Good farming at the foot of Changbai Mountain

Chapter 62 Gale
After lunch, Zhixin led the children to the place where the villagers dug the soil, and told them about blocking ginseng seeds.

"Brother Xu, it's just such an idea, do you still need to bring the children over to ask? Those ginseng seeds were just left to fall before. If the children are willing to pick them, then pick them. Is it worth two dollars? The children follow you on the mountain, and if they suffer hardships, it’s okay to earn money to buy some delicious food? Brother, I said you don’t have to control the children too tightly. These children in your family, Smart and sensible, where can I find such a good one?" A tall man over there said with a smile.

"After all, it belongs to the big guys. It's always not good to pick it up without asking. Since the big guys don't have any opinions, I'll let the children go." Zhixin waved his hand and asked Wen Han led his brothers and sisters to pick ginseng seeds.

In the afternoon, everyone pinched another hundred feet, and then Zhiming led everyone to the river to wash out the ginseng seeds.Since the ginseng seeds were already ripe, they scrubbed them very quickly, and after a while, they returned to the ginseng field with white ginseng seeds.

In the next few days, the children devoted themselves to blocking ginseng seeds, and they were able to block more than 200 feet a day. Later, even Jingya and Jingxian went to work.It took us eight days to finish everything.All the ginseng seeds were exposed to the sun, and they were twice as many as the ones left at home. Even the old man was stunned, "Oh, I didn't expect that this ginseng seeds could make so many. If you let the villagers know about it, you won’t regret it?”

Mrs. Chen glared at the old man, "Do you think this is an easy job? Look, it took seven or eight days for all eight children in our family to do it. Who has the conditions like ours? It’s convenient, and the manpower is enough? If they want to be greedy, they’ll be greedy, what’s the big deal if we don’t do it next year?”

Jinghan smiled and watched grandpa and grandma bickering, knowing that grandma felt sorry for them.Jinghan thought to herself, I will let you guys know about the benefits of watching ginseng when the mallet is in autumn, and then you will be even more thankful that you chose to go up the mountain to see ginseng. "Grandpa, can our family order more ginseng soil next year? There are so many ginseng seeds, but we can sprinkle a lot. Our family should take advantage of this opportunity to plant more ginseng."

After listening to Jing Han's words, the old man bowed his head in thought for a while, and then said. "Oh, you're right, but if we need more ginseng soil, we have to hand in more sticks. One foot of ginseng soil costs four catties, and these ginseng seeds need at least ten feet, so our family will There are not many sticks left." The old man felt sorry for the sticks handed in.

Jinghan secretly cursed the policy of the imperial court. One mu of land can be opened for ginseng about 66 feet, and one foot of ginseng soil should pay four catties of fresh ginseng.These four catties of fresh ginseng can be sold for at least one or two taels of silver. If you think about the price the Xu family sold last year, it would be more than two taels of silver.That is to say, one mu of land costs six to seventy taels or even a hundred taels of silver.God, isn't this too cruel?Jinghan secretly vowed in her heart that she must find a way to make money in the future, and then buy ginseng in the forest for her family.In this way, even if the tax is paid, all the hard work and sweat of Shennong will not be handed over to the court as it is now.

"Grandpa, you have to think about it this way. When this crop of ginseng seeds grows into sticks, won't you be able to sell them for a lot of money? We've lived in the mountains these past few years, so it's very convenient to take care of sticks. Don't take this opportunity to plant more Point, after a few more years, how can there be such an opportunity? We can’t spend our whole life watching it on the mountain, can we?” Jinghan told the people in the house little by little about some of the pros and cons.

After hearing what his daughter said, Zhixin couldn't help but nodded, "Father, what Jinghan said is right. It seems to be a bit difficult for the time being, but when we lift the hammer, we can sell it for a lot of money. I think it will work, Dad. , why don't we listen to Jinghan?" Zhixin looked at the old man.

The old man pondered over and over again, finally made up his mind, and nodded. "Sure, let's fight it out. It's been such a small fight for so many years. In this way, how can we make a lot of money in this life? It's the first two years, maybe we have to suffer a little bit, after all There won’t be much money, and there are many places where you can save as much as you can.” The old man has been growing ginseng all his life, and he has always grown these, and he never dared to do it in Dali.But who doesn't want to have a stick of hundreds of feet in his home, and use a cart to pull it home when he picks up the goods in autumn?

When Jinghan heard her grandfather say this, she couldn't help laughing, "Grandpa, how can it be difficult? Don't say anything else, don't we still have 30 taels of silver for ginseng a year? Besides, I think we planted this year The land is pretty good, and there shouldn’t be too much shortage of food, so you don’t have to worry too much about food. This year, my eldest brother has been sending fish and crayfish to the restaurants in the town, and there are six or seven taels left in a month besides shopping In addition, the few of us are still digging medicinal materials with the third uncle, and we can also pick up walnuts and pine nuts in autumn, and we can earn money. Isn’t it possible to hunt in winter? This mountain is much stronger than our village. Naturally, there are plenty of prey. Grandpa, if you think about it this way, we can still have a lot of money left over from selling clubs in a year. Isn’t that right, grandma?” Jinghan settled the accounts for everyone little by little.

Chen Shi glanced at Jing Han, and couldn't help but burst out laughing. "It's just you who is smart and small-mouthed, and you have settled the family's accounts thoroughly. Yes, you are right, our family has really saved some money these days. After selling the sticks in autumn, first the Lin family's 50 It's not relative or reason, so it's not good to use other people's money for too long. For Huixin, we have to wait first, or our family will not be able to relax."

It was getting late, and everyone went back to sleep after seeing that the matter had been discussed.Zhixin and Zhiming went for a walk around the venue first, then returned to the newly built house this year and went to sleep.

It's the end of July now, and it's not long before the mallet is lifted. At this time, the most careful thing is.There are quite a few thieves who will come to the ginseng shop at this time to steal ginseng. In the past, when old Liu was watching ginseng, he would have his club stolen.So the Xu family is very concerned about it at this time.Every night, Zhixin, Zhiming, and even the old man, Wen Han, and Wen Cheng would go out for a walk.Fortunately, they have been on the mountain for a long time, and they are very familiar with the terrain in the camp, even if it is dark, they can walk very steadily.The old man was in a group with Wenhan, Zhiming and Wencheng were in a group, and Zhixin himself was divided into three groups, taking turns walking around. Once they found something, they would ring the copper basin, and the family members would all go out when they heard it.

Originally, there were two big dogs in Shenchang, but Zhixin got two more puppies later, and they are not too small now.These dogs are tied up on weekdays, and they will be let go when they go for a walk at night.In this way, if there is a problem, these dogs alone can help.

This is the most difficult time for ginseng spectators, and it will not be over until the villagers get up all the sticks and hammers that make goods.

From the end of July to the beginning of August, it was sunny all the time, until the fifth day of August, it started to be a bit cloudy.In the evening, the wind started to blow, and it tended to blow more and more. At the beginning of Xushi, it started to rain.In this kind of weather, you have to pay more attention. Isn’t there an old saying that you can’t steal the moon if you steal the wind, and don’t steal the snow if you steal the rain?The wind and rain outside are not the best time for thieves to come and go.

The old man was lying on the kang, and he couldn't fall asleep when he heard the movement outside.

"What's wrong with you? You're tossing and turning, why don't you hurry up and get some sleep, and you'll have to get up for a walk later." Chen asked when she heard the old man's movement.

"Listen, it's very windy outside. It's the most dangerous day. I can't sleep." The old man said in a low voice.

"Okay, you can go to sleep for a while, you and Wen Han got up for a walk at Haishi, if you don't sleep, you won't have time to sleep." Chen persuaded.

The old man calmed down and slowly fell asleep.

That night, no one in the family dared to sleep well, and the men took turns going out for a walk.When going out in this kind of weather, it is natural to wear a bamboo hat and a coir raincoat.But the wind was very strong, and people walked in the wind wearing a coir raincoat, staggered by the wind, and would fall if they were not careful.The old man and Wen Han were better off together, the rain wasn't too heavy, and when Zhixin went out in the middle of the night, the wind blew even harder and the rain was heavy, so Mrs. Xue was too worried to sleep in the house.

The strong wind that night blew like ghosts crying and gods howling.It was finally dawn, the rain stopped, and the wind seemed to be a little less, so Zhixin hurried out to have a look.In the ginseng yard, many people's sheds were damaged by blowing. Although the sheds were made of wood and nailed, they couldn't stand the strong wind blowing all the time.

Walking in the venue, seeing the mess everywhere, Zhixin was really scared.This guy, if a board on the shed flew up when he was walking at night, wouldn't it be a good thing?After careful inspection, there was no loss of ginseng from each household, and Zhixin's heart was finally relieved.

"Father, don't worry, it's just that some ginseng sheds were blown to pieces, but the sticks didn't cause any damage. The wind outside is much weaker now, and we have to pay attention today, just because some people didn't dare to come out last night, and they will take advantage of the loopholes during the day. Zhiming and I took Wenhan and the others to have a look, you can rest at home, you were tired enough last night." Zhixin told the old man about the situation outside. "By the way, it seems that in the woods outside, the wind blows down a lot of trees. When the wind stops, let's find some time to get them back. It's not bad to save them for the fire in winter."

The old man didn't have a good rest last night, and he didn't have much energy today. "Okay, you can figure it out. I'll sleep for a while after dinner. You go to sleep in the afternoon. I'll watch." He was really tired.

(End of this chapter)