My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 304 Agriculture is the foundation of a nation

"Meet the general."

Jia Sixie was very traditional and respectfully bowed to Gao Yu, not ignoring these formalities despite their past personal relationship.

"Brother Zhixing, why be so polite? You're being too formal."

That's why Jia Sixie is considered a technically skilled person.

When we first met in Luoyang, he appeared mature beyond his years.

Nine years have passed.

Cui Xian still looked like a noble young master from a prominent family, with delicate skin and tender flesh. But then look at Jia Sixie.

With dark skin, one might mistake him for a farmer whose ancestors had been farmers for generations. He has a mature appearance far beyond his years, and his hands are covered in calluses, indicating that he often works in the fields himself.

Also.

Without hands-on experience and hands-on operation, it's impossible to succeed.

You can't create a technical book like "Qimin Yaoshu" just by summarizing what others say.

Jia Sixie then spoke up, "Back then, the general was already famous in Luoyang, and now he is renowned throughout China. Although I did not witness the Battle of Luoyang firsthand, I can still hear about the general's heroic figure from other people's accounts."

Gao Yu laughed and waved his hand modestly.

After exchanging pleasantries, he got to the point, "I heard that you, Brother Zhixing, are preparing to write a major work that compiles agricultural production methods from ancient and modern times?"

Jia Sixie was taken aback. He was indeed making preparations, but how did Gao Yu know?

Although he found it strange, he did not deny it, but nodded and said, "It is true. Why did the general suddenly bring this up?"

"I wish to lend Brother Zhixing a helping hand!"

"In recent years, war has been fierce and dangerous, causing widespread famine in the Great Wei territory. Countless people have starved to death. If you can help Brother Zhixing complete this book so that the people can benefit and increase the harvest in the fields every year, that would be a great achievement."

In ancient times, the transmission of information was almost completely cut off.

Some places have developed relatively advanced farming techniques, but that does not mean they can be promoted nationwide.

How many people can read?

Moreover, the promotion requires a large number of grassroots officials to implement it, which is difficult to achieve with the current administrative efficiency.

But we shouldn't neglect to prepare in advance just because it's difficult.

Popularizing education and enabling more people to read and write will allow for a large number of grassroots officials to improve overall administrative efficiency, thereby breaking the monopoly of knowledge by aristocratic families.

The ruling party is forced into the predicament of being able to select suitable governing talents only from aristocratic families.

Basic education should be popularized before the imperial examination system is reinstated.

As a class within the current era and social context, aristocratic families cannot be physically eliminated through force.

Even if the Cui, Li, Zheng, and Wang families are wiped out, new powerful families will always emerge to fill the void.

A class can only be replaced by another class.

What truly caused the aristocratic families to disappear from public view was...

In essence, it was about popularizing education. After the implementation of the imperial examination system, the scholar class that gradually emerged and the urban class that gradually emerged after the development of the commodity economy replaced the aristocratic families.

We want to increase grain production.

Good farming techniques and good seed cultivation are indeed important, but what really matters is fertilizer.

It can be said that the greatest contribution to the increase in food production in human society is the advent of chemical fertilizers.

However, fertilizer production requires a high-temperature and high-pressure environment, which was impossible under the conditions of ancient society. Moreover, there is no "chosen land" like Nauru in China with a large amount of migratory bird droppings. It is estimated that at this time, to find a large amount of migratory bird droppings, one would have to go to Hainan... which is also unrealistic with the current shipping conditions.

Gao Yu wanted Jia Sixie to write the composting method into a book and then promote it on a large scale.

If this technology could be promoted nationwide.

Increased grain production is just around the corner!

Roughly speaking.

Could he also guide Jia Sixie to develop the curved plow ahead of schedule?
"This……"

Jia Sixie was greatly surprised.

Agricultural production is the foundation of a nation, a fact known to everyone from the emperor to the common people!

The powerful families were well aware of this.

But... it's possible to expect the emperor and aristocratic families to pay lip service to agriculture, but it's virtually impossible for them to actually do it themselves.

As for aristocratic families, if they were to read, they would read the classics of sages and virtuous men, and if they were to write, they would write commentaries on those classics. Why would they lower themselves to write books on agricultural production?

Gao Yu was willing to do such a thing.

This was indeed far beyond Jia Sixie's expectations.

"General, you are devoted to the people; I admire you greatly..."

"I was just talking."

Gao Yu waved his hand modestly.

With the knowledge of a modern person, he could help Jia Sixie achieve a breakthrough from zero to one by reminding and guiding him, but he didn't have the ability to let Gao Yu do it himself.

Besides...

Gao Yu didn't have that much energy either.

He is currently sending people to secretly investigate the distribution of refugees in Qingzhou and the situation of unclaimed land being occupied by powerful families and clans.

He also wanted to work with Cui Xian and others to establish the basic framework of the Fubing system and the Equal Field System.

I have a ton of things to do.

Agricultural production is indeed important!

Having food in hand ensures peace of mind. With sufficient provisions, he can offer enough benefits to win over the population from the powerful families without having to bow down to them or compromise with them over food supplies.

Compromise means making concessions.

Making concessions in some areas is fine, but what if it involves one's own bottom line?
It comes down to it.

If you don't want to compromise, then you have to become strong yourself!

We must focus on both institutional development and agricultural production.

Both hands must be grasped, both hands must be hard!
After all, Gao Yu had already decided on the first batch of soldiers to be recruited, namely the six hundred veteran soldiers of the Xuanjia Army who had come with him. As for their retainers...

You can't count on the local farmers in Qingzhou, because there are basically no farmers left.

Then the only option is to capture refugees, which is why Gao Yu chose Qingzhou, as there are many refugees from both within and outside the region.

Most of the displaced people took over the mountains and became bandits, causing havoc on the local people.

Suppressing them would allow us to capture them and use them as retainers for the local government troops, and it would also win the hearts of the local people of Qingzhou under the guise of "suppressing bandits."

They could also use the pretext of suppressing bandits to get the powerful families and influential clans of Qingzhou to "fund" them a sum of money.

Everything is in need of rebuilding right now.

Gao Yu also had virtually no foundation.

He needs large quantities of food, weapons, and skilled craftsmen.

They all end up fleecing the powerful families.

"Brother Zhixing, I wish to have you join my Tiance Mansion as an official. I wonder if you would be willing?"

"I am willing!"

Jia Sixie did not hesitate at all!

There are always people who are dedicated to the well-being of the people.

Jia Sixie was such a person.

Knowing Gao Yu's attitude towards agricultural production, and knowing that Gao Yu was willing to make efforts to ensure that the people would no longer go hungry.

For someone like Jia Sixie, who had lofty ideals, that was enough.

"it is good!"

Gao Yu was extremely excited. He grabbed Jia Sixie's hand and promised, "I will certainly not let you down!"

"I will not fail the general. I will use all the knowledge I have acquired in my life to ensure that the people will no longer go hungry!"

P.S.: Thank you all for your votes. That's all for now.

I will definitely work hard to update and repay everyone!

(End of this chapter)