The Soul of the Han Dynasty in the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 526 Loyalty Fortress

After talking, Xu Mingyang was infinitely sad, and he drank too much wine before he knew it.

Huang Han remained awake. He returned to the mansion in Pingshun County as a temporary residence, and went directly to the courtyard where Qin Yuyi lived.

This mansion is the private residence of the richest man in the area. Of course, the family has an official background. Some people are officials in other places. Small bridges, flowing water, rockeries, bamboo forests, and pavilions complement each other. The scenery is no less than that of private gardens in the south of the Yangtze River.

A pair of sisters from the Xu family are really attractive, how can a man mind that there are many beautiful women around him?Huang Han is actually a little tempted!

He told the truth about the fact that Xuzhi County's dinner was a fake married daughter tonight, and Qin Yuyi smiled coquettishly. Seeing that she didn't show any jealousy, Huang Han felt strange.

Asked: "Doesn't Yuyi have any opinions?"

"Husband, our family should have added a few sisters a long time ago. The concubine is not up to date and has not been able to add a child to the Huang family. I don't know what happened. Sister Xiu'e and sister Chuchu are not pregnant. The two sisters of the Xu family are concubines. I have seen her often these past few days, both of them are well educated, and I like them."

Damn!The dignitaries in the feudal society are really blessed!

Qin Yuyi said again: "It's just that the husband wants to act as a concubine. It's not right for the two younger sisters of the Luo Xu family to marry. This matter should be handled by sister Xiu'e."

Huang Han said in astonishment: "What you said is reasonable, but I have already promised the Xu family to come to the door tomorrow to send a betrothal gift and propose a marriage. How can I go back on my word at this time?"

"Where will the husband back down on his own words? You don't need to worry about this matter. I will go to the Xu family to discuss it tomorrow when I am still alive. I promise that I will not miss you and marry my sister."

Huang Han wrote a letter to Zheng Xiu'e, frankly confessing the matter of the Xu family sisters, but Huang Han really didn't know how the old woman made decisions.

Early in the morning, the army headed north, and Qin Yuyi stayed behind with more than [-] female guards. They all had spare horses to transfer to, so that they could catch up with the army after finishing their work.

At noon, Qin Yuyi went to visit Xuzhi County, met the sisters, and chatted with Mrs. Xu for a long time. Huang Han didn't know what they talked about, anyway, everyone was happy in the end.

Huang Han led the "Red Banner Army" at the request of the Guangping government officials and squires and fought northward for more than [-] li. Killed many big thieves.

It's a pity that Zhang Xianzhong didn't own the name of the Eight Great Kings alone. There were several Eight Great Kings in the bandit gang, large and small.

After successive battles and victories, prefectures and counties with a radius of hundreds of miles felt that a savior had come, and officials and gentry sent food and grass to ask Dongpinghou to lead troops to suppress the bandits.

Due to the large number of manpower, the guards no longer need to undertake transportation tasks. They all follow the regular soldiers to cover up and kill the rogues. Because more than [-]% of the guards have made military achievements and have been turned into regulars, their vacancies are filled by active laborers.

A small number of soldiers who died in battle were buried outside Houjiazhuang, sharing a cemetery with more than a thousand white-armed soldiers who died in battle and hundreds of fellow villagers in Houjiazhuang.

Since Houjiazhuang is too dilapidated and small, a bastion with an area of ​​less than one square kilometer not far from the Zhanghe Wharf is also being built. Huang Han named this fort "" Loyalty Fort".

In the dry season, when the common people are mobilized to carry the river, the moat surrounding the "Loyalty Fort" will lead directly to the Zhanghe River, and an excavated canal will pass through the castle. At that time, the grain ship will directly pass through the water gate and enter the castle for unloading.

May and June were spent in uninterrupted fighting, and nearly 100 million mu of fertile land that might otherwise have had no crops was replanted with a large number of potatoes and some sweet potatoes.

God is not open, this year there is a severe drought in Henan, and there has been no effective rainfall for too long, but Shanhaiguan and Yongping Prefectures in the north have suffered rare floods.

The "Red Banner Army" system is destined to be very busy this year. Huxue City has been draining waterlogging and defending against mountain torrents in a radius of [-] miles. The troops who came to Henan have to fight drought and protect seedlings.

Since April, Huang Han has been distributing food, providing tools, and sending engineers and soldiers to guide the refugees and nearby villagers to participate in drilling irrigation wells.

These days, as long as there is food to eat, it is relatively easy to work hard. Besides, working for the "Red Banner Army" not only provides enough food, but also receives a wage of ten cents for a liter of miscellaneous grains every day.

Huang Han didn't use silver and copper coins to pay wages to the strong laborers who worked hard because of the fact that Henan's grain was so high that it was almost priceless.

Strong labor gets the job of digging a well, eats a full stomach, and then brings a catty and a half of miscellaneous grains home to cook gruel. It is estimated that four or five members of the family can live on.

Besides, no farmer will be idle. They will always find ways to get some food, such as digging wild vegetables, digging out mouse nests, picking wild fruits, cracking pine nuts and so on.

The fields near Houjiazhuang that cannot be irrigated with water from the Zhang River have to use irrigation wells to maintain a minimum amount of water for seedling preservation.

Although thousands of people have worked hard to dig wells every day for more than two months, it still cannot meet the demand of [-] acres of dry land for one irrigation well.

Now we can only adapt to local conditions and focus on keeping good-growing wheat seedlings.

Instead of producing five buckets of wheat per mu, it is better to give up [-]% of the wheat field and focus on managing the remaining [-]%. Maybe the average output of six buckets can be achieved.

If the area around Houjiazhuang does not suffer from the scourge of large bandits within a few months, the wheat fields here should be able to get more than half of the harvest in autumn. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are resistant to cold, drought, and poor land. They have wide adaptability and are easier to plant. .

Potatoes in later generations belong to the crops of the four provinces that "save water, save fertilizer, save medicine, and save effort", and the yield of one mu of dry land is as high as [-] catties.

Potato powder is a fine-grained, flaked or powdered product obtained from fresh potatoes after slicing, rinsing, precooking, cooling, steaming, mashing and other processes, and dehydration and drying. It can be stored at room temperature for 15 years. , Too many countries in later generations used it as a strategic grain reserve.

Huang Han, who knows the benefits and nutritional value of potatoes, focuses on promoting potato planting. This time, the planting area is three times that of sweet potatoes.

Even though it is impossible to achieve a high yield of [-] jin of potatoes due to the unavailability of good seeds and chemical fertilizers in this era, harvesting [-] to [-] jin of Ming Dynasty has been a common occurrence in Yongping Prefecture and Liaoxi Corridor.

Henan's soil quality, climatic conditions, and sunshine time are more conducive to the cultivation of potatoes and sweet potatoes. The yield of the trial planting just this year may not be as good as that of Yongping Prefecture, and it should not be much less.

There will be more potatoes and sweet potatoes in the tens of miles around Houjiazhuang, which can feed more than one million people. Of course, there will be less hunger and more vitality here. There will be fewer farmers fleeing famine, and the cultivated land will naturally increase. The deteriorating situation should be contained. .

(End of this chapter)