Returning to Wuhuan, Hu Shui was shocked by the newly built city wall. Building the city wall in this era was not a simple labor service. Over the years, slaves who built the city wall died.
That is, Zhang Qi, with the help of cement, was able to make the construction of the city wall progress so quickly.
After entering Wuhuan City, which now has a city wall over three meters high, Zhang Qi's first order was to 'expand the army'.
With a rough understanding of the history of Han and Hungary, he knew that the next two or three years would be rare days of peace.
Although the Xiongnu's revenge against the Han army remained the same, it was not as fierce as it was at the beginning.
Taking advantage of this period of time, Zhang Qi also needs to vigorously develop himself.
Grassland animal husbandry is developed, but cattle and sheep require constant nomadic grazing to grow.
This requires a lot of land.
Therefore, in order to produce more output, Zhang Qi set his sights on pigs.
It is possible to raise pigs, but the prerequisite is that people can eat enough, so that they can have the capital to raise pigs.
Fortunately, Zhang Qi's subordinates have already achieved the goal of having enough food. The soybeans harvested last year are still there until this year. This year, 100,000 acres of Xianbei's 300,000 acres of fields are planted with sorghum, and 100,000 acres are planted with sorghum. pumpkins, as well as 80,000 acres of soybean cultivation and 20,000 acres of other cultivation.
Such as peppers, garlic, and some various vegetables that Zhang Qi discovered in the world of riding and slashing.
Zhang Qi grows a lot of garlic. Although allicin is difficult to extract, it can save some people's lives at critical moments. The production of pesticides requires professional knowledge. Zhang Qi doesn't know it, and his subordinates haven't researched it, so garlic It is also very useful to mash it and mix it with water to kill insects.
In the horse-and-chopping world, the cultivation of sorghum has been brought to full bloom. It was the first staple food plant and cash crop that Zhang Qi decided to plant, so those in the horse-and-chopping world also attach great importance to sorghum.
Today's sorghum has gone through dozens of generations, and now there are differences between sweet sorghum, waxy sorghum, and ordinary sorghum.
Among them, sweet sorghum is very useful for making wine or sugar, while glutinous sorghum is used exclusively for making wine. Needless to say, ordinary sorghum is a staple food.
Pumpkin itself is a high-yield crop, and not only can it be eaten by people, but it is also an excellent feed for raising pigs, cattle, sheep and other livestock.
Speaking of feed, Xianbei has begun to use the leftover bean dregs after making tofu as concentrated feed for cattle and sheep. The fermented and sun-dried bean dregs can, to a certain extent, make cattle and sheep grow meat faster.
Beans are inherently versatile, so Zhang Qicai included soybeans among the necessary crops.
During the planting period, it can fertilize the land, and the stalks are green storage, which can satisfy hunger after harvesting. Whether it is tofu or soy flour, they have become Wuhuan Xianbei’s favorite food. Tofu is soft and smooth in the mouth and can be eaten in various ways, while soy flour regardless of It tastes good when making pancakes or making glutinous rice cakes.
In addition to these, Zhang Qi also included soybean oil in necessary research. There are more than 2,000 people in the world of riding and slashing. It is the most cost-effective way to use it for various research.
It is not difficult to extract soybean oil, but I don’t know why there is always a strange smell after the soybean oil is extracted. Zhang Qi thought that there was an error in the extraction process, so he organized more than a hundred people from all over the world to study the extraction machine.
The extraction machine has been updated and iterated more than ten times, but the soybean oil still has a strange smell after being squeezed out.
Even though Zhang Qizai didn't know much about soybean oil, he now knew that the strange smell was due to the soybean oil itself and was not caused by the extraction machine. Unfortunately, soybean oil could not be used as cooking oil for the time being and could only be used as lamp oil.
The days passed so fulfillingly.
After the beginning of spring, Zhiwang kept a close eye on Zuo and Wang, and would send a message back to Wuhuan as soon as they showed signs of heading eastward.
Wuhuan is also actively preparing. The city wall is getting taller day by day at a speed visible to the naked eye. If the concrete does not need maintenance, it is not impossible for these skilled construction workers to pour the city wall to ten meters in two months.
Unfortunately, the concrete needs a period of time to solidify, which results in the current inner and outer city walls being only six meters tall, which is only as high as the city walls of border counties.
In order to keep up with Wuhuan's cement consumption, four more cement kilns were built in Xianbei. Now the five cement kilns are operating day and night, which can be regarded as equal to the consumption of Wuhuan's city building.
In addition to city construction, the three armies under Zhang Qi have also been expanded. Youyi has expanded from 6,000 to 8,000. Huben, the most powerful and bravest warrior, now has 10,000, and the Eagle Attack Army has also expanded under Ying's military order. A large-scale recruitment effort was carried out, and now there are more than 12,000 soldiers.
With a population of 300,000, Zhang Qi recruited 30,000 sergeants. These were all off-duty soldiers. Although the ten-to-one ratio was quite stressful, it could still be maintained.
Early May.
A tributary of the Nenjiang River, one of the three rivers in Northeast China.
A large ship entered the water quietly.
On the dock pier.
Zhang Qi cheered, and under his cheers, more than 3,000 shipyard workers around him also burst out with enthusiastic shouts.
What they cheered was that the first ship in the dock was launched, which was a milestone in their work.
What Zhang Qi is cheering for is the various high-yielding crops and the wealth of this world that is constantly coming to him.
After cheering, Zhang Qi personally boarded the sailboat, accompanied by Yang Disheng and some shipwrights. The sailboat swam down the river. The boatmen and net weavers had already explored the water system map. As the three sails dropped, The speed of the sailboat increased a lot.
And with all three sails down, Zhang Qi had the concept of speed for the first time in this era.
But after all, we were still in a river, and the changes in the water network were all kinds of strange. After enjoying a boat ride, Zhang Qi ordered two sails to be raised, leaving only one sail for operation.
On the bow of the boat, Zhang Qi looked at the roaring river with his hands behind his back.
Yang Disheng was standing beside him.
"The waves are crashing into the sand."
After looking at the river for a long time, Zhang Qi sighed quietly.
"I think that even after we are all buried in the ground, the mountains, rivers and water will still be like this. Fighting without fighting is the most terrifying thing in the world."
Yang Disheng talked eloquently. In addition to studying the three-masted sailing ship, he spent the rest of his free time reading books that Zhang Qi had copied.
Zhang Qi did not look back, still looking at the flowing water: "They don't fight because they can't fight, and I don't fight, just to let these great mountains and rivers flow. I don't understand philosophy, and I don't want to understand it. Dickson, help me pick out some smart boatmen." , I want them to complete a difficult task."
"As you command, my master."
Yang Disheng bent down to caress his chest and retreated silently.
On the bow of the boat, Zhang Qi murmured: "The best thing is like water. Water is good for all things without fighting. It is what everyone dislikes, so it is almost in line with the Tao."
"The words are nice, but in this big world!"
"I'm determined!"
(End of chapter)
