Ang Lee wanted to make a few experimental fields first and then popularize it. Naturally, it was based on the realistic conditions. After all, the people in Dongnu Province were starving. Would the emperor not disband the starving soldiers? The people were already suffering from hunger. If they sent corvee laborers on a large scale, it would definitely cause more dissatisfaction among the people. At that time, who knew what would happen? It would be troublesome if it caused a riot in Gui Chang City. Although Li An's idea was good, the current conditions were not satisfied yet. Therefore, they could only temporarily take small steps and increase the scale. When the people saw with their own eyes that the experimental fields here were effective, then there was no need for the imperial court to mobilize them. Once the people had the motivation, everything would be easy to handle.
"It's much easier to make a few experimental fields. It can be completed in seven or eight days at most."
Zhao Daiwen said affirmatively.
"In that case, I'll leave this matter to you, Great Minister."
Ang Lee said.
Zhao Daiwen readily agreed. He was good at organizing manpower for construction. As long as the scale was not too big, he did not have to worry.
The selected points did not require too much manpower. Zhao Daiwen transferred two thousand people from the soldiers in the city. One thousand people were in a group. They took turns to work and guard, so as to ensure the smooth progress of the project.
Because work required more physical strength, the daily food supply for these two thousand men was increased by thirty percent to ensure that everyone could eat their fill and not work on empty stomachs. At the same time, their military pay was also increased appropriately to appease their emotions.
Originally, there was already a shortage of food. In order to build these experimental fields, they had to consume more food. As a result, the food pressure was naturally greater. However, these were all worth it. These were long-term plans that had to be done as soon as possible. They couldn't not do these things just because of a shortage of food.
For example, when one was hungry, one had to take out enough seeds to plant. One could not eat the seeds just because one was hungry. In this way, one's stomach could be filled temporarily. However, there would be no more food to fill one's stomach. One had to think about the long-term.
Ang Lee was very relieved to leave this matter to Zhao Daiwen. There were still many things to deal with. Ang Lee could not be idle.
For example, although the terraced fields outside the West Gate were good, there were also bandits outside the West Gate. Although the main bandits had gone south, many bandits who were unwilling to leave were still entrenched in the mountains. Most of these bandits were desperate people, but the leaders were real bandits. They took pleasure in robbing people and often did bad things. They were a group of people without conscience.
This time, the reason why Zhao Daiwen wanted two thousand people to take turns to work and guard was to prevent the bandits from causing trouble. After the terraced canal was built, crops must be planted immediately. In order to protect these crops, soldiers needed to be sent to guard them day and night to prevent the bandits from robbing the vegetables that had just grown.
The best way to deal with these bandits was to have enough food. First, they had to persuade the people who were forced to join the bandits to become good. Then, they could focus on attacking a small number of bandits. However, what they lacked the most now was food. If they could not give the hungry people enough food, how could they ask them to become good? If they could only starve to death after becoming good, then naturally, no one would choose to become good. There were too many bandits, so it was naturally more difficult to encircle and suppress them. Forcefully encircling and suppressing them would only increase the losses of the imperial army. If the bandits were eliminated, the loss would be the country's manpower. It was not worth the loss.
Of course, the main reason why the imperial army was unwilling to attack the bandits was that the government did not have much food. Searching the mountains required a lot of physical strength. The amount of food consumed by the soldiers would increase greatly. This would make the officials, who were already short of food, even more short of food. It might even cause the collapse of the government. Once the government collapsed, Dongnu Province would enter a state of anarchy. At that time, it would be more chaotic, and the lives of the people would be more difficult.
It was precisely because of this point that Ang Lee gave up the idea of encircling and suppressing the bandits. As long as the bandits did not provoke the imperial army, the imperial army would not provoke the bandits. If the bandits wanted to attack the imperial army, such as robbing the imperial army's grain transport team, then they would be directly annihilated. In short, it was best for both sides to get along peacefully. No one had the power to make a big change.
The bandits were limited by the food shortage, so they could only scatter in the mountains to look for food. Occasionally, they would go out to rob and they could get some food. However, almost everyone did not have much food, and the caravans were almost extinct. Therefore, robbing was sometimes very difficult. They almost could not get any food. They could only rely on the wild animals in the mountains to satisfy their hunger. They could only hang on to their lives, but they were definitely not full. In this case, the timid ones could only continue to starve, and the bold ones would attack other bandits or even rob the imperial army's grain, which would lead to a disaster.
In short, the situation that the bandits were facing at this moment was very serious. They did not have a good life. It could be said that they were in a very bad situation. The bandits who had a mental breakdown could do something very outrageous at any time.
Raising rabbits, building water conservancy facilities, and purchasing large amounts of grain from Central Sichuan. If these measures were implemented together, it was believed that it would not be long before the food shortage problem in Dongnu Province could be solved.
These days, Ang Lee went to the rabbit ranch every day. He also had to go to the terraced fields outside the city to observe the progress of the project. Ang Lee had high hopes for the ranch and the terraced fields and ditches. He was also surprised every day. For example, in the rabbit ranch, there would be a litter of rabbits born every day. Obviously, these female rabbits had been pregnant for a long time, and it was time for them to give birth. The construction of the terraced fields outside the city was also very fast. It was completed in less than a week.
After the terraced fields and ditches were completed, Zhao Daiwen and the soldiers began to plant crops in these terraced fields. They planted a total of more than a dozen crops and dozens of vegetables at the same time, especially the quick-ripened vegetables. After all, there was a serious shortage of grain now. The more vegetables they planted, the more they could alleviate the shortage of grain. And the quick-ripened vegetables were undoubtedly the best. They could be harvested faster so that the people could eat vegetables earlier.
In the mountains in the wild, there were many wild vegetables. Although these wild vegetables were not nutritious enough, it was not a big problem to protect one's life. This was also the main reason why many bandit groups did not starve to death even though they had run out of food. They hid in the mountains and occasionally found prey. Even if there was no prey, they could cook some wild vegetables to save their lives. However, compared to cultivated vegetables, wild vegetables were much less nutritious. Moreover, many wild vegetables were poisonous, while vegetables could be eaten freely.
The local quick-ripened vegetables could be on the table in more than twenty days. Such quick-ripened vegetables were naturally the first choice for large-scale planting. In addition, considering that there were too many rainy days, the seeds of crops and vegetables were biased towards the varieties that were resistant to flooding. That was, vegetables and grains that liked water. This way, even if they were occasionally soaked in water, they would not drown.
For example, the local water celery was a kind of vegetable that liked water very much. Even if their roots were soaked in water, they would not drown. They would definitely not drown.
As the crop that liked water the most, rice naturally had to be planted. However, in order to prevent dry weather without rain, rice was planted at the lowest level, which was the place closest to the river. This way, even if there was a drought, they could get water from the river in time to prevent the rice from drying out.
More than ten days passed in a flash. The number of rabbits in the ranch that only had one thousand rabbits had exceeded three thousand. However, most of them were newborn rabbits. There were very few adult rabbits. It would take a few months for these rabbits to grow to adulthood. They could only wait slowly. There was no good way.
In the terraced fields outside the city, crops and vegetables were also planted, especially some wild vegetables. Now, they had several leaves. At a glance, they were green and very pleasing to the eye.
However, there were unexpected situations. Soon, a huge rainstorm hit these delicate seedlings. These delicate seedlings could withstand the blow of the rainstorm. Ang Lee was very concerned. Therefore, as soon as the rain stopped the next day, Ang Lee hurried to the terraced fields outside the city to check.
When Li An arrived at the terraced fields outside the city, Zhao Daiwen and many of the soldiers were also there. They were also very concerned about whether the vegetables and crops they planted were growing well, and whether they had suffered heavy losses due to the storm.
Everyone was very happy because these delicate seedlings withstood the blow and became greener than before. The reason why the seedlings became so strong at this time was that the drainage design of the ditch was very reasonable. The excess rainwater in each layer of terraced fields would flow directly into the big ditch next to it through the small ditch on one side. It would not impact the lower layer of terraced fields. At the same time, it would not be disturbed by the upper layer of terraced fields. In this way, the excess rainwater in each layer of terraced fields could be quickly discharged. The crops and vegetables would not be soaked and washed by a large amount of rainwater. It was very understandable that they were preserved.
"Good, good, really very good. I really didn't expect that these vegetables and crops could grow so well just by changing the drainage. In this way, so many days of hard work were not in vain!"
Zhao Daiwen was very happy.
"Great Minister is right. If all the terraced fields are changed like this, then there will be no need to worry about droughts and floods in the future. The people will also be able to eat their fill. The people will not cause trouble when they are full, and the bandits will not be able to jump around for a few days."
An official at the side said.
Zhao Daiwen nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, this is the truth. Now that the vegetables have grown leaves and the crops are growing very well, you must open your eyes and protect these results well. You must not let anyone destroy them."
"Great Minister, rest assured. We will guard them day and night. We will not let anyone destroy them."
Everyone said.
Ang Lee walked over and picked up a vegetable seedling. Looking at the roots of the seedling, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Oh, Assistant Minister Li is here! The Queen is not here? "
Zhao Daiwen only just noticed Ang Lee, but because the Queen was not here, there were very few guards accompanying him. There were only a dozen people, so it was not easy to attract Zhao Daiwen's attention.
In addition, Ang Lee was also wearing ordinary clothes, not the luxurious official robe, which was even less likely to attract attention.
Zhao Daiwen was also a little puzzled that Ang Lee and Queen Dong did not come together. After all, these days, Zhao Yefu and Ang Lee had been inseparable. No matter where they went, the two of them would walk side by side. This was already a very public matter in Guichang City. Almost all three-year-old children knew about it.
"Oh, she is a little weak. Is she resting in the palace?"
Ang Lee said lightly.
This was also the truth. Zhao Yefu had been tortured by Ang Lee so much that she had no strength, so she was resting in her palace. But after all, she was young, so there would not be any serious problems. She just needed to rest for a while.
Guichang City was resuming production in an orderly manner. A large amount of food from the Tang dynasty was also on the way. At most, in one or two months, the crisis in Dongnu Province could be resolved. However, not everyone was willing to see this happen. For example, Duan Jianwei did not want Dongnu Province to be on the right track, and he did not want Dongnu Province to become Dongnu Province.
He took the rebels of Dongnu Province and a large number of bandits and ran to the southern part of Dongnu Province to develop. In the southern area, he could get a lot of food from Nanzhao, so that the rebels and bandits would not suffer from hunger. Only when these people who were gathered by him could his plan be better implemented.
When they were hungry, the fighting power of the rebels and bandits was very weak. A person who was not full was bound to have little strength. When they were full, a person's physical strength could be maintained at the best state.
In addition, giving the rebels and bandits enough food could also subdue them and make them obedient. If these rebels and bandits were not obedient, then he could threaten them with food shortage.
If he wanted this threat to be effective, he could not give too much food to the bandits and rebels at one time. He could only give them food that could last for about half a month. He would make up for the shortage. In this way, these rebels and bandits could be well controlled by him. Food would become the most powerful weapon for him to control these rebels and bandits, so that the rebels and bandits would not dare to have the slightest intention to resist.
At this time, the rebels had also recruited people and expanded their team to 5,000 people, while the bandits had already exceeded 20,000 people. Their total strength was comparable to the current strength of Dongnu Province. Moreover, with so many soldiers and horses, there was no shortage of food now. Their fighting power might be a little stronger than the official army of Dongnu Province. This was bound to be a great threat to Dongnu Province, which was in deep crisis.
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