Achieving pork freedom is Kong Fang's first livelihood goal after taking office, so he attaches great importance to it.
After breakfast, he took his second general Fang Shibo and Guan Yu to inspect the newly built pig farm. It is not only the first pig farm in Daxing Dynasty, but also the first pig breeding demonstration base in Daxing Dynasty, which is of great significance.
It is located to the west of Qinghe City, downstream of Qingshui River. Although there is no city wall protection here, the wide Qingshui River is a natural barrier, so there is no need to worry about bandits causing trouble.
This was originally a tidal flat covered with weeds. Because it is wasteland, Kong Fang does not need to spend money on expropriation, saving a lot of expenses.
Kong Fang circled about ten acres of land and fenced it with bamboo railings to prevent stray people and large beasts from coming in. Then he removed weeds and filled in potholes.
Build a pigsty at the downwind outlet, and build a row of houses at the upwind outlet to serve as housing for the pigherds and a warehouse for storing feed.
The pigsty has bamboo fences as walls and fir bark as tiles.
Bamboo fences have good ventilation, which is conducive to ventilation of pig pens, and fir bark is waterproof and sun-proof. They are natural tiles, a hundred times better than iron tiles and asbestos tiles in previous generations.
Large pig pens are divided into meat pig pens and breeding pig pens. The meat pig pen is divided into more than ten small pig pens based on the standard of four pigs in each pig pen, and each small pig pen is separated by bamboo poles.
The bamboo is rhubarb bamboo, not less than ten centimeters in diameter, hard and light.
Because there was no cement in Daxing Dynasty, Kong Fang chose to use stone slabs to pave the floor. There is a stone mountain nearby. The large bluestones on the mountain are natural stone slabs, which are very suitable for paving the ground.
Kong Fang plans to build two large pig pens that can accommodate hundreds of pigs.
In order to promote the pig industry, he also decided to breed breeding pigs. Only when the villagers can be provided with high-quality and low-priced piglets can the pig raising industry flourish among the people.
The breeding pig pen is a relatively fine small single room, so Kong Fang asked Lao Song to build the meat pig pen first and gain experience from it before starting construction.
As for the houses and warehouses, they are brick houses built with blue bricks.
Blue bricks and tiles were not common building materials in the Daxing Dynasty. Those who could live in blue brick and tile houses were wealthy families. Most families could only afford mud houses, and poor families lived in thatched huts.
According to the wishes of the Old Song Dynasty, houses should still use bamboo as building materials, as long as the workmanship is more refined. But Kong Fang disagreed and insisted on building a brick house, saying that it should be people-oriented.
Lao Song was moved to tears and almost knelt down to kowtow to Kong Fang to thank him.
Kong Fang also took a fancy to the hundreds of acres of tidal flats in the surrounding area. The productivity of the Daxing Dynasty was backward, and the fertile fields were in the hands of landlords, while the fields cultivated by ordinary people were relatively mediocre.
As for the tidal flats, the sand content is high and the land is barren, which is not conducive to water storage. No one cultivates it at all, and it has become a wasteland that no one cares about.
But it is a sandy loam soil that is perfect for growing sweet potatoes.
Of course, we can’t blame them, because sweet potatoes were not promoted in Daxing Dynasty. Kong Fang inquired and learned that it was only grown sporadically in a place called Minyue on the coast of Daxing Dynasty.
He has sent people to Minyue to purchase sweet potatoes. He plans to raise seedlings by himself after next spring, plant sweet potatoes on the surrounding tidal flats, build it into a sweet potato planting demonstration base in Qinghe County, and promote sweet potato planting at the same time.
Sweet potatoes are treasures all over the body. The fruits can wrap people's stomachs, and sweet potato seedlings are very good pig feed.
The blueprint has been planned and funds are sufficient. As for manpower, Kong Fang will convince the workers brought by Lao Song to subcontract these hundreds of acres of tidal flat land to them to grow sweet potatoes.
The commission is directly linked to the output to ensure fairness to the greatest extent. Those who work more will get more, and those who are able will get more.
"Brother-in-law, have you discussed this with my sister?" Fang Shibo looked at the tidal flat with a worried look on his face.
This wild land was overgrown with weeds, and clearing them was a huge project. He even more did not believe that food could grow in undesirable wasteland.
He had heard about sweet potatoes, and also heard that they were very difficult to grow. Often the vines above the ground would grow vigorously, and the fruits produced underground would only be the size of a finger.
The finger-sized sweet potato is not a sweet potato at all. It is just a root and cannot be eaten.
He estimated that it would cost at least fifty taels of silver to hire day laborers to clear the weeds. In addition to land preparation, reclamation, planting, and seeds, it was another huge expense.
If he succeeds, he will pay it off, but if he fails, he will plant a bunch of rhizomes that cannot be eaten, and it is a pity to lose them. With the temper of the eldest sister, the brother-in-law will probably be hung up and beaten again.
Kong Fang suddenly felt bad.
I am the magistrate of Qinghe County, and one of my parents is an official. If I start my own business for people's livelihood, do I still need to discuss it with your sister?
"Shibo, how about I dictate the plan and you write it down and give it to your eldest sister for review?"
He was humble and submissive, and his submissiveness was vividly demonstrated by him.
"But you must ensure success, otherwise you will implicate me. I don't want to go back to the county school again. That place is like a prison."
Fang Shibo saw Kong Fang lowering his posture and thought he lacked confidence, so he became even less calm.
"Tch, you have so little confidence in me?" Kong Fang was disdainful.
"When have I ever let you down?"
Fang Shibo scratched his head and recalled that in the more than a year since Kong Fang came to Fang's house, besides being beaten countless times by his eldest sister, it seemed that he had never let him down.
For example, writing poetry.
Thinking of poetry, Fang Shibo suddenly thought of Fan Juanjuan, her plump body swaying in the autumn wind, how charming the scenery was. Alas, I haven't seen her since my eldest sister was sent to the county school.
Fang Shibo looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, his face full of melancholy.
"Hey, can't you trust me for once?"
Kong Fang didn't understand the Huaichun boy's thoughts, and mistakenly thought that he didn't believe in him, which made him very angry.
Fang Shibo glanced at him and realized for the first time that there was a generation gap between himself and his brother-in-law.
"I don't believe you. I can write it for you, but you must give me another poem." He made a decisive condition. When Kong Fang heard this, he suddenly remembered the story between this boy and that fat spring.
He stroked his forehead gently.
He originally thought that with Fang Shiyi's secret intervention, he would change his weird heavy taste, but who would have thought that he would be so obsessed with it that it would be hard to change.
Alarm bells rang in Kong Fang's heart.
Fang Shiqing and Fang Shiyi both disagreed with them being together, but she wrote poems to him to help him pick up girls. If the scandal happened, would Fang Shiyi blame him?
Fang Shiqing is someone who dares to use the knife if he gets violent. Can he afford it?
Kong Fang was excited and said, "Shibo, can we change the conditions? Because I have been very busy recently and use my brain too much, I can't write poetry for the time being."
Fang Shibo was dubious. Guan Yu, who had been unable to speak for a long time, suddenly said: "Master, what's so difficult about writing poetry? Who can't write as long as they have attended a private school for a few days?"
"What you mean is that you can also write poetry."
Kong Fang was a little annoyed when he heard this. He was trying his best to find excuses, but Guan Yu pulled it back with one sentence. Isn't this adding to the trouble?
Guan Yu didn't hear Kong Fang's dissatisfaction, but instead spoke arrogantly.
"certainly!"
