Look at the end of the month, the excitement of the imperial examination has finally passed, and the capital is slowly returning to normal. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Xu Ping is getting busier and busier, with official and private affairs, and there is almost no time to spare. Because spring is about to pass, the busy season of farming has also arrived. The valley rain solar term, just the right time for a hundred grains, sowing and transplanting seedlings, melons and beans, are all at this time.

This year, a few familiar big families bought land in the lower county, such as Wang Su's family, and from time to time they came to consult Xu Ping for agricultural matters. Recently, Xu Ping has published several books, all of which are about farming, and he is an expert in the eyes of others.

On the twenty-seventh day, Xu Ping dealt with some things in the yamen in the afternoon, and when he was about to leave, the small yellow door in the palace came over and asked Xu Ping to enter the palace, and the emperor summoned him in the back garden of the palace.

Since he asked to build a camp, Zhao Zhen said several times that he wanted to summon Xu Ping, but the time was not together, so he delayed. March 26 Gu Yu, now that Gu Yu has passed, I can't wait any longer, so I have to postpone some official business and call it right in the afternoon.

With the little yellow gate, Xu Ping entered the palace all the way. This kind of summoning is not a performance, and it no longer needs the approval of the political affairs hall, and there is no delay along the way, and it goes straight to the backyard in the deepest part of the palace.

When it rains in the valley, the flowers are in full bloom, and it is the time to enjoy the flowers. The peach and willow green in the back garden, especially some rare peonies moved from Luoyang, are blooming brightly at this time. The back garden is a garden in the palace, and there are a lot of strange flowers and plants planted, which seems to be pleasing to the eye.

Xu Ping stepped forward and saluted, and found that there was also Yan Shu, a Hanlin scholar, standing aside.

Yan Shu is cautious, and in that situation at that time, if he was asked to write words for Concubine Li Chen, there would inevitably be a handle in the hands of others. Everyone, including Zhao Zhen, also knows this, and after a few months of distribution, he is still recruited back to be a Hanlin bachelor, but he will not be able to be a master for a while.

The Hanlin bachelor of the last dynasty is second only to Zaizhi, and his status is respected, and there is nothing to do when he comes back after Zaizhi, unlike the position of the third envoy and the Zhikaifeng Mansion, which will lose face.

Xu Ping greeted Yan Shu with a salute, and Zhao Zhen said with great interest: "The valley rain solar term, it's almost time to plant seedlings, Xu Ping, I also planted some rice seeds from your house here, you come and see." ”

After speaking, he walked to the seedling field next to him in high spirits.

The royal home field has always been planted in the Ruisheng Garden in the north of the city, but there are also records of planting in the back garden. Empress Taizu Song once planted mulberry and silkworms in the back garden and personally weaved brocade. In the back garden, the emperor can inspect the fields and plant rice from time to time, unlike the Ruisheng Garden, where there are all internal servants and officials to do the work on their behalf, just waiting for the rice to be harvested to take a look, pure ceremony.

Xu Ping's family has been planting rice for so many years, and with the memory of his previous life, he will naturally pay attention to the selection of rice seeds. Even in the years when Xu Ping was an official in Lingnan, his family still selected and bred according to the methods he ordered every year, and now there are stable new varieties.

Although there is no such complex technology as genetically modified and artificial hybridization, artificial natural selection is not difficult. Xu Ping also has the knowledge of his previous life, and he knows in which direction to cultivate, and it is natural for better rice seeds to be selected.

China has always had the habit of manual selection, but it is not systematic and the direction is not clear. For example, rice seeds, in addition to high yields, will also deliberately choose those tall plants, although some excellent varieties are also selected, but they are very messy.

Xu Ping began to choose in the direction of dwarf plants and multiple grain weights, and at this time it has begun to bear fruit. The newly opened farms, such as Wang Su and others, all bought Xujia rice seeds, and they are already famous in Kaifeng Mansion.

Agriculture is the foundation of the world, the emperor will plant flowers and trees in the palace, there will be subordinates who write that they are playthings, and if they plant rice and wheat, they will be a voice of praise, and this is the case in all Chinese dynasties. Zhao Zhen saw that Xu Ping had recently compiled several booklets on agricultural affairs and started field work, so he also started a rice field in the palace.

When I arrived at the edge of the seedling field, I saw that the seedlings inside were growing vigorously, and I didn't know how much fertilizer was put underneath.

Pointing to the seedlings, Zhao Zhen asked Xu Ping: "How is this rice planted in the palace?" Can it compare to the one in your village? ”

Xu Ping said: "Your Majesty, this seedling grows vigorously and neatly, how can it be compared to Weichen Zhuang." ”

"Really?" Zhao Zhen was a little unconvinced. Xu Ping Zhuangzili agriculture and animal husbandry are now well-known in Kaifeng Mansion, and I don't know how much money he earns for his family every year, and one in the palace can be compared, which is a bit unlikely.

Xu Ping said: "In front of the king, how dare the minister have a lie? The seedling field in my village has so many people, and the fertilizer can't be enough, how can it compare to the carefully tended seedlings in the palace? ”

Zhao Zhen nodded, happy in his heart, thinking about giving a little reward to the responsible servant.

"However, the bigger the seedlings, the better." Xu Ping said, "When planting seedlings, it is best to have four or five leaves, which will grow thin if they are small, and when they are large, the taproot will grow, which will affect tillering, and finally the yield will be reduced." ”

Listening to Xu Ping's words, Zhao Zhen couldn't help but get nervous. As the emperor, he couldn't be startled in front of his subordinates, he didn't speak, he directly bent down to look at the seedlings in the field, counted for a while, straightened up and said, "It's okay, it's just a little big." Just after the rain in the valley, the waiter was moved to the rice field in the past two days. ”

Yan Shu didn't speak on the side, he didn't know anything about these things, and he couldn't interject. It is difficult for him to write the words of the first fishing song and the fragrance of the late rice flowers, let alone the specific ways of these farming.

After seeing the rice fields, the three of them came to the pavilion covered by flowers and trees.

Ordering Xu Ping and Yan Shu to sit down, Zhao Zhen said: "Xu Ping, I recruited you here today to ask about the field affairs of Kaifeng Mansion. Bachelor Yan had just returned from Yingtianfu and listened to it. ”

Xu Ping bowed slightly and said: "The saint inquires, and the micro-minister will do his best to prepare for the question." ”

"Since the beginning of the year, you have proposed to build field affairs and open new shops in the third division, and now you are building field services, shouldn't it be a whim? One thing at a time, I always feel like you're doing it step by step. ”

"Your Majesty is wise! Since ancient times, it is often said that there are four kinds of people in the world, Shinong industry and commerce, and scholars are naturally Yan Bachelors and Weichen, etc., to assist His Majesty in governing the world, and do their best to make the country peaceful and the people happy. The rest of the agricultural industry and commerce are these few things that Weichen does. The prime minister of the three divisions has the world's money and grain, and collects the world's wealth for the use of the state, so naturally he should not only know how to collect money from the people, but should be able to do the work of farmers, craftsmen, and merchants. The new opening business is the craftsman's business done by the three divisions, and it is an example for the craftsmen of the world. The newly opened shops make the department store circulate and let the merchants learn. The purpose of farming is not only to reclaim wasteland and collect more grain and rice, but more importantly, to set an example for farmers all over the world. Improving agricultural tools, selecting and breeding good seeds, and formulating reasonable regulations for all kinds of agricultural affairs, so that the people can have rules to follow for farming, this is the purpose of the establishment of field affairs. ”

Zhao Zhen didn't expect Xu Ping to really have a complete set of plans, which was quite unexpected by him, and couldn't help but look at Yan Shu.

Yan Shu said: "Taizong once issued an edict to set up agricultural teachers in the world, legislating for agricultural affairs, and being a teacher for the people who farmed the land. It's a pity that the old system doesn't exist anymore. The camp and field affairs set up by Xu Zhi's initiative have the will of Taizong, and they are collected by the three divisions, and the world is the same, which is a good law. The minister thought that this matter could be carried out. ”

Hearing this, Xu Ping couldn't help but look at Yan Shu with admiration. Sure enough, the people who drop the bookbag are different, everything can be found out from historical classics, Xu Ping himself does not have this ability. Of course, he, an agricultural businessman, came all according to the set in his previous life, and he had no relationship with Taizong. The farm workers make new farm tools, the shops sell them, and the farm workers buy them back to create more wealth from the land, forming a general economic cycle. It is Xu Ping's goal to thoroughly study and explain this economic cycle, and the specific effects will be revealed, so as to change the brains of the current scholars and bureaucrats.

It turned out that his grandfather also had this idea, that is, the ancestral system, and Zhao Zhen's doubts about the camp and the people's interests immediately disappeared. And from his heart, he also supported this approach, this kind of economic entity directly in the hands of the government, in any way conducive to management, as an emperor he did not have the psychological burden of Confucian scholars.

Letting go of this psychological baggage, Zhao Zhen also relaxed, and said to Xu Ping: "In the first year of the camp and field affairs, there were more than 5,000 hectares of barren fields from Kaifeng and Xiangfu counties, can they all be planted with rice this year?" ”

What is the barren field, which was bought by the three divisions with real money, but it was not forcibly requisitioned, and it was bought and sold fairly.

Xu Ping was full of slander at Zhao Zhen's words in his heart, but he didn't dare to say it, and said in his mouth: "Your Majesty, although the land in Kaifeng Mansion is flat, not all the land can grow crops. Generally speaking, a Zhuangzi can only account for 20% of the land used to grow grain, so although there are more than 5,000 hectares of wasteland, only about 1,000 hectares of land can be cultivated. ”

"Oh, I see, there are so few fields! Can you plant it this year? ”

"It is naturally okay to sharpen the knife and cut the wood, not to hide it from Your Majesty, but that is not conducive to the future improvement of the field. Therefore, the three divisions plan to plant only about 100 hectares of rice this year, and plant soybeans and peanuts to regulate land fertility. And some swampy jungles still need to dig ditches and canals, and they can't be rushed. ”

couldn't ask the point in a few words, Zhao Zhen stopped asking about the details, he really didn't understand, and asking too many questions made it confusing.

"Naturally, you know best about the farmland, so you just have to make your own decisions. By the way, such a major event should be managed by competent and capable officials, do you have any candidates in mind? ”

As soon as Xu Ping was about to speak, Zhao Zhen interjected again: "It's best to be like you did in Yongzhou Sugar Sales, to be able to take charge of it alone, and it will be complete in a few years." Not to mention millions of yuan of money a year, there must always be hundreds of thousands of stones of grain. ”

Xu Ping just wanted to mention Wang Gongchen, but was choked by Zhao Zhen's words. (To be continued.) )