A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 290
"From Lixia to Xiaoman, it's never too late to plant anything."

In Yanzhou, in the suburbs of Wuyuan County, Wu Huaiyu is organizing her family's Zhuang Ding to rush to plant. In the beginning of summer in mid-March, Fan Wuniang, Fan Chuying, and her sisters, Fan Nizi and Gao Yanzhi, followed the order of the head wife Fan Xuanfu , also came to Yanzhou outside the Great Wall.

They also brought many stewards and servants, and even hired some poor people from Guanzhong to farm and farm.

Thousands of acres of land have been built into a Zhuangzi, and now they are planted with the corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes they brought.

"Does this land belong to our family? It's so big."

"This is just a newly purchased farm. It is the ten hectares of land bestowed by the sage. I subscribed for another hundred hectares according to the letter from Xuanfu. Our family now has eleven farms in Yanzhou, and another ten pastures. .”

"Is it auspicious to plant corn?" asked the monk maid Fan Wuniang.

"There are not so many seeds this year, let's plant some first."

The land in Yanzhou is short of water and drought, and the yield is relatively low. Now there are few seeds, so the few seeds are mainly planted in the fertile fields in Guanzhong, especially the irrigated fertile fields in Sanyuan. This is just a trial planting. a minority of.

Among the people brought by the sisters of the Fan family, there was also Shi Shi, who used to grow corn with him in Chang'an, but now Huaiyu appointed him as the head of the village.

"It just happened to rain. It's God's good luck. It happened to rush to plant, so the seeds should be sparse. The land here is dry and there is little rain. It is useless to plant densely. Thin seeds are needed."

Normally, if there is water and fertilizer, at least four to five catties of seeds are needed for one mu of corn, and generally four thousand plants are planted per mu, with a row spacing of one meter and a nest spacing of more than [-] centimeters.

However, even the irrigated land beside the Sanyuan Baiqu did not dare to plant it like this, because there was not enough fertilizer.In addition, the modern one-mu area is more than 600 square meters, and the Tang Dynasty only has an area of ​​more than 500 square meters, which is not a small difference.

Tell Huaiyu the head of the selected corn seed, the weight of a thousand grains is about ten taels.

"It's good to plant a thousand plants per acre, and it's useless to plant too many. At that time, there will be only one cob for each corn plant."

Although Huaiyu is not an expert in planting corn, he is very familiar with it. Before going to Zhongnan Mountain, he helped plant corn at home. After going up the mountain, he planted it for five years.

This kind of large field is still grown on dry land, especially since this is a semi-arid area, so you can't think about harvesting more, it's good to have a harvest.

Thousands of plants are planted in one mu, and twelve seeds are planted.

If a thousand sticks can be harvested, and the dried grains from one stick are about five taels (Tang Liang, about 160 grams), then it will take more than 300 catties. For trial planting, the fertile land in the south of the Yangtze River is still an experimental field, and the yield per mu is only about [-] catties.

In the period of the Republic of China, the corn yield of the Confucian family in Shandong was only 130 catties per mu.

Huaiyu estimates the conditions here, planting a thousand plants, it is estimated that more than half of them will be left by then, and the sticks may be much smaller, but as long as the yield can reach [-] to [-] catties, it will be very good. If there is a hundred catties, it will be a surprise.

After all, there is no irrigation here, and the buckwheat planted in the past was only [-] to [-] catties per mu.

The kind that can divert water for irrigation can reach about one stone.

Huaiyu asked to plant as few as possible.

"Think of ways to get more manure, plant ash, etc. to increase soil fertility,"

As for the water, it really depends on the sky to reward the food. If the weather is bad, there is nothing to do if you die from drought, but under normal circumstances, you only plant for one season. Unless you are particularly unlucky, you can still get a harvest. It depends on whether the rain is good or not. If it is not good, the harvest will not be high.

The corn that the Wu family had planted in Chang'an had a pretty good yield, reaching the level of four stones per mu, but it was also the yield of a small field only when the water and fertilizer were well managed and carefully cultivated.

One stick can shed five taels, and two sticks can be used as seeds, so one mu can be planted here.

Wu Niang and the others brought more than a thousand sticks, which can plant five or six hundred acres.

Huaiyu planned to have eleven farms, and each farm would plant fifty acres of corn, and give Doulu Huairang, Wei Siren, and Li Dezhou another twenty or thirty, and ask them to plant ten or eight acres of corn.

In contrast, Huaiyu is more optimistic about growing potatoes here. After all, it is said that the best growing environment for Chinese potatoes in later generations is Zhangjiakou and Daliang Mountain. Those two places have become the breeding bases of Chinese potato varieties. Potatoes seem to grow better in cold climates. .

The Fan sisters, who are originally from Anzhou in the south of the mountain, feel that everything is new when they come to the outside of the Great Wall. After all, Anlu is considered a water town, and they often encounter major floods in the Yangtze River and Han River.

Who would have thought that there would be such a place with such a lack of water and such soil.

The paddy fields in the Jianghan Plain are very different from the dry land in the northern part of the Great Wall.

Jianghan used old scalpers and even buffaloes to plow the land, but here, horses and mules are actually used to plow the land.

Several women also came to the field, and they also changed into what they thought were simple dresses, wrapped their heads in calico, carried a basket, and also came to sow corn.

Huaiyu didn't object either.

These days, even the Son of Heaven would bring all the officials to hold a plowing ceremony every spring. The prime minister would lead the horse and the emperor to help the plow, and plow a ridge of land himself, and then the guards would help sow the seeds and build a piece of the emperor's private land.

The queen will also participate in the ceremony, and even every year the queen will hold a silkworm kissing ceremony, personally leading the concubines in the palace to raise silkworms and weave cloth.

The aristocratic landlords of the people, of course, would also go to the fields to show their importance when they were plowing in spring and harvesting in autumn.

Fan Xuanfu's appetite was too great, and he felt that the land here was cheap, and Huaiyu was the governor, so he could get the moon and pick good farmland first, so he wrote to him, and he wanted to buy more.

It seems that a hundred dollars per mu of land is picked up for nothing, for fear of missing the opportunity.

While sending the letter, he also sent someone to bring the money in a carriage, and the first batch of wild slaves who sent Cheng Yaojin to Chang'an were also escorted by the servants.

It is not that simple to build a farm.

Fortunately, this land is not a wasteland, it was originally a familiar land, but the layout was short of water, and there were also village houses on the edge of the land. Although they were destroyed by the soldiers of Liang Shidu, they could barely live in it after repairing it.

Even wells, etc. are ready-made, and can be used after cleaning.

All he needs are people.

There are also farm tools, cattle and seeds.

Now the most popular commodities sold in the Baicheng Border Market are farm tools, cattle and seeds, all kinds of farm tools needed for farming such as plows, hoes, shovels, and baskets. Come on, it's sold out as soon as it arrives.

Farming cattle are also hot, if there are not enough cattle, buy horses and mules.

Although there is no shortage of oxen and horses here, farming oxen needs to be taught to plow. The oxen on the grassland cannot be pulled to plow the land. There is no ten-and-a-half-month teaching that can be used.

Although Zhuangzi was inside the Great Wall, the wind was still very strong, and his face hurt from being hit by the sand, which made him ashamed.

"Everyone, work harder, the family slaughtered the sheep, and drank sheep soup after work."

Standing in the field, Wu Huaiyu also acts as a technical guide, teaching everyone how to grow corn and potatoes. There are not only Wu family members and servants from Chang'an, but also workers hired from Guanli. They are contract workers who get wages. , The hired workers are mostly poor people who have no land in their families. They are relatively young, so they come out to make a living.

These people are also the main force of wheat harvesters every year during the busy farming season, chasing wheat waves everywhere, and now they can find a long-term job, and the conditions of the Wu family are good, so they come here from a long distance.

Besides these people, there were many slaves in the field.

There are Liaoman who have just been sent to Chang'an from the middle of Shu, and then brought to Shuofang. They are barbarian warriors or tribal people who rebelled before. They were defeated by Cheng Yaojin and became captives. Of course, many of them did not go to The battlefield, but Lao Cheng doesn't care about these.

If the savages rebelled in one place, all the savages in the whole area would be guilty, and the army will go through, but it will not be divided into who rebelled and who did not.

In addition to the savages who trekked the two roads, there were also Shanhu, Qianghu, and even Turkic people bought in Lingzhou. These were bought in the slave market, and they were also given by Li Daozong and the others.

Here in Yanzhou, there are also people who trade slaves, both Han merchants and tribal Hus, who sell all kinds of Hus, capture each other, plunder and sell them, and trade without capital. The slaves will never worry about selling, and the price is not bad.

These slaves from various places have now become serfs in the farm, and many of them even work in chains, not yet fully tamed.

The status of hired workers and slaves is very different, and the treatment is also very different.

Anyway, the farm usually manages two meals a day, and three meals during busy farming seasons. Usually, the main food is buckwheat noodles, millet and other miscellaneous grains. On the first and fifteenth day of the lunar new year, meat is eaten, and meat is added during busy farming seasons. There is no meat on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar new year.

Wu Huaiyu is here, so the Zhuangtou will naturally improve the food for everyone. If Wu Huaiyu is not here, they will not be so generous. Although this Zhuangzi belongs to the Wu family, they are just the Zhuangtou in charge of management, but Zhuangtou who can't think about the master, of course not Good Zhuangtou.

In the words of some Zhuangtou, it would be nice for these lowly slaves to have a mouthful of porridge for them to eat.

The slaves usually do not eat as well as the cattle and horses on the farm. During the spring plowing, the cattle and horses work hard, not only with additional food, but also night grass at night.

They not only eat grass, but also eat oats, black beans, and even bean cakes with salt, which is much better than what slaves eat every day.

Call Zhuangtou.

"There are so many people working today, and it's hard work. The sheep that was slaughtered this morning was all stewed. Everyone eats meat and soup."

"Ah Lang, that Yantan white sheep is a big sheep. The live sheep weighed over [-] catties before slaughter. After the slaughter, the fur, head and hooves, and offal are removed, and there are still [-] to [-] catties." Zhuangtou thinks it can be done today. Eat offal and sheep's head and hooves first, eat a leg tomorrow, and eat a leg the day after tomorrow, and you can eat it for several days.

Even if one leg of meat is eaten a day, it weighs more than a dozen catties, which can be stewed in several large pots of soup.

This old sheep is worth a hundred catties, and it is worth a few hundred dollars. Now it can buy several acres of land, and it will be gone after eating it.

"Everyone is working hard. You see, there are not enough cattle and horses. There are still people pulling the plow. In addition, it is very hard to bend over to make nests and sow seeds. Everyone gets up before dawn. After staying for one day, the tired clothes are sweaty and dry, dry and wet,

My master can't be stingy either, I stewed it all, so that everyone can eat more meat and drink more soup, and I will continue to do it tomorrow.

This Zhuangzi has planted 110 mu of land, and he has to go to the next Zhuangzi to continue to rush. Eleven Zhuangzi, [-] hectares of land, it will take a busy month. If people don’t eat better, how can they eat it. "

Zhuangtou Laoqian felt distressed, "A big white sheep is worth a few acres of land. It's too extravagant to eat it in one meal."

"Let's take care of ourselves later on,"

Huaiyu confessed to Lao Qian, "This is a busy time for farming and heavy work, so we can no longer eat thinner food. If we have steamed cakes and chopped buckwheat noodles, we must be able to eat enough."

Temporarily lacking cattle, horses and manpower, the eleven Zhuangzi in Yanzhou of the Wu family can only be joined by people and horses, and each Zhuangzi will do it one by one.

"Old Qian, remember to buy another sheep tomorrow, and remember to go to the border market of Baicheng to pick up some cattle, horses and slaves these few days. If a thousand acres of land are sown, people will die of exhaustion, and people will have to be added."

Old Qian always felt sorry for money, "Now Yanzhou has sold so much land all at once, and they are all cultivating the fields. There is a shortage of cattle, horses and slaves, and the price has risen a lot. Now a Fanding slave has gone up by a thousand yuan, and cattle and horses can't go up. few,

When the cow and horse slaves are bought back, it costs a lot more to chew the grain. "

"Old money, this is not how accounts are calculated. How can there be output without input?"

Old Qian said, "If Alang is free tomorrow, please ask Alang to take me to the border market to choose. The cost is so high that I dare not make decisions lightly. My hands tremble if I spend too much money."

Although Lao Qian was already an outsider when he was in Chang'an, since he came here, he has spent money like running water. Looking at the large sums of money spent by this money, Lao Qian always feels flustered and short of breath, spending too much money. big.

One hundred hectares of land cost one thousand guan.Then buy cattle and horses, buy farm tools, buy seeds, buy so many horses for food and expenses, and even repair houses and dig wells.

With such a large expense, Lao Qian always feels uneasy. After all, Yanzhou is a frontier, with Liangshidu on the east and Yusheshe on the north. What if they call?
Moreover, this place is so dry, if it doesn't rain and the crops dry up and die in the ground, wouldn't such a large investment be in vain?

He couldn't imagine how much he would suffer if there was no harvest.

But Duke Shouyang is obviously different from what he thinks, and even Mrs. Fan, who is raising a baby in Chang'an, doesn't have the same idea.

Buying fields and land, building villages and repairing houses, raising slaves and hiring labor to buy farm tools, buying cattle and horses, buying seeds, buying grain and vegetables, these investments are indeed huge, and they are still being invested.

Fan Xuanfu even took out his dowry, Wu Huaiyu also put in the extra money he earned recently,
Different people are in different positions and see things differently.

Although there are risks in buying a property here, the risks are directly proportional to the benefits.

Just like the land Wu Huaiyu bought in Chang'an City South Square, the expensive ones get two gold per mu, and the cheap ones cost one gold, while the land on the outskirts of Chang'an costs thousands of dollars per mu.

But here, it's only a hundred dollars per mu, how many times is the difference?
The land in the south of Chang’an City can be used to grow flowers, medicines, vegetables, and fruit trees, and the income is indeed high. However, even if the land here is only for growing grain, even if the yield is not high, and even if there is a high possibility of failure in the event of a disaster, even if the harvest is one year in three years, the actual income will be higher. It's not bad by comparison, unless Yanzhou is occupied by the Turks and cannot be taken back, then it is a real loss.

But this cannot happen.

So this land is not a loss after all. Such a large amount of land, that is, at the beginning of the founding of the country, can still be encountered occasionally in such a place.

Doulu Huairang, Wei Siren, Li Deju, Du Wen, Wen Fu and other wealthy families all seized the opportunity to snap up real estate without any hesitation, how could Wu Huaiyu miss it.

Fan Wuniang came over, "Ah Lang, if you want to buy slaves, it's best to buy some ding slaves too, and then marry the ding slaves in the village."

She pointed to the young servants working in the fields, "If the time comes, those who show diligence and loyalty will be assigned a maidservant, which will be regarded as an additional reward and will make them more obedient."

"Tomorrow, you will go to the border market with me to pick some maidservants."

(End of this chapter)