Chapter 891 Chapter 891, The Importance of Seeds
“This is the ranch Yiyi bought!”
Xiao Yeyang brought Li Xingnian and Li Chenzhi directly to Qingyang Ranch
Looking at the vast pasture and the herds of cattle and sheep in it, Li Xingnian and Li Chenzhi were filled with amazement.
"How much silver does such a large ranch cost?" Li Chenzhi asked.
Xiao Yeyang smiled and said, "The land in Xiliang is not inferior to that of other inland provinces. Yiyi only spent more than 20,000 taels of silver to buy this 50,000-acre ranch."
Li Xingnian and Li Chenzhi's eyes lit up: "Really?"
Xiao Yeyang knew that the two of them were tempted, so he smiled and shook his head, saying, "You can't buy it at this price now. When you followed me just now, did you see any other ranches along the way?"
Li Chenzhi nodded. "Those pastures seem quite barren, not as lush and green as Qingyang Pasture."
Xiao Yeyang nodded and said, "When Yiyi bought this place, it was just like the other pastures, barren. It was only after we planted high-yield grass seeds that things changed."
"Now that everyone knows that the barrenness of pastures can be improved, they will naturally not sell pastures at low prices anymore."
Li Xingnian smiled and said, "We're not as lucky as Yiyi, but we can buy a pasture here and raise some cattle, sheep, and camels. When Xiliang develops in the future, we can still recoup our investment."
The three of them rode through the pasture. Suddenly, Li Xingnian pointed at the two black and white cows in the cowshed and asked, "Yeyang, those cows are not the breed we have here in Daxia, right?"
Xiao Yeyang smiled and nodded: "Yiyi also bought it. It was brought in from another country in the Western Regions. It has a large milk production capacity and can produce 60 to 70 kilograms of milk every day."
Li Xingnian was a little speechless: "No wonder he is so strong, he must consume a lot of food every day."
After crossing the pasture, the three of them came to the dry Dan River.
Li Chenzhi: "Ganzhouwei is so short of water that even the river has dried up."
Xiao Yeyang shook his head and looked towards Yunlian Mountain with a cold expression: "The source of the Dan River is at the foot of Yunlian Mountain. The reason it dried up is because the Western Liao people slapped the source of the river."
Without talking much about the Western Liao people, Xiao Yeyang rode his horse across the stone bridge.
At this moment, the three stone bridges had been repaired. Soon, Xiao Yeyang brought Li Xingnian and Li Chenzhi to the renovated terraced fields.
The stacked terraces, like stairs, follow the terrain from the foot of the mountain to the top.
At this time, it was June, and the wheat planted in the terraced fields had begun to turn golden. Blown by the mountain breeze, the wheat waves were raised, which was very spectacular and beautiful.
"In ten days or half a month, the wheat in the terraced fields will be ready for harvest."
In Xiliang, because of the abundant sunshine, it only takes about three months from sowing to harvesting wheat.
Looking at the wheat growing well, Xiao Yeyang had a relaxed smile on his face.
The captains of the five thousand-household offices have all sent people to report on the growth of grain this year. It can be predicted that even if the harvest in Xiliang is not as good as other inland places, it can still barely feed the military households and border troops.
"Is this the corn grown in the south?"
Li Xingnian pointed at the corn in the terraced fields and exclaimed in surprise, "Even with such a water shortage here, they can still grow it!"
Xiao Yeyang smiled and said, "Come to think of it, it seems that this corn seed was given to Yiyi by my second uncle."
Li Xingnian walked quickly to the cornfield and looked at the corn carefully: "I didn't expect this corn to be so drought-resistant." As he said that, he broke off a corn.
"Is this corn edible?"
The terraced field steward who was waiting nearby immediately ran up, bowed to Xiao Yeyang, Li Xingnian, and Li Chenzhi, and said quickly, "It's ready to eat. Madam sent her sister from the mansion over a few days ago to pick two baskets of fresh corn."
Li Xingnian looked at Xiao Yeyang and said, "When I was in the south, I heard people said that this fresh corn was delicious. I haven't eaten it yet."
Xiao Yeyang smiled and said, "It's really good. The yellow tortilla we ate this morning was a corn tortilla."
Li Xingnian's eyes lit up: "That's a tortilla. I ate three of them this morning."
Xiao Yeyang looked at Defu and said, "Go and pick off two more baskets of fresh corn and take them with you when you leave later."
Defu nodded and went down. Xiao Yeyang continued walking on the terraced fields with Li Xingnian and Li Chenzhi. When they saw the group of people standing not far away, they pretended not to see them.
Li Xingnian: "I see the corn is growing really well. The yield must be very high."
Xiao Yeyang hummed, his voice rising slightly. "It's still not as good as places with plenty of rain. In the farms in the capital, the yield of corn per mu can reach about 10 dan. Here, I should only be able to harvest 6 or 7 dan."
Hearing this, the group of people not far away became agitated for a moment.
In Xiliang, even the best farmland can only yield about three stones per mu. Wasteland like that can't produce any grain at all.
The corn yield per mu is six or seven dan, which is unimaginable for people in Xiliang. Even so, Xiao Yeyang still looks disgusted.
The commanders of Jinweiwei and Lanwuwei, who came together, could no longer hold back and walked towards Xiao Yeyang together.
"Master Xiao!"
Xiao Yeyang raised an eyebrow and looked at the newcomer. He had seen Pang Guang, the commander of the Lanwu Guard, before, so he smiled and greeted him, "Master Pang." He looked at the person next to him in confusion. Although he knew the newcomer's identity, he still asked, "Who is this?"
Without waiting for Pang Guang's introduction, Zhu Jianzhong, the commander of the Jinwei Guard, clasped his fists and said, "Sir Xiao, I am Zhu Jianzhong of the Jinwei Guard. We have communicated through letters before."
Xiao Yeyang looked enlightened and said with a smile, "It's you, Lord Zhu. Nice to meet you. Thank you for your help before." The Dong family was able to come to Ganzhou City smoothly thanks to Zhu Jianzhong for not stopping them.
Zhu Jianzhong smiled and shook his head: "It's just a small matter, Sir Xiao, don't take it to heart."
Pang Guang watched the two interacting from the side and felt a little bitter. When refugees gathered in Ganzhou City before, Xiao Yeyang asked him to borrow food for emergency use, but he refused because he was worried that Xiao Yeyang would not stay in Xiliang for too long.
Since he came to ask for help this time, Xiao Yeyang was afraid that he would not give him a good face.
Zhu Jianzhong looked at the corn in the terraced fields and said with a smile, "I heard before that Madam Xiao was using barren hills to transform them into terraced fields. We've never seen terraced fields before, and out of curiosity, we came here with Master Pang to take a look. We never thought we'd be so lucky to meet Master Xiao."
Xiao Yeyang smiled and said, "There are many mountains here in Ganzhouwei, and there is very little flat farmland. My wife can only focus on this slope of the mountain."
Zhu Jianzhong looked at the terraced fields and praised them, "Mrs. Xiao is truly talented. Xiliang has little rain and strong winds and sandstorms. Transforming the slopes into terraced fields can effectively mitigate and prevent soil erosion."
After the hillside is turned into terraces, the slope of the field decreases and the erosion effect of water is weakened. In addition, the ridges are slightly higher than the terrace surface, which can ensure that water and soil are not easily flowed out of the field, thus playing a role in maintaining water and soil.
Hearing this, Xiao Yeyang looked at the commander of the Jinwei Guard in surprise. He only understood these things after Yi Yi explained to him in detail the benefits of rebuilding the terraced fields. He didn't expect that Lord Zhu could see the benefits at a glance.
It seems that this person usually devotes a lot of time to studying farming.
Xiao Yeyang introduced Li Xingnian and Li Chenzhi to Zhu Jianzhong and Pang Guang, and then took them to continue visiting the terraced fields and came to the potato planting area.
"After the wheat and corn are harvested, we can harvest potatoes. Potatoes are the most drought-resistant. They can yield up to 15 dan per mu elsewhere, so here we can probably only harvest around 10 dan."
Hearing this, Pang Guang and Zhu Jianzhong's hearts began to beat violently.
If Xiao Yeyang had not lied to them, as long as the garrison could grow corn and potatoes, the garrison and the border troops would not have to go hungry.
The two of them looked at each other quickly, both wondering how they could get high-yield grain seeds.
(End of this chapter)
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