Ch.263Knowledge (4)

“The university grounds are filling up nicely…”

I looked at the report as I said this.

More people than expected had applied to the university.

“Well, considering the era, university is the exclusive domain of nobles and the wealthy.”

University was indeed the privilege of the wealthy.

This was because it was difficult to work while attending university.

Historical records show how impoverished medieval university students were.

Of course, not all were like that, but the life of medieval students wasn’t much different from that of modern college students.

In this situation, Yesugei University was bound to attract applicants with its offer of full tuition coverage and living expenses.

Even with the harsh(?) condition of requiring applicants to build up their bodies first.

“And since Munglig is providing the facilities to build those bodies, people are bound to come.”

Munglig was even providing free access to gyms where they could build their physiques.

He wasn’t doing this because he was naturally generous.

It was to recruit exceptional talents into the Kheshig from among the students at his gym.

That’s why he was spending his own money to provide room and board, and even Buroktan, taking care of the students who came.

“Anyway, if we wait a bit longer, we’ll soon see results.”

As the empire grew, so did the administrative demands.

The rulers and high officials couldn’t handle all the administrative work forever.

Therefore, I planned to prepare administrators in advance to help them, ensuring everything ran smoothly.

Knock knock.

“Come in.”

The door opened to reveal none other than Jadaran Elunka.

“Any news from the Mongol Pirates?”

“Yes, they’re transporting some of the captured Song Dynasty weapons to us.”

The Mongol Pirates were currently raiding the southern coast of the Song Dynasty.

Through coastal assaults, they were not only damaging the Song but also acquiring their advanced technology.

One of these technologies was gunpowder weapons.

“They did well to obtain those.”

“Indeed. Usually, Song soldiers destroy cannons before fleeing, even in wartime.”

History had proven that Song soldiers had poor military discipline.

Despite this, there was one thing Song soldiers would risk their lives to protect—gunpowder weapons.

That’s why they chose to destroy these weapons before fleeing, even when their lives were in danger.

“With so many simultaneous attacks, they must be overwhelmed.”

People make mistakes when they’re overwhelmed.

With large-scale coastal assaults happening all along the southern Song coast, it was unreasonable to expect Song soldiers to keep their wits about them.

“Exactly. In any case, analyzing these newly acquired weapons along with previously obtained ones will greatly help us neutralize Song weaponry.”

I nodded at Elunka’s words.

The gunpowder weapons obtained during early coastal raids were mostly damaged.

Even when disassembled, it was impossible to perfectly replicate their internal workings.

But the cannons acquired this time were nearly intact, so comparing them with previous weapons would greatly contribute to neutralizing the enemy’s main firearms.

“Additionally, by analyzing Song weapons, we’ll be able to assemble them ourselves, allowing us to produce weapons comparable to Song cannons.”

Disassembly and assembly were essential for weapon analysis.

This essentially meant reaching a level where we could produce the enemy’s firearms ourselves.

Therefore, completing the analysis of Song firearms meant two things:

We could neutralize Song gunpowder weapons.

And we could incorporate their main firearms into our own forces.

Simply put, we could pull off a “your cannons are awesome” move.

“How long will it take?”

“With the Mongol arsenal handling the disassembly and analysis, you should be able to see the related reports as early as next year.”

“Next year…”

The mention of next year worried me a bit.

Not much time had passed since the eastern expedition ended, so we didn’t have abundant military provisions.

This new problem arose because of discord with the Song Dynasty.

No sane country would sell food to a hostile nation when war was imminent.

Therefore, we had no choice but to use the stockpiles made from food previously imported from the Song.

“Assuming we use provisions for an army of 700,000 in the war against Song, how long could we sustain a war with them?”

“For an exact number of days, we’d need to mobilize administrators.”

“A rough estimate is fine.”

“Considering the Eastern Crusade led by Temujin, I estimate a maximum of 5 years.”

“5 years.”

In the original history, the war between the Mongols and the Song Dynasty lasted 44 years.

Of course, this included periods when the war paused for both sides to regroup.

Even accounting for ceasefire periods, the fact that the Song held out for 44 years meant they were formidable opponents.

In this situation, we needed to defeat the Song within 5 years.

So it was understandably burdensome.

“If we supplement the shortage with food produced in other regions, it could be somewhat resolved.”

“But that would create problems for Temujin’s expedition.”

Taking from one place to use elsewhere would inevitably cause problems there.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul was ultimately just a temporary solution.

So we needed to find a fundamental solution.

“We need to solve the food problem before the war.”

Education was an investment in the future.

Food was a means of maintaining the present.

Before the war with the Song, it was time to focus on reality.

* * *

China’s main food staple wasn’t actually rice.

Since ancient civilization emerged in North China, their main food had been wheat.

People in North China preferred wheat, and nomadic peoples influenced by them also made wheat their staple.

This historical trend continued partly because of North China’s harsh climate.

More precisely, the land had become too depleted from centuries of cultivation to grow rice effectively.

That’s why wheat still occupied most of the farmland in North China, as it was relatively easier to cultivate.

“But wheat’s efficiency is the problem.”

Wheat was an excellent source of carbohydrates.

It had sufficient nutrients and, in terms of nutritional composition, was more efficient than rice.

However, wheat lagged far behind rice in production.

If one wheat field could feed ten people, one rice field could feed 20-30 people.

The number of grains on a rice plant simply couldn’t compare to wheat kernels.

“So you’re saying we should plow this up and turn it into rice paddies?”

I nodded at Munglig’s question.

“Yes. It’s just before planting season, so converting from wheat fields to rice paddies will require less labor.”

Changing wheat fields to rice paddies was difficult work.

It wasn’t something that could be done easily just by giving the order.

But since it was planting season, we had to change from wheat to rice despite the losses.

“The losses will be substantial.”

“That’s why I’m planning to have insurance.”

As I said this, I showed him what I was holding in my hand.

Munglig tilted his head in confusion.

“What is this, brother?”

“Barley.”

“Barley? What’s that?”

Munglig was a nomad.

So he knew nothing about barley.

“We’ll plant it before rice and harvest it in summer.”

“Won’t that delay rice planting?”

“That’s why we’ll make some adjustments.”

I came from the future.

So I planned to use some future cultivation techniques.

Specifically, the dry seedling method.

The dry seedling method involved direct seeding in dry fields without water.

Combined with the transplanting method of moving already grown rice seedlings, it created the dry seedling method.

In our country, it was implemented in 17th century Joseon, and this technology enabled rice cultivation even in Central Asia, where it was previously thought impossible.

It might sound like a magical technique, but in reality, it required an insane amount of human labor.

This was because you had to sow rice seeds in dry fields and grow them while simultaneously preparing the fields with water for planting rice.

The stories of communal labor often mentioned in Korean history came from this practice.

In short, it was a labor-intensive farming method.

As such, it wasn’t as efficient as the Song Dynasty’s farming methods, where crops grew rapidly and three harvests per year were possible.

Yet we had to proceed because, in Mongolia’s position, we needed to grow rice to feed more soldiers than wheat could.

Anyway, I planned to borrow some wisdom from our ancestors.

“We’ll harvest barley from spring to summer, then irrigate the fields to make them suitable for water farming. Then we’ll plant the rice seedlings that we’ve prepared in dry fields.”

“Barley and rice… so you’re doing double cropping?”

“Exactly. And since the rice seedlings will already be somewhat grown, they’ll grow quickly.”

Munglig looked surprised at my explanation.

He blinked and stared at me.

“Where did you learn this knowledge? Did God tell you again?”

There was a reason why I, someone unfamiliar with farming, knew so much about it.

It’s embarrassing to admit… but it was because of a game.

It was a game called “Thousands of Cherry Blossom Princesses” that blended farming and combat well…

Unlike other farming games, it had many detailed elements to delve into.

Information about rice farming was one of them, and I had once searched through the Rural Development Administration to clear the game.

Anyway, that’s why I knew a lot about rice farming.

But I couldn’t tell Munglig this, so as usual, I had to sell out God.

“God, Tengri, and our ancestors told me.”

Munglig looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

At his impertinent(?) expression, I asked him a question.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I would have believed you if you said only God and Tengri told you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because our ancestors have no connection to rice farming.”

“Ah.”

That’s right.

Yesugei’s ancestors were nomads.

They lived lives completely unrelated to rice farming.