Changfeng Thousands of Miles End Han Song

Chapter 911 Disappointment and Gain

"Is this corn?" Lu Qian held up the small and exquisite corn cob in his hand and said with an angry smile.

The outsiders were dazzled by the glittering gold, and all the sailors and crew who got off the ship became baby eggs.If you go to a restaurant at this time, no one will ask them for food money. Just talk about the Americas and the customs of the sea along the way, I don’t know how much popularity it will add to the restaurant and wine house.

As for the accompanying high-level ships, as well as those accompanying officials and scholars, such as Lu Renen and his like, these people were all invited to the banquet by Honglu Temple first.Emperor Lu personally hosted a banquet in honor of them.

However, the crew and sailors on board have to stay temporarily in the quarantine area of ​​the port for a period of time.

Even Ruan Xiaoqi and other people who were invited away by Honglu Temple had to take off a layer of skin in the hot water pool before going to the banquet!
But I think this isolation will not last long. In a few days, the whole world will know what America looks like.

A group of people still living in the Stone Age, their weapons are all stone, no iron, not even a few bronzes, the Native Americans seem to focus on the smelting of gold and the production of gold.So far, the barbaric and ignorant blood sacrifice customs are still preserved...

Such a group of natives are simply uncivilized. They are inferior to the few people in the ravines of the Southwest. Not to mention the Lu Qi Army, the force of any maritime caravan is overwhelming compared to the Native Americans. sex advantage.

Perhaps in the years to come, private expedition ships will be indispensable on the American continent.

But what Lu Qian valued most was the products of the Americas. Pepper was just an insignificant condiment, and its function was only to satisfy people's appetite.Tobacco, corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc., these are the real major events related to the country.

China is not short of food now, but who dares to say that China will never be short of food?Who dares to say that the people of the Central Plains will always be the same as they are now, and will not become one billion or 15 billion like in previous lives?

Lu Qian has a hundred ideas to make the common people have more children.A large blank land is waiting for them to dye yellow!

In the future, China will have a population of not to mention [-] million or [-] million. In an agricultural society, this number is too many, but at least [-] to [-] million people must be fed.Only by maintaining such a population ratio can the Central Plains conquer all directions in terms of strength.

After all, it is an agricultural society now, and the war potential in the agricultural society period, the importance of population factors is even more important than in the industrial era.

It can be said that corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc. in the Americas have a lot to do with it.Under such circumstances, looking at the small and exquisite corn cob in front of him, Lu Qian's heart must have collapsed.

The 'ignorant' Emperor Lu knew nothing about the evolution of social civilization in America for thousands of years.If North America is unable to maintain agricultural society for a long time due to terrain reasons and tornadoes, what about Central and South America?
The biggest reason why agricultural civilization could not be born early was none other than the American continent's own flaws and shortcomings.

The reason mentioned in "Guns, Germs, and Steel" is that the evolution and stagnation of American civilization are mainly determined by the self-environment of the Americas.

In the Americas, there is a lack of agricultural crops that can be easily domesticated. It is not like the Eurasian continent that has wheat and rice that can be easily domesticated.Corn is the main food crop in the Americas, and the ear of the original variety is only the thickness of a human finger, the yield is very low, and there is a hard shell outside the corn kernel.In fact, by the time Europeans discovered America, corn was domesticated by Indian farmers to about one-third the size of an ear of corn today.Other crop varieties are also very difficult to domesticate, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, sunflower seeds, pumpkins, etc., are not as productive as later generations.The original sweet potato is only slightly thicker than human fingers.

Another important reason is that the distribution of domesticable crops in the Americas is too scattered, and bringing them together requires a long-term process of spread and exposure.To support the development of an agricultural society, a variety of crops are needed to provide sugar, protein, and oil. Without any kind of basic nutrition, an agricultural society cannot be supported.However, the terrain of the Americas is long and narrow. From north to south, the domesticable varieties that can provide sugar, protein and oil crops are scattered, and the distances are relatively long. When they spread together, it takes more time to form a basic agricultural combination. The Old World was much longer.Of course, these have nothing to do with this book.

Emperor Lu knew nothing about this, so he had great hopes for the products in America.

So, when he saw the small and exquisite corn on the cob and the small and exquisite sweet potatoes and potatoes, what kind of feeling did he feel?It felt like being struck by lightning.

His brain went off.

But Lu Qian is really lucky, because for thousands of years, the "crops" of the American continent have crossed geographically long distances and combined with each other.For example, corn is native to the Central American plateau, potatoes and sweet potatoes are native to the mountains of South America, and so on.If the time of China's landing in the Americas was advanced thousands of years, it would be impossible to collect all the species by going to sea at that time.

Not to mention anything else, how much profit can China bring to China with just long-staple cotton and fine-staple cotton, two cotton varieties originating in the Americas?
It should be said that all the hardships come with joy, or it can be said that the willows and willows are planted unintentionally.After Lu Qian was greatly disappointed with corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc., he found salvation in cotton.

In order to improve cotton varieties, Lu Qian sent people to Tianzhu and Egypt to introduce new varieties, but the facts proved that the effect was not great.The latter two are actually the same thing, both Tianzhu cotton originated in Tianzhu, not the long-staple cotton he expected at all.

But the two kinds of cotton Ruan Xiaoqi brought from America inadvertently made up for this defect.

It was a huge surprise, and it was an unexpected surprise.Because Lu Qian had no idea that these two types of cotton were involved in the Americas, the only products he had great expectations for in the Americas were tobacco, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, cocoa, etc.

"His Majesty?"

Le He whispered to Lu Qian. "It's time for a banquet."

Lu Qian, who was startled by the sound, let out a long breath and said, "Instruct the Department of Agricultural Science and Technology to take good care of these seeds." Along with the exquisite sizes of corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes in front of him, he did not ask anyone from the Department of Agricultural Science to We must have the confidence to cultivate high-yield and excellent varieties.But good care is a must.It is not guaranteed that after planting a few crops, these species will suddenly 'mutate' after adapting to the climate and soil of Middle Earth.

With a promise, Lehe went in quietly.

Only Lu Qian was left standing in the hall alone, feeling a little empty in his heart, as if lost.

……

Somewhere in the Internal Affairs Office.

A group of people were at a loss as they looked at the yellowing tobacco leaves in front of them. This was a tribute brought back by Governor Ruan from a long distance, and the emperor attached great importance to it...

(End of this chapter)