Chapter 157

In Victor's territory, Bruce can always see many new things. At first, he just satisfied his curiosity and had a look. Now, Bruce is looking, asking and listening with a learning attitude, because this is his task, and he is also a Lord.

"Victor, these farmers grow sweet potatoes?" Bruce asked in surprise, pointing to the farmer not far away.

Even without farming, Bruce knew that cultivated land was extremely valuable, especially those near water sources should be full of crops. Here, he saw the farmer constantly burying the round sweet potatoes into deep holes. Bruce felt that although sweet potatoes were edible, there was no need to occupy fertile farmland.

Victor nodded and smiled, "it's really sweet potatoes. If you didn't send 500000 pounds of seeds, I'm going to plant all sweet potatoes here."

It turned out that there were not enough seeds. Bruce said apologetically, "Victor, we don't have enough seeds. We can only give you 500000 pounds this year. I'm afraid we can't even sell food to you in the next few years. Fortunately, your population is small. Planting some sweet potatoes should meet the needs of the people."

Victor said he understood that the York family had a good life. After all, they had a population of 120000. Sylvia was able to squeeze out 500000 pounds of seeds for him. She really tried her best. However, if Sylvia can send him seeds, Victor can give her a big surprise.

"Bruce, how much arable land do you have? How many acres of barley can you grow this year?" Asked victor.

"My territory can reclaim at least 400000 mu of cultivated land. This year, I plan to reclaim 40000 mu of cultivated land first, because I only get 1 million pounds of seeds, about 10000 mu of barley can be planted, and the other 30000 mu of cultivated land, I plan to plant alfalfa, raise cattle and sheep."

After Bruce was promoted to a great knight, he was canonized as a baron, with a territory of more than 7000 square kilometers. Bruce is very satisfied with his territory. The black river runs through the whole territory. He can not only build castles along the river bank, but also cultivate hundreds of thousands of mu of cultivated land. Although Bruce is now poor and there are more than 4000 people living under him, the family will support him for three years. After three years, he will need to give back to the family. This is the advantage of relying on power.

"Bruce, I suggest you plant 20000 mu of sweet potatoes." Victor suggested.

"Well, it seems that planting sweet potatoes is not cost-effective to grow alfalfa. After all, cattle and sheep are more valuable. Even if the food is insufficient, the kingdom will provide some, and we can basically buy some. In three years, we will have enough seeds and flocks of cattle and sheep. Isn't that better?" Bruce euphemistically said that he really couldn't understand why Victor insisted on planting these worthless sweet potatoes because of his small population.

Victor sighed. From Bruce's words, we can hear that York's agricultural planning is still an inherent model. They are completely unaware of the changes brought by the ant tide to the territory. If the York family cannot seize this rare opportunity, Victor's grand plan will not be realized.

"Bruce, you have so much land suitable for reclamation. It doesn't matter to have 20000 mu of sweet potatoes, does it?" Victor smiled and said, "a year ago, no lord knew that poisonous sweet potatoes could also be used as food. Although you have tasted sweet potatoes, you don't know their real value.

This crop has many advantages. If 50 pounds of sweet potatoes are planted on an acre of cultivated land, 300 pounds of sweet potatoes can be harvested next year. Its output is one to six, while barley is one to two.

In addition, sweet potatoes grow underground, so they won't be pecked by birds. In fact, few animals will spoil sweet potatoes except wild boars. I heard from my farmers that even if they watch closely, about 10% of the wheat will be ruined by birds every year. In order to keep the harvest, farmers should guard the wheat field all the time, otherwise those flying thieves can eat the wheat Light. This requires a lot of manpower. There is no need to take care of planting potatoes. Farmers only need to water and fertilize regularly.

Of course, sweet potato has its disadvantages. After all, it has slight toxicity. We can't eat it for a long time, so we still need to plant barley and wheat. In addition, sweet potato has great damage to soil fertility, so we need enough fertilizer.

These disadvantages of sweet potato are nothing compared with its advantages of high yield and labor saving. Now, we have land, water and farmers. What really restricts us from sowing is seeds. In that case, why not plant sweet potato? "

"You're right. I'm idle anyway. I'll plant 20000 mu of sweet potatoes." Bruce chuckled that he really didn't like sweet potatoes, but since it didn't take much manpower to plant sweet potatoes, it didn't matter to plant some.

Victor shook his head and said, "I plant this batch of sweet potatoes not only to supplement the lack of food, but also for breeding. In three years, I will plant 100000 mu of sweet potatoes."

"What? So many! You just said that sweet potatoes will destroy soil fertility? Victor, I suggest you plant some alfalfa. Cattle and sheep are wealth. Sometimes, cattle and sheep can even be used directly as kinsol." Bruce was startled and hurriedly advised.

Victor did not explain, but said, "go, I'll take you somewhere."

Bruce followed victor in fog. After a while, he saw a large shed. Before Bruce came near, he heard the humming of wild boars from the shed. There are wild boars, large and small, in the shed, almost hundreds of them. Bruce asked in surprise, "are you still keeping wild boars in captivity?"

"It tastes a little big."

Since the awakening of the popular talent of the moon elves, Victor's five senses have become extremely sharp. The smell of these wild boars makes him a little impatient.

After using x-3 to dilute the smell, Victor said: "Wild boar is not as valuable as cattle and sheep, but it eats almost everything. Oak fruit, worms, termites, seabuckthorn fruit and blue core grass, which are useless to us, can be used as wild boar food. Raising a wild boar can produce about 500 pounds of meat and lard a year, while a sheep can provide more than 100 pounds of mutton at most, and it takes three years to kill cattle, but it is not enough Just a thousand pounds of beef. Do you think it's cost-effective to raise pigs? "

"Victor, I can't agree with you."

Bruce shook his head and said: "Cowhide, beef tendon and sheep's skin are more valuable than meat. Besides, cattle and sheep produce milk. As for wild boars, we Yorkers know them too well and don't need to raise them at all. They are everywhere in the wild. You may not know that the Lord usually allows his people to hunt wild boars in the territory. As for our nobles, it doesn't matter if we eat wild boar meat once in a while, but if we eat more, we will lose our identity. You will lose your identity. Thank you Now keep all the wild boars in captivity. Your people may think you are a stingy Lord. After all, wild boars are the main source of meat for the people. "

All resources in the territory, including wild boars, are the property of the Lord. Bruce mistakenly thinks that Victor's pig breeding is to prevent the collar people from poaching. This behavior can be called tyranny.

Victor frowned. He really didn't think about it. All along, Victor's people have been exchanging labor for work points and work points for food, which is tantamount to eating a big pot of rice. But whether they are vassals, collar people or free people, they all want private property. The reason why collar people are willing to eat a big pot of rice is that they are in the system of exchanging work points for land, and Victor now My men are either members of the work point system or the alchemical militia. The question is, the work point system has been closed. What about the later free people? When they see that Victor even wild boars are kept in captivity, are they willing to stay and settle down?

"Bruce, I think raising wild boars is the best choice."

Victor decided to put this problem aside and first recommended his farming and animal husbandry system to Bruce, "have you noticed that after the ant tide, all the beasts in the man horse hill can't be found, and only groups of wild boars are left. These wild boars have no natural enemies, and soon they will become a disaster. At that time, do you think the collar people can still collect berries and wild vegetables in the wild?"

Brewston was stunned. He was no stranger to the food source of the collar people. In addition to planting crops and animal husbandry, hunting and gathering accounted for a large part. In times of shortage, the collar people usually need to collect all kinds of wild fruits, nuts, mushrooms and wild vegetables as food. However, these important wild crops are also the food of wild boars. If the wild boars eat them up, they can eat them What should we do? We can't eat pork all at once. Moreover, wild boars are fierce and not easy to kill. Many hunters die under the tusks of wild boars every year.

"Bruce, if you let wild boars go, they will not only eat up wild crops, but also threaten the survival of yellow sheep and short tailed deer. In a few years, only wild boars will be left in the wild of the man horse hills. Therefore, we must control the number of wild boars before they flood. Now, you have two choices, either kill all wild boars or keep wild boars in captivity."

"My choice is to raise wild boars in captivity. Uncontrolled wild boars are pests, and captive wild boars are precious wealth. These wild boars can turn what we don't eat into meat that we can eat. Wild boar manure is a very good fertilizer and can improve food production. Without wild boars, delicious yellow sheep and short tailed deer will increase, wild fruits and wild vegetables will also increase. Go out People who collect and hunt are safer. I grow so many sweet potatoes just to raise more wild boars. "

"Bruce, if I manage the territory in my way, the total amount of food will increase by at least three times." Said Victor impassively.

"Then don't we raise cattle and sheep? Without cowhide, we can't make leather armor! We can't only produce grain." It took Bruce a long time to wake up from the scene outlined by Victor and said slowly.

Victor smiled, "Bruce, are there any beasts in the territory after the ant disaster? Of course cattle and sheep can graze in the wild!"

Bruce's eyes brightened and blurted out, "yes! I didn't expect it! Victor, you are really a different yellow sheep!"

"Me? Yellow sheep?!"

Bruce smiled awkwardly and explained Edwin's comments to victor.

Victor shook his head and said with a smile, "master Edwin's metaphor is really vivid." Then he said, "in a few years, the wild animals will come back. Therefore, I plan to establish settlements in the wild and let people specially herd cattle and sheep. As for the problem of water source, it can also be solved. I plan to build reservoirs with green bricks to collect rainwater for the use of the settlements. As long as there is no drought, I can fully meet the problem of drinking water in the settlements."

"Wait! What are you talking about? Reservoirs? Settlements?" Bruce asked excitedly.

Victor knows the reason why Bruce is excited. Water is an important factor limiting human production activities. Some territories are very vast, but they can only feed thousands of people because of the lack of water. Digging pits to store water is nothing new, but the water in the pits can easily seep into the ground and can't store water for a long time. The pool made of green bricks can do this. However, if you want to rely on the reservoir To expand the village is wishful thinking.

Victor carefully explained the characteristics of the green brick reservoir to Bruce and said, "the rainwater collected in the reservoir is only enough for cattle and sheep to drink. There is no way to farm."

"What a pity." Bruce shook his head with regret and said excitedly, "but it's good to be able to herd cattle and sheep."

Victor was secretly pleased that as long as the York family tasted the sweetness of the reservoir, they would not refuse his proposal.

"Bruce, I have a treasure for Sylvia." Victor smiled mysteriously.

Bruce saw that it was a wooden tool shaped like a huge bow. At the bottom of the wooden tool was a moldboard plow made of fine iron. He asked suspiciously, "is this a plow?"

"Yes, this is the plough I designed." Victor nodded

Victor had seen his farmers plough. They used a kind of ox hook plow to plough the land. He only saw the farmer driving his cattle, plowing horizontally once and vertically again. As a result, he plowed only a shallow layer of soil. Victor's face was black at that time. Even people who can't farm only the importance of deep cultivation. It's hell that such shallow cultivation can grow food. Since then, Victor wanted to build a moldboard plow, but what happened later made him too busy to take care of it. Only now did Victor build a new plow.

"With this plow, grain production can be doubled!"

Bruce's gone. When he came, he took 500000 pounds of wheat seeds. When he left, he held the plow given to him by Victor and 12 sheepskin scrolls, which recorded Victor's whole agricultural production system in detail. Bruce is a treasure.

In fact, even if Bruce doesn't come, victor will sell his ideas to the York family, because Victor has a grand plan to build a huge water conservancy project.

After the ant disaster, the fish man group on the Jinshui River bank was seriously damaged. Without the interference of fish man, it is a good time to excavate the artificial river. But building such a huge project requires at least tens of thousands of workers. Victor doesn't have so many hands. When he has so many hands, the fishman has recovered his strength. So Victor is thinking about the York family.

The York family has 120000 people, but it is hard to imagine that people who are busy collecting food all day will have time to complete such a project, not to mention building three fortresses. Therefore, if we want to liberate the productive forces, we must first fill the stomachs of the people so that they do not worry about food. Only in this way can these ordinary people create miracles.

Victor is not going to tell the York family the plan in advance. Speaking with facts is more persuasive than anything. When the leaders of the York family were liberated from the fields, it was almost impossible for them to refuse the plan to build an artificial river. This artificial river can irrigate tens of millions of mu of cultivated land, and victor will be the first beneficiary. By that time, his territory will be enough to feed 200000 people.

Victor drank purple cane wine. He calculated that the project should start in four years. If it was later, the fish man would be a big trouble.

"Maybe we should send someone to shoot those lovely fish people now."