Defeat natural disasters with farming

Unknowingly, the days passed by like running water, until one day when Ye Yu was practicing calligraphy in the room, he felt a slight chill. He rubbed his hands, put down his pen and looked out the window, and saw that the branches were full of fruits. The leaves were slowly falling to the ground, and he realized that it was autumn again.

Autumn is not only the harvest season, but also reminds people of taxation and corvée. Fortunately, there are no large-scale wars, so the court allows money to be used as a substitute for labor. For most people, the money can still be paid out.

As far as Ye Yu knows, the imperial court now uses the two-tax law to collect taxes. According to the amount of assets, there are three grades and nine grades. In the two seasons, if ordinary people can't afford the money, they can use millet and silk instead.

Naturally, the Ye family paid the tax early, and the other families in the village did not delay too long. Anyway, they all paid the tax to the government before October, and in the end the whole village was praised by the county magistrate.

After paying the tax, it was sunny for several days. The sun swayed its brilliance without hesitation, but it did not bring much warmth to the farmers. This made Father Ye, who was bending over to harvest the crops, wondered. .

"In the past two years, it seems to be getting colder every year. I remember that I didn't need to wear cotton clothes at this time in the past few years, but this year I have to wear them, otherwise the cold will be unbearable."

He is now fully armed, with a thick warm sweater and wool trousers in the cotton smock outside, ear protection cap on his head, wool socks and Ulla shoes on his feet, and half-finger gloves on his hands.

If someone looks around, he can see that almost all the farmers harvesting crops in the fields have his appearance.

Mother Ye unscrewed the lid of the water bag and took a sip of hot water. As soon as she opened her mouth, water vapor rose up along with the wind, and a faint white smoke appeared in front of her eyes.

"A cold spot is better than a drought. Although our rain this year is not enough, it can still nourish the land. I think the harvest in the field should be good."

The old lady Ye who was picking wheat ears at the side said happily after hearing the words: "That's right, some corn stalks grew seven or eight corns this year. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are much larger than in previous years, not to mention sorghum wheat, which grows very well, with many ears of wheat and full seeds, and the yield is extremely high."

"We have to pick the best-grown crops this year and save them for planting, to see if the harvest will be better next year."

In fact, not only their Yejia Village, but also the entire Donghai County has a good weather this year, and everyone's face is full of joy of harvest.

I don't know if it's because the grain merchants knew that they had a good harvest, so just a few days after they put the grain into the cellar, Yejia Village welcomed several grain merchants from different places.

Ye Yu's family is acquainted with a grain merchant named Su, and their family basically buys and sells grain with him every year.

After he came, Father Ye specially invited him into the house, poured a cup of wild tea, and waited for him to drink before getting straight to the point, asking, "What is the price of white rice this year?"

Upon hearing this, the grain merchant Su put down his tea bowl, sat down solemnly and replied, "One fight is five hundred wen."

A bucket is about six kilograms.

"Hiss." Father Ye gasped when he heard the price, and said in disbelief, "How can it be so expensive? Last year a bucket of white rice was only two hundred cash, how could it be doubled this year? many."

"Alas," at this moment, the Su grain merchant sighed deeply, "You are far away from the south, so the news probably hasn't spread yet. The rice fields in the south were hit by a disaster. The sudden rainstorm in July lasted for half a day. For months, no matter how water-loving the rice is, it cannot withstand the heavy rain, soaking its roots day and night."

When he said this, he slapped his thigh, "Originally, it can be saved. If you dig out the seedlings and plant them again, there will always be some harvest, so that the crops will not fail. As a result, there was another locust plague half a month ago. Brother Ye, you are not here." People in the south don't know that the locusts that cover the sky and the sun are gnawing on the crops one by one, and what they gnaw is not the rice, but the flesh and blood of the farmers!"

Hearing these words, all the Ye family members were stunned, Ye Yu was no exception, but after thinking about it, he suddenly felt that something was wrong, didn't locust plagues usually happen after the drought in the north?As the saying goes, there must be locust plagues after a severe drought. The water system in the south is well developed and the environment is humid, which is not suitable for locusts to reproduce.

Su Grain Merchant was not clear about this. He said, "I only heard that it was a plague of locusts. Maybe it wasn't locusts, but other insects were raging."

Then he asked again: "Do you still want to buy rice? This year's rice is not harvested in the south, but in Zhuojun, so the quantity is not large. If you want to buy it, you should buy it as soon as possible."

Zhuojun is equivalent to the modern Hebei area, where water can be diverted to grow rice. Although the output is not high, there is always some harvest.

Fortunately, although white rice is expensive, it's not so expensive that their family can't afford it. In addition, Ye's father went out to inquire and found that the price of white rice is more than [-] yuan, and the price of Su grain merchants is actually the lowest. , So when he came back, he bought ten buckets of white rice from him, and prepared to store it at home to eat slowly. According to the current price, ten buckets of white rice is five pennies.

Even though there is no shortage of these funds, Mrs. Ye still feels distressed when she pays.

It wasn't until the Ye family men drove the donkey cart to bring back five big bags of white rice that she saw a little smile on her face as she watched the white rice put into the cellar.

After completing a big deal, Su Grain Merchant was in a particularly happy mood, so he revealed another news, "This year the court may impose additional taxes. Brother Ye, your family had better prepare early."

Hearing this, Father Ye frowned, and asked rather puzzled: "I just expropriated it a while ago, why didn't I confiscate it at the same time?"

"Who knew that the south was hit by a disaster in just half a month. Not to mention that there was no harvest, but it was not far behind. The rice output was high, so there were many people to support. Their households were like pigs. My son, this natural disaster is ruthless, how will they support the whole family? They still have to rely on the imperial court for disaster relief, but..."

The Ye family understands the implication of Su Liangshang's words.

But now where does the imperial court get the surplus grain for disaster relief? There is old grain in the granary, but it is unknown how much can actually reach the victims.

Old man Ye sighed while smoking a dry cigarette, "God is really a sinner."

Following these words, the atmosphere in the room gradually became dull. After a while, the Su grain merchant comforted: "There are many forests in the south. Although they have no food to eat, they can go to the forest to pick some wild fruits and vegetables. No matter what, they can survive. Catch the fish in the pond and the hare in the woods. What's more, if there is no food in stock, save some food, enough to survive until the beginning of next spring."

Life is much better after spring.

This is true, it is not a drought in the north, there is no green plant at all, let alone the drought that caused the Wu family and Wang family in the village to escape from Henan County, the drought was extremely serious, the land was dry, and everything that could be eaten was eaten. The victims were asked to dig three feet out of the ground, and even the soil was not spared in the end, and many people were strangled to death by the soil.

The situation in the south is better than that time.

Originally, the Ye family planned to sell part of the family's food. After all, they harvested too much this year and their family couldn't finish it. But since they heard the news of the disaster in the south, they stopped thinking about it and kept what they could eat. Anyway, potatoes and sweet potatoes can be sliced ​​and dried in the sun, or made into sweet potato vermicelli and potato flour, which can be stored for a long time.

Father Ye also made a special trip to the village head's house and told the village head what Su grain merchant said. At the end, he said: "Since the imperial court may impose additional taxes this year, why don't we keep our grain for now, just in case The tax is high, but it can be offset by food."

The village chief thought about it in his mind, and felt that what he said was right, so he nodded and said, "That's right, I'll call the villagers to gather in the ancestral hall."

People these days are extremely anxious. As soon as they learned from the village head that the south was hit by a disaster, some people immediately became worried.

Someone asked: "Wouldn't we also encounter drought here?"

"Isn't that possible? This year's grain harvest is bumper. I'm still wondering if it's God's blessing. I'm going to give my ancestors an extra stick of fragrance during the Chinese New Year."

"Have you forgotten the drought in Henan County 20 years ago? It even affected us here."

"Hey, then we have to tighten our grip on the grain in our hands, and we won't sell it anymore."

The more the villagers said, the more outrageous they became.

In the end, it was the village chief who interrupted their unfounded worries, "Okay, Jiangnan is so far away from us, so it can't be easily affected. I just want to tell you that when the time comes, when the imperial court sends people to collect taxes, don't be confused. Be careful not to say the wrong thing.”

The village head is very prestigious in the village, and the others nodded their heads when they heard what he said, expressing that they knew it.

After the speech, Ye Yu was wearing a thick jacket and walked home behind Mother Ye. He looked absent-minded, and accidentally tripped over a stone on the ground and almost fell to the ground.

Fortunately, Mother Ye held his hand and grabbed him.

"What are you thinking? I see you are listless all the way."

Ye Yu came back to his senses when he heard the words, and replied with a frown, "I was wondering what kind of pest plague the south suffered? It can't be really locusts."

If you want to say that the leech is still believed, but after the drought in the north, there is no reason for the locust to suddenly appear in the south.

Mother Ye really didn't understand, but she has a little bit of advantage, if she can't figure it out, don't think about it, and she will always get the answer in the future.

So she said: "Don't think so much, you will know the reason when the court sends people to check it later."

After hearing his mother's words, Ye Yu put this matter in his heart for the time being and didn't think about it any more. However, their family gradually got busy in the following days, and there was no time for him to continue to wonder.

As for what they are busy with, I can only say that most of them are trivial matters.

The first thing is to pick the fruit. The oranges and ringos picked from the four trees in the front yard filled two boxes. Although the oranges are not big, they have a delicate smell, which makes people want to peel them and taste them.

However, after eating it, he found that the taste of the orange was not as good as its fragrance, it was sour and bitter, and there were many seeds in each piece of orange flesh. Even the greedy Ye He shook his head, saying that he couldn't eat it.

Ye Yu also thought it was not tasty, but the whole basket of oranges could not be wasted, so he thought of making them into canned oranges and saving them. Of course, he told his family that this was called sweet orange soup.

The method is also very simple, you only need to peel off the orange peel, then tear off the white orange network on each piece of orange flesh, then make a small hole in the orange piece, take out the seeds inside, and finally pour it Put it into the pot, add sugar and cool boiled water and cook until the sugar melts.

If you like to eat sweet, you can add more sugar, and the taste will be sweeter after the pan is cooled.

Nowadays, there is a large natural refrigerator outside, so the orange sweet soup that has been prepared will become completely cool after being frozen outside for a while. At this time, it is necessary to wash and dry the ceramic pots, and not leave a little water.

Tangerines and soups sealed in ceramic jars can be stored for a long time. If it is a glass jar, it will not break for several years. If you use a ceramic jar, it will be fine for about a year.

By the end of the last basket of oranges, only twenty canned oranges were made, which was not much, but Mrs. Ye still opened a few cans for the family to try out. Ye He, who has not yet returned to the martial arts school, liked it very much. One person ate an entire can.

The taste is really good, sweet and sour, and the astringency becomes very light after cooking.

When Ye Yu was eating the freshly made canned oranges, he suddenly remembered an incident before time travel. When he was a child, he always looked forward to getting sick, because only when he was sick and took medicine, could he eat a bite of canned oranges. The taste has always lingered in his mind for a long time, and now he is eating the taste in his memory. It is hard to say whether this is a cycle.

"It's delicious!" After eating a bowl, Taohua obviously still couldn't get enough of it. She licked the residue at the corner of her mouth, and she was already thinking about how to ask her grandma for another bowl tomorrow.

Seeing the joy of the children, Mrs. Ye treasured the unopened canned oranges and put them in the cellar. She thought that during this time, she could open one or two cans a day for them.

Except for oranges, Ringo's taste is not unpalatable, and there is no need to make additional preparations, just store it in a box with straw.

After all the fruits were cleaned up, Mrs. Ye called her daughters-in-law to start frying twists non-stop. If it wasn't for their family's wealth, Mrs. Ye would definitely not want to do it.

Ye Yu came up with an idea when they were kneading the dough, let them add some boiled goat's milk to the flour, the dough twist was soft and sweet, making people reluctant to stop eating even two or three.

Followed by sauerkraut, miso, fried pine nuts...

The whole family is busy for the New Year, because the whole family is together, even if they are tired, they are happy.

Several children are not idle, they take care of relatively light work such as feeding livestock.

And just when Ye Yu walked out of the chicken and duck shed with a few warm eggs, he suddenly felt a chill on his forehead, and when he looked up, he saw snowflakes falling from the air, light and graceful. And elegant.

"Snowing."

Mother Ye, who was standing at the door of the kitchen, rubbed her fingers, let out a breath of white air, and then took the egg from Ye Yu's hand.

"Brother Bao, go back and warm yourself by the fire. I will steam egg custard for you at noon today."

At this time, the fire kang in the main room was burning very warmly, and Mrs. Ye was leading Taohua and the others to knit sweaters and trousers with wool. Looking at their progress, it is estimated that they will be able to finish knitting this set in two or three days.

She saw Ye Yu's face was flushed red from the cold when he pushed the door open, and quickly waved: "Come to the kang."

The hottest place on the kang is the head of the kang, and the temperature at the tip of the kang is not so high. Under normal circumstances, it is defaulted that the elders sit at the head of the kang and the younger ones sit at the tip of the kang.

But Mrs. Ye moved Ye Yu to a place on the kang.

Ye Yu didn't refuse either, he sighed comfortably after sitting on it, and the warmth of the kang gradually dispelled the chill in his bones.

"Is it snowing outside?"

"Yeah, it's quite big, and I don't know when it will go down."

When Mrs. Ye heard their conversation, she couldn't help but said, "Fortunately, I have a sweater and wool trousers. You see, I am not even wearing a jacket on the kang, but I am not cold, and my whole body is warm."

Now everyone in the family has two or three sets of sweaters and trousers that can be matched, even the women who wear skirts are no exception, because they wear a pair of trousers under their own skirts.

Hearing this, Ye Yu touched the dark blue sweater on his body. It was hand-knitted by his mother. It was airtight. As long as you don't pull it hard, you can't see the holes. Every stitch and thread is full of love from parents.

With the smoke rising from the chimney, the sky was getting darker, and the wind and snow were blowing outside the window. After dinner, Mrs. Ye looked at the sky and said worriedly: "It may be very cold tonight. Remember to fill a water bladder when you sleep."

Everyone responded one after another.

The fact was not as she expected, the night was indeed very cold, but fortunately there was a heated kang under his body, so Ye Yu gradually fell asleep with the water bag in his arms.

However, in the middle of his sleep, he suddenly had a jerk and woke up from the cold. He didn't know when the burning kang under his body was only a little warm, and there was still smoke from the side of the kang bed.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who woke up from the cold, and other houses gradually started to move. Some people lit oil lamps, and some people put on their clothes in the dark.

After a while, before Ye Yu put on her jacket, Mother Ye pushed open the door and walked in. She put the oil lamp on the desk and said worriedly: "I don't know what's going on, you stay in the room. Let's go out and have a look."

Just as she was about to go out after she said this, she heard a knock on the door, Mother Ye hurried over to open the door, only to see Second Aunt Ye in thick clothes standing at the door.

"Third brother and sister, our chimney is blocked, but it's too dark to dig it out now, so bear with it for now. I'll ask your second brother to go up and clear the chimney early tomorrow morning."

"What's the matter?" Mother Ye waved her hand, "It just so happens that I'm sleeping with Brother Bao tonight, and there's still some warmth on the kang, and it's not too cold."

Because Ye Boss and Ye Father are in the county all the year round, Ye Lao Er is only a middle-aged man in the family, and it is a bit of trouble for him all year round.

"Okay, I'll go back first, and I have to talk to my parents."

Second Aunt Ye shrank her neck when she said this, her hair was covered with patches of white, and even her eyelashes were covered with snowflakes.

Seeing this, Mother Ye took out an oil-paper umbrella from the house and handed it to her, "Go with the umbrella."

"Then I won't be polite to you." The second sister-in-law Ye took it readily, opened the umbrella and waved at her, "Third brother and sister, go in and rest."

Mother Ye watched her leave, then went to the kitchen to change the water in the water bag, and when she came back, she put the two hot water bags into Ye Yu's quilt.

"My mother and I will just make do with our clothes on and sleep through the night."

Ye Yu nodded, and made room for his mother. The mother and son covered two quilts together, and with the blessing of a hot water bladder, they could warm up the quilt in the middle of the night.