"I love this view!"
Queen Zhang looked at the scenery in front of her and said happily: "I like it too, this is the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen!"
Empress Zhang was from Kaifeng Prefecture in Henan. She had few chances to leave the palace in her life. If she had not followed Empress Zhou to Liaodong this time, she would have not left Beijing for nearly fifteen years.
Of course, even if she could leave the Forbidden City in Beijing, she would not have the opportunity to look at the endless fields of grain, watch the setting sun, and watch hundreds or even thousands of people busy working together like she does now.
Empress Zhou looked at Empress Zhang's happy look and smiled lightly: "Sister-in-law, I also like this kind of scenery, and I hope that the entire Ming Dynasty will have such scenery everywhere, and such ears of grain can grow all over the banks of the Yellow River. There will be no famine, and people will no longer have to flee! There will no longer be any need to sell sons and daughters.”
"It's just a pity..."
Queen Zhang looked at Queen Zhou and said in confusion: "Cheng Qing was born in the 24th year of Wanli. In the first year of Tianqi, he should have been 24 years old... I don't understand why he was not reused!"
"If Governor Denglai hadn't collected eight thousand taels of silver from Cheng Qing, I'm afraid Cheng Qing wouldn't even be a member of the Dengzhou Guard Zuo Qianhu. How could he be reused?"
Queen Zhou sighed and said: "That mediocre official and traitor should be killed!"
Empress Zhang looked at Empress Zhou and said, "Can Cheng Qing be transferred to Beizhili as governor?"
The governor of Northern Zhili, of course, did not have this official position in the Ming Dynasty. Many official positions in the Ming Dynasty were newly established. In Queen Zhang's opinion, the four poorest provinces of Northern Zhili, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi should be handed over to Cheng Shijie.
Of course, the queen was a little naive. She knew that Cheng Shijie could not become the governor of Zhili at all, because Cheng Shijie was not a Jinshi, a Hanlin, and had not entered the Sixth Ministry. It was okay to serve as the governor of Liaodong, because Liaodong had not been a governor since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. It belongs to the two capitals and thirteen provinces, but it is a unique health system and belongs to the border state.
Queen Zhou also felt very sorry: "There is no way around this. The laws of our ancestors cannot be violated!"
Not far from the millet field, there is a green sweet potato field. A few children took advantage of the adults not paying attention and quietly ran into the sweet potato field to dig sweet potatoes. After a while, they dug more than a dozen huge sweet potatoes.
These children dug the cut grain straws into a fire pit on the spot, then put the grain straws in and lit the fire. As the grain straws burned fiercely, these sweet potatoes with soil slowly ripened.
Several adults discovered that several children were playing with fire in the back. They were frightened. You must know that so far, the harvested grain is less than one-third. If it is burned by a fire, they will lose everything and cannot afford to pay.
"Pa bang bang..."
The education provided by the adults was simple and crude. Several children were snatched away by their respective adults. Of course, the fire pit was also extinguished with soil.
Queen Zhang looked at this scene with some familiarity and some emotion.
Seeing that the fire in the fire pit seemed not to be completely extinguished, and wisps of green smoke were still rising, she was about to go over to put out the fire, but someone got there first.
Cheng Shijie actually saw a few bad boys digging sweet potatoes and burning them early in the morning. This scene also brought back Cheng Shijie's childhood memories. The result was good, it turned out to be the same memory and the same taste.
In particular, a few children were beaten up by their parents and dragged away with their ears pinched. Cheng Shijie pointed at the fire pond and said with a smile: "Come on, let's eat something delicious!"
Cheng Shijie took three steps at a time and came to the fire pit. He picked up a short knife and pushed away the soil on the straw. As the air seeped in, the flame that had almost extinguished began to burn quickly again.
After a while, the sweet fragrance of sweet potatoes hit your nostrils.
Queen Zhou looked at Cheng Shijie as if he were a child, happily eating sweet potatoes.
Chen Zilong actually doesn't like eating sweet potatoes, because it's okay to eat sweet potatoes occasionally. Eating too much can cause stomach acid, but now he has long felt hungry, and he eats sweet potatoes regardless of the image.
Queen Zhou and Queen Zhang walked towards Cheng Shijie and Chen Zilong. Several eunuchs around Queen Zhou began to quickly remove the curtains from the cart and set up a huge tent.
Queen Zhou and Queen Zhang entered the tent, and Cheng Shijie and Chen Zilong had to come over to see the ceremony.
Empress Zhou looked at Chen Zilong and Cheng Shijie and said: "Cheng Qing, Chen Qing, although Xingu is good, it's a pity that the Ming Dynasty is so big that it is impossible to grow millet in the whole world, and we can't just eat millet, we also have to eat wheat, Rice, and the output of wheat and rice in Daming is very low... Is there anything you can do?"
"this?"
The hybrid millet cultivated by Chen Zilong and other agricultural experts was only cultivated based on the technical information provided by Cheng Shijie. In fact, it is not correct to say that they cultivated it. They only restored this hybrid millet based on the information.
Chen Zilong didn't know how to answer Queen Zhang's question.
Cheng Shijie smiled faintly and said: "This is a good thing. As the saying goes, one can know everything. Millet can be hybridized, wheat can be hybridized, and rice can also be hybridized. It's just a matter of spending time on research. If you have time and money, you can research and produce high yields. New seeds that are drought tolerant!”
Queen Zhang said: "This breeding... I'm afraid it's not easy, right?"
"It's definitely not easy!"
Cheng Shijie smiled faintly and said: "Due to the geographical and climate problems, I was always short when I was young. The entire nation was a "dwarf" and had very low self-esteem. In addition, civilization was relatively late, and there were still big flaws in all aspects of intelligence. The place in Xiaoli is very small, and most of the people in Xiaoli are married to close relatives, resulting in many idiots, fools, mentally retarded people, and a lot of disabled people who cannot take care of themselves. This is very troublesome, so the people in Xiaoli have spontaneously grown in size and started borrowing seeds. To change their own inferior genes."
Empress Zhang had actually heard of this incident. "Qingbo Magazine" recorded: "A boat from the Japanese country was drifting in the Song Dynasty, with a group of thirty or twenty people. The women were all sent away. When people from Zhongzhou (China) arrived, they chose the beautiful ones. It is recommended to sleep and named "Du Zhong"."
"Did they succeed?"
"It can be said that it was successful, or it can be said that it was not successful!"
Cheng Shijie said: "The common people in Xiaoli have no chance to cross over, so they are still the same as before. There are only nobles or warriors. Some of them have successfully improved their short genes! It must be said that the nation in Xiaoli is very tough. They have spent hundreds of years improving human cultivation. Wheat and rice are the same as human cultivation. It will take us at most a few years to complete drought-resistant and cold-resistant wheat, as well as high-yielding rice!”
Chen Zilong's eyes are already shining brightly. His teacher Xu Guangqi has a place among the Four Sages of Farmers. Now that he has improved grain seeds, it is certain that he will leave his name in history, and he will achieve higher achievements in the future.
“What are the yields of hybrid rice and hybrid wheat?”
Queen Zhang asked urgently.
“The yield will definitely be high!”
Cheng Shijie said: "We have done experiments. Even with the current wheat seeds, with careful planting, sufficient fertilization, and timely irrigation, there is still a yield of five to six hundred kilograms. If the grain seeds are improved, then in the future, the yield per mu will be one thousand kilograms." question……"
Queen Zhou was surprised and said: "Is this... such a high yield!? My God, two acres of land can feed a large family!"
"Of course, this is only the yield of refined seeds. If it is promoted, it will have to be greatly discounted. But the wheat yield of 600 to 800 jins per mu is no problem, and the rice yield of 800 to 1,000 jins per mu is also trivial. "
Empress Zhang said happily: "With this kind of output, farmers will laugh out loud in their dreams!"
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "You will indeed wake up with a smile..."
While they were talking, someone came running towards us on a war horse, shouting from afar: "Urgent military situation, urgent military situation."
Cheng Shijie suddenly felt bad when he heard this voice.
Could it be said that Jian Nu came over?
It's still a bit early. You have to know that except for the experimental millet, which can be harvested now, it will take more than a month for wheat and corn to be harvested, and it will take two months for the late-planted sweet potatoes and potatoes to be harvested.
"Report to the Commander-in-Chief that there is something strange happening to the slaves!"
Cheng Shijie didn't find it strange. Huang Taiji could be regarded as the founding emperor. Although he was attacked by Ning Haijun, he should not give up so easily.
When Cheng Shijie returned from Zhenhai City to the Ning Haijun General Staff Mansion in Jinzhou, the staff of Ning Haijun's General Staff had already made a sand table. On the huge sand table with a radius of one foot, Jian Nu's name was clearly marked on it. layout.
"Meet the Marshal!"
"No gift!"
"How is the situation now?"
"Not good!"
Zhou An smiled bitterly and said: "Liaodong Dusi organized three attacks for three days, but they all came back defeated!"
Cheng Shijie looked at the markings on the sand table and asked with some confusion: "Is the information correct?"
"No!"
Zhou An said seriously: "According to the information from Liaoyang Dusi, this time the former army of establishing slaves was led by Yue Tuo, with two white flags, two blue flags, one Niu Lu each, two red flags and two yellow flags, two Niu Lu each, a total of twelve Ge Niulu, in addition, the Han military flag and the Mongolian left and right flags each have 500 troops, totaling more than 5,000 troops!"
"The number is less than half of Liaoyang Dusi's troops. How did Shen Mingyu fight this battle?"
"According to intelligence, Jiannu learned the fortress tactics of our Ning Navy this time. They dug six trenches in front and on the left and right wings, and built six parapets. Our artillery was not very effective against them. !”
Cheng Shijie can understand. Although Ning Haijun's artillery has reached the forefront of the world, the problem is that this is only the advantage of naval guns. Infantry artillery is still mainly used by Folang machine cannons, which fire Although the speed is good and the effect of attacking dense formations is acceptable, it is very difficult to penetrate into a trench that is less than two meters wide.
"Does the General Staff have any good countermeasures now?"
"have!"
Zhou An smiled and said: "If this problem occurred a month ago, we really had no solution, but now, we really have a solution!"
"any solution?"
"We have a fire bulldozer!"
All right!
This was all caused by Cheng Shijie's five hundred thousand taels of silver. As the engineering college in Ninghai City began to be constructed, and as the Huoxiu Car Factory began to put into production, more and more inventions began to come out.
Especially in terms of large-scale road construction machinery, there are steam engine-type mixers and steam-type road rollers. Of course, animal-powered bulldozers were originally used and the steam engine could be transplanted there. Of course, today's steam engines are not very powerful, and this kind of bulldozer is only barely usable.
"I'm bored right now. Get ready. The General Staff Headquarters will send some staff to go to Liaoyang with me!"
Just when Cheng Shijie was packing his bags and preparing to leave for Liaoyang, he rubbed his growling stomach in the Jiannu Camp in Longgang Town, Liaoyang, looked up at the smoke-filled battlefield in the distance, and murmured a curse.
Ning Haijun really had no way to attack Jiannu's trenches and fortresses, but the problem was that they could see where the smoke from Jiannu's cooking stoves was rising. As long as they saw the smoke rising, Ning Haijun's artillery would be directed at the place where the smoke was rising. fire.
Following the shelling, the food prepared by Jiannu was no longer good, leaving Yue Tuo without food. He had not had hot food for three days.
Yue Tuo was not the only one who had no food. More than 5,000 people in the entire army had no food. In order to prevent them from lighting up the fire for cooking, Ning Haijun's artillery fired shells for a long time at the place where the smoke was rising from their cooking. Fortunately, they had already got used to.
From the day when the Ning Navy occupied Liaoyang, the entire Jin Kingdom had been short of food. Food shortages became a very common thing, and people would starve to death every three days.
This situation has lasted from the fifth year of Chongzhen to the present. They have become accustomed to it, but they just don't know when it will be the same as before.
In Yue Tuo's view, Ning Haijun was really hateful. They did everything possible to blockade the Kingdom of Jin. Originally, there were eight Shanxi merchants who could transport supplies to them through Zhangjiakou, and their lives could still be maintained. However, since Jin Dynasty, After the Eight Shang Families were confiscated and exterminated, there were also merchants who were not afraid of death and wanted to fill the power void left by the Eight Shang Families.
But the problem is that Ning Haijun is like a dog stopping a mouse. They sent some soldiers, pretending to be bandits, and got stuck on the grassland outside the pass. They ambush, attack at night, lay landmines, and capture merchants who dare to do business with the Kingdom of Jin. They were placed on sharpened sticks, a very cruel method of death.
Over the past three years, more than a hundred caravans have been executed on these two trade routes, and gradually no one dared to do business with the Kingdom of Jin.
Yue Tuo was a rare strategic talent in the Jin Kingdom. When he saw that fundamental problems could not be solved militarily, he once proposed Huang Taiji and sent envoys to the capital to seek peace. The Kingdom of Jin could follow the example of King Shunyi of Mongolia and declare itself a vassal to the Ming Dynasty and pay tribute.
But the problem is that Huang Taiji did not agree to bow to Emperor Chongzhen, and Huang Taiji was angry with Emperor Chongzhen. They were the ones who were unlucky.
At this time, Zhepo bent over and ran over. He brought two pieces of beef jerky as big as a child's fist and handed one to Yue Tuo and said, "Master, eat it."
Yue Tuo took it and asked, "Where did it come from?"
"Last month, the cow at home died of illness and was made into beef jerky. I ended up with two pieces."
Yue Tuo is just a mouthful. The taste of boiled beef jerky is not very good, but to him who is hungry, it is no different from delicacies.
A deafening cheer suddenly came from the opposite side: "Long live the Marshal! Long live the Marshal!"
Jiannu, who was huddled in the trench and suffering from hunger, was trembling with fear.
Yue Tuo's devouring movements paused for a moment, and he quietly stuck his head out. He frowned and asked, "What are these Ming people so crazy about?"
Zhepo didn't even raise his eyebrows, and all he could think about was chewing potatoes: "Only the devil knows!"
Yue Tuo misunderstood. Admiral Ning really didn't want to do anything, he was just too happy.
Because they heard a huge piece of good news from the newspaper - yes, it was not just the Liaoyang Ning navy officers who got the news, in fact the entire Liaodong had got the news.
The new grains cultivated by the Agricultural College in Zhenhai City achieved a bumper harvest in Zhenhai's experimental fields. The new grains performed extremely well, with the yield per mu exceeding 650 kilograms!
In the first two years, Ning Haijun's soldiers were content with eating potatoes and sweet potatoes. But the problem was that after eating potatoes and sweet potatoes for several years, they still missed the taste of millet.
Of course, when there is no choice, it is good to eat some, but when there is a choice, they would rather eat millet. Almost all Ning Navy soldiers are small landowners. They know that farmers want to dig food in the fields. How difficult it is, now that we have grain seeds that can yield more than 600 kilograms per acre, these soldiers are so excited that they cheer loudly!
Every face, whether young or stern, showed a happy smile: "One acre of land can harvest more than 600 kilograms? Then in the future, if we plant hundreds of acres of land at a time, won't we be able to sleep in the grain pile? Got it!"
Ning Haijun's supervisors took the opportunity to boost morale: "Liaodong will carry out larger-scale planting next year, and we have to work hard to capture Shenyang City... a variety of millet!"
Ning Haijun's soldiers cheered: "Capture Shenyang City and grow more millet!" (End of Chapter)
