"And winter wheat is planted, mainly for two years and three crops. If it is not near a river, or a well has been dug, and if it is dry land without water, neither winter wheat nor spring wheat can be planted, but only some millet or sorghum. ”

Zhu Youzhen listened to Wei Liangqing's explanation and asked casually: "So what areas are suitable for growing wheat in the Beizhili area?" ”

Wei Liangqing replied familiarly: "Most of the fields suitable for growing wheat in Beizhili are in Zhending, Guangping, and Shunde Prefectures, because these three prefectures are close to the Taihang Mountains, there are many springs, and some places can even cultivate rice. In addition, water flows out of the wells dug in these areas, and the fields can be irrigated with well water.

The second is part of Suncheonfu, which is relatively high, and there are rivers in the area, which is not lacking in water sources and is not easy to be harmed by floods. Therefore, wheat can also be grown, especially in the fields of Shunyi, Miyun and Sanhe counties, which are second only to Zhending Prefecture. ”

Zhu Youzhen was a little unconvinced, this seemed to be somewhat inconsistent with the North China Plain in his memory. He couldn't help asking: "In addition to the mountainous areas in the northwest and west, the central and eastern parts of the Beizhili region are basically plains, and there is no shortage of rivers in the territory. ”

Wei Liangqing was stunned for a moment, and had to explain to the emperor: "Although there are many rivers in the North Zhili area, the amount of water fluctuates, often half a year of dry water, half a year of abundant water. In particular, there is often no water in spring and summer, and a few heavy rains in summer and autumn turn into heavy water.

As a result, the confluence of rivers in eastern Gyeonggi is often the place where there is no water when it is needed, and when it is ready for harvest, it encounters floods, and all the hard work of farmers throughout the year is wasted.

In the coastal area, although the terrain is flat, it is close to the sea, and the land is alkaline, and most of the land is unusable.

In Wanli, Wang Sinong went to the imperial court and first said to build water conservancy, but soon he died and died. At the beginning of the Apocalypse, there were Zhang Shenyan, Dong Yingju, Lu Guanxiang and other princes, who successively built water conservancy tuntian in the area east of Gyeonggi, but after all, it was not as large as the scale of Wang Gong's time. ”

Zhu Youzhen stood up, clapped his hands, and let Wei Liangqing and several Zhuangtou follow him and walked towards Zhuangzi. Continue to ask some questions about the treatment of salinity, as well as the harvest of the farmland in Beizhili.

There was still about 1 mile from the place where Chongzhen dismounted to Zhuangzi, but the emperor refused to ride a horse, but just chatted with Wei Liangqing and others and walked over.

In this short period of time, Chongzhen made up for some evil and knowledge about northern agriculture in this era. For example, in the fields where the alkali return is not serious in the mainland, and the water conservancy is better, the soil can be improved in three years.

As for the heavily salinized land in the coastal areas, it is necessary to fence off and soak in river water for a year, and then try to grow rice the next year, although this kind of rice field cannot be compared with the south.

Rice harvests 1-2 stone a year in the south, and these rice fields are usually 2 or 3 buckets, and 5 or 6 buckets are regarded as a good harvest. At the beginning of the apocalypse, Dong Yingju was ordered to settle fields between Tianjin and Shanhaiguan, 180,000 mu of land, and harvest 55,000 stone of grain, with an average harvest of only more than 3 buckets per mu, but it has been looked down upon by the court.

In addition, Chongzhen also learned that the difference between the northern peasants and the southern peasants engaged in agriculture is that the land in the north is mostly dry land, and the land is vast and sparsely populated, so not only is there more land per capita, but also more land that can be cultivated by one laborer. As a result, the northern peasants were more rugged in their farming.

In the south, there are many paddy fields, and the land is narrow and densely populated, and the per capita land is less, but the land is fertile, so the farmers in the south pay attention to intensive cultivation.

In the south, a prime-aged laborer will not cultivate more than 10 acres of land, but it is enough to feed four or five people.

In the north, every 6 acres of land can only feed one person, and the land that a farmer can cultivate should not exceed 25 acres. But the reality is that farmers in the north often cultivate more than 38 acres of land.

Under such circumstances, the peasants in the north had to resort to extensive agriculture in which extensive planting was planted and harvested slightly. As a result of this agricultural business model, farmers in the north often have no savings left after a year of farming, and they immediately fall into the predicament of bankruptcy when they encounter any disaster.

In the eyes of the officials at the court, this became evidence that the northern peasants were too lazy. In fact, they never considered that without water conservancy facilities in the south, farmers in the north would starve to death in the first place if they reduced the area under cultivation.

As for the large-scale construction of water conservancy projects in the entire North China region and the improvement of the plight of agriculture in the north, it is simply impossible to complete the task without the auspices of the state level and huge investment.

"It's really better to listen to your words than to read for ten years." After Zhu You listened to the seventy-seven-eighty-eight, he said to Wei Liangqing and several Zhuang heads who were surrounding him.

"I don't dare to praise Your Majesty like this." Wei Liangqing hurriedly bowed down to the emperor and excused himself.

Zhu Youzhen looked back at them, smiled and said, "You don't have to be like this, let's all get up and talk." However, if the water conservancy in the north is not good, can't we grow more corn? I remember that corn likes drought and is good alkali tolerant. ”

Wei Liangqing hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty ordered the minister to study the planting method of corn last time, and the minister also summoned several farmers who had planted corn in Shanxi and Hejian Prefecture, as well as several agricultural officials from Shanglin Yuanjian, to carefully discuss the issue of whether this corn can be promoted in the Beizhili area.

After careful discussion, the ministers and others believed that most areas of Beizhili were still unable to grow corn, and could only grow sorghum.

Although the Beizhili area looks like a flat plain, it is actually full of depressions, and these depressions are everywhere around the capital.

For example, Haidian in the northwest of the capital is a large area of low-lying water. Although many nobles and nobles have cultivated gardens here, large areas of depression land have water but cannot grow food.

This is because the water in these depressions does not come from the living water injected by the river, but the stagnant water that collects from the high places after the rain, which is called repelling brine.

If the weather is dry, the water evaporates, and the soil of the depression is left with the salinity of the white flowers. If the weather is not dry and the water does not evaporate, the salt water will seep into the soil, and even the groundwater will become bitter water.

In this depression, only a few plants such as sedges can survive. And even sedges can only grow to one-third of their normal size.

Spring and summer are like fire, autumn is watery, and winter is white. This is the biggest feeling that farmers like me have about this kind of depression.

The reason why these depressions cannot be planted with corn is because this corn is drought tolerant but not waterlogging. When the corn is ripe, it is the period of water accumulation in the depression, and once there is waterlogging, the corn will drown, and the farmers will not have a harvest.

Sorghum wine is different, even if it is soaked in water, it can be harvested. Even if there is a flood, the farmer can still harvest some sorghum by sitting on a wooden basin without losing the grain.

Therefore, the corn mentioned by His Majesty can only be popularized and cultivated on the hills above the depression, which can increase some grain production, but it can only be said to be slightly helpful for changing the fundamental situation of agriculture in Beizhili. ”

After listening to Wei Liangqing's statement, Chongzhen was silent for a long time before he said with emotion: "In the final analysis, we still have to control the river first." Without solving the drainage problem, the renovation of these depressions cannot be solved. ”

Under the leadership of Wei Liangqing, Chongzhen came to a large courtyard in the middle of Zhuangzi, and the three cellars in the courtyard had been opened in the morning.

After Chongzhen and the others arrived, the air in the cellar had already been replaced. With the emperor's permission, Wei Liangqing immediately gave an order to a group of villagers waiting on the side, and began to pick up the sweet potatoes stored in the cellar.

The sweet potato seed boxes that were lifted out were also arranged according to the number in the cellar. Wei Liangqing said to Chongzhen on the side: "According to the opinions of the agricultural officials of Shanglin Yuan, the ministers dug a total of 3 cellars and compared them through different storage methods. to compare the best way to store potato seeds for the winter..."

After inspection and comparison, 70% of the potato seeds in the first cellar of the three cellars were rotten; and cellar No. 2 rotted about forty percent; Cellar No. 3 is the best, preserving nearly ninety percent of the sweet potatoes.

After reviewing the records and discussing with several agricultural officials, several people came to the conclusion that sweet potatoes need a certain temperature for wintering, but they also need to be given regular ventilation. And the stacking of sweet potatoes should not be too dense and so on.

Chongzhen listened with great interest to the conclusions they came to after their discussion, and then said: "The way you deduce your conclusions is very logical, and it is also supported by a large number of observations.

I think it's a good way to talk about it. In the future, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences may wish to take this method of summarizing as a working method for studying problems.

I thought that the Academy of Agricultural Sciences was a place to study agricultural technology. The Academy of Agricultural Sciences should not only study the planting techniques of various crops, but also discover new agricultural production methods, and even determine the basic working methods for studying agriculture.

I believe that all of the above studies must be based on sufficient observational data and analyzed in a rigorous manner, and finally form a research result that can be replicated. I thought that this method was called science.

The research results of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences were not used to report good news to the imperial court, but to guide the agricultural production of the Ming Dynasty, so practicality was the first priority, and efficient communication technology was also very important.

I suggested that the Academy of Agricultural Sciences could create an agricultural science journal to introduce new crops, new planting methods, new production methods, and so on. For example, this sweet potato overwintering technology can write an article and introduce it to farmers all over the world. ”

Wei Liangqing and several agricultural officials glanced at each other, and then said with a strange face: "But Your Majesty, most peasants don't know how to write, and although the ministers can study agricultural technology, they also have no clue how to write these into an article." ”

Zhu Youzhen turned his head and called Liu Jingting, and introduced to Wei Liangqing: "This is Liu Jingting, the chief writer of the Daming Times, I will ask him to send a few people over to prepare this magazine for you first."

But about things like articles, you still need to be an expert to write your own. Don't think about writing any flowery articles, just write down the way of how to operate honestly, so that people can follow the article.

As for the peasants, it doesn't matter if they can't understand it now, I plan to separate the agricultural officials in various places, manage the water and manage the water, manage the agriculture and manage the agriculture, and in addition, train the agricultural technicians in the counties, as long as these people can understand it.

As for the future, as long as compulsory primary education can be continued, one day the peasants will be able to understand this knowledge on their own..."