Shengze paused, "Can these seeds be planted at any time?"
"That's definitely not the case. What you saw just now are original seeds. I have to transform them before they can be used. Moreover, some seeds are very picky and will not wait until they are out of date." Shen Qingqian sighed.
On the surface, the two hundred bags of accelerated fertilizer she has now seem to be quite a lot, but in fact, all the accelerated fertilizer has been used up, and the food she has stored is not enough for the Northern Hubei Army for half a year.
Therefore, she has to mobilize the power of the masses. After she comes up with high-yielding seeds and seedlings, they can be planted and promoted in northern Hubei in batches and types.
Nowadays, the irrigation water in most areas of northern Hubei is the sacred spring water from Chengjin Mountain. The benefits to crops are real. Shen Qingqian is not worried about the survival of seeds or seedlings at all.
What she is most worried about now is that there are seeds and the sacred spring water to ensure the growth of crops, but there are no people to plant them.
The permanent population of northern Hubei is 300,000. Excluding the urban population of 50,000 to 60,000, there are 250,000 people who need to farm to make a living.
But among the 250,000 people, excluding the elderly, children and those who cannot farm, there are only a few hundred thousand left.
Some of these hundreds of thousands of people were conscripted into corvee service, and now only a few tens of thousands of them are still at home and able to farm.
In Northern Hubei, which is so big, if we want to expand the planting area, we will need to open up more wasteland on the basis of ensuring the planting rate of the original land. To open up wasteland, we need to build more canals to facilitate irrigation, and building canals requires manpower...
Shen Qingqian just thought about this cycle in her heart, and her temples were pounding.
"We are not only short of money, we are also short of people!" She said what was in her heart without paying attention.
Shengze said nothing. How could he not know that there was a shortage of people in northern Hubei?
But the north of Northern Hubei is outside the pass, and the south is blocked by the Lanjiang River. Even if you want the people from the six northwest states to move over, there is nothing you can do.
To the east is a majestic mountain, the top of which no one has seen yet. It is surrounded by clouds and mist all year round and is called the Mountain of Death. To the west, just over the Jiji Mountain is the territory of the Jun tribe.
In this way, there is basically no solution to the shortage of people in northern Hubei.
"Unless Chenzhou is captured, the shortage of people in northern Hubei cannot be solved in the short term." Shengze said solemnly.
If northern Hubei starts to have enough food and clothing now, it will take at least fifteen years to replenish its population.
Shen Qingqian heard the words and rolled his eyes, "That's not necessarily the case. We are short of people because there are many things that must be done manually. But what if we vigorously develop basic industries? Replacing manpower with machinery and freeing up our hands, wouldn't it be possible? Is there any excess labor?”
As soon as these words came out, Shengze felt a sense of enlightenment.
Yes, when there are few people, they try to find ways to improve the efficiency of machines, such as weaving. As far as he knows, the first industrial revolution in Shen Qingqian's world seems to have started with the improvement of looms, right?
Thinking of this, Shengze suddenly became excited. He held Shen Qingqian's hand and tightened slightly, looking at her with hot eyes, "Qianqian, please help me!"
"Uh..." Shen Qingqian was a little confused, "What can I help you with? Aren't there Mr. Qin and Mr. Su who are responsible for the mechanical matters?"
Shengze shook his head, "No, I know you must have a way. You..." He paused, "You are the granddaughter of the Taifu. Your vision and knowledge are unmatched by others. If you can help with all your strength, Hubei will definitely be able to solve it." There’s a problem with the lack of people!”
"You just believe me so much?" Shen Qingqian was suddenly curious, where did Shengze's confidence in her come from?
