long as everyone is alive, that's good!
The living cannot linger for the dead.

There are still many worrying issues that need to be addressed:
"Can the wheat grains that the garrisons eat daily be used as seeds?"

"If seeds can be planted, can the buried land be replanted?"

"If that doesn't work, will the grain produced by Ganluchuan, Andingwei, Aduanwei, and Quxianwei be enough to supply Hamiwei, Shazhouwei, Chijinwei, and Huozhouwei?"

A barrage of questions is causing widespread anxiety.

Most people turned their attention to Gan Minglan.

Gan Minglan could only say:

"The wheat seeds used by foreign merchants are selected from these seeds; ordinary wheat may have a lower germination rate."

However, it will take another month to clear the sand from the farmland. The temperature in Huozhou and Hamiwei is already in the middle of summer. Can wheat be planted in the middle of summer? It's best to ask a local!

I don't know how much land has been reclaimed in Andingwei, Aduanwei, and Quxianwei, but Ganluchuan planted 30,000 mu of wheat this year. If there are no major disasters in the future, the harvest should be enough to feed 60,000 to 70,000 people for a year without much problem!

"What?"

"very?"

"Thirty thousand mu of land can support sixty thousand people?"

"So Ganluchuan was once a fertile land!"

The generals and centurions were so envious that drool dripped from the corners of their eyes.

The centurions of Andingwei, Aduanwei, and Quxianwei, whose villages were unaffected by the wheat fields, were quite uneasy.

Their arable land is not much more than that of Ganluchuan.

Moreover, there are still differences between basins.

The basin where these three garrisons are located is half saline-alkali land, and the growth of the wheat remains to be seen. It was their turn to express their opinions.

One by one, they could only grit their teeth and say that as long as there was a gain, they were willing to share it with their brother garrisons.

We need to get past this hurdle first.

After the centurions expressed their opinions, General Xiong breathed a slight sigh of relief.

A native of Northwest China, he was genuinely terrified by this sandstorm.

During the meeting, he asked:

"Do you remember when General Gan was in the border town, he spent a lot of money to plant saxaul trees on the western slope? Last winter, the prince wrote that the windbreak had blocked most of the old yellow winds. What do you think about this?"

What do you think?
The generals trembled inwardly, but complained aloud:

"The deserts of the Western Regions are incomparable to those of border towns! They are enormous. If we were to plant trees along the edges of all these deserts, how many saxaul trees would we need to enclose them?"

"In the deserts of the Western Regions, there are more red willows and poplars, but saxaul trees are really not common."

"There are simply no conditions for large-scale afforestation!"

General Xiong was stubborn and opinionated:

"If we can't plant it in one or two years, we'll plant it for ten or twenty years! Without windbreaks, spring planting is a waste of time! Are we going to put the heavy responsibility of grain production in Guanzhong entirely on the shoulders of Ganluchuan, Andingwei, Aduanwei, and Quxianwei?"

The commanders of An Dingwei, A Duanwei, and Qu Xianwei hurriedly waved their hands: "We don't have enough arable land, and our strength doesn't allow it!"

Gan Minglan, a capable garrison commander of Ganluchuan, sincerely suggests:

"Not all windbreaks can only be planted with saxaul trees! The Western Regions should naturally have its own characteristics. The sandy land here produces fruits, so we can plant jujube trees, sweet jujube trees, sea buckthorn trees, apple trees, apricot trees, pear trees, wolfberry trees, etc. on the edge of the desert."

"If planted for three to five years, these fruit trees will grow into a forest and bear fruit! Even if you can't eat all the fresh fruit, it can be made into dried fruit, preserves, or wine, just like grapes."

and so.

Stop thinking about the saxaul tree.

We really can't just make that up out of thin air.

Moreover, if Cistanche deserticola becomes rampant, it won't fetch a high price!
really.

Once the labor put in can be exchanged for good economic value, no one will object anymore.

Then the problem is coming.

To build a windbreak that encloses a large area of ​​desert, a lot of saplings are needed. Where will these saplings come from?
Gan Minglan: You're looking for us!

They can all be planted in the field!

If I weren't afraid of scaring you, I could induce a whole bunch of babies to be born in one night.

But that's what they said:
"Our Barkol Basin has abundant water resources and a suitable temperature, making it ideal for cultivating these fruit tree saplings. Any number of saplings of any type you'd like, please place your order with me, and you can pick them up in the fall. The price is absolutely the lowest I can offer: ten saplings for five copper coins, how about that?"

Everyone: "."

Speechless as I am, we really can only rely on General Gan for this.

General Xiong took the lead and set an example for everyone, immediately placing a large order with Ganluchuan: two million jujube seedlings, two million sea buckthorn seedlings, and two million apple trees.

Tsk tsk, three thousand taels of silver in hand.

The garrison under the command of the General of Huozhou was the largest, with 20,000 troops, and could also collect taxes from the local people of Huozhou. He decided to shift the cost of planting trees to taxes.

Following General Xiong's purchase order, the saplings were replaced with sea buckthorn, pear trees, and jujube trees.

The commander of the Shazhou Guard was the most composed, as Shazhou was the closest to the interior of the pass and had the most immigrants and merchants in his jurisdiction.

I'm really afraid that what I grow might turn into something that won't be worth money.

Furthermore, a type of apricot called Li Guang is produced in Shazhou.

This type of apricot is medium-sized, but has thin skin, thick flesh, and juice as sweet as honey, making it an exceptionally high-quality fruit. Apricot preserves made from this type of apricot are twice as expensive as ordinary apricot preserves.

He had his eye on this one!
They also placed an order for three million Li Guang apricot saplings for Gan Minglan.

Chijin Guard: Alright, alright, you're all rich, only we Chijin Guards are poor and miserable.
(End of this chapter)