80: Chapter 80 The key to increasing grain production is!

"Limited by current conditions, the production capacity of the steam thresher is relatively restricted."

As soon as Zhao Fusu's words fell, the faces of the civil and military officials, including Li Si and Feng Quji, darkened.

However, they felt relieved after thinking about it.

It was already difficult enough to manufacture such a divine tool; how could they still hope for mass production?

"At most, we can only produce a thousand units a day."

Zhao Fusu calculated roughly.

In an era where labor costs were extremely low, as long as food was provided, a large number of people were willing to enter the factories.

The technical content of molding and assembly was also relatively low; with a few training sessions, the workers could master it.

What truly limited the production of the steam thresher was the production capacity of the Hexagonal Boron Nitride Release Agent.

Producing Hexagonal Boron Nitride Release Agent required urea and borax.

There are borax mines for borax, which can be mined in large quantities.

But urea cannot yet be made through synthesis; currently, urea production is obtained by distilling human and animal urine.

In Great Qin, urine is an important resource, just like the urine of pregnant women, as it can be used for agricultural production and thus can be sold for money.

Originally, people were already competing for urine.

After Zhao Fusu required a large amount of urine, it caused the price of urine to rise.

In addition to purchasing urine from the market, he would also have the 110,000 soldiers stationed in Xianyang collect their urine and send it centrally to the Industrial Zone.

Zhao Fusu also had the factory buildings for producing Hexagonal Boron Nitride Release Agent set up in the Industrial Zone.

The produced Hexagonal Boron Nitride Release Agent was very limited, which restricted the production capacity of the steam thresher.

Zhao Fusu knew that the demand for Hexagonal Boron Nitride Release Agent would only grow larger.

To increase the production of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Release Agent, Zhao Fusu's next plan was to dispatch a large amount of corvée labor to various commanderies and counties Inside the Pass to collect human and animal urine in large quantities, produce urea nearby, and then transport it back to the Industrial Zone to produce the mold release agent.

"How... how many?"

"A thousand units a day!"

While Zhao Fusu felt the production speed of the steam thresher was too slow, he didn't realize how shocked the meeting participants were by the thousand steam threshers a day he mentioned.

They had originally thought it would take several months to build one steam thresher, but it turned out a thousand could be produced in a single day!

"Good, good, wonderful!"

Li Si was overjoyed upon hearing this.

The summer harvest was coming up; if ten thousand steam threshers could be produced, it would significantly increase the speed of the summer harvest throughout Guanzhong.

This way, there would be no need to worry about the summer harvest being delayed due to the large number of farmers going into trade.

"The rotary tiller we developed has blades that rotate deep into the soil, which can break the plow pan and loosen the soil; for example, in farmland that has been planted for many years, it can effectively improve the soil structure."

"The blades can also break up larger clods of earth, making the soil particles small and uniform, creating a good seedbed for crop growth, which is conducive to seed germination and root growth, much like the fine preparation of land before planting vegetables."

"The design size of the rotary tiller is relatively small; whether it's plains, hills, or small plots in mountainous areas, as long as a tractor can reach it, it can operate."

"As a result, it can play a role in the small terraced fields of the southern Lingnan hills or the slopes of the northern mountainous areas."

"Currently, production capacity is limited, so priority is given to producing steam threshers."

"When the farmers begin crop rotation, we will then produce the steam rotary tillers."

When farmers are planting, they don't always grow one type of crop on a single piece of land.

They often perform crop rotation.

After planting millet on a piece of land, they then plant hemp, which doesn't require as much fertility.

Hemp can be used to make hemp clothing; the vast majority of the people in the Qin Dynasty wear hemp clothes.

Clothes made of silk are only for the nobility.

Clothes made of kapok are also something only the wealthy can afford.

This kapok was obtained by the Qin Army in Lingnan and then presented to the First Emperor.

Some merchants made clothes out of kapok and sold them to Guanzhong through various channels.

This kapok is not cotton; cotton is herbaceous cotton, while kapok is a very tall tree. The flowers it produces are as red as red lanterns, and in autumn, it can produce large clumps of cotton lint. It is mainly distributed in Lingnan.

After farmers finish planting soybeans, they also perform crop rotation because soybeans also require a lot of fertility.

Farmland needs crop rotation to consider the issue of soil fertility and to regulate it. It balanced the use of soil nutrients, prevents diseases, pests, and weeds, and can effectively improve the physical and chemical properties of the soil, regulating soil fertility. Ultimately, it achieves the goal of increasing production and income.

Regarding farmland, many authors write about traveling back to ancient times and obtaining high-yield food crops like potatoes and sweet potatoes to feed the people.

They have never considered one point.

That is, eating sweet potatoes at most keeps one from starving; making someone eat sweet potatoes every meal will only make them want to vomit.

The staple food for most people is still rice and noodles; eating them every day, every meal, is fine. They won't feel disgusted or get heartburn from eating too much.

These authors have all fallen into a logic trap.

The increase in grain yield does not refer to relying on the quantity produced by high-yield crops.

High-yield crops generally taste bad.

The grain of many high-yield crops is not for human consumption, but for livestock.

Many farmers only plant high-yield rice varieties if the rice is intended for livestock.

Otherwise, they plant lower-yielding rice varieties that taste better.

The question then arises: since they are planting lower-yielding rice varieties, why is there still enough to eat?

The key is chemical fertilizer!

The increase in grain yield depends on improving the fertility of the farmland.

Modern millet yields can reach 1,200 jin per mu, while in the Qin Dynasty, it was only 150 jin. Such a large gap lies in the fertility issue. Without chemical fertilizer, high-yield crops like tomatoes and potatoes would only drain the soil's fertility, turning it into waste land.

The consequence of planting high-yield crops when fertility cannot keep up is that for every piece of land planted, one piece of land is ruined.

If high-yield crops are then planted in land without fertility, the plants will be weak and withered, making it difficult to bear fruit.

This is also why Zhao Fusu previously had a million corvée laborers make indigenous fertilizers.

When the land undergoes crop rotation, it needs to be tilled to break up the clods of earth. This also allows the fertilizer to integrate well with the soil, making it easier for the crops to absorb.

If rice is being planted, the soil must be tilled into a muddy state, weeds removed, and the edges of the field secured against water leakage before sowing begins.

Tilling the land requires a great deal of strength.

A person might not even be able to till one mu of land in an entire day.

Therefore, the farmland in the State of Qin mainly relies on plow oxen, which gives plow oxen an extremely important role.

Plow oxen cannot be slaughtered; it is illegal for the common people to eat beef.

Under qin law, killing an ox is equivalent to killing a person and can be punished by death.

Even the civil and military officials in the imperial court, as a privileged class, do not dare to eat beef in public.