Zhang Xuezhou and Xu Yuan had a lively chat.
Zhang Xuezhou is naturally grateful that Xu Yuan has strong survivability. As expected, he came from Bajun, thousands of miles away, and has not had any accidents until now.
Xu Yuan lamented that he finally saw Zhang Xuezhou again.
If possible, he hoped that Zhang Xuezhou would have a more stable residence as soon as possible, and then help refine some Peiyuan Pills.
The two of them have their own needs, so it's no surprise that they are harmonious with each other.
When someone interrupted, Zhang Xuezhou waved his hand indifferently.
"I can't tell whether you're full or not," Zhang Xuezhou said.
"Yes, that's what I said too!"
Zhang Xuezhou's reply was almost the same as Li Guang's, and he spoke in a pragmatic spirit.
If you don't want to be ridiculous, this is the correct answer.
"Huh……"
"If His Majesty asked today, how do you think this kind of question should be answered?"
After Li Guang complained, Zhang Xuezhou came back to his senses and looked at Li Guang, who was wearing a raincoat and bamboo hat.
He only heard Li Guang come over and ask in a low voice.
"It seems that your response made His Majesty dissatisfied." Zhang Xuezhou whispered: "Is Your Majesty also here?"
"Don't pry around like this... Yes, he came and looked at the harvest here!"
Li Guanggang wanted Zhang Xuezhou to ask less questions. After all, such matters were confidential, and knowing about them would not only be useless to Zhang Xuezhou, but could also easily bring harm.
But when Zhang Xuezhou pointed at the millet field, he quickly responded.
"If His Majesty asked, how would you answer?" Li Guang asked.
"If you want to see whether people outside the city have enough to eat, come back and take a look in four months and you will know the real situation." Zhang Xuezhou said: "If there are no new graves in the mountains outside the city, it means that everyone has had enough to survive the winter. If I can’t stop crying all the way, and I’m so hungry that I can only lie on the bed and gasp softly, that means I’m not full!”
No one can accurately say what will happen in the future, and Zhang Xuezhou will not play clever tricks on such matters.
Some things can be joked about, and some things cannot be joked about.
Even in reality, this is an extremely rigorous question.
Before the era of the explosion of genetic crops, it was also a world where it was difficult to have enough food and clothing. Although Zhang Xuezhou lacked the same experience, there are many records of starvation caused by famines in history books.
The most severe famine even killed tens of millions of people.
This is a scene that many people find difficult to imagine. Even if a large-scale war is littered with corpses, it would be difficult to accumulate such a huge amount of data.
But they can see in the historical photos only skin and bones of children, young adults who were hanged for eating children, and people of all ages holding bowls to eat grass roots and yellow soil.
All it takes to cause a famine is a flood, an insect infestation, or a drought lasting several months.
These natural disasters are impossible to prevent, but man-made disasters can be prevented, and as a ruler of a dynasty, this is something that needs to be dealt with head-on.
In years when there is more food, more grain is collected and stored. In years when there is less food, less tax is collected or even no tax is collected. In addition, grain needs to be taken from the grain depot to supplement the people.
Only in this way can we survive the different years year after year.
"You can tell the truth!"
Zhang Xuezhou responded and explained, which made Li Guang marvel.
He nodded, then held up his hands to express his gratitude, and then strode away.
"This year's harvest is pretty good," Xu Yuan whispered, "It's hard for these people outside the city to have enough to eat every day, but they shouldn't starve to death!"
"What is the main problem in this?" Zhang Xuezhou asked doubtfully: "Is it because the government taxes are too high, or is it that the gangs charge too much!"
"It's because the crops we grow are too single." Xu Yuan shook his head and said, "Everyone only has these things to eat, and they can only focus on the staple food. Especially in the winter, there is a lack of cultivable things, so we have to wait for the autumn harvest to survive the winter."
"You are good at cultivation in this area. Do you have any solutions?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.
"You...you should know that even down-and-out monks rarely lack food and drink. If they can survive, there won't be too many people to solve such a complicated and lack of benefits!"
"Pity!"
"If the imperial court can get heavy rewards, there will be no problems in the world that cannot be solved. If the imperial court does not lead, how can the people below do it?"
Xu Yuan muttered angrily.
Researching crops is less cost-effective than researching medicinal materials. If cultivating medicinal materials has corresponding output, increasing crop yields or cultivating cold- and drought-resistant crops will not bring benefits.
For agricultural monks, trying to increase the yield per mu is not as good as cultivating one more acre of land, and cultivating new crops is far worse than spending money to kill two pigs for winter vegetables.
These breeding and cultivation require screening year after year to continuously select and cultivate excellent varieties, which is extremely time-consuming.
Even if the Nongzong people are deeply tied to agriculture, no one likes to do this kind of thing.
But if we want to have enough food, clothing, and even good food, we cannot do without a variety of crops, even fruits and other supplements.
"This is one of the most profitable industries in reality!"
Listening to Xu Yuan's constant complaints, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but think of various seed companies in reality.
The profits from cultivating crops are slim, and the profits from processing agricultural products are also very small, but the profits from genetic breeding are astonishingly huge.
Normally, when buying grain, you buy it by the kilogram. A bag of rice is ten kilograms, twenty kilograms, or fifty kilograms. But seeds are sold by the grain. A small bag of thousands of seeds is the price of hundreds of kilograms of grain, or even worth hundreds. Kilograms of grain.
He persuaded Xu Yuan in a low voice.
If no one is engaged in this industry, it means that there is a pioneering period in the industry.
As long as the cultivation demonstration site is famous, Zhang Xuezhou thinks that many people will come to buy the corresponding seeds.
It is difficult to make money in Chang'an City, and running a pharmacy to sell elixirs has many hurdles, but selling seeds is easier.
"Is this really possible?" Xu Yuan asked doubtfully.
"I think it's okay." Zhang Xuezhou pointed to the millet tunnel and said: "As long as you carefully select the millet in this area and can store it safely, it shouldn't be a problem to sell it as seeds in the spring of next year. At least these people outside Chang'an have seen you. The people in the fields should trust these seeds!”
"Can the price really go up?"
"Twenty percent should be no problem!"
Zhang Xuezhou is not good at business, but he has facts to compare with.
"But the money I can earn from these few stones of grain, which is 20% more expensive, is limited, right?" Xu Yuan asked doubtfully.
“You can buy food and then sort it!”
"I can't afford it. Besides, the government also prohibits the hoarding of food after private purchases. This kind of thing can be easily verified!"
"We can sell while harvesting, or even help people run errands to buy grain. Keep those that are suitable for making seeds, and sell those that are not suitable for rations." Zhang Xuezhou said: "Even if you don't make any money, you can go in and out." As long as you select seeds that you can sell next year, it’s a good deal!”
The imperial court undoubtedly had many frameworks, especially those involving grain merchants and other industries that were basically monopolized.
Even if Xu Yuan wants to harvest a large amount of grain to make seeds, he can only buy it from grain merchants. If the resale price of the purchased grain is high, no one will buy it. If it is sold at a low price, it will cause him to lose money. Moreover, it is difficult to buy more grain due to sales limits and other reasons. purchase.
He discussed with Zhang Xuezhou for a while and also talked about his worries.
After Zhang Xuezhou explained everything, Xu Yuan finally decided to sell a batch of seeds to try.
Everyone can't afford a drugstore at the moment, but it's really not a problem to open a seed shop. Even if it can't make a lot of money, as long as it can make a normal living, it means it has a foothold in Chang'an City and can even run for a long time.
And this is something that benefits the people. Doing things makes you feel comfortable.
Zhang Xuezhou contributed the capital, Xu Yuan provided the skills and was responsible for building a cellar suitable for storing seeds, and Rong Tianding was responsible for running errands to collect and sell the grain.
Negotiating things is simple, and everyone has their own division of labor and cooperation.
There is no conflict between life and practice. Standing firm is even driven by sharpening your sword and chopping firewood.
Just like Zhang Xuezhou suddenly used taming exotic beasts to increase his income, there is no fixed way to make a living in this world.
As long as they can see a certain prospect, they will insert it accurately.
(End of chapter)
