"Good farmland? Is this really good farmland?" Half an hour later, Li Shui stood on the ridge of the field and cursed.
The dry and cracked yellow soil has some weeds growing crookedly on it, and there are basically no seedlings in sight.
There were several farmers with sallow faces and skinny muscles, sitting on the ridge of the fields, looking blankly into the distance.
"Did Qin Shihuang have some misunderstanding about fertile fields?" Li Shui thought resentfully.
Wu Jiao next to him was speechless, thinking: "Spring has just begun at this time, and the crops have not been planted yet. This is naturally the case in the fields. What's all the fuss about?"
Li Shui turned around, pointed at the farmers in the distance, and asked, "Who are those people? Why are they in my field?"
Wu Jiao was even more speechless, so he could only explain patiently: "They are tenant farmers here."
Li Shui looked confused: "Who rented the land to them?"
Wu Jiao thought for a while and called an older farmer.
This farmer may only be in his forties, but he has been working in the fields all year round. His skin is tanned and his face is covered with wrinkles. He looks to be in his sixties.
The farmer's name is Cano, and he is the leader of this group of tenant farmers.
Cang Fu explained it, and Li Shui finally figured out what was going on.
These farmers have no land, but their ancestors have rented this piece of farmland for generations, and formed a small village on the edge of the land, called Xiaotu Village.
Over the generations, the ownership of this land has changed many people. This year it was Mr. Zhao, next year it was Mr. Wang, and the year after that it was Mr. Li.
But the villagers of Xiaotu Village have not changed. They have always been tenant farmers here.
They don't care who the owner is, they just farm diligently every year. Then one-third of the harvest is given to the owner as rent.
As for those high-ranking owners who didn't know how much property they had at home, they didn't bother to interfere with these tenant farmers. Just send someone to collect rent on time every year.
It can also be simply said that the ownership of this land belongs to Lishui, but the right to use it belongs to the villagers of Xiaotu Village.
However, this right to use is just following past habits and has no legal support.
After hearing this, Li Shui nodded slightly. He didn't intend to drive away these villagers. After all, he couldn't cultivate a thousand acres of land himself. It is not only necessary to ask about the basic situation.
Cangfu also introduced that there are about 20 households in Xiaotu Village, with each household having about five people. There were more than a hundred people in total. A thousand acres of fertile farmland, divided equally, means one household can cultivate forty acres.
Li Shui nodded with satisfaction and said, "Forty acres, is it enough for you to have food and clothing?"
Cano sighed and said: "If it's a good year, I can barely survive starvation. If it's a disaster year, I need to go somewhere else to escape."
Li Shui was immediately shocked: "A family with 40 acres of land still needs to flee from famine? How much food do you produce in a year? How much food do you eat?"
Cang Fu said: "If we encounter a good year with good weather and good weather, each acre of land can produce about one and a half stones of grain in a year."
One stone and a half, about one hundred sixty-seven pounds.
Li Shui couldn't accept this number. After all, he had grown up in modern society. Now, the grain produced from one acre of land had already been more than a thousand kilograms, or several hundred kilograms more.
But then I thought about it, this was the Qin Dynasty, there was no electricity for irrigation, no fertilizers, no pesticides, and no scientific breeding, so food production was indeed not high.
However, one acre of land can only produce more than 100 kilograms a year, which is indeed too little.
Seeing Li Shui's surprised look, Cang Fu couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "Sir, don't be surprised. Even in a good year, not everything goes as planned."
"When a strong wind comes, some of the seedlings will fall down. When a heavy rain comes, some will be washed away. When a severe drought comes, some of the seedlings will die."
"So, when we wait for the autumn harvest, there won't be many crops harvested. After paying the land rent, there won't be much left."
Li Shui nodded and thought to himself: "I am a kind person. How can I feel at ease when I see these tenant farmers not having enough to eat? But if I don't need their land rent, won't I be poor? For now, I can only find a way. Increased production.”
"Don't think about chemical fertilizers and pesticides. We don't have this condition now. With the current level of science and technology, if you want to increase production, you have to start from the aspects that Soo just mentioned. Resistance to drought, waterlogging, lodging..."
Suddenly, an idea flashed in Li Shui's head, and he remembered a word: "Dai Tian method."
When I was in middle school, a history book mentioned that agriculturists of the Han Dynasty summarized the farming method, which was quite effective in fighting drought and wind, and could increase farmland yields.
Li Shui recalled it. Fortunately, the content of Daitian Law was easy to understand and he still remembered it.
Li Shui said to Cang Fu: "Is it going to be sowing this year?"
Cano said: "It will be in the next day or two."
Li Shui snorted: "This year, don't plant randomly like in the past. I'll teach you to divide an acre of land into six equal parts. Then dig three of them into trenches. I'd say it's simpler, just like in the past. Three shallow rivers are dug out of each acre of land. Crops are only grown on the bottom of the rivers."
Aangfu was stunned for a moment and said: "In this case, wouldn't every acre of land be only half planted?"
Li Shui nodded with satisfaction: "You have a good understanding. After the crops grow, every time you plow and hoe the grass, you must hoe the soil on the dam and the grass into the ditch to cultivate the roots of the seedlings."
"As time goes by, the soil on the embankments is flattened and the ditches are filled. At this time, the crops have deep roots and can withstand drought, wind, and prevent lodging."
"Wait until the second year of farming, and then change it over. Use the original embankment as a soil trench and the original soil trench as a dike. Use rotation to restore soil fertility."
Li Shui spoke eloquently, but Cang Fu just repeated with a sad look on his face: "In this case, wouldn't only half of each acre of land be planted?"
Li Shui was speechless. He patted Cang Fu on the shoulder and said, "Believe me, even if you only plant half of the crops, you will still harvest more food than you originally did."
Cang Fu murmured to himself again: "In this case, wouldn't every acre of land be only half planted?"
Li Shui became a little impatient and shouted: "Are you willing to plant or not?"
Cang Fu was a little scared. He looked at Li Shui with fear, his lips trembled for a while, and then he said boldly: "Sir, you are forcing us to die. The crops are so full, but we still don't have enough to eat. Now only half of it has been planted, and we will have no choice but to flee in the coming year. It is really difficult for a small person to obey the demands of adults."
Li Shui is going crazy. I just talked about it in simple terms for so long, but you didn’t understand it at all.
He was too lazy to pay attention to the old man, but turned to look at Wu Jiao: "You have seen more of the world than he does. What do you think of my method?"
Wu Jiao whispered: "Sir, you don't know something. Great Qin attaches great importance to farming and war. If you do this, it is a crime of neglecting farming. It is a very serious crime to slack off farming."
Li Shui was too lazy to talk nonsense with these illiterate people. He took out the death-free gold medal, waved it in front of Ao Fu, and asked, "Do you recognize this thing?"
Cang Fu looked at it for a long time and whispered: "The villain is illiterate."
Li Shui rolled his eyes: "This is a gold medal for immunity from death. Sir, I don't have to pay for killing people. I will come to check in two days. If the crops in the field are not planted according to my instructions, hum!"
Aangfu immediately shuddered, and then he said obediently, "Don't worry, sir. I... I'm all under your command."
Li Shui put the gold medal for immunity from death into his arms and thought a little speechlessly: "The ancients were all scoundrels. They refused to listen even if they told me nicely. They must turn me into a bully."
Wu Jiao looked at Li Shui with a worried expression, and had only one thought in his mind: "It's over, the crime of neglecting agriculture is a serious crime. This has caused a big disaster. What should I do? Do I still want to stay with him? Wan What should I do if I get implicated?”
