Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 94 Leisurely Farm Life in Another World

The reference sample is actually very simple. Just put cooked meat and fruit in the jars respectively, then put the jars in the pot and steam them for more than ten minutes, seal them before cooling down, and then leave them there, avoiding direct sunlight and the temperature does not matter. Then all you have to do is wait.

In fact, if Xia Lin wants to use canned food as cargo, the most important technical reliance is not the bottles and cans but the packaging technology.

What is the most produced product in Fuliang? Porcelain! Now everyone in the country knows about Xinping porcelain. If a family does not have a set of Xinping daily-use porcelain, they would be embarrassed to brag to others with a bowl in hand.

The development of the porcelain industry has brought about rapid progress in three major technologies, namely shock absorption technology, packaging technology and route planning capabilities. These were not created by Xia Lin using the methods of a time traveler, but were simply the simple and unpretentious ideas of the ancient working people.

The shock-absorbing technology was invented because someone discovered that the steel bars in the Xinping Steel Plant were very elastic. One of the workers suddenly had an idea and fixed the steel bars on his own ox cart. Then, he fixed the ruts between the two steel bars. This way, when encountering bumps, the bump amplitude of the goods on top would become very small. Moreover, steel is definitely more durable than wood, so the quality of this ox cart is much better.

Once this discovery spread, everyone wanted to use this thing to modify their own vehicles, but the factory didn't have that much scrap material, so they went to discuss it with Xia Lin. Xia Lin took one look and said, "Wow, shock absorbers," and then simply let them install and improve it themselves. Now Xinping's vehicle frames are famous for being good, and many horse caravans will come here specifically to select frames.

As for the packing technology, that is the patent of the Straw Shoe Gang at the dock. Although it looks like a simple packing technology, the price they charge is a bit higher than other places. Some merchants are not happy about this and they will bring people to pack the goods themselves. However, even if they use the same method as the Straw Shoe Gang, the breakage rate will be 30% higher and it cannot be reduced no matter how hard they try. Therefore, this packing technology is also unique in Xinping. Glass and porcelain are both fragile items, but after being tied with straw ropes and wooden frames by the Straw Shoe Gang, the breakage rate is actually very low and is indeed within an acceptable range.

The last one is the route planning capability. This is actually thanks to the merchants and caravans traveling back and forth. Their information is gathered here, and a dense trade route network is formed on the map bit by bit. From which place to which place is the shortest, best and most economical, this is something that is not available elsewhere. Before shipping, you can go to the previous Xinping Service Office, now the Fuliang Service Station, to get the latest and best road condition guide. This may seem useless, but it is a treasure for merchants who need to travel hundreds or thousands of miles.

This information collection is really a major feature here, and because of this service, the annual waste can be reduced by more than 100,000 taels of silver.

There is no businessman who doesn't want to save money, so many people will make a special stop here even if they don't stop in Fuliang just for this free service.

It is these three measures that have made Fuliang's business and travel environment very good. In the third year of the Xia Lin era, seven or eight relatively large businesses have settled here, and the scale of Dou Fu Nong is still expanding.

Glass products are not for sale yet. Firstly, the production capacity is insufficient, and secondly, almost all the production is concentrated on glass jars. Therefore, no one knows that this kind of thing, which can be called crystal in this era, can be mass-produced. Soldiers are guarding the glass workshop every day, and outsiders cannot even approach it within a hundred meters.

"Okay, let's wait for half a month. In this horrible weather, we should be able to get results in half a month." Xia Lin looked at the glass jars sealed in different ways on the shelf, crossed his arms and was silent for a moment: "Hey~~ What do you think, if we put pickles in these things, can we smuggle salt?"

"Sir, you can't do that. If someone finds out, you'll be beheaded."

"No, that's just what I said." Xia Lin turned around and glanced at the factory director with a smile: "Don't be so timid. We have to buy salt. Smuggling is not cost-effective. Let's think about this matter when we can produce salt."

Xia Lin felt quite comfortable in the following days, mainly because after Ma Zhou came, most of the official business could be handed over to him. This guy was really capable. He was the prime minister of the Zhenguan Dynasty in the official history, and he was the prime minister who rose all the way from an orphan to the position of prime minister.

It’s a pity that he was buried in this fictional era. If it weren’t for Xia Lin, this powerful guy would probably have to be a jailer for the rest of his life.

However, Xia Lin was also very nice to Ma Zhou. He prepared a small house with a yard for him and allowed him to bring his wife and children over. He even helped with the school admission procedures for his son.

Ma Zhou could be said to be very grateful for such treatment. After all, his spirit had been tempered quite a lot over the years.

However, it has been so many days and Sister Chuntao hasn't come back yet. He is really worried. Fortunately, Chuntao knows him very well. When Xia Lin was about to send someone to inquire about the news, Chuntao's letter arrived.

The letter said that they had encountered a dam collapse on the way and could only travel by land, so they were expected to arrive later. With this news, Xia Lin felt relieved.

And then...then he continued farming. He now had a vast area to operate. If he had money, he would build infrastructure, establish farmlands, build roads, build houses, and expand waterways. He could do these few things over and over again, and in this repetitive process, the scale of a city slowly expanded.

It was the beginning of autumn, and Xia Lin and Ma Zhou came to the dock together. They stood side by side and watched the endless stream of grain arriving and being transported into the warehouse by ox carts.

"Sir, we already have the 9 million kilograms of grain we had before, why do we still need to stockpile grain at such a high cost?"

Ma Zhou was very curious. The accounts showed that more than 200,000 taels had been spent on stockpiling grain in recent days. All the autumn harvest grain in many places had been bought up by Xia Lin. Seeing his master stockpiling grain so crazily and even spending all the working funds of the entire county, Ma Zhou was really puzzled.

"Where are we above?" "The Yellow River and the Huai River."

"Ah."

Xia Lin used his feet to smooth out a flat area on the sand field drying by the river, then traced the map of Wei with his finger, and pointed at the line of Chang'an: "If there is a disaster in Chang'an and Luoyang, where will people go?"

"Hmm~Shandong."

"Yes, Shandong. But what if Shandong also suffered a disaster?" Xia Lin pointed at the location of Shandong: "Where can we go from here?"

"This... Then we can only go to Huainan Road."

Xia Lin drew a circle at the locations of Anhui and Jiangsu. "After entering Huainan Road, they will only have two roads left, one is Gyeonggi Road and the other is Jiangnan Road. Do you think Gyeonggi Road can accommodate hundreds of thousands of hungry people?"

Ma Zhou shook his head gently: "Of course not, this is the rule. There is no room for chaos in the capital."

"Right? Then you said that we are almost the throat connecting Huainan Road and Jiangnan Road. If they don't go this way, where will they go?"

After hearing Xia Lin's words, Ma Zhou looked serious and nervous: "Then the victims~"

"They are starving people." Xia Lin corrected him, "Disaster victims still have humanity, but starving people have no humanity. There is no difference between humans and locusts. Wherever locusts go, no grass grows, and the same is true for starving people."

"Well, I lost my parents when I was young due to famine, and I have seen the tragic scene of people cannibalizing each other."

"That's too tragic." Xia Lin shook his head and said, "And the most crucial point is that these starving people will be like a mountain torrent. Wherever they go, more starving people will be born. The starving people will engulf the starving people and form a tide. This tide will continue to flood until it reaches a place that can accommodate them all. People will continue to die along the way. That's how the thousands of miles of starving people are caused."

"grown ups……"

Upon hearing this, Ma Zhou's face turned ugly, because he just realized that the purpose of Lord Xia's crazy stockpiling of food was really for disaster prevention... And if what Lord Xia said was true, wouldn't more than 100,000 people flock here next year?

"Speak, don't hesitate."

Xia Lin threw a stone into the water. The old man who was fishing nearby glanced at Xia Lin. Xia Lin immediately stood up with a chuckle: "Sorry, sorry, hehe..."

"How many people do you expect to flock to Fuliang?"

Xia Lin stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the green hills opposite. At this moment, the hills were shrouded in mist after the rain. The breeze blew away some of the summer heat, and the river was sparkling, bringing out the beauty of the lake and the mountains.

"I assume the worst-case scenario is 500,000, but it may not be that many. But as I said, as officials, we should only think about the possibility of a single event. No matter what, we must prepare for 500,000. If we prepare more, we can replace the old grain with the new grain every year, little by little, so that we can always have a bite of food left for the 500,000 people who may come."

Ma Zhou felt his hair stand on end after hearing this. He took a deep look at Xia Lin and felt that the young man in front of him, who was a few years younger than himself, was a true minister who could govern the country. Just the sentence "Always leave food for these 500,000 people" was enough to qualify him as a candidate for the position of prime minister.

"Many people become officials for money, and I have no objection. After ten years of hard study, it is understandable to seek wealth. But I still believe that since you are the father and mother of a place, you have to do something. What do you think? What parent can watch their child starve to death?"

Ma Zhou nodded vigorously: "I have benefited a lot from your words, sir."

"What's the point of benefiting or not? I swore before that I'm always ready to sacrifice everything for D and the people." Xia Lin stretched and continued to walk forward: "Now, even if I really have to sacrifice everything, I don't dare. What I did is just that old habits die hard."

(End of this chapter)