After using the wine and vegetables, the official served a few fruits, which were nothing more than local pears, red flowers, tangerines, water chestnuts, etc. There was also a kind of jujube, which was produced in a lot of locally and was sweet in the mouth. Du Zhongxiao had never seen it before, and he ate it smoothly.

The citrus in the Tang Dynasty had excellent quality, used to be a tribute, and sugarcane was also a famous product. However, in this era, the quality of citrus decreased and had a slightly bitter taste. Pomelo was rare, and the sugarcane was small and did not taste very sweet. Du Zhongxiao had heard of the colder climate in history. I wonder if the climate is colder than that in the Tang Dynasty, and the quality of fruits is not as good as before.

Everyone was eating fresh fruits and chatting about gossip.

Zhang Yingzhi said: "Take a thumbs up, on the way I came, I saw that there were many canals on the flat land. Could it be that I wanted to plant rice more widely?"

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Yes, try to grow rice wherever you can grow rice. Rice harvests more than other grains. With the weather here, you can also grow buckwheat, rapeseed and the like after harvesting rice, which is the most convenient. If you have more people in the future, you will not have to worry about grain after harvesting rice."

Zhang Yingzhi said again: "I see that the gentle hillside has also blossomed. Do you want to plant wheat?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Some of the wheat growers, some of them grow grass and cotton. They rotate and plant various beans in different crops. As for other miscellaneous grains, the Yingtianfu plant in his own private fields, and the Yingtianfu can buy them at that time."

Zhang Yingzhi said: "I heard that grass cotton is produced in the Western Regions, but it is rare in the Central Plains. It turns out that it is also produced here. I heard that grass cotton can be weaved, which is better than linen. I don't know whether it is. If there is such a thing, all kinds of hemp will not be planted. No wonder the crops mentioned in the planting are not hemp."

Cotton cloth does not replace silk, and the production and market of the two do not overlap. Cotton cloth replaces various linens. Since the popularity of cotton cloth, linen has gradually withdrawn from the historical stage. The hemp in Xiangzhou and Suizhou is yellow, white and fire, and it is the main raw material for ordinary people's clothing.

Cotton has been trial planting in Tangzhou for two years, and Du Zhongxiao discovered some problems. For example, just one generation of planting has undergone many variations, which are different from the cotton in the previous year. The quality is not as good as I remember. The fiber is not long enough, not tough enough, and is more complicated than woven linen. The color is not bright enough and not white enough, so it can only be dyed into dark cloth. There are even colorful cotton, which are many colors, but not bright enough, and look gray.

The selection and breeding of crop varieties is a long process, and it is not intentionally cultivated, and it has been a long time. From the introduction of grass cotton from the Western Regions to the Xiang-Deng area, the climate and geographical conditions have undergone many changes, and re-breding must be carried out. Du Zhongxiao originally thought that as long as he followed the usual methods, he could soon promote it on a large scale, and even develop the planting industry in the field business. Now it seems too optimistic. Without ten or eight years, it is unlikely to get varieties suitable for local planting. The textile industry has no hope for a while, so he can only plant it first. It is also good to make cotton jackets in winter, so choose the seeds slowly.

Xiangzhou, Dengzhou to Ruzhou and Xuzhou are transition zones in the north-south climate, with no mountain barriers in the middle, and the changes are stable. They are naturally suitable for the cultivation of plant varieties under various geographical and climatic conditions. Not only cotton, but also unified organization of field operations, many crop varieties were selected and cultivated in special experimental fields. After a few years, a large number of excellent varieties will appear, and the planting pattern from the Central Plains to Jinghu will even change.

This kind of thing depends on continuous and unremitting efforts, and also on certain luck. With good luck, you can get good varieties with good traits and stable genetics in one or two years. If you are not lucky, it is possible for decades. But if you choose seeds at the same time, it is certain that there will be a concentrated outbreak period of good varieties in more than ten years. It is hard to say how many of them will come out during Du Zhongxiao's term of office.

After listening to Du Zhongxiao's introduction to the current situation of the field affairs in the field, Zhang Fengzhi said: "There is a difficult situation now. In the past, the soldiers of the field were mostly used to pull fibers and did not work on crops. Many people were afraid that they could not even distinguish the grains. They asked them to open fields and plant rice, but they were afraid that they would not know the farming work and would not be satisfactory."

Du Zhongxiao said: "I had already encountered it when I opened fields in Tangzhou the next year. Since then, the field affairs in the field have set up a farming division and compiled a booklet by myself. In addition, the field affairs in each prefecture and county allow local people to invest in the recharge, and they can be taught at that time."

Speaking of this, Du Zhongxiao ordered an official to pick up a few booklets and hand them over to Zhang Yingzhi. He said: "This is a booklet on farming affairs compiled by the land affairs in the field. If you learn well, you can become a farming teacher. The government will give it to the land of the post and land, and it will be exempted from the two taxes. There is one person in each township and will be advised to the agricultural officials."

Zhang Yingzhi nodded and read the booklet casually.

During the Taiping Xingguo period of Taizong, the agricultural teacher was widely set up in the world, and there were in every county. Later, with the improvement of the village duties such as Lizheng, Chief, and Township Secretary, all officials from the road level to the county level were all led by officials to persuade farmers, and they were abandoned. Because at that time, the main responsibilities of the agricultural teacher were to guide production, reclaim wasteland and farm fields, were mostly old rural farmers, and they did not have the responsibility to study and develop agricultural technology. When officials led by officials to encourage farmers, they no longer had the necessity to exist.

The farming teachers set up in the field business have textbooks, exams, research and promotion of agricultural technology, and encouragement of agriculture is second. Their responsibilities are different. Compared with the previous farming teachers, there is one more job and field, which is actually a reward. Job land is affiliated with positions, not owned by private, and is also tax-free. Whoever is a farming teacher is the income. In addition, the farming teacher only pays two taxes, and all other servants are exempted.

This kind of treatment is not very high, but it is attractive enough to the small landlords in the countryside. The scholars in the countryside, like Du Xun, who were farming and studying and passing on their families, were unwilling to serve as masters, rural scholars, etc., but the farming teachers are different, and they are farming and reading, which is suitable for their positioning.

Zhang Yingzhi looked at the booklets in his hand. Although "License" and "Fangtian" were the first to see it, he understood the meaning. Learning these two things is to help the government manage the local government, assist in handling various official documents, measure land, compile and establish field books, etc. There is also a "Grain Map", which is not limited to grain, but also includes vegetables, fruits, bamboo, wood, medicinal materials, flowers and plants, as well as birds, animals, insects, fish and shrimps, and even various local specialties. In fact, it is a collection of animals and plants, with variety introductions, breeding of good varieties, and growing habits.

The breeding and harvesting methods are almost everything. However, this book is compiled in a hurry, and most of the places list entries, and the content is very simple. The other book is "Agricultural Tool Map", which contains various agricultural tools, rough structures, usage methods, suitable crops and terrain, etc., focusing on promotion rather than manufacturing. Another book is "A Collection of Agricultural and Structures", which mainly introduces agricultural technologies, including timely farming, field management, harvesting methods, intercropping, etc. Basic agricultural activities are included.

After reading it roughly, Zhang Yingzhi said: "It's really a plea. These booklets, especially the "Five Grain Map", "Farm Tool Map" and "Agriculture and Structure Collection", are compiled completely, not only the land management is useful, but also the world. I just want to be in a hurry, but now it is too simple. Most of them only list entries without content. And it is complicated. I think it's because many agricultural books are collected together, and there is no time to proofread. Another point is that whether it is crops or farming, it is mostly a matter of Xiang Deng, and it does not involve other prefectures and counties."

Du Zhongxiao said: "The head of the company is right. I don't know how many people need to work hard when compiling these books. The field management is invented, the manpower is insufficient, and the local area is not well understood, so I can only do this. I will add it slowly in the future. As long as I persevere, I will eventually have a day to complete the book."

Zhang Fengzhi said good things all the time and praised it very much. From this incident, he could understand Du Xiao's style of doing things and suit his own preferences. In recent years, he was particularly unlucky. From Tianzhang Pavilion to the deputy envoy of salt and iron, he was suddenly transferred to the Ezhou taxation, and he was a little suspicious of his life. He was originally a four-headed person, and soon touched the side of the magistrate. He became an official in one or two years, and the official was demoted. Moreover, the censor had verified that his crimes were not found in fact, but there was no evidence to confirm that they were punished so severely, which was a bit difficult to understand. Zhang Fengzhi was happy for officials and was good at handling chaotic practical affairs, and he was not very politically sensitive. This time he went to the field business, and he felt a little relieved, and he liked and was good at doing practical things.
Chapter completed!