Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 104 Tussah Silkworm
There were spots of mud on Su Nong's short shirt. These days he had been busy in the military farms outside the city, inspecting the conditions of the fields in the cavalry camp.

"My Lord, the crops have already been planted for this year's spring ploughing. It is definitely impossible to replant them now. We can only plant some crops in the fields to increase the harvest."

Su Ze nodded, and Sunong made several suggestions for improving planting, including digging an irrigation canal and using compost in the fields. Su Ze wrote them all down.

By the time Sunong finished speaking, although they were all small suggestions for improvement, they were very helpful in increasing grain production.

Farming is like this, only by cultivating the land carefully can you have a good harvest. There are not many remaining fields in the Tunqiying Camp, so every piece of field must be used well.

It’s a pity that Su Ze hasn’t found any agricultural books to equip Sunong yet, so all he can do now are these small tricks to increase income.

Then Sunong said, "My Lord, our date trees have not produced any fruit for a long time."

"why?"

Su Nong said: "There are various reasons. The main reason is that the climate in Luoyang in recent years is not suitable for jujube trees to bear fruit. Also, the jujube forest in the Tunqiying Camp has been neglected and has grown a lot of weeds and trees."

The land tax system of the Northern Wei Dynasty was a rent-and-dry system, in which the land tax levied on farmland output was called rent, which was a land tax.

The tax was a head tax levied on people who owned land, and the items collected were agricultural by-products such as silk and linen.

As a country founded by the Xianbei people in the Daibei region, the Northern Wei Dynasty also had a characteristic: it loved jujube trees very much.

This obsession even continued into land policies. The land allocation system explicitly required that part of the land be planted with mulberry trees for silkworm breeding, and part of the land be planted with jujube trees. Every autumn, dried jujubes had to be handed over as a tax based on the number of people in the country.

Although the land of the Tunqiying was used for military farming, rent and taxes had to be paid in proportion. If this could not be completed, Su Ze, the brigade commander and concurrently the Minister of Agriculture, would be held accountable by the court.

"What is the solution?"

Su Nong shook his head and said, "This forest is not suitable for growing jujube trees at all. The jujube trees are not well taken care of. They only grow leaves but no fruits."

Su Ze also understood the seriousness of the situation. If the date forest did not grow dates, he would have to purchase extra dried dates and pay taxes every year, which would be a huge loss.

Su Nong hesitated and said, "I do have a solution."

"What do you think."

Sunong said: "We might as well stop growing dates and use this forest to raise tussah silkworms."

"Tussah silkworm?"

Sunong nodded and said, "Tussah silkworms are similar to mulberry silkworms, but they not only eat mulberry leaves, but also many tree leaves. There are many mulberry trees growing in the jujube forest, and these leaves are eaten by tussah silkworms."

"The silk produced by tussah silkworms is inferior to mulberry silk, but it can also be sold at a high price, which can fully subsidize the income of the jujube orchard."

It turns out that we still need talents!

Su Ze nodded repeatedly and said, "Just do as you say!"

Watching Su Nong walk out of the house, Su Ze planned to find him an agricultural book as soon as possible, so as to improve his agricultural level. If the system is not refreshed for a long time, should I go to the Imperial College to borrow a copy from Cui Guang?
Besides, "Qimin Yaoshu" can also be considered as an agricultural book, right? Jia Sixie was a person of this era, right? I wonder if the book was written?
Su Ze rubbed his face, feeling that things were all over the place. If there was no such system, with his background, the greatest achievement he could achieve would be to become a military leader, right?
Unlike Su Ze who was worried about the Tunqiying Camp, Hou Yuan, the commander of the Caiguanying Camp, could be said to have "smooth sailing".

Before Hou Yuan took office, his subordinates had already sent him the regular salary for a brigade commander, and he even received an extra "congratulatory money" compared to other brigade commanders.

Hou Yuan didn't have to worry about anything in the army. All he had to do every day was drink and have fun with the officers of the Yulin Army.

Hou Yuan came to the Caiguan Camp today, but saw the marching Sima Mu Shaoyou forcing a smile.

The Mu family was also one of the noble families with the surname Jia appointed by Emperor Xiaowen himself. It was a Chinese surname changed from the Qiumuling clan of the Eight Xianbei tribes, but now it has declined.

The reason for the decline was naturally the failure of the political struggle. Mu Tai, the most prominent minister of the Mu family, was once reused in the early period of Emperor Xiaowen's reign because of his ability to reconcile the relationship between Emperor Xiaowen and Empress Dowager Wenming during the reign of Empress Dowager Wenming.

However, because he opposed the Sinicization reform, Mu Tai was involved in the rebellion of the deposed Crown Prince Yuan Xun and was finally executed by Emperor Xiaowen.

From then on, although the Mu family still had the reputation of being a noble family, no one among them had any descendants who were selected to serve in the government. Mu Shaoyou himself was a branch of the Mu family, so he could only be granted a military position such as Sima of the Caiguanying.

Hou Yuan's family background is not as good as Mu Shaoyou's, but Hou Gang was lucky enough to rise to a high position. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that Hou Yuan's position in the Yulin Army is just for gilding, and he will be given a full-time position in the next selection by the Ministry of Personnel. Mu Shaoyou can only hold back his disgust and serve Hou Yuan.

Fortunately, Hou Yuan was a fool, unlike the new commander of the Tunqi Battalion next door, who sent all the officers below the level of the Marching Sima to the Duguancao Prison as soon as he came to power, and forced the Tunqi Battalion to train all day long.

Mu Shaoyou was eager to watch the fun and see what Su Ze was doing. When the rent and taxes were paid in the autumn, he would see what the Tunqiying would do.

The Caiguanying also secretly took away the share of smuggled southern goods from the Tunqiying, which originally made Mu Shaoyou a little happy.

But Mu Shaoyou soon stopped being happy. He didn't know why the southern goods in the market had increased a lot, and the increased goods were all high-end goods such as Buddhist scriptures, books, embroidery and brocade that were loved by the nobles. This also affected the southern goods business of the entire Yulin.

Mu Shaoyou was naturally anxious. The four major sources of income for the Yulin were rewards, military farming, military pay and trade in southern goods. The rewards were general rewards. Usually, on days when the army won or the emperor ascended the throne, the court would issue rewards to Luoyang officials and the imperial guards. However, in recent years, the imperial treasury had been used to build Buddhist temples, and the imperial guards had not won a decent victory for a long time, so this source of income was basically cut off.

The military farms were occupied by the wealthy and powerful in Luoyang, and the officers in the camp also wanted some of them, so the income was increasingly not enough to cover the expenditure.

Military pay was sometimes in arrears, and the only stable thing was the trade in southern goods.

The instability of the southern goods trade not only affects the interests of all levels of the military, but may even lead to dismissal from military post by the General's Office due to failure to raise the autumn rent.

After listening to Mu Shaoyou's explanation, Hou Yuan's face darkened.

When he knew that his southern goods business would be affected, and his future would be affected, Hou Yuan slammed the table and said, "Who is so bold! How dare they get involved in the military business!"

Mu Shaoyou said: "I have found out that several stores in Sitong City have been selling southern goods of unknown origin."

Hou Yuan slammed the table and stood up, saying, "What are you waiting for! Gather all the soldiers and follow me to seal off these shops!"

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(End of this chapter)