One Piece of Song Dynasty

Shortly after the first lunar month, Zhao Ding came to Li Xin and said: "Your Majesty, Liu Yu of the puppet Qi has moved its capital to Bianjing. After Kong Yanzhou and Li Cheng defected to the puppet Qi, its strength increased greatly. According to reports, the puppet Qi ordered each household to give out Ma Qi. Jin, there are signs of building ships to cross the river. I think that all places along the river should be more vigilant to prevent counterfeit Qinnan invaders."

Li Xin nodded and said: "Okay, then let's notify everyone and let all places be more vigilant."

Zhao Ding handed over a letter and said: "Your Majesty, this is the letter sent by Yu Wenxuzhong. The letter talks about the Jin people's second attack on Sichuan and Shu last year."

Li Xin took the letter, read it and said: "Although the letter was sent late, Yu Wenxuzhong's intention is good. The king will arrange Yu Wenxuzhong's affairs, so Xianggong Zhao doesn't have to worry. How is the situation of suppressing bandits in Jiangxi?”

Zhao Ding said: "I was about to say this. Congratulations, Your Majesty. Thanks to the efforts of the three generals, the two thieves Zhang Yong and Cao Cheng have been defeated, and Yang Zaixing has been captured by Han Shizhong."

Li Xin said happily: "Okay, now the banditry in Jiangnan has been put down. All the captives and leaders, big and small, will be killed, and the others will be sent away and resettled."

Zhao Ding bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Just then Xiao Dezi came in and said: "Your Majesty, Minister Xu of the Ministry of Agriculture wants to see you." Xiao Dezi and Xiao Shunzi were the two eunuchs given to Li Xin by Liang Xing. Since Li Xin took over the Song Dynasty, he dismissed some of them. There are only a few dozen eunuchs left.

Li Xin said: "Let Xu Shangshu come in."

After Xu Wenchang came in, he greeted him and said: "My minister, Xu Wenchang, is here to see the prince. I have come back from Sichuan and Sichuan to bring good news to the prince."

Li Xin nodded and said: "It seems that Xu Shangshu has achieved a lot in Sichuan and Sichuan. Please tell me how the new crops are going."

Xu Wenchang said: "Your Majesty, currently tomatoes are mainly planted in Guangxi and Xinghan, strawberries are mainly planted in Zhejiang and Sichuan, peppers are mainly planted in Sichuan and Hunan, cinchona and rubber trees are mainly planted in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Xinghan. Papayas and pineapples are mainly grown in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Xinghan. Sunflowers and peanuts can be grown all over the south of the Yangtze River. Tobacco is currently only partially grown in Hunan. Zucchini has not found a place to grow in the south of the Yangtze River. The most important thing is The three staple foods of potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes can only be grown in Sichuan and Sichuan, and of course Xinghan is also a sweet potato growing area."

Li Xin said thoughtfully: "Okay, you can mainly talk about the situation of the three staple foods."

Xu Wenchang replied: "The three staple foods currently cover acres in Sichuan and Sichuan. There are million acres of land in Sichuan. In the future, the three staple foods can be expanded to million acres each. According to last year's planting The situation is that corn is ripe once a year, potatoes are ripe twice a year, and sweet potatoes are also ripe twice a year. However, sweet potatoes are divided into spring and summer sweet potatoes. Spring sweet potatoes start sowing in April, and summer sweet potatoes start sowing in June. The entire growth period of spring sweet potatoes requires It takes to days to harvest after sowing in April. The entire growth period of summer sweet potatoes is much shorter than that of spring sweet potatoes. It only takes days to harvest after sowing in June and September. Corn and sweet potatoes are harvested. The land can be used for rotation with other crops in the second half of the year.”

Zhao Ding asked: "What about the yields of these three crops?"

Xu Wenchang said: "Last year, the three crops were planted on acres. The average yield of sweet potatoes per mu was jins, the average yield of potatoes was jins per mu, and the average yield of corn was jins. Last year, a season of summer sweet potatoes was planted after the corn harvest in June. , that is to say, the equivalent of acres of sweet potatoes was planted last year. Last year, the harvest of sweet potatoes, million jins of potatoes, and million jins of corns was harvested.”

Zhao Ding was shocked: "So many"

Li Xin smiled and said: "How about it, Mr. Zhao, with these three staple foods, at least we don't have to worry about food in the future. In the past, our staple foods were only wheat and rice. The yield of wheat per mu was only about two hundred kilograms, and the yield of rice per mu was less than Doubling wheat would only yield about kilograms per mu. With these three staple grains, the country could support a larger population. Last year's output was only acres of each type. Think about expanding it to one hundred thousand hectares of each type. One and a half million acres, the yield will be astonishing."

Zhao Ding worriedly said: "It is good to have more grain, but low grain prices will hurt farmers."

Li Xin waved his hand and said: "Mr. Zhao, don't worry about this. Xu Wenchang, please explain to Mr. Zhao."

Xu Wenchang said: "Xianggong Zhao does not need to worry about this at all. According to the eating habits of our Song people and the growing conditions of these three crops, currently these three crops can only be grown in Sichuan and Shu, and each can only be grown at yuan." Ten thousand acres, any more may affect the cultivation of wheat and rice. Secondly, as there is more food, we can build more warehouses and store them, so that we can prepare for emergencies. We can also send more to the soldiers, at least There is no need to worry about military rations. Besides, corn and sweet potatoes can be used as feed to raise pigs, chickens, and ducks. In this way, we can expand the scale of raising pigs, chickens, and ducks, and our people can eat more. If we eat more meat, the price of meat can also be reduced. Finally, we can use the extra grain to make wine. The production of wine has increased significantly, and our wine tax has also increased."

Li Xin asked: "How is it? Does Mr. Zhao still have doubts?"

Zhao Ding shook his head and said, "I have no doubts anymore."

Li Xin said: "Okay, Xu Wenchang, I will create another agency under your Ministry of Agriculture - the National Grain Reserve Bureau. Grain Reserve Bureaus will also be established in various places below. Your Grain Reserve Bureau will build large granaries in various places specifically for grain storage. To reserve grain, of course your grain reserve bureau also plays a role in regulating market grain prices. In good harvest years, your grain reserve bureau must reserve more grain to stabilize market grain prices and prevent them from being too low. In disaster years, your grain reserve bureau must be able to We can provide food to ensure that food prices do not rise."

Xu Wenchang bowed and said: "I obey your order."

Li Xin nodded and said: "Okay, then you can go down first."

The two of them bowed to each other and said, "I'll take my leave."

After Zhao Ding and Xu Wenchang left, Li Xin thought for a while and sent a letter to Liang Xing. Li Xin planned to put Yu Wenxuzhong under Liang Xing's command.

In the commander's tent of Han Shizhong's camp in Jiangxi, Han Shizhong looked at the handsome Yang Zaixing in front of him and said: "You are a thief, you are quite skilled in martial arts. I hurt many of my brothers just to catch you."

Yang Zaixing said solemnly: "If you want to kill, then kill. If I blink, I am not a good man."

Han Shizhong snorted coldly: "You are the only one who dares to call yourself a hero. Being a bandit and causing harm to the common people is what a hero does. Your martial arts skills are in vain. If you have the ability to go to the battlefield and fight with the Jin people, then you are a real hero."

Yang Zaixing suddenly withered, and Han Shizhong said: "I am a handsome man who cherishes talents. Seeing that you are good at martial arts, I will give you another chance. Do you dare to go to the front line with a certain gold hunter?"

Yang Zaixing immediately knelt down excitedly and said: "Dare you, why don't you dare? Thank you Han Shuai for not killing him. Yang Zaixing is willing to follow the commander in his life, go through fire and water, no matter what."

Han Shizhong nodded and said: "Okay, don't thank me. If you want to thank me, just thank the prince. Get up, pack up and return to Lin'an with me."

Yang Zaixing was a little confused: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Han Shizhong explained: "Actually, the prince asked us to try our best to capture you alive. The prince got the news from somewhere, saying that you are highly skilled in martial arts, so we should try our best to capture you alive."