Zheng Jian passed through Xinzhou from Bingzhou, passed the Lan Army, and went to Linfu Road to inspect. Although peace was negotiated with the party, the border between the two countries was unclear, and the party members continued to encroach on the farm, and there were disputes every year. As a strategic envoy of Hedong Road, it is inevitable to inspect it.

When he arrived at the Baode Army, Zheng Jian did not cross the river to Fuzhou, but turned north and went to the Volcano Army to take a look. Du Zhongxiao has been here for a year, the number of households has doubled, the money and grain have increased even more, and the results have been outstanding. Without seeing it for himself, Zheng Jian couldn't believe that such a big change had occurred.

After getting the news, Du Zhongxiao took his subordinate officials to the border with the Baode Army to greet him.

At noon, Zheng Jian's brigade was greeted and saluted like a ceremony, and Du Zhongxiao accompanied Zheng Jian all the way north.

Looking at the cargo cart parked on the side of the road to avoid, Zheng Jian said to Du Zhongxiao: "This way, only the road that has passed the north section of the Baode Army is the best, and you can drive the big car." Other sections of the road can only be carried on the shoulders of people and carried by livestock, and the road is really unbearable. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "This section of the road was built together by the lower officials and the Baode Army last winter. The road surface is compacted, the middle of the road is high and the sides are low, and there is no rainwater on rainy days. The two armies and civilians went out to work together, which cost a lot of money and food. ”

Zheng Jian smiled and said: "I heard from the Baode Army that the Volcano Army gave them a lot of money and food before they were willing to build roads. I took them to the Lan Army, but they refused. If it is this kind of road all the way to Bingzhou, you can save a lot of money and food here on Linfu Road. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded again and again: "Xiaguan has heard a sentence, if you want to get rich, you must first build roads." When the roads are built, all parts of the country can communicate with each other, and the people along the way can benefit. The army of Linfu Road is more than 10,000, and the 20 states of Hedong Road are supplied with grain, and the annual cost is more than one million, especially insufficient. If you build roads and use carts to transport grain and grass, you can save a lot. The manpower used to build the road will not be more than the manpower used to transport grain and grass, which can be said to be beneficial and harmless. ”

Zheng Jian nodded: "What you said is right, but through the strategic division and the states and counties along the way, the committee really can't come up with so much, and it needs to be considered in the long run." There are also big cars on the road, which are only seen here, and they must be expensive. ”

"It's definitely expensive, but it's still cost-effective compared to people carrying it on their shoulders. A million a year, you can buy countless cars. ”

There are more than 10,000 forbidden troops stationed on Linfu Road, hundreds of thousands of stones of grain and millions of bundles of grass, and the freight is amazing. Just for the freight of grain and grass, Linzhou and Fuzhou cost one or two million yuan a year, and the soldiers there were purely piled up with money. How many roads can be built with this money, and how many big cars can be bought? As soon as you settle the score, you know what to do. However, for the localities, the grain and grass were collected by the people and carried by themselves, and the transportation on the main line was organized by the imperial court and the Economic Strategy Division. However, to build roads, the localities need to contribute people and money and food, and very few prefectures and counties can organize them.

Zheng Jian also knows this truth, but this kind of big plan requires the imperial court to issue an order and allocate special money. If you do it rashly, and the stall is spread out and suddenly transferred away, the matter will be abandoned halfway. He still has to take a look, and with sufficient evidence, he can convince the court before he can do it.

It was nearly evening, and the group entered the Volcano Military City. Zheng Jian looked at the pedestrians coming and going on the street, and said to Du Zhongxiao: "I heard that the most lively place in the Volcano Army now is the camp and field affairs, but I didn't expect it to be so lively in the military city." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Xianggong, the merchant trafficked goods from the Volcano Army, and he still has to go here." In addition, there was a ferry to the other side of the river outside the city, and there were many merchants. Although it is not comparable to the camp and field work, this military city is still much more lively than before. ”

Zheng Jian nodded, and accompanied by Du Zhongxiao, he entered the yamen.

That night, the civil and military officials of the Volcano Army answered Zheng Jian's wind, and he didn't say anything all night, and got up the next day to go to the camp to do business.

The Yellow River runs through the mountains, and the road follows the Yellow River, and the road is boring and boring. After the Xiongyong Village, the river valley began to widen. After walking more than ten miles, the slopes and hills of the valley disappeared, and the vision suddenly broadened. In the valley by the river, the wheat waves are golden, like the sea.

Zheng Jian saw it and praised it: "In one year, so many fields have been cultivated, which is really rare!" Zhijun, how many stones can be harvested from the wheat in the camp this year? Can you supply the local garrison? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Back to Xianggong, last year, the military and civilians reclaimed a total of more than 500 hectares of land by the river, and collected two stones per mu, which can collect almost 100,000 stones. The Volcano Army plus Tanglong Town, the garrison is less than 4,000 people, and the grain and grass are enough. ”

Zheng Jian nodded again and again: "Can you receive 100,000 stones?" Hedong is barren and poor, and many places can't produce two stones of grain. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The fields that are opened by the camp are all on the Yellow River beach, which has been silted up for many years, and they are all good land, and there is no shortage of water for irrigation, and one mu and two stones can still be harvested." If the fields opened up to the eastern households cannot be watered, they may not be available. ”

Two or three hundred catties of wheat per acre, the lack of fertilizer in this era is basically like this. The land here is silted up by the Yellow River, and it is more fertile than ordinary places, with an average of more than two stones. Du Zhongxiao selected a plot of land to measure the yield, and the yield was about two and a half stones per mu.

In my memories of my previous life, when the wheat field was ripe, it was like a yellow ocean, and the wheat seedlings in the field were dense. When I really planted it, I realized that it was the result of fertilizer and dense planting, and the wheat field at this time was actually very sparse when I got closer. With such a thin wheat seedling, it is easy to plant, easy to manage, and even much easier to harvest. Otherwise, one or twenty acres per person will not be able to plant it in any way.

Zheng Jian dismounted, went to the wheat field to watch carefully, and was full of praise. Here on Hedong Road, the difficult thing is to garrison troops along the border. The roads were inconvenient, and the cost of delivering grain and grass to the garrison was too high. Fortunately, it was a fertile plain, and the cost of transporting grain and grass was not high. The Linfu Road, the Volcano Army and the Lan Army will not work, and one or two thousand troops will make the entire Hedong Road difficult to parry. Especially on Linfu Road, more than 10,000 forbidden troops will have to supply grain and grass from 20 states, and the imperial court will have to pay millions of freight costs. The money is innumerable, the people are heavily served, and there are many complaints. If we can cultivate the fields in this way, there is no need to transport grain and grass from the mainland, and many problems can be solved.

After seeing the wheat seedlings, Zheng Jian asked his entourage to cut an ear of wheat, rubbed out the wheat grains and put them in his mouth, chewed them slowly, and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Zhijun, this wheat has dried up, hasn't it been harvested yet?" ”

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand: "Back to Xianggong, the distant ones have been collected, and they haven't been received here along the river." ”

Zheng Jian nodded and did not speak. Du Zhongxiao's meaning is not to say, but also to understand, the camp is to harvest wheat from far and near, and keep these, which has the meaning of showing Zheng Jian. The magistrate has made political achievements, and the boss has come, of course, he has to show his merits.

Leaving the wheat field, Zheng Jian asked about the scale of the current camp and field affairs. Du Zhongxiao answered one by one, how many households are now, how many fields have been opened, and which crops have been planted, all kinds of figures are at your fingertips.

Zheng Jian listened and nodded repeatedly. The grain produced in the camp is enough to supply the garrison, and if you add the corn harvested in the autumn, you can also support 10,000 or 20,000 stone to Linfu Road. However, Du Zhongxiao meant that the military rations transported by the Volcano Army to Linfu Road were still based on the number of stones in previous years, and the surplus grain was kept for recruitment. With the commercial prosperity brought by Tanglong Town, the population of the Volcano Army is also increasing rapidly.

The two walked and talked, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the station of the camp and field affairs. There is no city built here, the houses are built along the bank of the Yellow River, only to see a forest of shops and people, which is much more prosperous than the volcanic military city.