Carrying AK into Ming Dynasty

Chapter 469

After seeing off Song Yingxing's family, Liu Hongjian was full of worries.

There is another drought in the north. It has been more than a month since the beginning of July, and there has been no rain in Shuntianfu, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong and other places.

Song Yingxing's second son, Song Shiyi, sighed even more. He has done a lot of research on celestial phenomena. Judging from the current situation, it is impossible for it to rain within ten days.

The second season of this year's potatoes and sweet potatoes have just been planted for more than a month, which is the critical time for water growth. The people are looking forward to the rain, but they are only faced with dry land.

"Why is your husband bothered?" Sun Xiuxiu was lying beside Liu Hongjian, and when she saw Liu Hongjian sighing softly, she frowned slightly.

Since her husband came back from outside the customs, not only was he tanned, but his temper seemed to be deeper than before. She knew that her husband was carrying a heavy burden, and she wanted to share it, but found that she was powerless.

How could she help a weak woman?
"There is a severe drought in the north, and this year the people will have a hard time." Liu Hongjian sat up and took off his coat.

Sad for the hardships of the people's lives, this damn Ice Age!
"The drought in the north has been going on for more than ten years. If God is not good, even Your Majesty can't do anything about it. Husband, don't be so anxious." Sun Xiuxiu sat gently by the bed and squeezed Liu Hongjian's shoulders to comfort him.

"God? What kind of thing is it! The world is not benevolent, if you are a husband, you will change your fate!" Liu Hongjian suppressed the depression in his heart.

The Little Ice Age doesn't mean that the past will pass, but since he has come, he must not wait for God's handouts, three points are destined, seven points depend on hard work, who will know if you don't try?
"It's my darling, you've been dry for several days, I'll give you some rain for my husband." After speaking, Liu Hongjian rolled over and pinned Sun Xiuxiu under him.

"Ah! Husband..." Sun Xiuxiu was surprised by her husband's disrespect to God, but she never expected to be suddenly attacked by him, and exclaimed for a while.

In fact, her heart is still sweet. Compared with the deep and unapproachable husband just now, she prefers the domineering, simple, and sleepy husband.

……

The next day, Liu Hongjian did not sleep in for the first time. He called Niu Dabangchui, Liu Hu, Liu Bao and other seven servants out of the house early in the morning without even eating.

Seven people and seven horses went out from the Dongzhimen of the capital, heading north all the way to Tangshanzhuang, Changping County, Gyeonggi.

Although the Mid-Autumn Festival had passed, the heat continued unabated. The dry dust billowed along the way, and the weeds on both sides of the road were scorched and wilted. Liu Hongjian frowned as he walked.

When they arrived at Detang Villa, the head of the village, Xu Baishun, was calling for a group of farmers to carry buckets to water the farmland.

"It's the lord, the lord is here, hurry up! Meet our benefactor!" Seeing the benefactor approaching, Xu Baishun threw away the water load on his shoulder with a bang, and trotted to Liu Hongjian's horse to bow down.

"What does Xu Zhuangtou mean? Get up quickly!" Liu Hongjian got off his horse and hurried to help the gray-haired old man.

"My lord can't do it. The old man's body is dirty, don't want to get my lord's hands dirty." Seeing this, Xu Baishun hurriedly got up by himself, bent over and hid for a while.

"What's the point of this, my king is no worse than you when it comes to farm work.

Let's go, take me to the village, and call all the farmers, I want to ask questions. "Liu Hongjian knew that he was too honorable to these common people, but he had nothing to do with these farmers.

There are more than 180 households in Tangshanzhuang, all of whom are tenants who have been farming for the royal family for generations.

As long as people yelled in the field, after a while, farmers came back from the field and gathered at the village entrance of Tangshanzhuang.

In the year of severe drought, farmers used their physical strength to carry water to irrigate the fields in order to rescue them. Even the women had their shoulders drooping with their shoulders, and everyone was sweating.

"Xu Zhuangtou, tell me about the spring harvest." Liu Hongjian waved his hand to stop the farmers from kneeling, and said to Xu Baishun beside him.

"Returning to the lord, Tangshan Villa has 610 hectares of fertile land, according to the instructions of the lord, [-] hectares of which are planted with potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Potatoes and sweet potatoes harvested a total of 39 shi. The spring and summer of this year were not bad, and the remaining 110 hectares of wheat also harvested more than 480 shi. "

Knowing that Liu Hongjian was going to ask about the harvest, Xu Zhuangtou had already prepared the accounts and handed them to Liu Hongjian.

"Well, the harvest is pretty good. How much rice grains did Mr. Song distribute to you? Is it enough to eat?" One mu of sweet potatoes produces about 200 catties. Although it is slightly lower than Liu Hongjian's expectation, it is more than [-] yuan compared to the yield per mu. A catty of wheat is considered unprecedented.

The entire Huangzhuang in Shuntian Prefecture is managed by Song Yingxing's two sons who are good at farming, including harvesting crops and distributing rice to tenants.

"Return to the lord, I've sent it. The head of Song is kind, and gave each household an extra three hundred catties of sweet potatoes." Speaking of this, Xu Zhuang's brows stretched. Compared with the supervisors in the palace in previous years, the two Song brothers treated them really good.

In the past, the tenants worked hard for a year, and the rice grains they received were basically not enough to eat. The most difficult thing was the winter, when it was too cold to cultivate. In order to save food, many farmers did not go out.

If so, there are starvation and freezing to death every year.

"How can three hundred catties be enough? Xu Zhuangtou will go to Song Shiyi tomorrow, and each household will receive five stones of sweet potatoes and one stone of wheat. The king will notify later that all households in the hands of the king can get it!"

Liu Hongjian looked at the rice grain distributed in the account, frowned and said.

"The lord is merciful, the old man Xu kowtowed to the lord on behalf of the common people!" Xu Baishun burst into tears when he heard this.

Although Song Shiyi harvested [-] catties more, the weather is currently dry. If there is no more rain, the crops in autumn are likely to be reduced by more than half as in previous years. This also means that farmers may not be able to distribute rice grains before winter.

How do you spend this winter?
His Highness the Prince of the County only glanced at the accounts and then ordered each household to distribute another six shi, six shi!This is life-saving food for the people in the village!

In the Ming Dynasty, one stone was equivalent to about 150 three catties. If calculated according to five hundred grams per catty in later generations, it would be about 180 per catty.

If the six stones of grain can really be brought home, even if there is no harvest in autumn, each family will have some leftovers, which will be enough to survive the cold winter.

"The old farmer thanked the prince! My son, I don't have to go hungry this year. The prince's kindness to the old farmer will never be forgotten." Rows of farmers knelt down, even if Liu Hongjian tried to stop him, it was useless.

For the tenants who depend on food to live, food is heaven, life, and everything.

Liu Hongjian's eyes were a little sour, and even Niu Dazhuai was a little embarrassed.

These simple people, they just want to live and pass on their blood, and they are willing to sweat for it.

But the world is not benevolent, let the domineering noble landlords ignore it, why bother to punish these people who are already miserable?
In any case, Liu Hongjian finally persuaded all the people to wake up, Xu Zhuang wiped his teary cheeks with his head, and seemed to hesitate to speak.

Liu Hongjian thought that the old man had something to hide, and asked him to tell him so that he could help him solve it together.

"My lord, although there are many sweet potatoes and potatoes, we have never seen them before. May I ask my lord, besides raw food, is there any other way to eat them?"

(End of this chapter)