If you think about it carefully, there were a lot of small fish and shrimps in ancient rivers and ditches.

As long as the paddy fields are irrigated, fish and shrimps will inevitably enter the rice fields, so the ancients were no stranger to rice field fish.

Rice flower fish was already a delicacy in the Song Dynasty and was mentioned in many poems.

During the Cao and Wei Dynasties, there seems to be a precedent for this kind of fish and rice mixed culture in Sichuan and Shu. Later, there were many records in Yunnan, Guizhou, Fujian and Guangzhou.

After Guo Shoujing of the Yuan Dynasty dug the Tonghui River around Gyeonggi, a large number of rice fields gradually appeared near the capital.

There is a ballad that goes: The rice in the west of Beijing is fragrant, and the cooking smells heaven-knows. There is no need for vegetables for a simple meal, it is delicious and fragrant.

This is still Tongzhou. It was clearly recorded in the Qing Dynasty that there were more than 1,000 hectares, or more than 100,000 acres of rice fields surrounding the Kunming Lake in the capital.

The rice flower fish has sufficient innate conditions.

I tried asking Jia Lian and Jia Zhen, and it turns out that there are indeed a large number of rice fields near the capital, not to mention tens of thousands of acres, but several thousand acres, that is, hundreds of thousands of acres.

This is indeed somewhat feasible, but it is simply impossible to promote it on a large scale.

But this is actually a good thing.

The good and medium-quality land is basically in the hands of the powerful and the country gentry, and these people have a certain ability to resist risks.

If you use a few acres of land to experiment, failure will not have much impact.

It also prevented a large number of poor families from going bankrupt.

Among 10 or 100 squires who are willing to give it a try, if they succeed only half of the time, they will have unlimited merit.

And others have succeeded, but you have not.

Based on ancient public opinion and scholarly ethos, they would never scold themselves as the inventor, but would laugh at those losers for being stupid.

Shi Zhongkui immediately decided to spend his own money to buy some land and conduct experiments. Once it really succeeded, it would definitely be beneficial to the imperial examination and future officialdom.

Second, in ancient times, because the fertility of the fields was not enough, rice transplanting was not as intensive as in modern times.

This provides conditions for fish farming in rice fields. Fish farming can also fertilize the fields and reduce pests.

In addition, in the small-scale peasant economy, labor is not valuable, and the cost of careful care is too high in modern times. This was not a problem at all in ancient times.

There is no need to worry about pesticides being harmful to fish.

But the trouble is that the farmers have no experience in raising fish at all, but thinking about Yu Honggao raising red carp in a large tank shows that there are farmers around Daxing who specialize in this business.

And even if each acre only produces 2,30 kilograms of palm-sized fish, it is still extra income for the country squire.

After making dried fish, you don’t have to worry about eating fish meat all year round. Some landowners even rarely eat meat a few times a year.

If the grain yield per mu increased by 10% or 20%, Shi Zhongkui's name would definitely be remembered and appreciated by scholars and squires.

In ancient times, the "people" in "ruling the world with the people" refers to the gentry, not the common people.

With the support and support of these people, it will be much easier to be an official or work.

Thinking about it this way, it seems that it is really necessary to buy ten or twenty acres of paddy field and give it a try. Even if I am wrong, it will not be a big problem.

Thinking of this, Shi Zhongkui couldn't help but think of the farmstead owned by the Duke of Jianguo in Daxing.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to repair the ditch, we took the opportunity to transform the land near the bend of the ditch.

When he really tries it out, the Genuo family will definitely follow up, and the Yang family next door will also come to seek benefits.

Giving face to the Yang family is equivalent to gaining the favor of a fourth-grade criminal prosecutor and a seventh-grade sixth-grade minister.

He also helped Yu Honggao improve his political performance. By then, Yu Honggao might not be willing to leave Daxing County.

When the restoration of the Duke and the Yang family is also successful, other squires, nobles, and big landowners will definitely follow suit.

Yu Honggao can rely on this merit. It may be difficult to upgrade to three levels in a row, but it should not be difficult to upgrade from the sixth level to the fifth level.

After hearing that Shi Zhongkui actually raised fish in the rice fields in a whimsical way, Jia Lian and Jia Zhen suddenly thought that he was crazy.

But Jia Baoyu pondered for a moment and said, "There is indeed such a thing in ancient books, but it only happens in the south where there is lots of rain and a warm climate."

Shi Zhongkui smiled slightly, "Don't forget the Tonghui River and Kunming Lake, which are water storage areas. Rice has been planted on a large scale since the previous dynasty.

I called the head of the village and asked. There must be sporadic fish in the rice fields. I have a very simple way to raise fish and increase rice production.

If Brother Zhen, Brother Lian and Brother Bao don't believe it, it will only take a few months for the younger brother to buy a piece of land outside the city and give it a try.

When I succeed, the three of you will understand whether what you said today is nonsense."

Jia Lian and Jia Zhen couldn't help but hesitate.

Shi Zhongkui said so confidently, and the three of them already believed in his character, Jia Lian and Jia Zhen couldn't help but think that as long as they didn't completely change the farm at once, the risk would be minimal.

Moreover, the income from ten acres of land in one season is not even enough to set up a banquet in Jude House.

If everything goes through, he can show his face in front of Xia Shouzhong and even the Holy Emperor.

If it doesn't work out, he also has hard work to do, "My dear brother is out of town, but I have a mission, so I just come to see him as my brother."

This made Shi Zhongkui hesitate. After thinking about it, he decided that instead of owing favors to the Jia family, it would be better to buy a piece of land by himself. He could decide everything by himself and avoid being controlled by others.

When they succeed, they will ask themselves.

It's a pity that he still underestimated Yu Honggao's vigorous and resolute actions.

"In that case, I will go back to Daxing tomorrow to make preparations. Then Brother Lian will send someone to look for me."

When Jia Lian and Jia Zhen heard this, they knew that Shi Zhongkui had made up his mind to try buying land himself.

This is good, at least Shi Zhongkui won't make fun of his own fields.

After talking about the most important things, Jia Lian, Jia Zhen, and Jia Baoyu looked at each other.

Seeing that Jia Zhen and Jia Baoyu both nodded, expressing their belief in Shi Zhongkui's character, Jia Lian smiled and said, "How come my dear brother doesn't even have a maid in his family?"

Shi Zhongkui was stunned, frowned and thought for a few seconds, and suddenly understood.

It can be said that it was extremely rude for Jia Lian to ask such a question. His face darkened and he asked, "Second brother, if you have something to say, please speak directly."

Jia Lian and the other three could hear the dissatisfaction in Shi Zhongkui's tone.

Jia Lian hurriedly stood up and saluted, "My dear brother, please forgive me. I am not deliberately inquiring into my dear brother's family affairs. In fact, an elder asked me to ask my dear brother privately whether he has found someone he is interested in or is getting married to."

Although Shi Zhongkui guessed it, he hesitated again after Jia Lian actually said it.

In his opinion, it will definitely not be Lin Daiyu or Xue Baochai, and the three springs should only be at the appropriate age for welcoming the spring.

Otherwise, if the Jia family really betrothed a maid born in the family to themselves, it would not be a marriage, but a feud.

But he was also worried that the Jia family was really so brainless that they thought any beautiful domestic slave could be worthy of him.

"Since my parents passed away at an early age, my younger brother has been studying hard behind closed doors to revitalize his family business, so he has not gotten married, and he has no intention of falling in love."

Jia Lian and Jia Zhen suddenly looked overjoyed.

When Jia Baoyu heard that he was studying to revitalize his family business, he felt unhappy and couldn't help but persuade him, "Brother Boqian, although your fame is good, it can only be temporary. Why not indulge in the mountains and rivers and seek freedom and ease."
Chapter completed!