jdhmnovel If Chapter 1115 weren't difficult, why would I have specifically brought it up?
If Chapter 1115 weren't difficult, why would I have specifically brought it up?
All Zhu Biao could think about was the phrase, "One egg for every child every day."
The Ming Dynasty currently has a total population of over 70 million, roughly 15 million households.
Based on one child per household, more than 15 million eggs would be needed every day.
Even if every hen worked diligently to lay eggs, averaging one egg every two days, it would mean that the Ming Dynasty would need more than 30 million hens to achieve what my brother-in-law said: "one egg per child per day."
To put it simply, on average, each household would need to raise two hens specifically for laying eggs.
and then?
Then you'll find that the numbers can't be calculated that way at all.
First, there's the chip in the egg.
It's not just children who need to eat eggs; strong laborers who build roads and mines also need to supplement their diet with eggs.
Although the cooks can make a large pot of egg drop soup with just two eggs, the problem is that construction sites with hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people often require egg drop soup in quantities that cannot be measured in "pots".
In addition, four-legged animals like cattle and horses also need eggs, especially those nearing calving, and warhorses in the army.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a high price of three coins for an egg—according to market prices, a fat chicken weighing three or four pounds only costs twenty-odd coins.
Secondly, there's the issue of feeding the chickens.
Feeding chickens involves two issues.
The first problem is that chickens need to be well-fed before they can lay eggs. If you rely solely on chickens to forage for food in the ground, the number of eggs they lay will be surprisingly small, and the eggs will also be surprisingly small.
If you want chickens to lay more eggs, you can only feed them grain.
In other words, raising poultry and livestock such as chickens and pigs is tantamount to taking food away from the mouths of ordinary people.
The second problem is even more critical.
There's an old saying, "Even with a fortune, livestock doesn't count," because raising poultry and livestock like chickens and pigs means you're always at risk of contracting chicken plague or swine fever.
After a bout of chicken or swine fever, people can no longer eat these poultry and livestock; they can only be buried.
And this is just a small part of the "Blue Basket Project" that my brother-in-law mentioned.
The other "meat, fish, and vegetables" alone are enough to give you a headache.
Leaving aside meat and fish, the huge shortage of these two items is essentially similar to the shortage of eggs, both stemming from the extreme difficulty of raising them.
Even the seemingly easy-to-solve "vegetables" problem alone was enough to give the many civil and military officials in the court a collective headache.
Because vegetables harvested in autumn are difficult to store until winter, and you can't plant vegetables directly in winter!
Theoretically speaking, it is certainly possible to use greenhouses for winter planting, just like in Ningyang County. The palace even had the method of "growing vegetables in hot springs".
In reality, neither greenhouse vegetable cultivation nor hot spring vegetable cultivation is something that ordinary people can do.
If all ordinary people could afford to grow vegetables in greenhouses or by growing vegetables in hot springs...
Zhu Biao shook his head.
It seems better to send people to fight Annam, Burma, and Siam, and then use those places to grow vegetables.
Then the problem is coming.
If we send troops to conquer these places, we shouldn't use these good places, which yield two, three, or even four harvests a year, to grow grain.
People can live without vegetables, but they really can't live without rice.
Zhu Biao's head was getting more and more ache from thinking about it, so he simply looked at Yang Shaofeng and said, "Brother-in-law's suggestion of the 'vegetable basket project' is good, but the key is that it is too difficult to implement."
Yang Shaofeng rolled his eyes.
Is it too difficult to operate?
Isn't this pure nonsense literature?
If the "vegetable basket project" were not difficult, why would I have specifically brought it up?
What I want is for your father and Li Shanchang to have a headache!
Of course, there's also you, little Deng. You've been jumping around the most lately, and you've squeezed the most wool out of me. Don't even think about running away!
Yang Shaofeng picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said with a forced smile, "It's definitely going to be difficult. The key is how my father-in-law, the Duke of Han, and the Marquis of Chengyi will handle it."
"After all, there are precedents in Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture. Surely we can follow suit?"
"Moreover, I did not say that it would take one or two years to see results."
"This is a massive project that could take ten, twenty, or even several decades or a hundred years!"
Zhu Biao almost laughed out of anger.
Given the precedents of Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture, should we simply copy them?
This sounds reasonable, but it actually has absolutely no reference value.
Because out of more than a thousand prefectures and counties in the Ming Dynasty, there was only one Ningyang County.
Even Dengzhou Prefecture, which stands out among more than a hundred prefectures, has ten counties under its jurisdiction that are not as prosperous as Ningyang County.
The prosperity of Ningyang County was entirely built up by various workshops.
To put it bluntly, the prosperity of Ningyang County was built on the foundation laid by my brother-in-law from the first year of the Hongwu reign to the third year.
The situation in the other thousand-plus prefectures and counties is different from that in Ningyang County; even if they wanted to copy someone else's homework, they wouldn't have anything to copy.
Where can you find more than a thousand county magistrates like my brother-in-law who can adapt to local conditions and lead the counties and prefectures under their jurisdiction to build workshops?
Even those county magistrates and prefects from Ningyang County, whom my brother-in-law personally trained, were merely imitating his administration in Ningyang County; they could not surpass him at all.
Zhu Biao shook his head helplessly and sighed, "I will definitely support my brother-in-law's 'vegetable basket project'."
"But, as you just said, this vegetable basket project is a huge undertaking that will take decades or even centuries."
“If you bring this up rashly, my father and the Duke of Han will definitely have a headache. The key is that they don’t know how to handle it and they have no confidence. They will most likely push the problem back to you.”
Yang Shaofeng's smile instantly froze.
Zhu Biao continued, "I think that since you want to propose the 'vegetable basket project,' you should at least give them some hope and some guidance so that they have a general idea of how to implement it."
Therefore, I must first draw up a blueprint for them, and then write down their general ideas.
So, is it I who am tormenting them, or am I tormenting myself?
Seeing Yang Shaofeng's face growing darker, Zhu Biao quickly added, "Actually, this matter isn't as complicated as you think, brother-in-law."
"That guy, Wu Ju, the prefect of Yangzhou, isn't he from Ningyang County?"
“Brother-in-law, you can tell him about the vegetable basket project, have him write a memorial, and then you can get his signature.”
"If you really think about it, he actually got the better deal from his brother-in-law."
"..."
A smile returned to Yang Shaofeng's face.
There's nothing wrong with saying black sesame dumplings.
Wasn't this what I trained them for?
And it's not just those few from Ningyang County.
Couldn't the cattle and horses bred at the Ningyang County farm also be put to use?
For example, there's that guy named Li Qi, and that guy named Liu Lian.
If Wu Ju can write a memorial on the "vegetable basket project," then Li Qi should be able to write a memorial on poverty alleviation as well, right?
Yang Shaofeng thought it over and found it increasingly reliable. Just as he was about to nod in agreement, Xia Yu rushed over and bowed to Zhu Biao and Yang Shaofeng, saying, "Your Highness, Prince Consort, a battle report has arrived from Tong'an."
"In addition, Vice Ministers Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu have also arrived in Quanzhou, awaiting Your Highness's summons."