King of German Mercenaries

When I was in the Wadden Islands before, because freshwater resources were very limited, after trenches were dug on the archipelago, freshwater was distributed to farmland along the trenches.

Because it is a flood irrigation method, there is no need to pump water. Moreover, due to the limited fresh water resources, once scattered by the ditches of so many cultivated land, there is no need to worry about the flooding of the farmland.

But on the mainland, the East Frisian region is located in the low-lying area of ​​the North Sea. Although, unlike the Netherlands, a lot of land is below sea level, but it is also very close to sea level.

This is where many inland rivers flow downstream to the sea, such as the mouth of the Ames. Therefore, the fresh water resources here are extremely abundant. Coupled with the proximity to the sea and prevailing westerly winds, precipitation is also abundant.

Therefore, here, it is not like the Wadden Islands where there is not enough fresh water, but there is too much, too much...

On the East Frisian side, irrigating crops is not a problem. The biggest problem is the fear of water accumulation in the farmland. After all, wheat crops cannot be soaked in water. Unlike rice, which requires so much water. But even rice cannot be soaked in water in the later stage.

Therefore, drainage is a very big problem in East Frisian farming. Especially in the critical moment of crop development and growth in summer, when there is more precipitation, it is easy to damage the wheat fields.

The reason why the agriculture of Lyle County is developed is because Lyle County is on the banks of the Ames River. As long as the drainage ditches are dug to connect the huge Ames River, the excess fresh water will merge into the Ames River and flow to the sea. There were many swamps there in ancient times, but the renovation was easier. Just dig a few more ditches connecting the Ames River to drain off the excess water. Therefore, the agriculture there is the most developed.

The north-central part of East Frisland, on the other hand, is difficult to develop because there is no natural wide channel for drainage to the sea like the Ems River.

If you want to develop swampy land into farmland, you must first drain the stagnant water. Therefore, ditches need to be dug, and even those rivers that flow to the sea need to be connected.

Even if the ditches are dug, they still need to have adequate drainage. There is obviously no water pump in this era, so generally it can only rely on manpower.

"It seems that there are a lot of swamps in the Netherlands in this era... The Netherlands..." Marin's eyes suddenly lit up...

He has read a lot of articles about the Netherlands before, most of which are football, and the part about the coachman on the sea. However, in the paragraph introducing the rise of the Netherlands, it was mentioned that the Dutch made land by blocking the sea. Moreover, this is not the beginning of modern times, but from the end of the Middle Ages, which is exactly this era.

In this era, the Dutch used windmills imported from later German regions to make improvements, and began to use windmills to pump water to continuously discharge the accumulated water in low-lying areas to ensure that those places at the sea level of the Burnet would not be flooded with water. submerged.

"The windmill pumping water is really a good idea!" Marin patted his head. These days, although there is no diesel engine, the use of windmills is also very good.

Although the speed of the windmill is a little lower, the pumping speed is also very slow. However, I can't stand the windmill turning day and night...

As long as there is wind, the windmill will keep going until it breaks down...

Even if the windmill pumping speed is very slow, but because it keeps running, the amount of water pumped a day and night is no worse than that of a small pump driven by a diesel engine for one hour.

East Friesland and the Netherlands are at the same latitude, and both belong to the prevailing westerly belt, with westerly winds blowing all year round. Although the Netherlands faces the sea directly, the wind is stronger, but East Friesland is also by the sea, and the wind is not too small. The use of windmills is also just right.

As long as the drainage channels are dug, Marin can have Dutch windmills set up by the swamp pools and pump water day and night. If the pool is too big, you can use several windmills to pump it together... In short, the water in these swamp pools must be drained...

Only by draining all the water can the farmland renovation plan be facilitated.

Otherwise, in the face of water pools of different sizes, how to transform them?

Do it when you think about it...

Marin immediately sent someone to Holland to find craftsmen who could make windmills and learn how to pump water from windmills...

In fact, the Dutch windmill will not be used until the drain is dug.

However, windmills can not only pump water...

In addition to pumping water, Dutch windmills can also be used to drive large stone mills and wind mills, and can also drive large rotating saw teeth to create sawmills. You can also make paper... Well, Marin doesn't quite understand this. How does a windmill make paper? However, the materials that Marin read in the previous life did not introduce this knowledge...

But in any case, just pumping water, running a mill and running a sawmill are enough to make windmills generate huge economic benefits.

Therefore, although the windmills cannot be used for swamp drainage renovations until the drainage canals are dug. However, it is still possible to set up a few windmills, a few windmills, and a simple sawmill.

Moreover, in the process of building these windmills, of course, the craftsmen invited from the Netherlands dominated. But Marin can also arrange his own craftsmen to participate in the construction. As long as more windmills are built, the craftsmen arranged by Marin will naturally be able to learn how to make windmills. At that time, let these people bring more apprentices, and let many craftsmen learn to make windmills. Then, there are more people who can make Dutch windmills. When Marin starts the swamp drainage plan, they can make windmills in large quantities for drainage...

As long as the stagnant water is drained, the already fertile swampy areas can be transformed into fertile fields. One-third of the land area! That's thousands of square kilometers! Converted into arable land, 247,000 acres can be reclaimed, equivalent to 123,500 Ugrams, or 1.482 million acres...

Of course, these lands cannot all be turned into arable land, and there are still many places where houses and roads need to be built, and the area of ​​irrigation canals should also be counted. However, no matter what, as long as it is fully utilized, the cultivated land of 70,000 to 80,000 Ugrams can still be reclaimed. And right now, in the whole of East Frisland, there are only more than 80,000 Eugram arable land...

As long as the drainage canals are dug, a large number of Dutch windmills are erected, and the water is pumped desperately, I don’t believe that a lot of fertile fields can’t be produced…

Perhaps, the cost of this project is extremely high, and it is unbearable for the nobles who are generally in debt in this era. But for Marin, who was full of money-making ideas, it was extremely simple.

The large-scale transformation of fertile fields does not mean that Marin has to rely on farming to make a fortune. Rather, Marin wanted a larger population...

These days, in the German region, manors with too many people are everywhere, and it is not difficult to immigrate. But to immigrate people, you have to have land for them to plant. And the supply of food must also be guaranteed.

Therefore, Marin wants to cultivate fertile land, not to make money, but to make East Frisian bear more population. Only when the population rises can the economy develop vigorously. After all, this was an age without modern machines, and Malin was not a mechanical doctor, so he could make a simple machine based on his middle school physics knowledge, but it would be beyond his ability to make an efficient and complex machine. Therefore, if you want to increase productivity, you have to rely on a large number of labor...

All in all, Marin introduced Dutch windmills, which not only facilitates Marin to transform large swampy areas into fertile fields to accommodate more people, but also facilitates domestic flour milling in East Frisian, and even helps to saw wood and facilitate shipbuilding... …it’s a lot of work…