Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 394 February
The new wind blows, and the towering spruces shake off the snow on their bodies.

A snow leopard stopped for a while, looking over the strange rocks and cypresses, quietly staring at the human world below the mountain.

In the valleys of the plains, the wind stirs the clouds, and young shepherds in furs gather their livestock together.

The mountain walls on both sides of the valley protect them from the severe cold.

Cattle and sheep chew the dry pasture, and occasionally lower their heads to drink water.

The solid ice has cracked, the snow is slowly melting, and the water drops fall from the cliff, making a pleasant light sound.

In the tent in the valley, the old shepherd is sitting in front of the fire, telling his grandchildren about the past that is about to disappear in the cold wind.

"The Tuoba family produced many heroes who fought for the emperor of the Tang Dynasty and killed the Tubo people to the point of blood..." The old man's memory is somewhat blurred, and the story is told upside down, but the grandchildren still love it.

"Later, the Tuoba family ran out of luck, and there were no more heroes. But they still had a beautiful and kind princess, and Xin Wuzu married the princess. He made a rule that he was not allowed to blaspheme the gods, and he was not allowed to take the neighbor's cattle and sheep. Go up the mountain to eat and sleep with the warriors, tell them, if you want to live a good life, follow him..."

The curtain was lifted, and the cold wind rushed in.

"There is only enough pasture for one month." The young shepherd hesitated to speak, and finally said.

The old man stared at the gray valley outside the tent, speechless for a long time.

There are still two months before the fat and tender pastures will grow in the valley.At that time, the cattle and sheep can be driven to the pasture, so that they can eat and drink as much as they want, and enjoy the joy of reproduction.

"More than a dozen families have left in the valley." The young herdsman continued: "If you plant soybeans and wheat on the flat land, you can harvest a lot in a year. Dawan alfalfa can be harvested three times a year, and you can plant some turnips and pastures in winter." It can be rescued when it is not enough."

The old man remained silent.

How can you easily make a change when you are used to a life that you have been living for a lifetime?
But the younger generation of shepherds have become more and more accustomed to going down the mountain, half-cultivating and half-grazing, not only can raise more livestock, but also harvest a lot of wheat.The milk produced by the cows, the meat and skins obtained from the slaughtered sheep were sold to the families of the soldiers nearby, and they spent a lot of money.

The money in exchange can strengthen the house, buy more household items, and buy new clothes for the grandchildren. There are too many benefits...

"If you want to go down the mountain, go down the mountain." The old man sighed.

He got up slowly, walked out of the tent, and looked at the trees all over the mountains.

Big trees have been growing in the valley, their roots digging deep into the soil nourished by livestock manure.

The old man grew up in the valley since he was a child, and has seen flowers bloom and fade dozens of times, just like these taciturn pines and cypresses.

When you are old, just stay in the valley forever.After death, dedicate the soul to the king of medicine and the body to the earth, so that the flowers, plants and trees here can be more luxuriant.

The grandchildren also came out of the tent, and they gathered around the young shepherd, chirping and asking if there was any interesting place down the mountain.

Not far from the cattle pen, a woman is milking a cow.She looked at her children with a smile, and occasionally turned her head to look at the plain outside the mountain.

There was a lot of voices and crowds.They yearn for the prosperity of the world, not the secluded fairyland.

The general trend is like this, mighty and mighty, no one can stop it.

Outside Zhongli City of Lingzhou (the old city of Lingzhou) at the foot of the mountain, the carnival of the Spring Festival has just passed.

Zhang San passed a certain village carrying a basket.

The ground was bumpy and icy, and Zhang San walked very hard all the way.

Maybe he was tired, so he put his burden outside a fence and took a rest to catch his breath.

"Zhang Sanlang, where are you going, Jia Shu?" A farmer inside the fence was cutting grass and suddenly asked.

"The commander-in-chief has recruited a lot of party soldiers, and he needs some raw heads. A certain family happened to make some, and when they asked for it, they picked it up. There are also grapes and wine brewed at home, which are sold together." Zhang San laughed. : "Don't call me Jia Shu."

"Your family doesn't farm anymore. Why don't you ask Jia Shu to do it? Then call you Gongji." The farmer straightened up, thumped his waist, and sighed comfortably.

Zhang San smiled and shook his head.

Of course his family owned land, but it was rented out to party members who moved here.

"It's really a good business to make putou, shoes and socks, and quilt bags now." The farmer stepped out of the fence, looked at the snow-capped peaks in the west, and said: "In the past few years, I was reluctant to buy new clothes. It’s broken. I sold a cow last year and bought two clothes in one go.”

"Did the price of cattle drop sharply?" Zhang San opened the cowhide water bag, took a sip of water, and asked.

"It hasn't fallen, it's still more than [-] yuan." The farmer said: "But it will fall sooner or later."

Anyone with a little knowledge can see this.

The three-field system has been implemented for so many years, and cattle have not yet appeared on the market in large numbers, but the long-term decline in cattle prices is inevitable.

"If it falls, it will fall. The commander does not ask your cattle to tax, but only collects taxes from the grain and beans. If the cattle are dying, let's raise horses. The price of horses is still rising." Zhang San said.

The village where the two lived was very close to Zhongli City.

In recent years, for some unknown reason, merchants, Qiaoer, Gongren, Zhouzi, Poor owners, gardeners, flower masters, Laopu, butchers, cookers, dancers, Baixi, etc. See, and life seems to be going okay.

But ten years ago, it was really rare, how could ordinary people encounter it often?

It can only be said that more people can live without farming.

"There are wars every year, so many horses die, so the price should not be raised." The farmer laughed.

When the two of them talked, they couldn't do without money, and they wished that every onion and ginger at home should be marked with a price.

this is normal.

The suburban countryside close to the city is often the first area to enter the commercialization of agriculture, and this is also the only way to transition from a self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy to a commodity economy.

In the Middle Ages, the most beautiful idea of ​​human beings was probably the exchange.Without exchange, there will be no commerce, and without commerce, there will be no change and progress in social formation.

The most important medium for business is currency, which is the core of everything.

For some unknown reason, there are slightly more folk copper coins now.Bronze wares of various colors also sprung up like mushrooms after rain, making people dazzled.If it wasn't for the fact that the commander-in-chief didn't like Buddhist affairs, and the government would strictly supervise and inspect them, it is estimated that there would be more Buddha statues in the temple.

But in any case, this is a good thing for farmers.

A bucket of rice can be exchanged for more copper coins. Although the prices of other things are slowly increasing, they are still profitable overall.

And not only the peasants, but also the urbanites became more interested.Tea makers, salt merchants, book peddlers, wine shopkeepers, shopkeepers, bakers, etc., earned more and more copper coins every day, and the number of Baoer and Shiya in the square directly doubled.

It seems that everything is going up!Rising wages, rising food prices, rising vegetable prices, rising cake prices, rising cloth prices...

This world has become less familiar to everyone.Maybe you have to walk dozens of miles to the countryside full of pastures and farmlands before you can see everything you used to be familiar with.

The increase in farming income has attracted many grazing party members to settle down.

People seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, yearning for a better life.Some herdsmen may find it difficult to change and still want to stick to the traditional way of life, but more people are attracted by the interests, abandon their past life, and start half-herding and half-cultivating.

The government took the opportunity to register it as a household, enriching Dingkou of prefectures and counties.Tribes are slowly disappearing, and villages are slowly increasing.

There are also some children of tribal nobles who enter the county to study.

The edicts were full of lotus flowers, saying that Liu Chongwang's ancestors were from the Huns and became a Hanlin scholar; Yuan Zhen's ancestors were from Xianbei and was a prime minister; He is number one in military exploits, higher than Guo Ziyi, became the king of the county, and so on.

The words made the youngsters excited, they studied hard, and planned to study hard.

And when their generation becomes the backbone, the Lingzhou party may also become history.

Butcher knives cannot achieve this effect. On the contrary, they will only lead to more and more violent resistance.

However, the economic baton and the transition channel of social class can achieve all this quietly and more firmly.There will be no such thing as Li Yuanhao, Zhang Yuanhao, etc. one day, and tell everyone directly that the Han people bullied us before, but now everyone cuts their hair, it's against the mother!
But now: I voluntarily, it's none of your business!

Li Yuanhao and the others no longer have the soil to live in...

Zhang San had had enough rest, and set off with his baskets in his hands, heading for Zhonglu City.

The farmer picked some big turnips from the field, and they also picked them up and rushed to the city.

(End of this chapter)