Chapter 7 The trouble with cattle and sheep The construction work on the island soon got on track, and everything was developing in the direction that Tian Ze expected. At the same time, the first batch of supplies transported by Han Dang also arrived. Looking at the large number of chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, sheep and war horses in front of him, Jia Xu felt worried instead of happy. How to raise these things? Although Changxing Island is large, it is mostly hilly and tidal flats with few plains and grasslands. Chickens, ducks, and pigs are fine, and seaweed and the like from the beach can be crushed and eaten. At most, they can be fed with some corn. After all, Tianze has stored a lot of food and fodder. But cattle, sheep and war horses need to eat grass. War horses, in particular, have extremely high requirements for feed and cannot be neglected in the slightest. The grassland on the island is not big, and apart from the cultivated land there are endless hills. The mountains are covered with trees, and it is difficult to find cattle and sheep once they have entered the vast forest, so it is not suitable for grazing at all.
After arranging for the people to temporarily take in all the livestock and keep them in Bing Village for care, Jia Xu hurried to find Tian Ze. At this time, Tian Ze had just returned from the sea and was resting in the newly built mansion in Changxing Sai. Sitting on the Hu chair, Tian Ze looked at the map of Changxing Island on the wall with a frown. On the map, the sea area around Changxing Island was densely dotted with red dots, with only about one-fifth of the area in the southwest still vacant. "At the current speed, we should be able to complete the 'Spirit-Fixing Formation' the day after tomorrow. It's a pity that we don't have enough jade available, so we can only do this step." Tian Ze murmured. After handing over all the government affairs of Changxing Island to Jia Xu, Tian Ze began to consider the security of the island. Although Changxing Island is far away from disputes, it is located in the sea, so natural disasters such as typhoons and heavy rains are relatively frequent. Tian Ze has been busy on the boat these days. According to the "Spirit-Fixing Formation" recorded in the dragon-patterned jade pendant, he has inlaid a large amount of jade on the seabed and arranged a formation to avoid natural disasters and conceal the existence of Changxing Island. Although the jade he prepared could not completely replace the spirit stone, it could still have a certain effect and could easily resist natural disasters. Tian Ze originally wanted to expand the range of the formation to facilitate future near-shore fishing, but activating the formation consumed too much spiritual energy, which he could not afford. Moreover, jade of that era was extremely rare and expensive, so we had to give up. After calculating the investment cost, Tian Ze estimated that he would never use this formation again in the future. "It seems that we still have to focus on the Liaodong Peninsula. One island, Changxing Island, is enough." Tian Ze chose Changxing Island mainly for confidentiality and to avoid technology leakage. Secondly, for safety, no matter how strong the Xianbei were, they would not be able to attack the island. But the cost-effectiveness of operating island farming is too low. The sea is full of uncertainties. Whether it is island farming or maritime transportation, the risks are extremely high and far less stable than inland areas. Just as Tian Ze was studying and improving the map, Jia Xu walked in. "Lord!" "Wenhe is here, sit down."
Seeing the Hu chairs on both sides, Jia Xu sat down on the nearest one without any concern. Tian Ze put down the pen in his hand, turned around and looked at Jia Xu and said, "Have the supplies from Lord Yi been delivered?" Jia Xu nodded: "This time they sent a thousand chickens and ducks, two hundred cattle, sheep and pigs, a hundred war horses, and countless supplies." "And this is only the first batch. Lord Yi said there are about seven or eight more batches to go." Jia Xu had long been accustomed to Tian Ze's wealth. Although it is easier to obtain cattle and sheep in the North, the amount of money, food and energy required to obtain so many livestock is unimaginable for ordinary people. "Not bad." Tian Ze nodded. "If these livestock are properly fed, and combined with hunting fish and shrimp, it shouldn't be a problem to provide meat for the guards and the people. And with oxen, it will be easier for the people to farm." "But how to raise these livestock is a difficult problem," said Jia Xu. "There is not enough grassland on the island. Even if we cut down trees now and turn some hills into pastures, I'm afraid it won't be enough to feed these cattle and sheep." Jia Xu pointed to the location of Bing Village on the map and said, "I have organized the people of Bing Village to temporarily gather the cattle and sheep for grazing, because there is only a piece of grassland suitable for grazing around Bing Village on the island, but it can only provide more than 200 cattle and sheep at most. If more cattle and sheep are sent later, I am afraid it will not be able to support it, not to mention the war horses." "That's fine." Tian Ze didn't care. "This place is quite suitable for growing grass. It should be enough for now. We can clear a piece of land around it and plant more alfalfa." With the magic of spiritual rain, Tianze can restore life to the pasture that has been eaten up at any time, and it will be fine to hold it together for a while. However, in order to save spiritual energy, it is still necessary to create pastures that can meet grazing needs in the future. After hearing Tian Ze's words, Jia Xu immediately understood something and said no more. "Chickens, ducks and pigs can be distributed to the people to raise freely. If they are not eaten by the people after they grow up, the government can purchase them. The horses must be taken good care of. These are all excellent war horses and cannot be neglected. Fresh grass, black beans, etc. must be ensured to be sufficient." Tian Ze attached great importance to war horses, as they were a fundamental basis for his future career. Facing the barbarians who come and go like the wind, we must have enough elite cavalry to deal with them, and war horses are indispensable. "The cattle are distributed on a village-by-village basis to ensure that they can be used for farming. We need to draft a charter to ensure that the cattle are raised and the needs of the people are met to avoid disputes." The invention of the cow ring was not a difficult task for Tian Ze, and it easily solved the problem of working oxen. The cows Tian Ze bought were enough to satisfy the needs of the islanders, but there was no need to distribute them all. After all, raising cows was not an easy task and the cost was not low. It was enough for several households to raise one cow together, and there was no need to waste too much manpower. "The rest of the cattle and sheep will be raised in a centralized manner, with separate people assigned to take care of them. Set aside some areas specifically for grazing, and distribute money and food according to the feeding conditions." Tian Ze said. "My Lord, isn't it too early to herd so many cattle and sheep now?" Tian Ze shook his head: "Not too early. In less than a year, we will have to expand our army, and by then we will have at least a thousand soldiers. And raising cattle and sheep takes time. Although we have fewer people now and it is more difficult to raise them, it will be fine after this period of time." "In the future, Changxing Island will be mainly responsible for supplying meat to the soldiers. At least three meals a day will be guaranteed, and each meal will have sufficient meat. Most importantly, the number of cattle and sheep must be kept constant at more than 5,000." The cost-effectiveness of raising cattle and sheep is not high and is far inferior to farming. Therefore, except for the special terrain of the northern grasslands, few countries in the Central Plains choose to develop animal husbandry on a large scale. As for the idea that eating more meat can reduce the intake of staple foods, that is purely wishful thinking. You can’t even afford rice, and you still want to eat meat? Raising livestock consumes far more food and fodder than it saves. Unless there are large grasslands or other natural resources nearby, it is far less cost-effective than directly eating livestock feed.
What kind of world is this now? The Central Plains is full of starving people, people are willing to eat their own children, and tree bark and grass roots can be used as food, not to mention livestock feed. As someone said, bran is a good thing, but many people want to eat it but cannot. But the existence of Tianze directly improved the productivity of the people by more than one level. With sufficient food and grass, they can naturally consider how to eat better. (End of this chapter)
