Indochina Peninsula, the mouth of the Mekong River.

"The weather here is really good. I didn't expect the rice to mature so soon. It's only March." An old farmer said excitedly.

"That's right, old man, this is the improved technique of Qin people, planting seedlings, not sowing seeds. In this case, the rice will grow faster. Look, what a good rice." A middle-aged man beside him rubbed excitedly. Speaking of the rice in hand.

"Yeah. Good. Good." The old farmer said excitedly.

"With these rice, we are not afraid of being hungry. There is no need to eat those wild fruits." The middle-aged man said excitedly.

"Well. Today we will have a good meal of rice." The old man said with a smile.

"Good. Today we have rice." The middle-aged man said. Although the people of Qin State have invented the method of using boiled rice to eat rice, Chu’s method is not boiled, but steamed. The rice is steamed, not cooked. This is also Chu’s diet and The difference between Qin’s diet, Qin people like to eat noodles, while Chu people like to use rice to make various foods. Among them, there are more sweets. The Qin State is mostly salty. This may be a regional difference.

"Old man." The middle-aged man said at this time.

"What's the matter?" the old man asked.

"We will open another 300 mu of land this year. Are we going to plant some sugarcane on some land?" the middle-aged man suggested.

"Oh. Why?" the old man asked.

"Look, our number is only more than 300 people. The rice produced in this batch is enough for us to eat in a year. According to this production, I am afraid that a large number of rice will come out this year." Speaking of.

"Why? Is there too much rice?" The old man asked the middle-aged man with a strange look.

"No, no. No, I didn't mean that." The middle-aged man said.

"How can I dislike the fact that I have grown too much food." The middle-aged man said.

"I mean, no matter how much food we have, that is, food, other things we need still need to be exchanged from other places. For example, salt, iron, weapons, and all kinds of daily necessities, Some of these things we can make ourselves, but some things we don’t have. For example, this ironware, we grow crops, we need some ironware, and there are also some muskets and ammunition. We must guard against the indigenous people. People and beasts attack. But for these things, we need to take out a lot of rice to change. Sometimes, rice may not be replaced." The middle-aged man said.

The old man wiped his beard and nodded. He felt that what the middle-aged people said was very reasonable. They had spent a lot of money to get this land, and there were beasts in the beginning. They expelled, and indigenous harassment, they built fortresses, protected, and then lived in things. But in this way, a lot of ironware and various daily necessities are consumed, but these things are very difficult to replenish, because there is no merchant ship to land, they need to transport them out by themselves and return what they need.

"What do you mean?" the old man asked.

"I heard that the north needs sugar. This sugar can be squeezed out of sugarcane. When we have sugar, merchants will be willing to come. The price is high. The rain here is plentiful and the sun is venomous. There is no problem in growing sugarcane Yes, if we plant a piece of sugar cane and have sugar, we will have our own income as soon as the merchant reaches the shore." The middle-aged man said.

"Yeah. Your method is good." The old man said.

"I heard that the price of this sugar is very high. We need to spend a hundred shi of rice in exchange for a pound of sugar. Is this true?" the old man asked at this time.

"It's true. I heard that this kind of thing is growing in both places in Wu and Yue. Except for silk, this is the thing." The middle-aged man said.

"In this case, this sugar is a good thing. We can plant 100 acres of sugar cane. Anyway, this thing, just plant it." The old man said.

"As long as this thing can be sold for a good price, and you have money. Marry a wife to those boys, even if you and I have a big wish solved." The old man said with a smile.

"Well. With sugar, you can change a lot of things, and get some of those beautiful little girls in Central Plains. Kids, you can also marry daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren." The middle-aged man said with a smile. To.

This is a typical colony where Chu immigrated. After they came here, the first thing they had to solve was the food problem. Therefore, they reclaimed more wasteland for large-scale food planting. After the food problem was solved, they had To further pursue the needs of life, a large number of daily necessities can allow them to exchange more food, but some other things need some cash crops to complete. Sugar cane can meet this requirement. The demand for tea is increasing. Adding sugar to tea has become a luxury consumption behavior. The ability to consume sugar is a symbol of noble status, because the production of sugar takes a certain amount of time. As a result, the economic status of sugarcane will rise rapidly.

In order to solve some of the economic problems of the colonists, planting sugarcane became their first choice. Because sugarcane is easy to grow, their conditions are more mature.

In this way, they will go from simply growing food to help their food and clothing needs, and become a kind of cash crops. Agricultural planting is undergoing great changes.

Farmers on the Indochina Peninsula are thinking about growing sugarcane to increase their income. The earliest Huangzhou colony in Chu State had already produced the first batch of tea at this time.

"Tea, there is really tea." The governor said excitedly when he looked at the tea that came out.

"Yes, Governor, it's not easy. With this kind of tea, we can sell it at a very good price." The tea farmer on the side said excitedly.

"Yeah. Now the tea from the south of Chu State is not yet on the market, our tea is just coming out. With such tea, we can ship to the north and sell it at a good price." The governor said excitedly.

"That's right. Send some more people to pick quickly," the governor waved.

"In addition, I will send some militiamen over to protect your safety. If the indigenous people harass you, they will protect you. Now as long as you speed up the pace, you can spend more money and hire some people. Don’t worry. Money is not a problem." The governor excitedly ordered.

"Yes, Governor, I will." The tea farmer replied with a smile. The governor chewed a few pieces of tea and left with excitement. Tea is wealth, and he has seen great wealth set on him.