The Rise of the European Emperor

About halfway through the spring ploughing, Albert proudly reported his wheat cultivation on Manhattan Island and sent it home by boat.

A month later, when Marin received Albert's report, he almost fainted...

why? Albert is still too young. There is no problem with the idea of ​​​​growing wheat and selling a lot of money, and Manhattan Island is suitable for growing wheat. However, there is a problem with planting time!

what is the problem? European wheat varieties are not good, the growth period is too long. Therefore, the current wheat in Europe is generally planted in November of the first year and harvested in October of the following year. In other words, the growing period of European wheat takes almost a year.

Even if enough potassium fertilizer is used, the growth cycle can be shortened, but seven or eight months are required. And now it's March or April, seven or eight months later, it's just the beginning of winter... Nima, it's ripe in winter, is there still heat absorption?

You know, there is nothing in the early stage of grain growth, but in the heading and maturity stages, it needs to absorb a lot of light energy, temperature and water for photosynthesis. Therefore, the growth of grain, the harvest period is generally in summer or autumn, that is, summer harvest and autumn harvest. Because, in summer and autumn, the light energy is sufficient and the temperature is suitable. However, Marin had never heard that grains could be harvested in winter...

So, what happened to Albert this time was a mess. The idea is good, but the execution fails.

Marin was annoyed at first that the people around Albert didn't remind him, but when he thought about it, it seemed that the helpers that Albert brought were young people with little experience. Moreover, most people in North Germany grow rye and rarely wheat. So it's normal not to know. It's normal for a group of inexperienced young people to make jokes.

Fortunately, the planting area that Albert promoted this time was only the small island of Manhattan. Even if the grains are not harvested, it is nothing. After all, the North American Twin Islands and Cape Breton Island are still mainly rye, according to the report. At most, it will cost thousands of immigrants on Manhattan Island to spend food in vain this year. This was nothing to Marin, who had so much food to die for.

In fact, the reason why Marin sent people to the Ming Dynasty was to introduce wheat varieties from there. After all, Malin remembers that the Jianghuai region has always had a tradition of rotating rice and wheat. That is, winter wheat and rice are sown alternately, with two crops a year.

During this time period, the winter wheat varieties in the Jianghuai region should have been perfected and just introduced to replace the long-growing wheat in Europe.

If short-growing wheat is available, the New York area also appears to be able to have two crops a year. Of course, because of the high latitude, rice may not be suitable. However, a rotation of winter wheat and soybeans is possible.

Marin remembers that in his hometown in his past life, after the winter wheat was harvested, the fields were mainly rice-growing. In some small fields, sometimes soybeans are grown. Then, around the Mid-Autumn Festival, the soybeans are about to be harvested. Before they fully mature into soybeans, the green soybeans that are about to mature are the legendary edamame...

During the Mid-Autumn Festival every year, in addition to eating moon cakes, Marin's previous hometown is also popular to eat edamame, water chestnut and taro. Moreover, boiled edamame in brine is cooked in one pot, which is very delicious. Marin remembers that in his last life, every Mid-Autumn Festival, he and his brother would fight fiercely for edamame. Of course, when I was young, I was at a disadvantage every time...

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the green edamame will mature and become the legendary soybean. After the harvest, the land is tilled again, just in time to plant winter wheat...  

Rice has high climatic requirements and is generally grown in warm regions. But soybeans are grown in the New York area, and it's definitely fine. Because, Marin clearly remembers,

In later generations, Canada, which has a latitude higher than New York, is an important soybean producing area in the world...

Of course, the rotation of winter wheat and soybeans is just the ideal plan in Marin's mind. In fact, the Indian soybeans currently owned by Marin seem to grow a little longer than later generations. And if the winter wheat varieties introduced from the Ming Dynasty lasted longer than later generations, then the rotation of winter wheat and soybeans seems to be impossible.

But that's okay, because as long as Marin occupied the North American colonies, the most important thing is land. If you can't make it twice a year, you can make it once a year. Anyway, there is a lot of land. If nothing else, the area of ​​the Hudson River Basin is as high as 34,000 square kilometers. Even if only half of it is suitable for farming, it will be equivalent to 25 million mu... 10 times smaller... Even if it is 2.5 million mu, it is very scary...

The only trouble is where to get so many people to farm the land...

You know, in the absence of tractors, only relying on manpower to farm the land, a family can grow up to 10,000 mu, and it takes 25,000 households to plant... That's more than 100,000 people... Marin has a headache. Are there so many people? ...

In the end, Marin didn't scold Albert either. Because that's his brother. Besides, although Albert made a big mistake this time, he was unintentional, a typical good intention to do bad things. After all, he grew up in a rye-producing area, and he had never seen wheat planted, so naturally he didn't know the details. Unlike Marin, two lifetimes of experience, can understand so much. In fact, it was somewhat ill-considered for Marin to put a 21-year-old young man in such a high-ranking position as governor. Moreover, it has not been equipped with an experienced senior deputy...

Therefore, Marin didn't say anything about Albert's mistake this time. He didn't let him go back to planting rye, because it was too late.

It takes a month to sail from America to the mainland. From the mainland to North America, it takes more than two months. For so long, nothing could stop Albert from growing wheat on Manhattan Island.

In fact, it was also Marin's work blunder. Because, Marin did not equip Albert with a competent assistant. And the men who originally followed Tara, when Tara changed to Cuba, also followed because of the need for a large number of manpower. Therefore, Albert himself, including the team he formed, is too young, and mistakes are inevitable.

Without affecting the bigger picture, Marin chose to forgive Albert for his mistakes. Of course, although Marin would not punish Albert, he still wrote a letter pointing out Albert's mistakes and asking him to find a way to remedy it.

The autumn harvest is over, but what to plant next is also very important. If Albert insists on continuing to grow wheat, the previously planted wheat must be shoveled before November. Because, November is the season for planting wheat. Only when the space is freed will it be possible to replant the super-long-growing wheat varieties native to Europe. In this way, a large amount of wheat can be harvested in the coming year to make up for this loss.

As for food, we need to temporarily rely on Twin Island and Cape Breton Island. In addition, on Cape Breton Island, there is a surplus of labor.

After all, Cape Breton Island is an island with a higher latitude, and its geographical environment is far inferior to that of New York, which is a lower latitude. Therefore, Marin ordered - let Garland divide another 10,000 English immigrants to Albert, and let Albert strengthen the development of the New York area.

Areas that are too inland can be ignored, but the Greater New York area, which is the area at the mouth of the Hudson River, will definitely be developed. Later New York City had an area of ​​789 square kilometers and a population of 8.51 million. Of course, it was a supercity of tall buildings. If it is changed to a village, it is estimated that it can accommodate tens of thousands of people.

Of course, that's enough. With a settlement of tens of thousands of people, Marin's forces can have a foothold on the North American continent. In the future, we will use this foothold as a springboard to continue to expand inland...

But first, Abbott needs to buy the local Delaware people and agree to large-scale development in that part of New York City. For this, Marin is willing to pay some price. Except for horses and weapons, of course. Other stuff, Marin wouldn't mind giving some to the friendly Delaware...