Chapter Fourteen: Shen Mai and Mao Ru

  Because the pasture was initially built, for a long time, hundreds of people could eat their fill, but there was no meat to enjoy. Now that we have these few species, it won't be too long before we can satisfy the best dietary combination.

  For this, Li Zhēng specially used the fusion function of the War Rider Hall, taking wild birds and beasts as the base, after multiple experiments and spending a large amount of money, he fused out two kinds of 'special war riders' suitable for consumption.

  The first kind of 'Warhorse' that came from the fusion of birds, was named Red Jade Bird by Li Zhēn. This bird that came out of the fusion had a whole body of crimson red, and its feathers were smooth like jade, looking just like a red jade stone.

  Adult red jade can grow up to thirty pounds, with a very large body. Moreover, the meat quality of this bird is fresh and delicious (this has been personally verified by Li Zhong), and its feathers are also very warm. More importantly, female red jade can lay an egg weighing about half a pound every day!

  He is a treasure from head to toe!

  However, in comparison, Hongyu's growth cycle is a bit longer, and it takes at least half a year to mature. Another disadvantage is that the food intake is too large.

  Another domesticated animal produced by the fusion of wild animals is called a thorny pig. It's also unknown how the system made it mutate, through the combination of wild boars and wild cattle, wild cattle and wild sheep, and wild sheep and wild boars, after several fusions, finally resulting in this thick-skinned, horned domesticated animal that resembles a fat pig.

  The body of the rhinoceros is as large as that of a bison, and its flesh is more abundant than that of a fat pig; on its head it has a pair of curved horns.

  Except for a growth cycle that is slightly longer than that of domestic pigs by about two months and eating a bit more, everything else is perfect.

  The flesh is tender and delicious, suitable for eating. The fat is thick and can provide lard. The skin is tough and can be used as a material for making armor, and the horns can also be made into bows, it's really versatile.

  Of course, after synthesizing the two life uses of 'War Horse', Li Zhēng's reward money obtained through completing basic tasks in the ranch construction during this period has basically been depleted.

  But Li Zhong felt it was worth it.

  The main war has green armor war riding, which can fully meet the needs in a short period of time. The pasture does not need too many other types of main war riding. As long as you focus on growing and expanding the scale of green armor war riding, it's okay.

  Other types of war horses are too numerous, not only is there no great benefit, but they will also produce all sorts of miscellaneous things, and it's not very convenient to manage.

  On the contrary, the pasture life is really too barren and needs to be enriched. These two birds and beasts just fill this void. It must be known that Li Zhēn's pasture, its development prospects are not only a war horse supply place, but a comprehensive political force!

  There should be no weaknesses in all aspects.

  Moreover, after the fusion of these two poultry and livestock, Li Zhēn had already clearly felt the benefits - at least, the slaves in the pasture had a bigger expectation - although now Hóng Yù and Jī Pí were not yet available due to their small numbers, but this day would eventually come, wouldn't it?

  Thinking of the hardships and difficulties in the outside world, compared with the happiness that is about to come on the grassland, doesn't this cohesion and happiness emerge?

  Time flies like running water, and in the blink of an eye, December has arrived.

  Up to now, the temporary needs of the entire pasture have been basically met. Various buildings, whether they are system carrier buildings or supporting facilities, have all reached the requirements.

  The farmland has been opened up to over 300 mu, of which 40 mu of wheat have turned green, and the 10 mu of melons, fruits and vegetables have also started to be moved to the dinner table. Although due to seasonal reasons, the remaining 250 mu are still barren, but the family slaves have done a good job of fertilizing the fields - grass ash, cow dung, sheep dung, horse dung, etc. are all piled up inside. I believe that next spring, after planting crops, there will definitely be a good harvest.

  At the same time, the carrier building required by the system has been fully completed, and all system functions have been loaded.

  Behind Li Zhēn's main residence, the Warhorse Hall, Food Research Center, Armor Research Center, and Warhorse Skills Center stood in a row, four magnificent giant buildings.

  Although up to now, Li Zhēn has only used the Warhorse Hall function building due to financial constraints. However, with the recent completion of various basic buildings and the completion of system foundation tasks, his package has become more substantial again.

  Li Zhēng plans that before the spring sowing next year, through the Food Research Center, to synthesize a super grain crop - this era's grain yield is too low!

  This is the result of divergent thinking.

  Since Li Zhēn successfully merged Red Jade and Quillboar through the Trial of Style in the Warlord's Hall, he thought about whether it was possible to research a new crop through the Food Research Center.

  After loading the food research function, he inferred from the information given by the system that this idea was completely feasible.

  Just like the Warhorse Hall, it doesn't emphasize results. As long as it's an animal, it can be used for fusion. The Food Therapy Research Center is the same, as long as it's a plant, it can be taken for research.

  With reference, like a sudden enlightenment, Li Zhong's heart was completely revived at that moment.

  Take Warhorse Hall for example, the current fusion object is completely terrestrial organisms. What about aquatic ones? Those flying in the sky?

  Can it also be used for fusion?

  This is an indescribable thrill!

  In the same vein, the Food Therapy Research Center can also fully realize his fanciful ideas!

  What a wonderful prospect!

  Li Zhong couldn't help but almost fall into fantasy. However, this person has a good point, he knows that rice is eaten one mouthful at a time, and the road is walked one step at a time, with his feet firmly on the ground.

  Although he believed that the pictures in his mind would come true one day, wasn't that still a long way off?

  Chinese New Year is delightful.

  Although New Year's celebrations are not as fervent as they will be in a few hundred years, they have already taken shape.

  Li Zhēng, under the guidance of the old man from the grassland, led everyone to worship Tiān Shén Tài Yī, worshiped the gods of the four seasons, worshiped the River Earl, Mountain Spirit and Land God, slaughtered a few Prickly Skin Pigs and some Red Jade Birds, and spent a fulfilling and perfect Spring Festival with everyone.

  Although Li Zhong also wants to make the Spring Festival grand and lively, it's better to be simple at the beginning of the ranch development. It's not too late to do it later when we are fully rich, after all, there is still a long way to go!

  After the Spring Festival, the entire grassland started to operate like a wound spring. The pioneers pioneered, the builders built, the hunters hunted, and the patrollers patrolled. The biggest thing was waiting for the spring sowing, everything was developing in the best direction.

  Li Zheng has been immersed in the Food Research Center for the past two days.

  One is to develop high-energy feed that meets the needs of war horses, and the other is super crops.

  The research on the food for the war horses is going smoothly.

  Li Zhēng used clover as the base, adding various Chinese herbal medicines and some minerals, after more than ten experiments, finally got a new pasture that is very suitable for war horses to eat.

  This pasture has many advantages, the first is that it grows extremely fast. Compared to ordinary alfalfa, it is more than three times faster, which means that this pasture can be harvested in just one-third of the time it takes for alfalfa to grow. Moreover, after harvesting one crop, it will quickly grow back out again.

  The second advantage is that it is rich in energy. The same amount of new pasture contains more than seven times the energy of ordinary alfalfa! In other words, the war horses that originally had to eat a huge amount of ordinary grass to be full can now be satisfied with only about one-seventh of that amount after this kind of pasture is produced.

  The third advantage is high yield. This new pasture plant has tall and large stems, long leaves like Miscanthus, but the leaf flesh is very full. The yield per unit area is three times that of alfalfa!

  Taking all these advantages into account, this pasture grass named "Mao Ru" by Li Zheng is of great significance to the grassland!

  It can be imagined that the high-yielding, fast-growing and energy-rich Miscanthus will have a great use in future wars - at least, the pressure on logistics will be reduced by countless times!

  The same number of cavalrymen, in the same time, require only a fraction of the forage that the enemy needs! With fewer men and less equipment, you can satisfy the requirements of an entire war! This is so important that it almost decides the victory of a war!

  But don't be too surprised - unfortunately, this pasture also has its drawbacks. It requires a lot of water resources and must have abundant water to grow well. If it's slightly dry, either the yield will decrease or it will die directly.

  But Li Zhong was already satisfied.

  Besides, with research centers as backing, these shortcomings will be improved sooner or later, won't they?

  With the precedent of Mao Ye, Li Zhēng had high expectations for his subsequent research on super crops. However, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment; the best varieties that came out were not even comparable to Mao Ye.

  As the money in the package was running out, Li Zhēng had no choice but to destroy all the unsatisfactory ones. He sighed, took the only kind of seed that could still be used, and walked out of the research center.

  The seeds of this crop are mainly wheat, with beans and millet as secondary crops, plus some herbs. The yield of this crop is undoubtedly higher than that of wheat, with more energy stored in it, and the growth cycle is about the same.

  However, compared to the various advantages of Mao Ye, this crop named Shen Mai is far inferior. It's worth noting that in order to create a super crop, Li Jing even used a considerable amount of ginseng!

  The energy contained in Shenmai is only three times that of ordinary wheat, while Maotai is more than seven times. The growth cycle is almost the same as that of ordinary wheat, while Maotai is one-third. In comparison, except for the yield being four times that of ordinary wheat, other aspects are not comparable to Maotai.

  At the same time, oats also have the same disadvantages as wheat - a large demand for water and fertilizer.

  "It's just temporary..."

  Li Zhong walked out of the Food Research Center with a somewhat sore and soft body.

  The interweaving of expectation and disappointment left him somewhat mentally exhausted. This was even more tiring than practicing martial arts for half a day!