I Love Farming

A Under the strict requirements of the lord, it is really not easy for the cook to find the original flavor of roast suckling pig. It took a long time to find the pork from last year.Suckling pigs are not that big. At this time, adult pigs weigh only [-] to [-] kilograms, and suckling pigs are only as big as two palms.

Due to the suspension and long-term storage, the surface of the suckling pig was stinky carrion. The cook scraped the carrion clean and boiled it in water, only then did the stench dissipate a little.Put some herbs in the belly of the pig, put it on the rack and bake it until it turns dark, put a baked apple in the pig's mouth, and it's done.

As for precious spices like pepper, don't waste them.

The suckling pig was served on a wooden plate. The stench almost killed the stewards who were used to delicious food. Cui Qichao said meaningfully: "Let's eat."

Gao Wen's face turned blue. The roast pork is fine. Although it may look like it's been a long time, but there is no spice, just a few handfuls of herbs in the pig's belly, the stench can't be covered at all, which makes people feel uncomfortable. There is no way to hide one's ears and steal one's bell.

He reluctantly took a fork of the apple and ate a couple of bites, and then looked at the stewards, who were already behind Cui Qichao, happily picked up slices of meat and ate them, the taste was terribly delicious.

Because the smell of roast suckling pig was too strong, Gao Wen couldn't smell the normal food over there at all. He wondered if it tasted similar to his own, maybe it just smelled bad?

Holding his breath, Gao Wen cut a piece of roast suckling pig and put it in his mouth. Sure enough, it still stinks!

Moreover, it has been marinated, but the salty taste is nothing. I don’t know if it has been washed away, and there is no strong spice to cover it. This is the original smelly pork.

Now he can be sure that his own dishes are different from those of the other party.However, if you knock out your teeth, you can only swallow it in your stomach. Who told others to be under the eaves, and you just made a foolish opinion just now.

Although he couldn't smell the scent from the opposite side, the more Gao Wen watched the stewards eat, the more disgusting the pork in his mouth became.

Although the stewards ate deliciously, they were actually unhappy. The roast pig smelled so bad that they couldn't smell the aroma. They had to get the meat very close to immerse themselves in the smell of normal food—that's right. , From thrift to extravagance, now the stewards don't like the old style anymore.

Cui Qichao helped the shy Lance cut a piece of boiled carrot, and poured some soup. It must be that Lance hasn't eaten meat for a long time, so don't eat it so meaty as soon as it comes up.

In the eyes of others, it might be that Cui Qichao was bullying the children and only gave them carrots and soup.Lance was very grateful for everything because he had been starving for a long time, so he picked up the bowl and drank it.The boiled radish is soft and rotten, and it has a special taste.

Lance glanced at his father while eating, wondering why his face was in pain, isn't he used to eating stinky meat?

After all, Gao Wen didn't eat much, and died in battle, unable to move while holding the fork.

"Cousin, eat some more." Cui Qichao persuaded, "A rare roast suckling pig." I don't know where the cook found it, it looks much scarier than what he ate on the first day here .

Gao Wen: "...No, I'm full."

Cui Qichao asked nonchalantly: "Cousin, I wonder how the harvest is on your territory?"

Gao Wen bit the bullet and said, "It's really not very good..."

In fact, it is basically equivalent to no crops, and the serfs are almost starving to death, otherwise, how could he wander around? I don’t know if he is occupied by other nobles. Based on the situation last year, probably no one has this kind of spare time.

After Cui Qichao asked about the situation, Gao Wen concealed and reluctantly told him that his fief was about [-] mu, which was considered to be very small among knights, and the armor on his body was only in good times. saved up.It is estimated that Gao Wen's fief land is now full of shrubs and weeds.

Cui Qichao asked again: "We are cousins ​​after all, since cousin is so difficult..."

Gao Wen thought to himself that he finally came, and he quickly said, "You know how difficult it is for me, and I can't even lend you money."

He spoke vaguely, thinking that Cui Qichao wanted to blackmail him, that is, to use money to atone for his crime.But he was so poor that he couldn't afford anything, and no other relatives would lend him money.

Cui Qichao: "I mean, you can merge into our Northumberland."

Gao Wen: "..."

This meant becoming Cui Qichao's vassal and following Cui Qichao ever since.He also thought too much, and was thinking about crying and bargaining.

Gao Wen must have not wanted to follow others at this time, but as soon as Cui Qichao said that, the others all stared at him. If he refused, did he die here?

Surrounded by a pack of wolves, Gao Wen hesitated for a while before nodding his head, and then hurriedly told him that he didn't have many leaders, as if he wanted to tell Cui Qichao that you really didn't get much advantage.

"It's not a problem. You can live in Northumberland first and let your manor land recuperate. During this period, why don't you learn how to make the land productive with me. We didn't suffer any disasters last year." Cui Qichao said with a smile.

The lords themselves will study how to make the land productive and other technical matters, and the results are another matter.

Gao Wen didn't feel wrong at all after listening to it, and even felt that Cui Qichao was glowing with holy light, even feeding him stinky meat wasn't too much when he recalled it, he stammered: "I, I really don't know how to thank you, Cousin, I'm so embarrassed, actually I still... still..."

Gawain's fief is so far away from Northumberland, it's not worth it at all. Ordinary nobles usually trade with the nearby nobles, sell the land to them, and then give Gawain a false fief, which means there is no real fief. There are only knight-level offerings.But now, according to Cui Qichao, he wanted to keep the land and continue farming.Just because they can still afford meat and bread, it is clear that Northumberland has a good harvest.

Gao Wen was so ashamed that he couldn't continue, Cui Qichao patted the back of his hand knowingly, "You can go to study tomorrow."

Lance was also moved, and looked at his father hopefully, hoping that he would learn a great technique and stop robbing everywhere.

LJJ barrage is crazy:

[Congratulations to Mr. Cui for mentioning a natural village! 】

[Congratulations to Mr. Cui for his full payment of five hundred acres of land! ! 】

【It's so sad, five hundred acres of land is far away and there is no one there, it feels useless】

【Shut up!It's a blessing to be able to expand the territory, okay? 】

[?This is also called expanding the territory, well, let’s forget it]

[No one cares about Gao Wen, this idiot? I feel like he takes pills, aren't you very strict? 】

[I, Cui, am still the kind-hearted Cui!It's really kind to Zhengtai, Zhengtai is different from his father, stay here and cultivate well, and he will be a good farmer in the future]

[I'm a little scared, it's only five hundred acres for so long, won't this number be maintained forever? 】

[People are beautiful and kind? ?We don’t seem to know a dark Shennong]

……

Gawain and his son lived in Northumberland Castle. Early the next morning, Gawain was woken up by the butler. He asked in a daze, "By the way, I forgot to ask last night. Where are my followers?" ?”

"They all escaped." The butler said expressionlessly.

Gao Wen: "..."

Gao Wen was furious: "What, these guys! Do they think I'm going to die?"

There were no peasants in the first place, and even his subordinates ran away. Is there a more polished knight than him?

"Your Excellency, come with me to learn fertility techniques, and I will show you the secrets of our Northumberland fertility." The butler led Gao Wen away.

Gao Wen followed the butler to the manure pit, he was dumbfounded, "What is this?"

"It's manure. Add it to the field to increase the yield." The steward pointed out to him that some serfs were already fertilizing it.

Gao Wen: "...Ugh, okay, I've finished reading, let's go."

"Wait, Your Excellency Gao Wen, you haven't practiced yet." The housekeeper said earnestly, "There are skills in mixing manure, left and right, and how strong you are. All of them are particular about it. If you don't learn it yourself, how can you go back and teach it to the territory?" above."

If Gawain's retinue is still there, they must have learned from him, but the steward said that the retinue ran away, so Gawain stayed there for a long time, and tentatively asked, "Then let the people from Northumberland Castle accompany me back?" ?”

"You are joking, so many skills, how many people do we have to send to you? Besides, the baron is willing to teach you, and he is very fond of his family. If these skills are spread, others will not be able to learn them." The housekeeper said Gawain was speechless.

That's right, this kind of high-yield technology is something that others can't learn if they want to.Who told him that he was a bare knight now, and he didn't have anyone available, only his son was left.Gawain felt desolate and suddenly had a belief that he must learn Northumberland's technology.

Gawain had no choice but to hold his nose to mix the manure. The work was so tiring that Gawain felt dizzy and the housekeeper said it was not up to standard, which almost made him suspect that the housekeeper was messing with him.However, those serfs did scoop up fertilizer again.

Later, Gao Wen also saw that people in Northumberland sprinkled a kind of yellow water on the land, saying that it was to kill insects, and he immediately said excitedly: "I know this, I have also seen it on the cultivated land in the parish. "

Gao Wen and Cui Qichao, the archbishop and Cui Qichao are all cousins, but one aunt is a cousin and the other is a cousin, so there is no blood relationship between Gao Wen and the archbishop, and they can only be regarded as distant relatives.

However, Gao Wen, who has traveled around, knows that last year the archbishop saved a lot of arable land in the diocese because of his secret insect repellent formula, which also made the nobles want to drag the tithe even more.

The cousin is worthy of being relatives with the archbishop, and even got this rare formula.

The housekeeper looked at Gao Wen's eyes on the potion, and said with a stern face, "This potion is poisonous and kills insects. If people and animals are not careful about how to use it, they will be poisoned too."

Gao Wen suddenly became terrified, "Ahem...hehe..."

"Then let's continue studying." The butler glanced at Gao Wen. The master had told him not to give this Gao Wen a chance to rest. After the farm work was done, there would be military training. Don't think that nobles would not have reform through labor.

Although the steward didn't know why the lord didn't just pretend not to know Gao Wen and beat him into a slave. Isn't this the fate of a prisoner of war? The five hundred acres of land could be captured with his hands, even though he thought the enclave was too far away.

……

Cui Qichao got some clay pots and planted some shade-tolerant vegetables in them as green plants, adding a little vitality to the dark castle.Lance followed Cui Qichao, watching him grow vegetables curiously.

"My lord, is it okay to grow vegetables in pots?" Lance had only seen vegetables grown on cultivated land, but what the lord showed was more like landscaping.

"The right plants, the right soil, and the right environment are enough." Cui Qichao casually introduced the method of growing vegetables to Lance, and saw that he was quite interested. After all, there was too little entertainment knowledge at this time. Added, "You can call me uncle."

Gao Wen is now Cui Qichao's vassal. From this perspective, it is normal for Lance to call him master.

Under Cui Qichao's affirmative gaze, Lance called out respectfully: "Uncle."

Cui Qichao showed off his vegetable growing skills in front of Lance, including plant insecticide, cuttings and so on.

Lance never thought that farming could have so many magical skills, including herbalism.He went to school for two years, in the parish school, but the school only taught singing and chanting.

Cui Qichao led Lance to plant some potted plants, and saw the butler brought Gao Wen back. Gawain was soaked in sweat, looked as if he had been trampled by a horse, and was full of resentment. As soon as he came back, he complained: "Cousin, you The farm work is too heavy, I am sweating all over my body, and my joints seem to be hurting again, can I rest tomorrow?"

"But there are some skills that miss the timing, so you can't learn them. There are different things to do every month. What's wrong with your joints?" Cui Qichao didn't mean to give him a holiday. It's only a day, and he's far worse than a thief. .

"It's not that I don't want to, but I have this old problem, and Lance has it too, you see." Gao Wen also showed it to Cui Qichao.

When Cui Qichao heard that Lance had it too, he rolled up his sleeves and took a look. He found that the joints were a little swollen. They probably had rheumatism.Because of poor heat preservation conditions, many people have this problem, even Lance has it at a young age, but he has been enduring the pain and not saying anything.

"Housekeeper, go get the potion." Cui Qichao ordered.

The housekeeper brought two bowls of yellow potion, and Cui Qichao said to them, "Drink it."

Gao Wen: "!! Isn't this an insecticide?"

"You know?" Cui Qichao glanced at him, "Yes, it's that kind of potion."

Gao Wen also heard from the butler that people and animals would be poisoned if they accidentally ingested it. He immediately said, "Cousin, I'm going to study, I'm going. Studying makes me very happy, and my joints don't hurt anymore!"

Unexpectedly, the cousin looks gentle and kind, and threatens people with poison if he doesn't like it.

Cui Qichao: "This can relieve your pain."

Yes, isn't it? When you die, you don't feel pain.Gawain shook his head firmly, and was about to shake his fist a few times, "I feel very powerful. I'm going to review what I just learned. Lord Lord, I'm stepping down!"

Now the cousin didn't dare to call anymore, and even winked at Lance, implying that he remembered to follow.

Lance looked down and pretended not to see.

"Lance, do you dare to drink?" Cui Qichao asked.

Lance slowly picked up the medicine and drank it, wiped his mouth and said: "Chamomile is in the field, it is a devil daisy, which injures wheat. But the pharmacist uses it to relieve pain. Uncle also said just now, insecticide vine A certain dose can kill insects, and a higher dose can kill humans and animals, so if it is a suitable dose, it may be able to get rid of the pain caused by the devil in my body."

Although there were some mistakes and omissions in what Lance said due to the limitations of the times, he generally understood the meaning, and Cui Qichao nodded in satisfaction.Yes, although it is toxic, when used as a decoction, ointment, etc., the blue flower vine of the Euonymus family can relieve rheumatic joint pain.

Sure enough, not long after drinking the medicine, Lance pressed his joints and said, "It really doesn't hurt anymore..."

It felt so new, he never knew that the pain that had been following him could be relieved.The lord grows vegetables like he does landscaping, and he uses plants to kill insects and treat joint pain. You can't tell whether he is more like an apothecary, a gardener, or a vegetable farmer.

Lance followed Cui Qichao and ran into Xiaobai, Dabai and Daju. Lance was also a little scared when he first saw Xiaobai.

Cui Qichao showed him a demonstration, asked Daju to sit down, lie down and wait for the action, and then said: "Don't be surprised, how dogs are trained, cats are trained."

Lance asked blankly, "How are dogs trained?"

Cui Qichao suddenly remembered that the dog training method should also be the secret of dog owners at this time, "It's the reward." He demonstrated to Lance how to teach Daju new movements, and as long as Daju was close to the standard, he would reward him with food. Daju completes the action under the guidance and knows what to do to get food, combine it with the password, as long as the person sends out the training, it will complete.

Cats are less obedient than dogs, but the three in Northumberland are unusual, not to mention Xiaobai, Dabai and Daju have mixed with it a lot, and they were brought up by Cui Qichao, and they are very, very fond of food. Very eager, this trust and eagerness will make them easy to train.

Lance tried it with great interest, and finally looked at Xiaobai and said, "Then, can you train this black cat?"

"Why not?" Cui Qichao said to Xiaobai, "Xiaobai, stand up."

In the end, he still didn't escape the performance, and Xiao Bai lazily stood up.

Lance's eyes widened a little, he looked at Xiaobai for a long time, and tried to say to it, "Sit down."

However, Xiaobai didn't pay attention.

Lance was not discouraged, but said: "As expected of a black cat, it is so difficult to conquer."

But this gave him the impression that even if it was the devil's pet, the black cat was just a little more difficult to train than other cats, and it wasn't that scary. It seemed that it was honest in front of Cui Qichao.

but……

Lance asked, "Why is the black cat called Xiaobai?"

Cui Qichao thought for a while and said, "This is to deceive the devil. We all call it Xiaobai, and the devil will think it is white."

noob:"……"

What a shitty reason.

Lance believed it, "It makes sense!"

……

……

Time always passed slowly when he was busy. Gao Wen never knew that there were so many jobs in the field, and he had to master them one by one. He fell asleep every day when he came back, living like a farmer.After finally coming to an end, I was invited to participate in military training again.

Lance, on the other hand, asked himself as a servant to follow the lord without Cui Qichao's order.His father also worked as a servant before becoming an official knight, so he was no stranger under his father's influence.

And before they knew it, the beets had been planted for more than two months, and it was time to harvest.

Cui Qichao let most of the people focus on harvesting the beets, which had to be harvested within a week.This harvest period was carefully inferred by Cui Qichao. If it was too early or too late, the sugar content would either be insufficient or decrease.

The reason why everyone is asked to harvest beets is that when beets are harvested, they must be dug and cut as they are harvested. The root hairs and root tails on the tubers are cut off, and they are piled up for storage to prevent deterioration and other problems.

Next, some people had to be assigned to handle sugar beet sugar production. The sugar workshop was built next to the mill, and Cui Qichao personally supervised it.

At the beginning, the farmers who came to make sugar didn’t know what they were doing. Cui Qichao divided the work for them. First, they washed the tubers, shredded them and pressed out the sugar juice. The juiced beet pulp can also be fed to pigs. This is Cui Qichao's benefit to the farmers in Tangfang, asking them to pick it up.

Then comes the most important step, adding a little lime to the beet oozing juice. The amount of lime must be very precise. If one is not careful, the sugar produced will be useless and cannot be eaten at all.This step is like ordering tofu in brine.

During the cooking, Cui Qichao asked people to scoop out the tenderest part of the syrup and set it aside.

Continue to turn the rest in the pot to remove the water. Slowly, the sugar water becomes a paste. Add more sugar water and stir fry from the paste to the gravel shape, and you're done.What appeared in front of everyone was brown brown sugar processed by local methods.

If you want white granulated sugar, you have to further refine it, but it is not necessary now.At this time, there is no technology to make white sugar, and brown sugar is already expensive enough.

During the process of making the sugar water, there was a sweet aroma, but even so, everyone still couldn't confirm that it was sugar.Who would believe it, they are using vegetable roots to make sugar, the master said just now that the vegetable roots are squeezed and the dregs are used to feed pigs.

It was the farming officer who had big dreams and big dreams. After the sugar took shape into a familiar shape and he could no longer doubt it, he asked in a daze, "Master, is this...is it...sugar?"

The appearance is the same, the smell is the same, but why is it different from the source he knows, isn't brown sugar made from a plant called sugar cane, and can only be brought back by overseas businessmen?

Beets are not vegetables, how can brown sugar be fried?The world view of agricultural officials will be subverted.

The serfs also stared at the master with wide eyes. Sugar is only enjoyed by the nobles. At most, they have heard, smelled, and seen it. They can't believe that what they just made is the legendary expensive brown sugar.

Cui Qichao touched the pot of syrup that he had scooped out before, and it had cooled down and turned into a light brown semi-solid. With a clean wooden stick, he could wring out a piece by twisting it into it.

When you pull it apart, it becomes lighter in color, similar to maltose, except that it is boiled from beets.

Cui Qichao rolled it up twice and held it up in front of the agricultural officer: "Try it."

The agricultural officer continued to be confused, and even forgot to take the wooden stick. Instead, he stuck out his tongue and licked the master's hand. The taste buds immediately received the sweetness, and it went all the way to the internal organs. This expensive taste made him unable to help but Muttered: "It's so sweet..."

so sweet?Suddenly there was a sound of gasping in Tangfang, so this is sugar, it is really sugar!

Let’s talk about why we need to build a special house to deal with vegetables. God, the master behaved so casually, so that they unknowingly produced sugar.Damn, what details were there just now?Shouldn't their attitude be sanctified?

The agricultural officer felt that he was going to be unable to breathe, and the master's voice sounded vaguely in his ears, as if he was talking about distributing the pot of sugar paste to the children in the village, but he had no time to think because he thought of the piles of A mountain of beetroot...