Chapter 6 Agricultural Production
Because the bitter brine is discarded, the salt tastes better than elsewhere, and it has become one of the important export commodities of the Chamber of Commerce.
"Speaking of which, did they buy what I wanted?"
Alexander did not dare to neglect Peter's request and immediately answered.
"Your Highness, our people have purchased some artillery and muskets from Buda, Vienna and other places. The quantity is only small, but we have recruited some craftsmen who can make firearms. I believe that artillery will be mass-produced in the future."
"Yeah" Peter agreed, and the next few questions were quickly concluded. Because he still has a lot of things to do.
Although Constanta is suitable for economic development, it is too close to the border. If the Ottoman army comes over, it will be over, so we must be prepared for defense.
At present, the entire Dobroga region has a population of 30,000 people, of which Constanta and surrounding areas account for one-third. If there was no war, there would soon be more than 50,000 people here.
In Constanta, Peter began to build the defense system here very early. Including a series of tasks such as castles, artillery, and soldiers. Now a standing army of 500 people has been trained, and there are also 500 mercenaries recruited originally. When necessary, there was help from levied militia and some vassals. Also has some artillery and a lot of ranged troops.
At the same time, Peter also used his knowledge to direct the workers to build a large building that they had never seen before. A series of structures, including trenches and low walls, make Constanta one of the most fortified cities in the Balkans. And Peter also began to prepare to form Wallachia's first navy. It seemed that he would also have a place in the Black Sea.
Compared with Western and Central European countries, Eastern European countries are relatively backward in development. In the principalities from Wallachia, Moldova to Rus, productivity still cannot increase. In order to increase productivity, Peter confiscated all the lands of the fleeing lords, leaving one-third of the land for those who died but had families, and the rest was either given to free farmers or enfeoffed to new lords. These became the basis for Peter's rule in Dobroga. Don't think that centralization is so easy. It is impossible to move the Eastern practices to the West. Moreover, the titles in Europe and the East are completely different. It would be a joke if you tried to copy them mechanically.
Moreover, these lords were also loyal to him. They were responsible for handling the affairs of the manor in peacetime and obeyed the call during war. Of course, Peter also proposed that as long as he paid the money, he would not have to serve.
Peter created several barons, including three of his supervisors. Alexander, the economic director, was canonized as Baron Medilia, Boris, the civil director, was named Baron Pavlon, and military director Constantine was named Baron Dumai. For these three loyal men, Peter also very considerately relieved them of their military service obligations. They can continue to serve in the military. If they don't want to go, they can pay an extra sum of money to be exempted.
Affected by trade, some manor owners began to circulate monetary rent, and farmers also became rich and gained freedom through trade. Compared with the vast mainland of Wallachia, Dobroga is considered the best treated farmer.
Compared to Western and Central Europe, Eastern Europe had more applications for serfs. Wallachia is no exception. Among the entire population, the serf population accounts for 10%, which is relatively low, while the number of slaves in Constantinople reaches one-fifth.
Peter doesn't feel that the application of serfs is anti-human. After all, in order to speed up development, he also purchased a group of serfs from Hungary and Moldavia. But he proposed that as long as he saved enough money, he could regain his free status, and I'm afraid they would never see such a humane lord in their lifetime.
Peter also made great efforts in agriculture. Although the land here is very fertile, the production tools and methods are still very primitive, resulting in a low output. So, Peter started with both production tools and fertilizer.
On the one hand, Peter sent people to nearby cities, recruited a group of blacksmiths with good skills, and settled here. At the same time, I purchased a lot of iron ingots, wood, and some forging equipment...
After the blacksmiths arrived, Peter immediately arranged for them to work with the carpenters to make a batch of curved shaft plows and various iron working tools according to the drawings he had in mind.
Compared with the straight shaft plow, the curved shaft plow has undergone major improvements. First, the shaft is changed from straight to curved, from long to short, and a plow disc is installed on the shaft head, which can rotate freely, thus making the operation flexible and saving manpower and time. Animal power. Secondly, the curved shaft plow adds a plow shaft and a plow structure. By pushing and lifting the plow shaft, the plow arrows are controlled downward or upward, so that the plowshare can penetrate deeply or shallowly into the soil. The curved shaft plow also has an improved plow wall, which is rounded and can push the turned-up soil aside to reduce resistance to advancement. It can also turn over soil clods to cut off the growth of weeds. Therefore, there was no improvement until the Qing Dynasty.
However, this thing that was invented in the Tang Dynasty has not been invented in Eastern Europe until now. It can be seen how backward the local production methods are, even far behind Western Europe.
As for the second one, which is somewhat resisted by farmers, it is the use of farmyard manure.
As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, people already knew that field weeds can promote the growth of millet after they rot. "Qi Min Yao Shu" introduces in detail the method of planting green manure and the method of rotating leguminous crops with gramineous crops. It also mentions the method of mixing crop stalks with cow dung and urine, trampling and composting to make fertilizer. .
However, at this time, Europe still did not know this method after the great decline of agricultural technology in the Middle Ages. So Peter decided to help them personally.
After being piled up and fermented, the excrement of humans and animals was poured into the fields under his orders. This caused protests from the serfs, who believed that their fields would be soiled. But the protest was ineffective.
Moreover, they also used hole sowing, not broadcast sowing commonly used by European farmers in the Middle Ages. Broadcasting is indeed easier, but the seeds are unevenly distributed and planted shallowly. Because the seeds scattered by human hands may sometimes be clustered together, and sometimes some parts may be missed. If they are clustered together, the seedlings will compete for fertilizer when they are growing. As a result, none of the several seedlings that are clustered together will grow well. And where the seeds are not sown, it is easy to cause waste.
Hole sowing is different. When sowing, the rows are already separated, leaving appropriate space for the seeds to grow. Before sowing, Peter also directed the serfs to use the salt water seed selection method to select high-quality seeds with full grains. At the same time, hole sowing is deeper than broadcast sowing, which is more conducive to seed development. Therefore, this method of sowing has good results and good yields.
But soon, it was harvest time. When the harvest began, Peter sent someone to count the yield. As bundles of wheat straw with ears of wheat were delivered to the threshing floor, the serfs divided their hands and began to separate the wheat grains.
After a busy month, the harvest of Peter's own land was complete. According to calculations, the entire Dobroga produces about 180 to 220 pounds of grain per acre.
This output cannot be compared with that of the distant East, but there is no problem in beating Europe. According to data at this time, the sowing to output ratio in the UK was 1:3, and in Central Europe it was 1:6. One acre of land can produce about 120 pounds, and here it reaches 200 pounds.
After harvesting and taxing the grain, the grain silos owned by Peter directly filled up the granaries of Constanta and Tulcea, and a considerable part was not filled. With so much grain, Peter and Dobroga, which he governed, became the richest region in Wallachia.
With so much grain, Peter sold part of it to obtain funds.
Because he had access to the sea, Peter could sell his grain effortlessly. It was directly loaded onto the ship by the Chamber of Commerce and transported to various parts of the Black Sea. However, at this time, the currencies in various places were diverse and needed to be converted after sale. In the end Peter received a total of 250,000 Wallachian ducats.
For selling grain, the Chamber of Commerce decided to take a risk. They knew that there was a serious food shortage in Persia and North Africa, and there was also a large amount of gold that they could not sell. So they cooperated with some smugglers to transport food to Trebizond by sea first, and then transported the food to various places by land. In the end, they all came back without any danger.
After the first success, those farmers no longer objected to spreading organic matter on the land. However, in order to take care of their emotions, Peter asked people to pile leaves, straw, etc. together, which can also be used as organic fertilizer. It’s up to them which one they choose.