Chapter 367: Scenery

Rolling heat waves swept in from the fields.

The commoners, facing the yellow earth and backing the sky, had their clothes soaked through with sweat, yet this could not dampen their enthusiasm for the harvest.

Zhao Xu nodded in agreement with Liu Fu's words.

Although the commoners had to pay a ten-percent tax, compared to the harvest, this was truly a drop in the ocean.

Even after accounting for food and drink, there was still a surplus at the end of the year.

Furthermore, many commoners had participated in the construction of the Fortress previously.

These commoners had earned a good amount, and now, during the summer harvest, they had returned from Wuan County to their home villages to reap the wheat.

They had earned silver, and the harvesting of grain had not been delayed either.

It could be said that among the current commoners of Yanzhou, they were the more affluent ones.

It was just that the construction of the Fortress only required a small portion of the commoners, which did not achieve his goal of making the commoners of Yanzhou generally wealthy while simultaneously building infrastructure.

Thinking of his grand infrastructure plan, he said to Liu Fu, "Once this summer harvest is finished, the matter of infrastructure must be put on the agenda."

Liu Fu nodded; the term "infrastructure" was not unfamiliar to him.

Yan Wang had already mentioned it many times in the Government Academy and had explained it to them in detail.

He was also crystal clear about its purpose.

Yan Wang had even had the officials list the infrastructure needed in Yanzhou while at the Academy.

"Yes, Your Highness." Liu Fu's expression was excited; this time, he did not cry poverty.

He knew that Yan Wang had earned a great deal of silver from selling Artillery.

Moreover, the monthly income of the Merchant Association was now very stable, and the Prince's Mansion's revenue was constantly growing.

This silver was just piling up in the storehouse, so it would be better to use it for infrastructure.

It could both lay the foundation for the development of Yanzhou's industry and commerce and allow the commoners to become wealthy, stimulating the development of Yanzhou's trade.

Of course, this shift in thinking did not come out of thin air, but was related to his frequent attendance at lectures at the Academy.

Now he understood many things, such as why Yan Wang explained to the officials why they should value commerce? What is industry? What is the economic principle of infrastructure?

Most importantly, Yan Wang told them that the earth is round, not square.

This point had met with quite a bit of criticism from many officials at the Academy at the time.

For this reason, just a few days ago, Yan Wang had specifically taken the officials to Jinghai County.

He had also ordered a fishing boat to set sail out to sea.

When this fishing boat returned, he had them use a Telescope to observe the boat's sails.

At that moment, they discovered that they actually saw the sails first, and then the hull.

From then on, no official questioned Yan Wang again.

And this was merely a small topic that Yan Wang had casually inserted while lecturing on government affairs at the Government Academy.

Yan Wang would bring up such small topics from time to time, shocking the officials into doubting their lives, just as Yan Wang had said.

"The commoners of Yanzhou have suffered the most; waiting for Your Highness is truly a gift from the heavens. From now on, the commoners will not only be able to eat their fill and dress warmly, but they will also have spare money to drink a little Wine," Liu Fu remarked with emotion.

"What does that count for? This Prince intends to let everyone be able to afford silk and satin,

and for the children of commoner families to have the money to study and be able to eat meat every few days," Zhao Xu said, looking toward the commoners sweating like rain in the fields.

In a contemporary book called "Memories of Wool," there is a record that in the eighteenth-century English countryside, people lived in brick cottages with red-tiled roofs, wore woolen clothes, wore leather shoes, and ate white bread.

Besides this, in a farmer's family expenses, food items also included flour, oatmeal, root vegetables, greens, broad beans, peas, fruit, milk, butter, cheese, meat, salt, beer, imported goods, vinegar, spices, and so on.

And the eighteenth century was merely after the year 1700.

It is evident what kind of living standard Western society had achieved at that time through industry and global colonization.

Thinking of these things, he simply felt that the hardworking commoners on his own fief before his eyes should not have to work themselves to death, only to end up unable to even afford a pair of trousers.

It was necessary for him to let them reach a similar standard of living, or even higher.

"If that could be so, this subordinate would die without regrets," Liu Fu said, a look of longing appearing on his face.

But he was only longing for it; he did not believe that Yanzhou could truly be like that in the future.

After all, since ancient times, the commoners had never lived such a life.

Zhao Xu could see that Liu Fu did not believe him, and he did not explain.

After all, Liu Fu had not witnessed the material abundance brought about by industry after the popularization of the Steam Engine.

He did not explain either; everything would be more shocking when proven by facts.

After making a round through Fushi Village, the commoners were basically all busy.

They were either reaping wheat or carrying wheat to the village threshing floor to thresh it.

The Village Head, Fan Zheng, learned that Zhao Xu had come and walked over wearing a tattered straw hat.

Just as he was about to bow, Zhao Xu waved his hand, ordering him to forgo the formalities.

"How is the construction of the septic tank in the village coming along?" Zhao Xu asked.

This was an order Zhao Xu had given to Liu Fu at the Academy after the matter of the soil fertilizer, requiring every village and every household to dig a septic tank.

Soil fertilizer could currently only be used locally; otherwise, the cost would be too high and it would not be worth it.

Unless a Steam Engine was built in the future and there were Steamships sailing the waterways for transport.

Only then could this soil fertilizer circulate freely throughout Yanzhou.

But soil fertilizer was only one method; another method for composting was the septic tank.

He required the Government Office officials to go to Fushi Village, with the Workshop District providing cement and green bricks, to dig the earth and use the green bricks to build a square tank inside, with the surrounding surfaces coated in cement.

Due to the properties of cement, such a tank was very sturdy and would not leak.

He had the commoners throw human and animal waste, burnt plant ash, rotten vegetable leaves, and fallen tree leaves into it to compost.

In this way, before each season's sowing, the commoners would be able to fertilize their own land to ensure a harvest.

As for the biogas produced by the septic tank, he would not count on it, as it could not be utilized for the time being.

Currently, Fushi Village is just a pilot site; next, the Government Office will require officials from various commanderies to come and visit, so it can be promoted to other commanderies.

"Reporting to Your Highness, it is half built," Fan Zheng said.

Since the Government Office provided the manpower, labor, and money for this thing, and it was said to be able to produce compost, naturally no one objected.

Every household was very cooperative.

Zhao Xu nodded and took Liu Fu and other officials to a commoner's home.

At this moment, several masons were busy in the fenced courtyard of the commoner's home.

The location where this septic tank was built was between the latrine and the pigsty, with cement pipes connecting the two places.

One could throw in plant ash, leaves, and other things through the cover on top.

In this way, a perfect composting system was formed.

Of course, if a household did not raise pigs, other animals would be the same.

After a simple look and inspecting some other households, Zhao Xu left satisfied.

The septic tank is not outdated even in the modern era.

In the eighties and nineties, rural areas were still promoting it, and furthermore, it did not have much technical content.

Promoting it in Yanzhou could be said to be very suitable.

In this way, it not only makes the countryside more hygienic and reduces diseases caused by filth and disorder.

It can also provide fertilizer for the farmland of every household, basically killing two birds with one stone.

Returning to the Government Office, the sky gradually grew dark.

Zhao Xu spoke with Liu Fu again about the issue of irrigation.

Composting is to increase yield per mu, and irrigation is to allow more land to be irrigated.

This way, the amount of fertile land in Yanzhou can be expanded.

After all, fields that cannot be irrigated also cannot have a good harvest.

And this problem must be solved through infrastructure construction.

He wants to divert water from the great rivers of Yanzhou to establish a network of irrigation canals.

In this way, within a few years, with irrigation and composting used together, he believes that Yanzhou's agriculture will surely not lose to Jiangnan.

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