Chapter 370: Benefit the country and the people
Chapter 370 Benefiting the Country and the People
Xiao Jing on the side can only stand by, he has to finish serving His Majesty before he can eat some leftovers!
But at this time, he was already hungry, and he couldn't help salivating a little when he heard the crown prince and His Majesty say it was delicious. He was about to serve the soup to Emperor Hongzhi.
Fang Jifan said: "Your Majesty, when you come to Xishan, it's better to serve the soup yourself."
"..." Emperor Hongzhi was taken aback, and then looked at Fang Jifan strangely: "Are there so many rules in Xishan?"
"Yes." Fang Jifan said confidently: "Prince and minister, because of the hard work of the farmers, I want to let the nobles and rich children in Beijing also have a taste of the hardships here, and I plan to list a farmhouse here at that time. , to attract people to come here to play, and when you get here, no matter who you are, you need to do it yourself..."
Farmhouse…
Emperor Hongzhi thought this name was very vulgar.
But when I think about it carefully, I feel that there is some kind of elegance in this vulgarity.
That’s right, there are so many people in Beijing who don’t work hard and don’t know the grains, it’s a good thing to come here to exercise.
Besides, it’s not bad here. Don’t I usually stretch out my clothes and open my mouth for food? I was really tired when I was digging potatoes just now, but after thinking about it, I think it was a different experience.
At least in Daming, this Xishan is the only one.
Not right...
Thinking of this, Emperor Hongzhi gradually recalled something!
No wonder Fang Jifan encouraged the prince to come. Could it be that he just wanted to take this opportunity to spread his farmhouse music?
This guy is really slippery.
But after thinking about it, Emperor Hongzhi was obviously happy to see this happen!
He did not expose the seemingly hidden purpose behind Fang Jifan, but said to the ministers: "Your nephew, you should also come here for a while, it will be beneficial."
As he spoke, he got up, filled a bowl of soup himself, and then took a sip, his eyes lit up immediately.
At the first entrance, there is a slight salty taste, and then mixed with a strong meaty sweet taste.
Pork...does it taste like this?
He felt more and more bizarre, and couldn't help but asked Fang Jifan: "Is this really pork?"
"Your Majesty, this is pork." Fang Jifan said without hesitation: "I have always been innocent, and I can use the reputation I have accumulated for many years as a guarantee."
Emperor Hongzhi felt even more strange. Obviously, in his cognition, pork should not taste like this.
Emperor Hongzhi looked at the broth in front of him, and said in surprise, "This pig is different from other pigs."
During the speech, the ministers had already started to move. Since His Majesty thinks this pig-killing dish is delicious, everyone naturally started to do it too!
Sure enough, after a taste, the taste was excellent.
Perhaps people of later generations mainly eat pork since they were young, so they don’t think pork is so delicious, but beef and mutton are more delicious.
But in this era, it's the other way around.
After the first bite, the appetite was really opened up. Some people especially like to eat this fat meat. After one bite, the mouth is full of grease. Good luck, I can't help but want to chant poems.
Emperor Hongzhi continued to ask: "I have never eaten such pork. Tell me, where did this pig come from?"
Emperor Hongzhi had a reason for saying this. This pig is strange.
Fang Jifan then smiled and said: "Since the garrison is the garrison, of course it is not just planting. The raising of livestock is also related to the garrison. I am a thousand households in the garrison. Naturally, I am very concerned about the matter of animal husbandry, especially these years. Encouragement, His Majesty's treatment of Tuntian can be described as..."
"Get to the point!" Emperor Hongzhi interrupted Fang Jifan with a look of disgust.
Fang Jifan had no choice but to say embarrassingly: "This pig is really different. It is bred in a special way. Not only is the meat delicious, but also... the meat is more raw than ordinary pigs."
"Is there more meat?" Emperor Hongzhi smiled slightly, but he didn't care too much.
But Fang Jifan's next sentence shocked many people. He said: "It is also a pig. In the old breeding, after four months, it can grow from a piglet to seventy or eighty catties. But if it is a pig raised in a farm , it is also April, and it can be directly born to a hundred and fifty catties for slaughter."
"One hundred and fifty catties..."
Although everyone was still eating, they were stunned.
Liu Jian and the others looked up in astonishment.
A pig of one hundred and fifty catties... that's really not small.
And it's only been raised for four months.
They knew more or less about raising sheep. After all, the imperial court had to assign ministers to be in charge of horse affairs, which included raising sheep in border towns.
Let’s talk about raising sheep. After a year, they only grow seventy or eighty catties of meat, which is considered a lot.
This is already a rare thing. Many sheep are actually skinny, with little meat.
And this pork grows so fast, isn't it the same domestication time, the meat produced is six or seven times that of sheep?
Emperor Hongzhi looked dull, he obviously didn't understand the strangeness here!
Seeing this, Xiao Jing quickly whispered into Emperor Hongzhi's ear, explaining patiently.
Emperor Hongzhi suddenly realized that pigs grow so fast. Not only that, but so much meat was produced?
Fang Jifan said: "What's more, pigs are omnivorous livestock, which are different from sheep. Now I promote potatoes and sweet potatoes. In the future... people's land will definitely increase in production. This increase in production may cause a surplus of food. The so-called cheap grain will hurt farmers. , This statement is not unreasonable, but if it is excess food, or some excess supplementary food, if it is really not enough to eat, it can be used to feed livestock, and it would be good to exchange these surplus food for a large amount of meat?"
Really awakened by this word, Liu Jian and others' eyes lit up.
The release of sweet potatoes and potatoes has indeed caused a drop in land prices. Many of the ministers present have lost a lot, but such things cannot be avoided. Even if there is suffering, it is just hidden in the heart.
The essence of the increase in grain production lies in the surplus of grain, and it costs money to hoard it. Everyone has food to eat, so who cares about grain?
Therefore, a large amount of land is bound to be barren.
But what if these grains are useful?
There is no shortage of food in the world, but this meat is in short supply.
It is one thing to eat enough, but it is not an easy task to eat well.
People say that the people have vegetables, but what is food? To put it bluntly, it is just malnutrition. Not only can they not eat enough, but they can’t eat well. People fill their stomachs, but why do many people, although they work every day, actually don't have much energy?
There is only one reason, that is, the lack of meat.
Fang Jifan was deeply touched by this point.
In this era, eating well has a lot to do with physical fitness. For example, ordinary rich families, like Fang Jifan, are rich in nutrition and protein can be guaranteed. So although Fang Jifan is only sixteen years old, he is already healthy. It's 1.7 meters tall, which is actually not too tall compared to other nobles.
Similarly, if it is an ordinary commoner, 1.7 meters is considered a 'giant'. Many people are only between 1.56 and 1.56 meters, even men.
In the last life, when Fang Jifan was growing up, almost every generation was taller than the next generation.
Height is one thing, and so is physique. It wasn't until he came to Daming that Fang Jifan realized that a person who was familiar with bow and horse could actually beat a dozen people with his fists.
The reason is very simple. To be familiar with bow horse, on the one hand, you have undergone special training;
Sufficient nutrition and physical fitness are many times stronger than those who can only live on yellow rice for two meals a day, and who have no meat star all year round and have a yellow and thin complexion. The tiger entered the flock.
It's just that in this era, the efficiency of converting grain into meat is really too low. To improve it, you must first use sweet potatoes and potatoes to feed a large number of people, so that they can get enough food and clothing, and then have surplus grain, and start mass production at the same time. Large-scale farming can solve this problem.
Raising pigs... is really beneficial to the country and the people.
Emperor Hongzhi finally understood something after being silent for a long time!
His eyes opened slightly, and the light in his eyes became more radiant. He stared at Fang Jifan closely, and asked with some urgency: "Is it really possible to increase the meat production so much?"
He is still a little unbelievable, but he is more looking forward to it!
If this is the case, then the big problem will be solved, especially in the case of abundant grain, meat itself can replace grain for consumption!
Not only that, potatoes and sweet potatoes are actually not easy to store, so instead of spending all your energy on storing them, they can be used as raw meat. If the common people can eat some meat every now and then, this...how much good governance.
"I don't believe it, take me to have a look."
Emperor Hongzhi, who was still hungry just now, no longer has the mind to eat, because now he has something more important than being full.
He has suddenly risen.
Liu Jian and the others also stood up one after another, and their minds had already begun to calculate quickly!
Raising pigs is obviously more cost-effective than raising sheep, and more importantly, raising sheep needs to eat grass, and to eat grass, you have to take the sheep to graze. Daming is not a grassland, and there is not so much grass, so the scale of raising sheep is naturally limited. small.
But now, the future food is bound to be abundant, so...
Under the urging of Emperor Hongzhi, Fang Jifan had no choice but to lead the crowd to the pigsty.
The pigsty is divided into two, one side is the pigs that have not been castrated, and their size is obviously a lot smaller!
At this time, these pigs have also just reached the estrus period, and they have begun to become irritable!
Some pigs started to forget about food and tea, because they didn’t get vented, so they started to foam at the mouth, and they didn’t even bother to eat. If you look closely, this pig is actually no different from a sheep, but it’s just skin and bones.
Some pigs even bumped into the fence in agitation, appearing extremely anxious, running back and forth in the pen.
(end of this chapter)