Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 96 0091【Harvest】

The rainy season in the Hanzhong Basin is two months later than that in the Yangtze River Basin.

It is the beginning of July in the lunar calendar, corn pollination has begun, and rice will be harvested in 20 days.

Zhu Guoxiang put on his clothes and got up, with happy words on the wall.

Shen Yourong was still sleeping, extremely sleepy, and for the first time did not get up early.

Dean Zhu has lost his wife for ten years, and has never had any style problems. After traveling, his health has improved, and he spent most of the night eating meat.

When I was brushing my teeth, I happened to bump into Mrs. Yan.

Aunt Yan smiled all over her face and praised: "Young people have good physical strength."

"Uh... well."

This very common sentence made Zhu Guoxiang quite embarrassed.

Shen Yourong was still very reserved, she couldn't hold back Dean Zhu too much, she screamed very loudly in the second half, don't expect the sound insulation effect of this broken thatched hut.

Shen Yourong didn't get dressed until she was about to eat.He kept blushing, lowered his head, not daring to see anyone, and just silently ate rice.

After breakfast, Zhu Guoxiang took Bai Qi out to the newly built village school.

It is said to be a village school, just a few huts.

There are exactly ten students, the oldest is 11 years old, and the youngest is only 6 years old.Even if Zhu Guoxiang was exempted from confinement, the villagers were reluctant to send their children, because children who are a few years old can already help mow the grass.

Among these students, there are only two, not the children of the Bai family and its clan.

After waiting for a while, Zhu Guoxiang found that there was one student missing. Zhu Guoxiang asked, "Where's Bai Zhen?"

A kid raised his hand: "Bai Zhen is sick."

Zhu Guoxiang didn't bother to ask any more questions, and said, "I don't want to learn calligraphy this morning, so I'll go with me to the mountains to learn farming."

Hearing this, the nine children cheered.

Followed by a bunch of little monkeys, Zhu Guoxiang paced up the hill, and when he came to the corn field, there were already many tenants waiting there.

Zhu Guoxiang said loudly to the tenants: "People are divided into males and females, animals are divided into males and females, and the crops are also divided into males and females. Do you see the top of the corn stalk? The man who blooms is the man, and the pollen is the man's seed. The woman who spins silk below, When the pollen falls on the filaments, even if a man has intercourse with a woman, it will produce food. Do you understand?"

"understood!"

The tenants laughed as they talked, a few middle-aged women laughed particularly loudly, while the young women blushed and remained silent.

Zhu Guoxiang continued: "The pollination of this corn is usually blown by the wind. But we don't grow much, we rely on the wind to be a matchmaker. Some men can't get a wife, and some women can't marry a man. So, let's plant Crop, this is the time to be a matchmaker."

All the tenants understood such a popular description, and found it very interesting.

Zhu Guoxiang called the heads of these tenants: "Zeng Da, I may have to move out next year. You have a good brain. You must remember what I said today. If anyone doesn't understand next year, you have to teach them."

"I remember!"

Zeng Da was quite excited, thinking that he had become Zhu Xianggong's first apprentice.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Even if there are more corn and enough wind, if the weather is extremely hot, the pollination of the corn still depends on people. Hmm... It seems that you can't stand the heat, and you don't have the heart to do that at night with a woman in your arms. "

"Hahahaha!"

Everyone laughed again when they heard the words, Zeng Da also turned to look at his wife.

Really, there is no need to deliberately recite it, everyone present will remember it firmly.It's just that the weather is too hot, people don't want to have sex, and corn doesn't want to have sex.

Zhu Guoxiang said again: "This man, the couple like to do things at night, but Maize likes to do things in the morning. Two or three quarters of an hour at Chen, and two or three quarters of Si is the time when Maize is most willing to bridal chamber. If you want to get more grain, you should At this time, I will be a matchmaker for the corn. The marriage is not long, only seven or eight days, if the auspicious day is missed, the corn will not be able to give birth to a baby."

Nine primary school students looked at Teacher Zhu blankly, half understanding what they heard.

Zhu Guoxiang made [-] homemade powder extractors, made of bamboo poles, wooden boards and linen bags.He first demonstrated how to take the powder, and then distributed the powder taker to everyone, and supervised and taught them hand in hand.

After the tenants had collected the pollen from the field, Zhu Guoxiang began to teach again: "These are pollen, these are powder sacs, and these are glumes. We make matchmakers for corn, we only need pollen and nothing else. Bring a sieve and put the pollen Sieve to remove excess debris."

The tenants learn very seriously, which is related to their food and clothing in the future.

After sifting the pollen, Zhu Guoxiang took out a self-made pollinator.

This thing is made of bamboo tube, with a few small holes, and the pollen is scattered by shaking.When pollinating, part of the filaments should be cut off. Zhu Guoxiang said while pollinating: "It's not easy to be a matchmaker on a rainy day. You usually go to visit, and you don't go out on a rainy day. For corn pollination, you should choose a good day for the matchmaker to marry."

After the tenants have learned it, go to another small piece of land and repeat all the processes just now.

Zhu Guoxiang didn't leave the pollinator and pollinator until he confirmed that the tenants had fully grasped it, and said: "Remember, the wedding period is only seven or eight days. Come here every morning to make a matchmaker for the corn. It's best to do it from [-]:[-] to [-]:[-]!"

"I remember!" the tenants shouted one after another.

Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "You guys are busy, don't send me down the mountain."

Zeng Da, as the representative of the tenants, still sent Zhu Guoxiang down the mountain. He had already claimed to be Zhu Xianggong's eldest disciple.

Back at the village school, the students were sent home and had to come to continue classes in the afternoon.

Bai You and a few cousins ​​bounced away from school and went back to report to their grandfather on the morning lessons.

Bai Zongwang asked, "What did you learn today?"

Bai Zhen replied, "Sir, take us up the mountain to be matchmakers for corn."

"A matchmaker?" Bai Zongwang was a little confused.

Bai Yan explained: "That is, Corn is getting married, and we are going to be matchmakers for Corn."

The old white member seems to... understand.

He sent his grandson away, called Lu An, the son of the housekeeper, and said, "You don't have to do other things these few days. Go to the mountain to see how the tenants serve the corn."

"Yes!"

Lu An has been learning farming from Zhu Guoxiang, and has almost become an expert in rice farming.

Days passed by, and it was time for the rice harvest in a blink of an eye.

The whole village is busy, with joy and apprehension.Because the autumn harvest is coming, it means that the autumn grain should also be paid.

In fact, the regular tax in summer and autumn is not too much, only about 10% (calculated according to the field, etc.), and farmers can fully afford it.

What I am really afraid of is exorbitant miscellaneous taxes, which are always levied together with food and taxes. Miscellaneous taxes are often several times the regular tax!
In today's Song Dynasty, oil is cooked with fire, and flowers bloom with brocade.

The Hehuang area has been expanded for thousands of miles, Xixia has been suppressed and beaten, and the Liao Kingdom has gradually declined to the west.The court ministers sang praises, saying that the Song Dynasty had entered a peaceful and prosperous age.

Since the Song Dynasty is so brilliant, the officials should also enjoy it.

This year, the Baohe Hall was newly built in the palace, with a total of 75 houses, which were magnificently built.All kinds of classics and history collections were moved to Baohe Palace for collection, and Song Huizong collected literature and calligraphy and paintings all over the country. So many new houses must be filled up, right?

The Hall of Preserving Harmony is nothing, and this year a new Yanfu Palace was completed.

The area is not large, smaller than the original palace.

Probably the size of the imperial palace in the Northern Song Dynasty, almost doubled directly.Prosperous weather!

Since it is a prosperous age, the old rituals of the Tang Dynasty can no longer be used, and they are not worthy of the unique temperament of the Song Dynasty.Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty personally wrote the copy and handed it over to the Yili Bureau for completion. Therefore, the Kaiyuan ceremony was abolished, and the court switched to the Great Song Zheng and the Five Rites.

The imperial palace has been expanded, and the etiquette and law have been revised, and there must be a corresponding identity package.

Song Huizong was summoned by the Taishang Laojun in a dream. The Laojun sat in the hall and said to Song Huizong: "You flatter the destiny, you should revitalize my religion."

So Song Huizong issued an edict to search for Taoism throughout the country.He wanted to establish a Taoist school and edit the "History of Taoism".I don't know if there is one named Huang Shang among the staff who went to work and wrote a "Nine Yin Manual".

In addition, Song Huizong also ordered that Taoists all over the world should be evaluated for professional titles.

The Taoist titles are being drafted, and there will be 26 Taoist ranks and 26 Taoist officials.

A wild Taoist named Wang Laozhi didn't even have a degree certificate.Originally, he was just a civil servant in Shandong, but he claimed to have been taught by Zhongli Zhenren, so he was recruited into the capital by Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty.First, he was given the title of "Chef Anbo", and then he was given the title of "Mr. Dongwei". He was given a mansion to be a neighbor to Cai Jing, and there was an endless stream of important officials of the current dynasty to visit.

In addition, Shengding Prefecture was upgraded to Zhongshan Prefecture, Suzhou was upgraded to Pingjiang Prefecture, and Runzhou was upgraded to Zhenjiang Prefecture.It kicked off the prelude to the promotion of Huizong's dynasty to the prefecture. The more prefecture-level administrative regions, the richer the world is!
At the most, the Northern Song Dynasty had 37 prefectures across the country, 22 of which were promoted by Song Huizong.The number of mansions he built alone is more than the sum of the other emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty.Other than sounding better and increasing administrative costs, it seems... useless.

People all over the world, bathe in the grace of God, be happy and happy.

The people of Shangbai Village are also very happy, and the government did not urge to collect taxes owed in previous years.Just this year's miscellaneous symptoms, there are a few more inexplicable ones.

For example, for beef tendon, seven households from fifth-class households collect one piece, and one family from fourth-class households has to pay one.If there is no beef tendon, it can be converted into money, and it is said that it will be sent to the northwest to make bows and arrows.

The rice was dried and returned to the warehouse, and Lu An came to report happily: "Master, the field (about 0.4 mu) planted by Mr. Zhu has harvested 154 catties of millet (not rice) this year!"

"How much was it last year?" Bai Zongwang asked.

Lu An replied, "It's less than 120 catties."

In ancient times, the calculation of rice field yield per mu was sometimes "a few stones out of rice", and sometimes "a few stones out of grain".

Calculated based on unhulled rice, the yield per mu of paddy fields in the Song Dynasty was roughly as follows: 100 jin in the Yellow River Basin, 200 jin in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, 300 jin in Huainan, 300-360 jin in eastern Zhejiang and Fujian, and 540-630 jin in the Taihu Lake area.

The rice yield per mu in Hanzhong is comparable to that in Huainan and eastern Zhejiang.

"It really is a magic trick!"

Bai Zongwang was overjoyed when he heard the words. The paddy field under Zhu Guoxiang's command was less than half an acre, and he could harvest more than [-] catties of millet, which was equivalent to an increase of [-] catties per mu!
The old white member couldn't sit still anymore and asked, "When will the corn on the mountain be harvested?"

Lu An replied: "The seeds have already formed. Zhu Xianggong said that you can cook tender corn to eat. But it may take another 20 days before harvesting."

"Then I'll wait." Bai Zongwang was a little excited.

In less than 20 days, Lu An came back to report that the corn in several fields had already started to be harvested.

Bai Zongwang took Bai Dalang up the mountain on a sliding pole.

I saw many tenants breaking corn in the field, picking baskets for their homes.

This is a high-yield variety that is resistant to insects and drought, and the corn is big and full.

Zhu Guoxiang was supervising at the side. When he saw the Bai family father and son coming, he clasped his fists and said, "Old man is well, Da Lang is well!"

After the father and son returned the gift, they couldn't wait to know the yield.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "It hasn't been dried or threshed yet, so we have to wait a few more days."

The tenants hang the harvested corn under the eaves or put it on the flat ground to dry.A few days later, they began to happily peel the corn kernels, and they already felt the high yield of this thing.

Zhu Guoxiang grabbed a handful of corn kernels, thinking of what his son said.

If it can really mutate, the seeds can not degenerate...

A few days later, the corn kernels were dried.

The Bai family father and son went up the mountain again, and they also brought a large scale.The baskets were weighed one by one, and the total was 584 catties!
Alas, without chemical fertilizers, the yield is so low.

Zhu Guoxiang feels sorry for this. Even if the improved corn he brought is planted in barren mountainous areas, if there is chemical fertilizer, he can easily harvest nearly a thousand catties.

Bai Zongwang's eyes widened, and he asked, "Mr. Zhu, how many acres of corn have you planted?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The total amount is more than one mu."

Bai Zongwang asked again: "The yield of corn is so high, can we only plant corn instead of sweet potatoes and beans?"

Zhu Guoxiang explained: "Beans are used to supplement corn, and sweet potatoes can also produce high yields. If all corn is planted, firstly, the fertility will not be enough, and secondly, if the planting is too dense, the yield will decrease instead."

"It's a pity." Bai Zongwang sighed.

Bai Dalang said: "Father, it's not a pity. We only planted more than one mu of corn, which almost catches up with the two mu of rice in the field."

Zhu Guoxiang was worried about the degradation of the seeds, so he vaccinated them in advance: "Corn is an overseas product. If we plant it again next year, the water and soil may not be acclimatized, and the yield per mu will drop to two to three hundred catties."

"Two to three hundred catties is fine, it's more cost-effective than growing corn!" Bai Dalang said excitedly, he was very serious about this matter.

"Help me up quickly." Bai Zongwang said.

Bai Dalang and Lu An quickly helped the old white man to stand up.

Bai Zongwang bowed and bowed: "I thank Mr. Zhu on behalf of the common people. Can this corn...can you sell it to me for a hundred catties?"

Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "Thirty catties will be given to Lu Tixue, and ten catties will be sent to Xiangzhi County. The villagers in this village sell some, and the total is twenty catties. The old man wants to buy it, but this year he can only buy it. Fifty catties. I will transport the rest back to Daming Village."

"Fifty catties is fine, how many acres can you plant?" Bai Zongwang asked.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "When selecting seeds, choose those with full grains. If you select [-] catties of corn, according to this intercropping method, you should be able to sow more than [-] mu of land."

Thirty mu of corn is enough, Bai Zongwang said, "I'll exchange [-] catties of rice for these [-] catties of corn!"

"Yes." Zhu Guoxiang didn't dare to open his mouth. He also wanted corn to be promoted as soon as possible.

The news of the corn harvest spread throughout Shangbai Village in just a few days.

There was an endless stream of villagers who came to change the crops, so Zhu Guoxiang simply increased the quota and gave the villagers a total of [-] catties of corn.He also repeatedly urged that when selecting seeds, you should choose the best among the best, and don't choose bad ones to affect the next generation.

The old white member looked at the fifty catties of corn that he had brought home, and he felt that the glorious era of the Bai family was coming.

There are not many paddy fields here, but there are many mountains. If all of them are planted with corn...

Zhu Guoxiang's prestige is unprecedentedly high. He is walking in the village now, and the villagers immediately give way when they see him, and wait respectfully for him to pass.Moreover, they all come from the heart, without the slightest coercion.

The stories that Ju Ming made up at the beginning were also recalled by the villagers.

The villagers firmly believed that the corn was planted by an overseas fairy, and Zhu Xianggong must have met a fairy!

(End of this chapter)