Reborn under the White Mountain

Chapter 93 Buying a Cow
It's already March in a blink of an eye, and the snow outside has almost melted. Now the road is full of mud, so people generally don't go out.Fang Haoyu has been at Tong's house for a month, and he has adapted very well, practicing martial arts and studying with Da Lang and the others.The nine boys get along very well, and they often go out together to mischief.No one in the village dares to mess with them, good guy, messing with one is equivalent to messing with nine, who would dare?The Tong family finally got used to the days when there were nine energetic boys in the family.Chunlan and Chuntao have to wash a lot of dirty clothes almost every day, and they also help Fang's shoe soles and make shoes, because it is too expensive for these children to wear shoes.

"Mother, are you going to bake pancakes today?" Yuxian saw Fang pushing several buckets of batter.

"Yeah, the last time I baked it was almost enough to eat. I'm going to bake more in the next few days. It will be spring plowing in April. This pancake is convenient and can be stored. It's very good. Besides, I think our family also likes it." Everyone loves to eat, since I have to cook anyway, bake more pancakes." Ever since Fang learned how to bake pancakes, she has fallen in love with them, and has to bake some pancakes every once in a while.Coupled with the large number of people in the family, there is not enough fine grains to eat, and pancakes can be added to deal with it.

"Oh. I'll help you light the fire later." Yuxian was fine, so she wanted to help.

"No need, Chuntao can help me. These days, your brothers have been detained by Mr. Yuan to study at home. They haven't gone out to play, and there are not many dirty clothes." Fang is really afraid of these children.

Fang’s pan set up in the West Wing Room is a round thing made of iron, high in the middle and low on the outside, shaped like a turtle’s shell, so it is called pancake, and it is a special tool for pancakes.It has existed since ancient times, but the pancakes are larger, with a diameter of more than two feet and a smooth surface.The first griddle had three legs, and a fire was burning underneath, which was smoky.The griddle that Yuxian asked the blacksmith to make was made according to the modern style, and it was also supported by modern methods.It is similar to the method of the pot stove, but the bottom is raised high, so that the person who bakes the pancakes can do it while sitting.There is a flue at the back, and the furnace tube is made of iron. The smoke goes out along the furnace tube, so that it will not be full of smoke.Once the griddle is supported, you don’t need to move it, just start a fire every time you use it.
When frying pancakes, rub the griddle with an oil bag first.Then use a spoon to scoop a spoonful of batter and pour it on the griddle, and spread the batter with a small wooden rake.Take another scraper and scrape the batter back and forth vigorously, so that the batter is evenly distributed on the griddle, and it will soon become cooked and dry.When the pancake is almost ready, use a scraper to stick it firmly on the side, and the pancake will tilt up, and it will come down with a light touch.The freshly baked pancakes are sweet and crunchy, with a sweet corn flavor, which is Yuxian's favorite.

The batter for pancakes is also very particular. Soak the corn slag, and then push it into the mill. When it is rolled out, it will become the batter for pancakes. Yuxian calls it pancake foam.The pancake foam must be mixed with cooked rice and soybeans, otherwise pancakes cannot be baked.The amount of cooked rice and soybeans determines the softness of the pancakes.

Fang and Chuntao alternately baked the pancakes in front of the griddle, the other had to stack the baked pancakes to cool down, and Chunlan was in charge of lighting the fire.The three of them had been busy for a whole day, and at night they couldn't straighten their waists. This time, they soaked sixty catties of corn dregs, which seemed to take two days to finish.

Dinner is naturally pancakes, and the freshly baked pancakes have a strong rice fragrance, which is the favorite of the children.Get some miso, wrap some scallions or shredded potatoes, and it's a meal.

When a group of children are together, even the most unpalatable food will become delicious, not to mention the pancakes are still delicious.Just look at these boys like wind and clouds, after a while, the thick stack of pancakes will bottom out.Seeing this, Fang went out to stack some and came back.Yuxian was dumbfounded, oh my god, how much food do you get this year, ordinary people can't afford to support so many boys, it seems that you have to work hard to earn money.

After dinner, Yun Song and Mrs. Fang were discussing about farming in the house. For a while, Yun Song had already prepared the plow stick and other agricultural tools. "Ms. Yuxian, do you think we still have to buy a cow? If we want to do farm work, cows are better. Those few horses in our family may not work."

"Well, let's buy the head. Those horses were supposed to be war horses, and the farm work must be too much. We can keep them to pull carts, but our family has to build a carriage. In this calculation, it will cost money everywhere. This year's What do you plan to plant on the [-] acres of land?" Fang also agreed to buy cattle.

"The yield of corn is high, and there are many varieties. There are also millet, millet, sorghum, and beans that have to be planted. The [-] mu is really not enough for what to do." After doing the calculations, Yun Song felt that the land at home was still too little.

"Yuxian told me about opening up wasteland. What do you think? If you buy good land, no matter how expensive it is, who will sell it well?" Land is the lifeline of farmers. Except for those who cannot live on, ordinary people The land will not be sold.

"This is a good idea. There is a lot of wasteland around our village. Let's go and see it when we have time. If we see it, we can discuss it with the village chief and buy it. If the wasteland is well tended, it can gradually grow into a good land." Yun Song also agreed up. "Okay, go to sleep, I'll go take a look tomorrow."

The next day, Yun Song really went out and found a better wasteland. It was at the south end of the village, not far from Tong's house. There were some dwarf shrubs and wormwood on the wasteland.Yun Song went to wait for the village chief to discuss, and Li Futian told him that the trees and grass in the land should be cleared first, and then Li Futian could take someone to measure it, and then report to the higher level, waiting for the upper level people to come After verification, the land deed can be issued.Of course, it also costs money to open up wasteland, about one or two mu of land. Fortunately, there is no need to pay taxes on the wasteland for the first three years. This is why the imperial court encourages farmers to open up wasteland and cultivate land.

After Yun Song figured it out, he went home and took his family to open up the wasteland.Although the ground below the ground has not yet fully melted, there is no delay in cleaning up the trees and wormwood.Now, these boys from Tong's family are useful, one of them is holding a sickle, and the other is sawing with an axe. Anyway, all the farm tools that Yun Song bought a while ago are used.A group of people just ran to the wasteland like this, even Yuan Qingyun followed. He had never done farm work before.

When we got to the place, we felled the trees that should be felled, and mowed the grass that should be mowed, and the things that should be done were very fast.The Tong family was busy for about six or seven days before clearing the land.Then I asked the village chief to measure it, and it was 52 mu in total.So Tong Yunsong gave Li Futian 60 taels of silver, and the rest was for him to manage the people in the yamen.Li Futian promised to do it as soon as possible, and he couldn't go to the county alone because of the Tong family's matter. Fortunately, there were still many things to do in spring, and the village chief went to the county in a few days.

Yun Song went to the cattle and horse market in the town and looked around the animals. There was a family with good calves, but they had to sell the old ones together.Yun Song looked at the teeth of the old cow, and felt that the cow was four or five years old, not old, but the cow was a little thin, maybe it hadn't been fed well.Even big and small, the seller asked for a total of 17 taels, which is a reasonable price.Yun Song thought about it, the calf can't work this year, so he will raise it first when he buys it back. Although the old cow is thinner, he can work after buying it, that's okay.So I talked with the man for a while, and finally bought two cows at 16 Liang, and Yun Song happily led the cows home.

When we arrived at the entrance of the village, someone saw Yun Song bring two cows back, "Yo, Yun Song bought the cows back, and bought two cows. It's really good, it seems that I really had a good time." Another person said : "Is it okay? How much does a tiger cost? Didn't you see how many children are raised in his family now? A group of big and small children, but it's time to eat them. If there is no money, who would dare to raise them?" ah?"

Yun Song didn't answer after hearing this, just smiled and walked home.When they got home, the children all came out to watch the cow, especially the calf which was the most popular.Yun Song teased them, "Do you like it? If you like it, you will feed the cow."

"Father, didn't we used to herd cattle? What's the matter? We are also in charge of those horses now." Da Lang said carelessly.

Yun Song laughed loudly when he heard this, "Our family has to buy pigs, raise pigs, and raise chickens, can you manage it by then?"

"What's the matter? I did it when we were not separated. Yuxian can dig wild vegetables to feed pigs at such a young age. Dad, you bought a few more pigs this year. We will keep one for the New Year and sell the rest. , it can be sold for a lot of money." Xiaosan hurriedly said.

"Okay, I'll listen to you, let's catch a few more pigs and raise some chickens, so that we can live like a living." Hearing what his sons said, Yun Song was also happy.Take the cow to the barn, tie it up, and go back to the house.

"I'm back, how's it going? Has the cow been sold?" Naturally, Fang is busy making clothes for the children. In the north, she will only take off her cotton-padded clothes after the Qingming Festival. After taking off the cotton-padded clothes, she will change into jackets.The children are growing up like crazy, and their clothes are too small. Besides wearing the older ones for the second child, they have to make clothes again.For the past few days, Fang and Chuntao and Chunlan have been busy making clothes.Chuntao is [-] this year, Chunlan is [-], and her needlework is good.With the help of the two of them, the work was done a lot faster, and Fang felt a little more relaxed.

"I bought one, one big and one small, and I bought two ends. They insisted on selling them together. I thought, if I just bought a small one and can't work this year, I might as well buy both ends. It cost 16 taels in total." Yun Song Sit on the kang. "Should we catch pigs too? Just now Xiaosan said to catch more pigs."

"Well, it's about the same. Yumei told me the day before yesterday that her two sows have given birth. When the full moon is over, let's go and have a look, catch a few and bring them back. The only way to live is to make the six animals thrive. It’s just that our family has little food this year, so we can’t catch more, or there won’t be enough food. I also want to catch a few more chicks to raise, and then lay some eggs for the children to eat.” Fang was a little worried about the lack of food.

　The first update is delivered, thank you for your support.Cher continued to work hard.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)