Chapter 264 Harvest

The first batch of wheat planted in Border Town finally ushered in the harvest day. Hunting???Text?????????

Under the scorching sun, the serfs cut off the wheat stalks with sickles, bundled them up and transported them to the other side of the river.

Roland knew that it was a very cumbersome process from wheat ears to wheat grains. Before mechanical farm tools and combine harvesters were popularized, wheat grains needed to be separated, cleaned, screened, and dried manually. Now, he witnessed the process once again.

After transporting the straws back to the camp, the serfs spread them flat on the ground to dry, and then used various tools—all of which had no use at all: wooden sticks, stones, and rakes were all used to beat the straws and ears of wheat repeatedly, so that the glans This process often lasts for three or four days. In Roland's memory, cows or donkeys were used in rural areas to pull stones and grind them on the grain field, which not only saves a lot of labor, but also has a much more even shelling effect than beating.

It has to be said that the agricultural level of the town is really too backward.

After the fight is over, it’s the same as what’s the use. If you don’t have a fork, use a wooden stick instead, or just grab the straw with both hands and throw it into the sky, just like turning over a pot and cooking. After the early beating, most of the shells of the caryopsis have been broken. This process is to separate the fruit from the ears of wheat.

The threshed wheat straw actually has many functions. After being crushed, it can be returned to the field, used as bedding for livestock, and can also be used to make feed and paper. All of them were set on fire. In the next few days, gray smoke was flying over the town all day long, comparable to the previous cement powder pollution.

At the same time, the two spindle-shaped islands of Chishui Bridge have also been cleaned up, and the construction of the retaining wall is proceeding as planned. The foundation pier adopts the same prefabrication method as the main bridge—first pour concrete columns containing steel and steel bars in the open space, and then carry out "weight-reducing hoisting", and finally, Lian is responsible for sinking them into the soil, with only half of them exposed Steel plates, waiting to be connected to the bridge body.

Therefore, during this week, Roland basically wandered between Chishui Bridge and Guchang, and his skin was quite tanned.

After the straw is forked out, only a layer of grains and husks remain in the field.

The serfs swept them together and piled them up into small hills, then stood on the hills, scooped up the mixture with a shovel, and threw it towards the open space ahead. Since the husk is much lighter than the fruit, it will fall farther when blown by the wind, so the wheat grains are scattered under the feet, while the empty husks and debris are scattered in the distance-this is how everyone, step by step Collect food.

Of course, it is impossible to completely clean the chaff, and this process will also mix mud and gravel into the wheat grains, so Roland made up his mind that he must prepare in advance when the next year's harvest day comes. A batch of mechanical farm tools—the combine harvester is probably impossible to make, but the hulling machine is still quite easy to implement, but the stone mill is replaced by a grinding disc, and a screen is installed below, and the broken grain is separated by a blower shell.

When the plump wheat grains are evenly spread on the valley field, it seems to dye the entire north bank of the Chishui River with a layer of gold. Looking at these golden fruits, Roland was filled with a sense of accomplishment. Regardless of whether the harvested food was enough to feed the stomachs of more than 10,000 people, at least for Border Town, this was a memorable day.

Starting today, the food in his territory will gradually change from completely dependent on imports to self-sufficiency.

After drying for three days, the wheat enters the stage of bagging and weighing.

"Your Highness, this is a bumper harvest!" That afternoon, Barov rushed into the office excitedly, "According to the preliminary statistics of the city hall, the yield per mu of each responsible field is at least four times that of the past, and the highest At present, it has reached six times, and this year's harvest is enough to fill the stomachs of the people."

"Really," Roland couldn't help laughing, "It seems that the newly built granaries in the Castle District don't have to be empty all the time."

"Do you know what this means?" The head of the city hall looked even more excited than him, "The town only needs to add another 2,000 farmers to meet the food consumption of 50,000 to 60,000 people! This is incredible, The small town can completely expand into the largest city in Graycastle, no..." He paused, "The most magnificent city on the mainland!"

The main reason for the inability to increase the urban population in this era is the low food production capacity. A large city with a population of more than 20,000 people like Wangdu already needs dozens of surrounding villages to provide food for it. Each village has a population of about one to two thousand. If half of them are engaged in farming, it is almost 20,000 people who support 20,000 people. That is to say, the food produced by a farmer can supply at most one urban resident in addition to feeding himself and his family.

This is the so-called invisible restriction of productivity. I am afraid that it is difficult for Barov to imagine that when mechanized planting becomes popular, the output of one person alone will be enough to feed tens of thousands of people. Bianbian Town achieved such a bumper harvest without promoting and developing agricultural technology, the main credit lies in the "Golden One" transformed by leaves.

Using as few farmers as possible to feed more people, liberating human resources from farmland and transferring them to industrial production, this is Roland's strategy from the very beginning. Now that the Ministry of Agriculture has obtained the best planting process, and iron farm tools and machinery will be involved in the cultivation in the coming year, the per capita output will inevitably increase.

...

In the evening, Roland held a bonfire speech by the Chishui River—the time seemed to return to that dusk four months ago, with the same blazing bonfire, dark crowd, and the last afterglow reflected on everyone's faces. The only difference is everyone's expression. Compared with the fear and anxiety when they first arrived, now their faces are full of joy of harvest and unconcealed expectation.

Roland stretched out his hand and waved down, and the scene suddenly fell silent. All held their breath, waiting for the prince to fulfill his promise.

"I know what you want to hear," he said bluntly, instead of putting his name and title first, as was customary, "—and I can tell you without a doubt , the previously announced promotion rules are still valid today, and will continue!"

Just this sentence blew up the atmosphere at the scene, and everyone couldn't help shouting, many people knelt down and praised the prince's kindness. "Long live the lord!" "Long live Your Royal Highness!"

"After the weighing of the handed in grains is over, the list of promotions will also be announced," Roland continued after the voice subsided, "The city hall will be responsible for the arrangements after you become freemen. You can choose to continue farming, or you can choose to farm find another job."

"In addition, from next year, as long as the harvest meets the promotion standards, even if the output is not in the forefront, you can become a free citizen. In other words, as long as you work hard, you will definitely be able to get rid of the status of a serf—as I said , Labor creates wealth, and labor changes destiny." He paused for a moment and looked around, "I hope that one day in the future, there will be no more serfs in Border Town, and everyone can become my real subjects."

As soon as Roland's words fell, people's cheers instantly resounded over the Chishui River, and lasted for a long time. (To be continued.)