Xiaoyao Nongjiazi

Opening the lock that hadn't been opened for some time, Zhong Qingran smelled a strange smell.Apparently, some of the cans have been broken. It should be that the vacuum degree is not reached or the seal is not good.

"Mingyu, help me move all the smelly cans outside, they should all be broken."

It is a pity that Jian Mingyu looked at the cans that were about to be thrown away one after another.

There are several kinds of canning materials, including bamboo tubes, porcelain bottles and small clay pots.Bamboo cans are the most damaged, and the difference between the other two is not very big.

After a lot of work, the two of them cleared out all the broken cans, and opened the windows for a while to let in the wind, so that there was no peculiar smell in the storage room.

Glass is too expensive, and it is still unknown whether anyone can make glass bottles. Zhong Qingran did not choose the most suitable glass for canning. As for iron, he did not know how to deal with it so that it would not rust, so he also discarded it.

So, no matter what kind of material, Zhong Qingran couldn't see the inside of the can.As a result, he couldn't tell which jar was good and which jar was of poor quality, so he randomly picked out a porcelain jar of peach cans to remove the wax used for sealing, opened the cork, and the sweet scent of candied fruit wafted out. .There is no need to taste it, Zhong Qingran also knows that this canned food is a success, as for the taste, we can only know after tasting it.

Seeing that Zhong Qingran hadn't moved for a long time, Jian Mingyu thought of something, turned around and walked out the door. When he came back, he was holding a soup bowl and two pairs of chopsticks.

Zhong Qingran smiled naively, took a pair bluntly, put a piece of peach meat into his mouth, chewed it, swallowed it down his throat, with an aftertaste on his face.

"That's right, you can try it too." Zhong Qingran poured the remaining canned food, even the pulp and soup, into the soup bowl.

Jian Mingyu ate a piece, the taste was unique, it was very different from candied fresh fruit, it would be very popular among sweet lovers.

Next, the two each opened another can, which were canned pears in bamboo tubes and canned sand fruits in clay pots.Although the types are different, they are both canned and have similar tastes.No matter how delicious something is, if you eat too much, it will get boring.Zhong Qingran didn't want to waste, and he didn't want to give the leftovers to others like alms, so he went to get two more bowls, divided half of the next two cans, and shared the remaining half with Jian Mingyu.

"Changgui, these two bowls of fruit are for your boys." Zhong Qingran walked to the small courtyard of the Shen family, greeted him, put the bowl on the table, and went to the water tank to clean up the stains without waiting for a reply. Some sugar water hands.

The eldest son of the Shen family, Shen Jiang, was not there, so Shen Changgui took out two more bowls, and put half away and kept it for the eldest son. He picked up the chopsticks and tasted the remaining half. The flesh was not as crisp as fresh fruit, but It's not too soft, and what makes him feel the most distinct is the sweetness, which is sweet but not greasy. The sweet taste spreads from the mouth, and it can be sweet to the heart.

Seeing his youngest son eagerly looking at him, and his curious daughter-in-law, Shen Changgui handed the chopsticks to Wang Shi, asking her to take a piece and taste it, and push the rest to Shen He.

Men also like to eat sweets, but compared to women, the ratio is slightly smaller.

Jian Mingyu's craftsmanship is really good, and the simple canned food has a new level of taste after being handled by him.After Wang tasted it, his face showed joy, and Shen He was even less than ten years old. He was addicted to sweets, and his face was full of juice after eating, and finally kept a few slices, with a heartbroken expression on his face. They pushed them to their parents, turned around and ran away, probably because they were afraid that they would not be able to bear seeing the things they loved, so self-taught took the practice of seeing what they didn't see.

Zhong Qingran looked at Shen He who ran away without a trace with amused expression, thinking in his heart that this child was taught pretty well by Shen Changgui and his wife.After wiping his hands clean, Zhong Qingran said to Shen Changgui: "Clean out those cans in front of the storage room, you can take care of the bamboo tubes, and tidy up the porcelain bottles and clay pots, I still have use for them."

Shen Changgui was in a hurry to respond.

Seeing that the work was done, Zhong Qingran planned to return to the storage room, but just as he turned around, he saw Jian Mingyu walking into the yard with a few empty bowls.

"Go first, I'll be there in a while." Handing the empty bowl to Shen Changgui, Jian Mingyu walked to the side of the water tank, cleaning up the sticky feeling on his hands and face, and took the cloth towel to wipe his hands, only to realize that Zhong Qingran had been waiting by your side.He didn't say anything, and walked towards the storage room first, Zhong Qingran hurriedly followed.

There are not many fruit trees in Xiaoshan, but if all the fruits are added together, the amount is quite a lot.

Zhong Qingran was afraid that the canned food would fail and it would be a pity to waste it all, so he sold some and gave away some.During the season, local fruits are usually not sold at a high price. Zhong Qingran doesn't make much money from fruits, which is better than nothing.However, no matter how small the legs of mosquitoes are, they are still meat, and they cannot be left to rot on trees.

Zhong Qingran's worry was not unreasonable, more than half of the canned fruits were useless, and it took a long time for the two of them to clean them up.Seeing that it was getting late, Zhong Qingran took two other baskets, each filled with half a basket of canned goods, picked some of each, and then divided a basket of fruits into these two baskets.He carried a basket of fruit on his back, while Jian Mingyu carried the two baskets filled with canned food, and took advantage of the afterglow of the setting sun at dusk to head towards Hewan Village one after the other.

A basket of fruit was not light, and it weighed ten to twenty catties, which made Zhong Qingran's shoulders a little uncomfortable.Thinking about the long way to go, he wanted to cry but had no tears.Especially looking at Jian Mingyu in front of him carrying the burden, but walking briskly, unaffected by the burden at all, this feeling is especially strong.Who made him plan to buy an ox cart before, but he never implemented it?He thought, this is not going to work, and he will buy one when he collects enough money.

With such resentment in mind, Zhong Qingran finally got home before night fell.

"This basket is for you, and you can help me move the rest of the basket."

"Okay." Jian Mingyu put down the pole, picked up the basket easily, and put it at the entrance of the main room according to Zhong Qingran's request.

Jian Mingyu was about to turn around and leave, but was stopped by Tong Shi, who wanted to keep him for dinner, but he refused. There was still Mingchen at home, and now it was dark, so he couldn't stay outside for longer.

Mrs. Tong knew the situation of his family, so she didn't stay any longer, and found a basket and started to put fruit in it.

Zhong Qingran looked at it and quickly stopped: "Grandma, I have already given him some, so there is no need to give any more."

Tong's hand stopped, then continued to pack it in, and said, "Then I'll take it to your second grandpa, third grandpa."

This time, Zhong Qingran didn't stop him anymore, as relatives are bound to come and go, although the second grandfather and the third grandfather's family had some disagreements with his family, they were still the closest relatives of his family in Hewan Village, no matter how ugly the chaos inside was, Externally they are still very united.

"Grandma, there are cans under this basket, do you want to send some over?"

"Canned food?" Tong thought for a long time before remembering that Qingran seemed to have mentioned it before, and said hesitantly, "Wait, I'll ask your grandpa to come and have a look."

When Mr. Zhong entered the main room, Zhong Qingran had already opened a bottle of peach cans, and asked Zhong Qing to bring over some bowls.

"Is this the canned food you were talking about?" Mr. Zhong took a closer look. The soup was a little cloudy, and the appearance wasn't good enough, but the sweet aroma of fruit that filled the room completely made up for this shortcoming.

Without waiting for Zhong Qingran to reply, Zhong Qinghan followed his instructions and ran over with Zhong Xiao and Zhong Qingcheng. As soon as he smelled the smell, he rushed into the main room, looked at him with round eyes, and asked, "Third brother, what's the matter?" It tastes really sweet, is it delicious?"

"You will know after a taste. But you can't eat too much, the meal will be served soon, and you have to save your stomach for dinner."

There are many Zhong family members. Although the three families of Zhong Zhengyi, Zhong Zhengli, and Zhong Zhengxin have left, there are still more than a dozen people in the family. Even if they taste the taste, one can is not enough.Zhong Qingran opened another can and poured it into a bowl, making the sweet fragrance in the main room even stronger.The children gathered in a circle, watching eagerly, but no one moved their chopsticks.After Mr. Zhong and Mrs. Tong tasted it, the others started.

When it comes to canned fruit, Zhong Qingran still thinks that lychees are delicious. Unfortunately, Hewan Village is located in the north, so even dried lychees are hard to find, let alone fresh ones. As for canned food, I don’t know if there are any other places. I saw it in Pingyang County.

Now it's meal time, the whole family is here, the adults tasted two chopsticks, and left them all to the children.There was only so much food, and there were so many people. Soon, there was nothing left in the two cans, not even a little soup left.

This time, Zhong Qingran didn't intend to hide it, he finally figured it out, there are some things that are too beneficial to take out casually, but there are some things, it doesn't matter.Such as canned fruit and ginger planting belong to this category. They have enough benefits without being too coveted by others. With the ability of the Zhong family, they should be able to protect them.

The Great Zhou Dynasty was a society that emphasized clan etiquette, and it was obviously not enough to rely on the Zhong family alone.Lonely and lonely, I am afraid that if something happens, there will be no one to rescue. It is difficult to support one's palm and one tree, which is especially obvious in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The Zhong clan has never been able to have a big influence in the Great Zhou Dynasty, which has a lot to do with the attitude of the clan.Dachangfang is the best developed, and there are several lesser ones. It is impossible to say that the clan has no money.It's just that even if they have money, they would rather leave it at home to get moldy than take some out.There are quite a few families among the tribe who can't even eat enough.That's all, the so-called saving the emergency does not save the poor, but at least the training of the next generation must be taken care of.

But over the years, the number of people in the tribe has increased, but the study of the family has not expanded.Even now, many children in the clan don't know a few big characters.It is difficult to cultivate a scholar, but it is still very easy to teach them to read and write.There are ways to be poor, and there is no need to do what the rich do.

Zhong Qingran suddenly came up with an idea, he wanted to set up a school, the requirements were not high, the initial goal was to teach children to read and write, and the cost was taken from making canned fruits.Whoever wants to learn will sign a contract, agreeing to take [-]% of the profits, part of it will be used to buy land, and part of it will be used directly in the school.In the coming year, the income from the production of these fields will also be used for this, and the surplus will be used to support poor households.

After going through the idea in his mind, Zhong Qingran felt that this method might be feasible, so he ignored the puzzled eyes of the whole family, and directly dragged Mr. Zhong into the upper room, and told him all about his plan.

Mr. Zhong pondered for a while, then said with a serious expression: "Qing Ran, your idea is very good, but I reckon you will encounter some troubles."

Zhong Qingran was a little dazed for a moment, and the expression appeared on his face.

"Qing Ran, you are embarrassing Da Changfang and the others, who are used to the flattery of the tribe." Mr. Zhong sighed and pointed to the problem, "If every child in the tribe is educated, it will be regarded as an aptitude." Most of them are ordinary, and the money may not be enough, but there are too many students, and some students will always stand out, isn't this a serious threat to their status?"

Zhong Qingran's mind turned around for a while, and he understood the way to do it, probably because the clan was trying to control it.

"Grandpa, are other clans like this too?"

"Most of them are like this. The closer the relationship with the direct branch, the more care you receive. After five clothes, they are no longer relatives and can only be called clan members. In order to ensure the authority of the direct branch, it is natural to suppress the side branch. Of course, the side branch depends on It’s not uncommon for their own abilities to rise. However, after they develop, their methods are no different from those of the direct branch.”

After hearing this, Zhong Qingran concluded that based on the practice of the clans of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the status of the direct branch basically determines how high the clan can go.No wonder, the Zhong family has been passed down for nearly 200 years, but it hasn't caused much splash in the big pond of the court.

"Grandpa, do you think the school run by me, Qingzhu and Mingyu, three and a half older children, will attract the attention of the clan?"

Mr. Zhong was stunned, and laughed while tugging at a strand of beard: "It's because I'm thinking too much. You follow your own ideas. Grandpa takes good care of you. Let's go, let's eat."

The food was ready long ago. Tong and the others sat on the stools and waited early in the morning. When they heard Mr. Zhong's loud laughter from the upper room, they all looked at each other in blank dismay. They couldn't figure out what could make Mr. Zhong so happy. Canned fruit just now?No way, with the money-making business of Qinghefang in front, how can canned fruit have such a great charm?

Mr. Zhong stepped into the main room like a dragon and a tiger, his whole body was radiant, as if he was ten years younger, which surprised Tong and others.

Mr. Zhong didn't explain, he picked up his chopsticks and motioned for everyone to eat.

Zhong Qingran didn't expect that it was just to open a school, and now he didn't even have a picture, but it could make Mr. Zhong feel so happy.If you think about it carefully, it's actually not difficult to understand that if the school is really successful, the reputation of the Zhong family will be extraordinary.

Mr. Zhong is also the elder of the clan, but his status is the last.In their lifetime, most people only pay attention to fame and fortune. Zhong Jiali has it, but his fame is far behind.At that time, with both fame and fortune, Mr. Zhong can feel proud, and Zhong Qingran can have a place in the clan. What could be better than this?

Thinking a little further, if there are more promising students among the students he teaches, then his position will be very stable. Even if he has no backing, if he wants to move him, he has to pass the test of students.

Zhong Qingran doesn't just want to train scholars, his long-term goal is to include agriculture, industry and commerce.If he can't teach, then hire someone.The first thing you should do is to conduct yourself, but you can't just teach without educating people.If he taught a large group of white-eyed wolves, Zhong Qingran might even have the heart to jump into the river.

However, it's too early to say that, he doesn't even have a place to run a school.

The next day, Mr. Zhong and Zhong Qingran acted separately.Mr. Zhong invited all the clan elders to the patriarch with canned fruit, and when he explained what he meant, there was a sudden silence in the hall, and everyone was stunned.

After a while, the patriarch poked his ears and said, "Ze Xin, did I hear correctly? You mean that your third grandson wants to run a school?"

Mr. Zhong nodded to show that he heard correctly.

"It's easy to talk about the canned food. It will be easy to solve when I gather the villagers later." The patriarch said earnestly, "Ze Xin, don't you spoil your precious grandson too much? Running a school is child's play, can you do it casually?"

The patriarchs also followed suit, not because they flattered the patriarch, but because the patriarch's meaning was a true reflection of what they thought.

"Patriarch, I know this is a whim of Qingran's children, but it is enough for them to teach some children who can't read a single word. Students who want to take the imperial examination will not go to the school run by Qingran. The others have nothing to do with ethnology at all, and it would be good to know a few more characters, just let Qingran pass the time, and it won't delay much."

"Ze Xin, it's easy for you to say. You need a house to run a school, that's all. You have Qinghefang in your home. Now that you don't have enough money for a while, there will always be spare capacity in a while. It's just that you plan to let Qingran Running a school for free? If not, where would parents want their children to listen to a few children's lectures?"

"Shunxiu can not have it, but it's impossible for free. They can give some items produced by the family at will, and they can also help my family with some small jobs such as chopping firewood."

The clan elders all shook their heads and sighed, Mr. Zhong is crazy, to the point where his grandson even laughs and suffers when he pees on his head.They didn't have much to say, they didn't pay much attention to Zhong Qingran's wanting to run a school, what can a 13-year-old kid bring two other kids to do?Whether or not students can be recruited is still a question.

The patriarch spoke with great efficiency.Not long after, the heads of the various families were summoned to the open space in front of the ancestral hall of the Zhong family, including villagers with his surname.

The patriarch gave the general idea, and left the rest to Mr. Zhong.

"Everyone be quiet."

After finishing speaking, Mr. Zhong gave him a look.Zhong Zhengren and Zhong Zhengzhi started to act immediately. They lifted a table and placed it in front of Mr. Zhong. They placed a few pairs of bowls and chopsticks, and then put a basket on it. They skillfully removed the wax, unplugged the can, and finally poured the can into a bowl.After a while, the front of the ancestral hall was filled with sweet fragrance.

The crowd began to stir.Those women and children in the back wanted to squeeze forward together, and the clan elders coughed a few times before suppressing the trend.

Mr. Zhong glanced at the people in the front row one by one, and said loudly: "This is canned fruit, the quantity is not large, each person can only taste one piece, line up in four lines, come four by four. If anyone is interested , just sign the contract with me as you said just now."

No one responded, this was something Mr. Zhong took into consideration.Everyone is the one who doesn't see rabbits or scatter eagles. They haven't tasted it yet. Who knows what this so-called "canned fruit" is?Be cautious, yes.

There were patriarchs and elders in town, and the crowd quickly became orderly.Most of the people in the front are older men. Some like sweets, some don't. However, those who are not interested in sweets, they didn't quit, and replaced other members of the family.If this thing can really be done, it's a money-making business, and they don't feel at ease if they don't check it out themselves.

The first group were all old men who were nearly fifty years old. After the four of them moved their chopsticks, two of them showed a look of indifference. Seeing that they wanted to try another chopstick, the people in the back row were not happy.There are only so many things, whoever tastes an extra piece, the people behind in the queue may not even have the chance to taste it.

The people were pulled away rudely, and the new group of people repeated the actions of the previous group. After tasting them all, there was still a pitiful can on the table.With so many people present, it's not good to share it with anyone, so Mr. Zhong simply asked the eldest son to put it away and go home to feed the children.

"Everyone has tasted it. If you are willing, you can come to my house to discuss it carefully." After Mr. Zhong finished speaking, he wanted to leave and go home, but the people below had many questions and stopped him on the spot.

"How long will this can last?"

"At least for more than a month, how long it can be shelved is still unclear."

"Is it expensive?"

"Money is mainly spent on bottles and sugar. The labor cost of firewood is not much. The specific amount is not yet calculated. If this thing is not done well, it will break within a few days. Because it is not easy to make, the selling price is definitely not high. Low. But it’s up to you whether you do it or not. Think about it for yourself, don’t come to me crying when you lose money, I can’t guarantee that you won’t lose money.”

……

Seeing what happened here, the patriarch signaled everyone to go at their own pace.

It is rare to get together, the villagers are not so easy to disperse, most of them gather together in groups of three or four, talking about their opinions.

Who in the village doesn't have one or two fruit trees in their yard?These harvests, together with those picked from Lushan Mountain, used to go into the belly of my family, and occasionally I got more, and then I brought them to Pingyang County to sell.But the price is only a little higher than that of vegetables.Because of this, the fruit is not abundant to a certain extent, and it is usually either given away or consumed by the family.

If the profit is not lost, it is estimated that there will be many people who are happy, but unfortunately, there is no foolproof thing in the world.Zhong Qingran made canned fruit for the first time, and more than half of it was broken. If others do it, they may not even have this success rate.This alone scares many people.Raw materials and labor may not be counted as money, but bottles and sugar are real expenses.

Zhong Qingran also provided materials such as bamboo tubes. Unfortunately, one is in Hewan Village, where large bamboos are rare, and the other is that the plasticity of bamboo tubes is not as good as porcelain bottles and clay pots, and the sealing performance is not as good as the latter two. The possibility is extremely high, and he gave up in the end.Of course, if anyone is willing to continue to try, he will not stop them, maybe they have a way to solve this problem.If so, the cost can be reduced a lot.

Mr. Zhong is not in a hurry about this matter.This year has passed the fruit-setting period, and at least until May or June next year, there will be a new batch of fruit ripening, and it will not be too late to discuss it by then.Therefore, Mr. Zhong was not at all disappointed that only a few people came to discuss with him.

Mr. Zhong was busy with this matter, and Zhong Qingran was not idle either.When thinking of running a school, he thought of Zhong Qingzhu.

Apart from going around the shrimp pond, Zhong Qingzhu was free all day long, and he didn't become a bastard, so he had to be thankful that he made the right friends.This is not only about Zhong Qingzhu, but also Zhong Qingshu and the original owner.The three of them got together to prevent them from being corrupted.But going on like this is not an option.The few people are still young now, so it's okay to dawdle like this. In two or three years, it's probably not even easy to marry a daughter-in-law. You can't pick what is left over from others, right?

"What, let me teach?" Zhong Qingzhu thought he was hallucinating, and stared at Zhong Qingran incredulously, "You think I can do it?"

Zhong Qingran nodded.

Zhong Qingzhu was speechless for a while, and then he said in a huff: "I've only been studying for a few years, so I won't mislead my students?"

"Whoever is mistaken, they don't even know how to read. You don't want you to teach them a subset of classics and history, you just need to teach them how to read and write."

Even if Zhong Qingran said so, Zhong Qingzhu still felt that his idea was a bit whimsical.However, Zhong Qingzhu understood that Zhong Qingran was taking care of him, so he had no reason to refuse the kindness of his friend by mentioning him a nomination.Putting aside those unreliable ideas, in fact, this plan has its own feasibility.

After finishing Zhong Qingzhu, Zhong Qingran transferred to Jian Mingyu's house.

Fortunately, Zhong Qingzhu said that he had learned it for at least several years, and he could basically recognize all but a few rare characters.Jian Mingyu can't do it anymore, he is still learning from Zhong Qingran, and asking him to teach others, wouldn't that embarrass him?

Hearing that Zhong Qingran asked him to teach the children, Jian Mingyu was surprised, but he still complied.He didn't believe that Zhong Qingran would joke about it with him casually, since Zhong Qingran said he could do it, then he must have something to offer.

When he learned that teaching children to read and write was just incidental, and Zhong Qingran's main purpose was to let him lead students to practice martial arts, Jian Mingyu suddenly realized.

Just to put it bluntly, let him be a gentleman, and be heard by a real gentleman, I really want to laugh out loud.