With the drink-staggering dish, the officials served a few kinds of fruits, which were nothing more than locally produced pears, bonuses, oranges, water chestnuts and the like. There is also a kind of jujube, which is very local and sweet, Du Zhongxiao has never seen it before, and it is smooth to eat.

During the Tang Dynasty, the citrus in this area was of excellent quality and was once a tribute, and sugar cane was also famous. However, in this era, the quality of citrus has declined, it has a slightly bitter taste, pomelo is rare, and sugar cane is small and not very sweet. Du Zhongxiao had heard about the cold climate in history, and I don't know if the climate is colder now than in the Tang Dynasty, and the quality of the fruit is not as good as before.

Everyone ate fresh fruit and gossip.

Zhang Yuzhi said: "Tiju, on the way I came, I saw that there were many canals on the leveled land, so I wanted to plant rice extensively?" ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Yes, where you can grow rice, try to grow rice." Rice is harvested more than other grains, and with the weather here, buckwheat, rape and the like can be planted after harvesting rice, which is the most convenient. Later, when there were more people, after harvesting rice and planting wheat, they would not worry about food. ”

Zhang Yuzhi said again: "The gentle slope, I see that it has also bloomed, is it to plant wheat?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are some wheat growers, and some grass cotton, two crop rotations, and various beans in between. As for other miscellaneous grains, they should be planted in their own private fields, and they can be bought at that time. ”

Zhang Yuzhi said: "I heard that grass cotton is produced in the Western Regions, but it is rare in the Central Plains, and it turns out that it is also produced here. I heard that straw cotton can be woven into cloth, which is better than linen, but I don't know if it is or not. If there is such a thing, all kinds of hemp can not be planted. No wonder when it comes to the crops planted, there is no hemp. ”

Cotton cloth does not replace silk, and the production and market of the two do not coincide. Cotton cloth replaces all kinds of linen cloth. Since the popularity of cotton cloth, linen cloth has gradually withdrawn from the stage of history. The hemp in Xiangzhou and Suizhou is yellow, white and fire, and the main raw materials for ordinary people's clothing.

Cotton has been planted in Tangzhou for two years, and Du Zhongxiao has found some problems. For example, just one generation has been planted, and many variations have occurred, which are not the same as the previous year's cotton. The quality is not as good as the impression, the fibers are not long enough, not tough enough, and more complicated than weaving linen. The color is not bright enough, not white enough, and can only be dyed into a dark cloth. There was even colored cotton, a variety of colors, but it was not bright and looked gray.

The selection and breeding of crop varieties is a long-term process, which is not intentionally cultivated and takes a long time. Grass cotton was introduced from the Western Regions to the Xiangdeng area, and many changes in climatic and geographical conditions have taken place, and re-breeding must be carried out. Du Zhongxiao originally thought that as long as he followed the usual methods, he would soon be able to popularize it on a large scale, and even develop the planting industry in the field, but now it seems that he is too optimistic. Without a decade or eight years, it is unlikely that a variety suitable for local cultivation will be obtained. The textile industry has no hope for a while, so it can only be planted first, and it is also good to make cotton jackets in winter, and slowly select seeds.

The area from Xiangzhou and Dengzhou to Ruzhou and Xuzhou is a north-south transition zone of climate, with no high mountains in the middle, and the changes are stable, which is naturally suitable for the cultivation of plant varieties under various geographical and climatic conditions. Not only cotton, but also the unified organization of field management, many crop varieties were selected and cultivated in special experimental fields. In a few years, a large number of excellent varieties will appear, and even the planting pattern from the Central Plains to Jinghu will be changed.

This kind of thing depends on continuous and unremitting efforts, but also depends on a certain amount of luck. If you are lucky, you can get a good breed with good traits and stable genetically in a year or two, and if you are unlucky, it is possible to get it for decades. But with so many crops selected at the same time, it is certain that there will be a concentrated outbreak period of improved varieties in more than ten years. How many came out during Du Zhongxiao's term of office, it is difficult to say.

Listening to Du Zhongxiao's introduction of the current situation of the camp and field affairs, Zhang Yu said: "There is a difficulty now. In the past, most of the soldiers in the camp were pulling fiber, and they didn't work for crops, and many people were afraid that they couldn't even distinguish the grains. Let them open the fields and plant rice, but they are afraid that they will not know about agricultural affairs and will not plant as they wish. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "When I opened the field in Tangzhou the year before last, I had already encountered it. Since then, the camp has set up an agricultural master and compiled his own booklet. In addition, the local people were allowed to contribute to the camp and field affairs in each state and county, and they could teach at that time. ”

Speaking of which, Du Zhongxiao instructed a servant to go and get a few booklets and give them to Zhang Yuzhi. Said: "This is a booklet on farming compiled by the camp field officer, if you learn it well, you can become a farmer." The government allocates land to the workers, exempts them from military service except for the two taxes, and one person per township is subordinate to the agricultural officials. ”

Zhang Yuzhi nodded and flipped through the booklet casually.

During the Taiping Xingguo period of Taizong, the farmer, it was widely set up in the world, and every county had it. Later, with the improvement of the township service such as Lizheng, the elderly, and the township clerk, the officials from the road level to the county level all persuaded the peasants, and they were abolished. Because at that time, the main responsibility of the farmers was to guide production, reclaim wasteland, and persuade the cultivation of fields, and most of them were old farmers in the countryside, and they did not have the responsibility of researching and developing agricultural technology. The officials brought the persuasion to the peasants, and they had no need to exist.

The duties of the agricultural teachers who are set up in the fields are different because they are mainly engaged in teaching materials, they are required to take examinations, and they mainly study and popularize agricultural technology, and they are persuaded to do so. Compared with the previous farmer, the salary is one more job, which is actually the remuneration. Vocational fields are attached to the position, are not privately owned, and are also tax-exempt. Whoever is a farmer, this is whose income. In addition, the farmer only pays two taxes, and all other errands are exempt.

This kind of treatment is not very high, but it is attractive enough for small landowners in the countryside. The scholars in the countryside are like Du Xun in the past, and most of them are unwilling to serve as Lizheng and township calligraphers. But the farmer is different, and he ploughs and reads, which is exactly right for their positioning.

Zhang Yuzhi looked at the booklet in his hand, although "Literacy" and "Fang Tian" were the first to see, he understood the meaning. Learning these two things is to help the government manage the local government, assist in handling various official documents, measure the land, compile the field register, etc. There is also a "Atlas of Five Grains", which is not limited to grain, but also includes vegetables, fruits, bamboo, wood, medicinal herbs, flowers and plants, as well as birds, animals, insects, fish and shrimp, and even various local products. In fact, it is a book of animals and plants, with variety introduction, improved breeding, growth habits, breeding and harvesting methods, almost everything. However, the booklet was compiled in a hurry, and most of the places listed the entries, and the content was very brief. The other is the "Atlas of Agricultural Tools", which contains various agricultural tools, general structure, how to use them, suitable crops and terrains, etc., focusing on promotion rather than manufacturing. The other book is the "Compendium of Agricultural Mulberry", which mainly introduces agricultural techniques, including timely cultivation, field management, harvesting methods, intercropping, etc., and basic agricultural activities are included in it.

After reading it roughly, Zhang Yu said: "The promotion is really a caring person." If these booklets, especially the "Atlas of Five Grains," the "Atlas of Farm Tools," and the "Compendium of Agricultural and Mulberry Crops," are compiled completely, they will not only be useful for farming, but will also benefit the whole world. It's just that I'm in a hurry, and it's too brief now, most of them only list entries, but no content. And it's complicated, I think it's a collection of many agricultural books, and it's too late to refine it. Another point is that whether it is crops or agricultural affairs, it is mostly the affairs of Xiangdeng Land, and it does not involve other states and counties. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "What the main person said is good. I don't know how many people have to pay attention to these books. The camp is grass-based, the manpower is insufficient, and the local understanding is not deep, so it can only be so. In the future, it will be added slowly, and as long as it is persistent, there will be a day when the book will be completed. ”

Zhang Yuzhi said again and again, and he greatly appreciated this. From this one thing, he can understand Du Xiao's style of doing things, which suits his appetite. In the past few years, he has been particularly unlucky, from Tianzhang Pavilion to be systematized, deputy envoy of salt and iron, and suddenly transferred to supervise the Ezhou tax, and he is a little suspicious of life. Originally, he went one step further, but he soon touched the side of the governor, and in a year or two, he became a prison official, and the official was already degradable. Moreover, according to the imperial history, his crimes were all found without evidence, but there was no evidence to confirm it, so he was punished so heavily, I really can't figure it out. Zhang Yuzhi is an official who likes to be a official, and he is good at handling chaotic practical affairs, and his political sensitivity is not high. This time he went to the camp to do field work, and he felt a little relieved, and doing practical things is what he likes and is good at.

After reading the booklet, Zhang Yuzhi handed it to Su Shunqin on the side and said to him: "Do it, you can also take a look at these booklets." Since we are in charge of the farms, we must know all these things, otherwise how to manage our subordinates. After the promotion, I am afraid that I will focus more on the affairs of Changping, and the camp and field affairs here depend on us. In the past two years, the camp has been prosperous and prosperous, if we don't manage it well, how can we explain it to the imperial court? ”