In addition to the human exchanges, Zhou Bai's stay in the county for so long was not in vain. He brought back a total of 1,500 taels of silver.
Suihanji has been sold simultaneously in one county and seven counties, and the current sales situation is good, so Zhou Bai was able to advance a thousand taels of silver in dividends.
In addition, Zhou Bai also received the bounty just issued by the imperial court from Ji Hongzhe for the suppression of bandits. The fifteen bandits who killed the bandits received not only titles, but also rewards that had been clearly stipulated all along.
In addition to the famous green forest giants, these Jin cavalry who act as horse thieves are all worth thirty taels each.
There was a bounty of 450 taels, plus an additional 50 taels for rescuing Hu Yanhe, a "rich businessman" who had been robbed. The court was encouraging.
One thousand five hundred taels of silver was enough to sustain the inner government for a period of time anyway. After all, the soldiers who guarded the village were only provided with food and shelter, and had not yet received their salaries.
After receiving financial support, the inner government immediately expanded its manpower because Zhou Bai had too many plans for the future.
In addition to the clerical staff of Tong Sheng, Chen Zhongbang established the Agricultural Bureau and Tiangong Institute at Zhou Bai's request, and recruited a considerable number of farming experts and craftsmen in the Yingtian Department.
The selection criteria for farming experts are old farmers who have produced the most outstanding grain harvests in previous years, and young people who have been educated and can read but have been rolling in the fields since childhood.
The combination of the two can provide pertinent suggestions for the development of the Agricultural Bureau. There are not many types of sweet potatoes, corns, and potatoes, and they need careful attention from the Agricultural Bureau.
With just one harvest, there will be enough seeds to spread in new fields next year.
There is also hybrid rice, and Zhou Bai will not let it go in this life.
Yuan Shengke of Blue Star explained the principles of hybrid rice very clearly. Because of admiration and good biology, Zhou Bai happened to remember how to cultivate the first generation of hybrid rice.
It's just that Zhou Bai had to discuss the male sterility of rice with the farmers from the Agriculture Bureau for three days and three nights before he could explain it to them.
The old farmers were speechless. The clan leader really said it was so complicated. Are you still worried that they would not recognize male flowers and female flowers?
They can tell the difference just by looking at the size of the flower.
Finally, the Agricultural Bureau summarized a complete process, which is to remove immature male flowers when the rice blooms to prevent self-fertilization.
The remaining female flowers at this time can be used as female parents and crossed with other male parents to produce hybrids.
In order to get more hybrid varieties, Zhou Bai specifically told Chen Zhongbang not to be afraid of spending money and to buy rice from the southern states. Their northern rice was only drought-resistant, but its yield was much worse than that of southern rice.
The goal of northern hybrid rice is to produce high-yield rice in dry fields with as little irrigation as possible.
Of course, when it comes to how to increase grain yield, Zhou Bai still has a way to test it in Tiangongyuan, which is the chemical fertilizer that time travelers always have.
Nowadays, because Tianyuan does not have any outstanding craftsmen, it does not insist on climbing the firearms technology tree. It has temporarily stopped at collecting saltpeter and sulfur.
Now Zhou Bai only asked them to study two things, one is chemical fertilizer, and the other is brewing high-alcohol wine.
Zhou Bai can provide them with ideas in both directions. Nitrogen fertilizer and phosphorus fertilizer, then find someone who has such a thing and try them one by one.
Cow dung, soybeans, plaster of paris; urine, plaster of paris, water... closed fermentation.
Anyway, several combinations are given, one by one, and in the end which one is more effective and popular.
As for high-quality wine, although Zhou Bai doesn't drink and doesn't know how to make it, he knows how to purify it.
It's nothing more than re-distillation of low-alcohol wine, and paying attention to the distillation process when making wine.
The northern region is colder, so there is no need for spirits, but because food is precious, people tend not to waste too much on making wine.
As long as Zhou Bai can perform the combination of punches well, the Zhou family will not be short of food in the future. In this way, he can also brew high-quality food wine and plunder many gold and silver treasures from the cold northern country.
…
More than a month later.
Next to Zhou Bai's own manor, there are now many more houses, as well as some yards surrounded by fences and bricks.
With the school grounds as the core, including the surrounding fields, it has become the exclusive base of the inner government. The village guard team strictly patrols and does not allow stray people to enter.
On the beach surrounded by streams, a comprehensive experimental field was circled here. Zhou Bai estimated that the time was almost up, so he took a group of confidants to the experimental field to check it out.
Wang Liangtian is now very high-spirited. Because of his relationship with Uncle Fu and the fact that he has done what Zhou Bai told him, he is now the field envoy of the Agricultural Bureau.
He manages a group of veteran farmers and receives not only a monthly salary but also performance bonuses.
Today, when Zhou Bai came to inspect, it was not only about his own bonus, but also about whether he could earn bonuses for his old brothers.
There are so many young people in Yingtian Hall who want to make progress every day, which puts him under a lot of pressure.
However, Wang Liangtian was still very confident in his work and was not timid in the face of difficulties. He stepped forward and introduced the experimental fields to Zhou Bai and the others very diligently and loudly.
"My boss, Mr. Chen, look, these ten acres of rice fields have not been fertilized with chemical fertilizers, while the ten acres here have been fertilized with a generation of chemical fertilizers in advance."
"The testing of second-generation chemical fertilizers cannot keep up with spring planting. They have been tested separately in the corn fields on the other side. You see, these foreign grains are not acclimated to the soil at all."
"And here, the same goes for sweet potatoes and potatoes. They all do as you asked, just call them whatever they are called. There must be comparison!"
Looking around, the wilderness is green and lush, but the plants in the fertilizer field are obviously half a head tall, and the rice flowers are obviously more full.
The expression of luck in the farmland foundation is also very straightforward. If the ten acres of ordinary rice fields reveal a bit of light and floating luck, then the ten acres of chemical fertilizer rice fields reveal more solid luck.
The strands of white air seemed to have noticed Zhou Bai's arrival and swarmed in. They gathered under the clouds, like a thick base dragging the tower above.
Such a performance of luck means that his experiment was successful and he did nothing wrong.
The use of grains and fertilizers in the country is an important weapon for him to achieve his great cause in the future, and is a "heavy treasure" that can consolidate the foundation of his luck.
Chen Zhongbang picked up the rice plants in the two rice fields and compared them carefully. He took a breath of air and was keenly aware of the value.
This can at least increase production by 30%. If third- and fourth-generation fertilizers are developed in the future, 50% is also foreseeable.
"My lord is wise, these secrets must not be leaked, at least according to your plan, not in the next few years." Chen Zhongbang praised the wise man with his hands in hand, and glanced at the men who were following him.
At first, Chen Zhongbang didn't understand why Zhou Bai sent troops to guard the farmland. This was not a waste of manpower. Now he finally understood why the lord was the lord.
"Well, record, the confidentiality level will be raised to one level. The formula can only be known to five people, but anyone who leaks it will be dealt with according to family law."
"The Agricultural Bureau's experimental fields are well maintained and will be credited with third-class collective merit. Tiangong Institute's merit in developing chemical fertilizers will be credited with third-class collective merit. This month's bonuses will be paid in full."
At this point, the big farming plan has taken shape.
Zhou Yuan, who had been silent all this time, became anxious and stepped forward to plead for a fight with clasped fists: "Master, our village protection team should also be given a chance to make meritorious deeds. The county government has just issued an order to suppress bandits, don't you think so?"
In the school field not far away, the sound of drills filled the sky. Zhou Bai observed carefully and found that there was a faint sign of military energy, but something seemed to be missing.
