August is also the harvest season in Yunnan.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, wheat harvesting begins in many places.

Kong Er, a soldier in the government, also put down the swords and guns he had practiced for a long time, and went down to the fields to harvest with his family and tribe.

To be honest, this is a rare sight.

When he was recruiting soldiers, Kong Er didn't know how to go to the field, and he looked down on such things. But when it was for his own benefit, he was willing to do it, and he worked very hard.

It turns out that warriors can also do farm work!

Yunnan’s planting technology is not too backward – of course, this varies from place to place.

In the two capital areas of Nanzhao, perhaps due to the legacy of the ancient Dian Kingdom, or perhaps due to extensive exchanges with the Central Plains, the farmland water conservancy facilities they built are very complete, the production and application of agricultural tools are also very extensive, and the overall output is not low.

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However, these areas are now in the hands of the imperial court, such as Dali Prefecture, Kunzhou, Yaozhou, Tengzhou, and Quzhou, which are promoting the transformation of counties and counties, large-scale immigration, and liquidation of household registration.

In terms of planting varieties, Yunnan mainly rotates rice, wheat and cereals.

In this regard, it is even more advanced than the Central Plains.

In the northern region, before the Tang Dynasty, millet was still the main variety. After the Tang Dynasty, the proportion of wheat cultivation increased day by day, and even increased sharply since the middle and late Tang Dynasty. To be fair, growing wheat is indeed more cost-effective than growing corn, and the yield is slightly higher.

, Daxia has also been promoting wheat cultivation in places where conditions permit, replacing corn as much as possible.

Nanzhao seems to have skipped the millet planting stage directly, and the rice-wheat rotation is flourishing. Looking around, except for some areas, most of the farmland is planted with winter wheat after the autumn harvest.

Tonghai Dudufu is no exception.

In this place that had just been renamed Tonghai Prefecture (which governs five counties: Jianshui, Tonghai, Jiangchuan, Wenfu, and Baping), immigrants from the south of the Yangtze River were not very familiar with growing wheat, but under the guidance of Sinong Temple officials,

After two or three years of adapting, we directly rotated rice and wheat. When the soil was not fertile, we planted miscellaneous grains for a while. This cycle gradually improved.

This year, the Kong Er family's rice yield is close to two bushels of rice per mu, which is much higher than the yield of just over one bushel of wheat. Therefore, the more they harvest, the happier they are. They harvest more and more, and even hum a miscellaneous tune.

Across a small road across a field, a dozen carriages headed westward with difficulty, towards Baping City.

Kong Er straightened up and saw many people with tall noses and deep eyes.

"Buck that craftsman!" A clear understanding arose in his heart.

In the past year, many Bhanna craftsmen have come to Tonghai Prefecture, and there are always several hundred households.

There are many things that I am good at.

There are blacksmiths who specialize in making farm tools, which solves the urgent need for farming in Tonghai Prefecture.

There are cobblers who can make use of Yunnan's rich livestock resources to make clothes and even various leather products.

There are carpenters who can make various tools, furniture, and even build houses.

There are tailors who are especially good at making Jibei (cotton) clothing. After all, there are so many things like this.

There are also coppersmiths who specialize in making copperware, and the source of copper is Kunzhou.

Recently, several copper mines have been discovered near Kunzhou, with the largest one located in the newly established Longdi County (today's Shilin).

However, this year, copper deposits were also discovered in Tonghai Prefecture, located in the northeast of Tonghai County (in today's Huaning County). King Yan has sent people to explore, determine the scope of the mine, and prepare for mining and smelting.

In fact, there are many minerals in Yunnan, not just these few places? As early as four years ago, when Wang Shi captured Yunnan, the saint sent people to explore everywhere and search for minerals.

After a few years, there are still some results -

In the mountains to the south of Yaozhou (in today's Shuangbai County), someone found copper. They tried to open a furnace and boiled it into juice. When it was boiled into juice, the floating part was red copper and the sinking part was silver. Yunnan Road, Yaozhou Second-level Official Office

Overjoyed, he flew to report to the saint.

Copper mines have also been discovered in Dali Prefecture, mainly in the mountains on the Erhai Lake side.

In the Jianchuan Dudu Mansion, local natives were smelting "red copper". The imperial court heard about it and sent people to inspect it, and it turned out that there was indeed a mine.

…

Almost all of Yunnan has copper, every state has it, the difference is just in size.

And with the discovery of these copper mines (often accompanied by gold, silver, lead, tin and other metals), everyone knew that the imperial court could no longer abandon this place.

Next, Yunnan will face a swarm of officials, merchants, sergeants, and ordinary people. This land in the south of the world will undergo a major reshuffle, resulting in irreversible and permanent changes.

Gold, silver, and copper, the court almost went crazy!

The abundance of copper mine resources has greatly improved the status of coppersmiths. Many of them were even pardoned as slaves and became common people, which can be described as a leap in life.

On the carriage, Ali also turned to look at Kong Er in the field.

After the two looked at each other, he quickly moved away. As a craftsman who had just been pardoned as a slave, he still felt very inferior in his heart and subconsciously did not dare to hold his head high and behave as a human being.

But this land is really nice.

The almost invisible rice in Bahan is everywhere here, and the yield is quite high, supporting too many people.

What's even more amazing is that the people of Yunnan have developed a lot of hilly farmland that he thinks is not suitable for farming, but they work tirelessly to carry water for irrigation and harvest grain.

If the common people had this kind of energy and skill, more than a million people would be able to master it.

The carriage swayed and moved forward slowly.

After passing through the hills, you can see bright red fruits and golden rice fields everywhere.

Going down to the river valley, the birds and smoke from the villages are mesmerizing. This is the taste of life.

As we approached the city, we could hear the tinkling sound of forging iron, and there were even large and small carts loaded with grain, fruits and vegetables, being brought into the city for the nobles to enjoy.

Although this place is not yet as prosperous as Bahan, looking at its rapid progress, it will only happen sooner or later!

****

After the carriage entered the city, it stopped in front of a magnificent mansion.

The gatekeeper checked carefully, waved his hand and let them in, and finally stopped on a court.

This is Prince Yan's Mansion, where the man who holds the highest power in Tonghai Prefecture lives.

Of course, this is just one of his residences. There is also a villa in the mountains to the southwest.

Both of these places were designed by people sent by the imperial court, and built by conscripting people and taking prisoners, which shows the power of King Yan in the court.

"Have you brought anything here?" Prince Palace Chief Shi Renhuan hurried over and asked.

"Bring it here." The foreman immediately opened the tarpaulin covering the carriage and said respectfully: "The first batch of soaps are all here."

Ren Wan walked over slowly, picked up a piece, sniffed it gently, and said, "It's different from the batch that Bahan brought back."

Foreman Cao Sanlang bowed and said: "Don't be surprised, Tonghai Prefecture can't find those fragrant leaves and essential oils, so we can only replace them with local flowers and trees. In addition, the oil used in this batch of soap is pig paste, not extracted from olea.

Oil."

"That's it." Ren Wan nodded, then helped Cao Sanlang up and said, "There is no need for this. Now that it is done, you are an official."

"Thank you, Chang Shi, for your kindness." Cao Sanlang cried with joy and was extremely excited.

Ali half understood what he heard, but he knew that the nobles must have given him a great reward, which is why the foreman was so excited.

Alas! In fact, the main credit for making soap belongs to him, but he is the man from Bukhan, so he is destined to have no chance. It is already great to be pardoned as a slave and receive some rewards - in fact, this is not bad.

"Don't get too excited yet." Ren Wan laughed and said, "The reward is more than that."

"Please give me your instructions, Chief Shi." Cao Sanlang lowered his head and said respectfully.

"There is already a school in Tonghai Prefecture. Your Highness wants to imitate the Central Plains in studying engineering and medicine. If you have time, you can go and teach. There is no need to teach how to make soap. Well, you were originally collecting and dispensing medicine, right? These two schools

You can teach in any school, and your Highness will definitely receive a generous reward." Ren Wan said.

In fact, various miscellaneous studies existed in the Tang Dynasty.

At the county level, there is Confucian classics.

At the state level, there are classics, arithmetic, and medicine.

In the new dynasty of Daxia, there were Confucian classics, mathematics, medicine, and agriculture at the county level. At the prefecture level, there was an additional engineering study—actually, it mainly taught iron smelting.

At the Imperial College level, miscellaneous subjects such as construction and construction are added.

To be honest, the various subjects and miscellaneous studies could not recruit enough students in the Tang Dynasty, and the future for those who passed the examinations was mediocre. At most, they would be a minor official of the eighth or ninth grade, and they might not even be able to become an official in their lifetime.

Due to the attention paid by the saints, the status of miscellaneous studies in the imperial dynasty was greatly improved, but it was still struggling due to the power of tradition.

The main destination for mathematical talents is the cities and towns in various prefectures, where they do accounting for businessmen who concentrate their transactions during the exposition.

A small number of mathematics talents who also major in architecture can become architects. Although they are very profitable, their status is not high.

Not to mention engineering and medicine, they are so professional that no one has ever reached a high official position.

Among all the miscellaneous subjects, the one with the highest achievement was Wang Yong, the eunuch of the Shaofu Prefecture, but this was only one example.

But don’t say it hasn’t changed.

Compared with the Tang Dynasty, the number of green-robed minor officials (sixth to ninth rank) in the Guo Dynasty has greatly increased, several times more than in the pre-Tang Dynasty, and most of them are agricultural students. This is a positive side - worth it

One thing to mention is that most officials with academic backgrounds do not actually have any fame. They basically come from practical backgrounds, and their overall level may not be very high.

With this change as the foundation, the next reform will be a matter of course - breaking habits is very important. If you can't break them for a while, boil the frog in warm water to make people slowly accept the facts and reduce resistance.
To be continued...