Restart the Disaster of Another World

"Wenjiabao has a good geographical location and guards a prime land like the wharf, but they still make a living by farming and occasionally sell surplus crops and mountain products, but they can barely fill their stomachs. Why is that?" Jing Yao raised a question to the two.

Wen Xing and Wen Yu, father and son, were silent. They had never thought much about this issue before. Their ancestors had lived like this for generations, and it was already a very good life compared to the north. What's more, both of them were scholars and seldom talked about business issues.

Wen Yu tentatively answered: "One is because of the low production, and the other is because of the heavy taxes."

"This only accounts for a small part. Although Dayu emphasized agriculture and suppressed merchants, he was also very open to agricultural merchants. Not to mention the opening of sea transportation, even if a person is a merchant, even if he only has a few dozen acres of land, his tax will be several percent lower than that of a pure merchant, not to mention agricultural registration. That is a symbolic collection. If you do small business, there is no such thing as taxation. But everyone's eyes are still only on the land and they can't see anything else."

"Also, the wasteland reclaimed by the refugees who were resettled in recent years is not suitable for growing rice. They can only grow some crops like beans that don't take up too much soil. Although those crops can be harvested, they can't be used as staple food like rice and wheat. In addition, the yield is low, so they are only enough to barely fill their stomachs."

This is a limitation of the times and vision. Our ancestors have been doing this for generations, and no one teaches you how to do business. Everyone focuses on the fields, but when they really sell them for money, they know they can't get a good price. Bartering or selling them are all very low prices, so they don't think about how to expand and do well.

"What I want to do is to let them spend their extra energy on something worthwhile, reprocess what they grow, and then sell it in bulk to increase the yield of the land and improve their economic income. People from outside will know this place after buying Wenjiabao's products, and then want to learn more about this place. I am the bridge connecting them."

"Everyone grows some vegetables in the fields, but how can they be sold? Even if they can be sold, if they are not sold out, they will rot in our hands. What should we do then?" Wen Xing shook his head. Now the villagers are also buying vegetables, but they are not easy to sell. People in the surrounding villages all grow their own food and are not interested in them.

"So we can't just plant the same thing. We have to plant them separately. Several or dozens of households can plant one or two kinds of crops. This not only ensures the diversity of products, but also eliminates competition among everyone, and naturally leads to win-win cooperation."

"If you plant more, can you harvest it all?" Wen Xing asked in surprise.

"It's not me who can take it, it's the wharf that can take it. This is when our geographical advantage becomes apparent. Uncle, you see, it's not an exaggeration to say that Wenjiabao is by the sea. It only takes half an hour from here to the wharf. The river in the village is also a waterway that can be sailed. We have also repaired the road now, so we can transport the goods to the city to sell. However, it's not as good as shipping them to Jiangnan Shangjing by sea, where the price is high and the volume is large. This is a natural advantage. As long as we make good use of it, it will be no problem for Wenjiabao to develop into a town by the sea in the future."

"If so, it would be a good thing for the people," Wen Xing thought about the feasibility.

"Of course, it will take time to develop. I am confident that this is not just empty talk."

Jing Yao has space to back him up. He just puts forward some ideas and technologies and lets professionals in this world do it. If they succeed, they will have a place in this era. He is not a technology giant and can only stand on the shoulders of giants to push the world forward a little bit.

"These things are not rare in the south. You want to send them to the north." Wen Yu said in surprise.

Jing Yao nodded: "Yes, father-in-law, brother, you know I escaped from the north. The terrain over there is no worse than the south, the land is also fertile, and we are also hardworking, but why do refugees flee to the south every year?"

"There's drought and a water shortage in the north. There are no rivers, lakes or seas in many places, just plains. People rely on the weather for their livelihood. If it doesn't rain, the ground will dry up and there's no groundwater. Many crops will die as soon as they are planted. They have bad luck every year, and many people who can't stand it will try their best to move south." Wen Xing has helped many refugees who fled here to settle down, and he also communicated with them, so he naturally knew about these things.

"Yes, although there seems to be no major disasters in recent years, there are still refugees who can't make it every year. It can be seen that life over there is still not easy."

"Alas, this year is even worse. We have been providing disaster relief and poverty alleviation all the time." Wen Xing sighed.

"So moving south is the general trend. Unless we find a way to solve the problem, there will always be chaos." Jing Yao had a premonition.

"You and I have no influence on such a big matter." Wen Xing shook his head and interrupted the topic.

Jing Yao readily changed the subject: "Let's talk about the herdsmen further north. They are like the herdsmen outside the Great Wall. They make a living by herding and don't cultivate the land, so they covet Dayu's abundant supplies. But their cattle and sheep are well raised, so they don't lack meat to eat."

"You mean we didn't make use of the excess supplies to exchange for what we need?" Wen Yu asked.

"Yes, we can grow a variety of crops and sell the surplus in exchange for money to improve our lives. Then every family can eat meat, have extra money to send children to school, and have more options." This is the current problem that Jing Yao has observed after living in the village for three years.

“The shelf life of cultivated crops is short, and how to transport them is a big problem.” Wen Xing pointed out the problem incisively.

"I have considered this issue and have some ideas, but it will take some time to verify." Jing Yao is currently looking into high-pressure steam sterilization and sealed packaging, which can extend the shelf life of food.

"If there is such a way, and you can sell those crops, the villagers will be grateful to you." Wen Xing was very satisfied with Jing Yao's concern for the whole village. He has taken root here and naturally hopes that the people here can be better.

"Father-in-law, the seeds I bought are also good things. When you plant them, even if you don't sell them, you can sell them to me, and you can make a lot of money." Jing Yao is not stupid. The prerequisite for leading everyone to become rich is that he gets rich first.

"Tell us more about those seeds." Wen Xing also became interested in those overseas seeds.

Jing Yao introduced the species of seeds and how to eat the fruits. Wen Yu had already seen many of the seedlings, but when he heard Jing Yao talk about how they would bloom and bear fruit, he was also looking forward to it.

Jing Yao actually wanted to say these words to Wen Qun. Wen Qun takes care of the seedlings every day, hoping that they will grow up, and he is the one who cares about them the most.

After hearing what he said, Wen Xing and Wen Yu no longer stopped Wen Qun from going to Jing Yao's house every day. Even when the villagers asked, Wen Xing just said that he was helping Jing Yao buy New Year's goods. The two young people had a good relationship and were engaged, so let them be. They would have to live together in the future. After Wen Xing said this, the villagers didn't say anything.

Wen Xing, however, went to the headman's house with a pot of good wine that Jing Yao had brought him, and he also called a few respected uncles in the clan. No one knew what they talked about, but he only knew that they drank until late at night that day.

Three days later, Jing Yao and Wen Qun finally finished smoking the bacon. At first, everyone thought that Jing Yao's house was on fire, and many people came to his house with weapons to put out the fire. Jing Yao quickly explained that he was just burning something and there was no fire, so everyone left with peace of mind. After coming several times like this, the two of them thoroughly felt the enthusiasm of the villagers.

The bacon is not to be eaten immediately after it is made. It needs to be air-dried for a few days. During this time, Jing Yao began to study a method for long-term storage of food, that is, canning. After being sterilized with high-pressure steam, a large number of bacteria can be killed. As long as it is properly preserved, it can be canned for half a year or a year. In this way, it can not only be sailed out to sea, but also sold to various places in Dafeng, so sales will naturally not be a problem.

There are two problems to be solved now. The first is the outer packaging and sealing method, and the second is the application of steam sterilization and food packaging. He has the equipment for sterilization, which is not a difficult task, but packaging is much more troublesome. Fortunately, iron is not a controlled product in this world, and most of the iron ore is in the hands of the government, and private ownership is also allowed. He can still think of a solution.

In the past few days, Jing Yao and Wen Qun have been working separately. Wen Qun has been experimenting with the preparation of various foods and adjusting the recipes according to everyone's tastes, or making other flavors and considering the costs, as well as whether mass production can be achieved and where the shortcomings are that need to be solved urgently. This is a tedious task. Jing Yao has made a plan for Wen Qun, and he has been quite organized in doing it.

Jing Yao took the design he had drawn and went to see a nearby iron mine to get a basic understanding. He then visited various blacksmith shops and put forward his requirements. After repeated experiments, he finally came up with the canned packaging he wanted. After returning home, he put the food that Wen Qun had already prepared into the can for steam sterilization, and then put it away to see how long the shelf life could be. He also made a batch every few days for comparison.

After the experiment, all the difficulties encountered so far have been solved. The only trouble is that high-pressure steam sterilization requires a large amount of burning firewood to achieve. In this world where coal mines have not yet been discovered, large-scale production is not conducive to long-term stable development. It seems that he needs to find time to go to the Xishan Mountains to see if he can find any mineral sources.

The two of them were busy for more than half a month, and the finished products included canned luncheon meat, canned fruit, canned fish, canned pork, and canned spicy meat sauce. The canned vegetables were put aside for the time being, because there were few vegetables in winter, so they made the others first, and they could make whatever they wanted after they were ripe.

They also harvested several large jars of pickled peppers and pickled radishes. Jing Yao even found a kiln and customized the big-bellied jars with brims that he wore today. Looking at the row of jars against the wall, Jing Yao felt that the development of gourmet food had taken another step forward.

There were only a few days left before the Chinese New Year, and it was a rare afternoon when he had nothing to do. Jing Yao watched Wen Qun sitting there drinking water slowly, and suddenly remembered that the cow in Zhangqiu's family gave birth to a calf two days ago, and he had squeezed some milk from it. Jing Yao wanted to make Wen Qun happy.

"Qun Qun, let's go to Zhangqiu's house and buy some milk!" Jing Yao stood up and said.

Wen Qun didn't understand why Jing Yao bought milk, but he still answered: "Okay, now?"

"Yeah, now." He touched Wen Qun's head and pulled him up.

Wen Qun stood up with his force, and then the two of them took the basin and went out together.

The cows in Zhangqiu's family are well taken care of, so they have plenty of milk. When Jing Yao asked to give him half a bucket of milk without saying a word, he quickly said that was enough.

As for Zhangqiu not wanting the money, Jing Yao gave Zhangqiu's grandson a bag of candy, a kind of candy that Wen Qun had never eaten before, which made Wen Qun stare at it several times.

Zhang Qiu said no, but Jing Yao said that the child would not let go even if it was given to him. Zhang Qiu accepted it, but told Jing Yao to come over and squeeze milk if he needed it in the future.

The milk here is drunk directly, with a little sugar added at most. It is not even as good as modern pure milk, so not many people drink it, so I don’t feel bad about giving more to Jing Yao.

After leaving Zhangqiu's house, Jing Yao handed a bag of candy to Wen Qun: "Take a look, do you like it?"

Wen Qun was a little embarrassed. Was he so obvious just now? But he still took the candy.

He peeled one first and fed it to Jing Yao, then ate one himself. It was a soft milk candy with a light milk flavor and was very sweet. It was a modern low-end industrial product, but Wen Qun liked it very much and said happily, "I like it."

Jing Yao had a hard time eating. He turned his head and looked at the man. "Compared to rock candy, which one do you prefer?"

Wen Qun hesitated for a moment, and said with great difficulty: "I like both of them."

Jing Yao was speechless. He realized that he had made a mistake. From the perspective of modern people, meteorite candy is sweet but not greasy, and has a light taste, which he prefers. Milk candy is sweet and greasy, and then there is nothing else. But people in this era don't eat candy every day, so naturally the sweeter the better. Wen Qun is also a sweet lover, so his taste is naturally different from his.