In the morning, Li Li, who returned from the scattered court, and Zuo Pushe, the Shangshu, who came to report the affairs, talked about one thing: What should we raise around Kaifeng, livestock and poultry?

This problem does not seem to be a problem, but it has a lot to do: eating livestock is basically mainly sheep, which requires a large amount of pasture, which will affect the feeding of horses.

Li Li cannot accept the situation of raising sheep but not raising horses because horses are strategic resources and their significance in national defense is very important.

Although the Chu State now has grasslands (partially) and horse-producing land, Li Li believes that the hinterland of the Central Plains (such as Henan and Lianghuai) must have a certain area of ​​horse-breeding farm just in case.

Moreover, the Central Plains horse-raising system he worked hard to establish cannot be abandoned just because it is too peaceful.

"Your Majesty, for the people, the benefits of raising sheep are significantly higher than those of raising horses, because sheep can be sold at a good price."

Zu Ying stated the data from the investigation, "Take Kaifeng as an example, because the demand for mutton in the city is increasing day by day, raising sheep can make a lot of money."

" Raising horses is different. First of all, for ordinary people, horses are precious and difficult to raise. After raising them, if they are not good horses, they cannot sell them for a very good price."

"Training a horse of ordinary quality, you can go to the mule and horse market for sale, and maybe you can't sell it after waiting for a few days."

"It's better to raise sheep. Wool can be sold for money and mutton can be sold for money. There is no need to worry about sales and it's easy to get rid of it."

"So, as Kaifeng City has a growing demand for mutton, more and more people in the surrounding areas have begun to raise sheep, grazing sheep everywhere and eating grass, and the demand for grassland is increasing."

"There are also people from other places who, when the sheep are almost the same, drive the sheep out and travels a long distance to Kaifeng. They eat grass all the way. When they arrive in Kaifeng, they just have enough weight and can take action."

Li Li already knew the data that Zu Yi said, and also realized the seriousness of the matter:

Driven by economic interests, the people's enthusiasm for raising sheep is higher than raising horses. Then the contradiction between sheep and horse fighting for grassland will gradually become sharp.

Encroachment of grasslands in horse farms will become a trend.

Many people believe that since the imperial court has a horse-producing land and no longer lacks horses, there is no need to leave so many grasslands for horses in the heart of the Central Plains. It is better to use the same grassland to raise sheep.

After all, it is difficult for ordinary families to raise horses that can achieve good results in the race club.

Although it is not impossible to issue a "Sheep Ban" and implement it with the current execution of the court, the government orders that violate economic interests will not be implemented for many years.

Zu Yi believed that if the court wanted to ensure the horse-producing land in the Central Plains, it would be necessary to make up its mind as soon as possible to curb the situation of people's sheep raising.

If it cannot be done, then the situation where the sheep robs the horse's grass will inevitably gradually become a common reality.

If you regret it at that time, it will become difficult for you to take any measures.

"If sheep are raised, they are free and captive, can't they be raised?" Li Li asked. He had never studied this question carefully because he was thinking about raising horses.

Zu Yi replied: "I have carefully investigated that if sheep are kept in captivity, they are prone to illness or have poor physical fitness, resulting in poor meat quality."

Li Li can raise fish and learn from other things. He can understand why sheep raised in captivity are prone to problems: "That is to say, a large number of sheep are crowded together, and the excrement is inconvenient to clean up, the sheep pen environment is poor, and the sheep's density is high, which is prone to disease?"

"Yes, Your Majesty really... I really understand the people's sentiments." Zu Yi almost said the wrong thing because it was actually inappropriate to praise the emperor for raising sheep (fish).

Then it was added: "Also, rams are likely to fight, resulting in both losses and disturbing the flock."

Li Li felt a little headache: "Is there no way to improve captive technology?"

This question should not be asked by the prime minister. The emperor and the prime minister discussed how to raise sheep. This was reported but it was "obstructed".

But Zu Yi came prepared and didn't care about the officials next to him recording the conversation, and made a generous speech: "Of course, there are some people who have tried to raise sheep in captivity and raise as many sheep as possible with a limited area."

"They have found many good ways to ensure the sheep pen is clean, reduce the chance of the sheep's disease, and ensure that the sheep raised has good meat and will not be disliked."

Speaking of this, he submitted another report.

Li Li looked at it and was very satisfied with the unexpected joy. Zu Feng always did things without any leakage, and even took the initiative to learn from others, or took the initiative to worry about what the emperor was worried about.

For example, this matter (the folk desire to raise sheep is high), Zu Qi took the initiative to bring up, conducted relevant investigations, and also initially understood the advanced breeding technology (captive sheep) so that the emperor could see it at a glance.

The reason is of course because Zu Yi knew that the emperor attached importance to raising horses, so it was possible that the cause of raising horses was in danger. As a minister, Zu Yi naturally had to "urge what the emperor was anxious about."

Not only did he raise concerns, he also formulated a response plan:

Promote captive sheep raising, that is, use a large-scale sheep farm (captive) that covers a relatively small area, to provide Kaifeng with sufficient mutton supply to avoid competing with horses for grasslands.

Then, with the advantage of scale operation, the price of sheep is lowered, and the means include signing supply agreements with large mutton consumers in Kaifeng City (Fugui Renjia, Didian, etc.), which greatly reduces the income of individual retail investors in raising sheep.

In this way, the scale of private free-range sheep can be suppressed through "market means".

But one prerequisite for doing this is to expand the forage planting industry (such as alfalfa) to ensure that the sheep farm has sufficient forage to raise sheep.

This (expanding grass planting) also has an advantage, that is, when the grass supply is abundant, the cost of horse feeding will also decrease.

Planting grasses such as alfalfa can be done during the resumption of arable land, because after planting alfalfa, it will not only not consume ground abilities, but also restore fertility.

People who grow alfalfa can also obtain some income because they have horse farms and sheep farms to purchase forage, and they will not be in vain.

Therefore, the plan proposed by Zu Yi is very implementable and has good results.

As long as the court makes up its mind to give appropriate "preferential policies" to those sheep farms (captives), the breeding scale can reach a large enough quantity as soon as possible.

For the people, the risk of raising sheep is significantly greater than that of planting forage. As long as the price of sheep is low to a certain extent, the comprehensive income of planting forage will be higher than that of raising sheep.

This is to lure it for profit.

Li Li looked at the detailed report and thought it was very good.

Such a "executive" who can work, understand the best intentions and take the lead, even in modern times, who doesn't like to use big bosses?

"When it comes to raising sheep, I remember raising fish. After all, fish plus sheep is the word "fresh"."

Li Li put down the report and looked at Zu Qiong, "Fish is cheaper than mutton. Ordinary people cannot afford mutton, but the threshold for eating fish is not that high."

"Raising fish does not require occupying grassland. The cost of raising hornets, that is, the cost of forage, is lower than raising sheep."

As Zu Qi listened, his mind quickly turned around, trying to figure out the emperor's true intention of saying this.

Could it be that raising fish instead of raising sheep?

This can only be said that each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Fish cannot be separated from water, whether it is raised or sold at the market.

"However, the risks of the breeding industry exist after all." Li Li changed his mind.

"The family is rich, but it doesn't count. Dozens of sheep can seem like a lot of money if you discount money. However, a plague can kill all the sheep, and the sheep breeders will lose most of it."

"Similarly, it is common for a large fish pond to turn white when an accident occurs."

"This is the characteristic of the breeding industry. Whether it is livestock, chickens, ducks, fish and goose, there are risks during the feeding cycle."

"Also, there are risks in transportation and sale of these living things, because they have to be kept for a day if they are not sold, otherwise they will not be sold for a price after they die. This is different from the item."

"Then, to bypass this risk, there is a way to do food processing and process fresh meat into meat products, such as making fish into croaker."

“In this way, long-distance transportation is not a problem.”

"Or, fish can also be marinated with salt and made into abalone. The fishing industry will be developed in coastal areas and abalone can be made on a large scale. As long as the price is low enough and the quality is guaranteed, it can be a win-win situation."

Abalone refers to salted fish in this era, while abalone called it in later generations was called phignon in this era.

When Zu Wei heard Li Li say this, he quickly thought of: processing meat products to meet the needs of ordinary people.

No matter what kind of meat, you can make croaker. Fish include fish, and sheep can also be made into croaker.

Of course, mutton is expensive, and fish is much cheaper in comparison. Even if it is made into fish, the price is relatively "friendly".

Then, develop the abalone processing industry in coastal areas, develop the fish and meat products processing industry in the Yangtze River and Huai River coastal areas, and develop the mutton product processing industry in Hebei.

Let "East fish (alpharod) transport the west", "South fish transport the north", and "North sheep transport the south" become a reality...

Large-scale exchange of goods between the north and the south, and the newly opened Hehuai Transportation Du, Tongji Canal, can it play a more role?

When transporting southern supplies to Kaifeng fleets, after clearing the cargo hold, they can load goods from north, such as mutton products, which are loaded south and are rushing back and forth, and their income will increase sharply.

"Your Majesty, I understand what your majesty means!" Zu Qi replied, but added: "But if this is the case, Kaifeng will inevitably become more prosperous. After all, it is a place for the transfer of canal transportation, so in the future..."

"Will the popularity of Luoyang be overshadowed by Kaifeng?"

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