Lucky husband

In August, the people in the county government were anxious, joyful and anxious, and ordinary people passed away amidst the anxiety and joy.

It has been raining continuously since August [-]th. Most of the northerners who fled to the south returned to their hometowns, and only a very small number of people did not leave.

The relatives of these people have almost passed away, and the houses and fields in the north are also sold. After the drought is over, they choose to find a place to settle down in the place where they fled, just like Mr. Li did at the beginning. .

The autumn rain continued until August 29, and there was no rain until the early morning of August [-]. This round of rain that lasted for nearly half a month finally ended.

The water levels of the rivers in the south are a little higher than at this time of year in previous years, but the impact is not significant, not to the extent that floods will occur, and the local officials in the southern provinces, prefectures, states, and counties are all relieved.

When the rainy season was over, Zhao Chengze calculated that it was still too early. After thinking about it, he sent the officials of the county government to go to various villages and towns, and told the people with fields to plant a new crop of sweet potatoes while the weather was still warm. It should be ready to harvest before the coldest weather of winter arrives.

The climate in the south can still grow a crop of sweet potatoes at this time of year, but not in the north. In another month or so, the north will start to enter the cold temperature of winter. The sweet potatoes planted have just grown large leaves, and the sweet potato vines cannot be harvested. Will freeze to death.

Therefore, the lives of the people in the north have never been as prosperous as those in the south.

Take this year as an example, the northern part of the country was the first to experience drought in the spring and summer, and the grains planted in the fields failed to harvest. Now that the drought has finally passed, they want to plant another season of grain, but it is too late, and they have to wait for spring plowing next year hungry. Even autumn harvest.

Zhao Chengze had a vague plan in his mind - after the sweet potatoes planted in Changping County this season matured, he would send the county government servants to various villages and towns to collect excess grain, and then send the excess grain to the north in the name of Changping County.

Now his plan has not been fully formed yet, because he has to write a letter to the capital first, let his father read it, and then say that his grade is too low now, and there are many things to worry about when doing things.

Zhao Chengze waited until the autumn rainy season was over before sending the county government officers to go to various villages and towns to spread the word that everyone should plant sweet potatoes. In fact, the old crop method like old man Li started planning to plant the land as early as after several continuous rains.

Having just experienced a drought, everyone understands the importance of food. Every household is willing to prepare more food regardless of whether there is not enough food at home.

The things everyone chooses to grow are also sweet potatoes, which grow fast and produce a lot, and are more resistant to cold and drought, and are easy to feed. They are the best choice for farming in this season.

First of all, take out the intact sweet potatoes in the cellar as seeds, and wait for the sweet potatoes to germinate.

Second, rush to plow when it is not raining.

After several months of drought, the soil surface is very hardened, and a lot of weeds have grown in the field. The ground must be dug to loosen the weeds, otherwise the sweet potato seedlings will not be able to take root and germinate after planting.

After the rain stopped at the end of August, everyone prepared sweet potato seedlings and the land was almost plowed, so we could start planting sweet potato seedlings in the field.

Li's family has a lot of fields. When plowing the land some time ago, Li Mingjin took Li Mingyue to the field every day. The two of them couldn't do the hoeing work for the time being, but it was still possible to pull the weeds on the edge of the field. .

On the first day of going to the field, Li Mingjin chose a small weed that had just grown for Li Mingyue for his younger sister to play with, while he himself picked a taller weed, squatted down and prepared to do it seriously. live.

For the first time, Li Mingjin grabbed a small handful of weeds and pulled them hard, but the weeds did not move at all.

After thinking about it, he divided half of the weeds in his hand, and then increased the strength of his hand. Unexpectedly, with all his strength, he directly tore off all the roots of the weeds in his hand, without warning. He fell and squatted on his ass.

Fortunately, it rains every day and the mud is soft, so it doesn't hurt to fall, but the pants are dirty, but his pants are an old pair of pants that have been changed, mended and patched, so it doesn't hurt to get dirty.

The old man Li happened to be beside him, and he looked at Li Mingjin's silly appearance, unable to tell the north from the east, and smiled twice: "Brother Jin, the roots of the weeds are deep, you have to remember to use a small hoe first With two hoeings, the soil is loosened, and the roots of the weeds are broken, so they can be easily pulled out.”

After speaking, old man Li personally demonstrated how to weed weeds.

Seeing Grandpa's relaxed appearance, Li Mingjin rubbed his butt, and asked curiously: "Grandpa, it is said that when there is a drought, the sky does not rain, and none of the crops in the field can grow. Why do weeds grow so much? Particularly difficult to hoe off?"

Old man Li told him: "During drought, there is no water on the surface of the soil, and weeds will take their roots very deep in order to find water under the soil."

Hearing old man Li's words, Li Mingjin was even more puzzled: "Why can't the crops take deep roots? If it is possible, the crops can survive the drought."

"This..." Old man Li was asked by Li Mingjin's question, yes, why don't the roots of the crops be deep?

Li Mingjin was a little embarrassed seeing that his master couldn't answer. He turned his eyes and lowered his head to pick up a small hoe to loosen the roots of a small nest of weeds at hand, and then pulled them out. It was really much easier than before to pull out the weeds. out.

Picking up the pulled out weeds, Li Mingjin said to old man Li happily: "Master, I heard you really pulled out the weeds, it's very useful."

After finishing speaking, he continued to weed and pull weeds with his head down, having a great time, pretending to forget the question he just asked.

Old man Li didn't say anything. After he had enough rest, he continued to walk to the middle of the field with his hoe on his shoulders, and hoeed with his eldest son.

While doing things, he was thinking about Li Mingjin's question, why food can't take root like weeds and survive the drought.

Thinking about something in his heart, old man Li not only slowed down his hoeing speed, but his direction was a bit off, Li Chengzhi noticed something was wrong with his father, stopped to wipe the sweat from his forehead and asked, "Father, what are you thinking about? "

Old man Li couldn't think of a reason, so he threw Li Mingjin's question to his son: "Boss, why do you say that the roots of weeds are much deeper than those of crops, so they can survive the drought?"

Li Chengzhi thought for a while, and asked old man Li a question: "Father, you know there is a saying that tells children who can cry to have candy."

"Ah, there is such a saying." Of course old man Li has heard of it.

When a peddler walks into the village to sell goods, he will always be surrounded by a group of children. Some of the children just look at the candy in the peddler's bag, while others cry and go back to their parents to ask for it. Eat sweets, and most children who cry will end up with one or two sweets.

"I think the same is true for crops and weeds. Crops are crying children. Although crops don't really cry, once we find that they are dry without water, we will water them immediately so that they can cry. You don't need to have deep roots to get enough water, you don't need to have deep roots."

"But weeds can't, no one waters them, they can only find ways to burrow into the ground where there is water, and the natural roots will be deeper." Li Chengzhi said according to his own understanding.

There is some truth in what he said, but Old Man Li feels that the explanation is not clear enough, because according to what Li Chengzhi said, when the crops find that there is no sugar for crying, they should try their best to dig their roots deep into the ground to find water. Instead of dying directly.

Old man Li raised his doubts, and Li Chengzhi rubbed his head, but he couldn't think of why.

The two looked at each other for a while, and old man Li waved his hand: "Forget it, don't think about it, let's continue to work! We don't know a single word, so we just know how to farm the land. I will leave these troublesome problems to those Learned scholars think about it."

After finishing speaking, old man Li restrained his mind and began to dig the ground seriously again.

However, Li Chengzhi next to him couldn't calm down. He had been struggling with this problem, wanting to know what the reason was.

After thinking about it for several days, Li Chengzhi didn't think of a better explanation, and he finally gave up, leaving this trouble behind and no longer thinking about why.

Li Mingjin was the only one who still remembered this question. He was going to ask his father when he came back. If his father didn't know, he would ask his uncle when he went to grandpa's house.

August passed, Li Chengshi Xiumu returned home, Li Mingjin asked this question as soon as he saw him.

Li Chengshi was stopped by his son's question and didn't know how to answer Li Mingjin.

After thinking for a long time before going to bed at night, Li Chengshi found Li Mingjin the next morning, and said, "Brother Jin, when I was young, my father was naughty and quietly planted a small field of wheat with a handful of seeds."

"That small piece of land is really small, there are about a dozen plants. At first, I remembered to water, fertilize and weed them, and they grew well."

"After a long time, Dad often forgot to take care of them. Gradually, the wheat in that small field grew together with the weeds around it. When Dad thought about it later and went to see them, he could only do it in the weeds. Looking for wheat seedlings in the grass."

Speaking of this, Li Chengshitou asked Li Mingjin: "Guess what happens when the wheat in the last small field is ripe?"

Li Mingjin shook his head: "I don't know."

"There is no harvest, and the ears of wheat are shriveled. You ask why the roots of the crops are not as deep as the weeds, so that they can survive the drought. In fact, the roots of the crops can grow as deep as the weeds, because Daddy I remember that the roots of the wheat in that small field were very deep."

"Father's idea is that if the roots grow deep, it may not be useful. The roots of weeds are deep. They can survive the drought, but they can't grow food for people to eat. If the crops become like weeds, then there is no use." It is necessary to grow crops."

"Brother Jin, Dad's words may not be all right, it's just Dad's views on the question you raised now, maybe in a few years later Dad will know more things, and he will have more understanding."

"What's more, Dad wants to tell you that when you look at things, you should not only look at the surface, but also think about the meaning behind the matter. You are still young, and you will gradually understand these principles as you grow up."

Li Chengshi said these words very slowly, he wanted to let Li Mingjin understand what he told him, not just a simple answer to a question.

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