"The Agricultural College is amazing." After having eaten and drunk his fill, Pan Zhongxian took over the conversation and praised Ma Yilong and his Kunshan Agricultural College.
This is not false propaganda, the Agricultural College is indeed worthy of special mention - with its help, the entire Jiangnan region will be self-sufficient in food by the end of this year!
This is simply an incredible miracle, ten or a hundred times greater than the dozens of Jinshi and hundreds of Juren who passed the imperial examinations at Yufeng Academy!
In the past hundred years, under the double blow of the cultivation of cash crops and farmers' continuous abandonment of farming to work, Suzhou's grain cultivation has been sluggish, and every year the city has to spend a lot of money to purchase huge amounts of grain from Huguang - in addition to eating it, it also has to pay taxes!
The saying "When Huguang is well-fed, the rest of the world is well-fed" is indeed an exaggeration, or in the eyes of some people, the rest of the world may not include areas outside the two capitals and Jiangsu and Zhejiang. But at least the saying "When Huguang is poorly harvested, there will be famine in the south of the Yangtze River" has been repeatedly verified.
Now, in the fourth year of its establishment, Jiangnan Group has solved the problem of food security for the people of Jiangnan. The people of Jiangnan no longer have to suffer from fluctuations in food prices and famine. This alone is enough to lay an unbreakable foundation for them in Jiangnan.
Among them, Ma Yilong and his students have made great contributions!
~~
When the gentry of Chaozhou heard that this agricultural college could actually double the yield per mu of land, they all exclaimed in amazement.
"Doesn't this mean that one acre of land can be planted as two acres?" The wealthy farmers were drooling. Who doesn't have thousands or tens of thousands of acres of land? What would happen if the amount doubled?
"That's in Jiangnan, the land of fish and rice." Young Master Zhao said in a flat tone.
"Ah..." Everyone couldn't help but sigh in disappointment, they knew that such a good thing would not happen.
"In a place like Chaozhou where grain production is low, it is not a problem to increase the yield per mu four or five times." Zhao Hao changed the subject.
"Wow..." The rich dogs almost broke their waists. This cow was bragging so much that he wasn't even afraid of the strong wind blowing his tongue off.
Although the rice yield per mu in Chaozhou Prefecture is not high compared to the Pearl River Delta, let alone compared to Jiangnan, the average yield per mu is around one stone.
Mr. Zhao said that the yield per mu can be increased four or five times. Doesn’t that mean that in the future one mu of land can produce four or five stones of rice?
"That's not an exaggeration." Seeing this, Pan Zhongxian hurriedly testified to Zhao Hao, "The farm of Jiangnan Group in Kunshan planted two crops of rice last year, and the total yield per mu reached eight shi. The farms in Chongming and Shanghai that followed later also generally had a yield of about six shi per mu because the conditions were not mature enough in the short time. In short, none of them had a yield lower than five shi."
He looked at everyone and said, "Chaozhou's climate is much hotter than Jiangnan, so it is naturally advantageous for growing rice. Young Master said that the yield per mu is four or five dan, which is really too conservative."
"Hiss..." Even though Mr. Zhao is a boastful person, the respected old man Pan would not lie.
Moreover, for this kind of thing, we only need to send someone to Jiangnan to inquire and we will know whether it is true or not. Mr. Zhao should not tell such a lie that can be easily exposed, right?
"This, this is all the credit of Kunshan Agricultural College?" Liu Zixing asked in shock.
"Of course not all of them. Jiangnan Group's development company, the family farm system, and the farm manager and agricultural technician responsibility system are all indispensable reasons. But among them, the Agricultural College has indeed made the greatest contribution." Pan Zhongxian said with a hint of boasting:
"The dean of the Agricultural College is Ma Menghe, who used to be in the Hanlin Academy with me. After he resigned and returned to his hometown, he devoted himself to farming. It can be said that no one in the Ming Dynasty knew farming better than him. It was he who taught the two prefectures of Suzhou and Songjiang how to grow two crops of rice, which doubled the grain output in Wuzhong."
After a pause, he praised Zhao Hao again and said, "After meeting Mr. Zhao, who pioneered science, Brother Menghe introduced science into agriculture. He began to study scientific planting. Last year, the yield per mu of his experimental field in the Agricultural College was as high as seven dan per season, and it is said that it will exceed eight dan this year. It is under his leadership that the yield per mu of farms in various counties has reached new highs every year."
"This is the modern Shennong..." Liu Zixing couldn't help but admire him, and said with shame: "We are both living in the countryside, but I have wasted my time compared to you two."
He gritted his teeth and made up his mind: "When things here are over, I will go to Kunshan to ask Mr. Menghe for advice!"
"No need to go so far. The dozens of people who followed Sima Zhao south this time were all his students. They are here to set up Chaozhou Agricultural College..." Pan Zhongxian sighed and said, "I am not trying to flatter my boss, but Chaozhou is really lucky to have Sima Zhao."
"Yes, yes, yes." Everyone nodded in agreement. This was the second time Old Pan had said this. But this time they truly understood that it was true.
"We have donated the full amount to this agricultural college!" The big dog owners in Chaozhou are accustomed to expressing their gratitude with money.
"Okay, okay." But Master Zhao still did not comment, and continued to paint a rosy picture for them: "Farmland and water conservancy are inseparable. If you want to develop agriculture, even to the level of Jiangnan, it is not enough to have an agricultural college, you also need a complete water conservancy project."
"That's true..." Everyone had no choice but to change the channel according to his lead and nodded numbly.
They received so much information today that their brains are about to crash.
Fortunately, Liu Zixing was not confused, and he immediately came up with an idea: "Speaking of water conservancy, Pan Butang is the modern water god. I will ask him for advice later!"
"Yes!" The dog owners immediately became excited. There was also Pan Butang who had shared the hardships with them! He was the Prime Minister of the River Channel... Although he was dismissed from office. But it didn't affect his authority at all, right?
"No need for that. While recovering from his injuries, Pan Butang is still concerned about Chaozhou. He has already drawn the sketch." Zhao Hao waved his hand, and Secretary Ma immediately distributed a stack of water conservancy maps that had been printed overnight to everyone.
"Pan Minister is currently unable to walk and cannot go on field investigations. He is worried that he will make a fool of himself if he works in isolation. So he would like to ask you all to help him think about it first." Zhao Hao did not ask them to express their opinions on the spot.
"Take it back and read it carefully. We will hold a seminar later to help the department gather ideas."
"Yes, yes." The gentry suddenly felt that the drawings in their hands had become heavy.
Little did they know that this blueprint, or Mr. Zhao's grand blueprints, were all hooks, tools that kept them from letting go and getting rid of!
Of course, the difference between Mr. Zhao and the liar is that, although they both have impure motives, the liar is a liar who speaks nonsense and not a single word of his is reliable, while Mr. Zhao keeps his word...
~~
At this time, the rain stopped without anyone noticing. The clouds in the sky were illuminated by the setting sun and turned golden. A beautiful rainbow stretched across the Han River.
"So the sun is about to set." Young Master Zhao stretched and stood up, ending the dry and greasy talk. "Let's go back quickly. It will be bad if the city gates are closed."
Under normal circumstances, this group of lawless tycoons would definitely say "just yell", but didn't they just finish the Chaozhou Defense War? Everyone couldn't break the rules in front of Master Zhao, so they all said yes and stood up. With the help of the servants, they walked down the slippery stairs.
While walking towards the foot of Phoenix Terrace, Zhao Hao looked at the particularly enchanting scenery of Chaozhou after the rain, and sighed casually: "It's so beautiful! I wonder if the scenery in Anbu is half as beautiful as this one."
"Anbu?" Upon hearing these two words, all the dog owners shouted out in unison.
"What's your reaction?" Zhao Hao asked in confusion, "Is there something wrong with my pronunciation? That's how my father pronounced it this morning?"
As he said this, he glanced at Secretary Ma for confirmation.
Secretary Ma nodded to indicate that this was correct.
"This, this..." Young Master Zhao was still in the mood to tease his secretary, but the wealthy men were all in a state of confusion.
Liu Zixing was still okay, but Yue Yunpeng and the others were in a panic, as grass was growing in the temple.
"Did your father tell the young master that he was going to Anbu?" Yue Yunpeng asked in a trembling voice.
"He is the deputy governor of the coastal defense. He came to the city just to repel the pirates. Now that the pirates are gone, why not go to Anbu?" Zhao Hao said as a matter of course: "My father originally planned to stay in Chaozhou for two more days and leave after the situation is completely stabilized. But this morning, after reading the handwritten letter from the governor, he learned that Lin Zhongcheng is on his way to the city, so we must hurry back to Anbu to welcome him."
Chaozhou is more than 800 miles away from the provincial capital by land, and it must pass through the Jieyang mountainous area where Li Zhifu disappeared. Bringing too few soldiers would be like sending heads, and bringing too many soldiers would cause panic, which might then lead to riots.
So after weighing the pros and cons, Lin Run decided to follow Yu Dayou and go to Chaozhou by sea. Although the sea route was not peaceful, there shouldn't be any sea lords stupid enough to attack the fleet of the Guangdong governor, right?
Otherwise, the government troops and navy who turned a blind eye to them would kill them without mercy.
According to the date, the governor's ship should arrive in Chaozhou in the next few days. Therefore, Mr. Zhao, the co-governor of the coastal defense, must rush to greet him.
But this ordinary decision actually scared the fearless Chaozhou bosses so much that they almost fell off the slide.
Don’t you think it’s funny?
~~
In short, after hearing this news, the Chaozhou gentry, who were about to lose their minds, were completely shocked. They didn't recover from the bad news until they got on the ship and returned to the city and separated from Zhao Hao.
When saying goodbye, Mr. Zhao asked Liu Zixing with concern: "Why do you look so unhappy, old man?"
"Thank you for your concern, young master. I'm old and may be a little tired." Liu Zixing said with a grateful smile.
"Then please go back and have a rest." Zhao Hao stood on the shore with a smile and waved goodbye to the gentry.
As soon as he left Young Master Zhao's sight, Yue Yunpeng couldn't wait to ask Liu Zixing, "Uncle, what did Young Master Zhao mean by that last thing?"
"That's what you meant." Liu Zixing said with a wry smile, "We must find a way to keep Sima Zhao in the city, otherwise the blueprint that Mr. Zhao drew today will not be fulfilled."
"So he wants to use us." someone said indignantly.
"What are you talking about?" Liu Zixing looked at the man sternly and crossed him off the list of people who would attend such an event next time. Otherwise, everyone would be killed by him.
"Prefect Hou is like a father to us, and Sima Zhao protects us and is as kind to us as a mother. We have already lost our father, so we can't let our mother go too! Wouldn't that make us orphans?"