Wind rises time and space gate

Chapter 542: Finding a Life Is Not Easy
Hangu City, the Palace of King Yue.

The family of three was having lunch. Lin Zhaoxia put a piece of spareribs that his son loved into his bowl and said, "Eat slowly. Your father rarely has time to eat with us today. Let's let him stay with us for a while."

Chang Zhi pursed his lips and smiled as he looked at his father standing beside him. Days like this were really nice.

I hope that my parents will be with me at the dinner table every day in the future.

Zhao Guangyuan was very happy to see that his son had recovered from his injury. He picked up a piece of meat for his son, a piece of vegetable for Lin Zhaoxia, and ate one for himself. "What is this? It tastes very fresh."

The colors are red and white, and look nice.

Lin Zhaoxia took a look and laughed, "This is pickled melon rind."

"Pickled melon rind?" Both father and son looked at the red and white dish, with the same look of surprise on their faces.

Lin Zhaoxia couldn't help laughing when she saw him. Everyone said that Chang Zhi didn't look like Zhao Guangyuan, but if you looked closely, the father and son were somewhat similar, especially when their expressions were casual, they were exactly the same.

Nodding, "Yes, it's pickled with the rind of the Linggua."

"Mom, is this the rind of a Ling melon?" Chang Zhi was very surprised and took another bite. "It's delicious! Mom must have taught them how to make it!"

"Yes, mother told your grandmother that the melon rind can be eaten, and taught them how to make it. The news spread around the imperial mausoleum and Changping."

In those days, materials were not as abundant as they would be in later times. For farmers, having one more free dish to eat would not only fill their stomachs but also save the family some money. It was also because of the bumper harvest of melons last year that this dish was added to the table.

"Eat slowly, there's more at home. Your third aunt brought quite a bit."

He then said to Zhao Guangyuan, "I heard that pickled melon rinds and dried vegetables from Yanzhou are selling very well in the market."

Zhao Guangyuan nodded. The situation at the trade fair would be reported to him every now and then. He knew what was selling well and what was not. In addition, his own caravan was also doing business there, so he often looked at the account books.

The workshops in Yanzhou have been open all the time, and the dried vegetable business has been doing well. Originally, the dried vegetable business was not so good after the disaster, but unexpectedly, it was surprisingly good to sell when it was shipped to the market.

Many of the countries in the Western Regions were not good at farming. Meat was commonly eaten, but vegetables were extremely scarce. Unexpectedly, the humble dried vegetables were so popular in the market.

It also aroused the enthusiasm of the people in the cities surrounding Hangu City to open up wasteland. Even if the King of Yue could not provide seeds suitable for planting in the northwest, they could grow some long and short vegetables and sell them for some money in the market.

The enthusiasm for land reclamation is high.

Speaking of seeds, Lin Zhaoxia asked him, "What seeds do you want to take out?"

When he was working for the Agriculture Department in Beijing, he wanted to produce one or two high-yield seeds, but he didn't want to be too high-profile at that time, so he did everything slowly. He also asked the Lin family in Lingcun not to show the seeds to others easily. But now the situation is different.

He has the final say in the Northwest now.

"The soil in the northwest is very suitable for cotton cultivation. I plan to have each guard camp use half of their land to grow cotton."

"Only let the guards grow the crops? And not give them to the people?"

Zhao Guangyuan shook his head. "Let the guard camp try planting first. Let's solve the problem of winter clothes and quilts for the soldiers first. Let's plant potatoes and other food that can provide food and clothing for the people first. They are more suitable than cotton."

Only when people have enough food and clothing can they have the energy to develop the economy.

At the same time, it was also to prevent the cotton seeds from flowing out. He had to take care of the millions of soldiers under his command first. After the land in the northwest was reclaimed, most people had reclaimed several acres of wasteland in addition to their own fields, and they were all looking forward to the seeds promised by the King of Yue.

Because the Xirong compensated with cattle, almost every village under the jurisdiction of the northwestern counties now had cattle to plow the fields, and the government also had cattle for rent, which greatly improved the efficiency of land reclamation.

The Wei camp was more efficient because they not only had cows, but also inferior horses that had been eliminated from the army.

Who says horses can't plow the fields? Put bridles on inferior horses that can no longer fight in the battlefield and use them to plow the fields. Horses can't match the endurance of old cows, but they are not slow. Citizens who wanted to rent horses to plow the fields lined up in a long queue at the gates of the county government and the military camp.

The vigorous development and economic construction in the Northwest forced Emperor Zhizheng to suppress his intention to deal with the King of Yue.

It also gave Zhao Guangyuan more time to breathe.

Border areas have always been sparsely populated, and to avoid the suffering of war, people have migrated to the Central Plains. But since the King of Yue signed a fifty-year peace agreement with the Western Rong, more and more people have returned to the northwest to seek work.

Many horses were eliminated in the Battle of Hangu Pass. Zhao Guangyuan distributed them to various guard camps or sold them to the people in the northwest. These inferior horses could not be used on the battlefield, but they were great for plowing fields and pulling carts.

In addition to eliminating many horse areas, many wounded and disabled veterans also retired, and a considerable number of them chose to stay in the northwest.

After Zhao Guangyuan learned about the situation, he thought of many ways to settle them, such as sending them to various guard camps to do some light work, sending them to various cities as garrison soldiers, or letting them manage military farms.

A considerable number of people chose to earn their own living. They either rented or bought retired military horses to transport goods and people. They also made a lot of money by transporting merchants or villagers between cities.

In Pingqiao County, Changda was squatting in a corner of the city wall with his two sons and holding their bags.

"You must be hungry." He took out a dry biscuit from his bag, broke it in half and handed it to his two sons. He also looked around, fearing that someone would come to snatch it.

This was the first time he took his two sons out. If anything happened to his sons, his wife would tear him apart.

In fact, Changda had never been to the northwest. When he was at home, he heard that there were jobs everywhere in the northwest, and he was tempted. His family only had two acres of thin land, and his wife and two daughters could do it well.

There's no need for so many people to stay at home.

Originally, after the beginning of spring every year, he would go out with the villagers to do odd jobs to supplement the family income and save food for the family. But in the past, he mostly went south, and this was his first time to the northwest.

"Dad, you eat too." The two sons each broke off a piece of cake and handed it to Changda.

Chang shook his head, "Dad is not hungry, you guys eat."

Seeing that his two sons were still stretching out their hands to ask him to eat, he pushed them back and said, "Eat more. If you eat more, you will gain strength and be favored by the master."

The eldest son was only 14 years old, and the youngest son was less than 13 years old. The two sons were skinny, and I didn't know if the master would be interested in them.

But the family has been in a difficult situation over the past two years. The two sons have grown up, and the two daughters are getting married. The house is leaking and there is no money to repair it. Changda is so worried that he can't eat or sleep well. He can't continue to be so poor.

I heard that because of the King of Yue in the northwest, people have been opening up trade and reclaiming wasteland for farming. I heard that there are long queues of caravans waiting to enter the city before dawn every day, and each village is in need of experienced people who know how to farm.

He didn't know much else, but he was familiar with farming. His two sons had been working in the fields since they were young. So this time he didn't go south with the villagers, but took his two sons to the northwest to try their luck.

Changda saw that his two sons were eating with relish, so he licked his lips, touched the few dry biscuits left in his bag, and stood up.