After the adults of the Household Department had a rest and had a meal, their admiration for Dahe Village became even greater, and they also understood more clearly why Sui'an people are Sui'an people.
If it weren't for the fact that it was getting dark after the meal, these adults would immediately want to start studying cotton.
Cheng Wanwan placed them in the back room of the big house. The next day it was slightly bright, and several adults had already gotten up. Mrs. Qi and Yan Hong were waiting for the adults to have breakfast, while Zhao Dashan was dragged by Mr. Zou. He sat down at the dining table.
Zhao Dashan stays at home all year round. When Cheng Wanwan is busy, he will also help to receive merchants. It can be said that he has been trained in dealing with people.
However, businessmen and officials are different after all. Being surrounded by six or seven high-level officials made him somewhat uncomfortable.
Mr. Zou and Xu smiled and said: "Master Zhao, I heard that you breed and grow the cotton in Dahe Village. Do you have a record booklet?"
"There are some." Zhao Dashan said repeatedly, "When we started planting cotton last spring, my mother told me that all the details must be recorded. I will go get it now."
Although he can read and write, he never writes anything down on paper. In his opinion, as long as he grows any crop once, all the details of the process are printed in his mind and there is no need to write it down. I'll look through it later, but my mother said that with so many people in Dahe Village, I can't let him explain everything one by one when everyone is planting. It's easier to record it in a book and circulate it to everyone.
As a result, he developed the habit of recording farming activities, such as planting peppers, Zanthoxylum bungeanum and other crops, and he also recorded them conveniently.
He went back to his room, took the booklet, and handed it to Mr. Zou.
As soon as the book was opened, Mr. Zou's expression became wonderful. This word... is simply amazing.
However, it is already very good for a farmer to be able to read and write. How can he be asked to write well?
Mr. Zou took a closer look and found that the cotton planting process was very detailed, including how many times to water each day, how far apart the seedlings were, how to topping... In short, everything was covered. At the end of the book, there were some summaries, such as which fields have higher yields of cotton and how to do it. Control cotton insect pests...
"Master Zhao, this booklet of yours has saved us so much work." Mr. Zou immediately stood up, "We need an open space now. Before it is time to sow, we must quickly study all aspects of cotton's habits."
Zhao Dashan asked: "Do you have any requirements for the open space?"
"As long as it's a piece of land." Mr. Zou directed the adults behind him to move the boxes. "Move all the tools to the open space. We have to build the experimental field today. We can't waste a day."
The plan for the year lies in spring, and spring rain is as precious as oil. If you miss this spring, you will have to wait for next spring.
Farming is the last thing that can't be delayed.
Zhao Dashan didn't know what an experimental field was, but he still followed the instructions to find a high-quality field and called all the long-term workers to help.
When Cheng Wanwan came over, he saw dozens of people tossing around in a field in the back yard.
She was still wondering yesterday how Master Zou and his party of six people could ride in so many carriages. Only then did she realize that several carriages were filled with soil. The soil of various colors and textures was separated and poured into a small In the small experimental fields, there is also a sign written on each field. There are soils from the capital, some from the northeast, some from the northwest, some from the southwest... There are soils from all over the country.
Some people are responsible for placing the soil, some are responsible for adjusting the humidity, and some seem to be building thatched sheds for certain areas...
Cheng Wanwan was extremely surprised. She really didn't expect that field experiments could be done in ancient times. It seemed quite professional. If Zhao Dashan learned from this, no one would be his opponent in farming in the future.
For more than half a month, Zhao Dashan and the adults from the Ministry of Revenue kept soaking in the experimental fields. They went there before dawn and came back after dark. Such hard work paid off. Within half a month, cotton sprouts emerged. .
It's only the end of the first year, when it's warm and then cold. Normally, you wouldn't plant cotton at this time because the temperature is too low and it's difficult to germinate. However, people like the Ministry of Finance have a way. They burn firewood for 12 hours at the edge of the experimental field to improve the quality of cotton. temperature, the cotton will naturally germinate.
"Sui'an people, it really is like this!" Mr. Zou came to report to Cheng Wanwan with a sloppy beard and an excited face. "It is true that the soil in the southeast, northwest and northwest of Daewoo can grow cotton. However, the northwest has sufficient sunshine and the central region has high temperature and humidity. Moderately, these two areas are most suitable and can be promoted on a large scale.”
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "With enough sunshine, the cotton quality will be better, and with moderate temperature and humidity, the output will be more stable."
"The official asked Mr. Zhao that the two biggest problems in growing cotton are: insect pests and watering." Mr. Zou said slowly, "Let's not mention the pests for now. Let's talk about watering first. Wheat is also dry land. Crops, but they don’t require much water. Cotton is different. It basically needs to be watered every few days, and dry land is far away from rivers. As a result, farmers’ workload will increase significantly..."
Cheng Wanwan had already thought about this problem.
People in Dahe Village basically carry buckets to water. This is the most primitive way. If the field area is larger, some farmers will use windlass to draw water. It is a little more convenient, but it is still laborious and laborious. Landowners who are farther away In Zhuangzi, another tool was used, called a human-operated cart, which was suitable for irrigating large areas of farmland. One person could irrigate about four or five acres a day, which was already considered very powerful in this era.
But no matter how powerful it is, it still relies on human power to operate.
She seemed to have read in a book that there was an ancient irrigation artifact called a waterwheel, but she had never heard of it being mentioned in the Daewoo Dynasty, so it probably hadn't been invented yet.
It is said that the waterwheel can irrigate at least two hundred acres of land. If it is built larger, the irrigated area can reach several thousand acres of land. If it is successful, the entire Dahe Village can benefit and benefit thousands of households.
She didn't dare to make tools that were too advanced before, but now that the adults from the household department are here, this problem has been solved.
She smiled and said: "Some wealthy villagers near Dahe Village will use human power to turn over the water for watering. If it is not too expensive, we in Dahe Village will also introduce it."
Mr. Zou shook his head: "Dahe Village is so wealthy that people think that manpower is expensive, and other ordinary people can't afford it... Anyway, since ancient times, farmers have been able to endure hardships, and they can only endure hardships... It won't happen in winter. Get cold.”
"Manpower is expensive because with so much money, you can only irrigate four or five acres of land a day, which is unnecessary for poor people and not enough for some big landowners." Cheng Wan bent over and thought, " I think it can be modified based on the manual rollover..."
Mr. Li, who is in charge of water canals, suddenly became interested: "Sui'an people, please elaborate."
Cheng Wanwan coughed: "I need to think about it, and I will discuss it in detail with you adults then."
She had to go back and look through the book and look at the structural diagram of the waterwheel. She would point out the key points. The details depended on the adults in the Ministry of Household Affairs.
In addition, she will take this opportunity to make some other agricultural tools, such as a semi-automatic threshing machine. Her family will plant rice on a large area this year, and it would be impossible without this thing...
