After visiting the carriage workshop, Ang Lee went to the workshop that made the harvester. The harvester produced in this workshop had been reasonably modified several times, and its reliability had been greatly improved. This had a great effect on improving the harvest of grain by farmers. Since this machine was available, the grain farmers no longer had to worry about harvesting grain.
However, this machine also had a shortcoming. A harvester could only recognize one or a few similar crops. It could not be used for crops with great differences.
For example, the harvester that harvested wheat could achieve a perfect harvest of wheat. It could also be used to harvest highland barley and rice. However, crops with great differences such as corn and millet could not be harvested. Corn was still harvested by hand, and millet was another specialized harvester. There was no universal machine.
The spring plowing was about to begin, and before the spring plowing, the winter wheat planted in the autumn would be harvested. Before Li An came to the Great Tang, Guanzhong only had spring plowing and autumn harvest, not autumn plowing and spring harvest. In a year, only one crop of grain could be planted and harvested. But after Li An introduced winter wheat, Guanzhong could harvest two crops in a year, doubling the grain yield. Coupled with the popularization of new high-yield crops, Guanzhong's grain yield had increased by at least three to five times. Thus, the problem of grain shortage had been resolved long ago.
However, this did not hinder the transportation of grain from Jiangnan to Guanzhong. Although the grain yield was very high, some varieties of grain could not be grown in Guanzhong. For example, rice was grown in Jiangnan. If people wanted to eat rice, they could only import it from Jiangnan. Then, the grain in Guanzhong could also be transported to Jiangnan on a large scale, so that the people everywhere could eat different kinds of grain, enrich the people's table, and strengthen the people's physique. Some of the surplus grain could be stored, some used for wine, some fed to livestock, and some sold to small countries in shortage of grain. In short, there were still many ways to use up the unconsumed grain and not waste it.
Although the grain crisis in the Tang Dynasty had completely disappeared, it did not mean that agriculture was no longer important. On the contrary, agriculture was still the most important industry in the Tang Dynasty. It was still the most important industry for the common people. Even in an era where there was no shortage of grain, the common people still would not spoil the grain. For example, people who were used to being poor, even if they got a gold mine, they would still spend it sparingly.
"How many can you produce in a month?"
Ang Lee touched a harvester that had just been assembled and asked.
There were too many machine workshops here. Moreover, there would often be personnel changes. As a result, Li An was unable to know the production rate of each machine. The production rate was indeed unstable, so it was very difficult for him to know clearly.
"Replying to Assistant Minister Li, there are about 100 sets per month."
The official behind him replied.
A monthly output of one hundred machines did sound like a lot, but this output was still far too low. If the output didn't change, they would only be able to produce a little more than one thousand machines a year. And the Great Tang's agriculture was so vast that this number of machines was far from enough.
According to the current harvesters, they could only harvest an average of 30 mu a day. A harvest season lasted at most half a month, or even only 10 days. A harvester could only harvest 300 to 500 mu of land. The land of the Tang Dynasty was about 300 million mu. According to the calculation, a machine could harvest 300 mu of land, 300 million mu of land required 1 million harvesters. According to the current output, it was far from enough to meet the demand. It could not even meet the demand in Guanzhong.
Of course, not all three hundred million mu of land was suitable for the use of harvesters. Only areas where the land was relatively flat were suitable for the use of harvesters. In mountainous areas where the land was rugged, the use of harvesters would be greatly limited, or even completely unable to be used.
1 million harvesters, according to the current output, could only produce a little more than 1,000 machines a year. It would take nearly 1,000 years to completely meet the demand, which was a bit exaggerated. In addition, machines also had a lifespan. They would be scrapped after a few decades. Therefore, as far as the current situation was concerned, the production of harvesters was not saturated at all. According to the current construction progress, it would never be saturated. The gap would be difficult to make up for, so they still needed to desperately manufacture more.
The more machines were used, the more labor was liberated. In this way, there would be enough labor to supply the workshops. This had a great impact on the industrialization of the Tang Empire.
The reason why the population of the capital could grow so fast was that many places in the Guanzhong area began to use machines to maintain agriculture, which reduced the use of tenant farmers. In order to make a living, tenant farmers could only work in the workshops of the capital, which brought enough protection to the prosperity of the capital.
With the continuous production of machines, more and more tenant farmers would be liberated, and more and more people would join the ranks of the workshops. This was the foundation of the prosperity of these industrial cities in the capital.
These harvesters had been improved many times. The parts that were originally most vulnerable to damage had been improved. The reliability had been greatly increased, and they were less likely to break down during work. In this way, a machine could even harvest more than 50 mu a day, which could achieve the maximum utilization of harvesters.
Ang Lee walked around the assembly workshop quietly. It didn't take long for him to see a man who looked like a butler. He was talking to a petty official in front of a newly manufactured harvester.
Under normal circumstances, the R&D Center and the various workshops under it would not allow ordinary people to casually enter. However, people with status and identity could still enter. However, there would be small officials accompanying them throughout the entire process, so nothing that should not happen would happen.
"What's the situation outside?"
Ang Lee looked at the petty official beside him and asked.
The petty official glanced and said, "They're probably here to buy harvesters. The spring harvest has begun recently, and it's the time when harvesters are urgently needed. Our machines here have not been built yet, but they have already been reserved. These people may not be able to buy them even if they come."
"Oh, there's such a thing."
Ang Lee said with a frown.
After thinking about it carefully, such a thing was really not strange at all. After all, machines were really useful. Using machines was much cheaper than using manual labor. Even if one's own grain was harvested, they could still harvest other people's grain at a certain price per mu, thus earning a certain amount of money. Although harvesters were expensive, they could be used for at most two years before the cost could be recovered. Therefore, all the grain farmers and people who wanted to make money targeted this kind of machine. This also caused a very serious competition to a certain extent. Harvesters could not be bought with money, and without a certain background, it was impossible to buy one. These harvesters were scarce resources that everyone wanted to compete for.
After walking outside, Ang Lee heard a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties discussing the purchase of harvesters with the petty official. However, the petty official had made it clear that all the machines had owners, and there were still many people waiting in line. He really could not do anything to make the middle-aged man give up on buying the harvesters.
However, the middle-aged man obviously came with a death order. Seeing that the petty official was unwilling to help, he was so anxious that he was about to cry. Although the steward was very glorious in front of the servants, in front of the master, the steward was also a servant. If the steward did not do something well, he would be scolded severely.
"How many harvesters are you going to buy?"
Ang Lee suddenly asked.
The middle-aged man seemed to have grasped at a life-saving straw. He quickly raised a finger and said, "One, just one is enough. One is enough."
"Just one? How many mu of farmland does your boss have?"
Ang Lee asked.
The middle-aged man replied, "Not much, only three thousand mu of dry land. Now all the winter wheat is planted, and it can be harvested soon."
"Three thousand mu? Is one day enough? Haha! "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Of course not, but the machines are not easy to sell. If I can buy one, the boss will not blame me for not doing a good job."
The middle-aged man told the truth.
Ang Lee nodded, looked at the petty official, and asked, "What's the situation? Who has ordered all the machines? "
The petty official naturally did not dare to hide. He said all the big customers who ordered the machines. These big customers had a high demand for the machines, but because the production was limited, they also reached a certain agreement. The number of machines ordered by each family was not too much. However, after they monopolized, others had no chance.
"Haha! This machine is good! There are so many people waiting to buy it. Ordinary people really can't buy one! "
Ang Lee sighed helplessly.
The middle-aged man looked very helpless. Even Ang Lee, who seemed to have a higher official position, said so. What else could he expect? He originally thought that the petty official, who was familiar with this place, would have some chance. He did not expect that the petty official's position was too low and could not help him. This made him very helpless.
Ang Lee wanted to help the middle-aged man very much, but this might offend him. After thinking about it, he gave up. The output of the machines could not be increased. If he helped one today and another tomorrow, there would still be many people whose needs could not be met. This was very obvious. Therefore, it did not make sense to solve the needs of the man in front of him. Only by developing a harvester with a stronger working ability and then further increasing the output was the right way. Other methods were not very effective.
The demand for harvesters in Guanzhong was already so tight, not to mention other places in the Tang Dynasty. These places also had a high demand for harvesters, but because the output of the capital was only so much, this caused a large shortage of machines. As a result, only the strongest people could get some. Basically, they could only relieve the pressure during the harvest, but it was impossible to completely meet the demand. From this, it could be seen that the Tang Dynasty still had great development potential. The areas where the machines were not popularized had a huge labor force. With the gradual popularization of the machines, these agricultural surplus labor forces would be squeezed out little by little and transferred to other fields such as industry.
Because a large number of unemployed people gathered in a short period of time, huge social problems would arise. Therefore, it was not necessarily a good thing to popularize the machines too quickly. They had to be popularized bit by bit. In this way, a small number of tenant farmers who continuously lost their source of income would be able to enter the industrial field step by step. The phenomenon of tenant farmers being unemployed would not appear in large numbers, which would be of great benefit to social stability.
According to the social data of later generations, a stable country could basically keep the unemployment rate within 10%. Once the unemployment rate exceeded 30%, the country would definitely fall into turmoil. The higher the unemployment rate, the more turbulent the society would be. The previous peasant uprisings in ancient times were basically because these farmers had encountered disasters. It could be said that they could not harvest any grain, but they had no other way to make a living, so they could only follow some people to revolt. Anyway, if they stayed at home, they would starve to death. Maybe there was a way to survive if they rebelled.
Therefore, there were certain benefits to not increasing the output of the machines in the workshop. At least, it would not cause too many tenant farmers to lose their source of income in a short period of time. The tenant farmers could be slowly guided to enter the industrial and other industries, so that the unemployment rate in the Tang dynasty could always be maintained at a relatively low level.
The output of the machines was not high, so it was difficult to meet the needs of the whole country. Naturally, it was difficult to be fair and just in the distribution. There was no such thing as fairness in the world at all. It was too difficult to be fair.
Ang Lee would not sell the harvester to the middle-aged man in front of him because he had difficulties. This would not solve any problem. The reason why the man's boss was in a hurry to buy the harvester was that he wanted to save money and make more money. Without the harvester, he could only hire more labor, so the labor cost would be too high.
"Where is your boss from? Where is the field?"
Ang Lee asked.
The middle-aged man said, "Our boss is from the old capital city. The 3,000 mu of land is in the area of Fan Chuan in the south of the city. It's not very far."
"Fan Chuan. It's a good place with beautiful scenery. It can still be used for farming now. In the future, as the capital city continues to expand, I'm afraid that it can no longer be used for farming. Maybe workshops and buildings will be built there!"
Ang Lee said.
The development of a city required a huge supply of land. Without enough land supply, it would be difficult for a city to develop. It was obviously difficult to maintain the space inside Chang 'an City. The outside of the city had been occupied by continuous expansion of buildings. In the future, these buildings would only be built more and more, and the scale of Chang' an City would naturally become larger and larger.
Fan Chuan was not far from the center of Chang 'an City. As long as it was developed for a few more decades, the city center could be expanded to the area of Fan Chuan. At that time, the farmland in Fan Chuan would be requisitioned, and workshops and buildings would be built there.
For the beautiful scenery of Fan Chuan, the construction of buildings and workshops might destroy the environment here. However, workshops and buildings would play a great role in improving the local economy of Fan Chuan. The loss of the environment was not a big deal. Moreover, as long as the pollution was slightly controlled, it would not have a big impact on the environment.
The Apex
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