The blind date lasted for a whole week, and there were more than two thousand newlywed couples in the royal court.
And these newlyweds who received Zhang Qi's congratulatory gifts also made many families in the royal court who were originally husband and wife feel envious.
Although there are not many things, they are all real necessities. Fortunately, the cloth can be replaced by fur, but oil and salt are very valuable things on the grassland.
Especially salt. In the past, herdsmen did not have many ways to obtain salt. They could only follow their herds to find bitter soil clods to absorb salt.
Now, just by getting married, you can get as much as three taels of salt. If you save some of this salt, it will not be a problem for the whole family to use it for a month or two.
Therefore, there is a very festive scene in the royal court. People line up at the door of the Department of Justice every day to receive marriage certificates. Some are married couples, and some spontaneously form families after a blind date.
In this regard, Zhang Qida thought it was good. Firstly, the registration information of the royal court's population could be refined. Secondly, the increase in the family formation rate meant that the birth rate of newborns in the coming year would also increase.
At present, the total population is only close to 30,000, and there are more girls than boys. Even if Zhang Qi distributes gifts to each couple, the number will not exceed 10,000 at most.
It’s just thirty thousand feet of cloth, ten thousand kilograms of oil, and three thousand kilograms of salt.
Since it can increase the number of newborns and improve the current happiness of the royal court, Zhang Qifa also distributed some resources. The total expenditure of these things is only 13.4 million dinars.
And in the future, he will be able to receive dozens or even hundreds of times the rewards from these herdsmen that he has paid now.
The weather is getting warmer day by day, and Lu Mu, who has been pioneering wasteland for more than ten days, returned to the royal court today to report the recent results to Zhang Qi.
Inside the yurt.
"These are the results obtained by the little old man and the herdsmen for thirteen days."
Lu Mu bowed down respectfully and handed Zhang Qi the writing written on the wooden board.
A female soldier next to Zhang Qi took it and handed it to Zhang Qi.
Zhang Qi took a few glances and nodded: "Yes, nearly a thousand acres of land were cultivated in thirteen days. You guys, No. 100, have worked hard too."
"We were able to plow with horses without much effort. Moreover, although the little old man was far away, he had heard about Lang Jun's actions these days. Being able to act under the blessing of God and Lang Jun was as good to us as For ordinary people, this is nothing but luck."
"And the little old man also wants to bring more people when he comes back this time. I dare to ask Mr. Lang, can those Xianbei people be used with confidence now?"
Lu Mu looked into Zhang Qi's eyes and asked carefully.
Zhang Qi chuckled twice and put the blackboard on the desk: "Yes, how many people do you want?"
Lu Mu was overjoyed when he heard this: "My husband gave me a hundred new plows, and now they are all put into use, and there are still a thousand bent-shaft plows in the warehouse. Now the weather is getting warmer, and the earth is no longer as frozen as before. The little old man thinks about this The curved shaft plow should also be able to be used normally."
"Based on our current experience in plow control, one thousand curved-shaft plows require more than 1,100 people and 2,000 plow horses. In this way, 800 to 1,000 acres of thin farmland can be cultivated in one day.
The little old man thought that with the weather, he would be able to plant seeds in more than a month, so he thought that in this month, he would first open up 20,000 acres of fields for cultivation to ensure that there would be enough food for the autumn harvest. . "
Zhang Qi nodded. Only with fields can he have a fixed income from grain. In this way, the subsidies Zhang Qi needs to provide for logistics will be greatly reduced.
Although this is a newly cultivated field and the yield will definitely be reduced, Zhang Qi has no intention of planting sorghum right away. New fields must be fertilized first.
Phosphate fertilizers, potassium fertilizers, and even bone meal and plant ash can be replaced, while other fertilizers can only be applied by Zhang Qi through crops.
Beans are a good choice. There are bean seeds that have been selected and bred in the experimental fields in the riding and cutting world. As long as Zhang Qi lets the wolf pups change the sorghum in Suotai Village into beans in advance, then there will be enough of bean seeds used.
After thinking about it, Zhang Qi looked at Lu Mu: "Okay, go find Hui Hehe, and then ask your uncle to mobilize manpower. Within a month, I hope you can lead people to cultivate 20,000 acres of land."
"promise!"
Lu Mu bowed, took the cloth with Zhang Qi's seal printed on it, and left the yurt.
Not long after Lu Mu left, someone came in again from outside. After the female soldier called, Liu Chai came to the yurt in a dusty state.
"See you, Your Majesty!"
There were three wandering sentries who came in with him. These people were all wind servants of the first company, and their faces were covered with frostbite.
Looking at them, Zhang Qi was slightly expectant. Others didn't know what Liu Chai and the others were doing after disappearing for more than two months, but he knew it.
"found it?"
Zhang Qi's eyebrows were filled with anticipation.
Liu Chai, who was kneeling on the ground, also had a smile on his face. He nodded his head and handed Zhang Qi a map and three animal skin bags in his arms.
"Your Majesty, in two months, I and others followed the methods you mentioned to explore within three hundred miles of the Daxianbei Mountains. Meng Tianshen Chuidian, I and others, six groups of people, discovered three mineral deposits in total. These It is a sample of local products, please Junshan to take a look."
Zhang Qi stood up from the desk excitedly. He knew that the mineral resources in the Northeast were developed and covered almost all the mines in the entire China region. However, he did not expect that in just two months, Liu Chai and the others would find three locations.
The map was put aside. Zhang Qi knew that it was a map recording the distribution of minerals without looking at it. He was now concerned about the contents of the bag to see which minerals they contained.
Three bags of sampled ore were dumped on the table, and piles of green, black, and red colors were poured out of the bags.
He didn't know the name of the mine, so he could only make a guess first. The green piles looked rough, but the color was nice. Based on his knowledge, all he could think of was malachite, which is copper ore.
copper? Zhang Qi is a little disappointed. It's not that the copper mine is not good, but that he already has a mature iron-melting process. Steel-making is already a project that can be carried out as long as the materials are available. But now if the ore is copper, then he can only Can be used to mint coins.
"Record it in the book first, then melt it and take a look at it later."
Zhang Qi pushed aside the green piles and looked at the black piles. This thing was easy to recognize. It was the coal mine that Zhang Qi had longed for. Zhang Qi was overjoyed. With coal, he could do more things. Honeycomb briquettes , coking coal and steelmaking all require the support of coal mines.
"How far is this mine from the royal court?"
Zhang Qi asked Liu Chai directly.
Liu Chai looked at the black pile on the table pointed by Zhang Qi, thought quickly in his mind, and then said loudly: "It's not far, only a hundred and twenty miles away."
"Okay! Ignore the rest, go find Hui and ask him to gather herdsmen and bring tools to mine this mineral, and let your people lead the way!"
"promise!"
After receiving the order, Liu Chai stood up and walked away. Zhang Qi waited for him to leave and then looked at the last pile of reddish mineral materials.
You can't see it either, but it doesn't matter. You'll know what it is once it melts.
(End of chapter)
