The revival of Shu Han

Chapter 264 Strange Spring Plowing ([-])
Speaking of which, from October 265 A.D. when Guan Yi put Wang Qihuyou in Nanzhong, until today, Wang Qi has been wandering in Nanzhong and the south of Nanzhong for more than two years.

For the Han nationality, a ferocious nation that was extremely aggressive in its early years and had extremely strong combat effectiveness, wherever the land was suitable for farming, it would generally be harvested.From the Yellow River to the Yangtze River, from the Yangtze River to the Pearl River, as long as it is suitable for farming, no matter what aborigines are on your land, you can either drive them away or assimilate them, and then Greater China will start farming there. From then on, this is China since ancient times own territory.

In the East Asian continent, the Indochina Peninsula is really an exception for the Han people.

The land here is fertile, there are many rivers, and the climate is warm and humid. Rice can be grown at least twice a year, and in some places even three seasons.But the Han people stretched their hands to the northern end of the Indochina Peninsula at most, and then going south would be extremely difficult.

The reasons are, firstly, the long distance, secondly, the poor environment, and thirdly, the Jing nationality, the main ethnic group living on this land, is a nation with very strong combat effectiveness.At least in the history books of modern Vietnam, there are many records of fighting against "Northern captives" and winning great victories...

(The early history of the Indochina Peninsula lacks reliable records. For example, the cultural people in Cambodia used a kind of leaf as a carrier of writing, which could not be preserved for a long time. Therefore, it is hard to say when the Jing people became the dominant ethnic group in the Indochina Peninsula.)
Two and a half years ago, Wang Qi was so excited by Guan Yi's phrase "Leave a name in history".Soon after Guan Yi returned to Chengdu, he organized a team to go down the Lancang River.As a result, because I was not familiar with hydrology and geography, I almost fed fish and shrimp in the raging Lancang River.The team of more than [-] people who accompanied them disappeared and drowned more than [-] people.

In the second year, Wang Qi, who had made serious preparations, once again organized a team of more than [-] people to go south.This time, we went to the lower reaches of the Lancang River, near the boundless Tonle Sap Lake.As a result, after being bitten by the mosquitoes here, more than [-] people collectively fell ill (malaria), a large number of expedition members died of illness, and Wang Qi himself almost died there.

After returning in vain this time, Wang Qi learned from the pain, put down his posture again, and learned various experiences of living in the dense forest from the surrounding Nanzhong aborigines.Guan Yi often wrote letters to give guidance in Chengdu.In AD 267, when the jade excavation in Ma Yi finally achieved fruitful results, more and more people from Nanzhong came to seek refuge.With the help of Ma Yi, Wang Qi once again organized an expedition team of more than [-] people to go south.

This time going south was very smooth, and the group soon arrived at Tonle Sap Lake.Then Wang Qi finally discovered that the Tonle Sap Lake is just a natural flood storage place formed by backflow when the Mekong River surged.The real Mekong is actually in the other direction.Then they turned around and continued down the Mekong.Finally, near the mouth of the Mekong River, I saw a large rice field.

The so-called Champa rice is a high-quality rice variety artificially cultivated by the people of Champa (southern Indochina Peninsula) after thousands of years of selection and breeding.So in Wang Qi's era, there was no such thing as Champa Rice.However, what Guan Yi and Wang Qi needed was not the cultivated Champa rice, but the rice species here, which had obvious differences from the rice species in the interior of Shu Han.

The rice seeds of the Shu Han have a good taste, low yield, are not resistant to cold and drought, and are very expensive.In Guan Yi's view, it is purely hypocritical to serve such rice seeds when everyone can't get enough to eat.So his goal is: the taste doesn't matter, as long as the yield is high, it would be better if it is also drought-tolerant-as for cold resistance, this is not an extravagant hope.That is something that can only be realized after finding new cold-resistant rice varieties in Hokkaido.

The original rice species in the Indochina Peninsula can well meet such needs.

So this time, Wang Qi succeeded.

Time came to February 268 AD, and Wang Qi, who returned to Buwei County, Yongchang County, began to cultivate seedlings with new rice seeds.By March of this year, the seedlings had all grown, and he began to try to transplant them.

"Has the land been measured?"

"Where the king is going to work, he has measured it again and again. All of them are rare and flat land, with a total of four acres. The soil quality is also the same."

"Good, let's start." After Wang Qi said this, he began to take off his jacket and roll up his trousers.

After hearing the news, Ma Yi, who came to watch the fun, couldn't sit still: "Brother Kong Shuo, do you really want to go to the field to plant rice seedlings?"

"That should be the case. Since we are already shareholders of Fuxing Society, we must learn from Sun Dinglie. As long as we are in charge of this matter, we must do it ourselves. Didn't we go to the mine to dig in person a few days ago?"

"It's different. After all, Ma Yi is less than 30 years old."

"Hehe, are you bullying me by doing this? Otherwise, let's all go to the fields to see who can do it well?"

"Uh, okay. Left and right, come and help me remove my armor."

Now that the two most senior officials in Yongchang County have taken the stance of planting rice seedlings in the fields, what should the remaining Yongchang prefect and Buwei county magistrate do? Do you still need to teach them?

A group of officials laughed and lifted their trousers and went out of the field. Many people just fell down in the field and couldn't get up. Wang Qi was furious when he saw it: "Go, go, go to the ridge. Don't come and give This official is adding to the chaos."

Then he turned his head and saw Ma Yi who was standing firmly in the paddy field, he finally frowned a little: "Let's go, let's start."

"good!"

Then the two of them really started planting rice seedlings in the paddy field like an old farmer.

"Brother Kong Shuo, how did you arrange the four acres of land?"

"Well, two mu of new rice species, one mu of indica rice in Chengdu Plain, and one mu of glutinous rice in Nanzhong. Both Chengdu rice and Nanzhong rice are the rice species with the highest yield that I carefully selected. For Chengdu rice, the peak output value is Six stones per mu for one season, and four and a half stones for Nanzhong rice."

"Isn't it July when my brother went to Jiaozhi to find the rice seeds? Have you calculated the yield per mu of the new rice seeds on the spot?"

"Hey! How is that possible? The aborigines in that place are very cruel. When they saw us fiddle with their rice fields, they all came over with wooden rakes and sickles. We don't understand the language here, and we can't explain it at all. So we rushed After harvesting about two or three fractions of the rice, we boarded the boat and evacuated it. But later on the boat, we estimated that the yield of one fraction of the newly planted rice would be about seven to eight liters."

"Hiss, do you mean eight stones per mu?"

"It's hard to say. I think those Cochin natives don't know what intensive farming is. This new rice is in my hands, and I want to hit the yield of ten stones per mu."

"Brother, you have great ambitions! I admire you! If ten shi per mu can be achieved universally, then I, a big man, will definitely get rid of the suffering of food shortage."

"Hey, I hope so. Speaking of which, Brother Xian, you are also good. I saw the emerald suit you gave to my wife a few days ago. It is crystal clear and makes people very fascinated. This is my big man in the future. A new source of income. By the way, why are you still in stock?"

"No way, what Da Sima means is that whether it is emerald jade or all kinds of gemstones, it will not be made public until the Northern Expedition is completely over. But I can understand that the land in Yongliang is no better than Our Yizhou is much simpler, no, it should be more complicated.”

"Well, I really feel the same way when I was the prefect of Longxi in the early years. Aristocratic families, foreign races... are difficult to deal with. In addition, Yongliang has always been plagued by drought and locust plagues these years, and no year can be regarded as a good year. .”

"That's why what my brother has done here is of great significance! Over the years, I have understood that there are two keys to the revival of this big man. One, population. Two, food. As for the others, they are just for rapid increase. It’s just all kinds of assistance made by the quantity of these two items.”

"...By doing this, you can be regarded as grasping the key point. I have seen all the deeds of Da Sima since he started from Fuling, and they all revolve around population and food."

"So, by the way, brother, you have been in Cochin these years. From what you said, apart from the high mountains and dense forests, mosquitoes and insects ravaging the land, and a little more disease, the rivers are criss-cross and the climate is warm, which is very suitable for farming. You say After my big man takes Yongliang, can I turn around and look south?"

"Hiss, this. Brother, this Cochin, except for the chiefs and commanders similar to today's Nanzhong at the northern end of the Wu Kingdom, the further south is simply ignorant. The aborigines around the Tonle Sap Lake are quite They are gentle and friendly, and the aborigines who really live along the banks of the Mekong River are fierce. Moreover, this place has too many diseases. If we want to rule here, we need to spend too much energy. In Brother Yu's opinion, this is not us The current national power of the big man can afford it."

(End of this chapter)