"Da Sinong, there is someone outside asking to see you, claiming to be your old friend."
"Oh? Who is it? My old friend? At my age, there aren't many old friends left. Most of them have died."
"The humble job is to drive them away. Judging from their age, they are only around forty. I guess they are lying."
Da Si Nong waved his hand and said: "No, I am a Si Nong official. The most common people ask for an audience is for farm work. Let people come in. There is no harm in meeting you."
Not long after, Xiao Rui and his wife were brought in, and the four guards on both sides were very vigilant.
Da Sinong looked at the two of them and shook his head: "You two claim to be my old friends, but are you entrusted by others? I don't know you two."
Xiao Rui stretched out his hand into his arms as if taking something, then approached Da Sinong and said loudly: "My two brothers were entrusted by others to learn how to pierce the cow's nose under Da Sinong. These are tokens. !”
"Stop! Da Sinong, be careful of assassins!"
But how could they move as fast as Xiao Rui?
When he heard this voice, Da Sinong felt familiar, as well as the method of piercing a cow's nose. Da Sinong, who was over sixty years old, was startled. He lowered his head and saw what was in his hand, his eyes narrowed, and his hands trembled with excitement. of.
"you you……"
Xiao Rui stepped forward and held Da Sinong's hand, winked and said with a smile, "It's me. One of our own! Don't make any noise."
Da Sinong nodded solemnly and waved his hands towards the guards and Yazhong officials: "Everyone, please step back. We are our own people."
Everyone stepped back knowingly.
Da Sinong said with tears in his eyes: "Not long ago, news came from Chang'an that something happened to you, and I even cried bitterly for you. God is jealous of talents. If it weren't for my old age, I really want to go north to the grassland and use my sword to give you the power. You take revenge."
Xiao Rui was moved and held Da Sinong's hand: "It's my fault. Someone should have sent you a message. It's a helpless move to fake death and take refuge. This assassination was a narrow escape. This junior's martial arts skills were completely useless and he really became a hand." A scholar who has no power to restrain a chicken."
Da Sinong wiped away his tears and said movedly: "It's good to be alive, it's good to be alive. How about a scholar? With talents like yours, there is no need for martial arts at all. If the court asks you to charge into battle, it will be a waste of talent. Strategy Yu In the court, where strategies are being planned, a victory can be won thousands of miles away. A scholar can also be a million-strong soldier."
"Don't praise me anymore. It's been almost a year since I left Youzhou. Rui has been worried about the livestock plan. You are sitting in Luoyang personally, presiding over the three major matters of cattle farming, war horses, and fine breeding. You look even more aged." Xiao Rui looked at this great farmer and sighed.
But Da Sinong took a very tolerant view and said calmly: "This is nothing. I am already so old, and I will die sooner or later. If I can do something practical in my lifetime, especially if I look at Datang Agriculture We will prosper in the future and die with peace of mind. Let’s go and take you to see our livestock farm in Luoyang.”
"By the way, you're neglecting me. Who is this?"
Li Junxian made a military salute and said, "Li Junxian, the last general, has met Da Sinong."
"It turns out to be General Li. Thank you for your hard work. You look like this, but you can't recognize him at all."
Xiao Rui smiled, "I can't recognize you standing next to you, haha, then I'm not afraid of being recognized and assassinated."
The three of them chatted and walked all the way, and soon they arrived at the Luoyang Animal Farm.
The person responsible for guarding this place is the general Hou Junji. He sent a founding father and general to guard it, which shows that the Tang Dynasty attaches great importance to it.
Of course, Hou Junji was not only responsible for guarding the livestock farm, but was also responsible for training an elite cavalry force of 20,000 people.
The two parties met, said hello, Xiao Rui and others left, heading straight to the cattle farm. Hou Junji looked at the three of them in confusion, feeling that something was not right. Da Sinong personally took his two juniors to visit the livestock farm? And the bearded one among them clearly has martial arts skills. Who could he be?
"The cooperation between Youzhou and the Khitan and other tribes is very good. New cattle are delivered every day. Our Luoyang Cattle Farm is now responsible for the domestication transfer. After receiving the new cattle, we tame them here by piercing their noses, and then train the bison to learn to pull the plow. Farming. Then it is distributed to various places and distributed to the people. Although the efficiency is a bit slow, there are always more people increasing day by day. "
"And the quality of these new cattle is very good, they are not old or weak. When they are sent to various places for distribution, they will basically be distributed in male and female pairs. By then, they will have one litter a year, and they will gradually be able to be separated from the imperial supply."
Li Junxian asked curiously: "Da Si Nong, are the cattle distributed by the imperial court to the people free of charge? Can we really ensure that they are distributed to the people and not to the local gentry?"
Da Sinong nodded and said: "Yes, it's free. But the first two cows are rented for free. They will be raised and taken care of by the people. They will be responsible for farming when they are busy. After a year, they will give birth to calves and distribute them to other people. . The regenerated calves are traded among the common people. After the original two cows give birth to two babies, they completely belong to the farmers."
"As for who to send it to, we have a special supervision team that patrols various places. Generally there will be no problems."
Xiao Rui nodded: "In the beginning, the imperfect system and some flaws are not a problem. Only when the foreign troubles are over in the future will we have the heart to rectify these shortcomings. For example, the nobles do not pay taxes and annex acres. These are all problems. It will have to be rectified sooner or later.”
Li Junxian couldn't quite understand. But Da Sinong has been doing this all his life, so he understands.
He stopped and looked at Xiao Rui in surprise, "You... ugh!"
"What? You always look like this? Do you disagree?" Xiao Rui asked jokingly.
Da Sinong shook his head and said: "No! I have been engaged in mulberry farming all my life. How could I not know the disadvantages of agricultural tax? I have always dreamed of having a reasonable farming system. What a pity. I want to prevent the nobles from annexing land and want to take over the nobles. Taxation is too difficult. Even His Majesty doesn’t dare to touch other people’s interests and is almost an enemy of all the nobles in the world.”
"You're a good boy. I didn't misjudge you. But I really can't bear to see you become the enemy of the whole world. Since ancient times, the fate of those who change the law has not been good."
"You are dedicated to serving the public good. You have done enough for the world. You should be respected by others, but now you have to fake your death and escape... This world is so sad!"
Xiao Rui supported Da Sinong and said: "You always feel sorry for the younger generation. It doesn't matter, I'm still young and have plenty of time to fight with them. If privileged people like us in high positions don't stand up and speak out, we'll point our fingers at the common people. If you stand up on your own, that may be the day when the peasants revolt and the Tang Dynasty is destroyed."
"Okay, I came here to see you in old age. Don't think about these unhappy things. Even Buddhism was destroyed by me. Maybe there will be a good solution in the future."
"Tell me if there are any problems in this livestock farm. Maybe I can help."
Da Sinong nodded, looked at the prosperous livestock farm, and thought for a moment. The breeding was on the right track, and there was no problem with the cattle. However, there seems to be a problem on War Horse's side.
"I am usually responsible for farming cattle. A few days ago, I heard General Hou complain that of the 40,000 war horses, 20,000 were carefully selected and trained as cavalry. However, there is wear and tear during the training of the war horses, and the horseshoes are extremely easy to crack and get injured. It is a pity. A good horse was turned into a poor plowing horse because of damage to its hoofs."
Next to him, Li Junxian also agreed: "Yes, we were worried about this problem during the previous war. The horses were worn out too quickly. Forty thousand horses can only form 20,000 cavalry, not because there are not enough people, but because there are not enough horses. Others The 20,000 war horses are mainly responsible for preparing for war and giving birth. Otherwise, there will be no backup for the 20,000 war horses. After several battles, there will not be many left."
Horseshoe? Xiao Rui pondered, he knew about horseshoes, but should this thing come out?
Alas...another incident that needs to be kept strictly confidential! The advent of this thing must play a key role. Otherwise, it will be easy to be detected by foreigners. If the grassland is equipped with this, it will be over.
