Little Zhuangtou and the Great General

027

"Old people, can you listen to me?" Shen Miao said modestly, and the old farmers all turned their heads. This person was specially introduced by the owner of Zhuangzi, and his status must be extraordinary.

"The world is based on agriculture, and agriculture is based on food. In our place, rice is the staple food. If we don't open up mountains and open up fields to plant rice, we can only use other crops to barter. Bartering depends on The face of others depends on the face of God. If the merchants are black-hearted, the price will go up. If there is no food in a famine year, no amount of silk tea can be exchanged for food. Therefore, food must be grown by ourselves, and we must grasp this principle It's in my hand." Shen Miao paused, and glanced at the reactions of the old farmers, obviously the old farmers agreed with Shen Miao's words, but they also agreed with the difficulties raised by the other party, so most of their faces showed expressions of listening first .

Shen Miao then continued: "There are four difficulties. The terrain is demanding, the construction period is tight, and there are many accidents. Missing this season's production. First of all, there is no way to miss this season's production. So, it is not difficult to solve this problem, since terraced fields are highly demanding, places where terraced fields cannot be planted can temporarily plant some alternative crops, such as corn.”

"Since the corn is planted, it is better to plant all the corn." Old man Liu said, and many people also echoed.

"But which one is more satisfying than corn or rice?" Shen Miao asked.

"Of course it's rice." The old men said one after another.

"What about the yield per mu?"

"Put it in the north, it must be as high as corn, but in the south, it's not good. If there is too much rain, it will not be as high as rice."

"Rice can be planted twice a year, and wheat can be grown in winter, and it can be harvested five times in two years. What about corn?" Shen Miao asked again.

"Corn is not good, one season a year, at most one season of wheat in the spare time of winter, three crops in two years."

"That's right. The south has to grow crops that are most suitable for the south. Planting corn is not a long-term solution." Shen Miao took the opportunity to say, "Although building terraced fields is difficult for a while, it will be beneficial in the long run. Short construction period and many accidents These two things can be solved together. Let’s talk about accidents first. The summer solstice rainstorm you mentioned is not unpredictable, and if this kind of rainstorm that can cause muddy water to roll occurs once, it will not happen again in a short time. There is plenty of time between them, and luckily it can last for a month, so take advantage of our advantages, recruit as many people as possible, and work together to make a sudden repair, rather than scattered and simultaneous construction."

"It's not impossible if we work together to build it." Old man Chen said, he obviously knows a lot about repairing terraced fields. "If everyone builds together, divide the work and prepare enough materials. You can build two or three steps at the same time. Soil, as long as the soil of the paddy field is rammed so that it will not leak, it is different from the rammed earth used to build foundations and high platforms. A field can be rammed in two days. As for the field mud on the rammed earth layer, it can be piled up later.”

"Hearing what you said, I also have an idea." Old man Zhang said, "Although the torrential rains in our place in summer are severe, the mountains are solid and there are many trees, so the mud and rocks are not easy to come down. When choosing a site, try to lean as far as possible, and most of it is against the mountain, so that the gullies that exist between the mountains are preserved, and when the rain comes, guide them to flow into the gullies, so that the fields and dams can be less scoured.”

"I also have an idea." Shen Miao hurriedly said, "It's a pity that the rainwater is lost in vain. When building terraced fields, you can build a mountain pond every 15 to [-] yuan to store the water. In this way, you don't have to worry about water when there is a drought. Yes, some fish can be raised in the mountain pond, so don’t worry if it rains for days, you can let some water out first.”

"This is good." The old farmers nodded one after another.

Shen Miao smiled: "So, you agree to build it."

"It's feasible, but everyone is transferred to repair the terraces. How about the work? If it doesn't work by yourself, you won't be able to eat enough, and it will be even worse if you work hard." Old Man Li said.

Wu Liu said at the right time: "Don't worry about this matter. Naturally, you will be paid according to the work for the repair of the land. How to calculate the specific calculation. When you turn back, the manager will post a notice at the entrance of the village."

Wu Liu's words were like a reassurance pin, reassuring the old farmers. Once they were relieved, other matters began to be discussed rapidly, such as how to cultivate other land after opening the terraced fields, planting mulberry trees and tea, and wasting time going up and down the mountain. How did the villagers move inward, and what were the choices of inward relocation, such as self-pay for house construction or loan payment.

Everyone glanced at me and talked about it from the morning until the sun was about to set, and no one even thought of eating lunch.When the discussion was finally over, all the people felt hungry, and they didn't know whose stomach was the first to groan, and then the stomachs of the whole room rang together, and everyone looked at each other and laughed.

The steward brought out the food that had been prepared in good time, steamed buns made with rice flour and wine, and stewed pork with dried bamboo shoots. The old men were full of joy, and hurriedly went back to tell their families the good news after eating.

Shen Miao walked excitedly to the inner courtyard with a pile of paper full of words written on it, and couldn't help thinking along the way: "In the future, every household will raise some pigs and so on. The meat can be eaten during the New Year, and tea trees are raised with manure. Best of all, there are chickens and ducks, which can lay eggs and eat them, as well as sheep, which eat grass and are easy to feed, and cows need it more, and the arable land depends on it!" After thinking of this, Shen Miao couldn't help but stop and look up at the sky. A beautiful picture of self-sufficiency and adequate food and clothing.

Wu Liu couldn't help but touch his forehead when he saw it, it was all a demonic obstacle.

The four little girls were already waiting on tiptoe in front of the inner house. The young master and young master had been out for a whole day, and they didn't come back for lunch.As soon as they saw the shadows of the two, the four immediately divided into two groups, one group went up to serve vegetables, and the other group went forward to greet them.

Wu Liugang was about to enter, but saw the steward rushing over, as if he had something important to say, so he asked the little girls to take Shen Miao to eat first, Shen Miao was still immersed in the grand scheme of things, and didn't notice it.

Wu Liu and the steward went to the inner hall.

"What's the rush?" Wu Liu asked.

"Mr. Shen's suggestion just now is good, but I have done rough calculations as an old slave. I need a lot of money and food, especially food. Except for the food that must be handed in, all the food in the warehouse will be given to the farmers. If you go outside Buying, now the price of food is soaring, and the ratio of money to money is messed up again, rice that can be bought for one tael of silver in the past now costs at least three taels. We don’t have that much money.”

"That's a problem." Wu Liu nodded.

The steward also said: "Actually, for the construction of terraced fields, it is enough to distribute the land to the farmers and be responsible for completing it within a certain period of time. If it is really difficult, it will take longer; if they are afraid that they will not repair it, they will be required to pay the rice at the end of the year. That’s right. Don’t look at what those old farmers said just now, it’s so difficult, but if they really want to press down like this and help each other, they will definitely think about it.”

"This method is inappropriate. Farmers are already in a difficult situation. The purpose of building mountains and repairing fields is to make life easier for farmers. Now they are forced to repair it by themselves. Not only is it not easy, but it will only increase the burden. Besides, there are many mountains in East Zhejiang Road and few plains. In the future, it will be necessary to open mountains and repair fields. If farmers are always left to find their own way, farmers will resist this matter, which is not conducive to the prosperity of Zhedong Road. Regardless of the smallness of repairing land, for Zhedong Road, it is like repairing river embankments It is not advisable to let anyone whose field is next to the river repair it, and it is the right way to mobilize the people to work together to repair it at one go."

"Since the young master thinks so, I will try my best to raise money for the old slave." The steward said.

"I know the current situation of Zhuangzi. It is too difficult for you alone to raise money. I will go to Lao Qi to borrow some later." Wu Liu said.

When the steward heard this, he hurriedly said: "I don't want it anymore, after all, the seventh son..." The steward didn't finish his sentence. The seventh son and Wu Liu are half brothers. Shi is on the side, but he is unwilling and always disagrees.

"The old seven are good, so don't treat them together. Just ask him to borrow some money and pay it back at the end of the year. It doesn't matter." Wu Liu said.

The steward shook his head: "There was no output in the first year of the terraced fields, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to return them at the end of the year."

"I have my own way of doing this, so there's no need to worry." Wu Liu said with a smile.

The steward had to agree.

The author has something to say: The stupid author explains two reference points

1. The millet here does not refer to corn, but refers to millet, barley and sticky rice.

2. The purchasing power of a tael of silver here refers to the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, one tael of silver = 1000 qian. In the heyday, a bucket of rice was 10 qian, and a bucket of rice ([-] liters) was only [-] qian. It can be seen that the purchasing power of a tael of silver in the Tang Dynasty was Very objective.

The specific historical data of the end of the Tang Dynasty could not be found by the stupid author, but roughly calculated, a three-fold increase is the minimum, so I made this judgment arbitrarily.