Chapter 47: Construction is more meaningful than destruction (Part 1)
The biting cold wind howling from the far north ice sheet gradually slowed down as time went by.
And the sun seems to be stretching after a winter's nap.
Gradually, Mother Earth woke up from her deep sleep, opened her sleepy eyes, and began to take care of her back garden that had been neglected for a season. The grass leaves all over the ground are no longer the withered yellow color of autumn. The wind and frost of a winter have faded all their colors and returned to the soil. When spring comes, new grass leaves will sprout their shy green.
In the warm spring breeze, birds with loud voices sing happily and fly among the blue sky and white clouds. Thousands of little lives are stretching proudly, stretching their bodies after resting all winter. , impatient, they have already stuck out their little heads, laughing at the cold wind and snow outside, which although still showing their teeth, are already strong and dry. The animals that woke up from hibernation endured the burning hunger in their stomachs and rushed from their hiding places to the vast natural world, greedily plundering all the food that could fill their withered bellies.
The north wind and blizzards that had always dominated the prairie began to retreat. The rivers and lakes were slowly unblocked one by one. The accumulated frost and snow slowly melted. Under the melted snow slopes, clear snow water merged into a trickle. Like a small flowing waterfall, it flows down to the depression at the foot of the mountain.
But on many of the uneven thatched roofs in Dun City, there is still a bit of spring snow that has not yet melted. The newly thawed Tula River is now full of green willow buds and the vegetation has turned green. Several swallows flew in and out under the eaves, carrying spring mud in their mouths to repair their houses that were damaged by the wind and snow.
A group of knights waved their whips and drove their horses, carefully avoiding the puddles on the road, and slowly walked out of the south gate of Ketun City.
——The road after the snow melted was muddy and wet. The melted snow soaked the rammed earth softly, causing many places to sink. The puddles on the road are like traps. Some are deep, some are shallow, some are no more than the top of the feet, and some are deep enough to bury a person!
However, once you leave the city gate, the surrounding scenery suddenly becomes clearer. Looking around, the spring sunshine gently soothes the earth that has been tortured by the cold winter. All things are gradually awakening from their cold and lonely sleep. On the dark black land after the ice and snow melt, tender green sprouts stand tenaciously in the slightly cold weather. In the morning breeze , covering the earth with a thick green carpet... But this is not the grass or weeds that nomads are used to seeing, but the 22nd century high-tech crops sown by Doraemon not long ago: [Seven Daily wheat] and [edelweiss alfalfa].
"...This wheat...can really be harvested in just seven days after planting? And it can grow in early spring before the snow melts?"
Looking at the heavy bunches of ears of grain and the farmers working hard in the wheat fields, Yelu Dashi felt that his world view was about to be subverted, "...even if the yield per mu is only a few bushels, how many can be sown in a year?" Ten times - this output has far exceeded the fertile soil of Jiangnan!”
——In fact, before the Yuan Dynasty, influenced by the civilization of the Central Plains, a small amount of agricultural production had always been distributed on the Mobei grassland. However, due to the extremely cold climate, scarce precipitation, and poor cold and drought tolerance of early crops in the Mobei grassland, the season is always intermittent. After the rise of Mongolia and the iron cavalry conquests in all directions, the grassland nomads gained an absolute psychological advantage over the farming peoples. They began to despise agriculture and admire nomadism, which made the nomadic economy dominate the northern part of the country. The agricultural foundation left over from the early period was eventually completely abandoned by the Mongols. , it was not until the Qing Dynasty that it recovered slightly.
Closer to home, on both sides of the river near Ketun City, the Khitans originally reclaimed a small amount of farmland, forcing the Han people in the city to plant some cold-resistant grains such as barley and rye. However, the management was extensive and the yield was pitifully low. On average, each hectare of cultivated land was only Being able to harvest 25 kilograms is better than nothing. Most of the grains they usually eat can still only be obtained from the Han Dynasty in the south through trade, and they have been ripped off many layers by those black-hearted profiteers.
But after switching to this [seven-day quick-growing wheat]... Ketun City has been able to get rich by exporting food, okay? ! !
Moreover, if this [Seven-Day Quick-Growing Wheat] can be promoted throughout the Mobei Grassland, turning the entire grassland into a blockade in the south of the Yangtze River...then those who can produce this magical item will definitely become the leader of the entire grassland in one fell swoop. The food, clothing, parents, and Buddha for millions of nomads are worshiped and worshiped by every nomad with great piety. His words are worth ten thousand words on the grassland, and are more effective than any hero or khan!
Because the hero's sword will only levy cattle and sheep from them, but this magical crop can protect them from hunger forever!
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but become more and more afraid of Guo Jing, the "immortal" of the Song Dynasty, but he also had some terrible thoughts in his heart...
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Compared with the horror, shock and fear of Yelv Dashi, the time travelers were very calm about it: in Doraemon's pocket, there are too many incredible things to count. Wheat that can be harvested within seven days of sowing is nothing. Doraemon also has an [Indoor Rice] that can be planted directly on tatami mats, harvested in just half a day after sowing, and thousands of rice cakes can be produced from a paddy field in one room!
Therefore, while Wang Qiu watched the horses munching on the tender, juicy and nutritious [Edelweiss Alfalfa], Wang Qiu leisurely hummed an old song that suited the environment: "...the vast horizon is mine. Love, the flowers are blooming at the foot of the rolling green mountains..."
At the same time, Doraemon was proudly showing off the biotechnology achievements of the 22nd century to the rubes of the 21st century.
"...This [seven-day fast-growing wheat] is a cold-resistant, drought-resistant and barren-resistant super crop jointly developed by scientists from various countries through genetic engineering in the early days of the future world's development of the Antarctic continent. It can adapt to a variety of harsh climates, and is especially cold-resistant and drought-resistant. , which is said to grow even on icebergs ”
Doraemon raised a bunch of wheat ears and introduced it to Guo Jing and Nobi Nobita, "... In addition, it has another advantage, that is, it is easy to cultivate and does not require intensive cultivation. As for the disadvantage, it is that each round The yield is relatively low, and it is not tolerant to heat or waterlogging. It will not harvest when it is flooded, and its resistance to diseases and pests is poor, so it can only be planted in cold and dry places, which is just suitable for the Mongolian grassland..."
However, no matter how powerful this [seven-day quick-growing wheat] is, problems will still arise if it is planted on a large area on the Mongolian Plateau.
To be honest, the Mongolian grasslands are actually not very suitable for the growth of crops. From ancient times to the present, why has the economy of the northern nomads been less developed than that of the Central Plains? Why do these nomads keep going south to invade the Central Plains? Because their natural environment is too barren and fragile, it is only suitable for extensive nomadism - there are too few rivers on the grasslands, the average annual precipitation is only 200 mm (the Jiangnan area is about 1,500 mm), and the water resources are not very sufficient. , and it is close to the desert, so it is easily invaded by the desert, and the phenomenon of sandstorms is even more prominent. Under such relatively harsh natural conditions, the vast grassland is a natural fortress against the desert. It can prevent water and soil erosion and prevent the movement of sand and soil, but most crops that need to be harvested regularly cannot. If the technical conditions are insufficient and the grasslands are forcibly reclaimed on a large scale and crops are planted instead, the Mongolian grasslands will accelerate desertification in a very short period of time, causing unprecedented damage to the ecological environment of northern China.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, China once reclaimed the Mongolian grassland, and it was still in the relatively humid Monan grassland. However, the result was still a loss of more than a gain - after the grassland was destroyed by reclamation, water and soil erosion was very serious, and the nutrients in the soil were quickly lost. It will be lost, and the cultivated land acquired will have to be abandoned within a few years. This will then lead to desertification of the land, frequent sandstorms, and finally the streets of Beijing and Taiyuan will be scraped with sand all day long.
Therefore, after the founding of New China, the desert in Beijing had invaded to a location less than 20 kilometers away from Tiananmen Square. The country had to spend huge sums of money every year to build protective forests, prevent and control desertification, and pay for the indiscriminate reclamation of the year... This is really A sad story...
In view of the above painful lessons, as a cat-shaped robot with high moral integrity, Doraemon has already thought of this trouble for the Khitans and prepared countermeasures to solve it - that is, another pioneer in polar development in the future world :【Edelweiss Alfalfa】!
As we all know, alfalfa, which is native to West Asia and Europe, is the king of forage. It is this excellent forage that is resistant to barrenness and allows medieval Europeans to maintain a large cavalry force, instead of always being like the Chinese in the Song Dynasty. It's due to the lack of horses... The [Edelweiss Alfalfa] developed by Doraemon in the 22nd World can even grow in barren lands like the Antarctic continent to feed livestock.
With the help of this thing, as long as the Mobei nomads in the Kedun City area do not abuse the soil, after planting several rounds of [Seven-Day Quick-Growing Wheat] in early spring every year, they can then replant with the cold-resistant [Edelweiss Alfalfa]. 】, we can rely on this excellent forage with nitrogen-fixing ability to provide a large amount of organic matter to the soil and restore the fertility of the land. At the same time, the land can always be covered with vegetation to avoid soil erosion and desertification.
At this moment, under Doraemon's deliberate adjustment through the [Weather Controller], the newly cultivated wheat fields around the city were in good weather, and both the wheat and alfalfa were growing at their best. Simple metal farming tools such as hoes and sickles are also readily available from Doraemon - just find a few samples and take a photo of them in front of the [Replication Mirror] - the only trouble is that any crop is It requires hard work, but Mobei lacks an agricultural tradition. There are many good shepherds and milkers, but it is difficult to find experts in growing crops.
Fortunately, there are many Han, Xi and Bohai people living in the city of Ketun. They were also farming the rye and barley outside the city before, and they had some farming skills - even though the land they farmed was really hard. I don't dare to compliment him, but just like Noda, he almost never fertilizes or waters, and doesn't bother to do anything like pest control. But at least they are still at the level of an agricultural people, much better than traditional nomadic peoples such as the Mongols, Turks and Khitans.
In short, the "big production movement" in the spring of 1127 AD in Ketun City was basically smooth, and the harvest was considerable. More importantly, all travelers have unknowingly changed the economic and social structure of this grassland...