Chapter 27 Liang Da is very angry
After Zhao Gou heard about this bet, he became more and more interesting and full of expectations. If Shen Wanshu really won, wouldn't it mean that the grain output of the Song Dynasty would increase several times. With grain, the people would be able to have enough food and clothing. If the people can have enough food and clothing, they will have surplus money. With surplus money, the court will be able to levy more taxes. If the court has more money, it will give more coins to the Kingdom of Jin, and the Kingdom of Jin will no longer cause trouble to the Song Dynasty.
"It is my will that if Shen Wanshu wins the bet, all the fields belonging to the Song Dynasty clan on Tokyo East Road and Tokyo West Road can be given to her. The condition is that she pays an annual tax and one stone of grain per acre of land is sent to Lin'an."
Zhao Yingluo did not know the decisions of Jin Taizong and Song Gaozong.
Throughout May, those skilled in the field are being taught how to intercrop cornfields with other crops.
Intercropping is actually planting other crops in the gaps between corn fields to increase yield per acre. She chose soybeans, which are most suitable for corn, to be interplanted with corn.
By the time she finished teaching, it was already late May.
Liang Da, who was standing at the edge of the field, felt happy when he saw that green corn seedlings were already growing in his own field, while Zhao Yingluo's field next door had not seen any movement.
Compare the yield of 20 acres of land with my 50 acres of land?You are not even a farmer, so what can you compare to me?If you still can't recruit enough farmers to plant corn by the end of May, be prepared to hand over Zui Hibiscus and Dasong Bank to me as soon as possible.
Liang Da was thinking about something beautiful, and unexpectedly looked up. Dust was flying on the official road not far away. A team of hundreds of people appeared in his field of vision. They were carrying shovels. The person at the front was Zhao Yingluo. In the long line behind her, some were holding shovels and some were pushing carts, all following in unison.
What surprised him even more was that these people were dressed exactly the same!Those who didn't know thought it was some well-disciplined army marching.
What annoyed him most was that the front of the team actually held two banners.
The first banner read, "Competing with the sky and the earth is endless fun."
The second banner read, "Fight with humans and dogs, and you will win the bet."
What is fighting with humans and dogs?This is obviously putting yourself and the dog together!Liang Da was very angry.
After arriving at Zhao Yingluo's land, this army of grain farmers was divided into areas under the command of Jiang Laosi and other core members, and they quickly began to work on growing corn.
There is strength in numbers, and in the midst of a busy farming scene, it took less than two hours for all of the [-] acres of land to be sown.
Liang Da was stunned, "This...when did she hire so many workers?"
In fact, Zhao Yingluo started preparing as early as spring.
After successfully purchasing 40 acres of land last year, due to the shortage of farmers, only 20 acres of land were planted with winter wheat, and the remaining 20 acres of cultivated land were abandoned. It would be fake not to feel distressed.
Since these fields cannot be rented out, why not hire laborers to cultivate them in the form of large-scale farms like later generations did?
There are tens of thousands of people in Kaifeng City, plus the refugees around Kaifeng City who are fleeing the war, there are a total of 10 million people. If these people are hired to become the labor force of the farms, the problem of insufficient tenant farmers can be solved.
Her proposal was naturally supported by Zongze and Lu Haowen, so a large-scale recruitment was launched before the winter wheat harvest.
However, most of the people recruited this time were refugees scattered outside Kaifeng, so the commotion was not that Yingluo's treatment for these refugees is that they include food and accommodation. In addition, each person has five copper plates per day as commission.
Due to the war, the refugees had no food to eat and no clothing to cover their bodies. Some were even forced to sell their children and daughters to get some money to survive for a period of time.
Zhao Yingluo offered such generous conditions and quickly attracted a large number of refugees to sign up. Thousands of people were recruited in just a few days.
After selecting the best from the best and retaining those who had farming experience, were strong, did not cheat, and were honest and loyal, the scale of thousands of people was reduced to an elite of 600 people.
After more than a month of planting training, I became a skilled labor expert only half a month ago.
As for those who were dismissed, Zhao Yingluo had other uses. According to their respective strengths, they were assigned to be masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, waiters after Zui Furong expanded the store, and those who were literate were arranged to be accepted by Dasong Bank. training in order to prepare for Dasong Bank’s future expansion.
Liang Da's official Zhao Shi saw that his master was in a bad mood, so he comforted him and said, "It doesn't matter even if she has sufficient labor force. The original bet was based on the output of her 20 acres of land and our 50 acres." Compared with the yield of the land, it doesn’t matter if she plants 100 million acres.”
Liang Da thought about it, and the anxiety in his heart eased slightly.
Throughout June, the farmers Liang Da recruited from Zhao Yingluo basically followed the methods Zhao Yingluo taught them. They thinned out seedlings when they should, weeded when they needed to, caught insects when they needed to, and fertilized when they needed to.
Judging from the growth of the corn seedlings, the two families seem to be equally matched.
At first, Liang Da was worried that the corn in his field was not as good as Zhao Yingluo's. After running a few times and feeling that there was no difference, he stopped running hard into the field.
What are you doing running around in the fields under the scorching sun?After dinner, take a stroll, visit the East Market, and visit the brothels. Isn’t it delicious?
Liang Da relaxed, but Zhao Yingluo did not relax, but her energy was no longer on the bet with Liang Da, but on her royal brother's will.
According to the information provided by Zongze, the clan land on Tokyo East Road and Tokyo West Road totals more than 200 million acres. If Liang Dana’s 100 million acres are added, the land area she can control will reach 340 million acres! These 340 million acres of land would require an astonishing amount of labor, so she deliberately transferred Jiang Laosi and Feng Jing out again.
Zhao Yingluo asked Feng Jing, who had a calm personality, to take charge of the construction of houses with hired labor, as well as the management of craftsmen such as carpenters, bricklayers, and blacksmiths.
As for the crop expert Jiang Laosi, he is responsible for the recruitment and training of new labor force.
At this time, the number of people under Jiang Laosi dedicated to cultivating the labor force has reached 100, and he can also spare his energy to recruit more farmers.
As for the Da Song Bank, Zhao Yingluo asked Lu Luo to shoulder the heavy responsibility and be responsible for the preparation of the Da Song Bank branch. The Da Song Bank headquarters promoted a shopkeeper named Qian Jun who was proficient in arithmetic to take full charge.
She handed over the expansion of Zui Furong Hotpot to Chuntao, who has a lively and outgoing personality and gets along well with the shopkeeper Zhao Jinlai. The two work together perfectly.
At this point, her business wealth map has been approaching perfection. She has more money, but the hidden worries that come with it are gradually emerging. What if the Jin invades south again?
What if the bandits wandering on both sides of the Yellow River come? There is only one answer: raising private soldiers.
(End of this chapter)