SFS Chapter 505 Cao Cao's Encounter with New Farm Tools
Chapter 505 Cao Cao's Encounter with New Farm Tools
Cao Cao knew that the strongest fortresses were most easily breached from within, and he also knew the nature of his own son. He didn't expect Cao Pi to have a change of heart and suddenly change his ways; he only hoped that the boy would use his brain and not turn against his own brother before dealing with Liu Bei, a powerful external enemy.
In other words, Cao Cao hoped that Cao Pi could be wicked but not incompetent. He could plot against his brothers to consolidate his position, but he had to assess the situation, weigh the pros and cons, and wait until Liu Bei was dead before taking action. He shouldn't rush to kill his own brothers before dealing with Liu Bei, as that would only make Liu Bei happy.
Although his son was unreliable, Cao Cao knew his days were numbered and had to pave the way for Cao Pi. So after the conversation, he did not send Cao Pi back to the capital, but instead had him follow the army to appease the generals so that he could quickly take over military power after his death.
Man cannot defy fate. Even a powerful figure like Cao Cao had to resign himself to power at the end of his life.
Cao Cao led Cao Pi onward, and after two days they finally arrived at Fancheng. However, because Fancheng was under construction and could not be inhabited, they could only camp outside the city.
After waiting only one day in Fancheng, Cao Ren led his army back from Jiangxia. Upon entering Fancheng, he immediately abandoned his army and rushed to Fancheng with Jia Kui. He entered the tent, bowed to Cao Cao, and said, "Your Majesty, I am incompetent and failed to conquer Jianye. Please punish me."
Cao Cao waved for him to stand up and said weakly, "Losing to Guan Yu is not shameful. At least you brought back hundreds of thousands of troops safely. Tell me about the situation at the front."
Cao Ren recounted the story in detail, then ordered several boxes to be brought over, saying, “Your Majesty, although Guan Yu is formidable, I have fought against him for many years and understand him fairly well. If we focus on defense, I am confident that I can withstand Guan Yu’s fierce attacks. However, this Guan Xing is too monstrous, and his rise to power has been too short. The court has limited understanding of him. If we do not stop him, he will become a major threat to the court sooner or later.”
Cao Cao knew that they knew far less about Guan Xing than about Guan Yu, so he asked, "Tell me in detail, what kind of extraordinary talent is he?"
Cao Ren carefully considered his words before speaking: "This young man not only carried out land reform in Jiangdong, but also steelmaking and education. Moreover, the main focus of the steel mill is not to make weapons but to make farm tools. The farm tools made by the Wushang Steel Mill are even sharper than our weapons. Their shovels can easily chip our weapons when they clash with them. These boxes contain some farm tools that I had the Imperial Academy collect from the people."
The farm tools made by Wushang Steel Plant are not meant to rust in warehouses, but are meant to be used by the people. Stealing or robbing a few sets of farm tools from the people is incredibly easy.
In other words, these farm tools were all stolen from the people of Wushang by Cao Ren's men and then smuggled back using various methods.
Cao Ren opened the box, took out a round-headed iron shovel with a wooden handle, held it in his hand, pointed the shovel head at the ground, then gripped the shovel handle with both hands and stepped on the shovel tail with his foot. With a little force, the hard ground under his feet was easily turned up to a depth of about half a foot, making Cao Cao's eyelids twitch.
Cao Cao also farmed. When he served as the Northern Commandant of Luoyang, he killed the uncle of Jian Shuo, one of the Ten Attendants, with a five-colored staff. He was dismissed after being retaliated against by the Ten Attendants and returned to his hometown to farm for two years.
Having experience in farming, Cao Cao knew very well what a good farming tool meant to a farmer. Looking at the soil that Cao Ren had dug up, his eyes were full of desire. He raised his hand and said, "Bring it here for you to see."
Cao Ren presented the shovel with both hands. Cao Cao held it in his hands and examined it for a moment, then tested the blade with his hand and said, "This is a good thing. With this, farmers probably won't even need oxen for plowing."
Cao Ren said, "Not only shovels, but also hoes, three-pronged hoes, wide and narrow hoes, curved plows, and iron forks for carrying rice straw, etc., the variety is very complete."
As he spoke, he took out a hoe from the box, swung it with both hands, and slammed it down hard on the ground. The moment the hoe made contact with the ground, it dug a pit about half a foot in size. The effect of turning over the ground was even better than that of a shovel, which made Cao Cao excited again.
Cao Ren took out all the items from the several boxes and laid them out in an orderly fashion, just like a policeman in later times would take stock of the confiscated tools used in a crime. He introduced them one by one: "The hoe is for weeding. The wide ones are half a foot wide, and the narrow ones are only the width of a child's palm. The wide hoe is for weeding large weeds, and the narrow hoe is for weeding small weeds in the cracks of rice paddies. The three-pronged hoe is also for digging. Because it has three prongs, it can dig faster than an ordinary hoe."
"That thing is called a pickaxe. One side is a spike that can break through rocks and hard frozen soil, and the other side is flat so that you can quickly dig after the spike breaks through. It can be used for mining."
"There are also various saw blades. A short saw can be easily cut through a piece of wood as thick as an arm with one hand. A long saw can be fixed in a wooden frame and pulled by two people. It can cut through a giant tree as thick as two people can hug in less than half an hour."
After saying that, he picked up a handsaw, walked to the table next to him, stepped on the table, aimed the saw teeth at the corner of the table and pulled back and forth. In the shocked eyes of everyone, he easily sawed off a corner of the table and handed the sawed part to Cao Cao, saying, "The agricultural tools made by Guan Xing are not only sharp, but also very complete in variety and can be adapted to various uses."
"More importantly, the output is particularly alarming. Now, almost everyone in the Jinqu Basin has a handful."
Cao Cao exclaimed in shock, "So many?"
Seeing Cao Ren nod, he asked again, "After these farm tools were made, they were distributed directly to the people without any compensation. Were they given away for free?"
It would be terrible if agricultural tools were given away to the people in large quantities, meaning that the steel mills' output had become so large that they could squander it at will.
Cao Ren shook his head and said, "It's not exactly a free gift. After the land reform in Kuaiji, Guan Xing exempted the local people from taxes for three years, but then he took back the exempted taxes through farm tools. The specific method was to exchange grain for farm tools. A shovel was worth half a shi of grain, and the price was extremely high. However, you could write an IOU. If you didn't have grain this year, you could buy it on credit and pay it back next year when the grain harvest was plentiful, and no interest would be charged."
Cao Cao: “…”
That damn Guan Anguo, you're pretty good at playing games.
Liu Ye, who had come with Cao Pi from Wancheng, was also an inventor. His improved catapult had become a standard weapon of the Wei army. So after the wooden box was opened, he stared at the farm implements. Finally, he pointed to a plow that was different from the one he remembered and asked, "General Cao, is this the so-called curved plow? How is it different from the straight plow we usually use?"
Cao Ren explained, “It’s less strenuous than a straight-shaft plow and digs deeper. Guan Xing’s explanation is that it involves some kind of mechanical structure. I don’t understand what a mechanical structure is, but I’ve tried it with an ox, and it is indeed much more useful than a straight-shaft plow. I can even pull it with a rope without using an ox. If you don’t believe me, you can try it with an ox.”
Liu Ye walked over and stroked the plow blade, examining it carefully for a long time before rising and bowing, saying, "Your Majesty, Guan Xing has focused the steel mill on agricultural tools rather than weapons, which shows that this young man has the talent to govern the world."
"That's not the point. The point is, if everyone in Jiangnan really had one of these farming tools, how much wasteland would have to be reclaimed and how much grain would have to be planted?"
"More importantly, there can't be only one such steel plant in Wushang. Liu Bei will definitely build more after he stabilizes the situation. If this pace of development continues, the grain production in Jiangnan will double in less than ten years."
Food is the most important thing for people to live on. Grain is always the most important resource for survival. More grain means that more people can be fed, more armies can be built, and larger wars can be launched.
Food supplies have always been a major constraint on Liu Bei. They really dare not imagine how terrifying Liu Bei would be if he solved the food shortage problem.
Cao Cao was not an emperor who sat in the deep palace and never stepped out of its walls; he was an entrepreneur who had gone deep into the grassroots and knew the hardships of the common people. He knew what Liu Ye's words meant, and said with a gloomy face, "Continue..."