"Okay, sit down."
Liu Yan and Zhang Lei sat down as guests of honor, and then Zhang Lei reported on the current preparations for spring plowing.
At present, there are more than 483,600 acres of cultivated land in Lingshanwei, distributed among three thousand households, 80% of which has been allocated to military households in various places, and each household has thirty to one hundred Mu varies.
Among the more than 9,000 New Army officers and soldiers, more than 4,400 have been allocated actual farmland, and all the required seeds, cattle and farm tools have been distributed. The remaining approximately five thousand New Army soldiers chose to convert the output of one hundred acres of cultivated land into silver and receive money directly every month.
In addition, after the original Dunjun troops in various places were abolished, there are still hundreds of people distributed in various Huolu Duns and Tunbu. Each Dunjun household was also allocated about 30 acres of cultivated land. The remaining military households in various places can currently only be allocated about 30 acres of cultivated land. When the farming season is slack, Zhang Lei plans to continue to lead people to find ways to reclaim some wasteland, but the amount will not be too much.
"Sir, we, Lingshan Guard, are fully prepared for this year's spring plowing. It can be predicted that God will be kind to us this year. There won't be any major drought, flood or insect disasters. We, Lingshan Guard, will definitely have a prosperous year!"
Zhang Lei has been immersed in the fields all day long. Although he is an officer in charge of thousands of households in Lingshan Guard, he is like an ordinary military household in his heart. He has the yearning heart of a farmer. When he thinks of the scene of a good harvest, his heart is filled with joy. joy.
Liu Yan was also very happy and asked: "How much harvest do you think we can get this year?"
Zhang Lei said: "Now we in Lingshanwei mainly grow wheat. In terms of yield per mu, according to previous years' experience, the top-grade cultivated land can produce about two hundred kilograms, and the medium-sized land can produce about one hundred sixty or seventy kilograms. The lower-grade soil can only produce a yield of 120 to 30 kilograms."
"According to the land tax policy formulated by your Excellency, military households in various places must pay fifty kilograms of grain tax per mu to Lingshan Guard, and then pay fifty kilograms of military grain per mu. In this way, combining good land and poor land, military households have one mu of land. We can have a surplus of about fifty kilograms of grain. Based on the current minimum amount of thirty acres per military household, each military household has a surplus of more than 1,600 kilograms of grain a year."
Liu Yan did the math, so each household has an average of one hundred and forty or fifty kilograms of grain per month. With four or five people in a household, each person has one kilogram of grain per day, not counting other expenses. pin.
So Liu Yan shook his head and said: "Too little! As a result, the military households and common people everywhere will not be able to survive at all. It is also my fault that I directly set such a high tax amount without doing detailed calculations."
Zhang Lei naturally knew this and said: "My subordinates have been exploring the Tieyu Mountain area to the north of Lingshan Guard for some time. Some wasteland can be reclaimed there. This year, I will continue to expand the area of cultivated land."
Liu Yan said: "Now Lingshanwei has very little cultivated land, and the yield per mu is also small. The best cultivated land has a yield of only two hundred kilograms per mu!"
Liu Yan clearly remembered that historical records had recorded that as early as the Western Han Dynasty, the yield per mu in Shandong had reached more than 250 kilograms. By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, it had reached 426 kilograms per mu. About kilograms.
But now the best cultivated land in Lingshanwei has a yield of only two hundred kilograms per mu, which is not as high as it was in the Western Han Dynasty. This is going back further!
Zhang Lei said: "Sir, although the water conservancy facilities in various parts of Lingshanwei have been greatly renovated, many places are still very weak. The cultivated land has been short of water for a long time. It cannot be replaced in a few days. The soil fertility of the cultivated land takes time to recover. As time goes by, the yield per acre of cultivated land will continue to increase."
Liu Yan knew that Zhang Lei was telling the truth, but now he first wanted to ensure that military households in various places had food to eat, at least not hungry, otherwise there would definitely be trouble under his rule.
So Liu Yan said: "I will ask Zhao to prepare an official document and issue it. Starting from this year, the land tax and military rations paid by each military household will be reduced to twenty kilograms per mu. First, Let people everywhere take a breather!”
"My lord is kind and virtuous, and my subordinates admire you. The people of Lingshan Guard are so blessed!"
"well!"
Liu Yan waved his hand and sighed: "It would be great if we had those high-yielding crop seeds!"
At this time, Liu Yan missed the high-yield crops such as corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and hybrid rice in later generations, but these things were not available in this era.
Although historically sweet potatoes had been cultivated in Shaanxi and Shanxi in the late Ming Dynasty, they were unimproved varieties and the yield at this time was not high. Therefore, when the imperial court forcibly promoted the planting, it was criticized. People in various places strongly resisted, and even triggered civil riots. Later, the promotion of sweet potatoes had to be stopped.
By Liu Yan's time, the sweet potato seedlings that had been promoted had long since disappeared, and not many people even knew about it.
Zhang Lei on the side just said that Liu Yan was lamenting the hardship of the people, but he had no good solution, so he talked about some spring plowing, then left and went back.
Liu Yan then sent someone to notify Zhao Min, asking him to notify the Thousand Household Office and Hundred Household Office as soon as possible, and immediately reduce the amount of land rent and military rations handed over by the general households.
As soon as the processing was finished here, Wang Wenzhen came over happily.
"grown ups!"
Before anyone even entered the house, the sound had already drifted in on the wind.
Wang Wenzhen strode into the main hall, clasped his fists and said, "Sir, I would like to recommend a talent to you!"
"Oh? What kind of talent?"
Wang Wenzhen rubbed his hands because of the cold, and then said with a smile: "Haha, he is a talent for cultivating the land!"
"oh!"
Liu Yan said with a smile: "What's going on today? The garrison officer Zhang Lei has just left, and you come to recommend talents for farming. Are you all interested in farming?"
Wang Wenzhen said: "It turns out that Zhang Qianhu has also been here. By the way, have you ever heard of sweet potatoes? During the Tianqi Period, the imperial court promoted the planting of sweet potatoes in Shaanxi, and later there was a lot of commotion. !”
Liu Yang just picked up a cup of hot tea and took a sip. When he heard Wang Wenzhen's words, he immediately spit it out. He looked directly at Wang Wenzhen and said, "What's going on today? Whatever you think will come to you!" 33
"Sir, do you know?"
"of course I know!"
Liu Yan said excitedly: "Where is the talent you mentioned? Bring him to me immediately!"
Wang Wenzhen said: "He's in the concierge. I'll go and bring him here."
After a while, a short, dark-skinned man walked up behind Wang Wenzhen. Liu Yan looked at him. He looked around. He was probably in his fifties. He was wearing a shabby cotton coat and looked completely handsome. He is dressed like a farmer, and he is considered an old farmer in this era.
"Lord Qi, this man's name is Du Feng. He is a farmer from Laizhou. In his early years, he went out to sea in Nanyang on a ship. He saw sweet potatoes on a large island in Nanyang!"
"Have you been to Nanyang?"
Liu Yan suddenly became energetic and asked Wang Wenzhen and the old farmer named Du Feng to sit down. He also asked the servant to bring hot tea and cakes and said, "Please tell me in detail."
At this time, Du Feng was still very nervous. After all, he was over 50 years old, and it was the first time he saw an official as big as Liu Yan. He was so nervous that he only sat on the chair for half his buttocks, and did not dare to take a sip of the hot tea in hand. .
"Sir, sir, little old man, always Chongzhen Yuan, first year..."
Liu Yan laughed and said, "Don't be nervous. I'm not interrogating you. I'm just asking for something from you. Just say it."
Seeing Liu Yan's affability, Du Feng also relaxed a little and said: "Master Qi, Xiao Lao went to Lingdingyang, that is, Nanyang, with the ship in the first year of Chongzhen. At that time, he was working as a coolie on the ship."
"Later, the ship arrived in Luzon in the south. It was said that gold was rich there, so the young man and others settled in a city called Batavia and lived there for two years. It was really hard these two years, and no gold was mined. We arrived and were bullied by the Folangji people there!"
Liu Yan nodded. Luzon was the Philippines in later generations, mainly referring to Manila and its surrounding areas. Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Chinese merchant ships have often come here for trade. Since the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, many residents from Fujian, China have come here.
Since 1571, the land has been occupied by Spain, which was also known as the Franco Kingdom at this time.
"...The little old man saw sweet potatoes in the farmland outside Batavia and even ate them. They were sweet, delicious, and delicious."
"How's the sweet potato production over there?"
This is the issue that Liu Yan is most concerned about. The sweet potato seedlings promoted in the northwest before the Ming Dynasty were introduced in the early years and were basically not cultivated. I just don’t know what happened to the sweet potato seedlings in Luzon.
“The yield is great!”
Du Feng said: "In Batavia, sweet potatoes can be harvested twice a year, and the annual yield per mu can reach nearly three thousand kilograms."
Liu Yan was immediately overjoyed. Although it could not compare with the five or six thousand kilograms per mu produced by later generations, it was much higher than the current wheat yield, and it could completely solve his own food problem.
So Liu Yan said: "My officer, if I prepare a sea-going ship for you, equip it with boatmen and others, and assign a team of officers and soldiers to protect you, I will ask you to go to Luzon again to find high-yield fish for me. Sweet potato seedlings, do you dare to go?"
Du Feng was stunned for a moment, and said with a wry smile: "Sir, I am already over fifty years old, and the loess is buried up to my neck. Now I am going to go out to sea and go to a country thousands of miles away. This is not what I want. Life?"
Liu Yan said: "I know that this trip is difficult, but I will not let you go in vain. As long as you agree to look for it, I will not only send people to protect your safety and send you there, but you only need to be a guide and visit your hometown." Just go back and look for things. In addition, I will give you one thousand taels of silver as a reward. As long as you agree, I can now pay two hundred taels of silver as a deposit, how about it?"
Du Feng was reluctant at first, but when he heard that there was a huge sum of one thousand taels of silver available, he immediately became entangled. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "I have never seen a hundred taels of silver in my life." , let alone a thousand taels. Okay! I will work hard and help you find high-yielding sweet potato seedlings!"
"good!"
Liu Yan said: "You are staying in Lingshan Guard City now. When I send someone to Wangjiazhuang Baihu Station to prepare ships and recruit people, when everything is ready, I will send someone to send you there."
"In addition, I will not set a specific time limit for this trip to sea. As long as you can complete the task, whether it is one year, five years or ten years, my commitment will be effective."
Then Liu Yan ordered someone to bring two hundred taels of silver and give it to Du Feng. Seeing so much silver, Du Feng could hardly hold the tray. He was so excited that he knelt down and kowtowed.
Liu Yan then handed over the recruitment of manpower and preparation of ships to Wang Wenzhen, and asked Wang Wenzhen to settle Du Feng well.
"Haha, sir, don't worry, my subordinates will definitely handle this matter beautifully."
"Well, I am very relieved when Wang Tongzhi is doing things."
After seeing off Wang Wenzhen and Du Feng, Liu Yan was in a good mood. Although the search for sweet potato seedlings had not yet taken place, there was hope after all.
Then Liu Yan thought about whether his roots were in various places in Wangjiazhuang. Now that Lingshan Guard was on the right track, he should also go back to Wangjiazhuang to inspect various places.
Some people died, but not completely...
