Chapter 164 Big Landlord
Compared with the matchlock guns he had seen before, Li Nai believed more that the Haihan people were capable of making such red barbarian artillery, because this could well explain why they built so many on the slopes of the shore entering the port. fort. As far as the scale of the project seen so far is concerned, although it cannot keep up with the fort in Humen, at least such defenses will never be seen outside ordinary ports.
"I wonder where these Haihan people found the cannon-smiths from." This thought flashed through Li Nai's mind. Most of the artillery used by the Guangzhou garrison was cast in Foshan, and the local artillery casters were all worshiped as Bodhisattvas. Outsiders did not even have the opportunity to come into contact with these mysterious figures. But with the skills of those gunsmiths in Foshan, it is obvious that they cannot make the kind of Hongyi artillery sold by the Haihan people.
When the group returned to the dock, the group of boy scouts was still waiting under the shade of the trees on the shore. This kind of dedicated behavior was naturally praised and encouraged by Tao Donglai. Li Nai and He Qiang were both amazed when they saw it. The militiamen were just that. They could train these children to be so disciplined. The Haihan people's methods were indeed unique.
The boat was rowed by the workers and slowly sailed upstream along the Tiandu River estuary. Tao Donglai was going to take the guests to see the farm not far away. Merely displaying military equipment is not enough in the opinion of the Executive Committee. For a country like Ming Dynasty that is still in an agricultural society, food production capacity is also a manifestation of strength.
The farm opened by the Ministry of Agriculture on the east bank of the Tiandu River is not far from the new military camp at the mouth of the Tiandu River, with only a mountain in between. Soon the boat arrived at the dock outside the farm, and Gao Huan, who had been notified, was waiting for their arrival on the trestle.
Gao Huan introduced the current production situation of the farm commune to the visiting guests: "We just completed the last season's rice harvest five days ago and are currently preparing for the next season's rice planting. Although in the first half of the year we only rushed to plant Two hundred acres of rice, but fortunately the follow-up care was pretty good, all kinds of manure were used enough, and no natural disasters were encountered. The yield was much better than the expected fifty tons. The final calculated yield was a total of eight Over ten tons.”
Gao Huan looked at the two Ming Dynasty merchants who looked confused and explained patiently: "One ton from our Haihan is about equivalent to two thousand jins from the Ming Dynasty."
Li Nai was worthy of being born into a family of merchants, and his mental arithmetic skills were quite good. He immediately asked in surprise: "One acre of rice yields more than 400 kilograms in one season?"
"It's a little less, mainly because the planting time in the first half of the year was too hasty. The yield per mu next season should be much higher than this." Gao Huan said a little embarrassed.
"The yield per mu is more than four hundred kilograms, which is still less?" Li Nai asked in confusion: "In two seasons a year, wouldn't it be possible to grow one thousand kilograms of rice from one acre of land?"
Gao Huan was stunned for a moment, and then he realized where he had gone wrong. From the perspective of future generations, the achievement of growing 500 kilograms per acre of land in two seasons is really unsatisfactory. The harvest of better hybrid rice varieties in a single season is even more than this. But looking at the beginning of the 17th century, this output was already extraordinary.
Gu Yanwu's "Rizhilu" recorded the rice yield per mu in the south during the Ming Dynasty. Even in mature fields twice a year, the harvest was only four to five hundred kilograms when the harvest was excellent. In most cases, two to four hundred kilograms is a relatively normal harvest situation. However, Gao Huan reported that the harvest in one season was more than others in a year. How could Li Nai not be shocked? If the two sides hadn't been dealing with each other for such a long time, Li Nai might have thought that this group of people could do some magic.
Gao Huan immediately explained: "This is the high-quality rice seed we brought from overseas, which is different from the rice seed used in the Ming Dynasty. In addition, we have scientific farming methods, so we can have such a high harvest."
"What kind of science is this?" As a scholar, Li Nai immediately became interested. He has seen that the knowledge of the Haihan people is mixed, but he did not expect that even farming has relevant knowledge.
"Science is a way for us to learn knowledge and understand the world. It is the ideological concepts and spiritual beliefs that each of us has formed since childhood." Tao Donglai explained to him. Tao Donglai once used this theory on Luo Shengdong, which frightened the semi-literate Luo Shengdong into a daze.
"Mr. Tao, can you elaborate?" Li Nai immediately became interested. He wanted to find out what was in the minds of these Haihan people that could create so many strange things.
"To put it simply, it is to find out the laws of operation of everything, and then understand, summarize and utilize them." Tao Donglai said while pointing to the bare paddy fields that had been harvested: "Why are rice yields high and low? ?”
"Because there are raw and ripe fields, good and bad rice seeds, and diligent and lazy farmers." Li Nai was not the kind of nerd who could only read rote books, and he answered Tao Donglai's questions with great clarity.
"Yes, you said it very well, and the purpose of science is to find out the laws of these things, how to turn raw fields into mature fields as soon as possible, how to screen and cultivate excellent rice seeds, how to allow farmers to manage farmland more effectively, This is all science." Tao Donglai explained concisely. Li Nai seemed to understand, and it was difficult to digest the meaning of these words for a while. However, he soon discovered a new point of interest. He pointed to the pergola set up in the paddy field and said: "Why should this pergola be built in the middle of the paddy field? Isn't it very inconvenient for farmers to rest?"
Gao Huan said with a smile: "That is not a place for farmers to take a rest, it is used to provide shade for fish."
"There are also fish in this rice field?" Li Nai leaned over and took a look. Sure enough, there were many half-foot-long fish scurrying back and forth in the ditches in the field. It was very lively.
"Raising fish in rice fields can increase rice production, and fish can also be a good source of income." Gao Huan pointed to the fish in the water and explained: "We stocked fish fry in the fields more than three months ago and will wait until next spring to plant them. It can be harvested when the time comes. One acre of land can produce at least sixty or seventy catties of fish, and two hundred acres of paddy field should be able to harvest about ten thousand catties.”
Li Nai said thoughtfully: "This is one of the sciences of farming!"
Tao Donglai responded with a smile: "That's exactly it."
Next, Gao Huan took them to visit nearby oil palm, sugar cane, spice and other planting areas and explained them one by one. Among them, Li Nai was most interested in the spice growing area. Some of the spices here were ones he had seen among the goods sold by his family, while some he had never even heard of. But what makes Li Nai a little regretful is that most of these spice plants are seedlings, and it will take at least one or two years before they produce produce.
However, another piece of information announced by Gao Huan quickly restored his mood - the executive committee has mobilized mountain people in the inland Ledong Miao Village area and reclaimed more than 2,000 acres of land to plant various spices, and This number is still expanding. When these spices mature, the executive committee will purchase them collectively and then sell them to other places.
There is no doubt that the spices from the Haihan people will be much cheaper than those shipped across the ocean by Westerners. Li Nai immediately wanted to start negotiations for exclusive agency rights. But this time Tao Donglai rejected him with a smile, saying only that it would take some time for the spices to mature and there was no need to rush the order.
The Executive Committee has no intention of simply getting rid of spices, a money-making tool. The Ministry of Commerce has long made plans to build a large-scale spice alliance in the Far East in the future, using the spice production under the control of the Haihan people to influence Asia. Spices prices in two continents in Europe. This handicap is too big, even if a trading house of the size of "Fu Ruifeng" fills it in, it will not be enough. Tao Donglai does not want to give "Fu Ruifeng" some promises about spice trading so early - there will be You have a lot of spices in hand, but are you afraid that no merchants will come to Victory Port to squeeze your head?
In addition to the neat farmland and the various thriving crops, the setting of the farm commune also arouses great interest among visitors. Li Nai has never seen or heard of any rural area that uses the Haihan people's method to organize production. Teams of farmers gather and go to work in various fields. That scene reminds Li Nai. The vigilante group I just visited.
"Mr. Gao, why do these farmers obey your arrangements so much? Don't they always think about their farmland when they work?" Li Nai previously thought that the dark-skinned Gao Huan was a farmer, but after this explanation, now She had already put away her contempt and respectfully asked him for advice.
"You can think of them as tenant farmers. They farm the land for the executive committee and exchange their labor for their rights to food, clothing, housing and transportation here. We will not force them to work, but if they do not obey our arrangements, they must leave this place. Find another way out." Gao Huan explained to him: "When these people came here, they had almost nothing except the clothes on their bodies. If they leave here, they will immediately return to a state of nothing."
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"I see." Li Nai nodded and continued to ask: "Then do they have the opportunity to purchase real estate here?"
"I'm afraid it's difficult." Tao Donglai ended his conversation and said: "Under the rule of our executive committee, no one has the power to buy or sell land. All land is public property. After these farmers accumulate a certain labor level, they can They rent the land for a long time, but they don’t own the land. There are only tenants here, not landlords.”
"But the land here belongs to the Ming Dynasty. Doesn't your arrangement violate the law?" Li Nai asked puzzledly.
"It is owned by the Ming Dynasty. We also have the land deed personally signed by the governor of Yazhou in the Ming Dynasty, which states that all the reclaimed land belongs to us Haihan people." Tao Donglai said with a smile on his lips: "I want To correct what I just said, it’s not that there are no landlords here, but there is only one landlord, and that is the Haihan Executive Committee.”
(End of chapter)