Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2614 Sang City
Guan Zongbao got up at five o'clock to feed Sang for Mrs. Huang, started a day's work, and made breakfast after finishing the housework.He collected the silkworm feces left in the early morning and did not feed them to the fish.Last year, the local Mr. Zhu’s family bought a large amount of silkworm excrement. It is said that they opened a medicine workshop to use silkworm excrement as medicine, and the purchase price was high, so the surrounding silkworm farmers would rather collect silkworm excrement and sell it to Zhu’s family. Instead, the feed for the pond needs to be supplemented by harvesting a large amount of grass in the wild.

It was dawn, and after a nap, Huang got up and ate pickles for dinner. Taking advantage of the cool temperature in the morning, he and his son took sickles, hoes, mulberry baskets and other agricultural tools to the mulberry field to weed. The weeds removed can be used as grass carp in fish ponds. Fish feed, but this is far from enough, so he has to harvest a large amount of aquatic grass mounds in the swamp and water surface near the mulberry garden to make green manure to supplement fish pond feed.

The mulberry leaves in the early morning are covered with dew, picking them off to feed the silkworms is likely to make the silkworms sick. After the dew evaporates, it is the best time to collect mulberry leaves. After finishing the previous farm work, the two began to pick mulberry leaves.

The mulberry gardens in Jiujiang are different from those in the south of the Yangtze River. The amount of mulberry planting depends on the fatness and thinness of the land. The fat ones are separated by one foot and two inches, and the thin ones are separated by one foot five or six inches. Five or six thousand mulberry plants are planted on the ground.However, the planting density of arbor mulberries in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River is only 240 per mu, and the number of lake mulberries in the south of the Yangtze River is only 200 per mu, forming a huge contrast.The lifespan of mulberry in Guangdong is generally up to 30 years. The mulberry planted before the beginning of spring will have mulberry leaf harvest in the third year of the year, and the mulberry planted in the second month of the first month will only be harvested in the second year.

The biggest difference from Jiangnan mulberry gardens is that there is a process of "cutting branches" around the winter solstice every year.Counting from the root of the mulberry plant, leave an inch or so for the mulberry head. The mulberry planter cuts across quickly with a sickle. It is not allowed to cut twice in a row to prevent the mulberry tree from being injured.Pruning is generally at the same time as the harvest of fish in the pond. At this time, it is just time to drain the pond, cultivate the pond mud on the base, and use the fertility of the pond mud to provide mulberry for winter and prevent weeds from growing.

But if you need to supply silkworm eggs that survive the winter, there is the so-called Sanghuazao.The mulberry planters do not mow the branches during the winter solstice, and let some of their horizontal branches grow, which is called "big tree tail".At the end of the year and early spring, a few young leaves germinate, which are called "mulberry flowers". The seed producers need to make reservations from the mulberry growers. Due to the extremely low yield, these mulberry flowers can be sold at a high price.The branches are mowed after the mulberry flowers are picked, so this part of the mulberry tree cannot supply the first silkworm, but can only supply the second silkworm normally.

Huang bent over, held the branch in his left hand, and quickly twirled the mulberry leaves with his right hand. He was very particular about the position and speed of the pinch, so as to prevent the mulberry tree from being hurt.Since the first mulberry is a new branch and leaf after pruning, it grows very short, and it takes a lot of effort to pick it with your body.When the first two or three plants were made, the weather was still slightly cold, and the young leaves could not be picked off, and each branch must leave five or six leaves.

The picked mulberry leaves are stacked by Mrs. Huang and put into the mulberry basket on her back. The mulberry basket is woven with bamboo, which has good air permeability and can prevent the mulberry leaves from fermenting and deteriorating.

Guan Zongbao wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Grandma, let's save some money this year and hire someone to pick mulberries next year. If you work hard day and night, you will be exhausted sooner or later, but the gain will not be worth the loss."

Huang said: "From the second to the seventh, each catty of mulberry leaf Gongyin costs four Wen, and the first one is more expensive, requiring six Wen, which is not worth it. When we save more money, I will tell you about the marriage. There are more than one family. Just a helping hand."

After the two of them had finished their work, the sun had already risen.Guan Zongbao transported the hard-harvested weeds back to make fertilizer, and then used a pole to carry a load of mulberry leaves to Sang City, preparing to sell them for a good price.

"A lot of annoying mosquitoes, next time I'll bring a box of mosquito killer tablets to kill you all!" Zhao Hening was a little annoyed, holding a local cattail fan and fanning away the mosquitoes hovering above her head, she was glad to have listened to Zhang Xiao's advice, When I went out from Guangzhou, I brought long-sleeved clothes and long-leg pants, imitating the dress of a local rural girl.After living in Lingao for a long time, she almost forgot the ferocity of mosquitoes in the countryside.

The task Li Yaoer arranged for her was to investigate the operating mechanism of the local sericulture industry. Zhao Hening took Zhang Jiayu away with him on the grounds that he needed a local as a guide.Li Yaoer was a little worried, so she arranged for Le Ziren, a policeman stationed at the Jiujiang Police Station, to follow her.

The Jiujiang Daxu is the market center of Jiujiang, but the mulberry market is not set up in the Daxu, but in the lower-level villages, the sericulture area, there are countless mulberry markets, and there is one in a small village.Jiujiang is densely populated. Zhao Hening and his party traveled south from Daxu for only two or three miles, and arrived at Nanfang Village. Outside the village was a circular fish pond formed by digging soil, which had an obvious defensive function like a moat.

Zhang Jiayu pointed to several thatched "shops" in Shuibutou outside the village, and said to Zhao Hening: "Hening, this is the so-called Sangshi".

Zhao Hening was obviously disappointed, and said, "Is this also called a city? It's just two or three broken thatched huts!"

Zhang Jiayu said: "The clans in the countryside of Guangfu often reject foreign merchants, and the merchants in the village go home after the transaction. There is no need to build a permanent store, so a few thatched huts are enough."

Before he got close, he heard two women spitting and scolding each other.Woman A scolded: "You shameless chicken thief, you like chickens so much, why don't you make chickens?"

Woman B scolded: "You are the chicken, your whole family is chickens, whoever raises chickens looks like your chickens!"

"Hmph, you're justified in stealing my chicken!"

"Why do you say this is your chicken? How did your chicken find food in my mulberry garden?"

The number of villagers who don't think it's a big deal to watch the excitement is gradually increasing. Some people try to dissuade it but to no avail. A hen in the countryside is a fortune, and no one will give up, let alone admit to stealing a chicken.

Zhao Hening saw that Le Ziren was watching with relish, so he asked him: "You are a cadre of our Senate after all, why don't you settle disputes, and look lively here?"

Le Ziren said: "Miss Zhao, isn't it just a chicken? This kind of trivial matter is too common in the countryside, and I can't handle it. Besides, I can't speak bird language. How do I know who this chicken is?" of?"

Zhao Hening rolled his eyes at Le Ziren, thought for a moment, stepped forward and shouted loudly: "You two ladies, stop arguing!"

The two women who were spraying vigorously were startled by Zhao Hening's sudden shout, and they all looked at her, not knowing what was going on for a while.

Neither Zhang Jiayu nor Le Ziren expected that Zhao Hening would take the initiative to intervene, and it was too late to stop them.Zhao Hening saw that the two of them had a moment of silence, and continued: "Aren't you arguing about whose family this chicken belongs to? But no one can prove the ownership of this chicken. I have a way."

Woman B rolled her eyes and said, "Hey, who's yellow-haired girl, whose hair hasn't grown yet, wants to take care of my mother's affairs?"

Seeing someone helping, woman A said: "Hey, the little girl has seen a rough road, you feel guilty, don't you?"

"What's wrong? I've never lied to my old lady! She's a foreigner, and she also manages the affairs of the village?"

"Hello foreigners, it has nothing to do with you or me, that's only fair."

Woman Yi felt aggrieved and had no choice but to say: "Then let her talk about it, and I'll see what she can do."

Zhao Hening said, "Well, where do you two live?"

The two women pointed to their thatched huts, both of which were not far away on Sanji, and the two families were not far apart.

Zhao Hening said, "Give me the chicken."

In order not to appear so guilty, woman B readily handed the hen to Zhao Hening.Zhao Hening grabbed the wings of the chicken and led everyone to the middle of the two thatched huts, saying: "This chicken has no name written on it, and you can't prove whose chicken it is, but the chicken is I know whose family I belong to. This is the middle of the two families. If I put the chicken here, whichever nest it returns to, it belongs to whose family. Do you agree?"

As soon as woman A heard this, she said her chickens would definitely go back to their nests, saying hello.

Woman B has a ghost in her heart, and the chickens that escaped from other people's houses will naturally go back to other people's nests, so that she will really become a chicken thief, but now she can't show her timidity, so she has to bite the bullet and agree.

Seeing that neither of them had any objections, Zhao Hening let go of his hand, and the hen ran back in the direction of woman A as soon as it landed on the ground.Woman B found a step for herself and said: "My chickens are all raised in the mulberry garden. Like some men, it is common for them not to go home. Since it doesn't want to go home, let it go."

A dispute was resolved, and the excitement was gone, and the onlookers soon went about their own business.After enjoying the gratitude from woman A, Zhao Hening was in a good mood, and said to Zhang Jiayu, "How is it? Did you handle it beautifully?"

"Clean and beautiful, I'm ashamed of myself!" Zhang Jiayu was a little ashamed. He used to call himself a chivalrous man, so he naturally wanted to be a chivalrous man and put his family and country first. A dispute was resolved neatly.

Le Ziren flattered: "Miss Zhao is indeed a top student in Fangcaodi..."

Zhao Hening imitated Zhang Xiao's tone and said: "The grassroots cadres of the Senate must learn to go deep into the grassroots, be familiar with the people's conditions, and shine the light of the Senate into every corner."

"Yes, yes, what Miss Zhao said is true." Le Ziren quickly agreed.

The mulberry city quickly returned to normal. Zhao Hening and his party pretended to be farmers buying mulberry leaves and chatted with the villagers.In places like Jiujiang where the sericulture industry is relatively developed, the mulberry market is generally not open on market days, but is open for more than 20 days every day to supply mulberry leaves.The land occupied by Sang City is either the public property of the village, or the public property of a certain ethnic group, or the property of a certain ancestral hall, or the temple property of a certain temple. Generally, it will be contracted every year or every few years, and the proceeds will be used as land rent.

One of the larger thatched sheds is a place for storing mulberry leaves, and a small room next to it is a place for buying and selling.Zhao Hening became interested in a young man wearing patched clothes. This man looked handsome, but was tanned, with scars and bruises on his face. It was Guan Zongbao.

(End of this chapter)