Shilifoshi's agricultural output was not high. Other than being limited by the terrain, the biggest reason was that agricultural technology was not developed enough. The people used the most primitive tools to farm, and the amount of land that a single person could cultivate was very limited. The food obtained from hunting and fishing was not as much as the food obtained from hunting and fishing. Therefore, most people were not willing to engage in agricultural production. They were more willing to hunt and fish at sea, or even become pirates and rob other people's belongings.
Whether it was hunting, fishing, or even piracy, they were not very creative labor and did not develop people's intelligence. Agriculture was relatively the most complicated labor, and it involved the largest number of tools. There was also the need to build irrigation works, fight against natural disasters, and so on.
Therefore, the people who engaged in agriculture developed their intelligence much faster than the fishing, hunting, and nomadic people. They were also able to create a more brilliant civilization.
The Tang Empire was a country with a long history of agricultural civilization. Therefore, the people of the Tang Empire were far more intelligent and capable than other countries. It was natural for them to become the most powerful country.
The development of agriculture could not be separated from good tools, so it could prompt people to think of ways to develop new tools. This process was the process of research and development, and it could be considered as a handicraft industry. If they continued to develop more advanced agricultural machinery, it would be in the category of industry.
Therefore, when agriculture continued to develop without interference, it was completely possible to develop industry. Moreover, with the advancement of agricultural tools and the increase of the population, the proportion of the agricultural population was bound to decrease. This provided enough manpower for the handicraft industry and business. In order to increase the production speed, the owners of the handicraft industry were bound to have the motivation to develop machinery. Unknowingly, it led to the industrialization that could change human history.
In the history of Hua Xia, there were many glorious times when the handicraft industry was extremely advanced. If it continued to develop, it was completely possible to develop industry.
However, the corruption and fighting in the imperial court caused the country to fall into a weak state, which led to the large-scale invasion of foreign tribes. The development of the handicraft industry was forced to stop, and it was even completely lost. This caused a great loss to the Hua Xia people. Otherwise, Hua Xia could have the industrialization movement hundreds of years earlier than the West.
It was said that the textile machinery of the Great Song Dynasty was already very advanced. A machine had more than 2,000 parts, and the production efficiency was greatly improved. If it continued to develop, it was very likely that even more advanced machinery would be improved, and it could even be a situation like the West's industrialization.
However, the invasion of the barbarians changed everything. After the war, all the advanced agricultural and handicraft equipment were destroyed. Not only was research and development stopped, even the original technology was lost along with the death of the technicians.
After the barbarians were chased away, the new Hua Xia Empire was established. In the later stages of the empire, they placed a lot of emphasis on the development and use of firearms. In the process of fighting against the Wokou pirates, at least half of the soldiers used firearms and achieved great results.
Unfortunately, the firearms of this era were still in their infancy. Their power and reliability were not much better than cold weapons. Therefore, even though they were equipped with advanced firearms, the troops of the Hua Xia Empire were unable to defeat the internal rebellion and invasion of the foreign races. In the end, it led to the complete destruction of the empire.
The barbarians who enslaved the Hua Xia Empire found that firearms were not very good in the process of conquering the Hua Xia Empire. Therefore, after establishing the empire, they did not place any emphasis on the development of firearms and continued to stubbornly use cold weapons. This caused the gap between the empire and the West to widen, causing a century of humiliation.
Therefore, the destruction caused by war was extremely great. Every time the rise of the Hua Xia Empire was at a critical moment, it would be interrupted by the invasion of foreign enemies. This caused the Hua Xia Empire to be unable to develop industrialization. If it were not for the frequent changes of dynasties and the frequent wars, with the intelligence of the people of Hua Xia, they would definitely be able to develop advanced industrial products and stand at the top of the world a step earlier.
The Shilifoshi in front of them was a typical backward country. Its agriculture was a mess, and its handicraft industry was completely stagnant. All kinds of tools were very primitive. The ships that were built did not exceed a thousand tons. The large fishing boats were generally around a hundred tons, and the small ones were only thirty to fifty tons. Fishing at sea was extremely risky.
The popularity of fishing and hunting made the fish and game resources in Shilifoshi extremely rich. Not only did the people eat fish and game as their staple food, but even the royal family also used fish and game as their main food to show their support for fishing and hunting.
Historically, the developed civilizations were all in the temperate zone. The cold zone was not suitable for human survival, so there were basically no humans. The tropical zone had always been inhabited by indigenous people. However, because of the climate of the tropical rainforest, there were too many food resources. Therefore, there was no need to spend too much effort to develop agriculture that required intelligence. Just catching some fish, hunting some game, and picking some wild fruits was enough to fill their stomachs.
On the other hand, the climate of the temperate zone led to insufficient food. The changes of the seasons made the needs of humans greater. They needed to fight more against nature, and in the process, they developed their intelligence.
Therefore, humans living in the tropics all became animals like monkeys. They were basically in the primitive stage. On the other hand, humans living in the temperate zone developed a brilliant civilization. They went from primitive society to slave society, then feudal society, and then capitalist society.
In terms of tools, they went from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Firearms Age, and finally the Great Industrialization Age.
Therefore, it was said that fortune and misfortune came hand in hand. Humans living in the tropics seemed to have enough living materials and did not have to worry about food and water. However, because of this, they lost the opportunity to train their intelligence. Therefore, they had been living in a primitive state. There was not much difference between them and the animals around them.
Of course, this was the situation of tribes in a state of isolation. If the tribes in the tropics formed a country and had connections with the advanced Tang Empire, they would definitely not be in a primitive society.
Shilifoshi had long been in contact with the Tang Empire and the surrounding small countries. Therefore, this country was considered normal. Although it was extremely backward, it was at least a kingdom and not a primitive tribe.
However, there were primitive tribes near Sumatra and Java where Shilifoshi was located. They existed not only in the Tang Empire but also in the quantum era.
These primitive tribes lived in the depths of the islands. Because of the long-term lack of communication with the outside world, they slowly became primitive people. They had no communication with the kingdoms not far away. They were even hostile.
Ang Lee had been in the Tang Empire for so many years, but he had never seen a primitive person. This time, he came to Shilifoshi and had a rare opportunity.
Looking at the table full of fish, meat, and special fruits, Ang Lee suddenly felt that he was too poor. 80% of the dishes on the table were from Shilifoshi. Only 20% of the dishes were from the Tang Empire.
"Your Highness, your breakfast is really sumptuous. There is so much food. We can't finish it."
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"No, we can definitely finish it. Let's eat first and leave the rest for the servants. There are more than a hundred of them. It may not be enough."
King Shilifoshi said.
In ancient times, the servants did not have the opportunity to eat clean food. They could only eat the leftovers left by the nobles to show the noble's high status.
Ang Lee picked up a fish ball and chewed for a while. He praised, "It's delicious. It's really good! What kind of fish are these? "
"These are meatballs made from the best shark meat. They were made with the best seasoning and were meticulously made."
King Shilifoshi replied with a smile.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "So it's shark. No wonder it's so delicious. What is this? Hmm, delicious."
"Assistant Minister Li, this is a whale's tongue. Do you know how big a whale's tongue is?"
King Shilifoshi asked proudly.
Naturally, Li An knew that whales were huge animals. He smiled and said softly, "If we encounter the biggest whale, I'm afraid it would take twenty to thirty people to lift its tongue!"
King Shilifoshi was stunned. He did not expect Ang Lee's answer to be so accurate. He quickly nodded and said, "Assistant Minister Li, you are absolutely right. The whale you ate is huge. Just its tongue alone would make thirty strong men sweat."
Of course, this problem was not difficult for Li An. In Li An's knowledge, the largest whale in the world weighed 160 tons, and its tongue could carry two tons at most, which was 2,000 kilograms. If 20 people were to share the burden, each person would carry 100 kilograms. If 30 people were to carry the tongue, each person would carry 66 kilograms, which was more than 130 kilograms.
For a strong man, this weight was completely bearable. Of course, it was not very easy. It was inevitable that he would be tired and sweaty.
"Whales are huge. They often appear along the coast of the Tang dynasty. Therefore, I am very familiar with whales. If you want to lift the entire whale, it would take two to three thousand people. It is very difficult. Your country's fishing boats are relatively small. How did you catch such a huge monster?"
Ang Lee asked curiously.
In Li An's impression, a large whale was a very dangerous animal. Once it got angry, it could overturn a small fishing boat, leading to the tragedy of the boat being destroyed and the people on board dying.
In Ang Lee's eyes, Shilifoshi's fishing boat was just a small boat. At least, most fishing boats were smaller than a whale. How could they withstand the whale's fatal attack?
King Shilifoshi's face was filled with pride when he heard this. He said, "To catch such a huge whale, we need more than ten small fishing boats. Each boat needs more than ten people. A total of more than a hundred people are needed to work together to catch the whale. Moreover, they must be fishermen with experience in catching whales. Ordinary fishermen would not be able to catch a whale no matter what. They might not even be able to keep their lives."
Ang Lee nodded when he heard this. He said, "I see. However, these fishermen who can catch whales are all heroes!"
King Shilifoshi was very proud to be praised by Ang Lee. He finally regained some face in front of the powerful Tang Empire.
"The whale is too big to be transported. After it is dragged to the shore with ropes, it is directly slaughtered. The best part of its body is sent to the palace. The rest is distributed among the fishermen. A whale like this is enough to feed a village for a long time."
King Shilifoshi said happily.
After Ang Lee tasted the whale's tongue, he continued to taste other breakfast. A piece of fresh meat caught Ang Lee's attention.
"What meat is this? It tastes very good. Let me guess, it is tiger meat."
Ang Lee had eaten tiger meat before. He had some impression of it in his mind. He could taste the tiger meat from the meat in front of him.
"Yes, this is tiger meat. It is the tiger meat of Shilifoshi. The tigers here are smaller than the ones in the Tang Empire. However, the taste is not inferior to the tiger meat in the Tang Empire. Assistant Minister Li, please eat more."
The King invited him very politely.
Ang Lee took a few bites and asked, "Your Highness, are there many tigers in Shilifoshi? Will they be eaten up by the tigers? "
"No, absolutely not. There are many tigers here. Moreover, they often appear beside the village. Many people have died in the tiger's mouth. They hate the tiger to the core. They can't wait for the tiger to go extinct. By the way, there were already more than a dozen tiger hunting teams a hundred years ago. However, after so long, the tigers have not been wiped out. The number of people who died in the tiger's mouth has not decreased. Many hunters have also been bitten to death. "
King Shilifoshi said seriously.
Li An understood the situation very well. After all, the current ecological environment was still relatively good. Shilifoshi's hunters could only use outdated cold weapons. When faced with large wild beasts, they did not have a high chance of winning. Therefore, the tigers could still survive. If these hunters were equipped with advanced sniper rifles from the future, the tigers here would probably be eaten to death.
"Tigers eat humans, humans eat tigers. This is quite interesting! Haha! "
Ang Lee smiled and said softly, "Hunting is a very interesting thing. If I can kill a tiger with my own hands, this trip will be worth it."
"That's not difficult. There are plenty of tigers in Shilifoshi's mountains. If Assistant Minister Li is interested, you can hunt one at any time. Xiao Wang has not exercised for a long time. He can definitely accompany you."
King Shilifoshi said happily.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Okay, I'm a little tired today. Let's do it tomorrow! Tomorrow morning, we will go to the nearby mountains to hunt tigers. Hahaha! "
After that, he introduced the breakfast products of the Tang dynasty and let King Shilifoshi taste them one by one.
Although the breakfast of the Tang dynasty was not as meaty as that of Shilifoshi, the taste was still very different. Moreover, people who were used to eating meat would occasionally eat vegetarian food, which was also very good for their health.
King Shilifoshi had a high opinion of the breakfast of the Tang dynasty. He said that the breakfast of the Tang dynasty was very delicious, much better than the fish of the Tang dynasty.
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