"Does anyone know how far this place is from the sea?" Baili Tang asked.
"Your Majesty, this place is only five hundred miles from the sea."
Although it's only 500 li (250 kilometers), Liang Qiuyu has never been to the sea. The farthest place she's ever been is to neighboring Dongyun County, when she was ten years old and went with her parents.
Dongyun County is often described as consisting mostly of low-lying farmland, prone to flooding. A popular saying in Xiyun County is: Marry your daughter to the Mo family in Dongyun County.
"Is there a typhoon?"
"Typhoon?" This lord had never heard of a typhoon before. "Your Majesty, is it a strong wind?"
Baili Tang explained: "It means strong winds and heavy rain."
Liang Qiuyu said, "Your Majesty, Xiyun County has at least two harvests every year. Generally speaking, they are held after the summer harvest. The rice in the fields is now six or seven layers ripe, and it will take another seven or eight days for the whole field to be fully ripe."
Not to mention that different varieties of rice mature earlier or later, even the same stalk of rice matures at different times.
The heavy rice ears are some golden and some still green.
Baili Tang: "What's the yield per mu?"
Liang Qiuyu said with a certain amount of pride: "The highest yield per mu is 412 kilograms!"
(Explanation: This article refers to the background of the Song Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, half a catty was equal to eight taels, but in this article, half a catty is equal to five taels.)
Baili Tang had no idea. When he was young, his family grew high-quality rice, yielding around 1,000 kilograms per mu. But this was ancient times, and production technology was backward. They didn't even have fertilizers or pesticides, let alone harvesters...
Until the knowledge base in my mind automatically displayed a few paragraphs of text: During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, Fan Zhongyan said in his memorial "Reply to the Imperial Edict on Ten Matters": "I, the minister, know Suzhou. The land taxed is 34,000 hectares. The profit from a good harvest is 2 to 3 dan of rice per mu."
Zhu Xi said in his "Memorial on Famine Relief": During the Chunxi period, the six counties of Shaoxing Prefecture in East Zhejiang Road "produced two dan of rice per mu."
This "two dan" or "three dan" also refers to rice. Two dan of rice equals four dan of paddy, and three dan equals six dan of paddy. A yield of four dan of paddy per mu is equivalent to 380 jin of paddy per mu according to current market standards.
The average rice yield per mu in Jingguo was only a little over 300 kilograms. Therefore, Liang Qiuyu had every reason to be proud.
The adults around them had already figured out that the person who grew such high-yield rice was undoubtedly the beautiful Concubine Liang in front of them.
What a remarkable woman!
Unfortunately, she ended up becoming the concubine of a tyrant emperor.
If she could enter the Sinong Temple, I wonder how many people in Jing Kingdom would benefit from her!
But Liang Qiuyu was a little distressed: "There is too much rice, but the rice ears are easily bending the rice seedlings."
Baili Tang looked around and saw large areas of rice that had fallen over. The plants were tied together in groups of three or two to prevent the rice from sprouting due to being soaked in water for a long time.
Countless villagers also do this in their own rice fields, including Liang Erhu and his family of three.
Liang Erhu lowered his head to work, muttering: "A foolish emperor, he has no ability except that he was born into a good family."
Erhu's mother shouted softly, "Stop talking nonsense. Be careful or you might be dragged into the palace to work for the tyrant emperor."
Liang Erhu was so scared that he quickly shut up.
There are many reasons why rice seedlings are prone to lodging, and Baili Tang did not explain to everyone. He saw piles of moving ants on the ground and rarely heard birds singing around, and a bad idea came to his mind.
Is a typhoon coming?
When a typhoon hits, with two or three days of wind and rain, more of the previously fallen rice will sprout and stink in the fields. The losses will be incalculable.
Liang Erhu's family had an ox poisoned to death, and he even risked his life for it. This shows how much food meant to an ancient farmer.
Not to mention, you also need to pay taxes.
The taxes in Jing Dynasty... are very high.
It was Baili Tang who decided...
"Pass the order down, order all farmers in Xiyun County to harvest rice immediately!"
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