Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 210 Lychee Express

May is the wheat harvest season.

Wang Qing, the governor of Shan Nong Province, held a meeting with several captains of the Wanhu (ten thousand households) in the province to learn about the situation.

"This year, there are about 2.2 million wheat harvesters in the country. Each factory processes and assembles them through assembly lines, with an annual output of about 100,000 units."

"There are five machinery factories in the three provinces, and the actual number should exceed 220 million units."

"In the past two years, we have improved the harvesting and baling design, which has solved the problem that baling affected the harvesting efficiency. We can harvest 40 to 50 mu of wheat every day."

Murong Xinghan asked curiously, "Is it possible to harvest 100 million mu of wheat in a single day now?"

Even if we calculate based on a minimum of 40 mu per day, 2.2 million machines can harvest nearly 90 million mu of wheat per day, and with a little effort, that's 100 million mu.

"No." Wang Qing answered truthfully, giving a very low figure. "Normally it should be 50 million mu per day."

This number was so low that the team leaders in charge of each production team felt something was wrong.

Yang Linjiang, who was in charge of collecting grain from several production teams in Shanxi Province, quickly asked the question.

"This number is wrong, isn't it? I've worked in the fields for several years and led the production team to harvest wheat a few times. Our production team can harvest 500,000 to 600,000 mu of wheat a day."

The others nodded, all sharing the same opinion.

Wang Qing replied, "You are all public households, and you are all responsible for public land."

Yang Linjiang quickly retorted, "Who isn't in charge of public land? We only count public land every year. Aren't the people who cultivate the land for the Emperor all public households?"

This answer left Wang Qing somewhat at a loss for words.

After thinking for a moment, Wang Qingcai replied, "I might have miscalculated. It depends on how many days it will take to finish the harvest this year."

Murong Xinghan seemed to realize something and explained the situation to Wang Qing.

“The enthusiasm and efficiency of farming here is much higher than outside. Every year, farming and harvesting grain is working for the country, and the whole family helps out.”

“Each 10,000-household team can have at least 50,000 to 60,000 people working together to pick up bundles of wheat and transport them to the threshing ground where they are threshed and stored by machine.”

“Other places don’t have that much equipment or that many people. If 220 million machines are running at the same time, we need drivers, horse handlers, and people to harvest and transport the wheat. At least one team needs six or seven people.”

"There are definitely no more than 14 to 15 million people in the country who are capable of working right now, and the actual efficiency is definitely much lower than that."

Murong Xinghan's explanation helped everyone else understand Wang Qing's algorithm.

Yang Linjiang said with a smile, "There are still too few children. My eldest son can already drive a horse. When there are more children in the family in the future, the work will be easier. In the future, His Majesty will definitely need people to cultivate so much land."

The nearby captain of the Wanhu team also nodded in agreement.

"Yes, His Majesty has over a billion acres of arable land, but this year he only planted 100 million acres of wheat."

"Based on a yield of 200 jin per mu, that's 10 mu to 1 ton, so this year's yield is 10 million tons of grain."

"Ten million tons of grain is enough to feed forty to fifty million people. On average, each person gets three to four hundred catties of wheat, plus beans and rice, so there is no problem in having enough to eat."

"There's still meat! Horse meat is much cheaper this year, so not many people are buying it. Everyone's eating mutton and beef."

"The 100 million mu of wheat fields are public land. Many hereditary territories will sell the wheat after harvesting it. In reality, there are only a few million mountain farmers."

Wang Qing never answers questions about the exact number of people in the mountain farm.

"Harvest the grain as soon as possible within three days. I'm going to the south tomorrow. Everything will remain the same while I'm gone."

Wang Qing was often away from Shanxi Province; as the governor-general, he frequently traveled to Luoyang to report on his work.

Murong Xinghan asked, "Will you be able to come back before the New Year?"

“It should be fine,” Wang Qing said with a smile. “This time we’ll be going by steam locomotive, which will travel seven or eight hundred li a day. We can eat, sleep, and use the toilet on the train. Pack your things and come with me. Wang Suiliang will be in charge of the production arrangements.”

Wang Suiliang quickly replied, "Yes, Governor!"

Everyone knows that steam trains can be used to haul freight, and it was long expected that they would be used for business trips.

Yang Linjiang warned, "Governor, please be careful. I've heard that the motorcycle runs like a boat, and it can easily overturn if you're not careful."

Steam locomotives remain a relatively dangerous mode of transportation to this day. During experiments, they not only overturn but sometimes explode.

“If it’s not urgent, just run at 20 kilometers per hour and you’ll be fine. That’s 400 kilometers a day, just as fast as the old 800-li express delivery.”

"If it's urgent, I can run 50 kilometers in an hour, and a thousand kilometers a day."

Wang Qing felt that these people's thinking was wrong and incorrect.

"His Majesty said that the normal speed of steam locomotives should be increased to 70 kilometers per hour, and the maximum speed should be increased to 120 kilometers per hour."

"Once the performance stabilizes, not only will transporting coal and meteorites become more convenient, but the trip to Luoyang for meetings will also be shortened from two months to two days."

Murong Xinghan is in charge of internal affairs, Wang Suiliang is in charge of agriculture, and those in charge of industry are still busy at the factory. Today's main tasks are agriculture and internal affairs.

Wang Qing was in charge of multiple tasks simultaneously.

Yang Linjiang was in charge of military affairs and became a commander of ten thousand households through military merit. However, military merit in the mountainous agricultural province was like a joke, so when people heard that someone had become a commander of a thousand or ten thousand households through military merit, they felt that they were quick to surrender.

Therefore, most people will simply engage in agricultural affairs and maintain a semblance of decorum.

That's just how society is; Sang Yang'an and Wang Qing were both promoted from administrative positions.

Pure industrial artisans are given treatment but not positions or power. After receiving rewards, they continue to work and improve on their original jobs, and are not promoted to administrative positions.

Those who work in agricultural and industrial coordination, as well as those in economic management, are actually more likely to climb the ladder.

Yang Linjiang was in charge of military affairs, which offered no opportunity for meritorious service; his main responsibility was maintaining order.

In the mountainous agricultural province, each production team is basically self-governing, so there is virtually no need for a security force.

Wang Qing then talked about some arrangements for what would happen after he left.

"The parts factory for assembling Unit 5 is currently being selected and established. Each factory will be responsible for the production of at least one hundred parts. Gao Laishun and Che Heng are currently holding a meeting to discuss the specific allocation. The differences are not significant; parts using the same materials will be assigned to one factory for production, and high-speed mass production will be achieved by changing the molds." "The steam-powered stamping press has also been increased from one to two. This year, people from the musket, artillery, and baling machine sectors will come to help, so as to complete the second locomotive as soon as possible."

Murong Xinghan felt that he was being too optimistic. "The first one took at least two or three years to develop. Including the research and parts manufacturing in the previous years, it took about five or six years. The second one is estimated to be completed the year after next."

Wang Qing was not so pessimistic and conservative.

"Mass production will be completed within a year. The workers are very enthusiastic about production. His Majesty has agreed to resolve the household registration issues of the core work teams. The new factory and positions will be reserved for the descendants of these work teams, so there will be no shortage of household registration when the family divides its property in the future."

"Over the years, many people have complained to me about the fact that household registration can only be inherited by one person, which has caused discord in many families, with several sons and daughters-in-law complaining that things are not fair."

"Now some of the problems have been solved. Many people didn't have the opportunity to fight and make meritorious contributions. Now His Majesty has given us a way to work with enthusiasm, dedication, and efficiency."

"I don't know much about industrial matters, but as long as we can make the first one, the second and third ones will be much faster. His Majesty's requirement is to train one hundred train drivers and ten thousand front-line workers related to train manufacturing as soon as possible."

"Anyone who can participate in production, or who can conduct research and development and make improvements, such as designers, finance and logistics managers, or factory managers, will be assigned by His Majesty."

For many people in Shanxi, household registration is a top priority.

Various welfare benefits, status and honors, as well as the scope of work and activities are all closely related to household registration.

The public household registration system is aligned with hereditary succession, meaning that only one person can inherit the household registration. When changing jobs, the household registration must also be transferred. Non-registered residents will not receive wages. Fathers can help their sons familiarize themselves with the work, but only as assistants. Others are not allowed to participate in the work without permission, as this may affect the work of others.

They are allowed to leave their public household registration and become free individuals, but so far no one has applied for this.

The public household was originally a slave status, and it still is today. It's just that few people mention this anymore, and in recent years, people have forgotten that this was the essence of slavery.

The Northern Army has the right to bestow a family member of a common household upon his hereditary meritorious subordinates, and also the right to execute them without cause.

To modern people, this is slavery, but in today's feudal era, isn't this just a matter of course?
Which emperor in power couldn't do these things?
Throughout history, the granting of fiefs to meritorious officials did not require the opposition or consent of the common people below.

No one felt that the emperor shouldn't have the power to arbitrarily classify people as slaves or lowly, or to kill fathers and sons and send wives and daughters to brothels.

To become a slave directly under the emperor, to become a servant who is only loyal to the emperor, isn't that being a loyal subject?

Apart from Beiji Wu, no one else dared to call these people slaves. They provided them with food and clothing and took care of them when needed.

For example, if the south and the north were both affected by disasters at the same time, who would King Wu save?

Of course, we should save the North!

King Wu himself convinced everyone what kind of person he was through his actions and the various decisions he made over the years.

If something happens in the three northern provinces, it's hard to say what will happen in the Yellow River and Huai River provinces and the mountainous and agricultural provinces, but the plains province will definitely be ranked third.

Being King Wu's servant is definitely not a bad thing; the only problem is that this position can only be inherited by one person.

Everyone hoped to be King Wu's servants for generations to come, serving him faithfully for generations to come.

People like Sang Yang'an, Wang Qing, Murong Xinghan, Li Tangqing, and Chai Boshi all shared the same idea.

Generally, as long as you don't do anything reckless to offend the tiger king, and don't try to put a bell on it or touch its whiskers or tail, you'll be fine.

Once you see it, remain humble and honest, and it's best to stay away from it, out of its sight.

Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger. Although Beiji Wu killed many people, he was not as indiscriminate in killing as the previous dozens of short-lived emperors.

Humans have always had a strong capacity for self-destruction.

While Beijiwu was keeping an eye on the train and the lychees, someone nervously walked in from below.

"Your Majesty, there are barbarians causing trouble in the mountains of the southwest, who claim to be farmers of the mountains."

"Destroy them." Beiji Wu looked at the introductions of lychees from various provinces with an indifferent expression, and ordered without looking up, "Leave no survivors."

The old eunuch, who had recently become a Buddhist, couldn't bear to do it and cautiously suggested, "Should we kill all the women too?"

Beijiwu frowned and looked up at the old eunuch.

“I remember there were rebel leaders who were trained in the south in that area, and they are now incorporated into the navy and army.”

“Let them go into the mountains to kill the enemy. Those who surrender will be taken down the mountain to farm, and those who are unwilling to go down the mountain will be killed, so as to avoid going back and forth and never ending.”

"Forget it, it's too troublesome. Buying people requires too many rules and regulations. We can't open that door."

Beijiwu abandoned the idea of ​​taking prisoners and said directly, "Kill all the rebels. Give the non-rebels a chance to come down the mountain. Those who refuse to come down the mountain will be left without exception."

"Yes!" The old eunuch carefully withdrew, not daring to utter another word.

Beijiwu continued reading the lychee introduction, wondering which type of lychee would be best to eat.

Killing can happen on the battlefield, and it can happen in the imperial court.

Arctic Warriors never cared about the lives of those outside; they would kill anyone who refused to surrender.

Unless they can be sold for money, we will never keep useless prisoners.

Anyone who dares to criticize the emperor during the Wu Dynasty will surely die.

Arctic martial arts care about reputation, but not much.

After thinking for a long time and finally deciding which place's lychees to eat, Beijiwu went around and summoned Wang Qing and others who came to pay their respects.

"Take the train to Anzhou and complete the final section of the road as soon as possible. At the same time, test how quickly the train can reach Anzhou. After you get there, immediately load all the tributes from Anzhou onto the train and send them to the Luoyang Imperial Palace. While you're there, go and check on Jiaozhi County. If there's nothing else, come back."

Upon hearing this, Wang Qing immediately replied, "Yes, Your Majesty! I have another matter to discuss. Unit No. 5 has not yet been named. I request Your Majesty to bestow a name upon it!"

Beijiwu casually said, "In ancient times, people would travel two thousand miles from the Central Plains to Lingnan just to eat a lychee. Now, it can be transported by train in one or two days. Let's name the new train the Lychee Train."

"Yes!" Wang Qing thought that Beijiwu was mocking and belittling the ancients, proving that he was more powerful than the ancients.

Since it's named "Lychee Ship," it wouldn't be right not to bring back some lychees.

(End of this chapter)