Chapter 054: The Jiangnan in the frontier, the mulberry fish pond

Of course, it is not enough to have vegetables. Niujiaoduan is not ordinary people. They are soldiers, they need to undergo high-intensity training and dangerous battles. If you eat vegetables every day, it will definitely not work. If you want to really get better in Niujiaoduan's life, you have to increase the supply of meat. How to increase the supply of meat, of course, you have to do it yourself and have enough food and clothing. This has always been the tradition of the People's Army. Niujiaoduan is a small garrison company, and it is very necessary to build a pig farm by yourself.

Yu Lijun basically agreed with the setting of the pig farm at the beginning. Who doesn’t want to eat meat? However, after thinking about it carefully, Yu Lijun hesitated a little. The main reason is that he was worried about the arrival of the Tartars. He always felt a little uneasy when he set up the pig farm outside the Niujiao Dun. However, it is impossible to put the pig farm inside the Niujiao Dun. Xu Xingxia has even moved out the stable, how could he place a pig farm? The smell of the pig farm is much more powerful than the stable.

Xu Xingxia looked at the surrounding terrain and said to Yu Lijun: "Lao Yu, what do you think about the location of the pigpen?"

Yu Lijun pointed to a grassland in front and said cautiously: "It's good here, leeing, quiet, and within the sight of the observation post. Even at night, through the fire emitted by the torch, the observation post can see the movement of the entire pigpen. If someone wants to get close to the pigpen secretly, we will definitely find it."

Xu Xingxia nodded and said, "You make sense."

Yu Lijun hesitated for a moment and said a little hesitantly: "Sir, pigs also need to be eaten..."

Obviously, the military discipline officer was a little worried that once Niujiaoduan raised pigs by himself, he would squeeze out the food of his soldiers. Raising pigs requires food, and Niujiaoduan could not have additional expenses, which were specifically used for pig farming. Therefore, it could only be squeezed out from everyone's food. With such needs and opportunities, corruption and misappropriation may occur.

As a military discipline officer, Yu Lijun was most indignant about the phenomenon of corruption and misappropriation. As long as it was within his ability, he would definitely eliminate it. The senior officials in the ward station obviously did not like his personality. Otherwise, they would not have been sent to Niujiaodu. This was obviously because many people were obsessed with him and deliberately moved him away. When it came to Niujiaodu, even if Yu Lijun wanted to take care of it, he would not be able to take care of it.

Xu Xingxia smiled slightly and said calmly: "Lao Yu, don't worry, we raise pigs, which will not affect the lives of the soldiers. As far as I know, there are many foods that can be used to raise pigs. For example, sweet potato leaves can be used to feed pigs. Many rural areas in the mainland use sweet potato leaves and sweet potato vines to feed pigs. Sweet potato leaves are available all year round and will not be short. Don't we need to plant a large number of sweet potatoes? One acre of sweet potato leaves is enough to feed three or four pigs. As long as we plant ten acres of sweet potatoes, we can feed dozens of pigs."

Yu Lijun was relieved and had no words. On the issue of planting, he believed that he did not have the right to speak for Xu Xingxia, and he was indeed not very familiar with this aspect. Since Xu Xingxia said that, he believed it. In a vague way, Yu Lijun felt a little bit like that. How could this Xu Xingxia know so much? He didn't seem to be so outstanding in the past? Could it be that he used to hide his strength and wait for the opportunity?

Xu Xingxia suddenly said, "Lao Yu, do you know what other pig manure can be used as fertilizer and increase crop harvest?"

Yu Lijun thought about it and said with uncertainty: "Dried it to make firewood?"

Xu Xingxia smiled and shook her head and said, "That is dry cow dung, which is specially used by the Mongolians. Pig manure cannot be burned. Let me tell you, pig manure can be used to raise fish."

Yu Lijun was greatly surprised and said in disbelief: "What? Raise fish?"

Xu Xingxia smiled slightly and said, "That's right, it's just raising fish. We are on the front line, and it's a bit inconvenient to go to the Yellow River to catch fish. We want to eat fish frequently, but don't want to spend too much money, so we can only raise fish by ourselves. We can solve the food needed for fish farming by ourselves. Sweet potato leaves, sweet potato vines, etc., in addition to feeding pigs, they can also be used to raise fish. If we add some pig manure to it, it would be even better."

"I think that as long as we use all the dozens of acres of land, we can use as many sweet potatoes as possible, and it will be fine to stock 1,000 or more grass carp in the fish pond. It takes about three years to grow a grass carp, and three-year grass carp should have more than ten kilograms of planting. We will rotate to catch big fish and then rotate to stock more seedlings, and we should be able to harvest hundreds of grass carp every year."

Yu Lijun's eyes suddenly shone and was attracted by the prospect described by Xu Xingxia. If there was such a fish pond, the soldiers of Niujiaodu would be happy. Other meats may not be enough, but the fish must be enough. A three-year grass carp is about ten pounds. As long as five fish are caught, it will be enough for Niujiaodu to have a meal. There are only a few people in Niujiaodu! Maybe, you can still sell fish and make money by then!

Thinking of the benefits of fish ponds and wanting a steady stream of fish meat, Yu Lijun couldn't wait to say: "Then we have to choose a good place to dig the fish pond, dig as big as possible, dig deeper, and have more free-range fish!"

Xu Xingxia nodded, pointed to a depression in front and said, "Look, this depression is relatively low in terrain and is closer to the canal. After digging the fish pond, we just dig two more canals dozens of feet to lure the living water of the Yellow River and discharge the sewage from the pond. As long as there is the living water of the Yellow River, the fish pond will be really alive."

In the face of huge temptation, Yu Lijun was a little worried about gains and losses, and immediately thought of the terrible Tartars. In Weizhen Fort, no one wanted to dig fish ponds to raise fish, and make money by selling fish, but it was not implemented in the end. Why? Are you still worried that the ponds were destroyed by the Tartars? After a year of hard work, all the fish were raised, and the Tartars were finally cheap. Who can bear this result? He said with some concern: "Sir, there is no problem digging fish ponds, and there is no problem in clearing the canals, but if the Tartars come..."

Xu Xingxia smiled and said sly: "If you were a Tartar, what would you do if you took a fish pond?"

Yu Lijun was about to speak, but suddenly felt something was wrong, and he shrank back when he said that he was thinking of it. The first thing he thought of was to fish all the fish in the pond and feast, or simply fill the fish pond, or throw the human body into the pond. However, he soon realized that these were impossible in front of Xu Xingxia's arrowheads. If the Tartars wanted to destroy the fish pond, they had to have a quick and effective way. He thought about it and said tentatively: "This... I really couldn't imagine that hehe, maybe the Tartars would poison?"

Xu Xingxia shook her head and said disapprovingly: "Lao Yu, are you kidding! Do you think the Tartars will carry poison with you? Even if they carry poison, what can they do with a little poison? Don't forget that what we attract is the living water of the Yellow River that circulates by itself. Even if hundreds of people urinate inside, it will be diluted in a while. How much poison can they get if they want to poison a fish in the fish pond!"

Yu Lijun thought about it and became relaxed. He felt that he was really worried. He smiled and said, "This is, some poison has no effect on the fish pond. As long as the Niujiao Dun is not collapsed, the Tartars will have no choice but to take the fish pond. Hehe, a group of Tartars stared at the fish pond, which is quite fun to think about."

Xu Xingxia smiled and said, "That's right, that's what I mean."

After a slight pause, Xu Xingxia said with some regret: "It's a pity that we can't plant mulberry trees for the time being, otherwise we can build a mulberry-based fish pond. There are fish to eat and silk to sell for money, that's really good!"

Yu Lijun asked curiously: "Sangji Fish Pond? Sir, can you tell me in detail? I am very interested in learning about it."

Xu Xingxia nodded and said with a smile: "Of course."

He found a ridge to sit down and explained the simple principle of the Sanji Fish Pond.

No one has verified when the earliest mulberry fish pond appeared. What is certain is that in the early Qing Dynasty, relatively complete mulberry fish ponds appeared in Lingnan. This is how a large number of raw silk was produced. In the later Pearl River Delta region, it existed in a large number of textbooks or scientific books. Of course, Xu Xingxia could not have known it.

Pile the dug out pond mud into a base field, plant mulberry trees or sugarcane, and form a relatively complete energy flow system for mulberry planting, mulberry leaves and silkworms raising, silkworm cocoon reeling, silkworm sand, silkworm pupa, silkworm reeling wastewater to raise fish, fish manure and other mulberry. This is the basic mulberry-based fish pond. If other crops are planted on the base field, not mulberry trees, there is another saying. For example, "fruit-based fish pond" and other things, fruit trees are planted on the base field.

The water conservancy irrigation system in the Ningxia Plain is relatively developed and has the basic conditions for developing mulberry-based fish ponds. Huge Yellow River water trucks continuously deliver the Yellow River water to the fields on both sides of the river. Basically, there has never been a time of water shortage here. Otherwise, there would be no such thing as being blocked into the south of the Yangtze River. If it weren't for the harassment of the Tartars, there would be patches of paddy fields around Niujiaodune, which were full of vitality rice.
Chapter completed!