Chastity Layman

  Chapter 219 Mihara

  The morning is cold.

  The dawn of dawn dispelled the night in the Weibei Plain, leaving silver frost all over the place.

  In the field beside the Taibai Canal, a layer of crystal ice formed on the green radish and rapeseed seedlings, and the withered and yellow weeds in the canal were also frozen hard.

  A chicken shed and a duck shed were set up at a distance by the river canal. At dawn, Zhuang Ding drove the chickens and ducks out of the warm shed, and the sound of chirping and twittering became loud.

   Zhuang Ding was like a general, holding a long bamboo pole with a piece of broken hemp rope tied to one end, shouting and waving, so the flocks of chickens and ducks rushed forward like a large army.

Shepherds who feed sheep, shepherd boys who feed cows, stablemen who feed horses, and even swineherds who herd pigs also drive their animals out, strolling leisurely in twos and threes by the side of the canal, looking for some spots in the weeds and weeds. Tender roots and thin stems.

Those slices of radishes and rapeseeds are growing just right, and they are so emerald green. Farmers have been patrolling the fields a long time ago, not only to drive away birds, but also to prevent cattle and sheep from stealing and ruining them, and to prevent chickens and ducks from running into the ground. to go.

   Later, young boys and girls came out facing the morning sun with baskets on their backs. They came to pluck leaves and pick radishes.

  The first batch of radishes have grown quite large and can be harvested. Pulling out those large radishes can also play a role in thinning, allowing other radishes to grow better. After the rapeseed grows taller, the lower leaves are actually useless, and it is a waste of nutrients to keep them. When they are picked at the right time, they can be fed to pigs and cattle, or directly used as food, or dried and powdered to make dry food.

  Everyone laughed and walked in the field.

  In the nearby Qin's Manor, a long horn sounded suddenly.

  The people in the field looked back, and continued to do what they were doing. Since Qin Lang came to Weibei, Sanlang's servants still practiced every morning, and they used horns to set their schedules. The first call in the morning is the wake-up call, and the last call in the evening is the light-off call. There will be special calls for breakfast, morning exercises, and lunch breaks.

  The people in the village can even distinguish different instructions from the sound of the trumpet.

Erzhu, a pig herding boy, looks enviously at the manor where the smoke is rising. Sanlang's servants are treated very well, with two grains of grain a month, one piece of cloth, plus one thousand dollars, food and housing, and clothes for all seasons. shoes and hats. They dress in spirit, not like Erzhu's patch upon patch of clothes, or the old clothes worn by several brothers. In the winter, he was still wearing a pair of straw sandals, and his feet were covered with frostbite.

   Not to mention that the family members eat three meals a day, and they can get a piece of oil tea and an egg for supper in the evening, but he barely eats two meals a day.

But not everyone can enter the family team, all of them are young and strong between the ages of eighteen and thirty, and everyone is six feet tall. Not to mention, everyone has at least one skill, or archery, Or dance with a gun, or ride a horse.

  A few **** pigs were digging hard at the grass roots by the river canal, as if they wanted to find some grass seeds or worms and earthworms to eat, but it is too cold now, and the ground is hard after the frost. In such a day, you should not come out to herd pigs. According to the tradition of the farm, in spring, summer and early autumn, pigs are mainly raised outside. You have to stay at home.

However, because the pigs raised by Erzhu are boars, they don’t have to worry about eating. Every day, the family cooks rapeseed leaves or radish seedlings mixed with bran and locust powder for them to eat. Let these boars move their muscles and bones. This year, the village will start to expand the scale of pig breeding, especially to start raising more sows. These boars will work very hard and must be strong.

  The servants ran out chanting slogans. It was the twelfth lunar month of winter, but they were naked on top, with a pair of short-nosed trousers on the bottom. These guys were all extremely strong, and they even had a sandbag hanging on one leg.

  Qin Lang also followed this team, running shirtless together, Ah Huang, Dugu Yanyun and others were also dressed up.

   Along the official road beside the Baiqu, I ran to Sanyuan County, and then ran back. The round trip was about 20 miles. It was not easy, but the effect was very good.

   Breathing the cold morning wind, my whole body was stimulated very energetically.

  Running on the official road, passing the post station in the middle, the station chief and post soldiers routinely came to the door to salute Qin Lang far away, Qin Lang smiled back and continued to run forward.

There are not only post stations along the way, but as an important place in Gyeonggi, Sanyuan County is only a few dozen miles away from Chang'an. Not only are the commanding army mansions under the Twelve Guards distributed here, but some of the Twelve Guards' soldiers on Fanshang are also stationed in Weibei .

  Stay stations, beacon castles, fortresses, and Tongjun mansions are intertwined, weaving a tight defensive network on the Gyeonggi Plain.

Sanyuan County belongs to Yongzhou Prefecture, belongs to the land of Gyeonggi, and is under the direct jurisdiction of Yongzhou. It is one of the 22 counties under the jurisdiction of Yongzhou. It can be described as extremely complicated.

  Because the northwest is the Jinghe Valley Road, which goes straight out of Helong, and the north is the Ziwuling Straight Road, which leads to Shuofang Hetao, so Sanyuan is not only the granary of Gyeonggi, but also the key point of Gyeonggi defense.

  There is no danger to defend here, so more military mansions were set up, and more fortresses were set up to garrison troops.

  In the early morning, some soldiers from various ministries did morning exercises, some patrolled, and some were busy with military settlements and breeding. There are even chicken farms and duck farms newly built by the Zhenfu Division, and pig farms are also under construction, but they have not been opened yet due to the lack of piglets.

  The wheat seedlings in the field are already green.

  However, compared to the radishes and rapeseed grown in a few villages such as the Qin family and the Li family, it is obviously another scene.

After running ten miles to the county seat, there were already people waiting at the gate of the city. The waiting person was Liu Shenli, the county magistrate of Sanyuan. He would get up early every morning to walk his horse, and then at the stall at the gate of the city, he would order two flax pancakes and a bowl of haggis soup , and two more tea eggs.

   When he was about to eat, Qin Lang also ran over.

  The two will give a simple greeting, and Qin Lang will lead the team members to rest and stretch here. At this time, the two would have a simple exchange. Liu Shenli was very polite to Qin Lang, and Qin Lang naturally had to give him face.

   Now Liu Shenli, the local parental official, always acts like Sanlang from Sanyuan County, you have the final say. Qin Lang is helpless, but he will still answer a question raised by him.

   "Saburo, what to drink!"

  The shop is quite large, with thatched roofs, wooden houses, and an apricot-yellow flag in front of the door. Those who enter the city and leave the city can rest here and rest their stomachs.

   Simply order two steamed pancakes, or even a bowl of porridge. If you want to enjoy yourself, you can also choose at will like Liu County Magistrate. The breakfast is very rich.

  Actually, Qinjiazhuang sent people to open the shop. Not only is there a breakfast shop outside the city, but there are also food shops and restaurants in the city.

   "Just a bowl of soy milk and two steamed cakes."

  Liu Shenli is peeling tea eggs. This thing is not expensive. This year, there are more chickens and eggs in Gyeonggi, so the price will inevitably drop. The tea eggs released by the Qin family are really delicious with the fragrance of tea. However, a two-cent coin is still not affordable for ordinary people.

   "I heard that Lord Yi is going to raise pigs?"

"You can just call me Sanlang." Qin Lang smiled, "I do have this plan, but raising pigs is more complicated than raising chickens, and piglets can't be produced in batches like eggs hatched on a warm kang, so now I We are collecting pigs everywhere, especially the sows, so we can add some feed and green material to raise them, and they will be able to give birth after mating."

   Qin Lang raised chickens and ducks before, so Liu Shenli didn't doubt it, and didn't even think it was a bad thing. After all, the Qin family's success in hatching chickens and ducks was in front of them.

  Who doesn't envy the Qin family's money earned this year?

   Earn a lot.

  Not to mention anything else, let’s just say that instead of planting wheat seedlings this year, the fields in the Qin Family Village will be planted with radishes and rapeseed. Do you know how much more cost-effective than planting wheat?

  Liu Shenli had someone calculate in private that the radishes and rapeseed grown in the Qin family's field this year are worth a lot, and radish and rapeseed, which were not even counted as miscellaneous grains, are more profitable than grains this year.

  There is a great hunger in Guanzhong, and there is a shortage of food everywhere. The radish and rapeseed are both vegetables and food, and the people are rushing to get it.

"By the way, isn't there a depression in the south of my Zhuangzi, where the waters of Qingshui River, Zheng Qu, and Taibai Canal converge. Every year during the flood season, this land is always a swamp country, and this land has long since been flushed with water. The rocks and weeds are usually a place for the common people to herd pigs and sheep."

Liu Shenli stopped peeling tea eggs, "Did Sanlang take a fancy to this land? I know that land, a piece of waste land is not only low-lying and prone to waterlogging, but also saline-alkali land with rocky beaches. Sanlang took a fancy to it and took it directly Just use it."

  Qin Lang shook his head.

   "I've looked at the land carefully, and it's not too small. I estimate it's over a thousand acres."

   "Ten thousand mu is also a piece of waste land, and the public management of Saburo just uses it."

   "I plan to buy it and modify it to dig deep to raise fish, lotus roots and ducks. How much do you think is suitable for an acre?"

   Liu Shenli was quite surprised to hear Qin Lang mention the purpose.

   "Just give me some money, this kind of land is worthless."

   "How about a hundred dollars per mu? I want all that land."

This price cannot be said to be low, but rather high. The good land by the Baiqu can cost thousands of dollars per mu, but this is the price of irrigated land. Even because it is located in Gyeonggi, a fertile grain-producing area, it is sometimes even higher There are also people who are willing to buy, and even if the fields are large or there are shortcuts, the price will change.

   Except for such good land, the average dry land is actually a few hundred dollars per mu. And if it is not a place in the capital, such as Jingxiang and other remote places, even an acre of paddy fields may only cost a few hundred dollars. Especially at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there are actually quite a lot of restrictions on land sales.

  Ordinary people who don’t have official titles or honors, actually have a lot of restrictions on buying land, and only big nobles like Qin Lang have no restrictions on the amount of land, and they can buy it if they have money.

  Ordinary people are not only not allowed to buy land at will, they are not allowed to sell the land that they have allotted at will. A few of the land that has been allocated are permanent land that can be hereditary, and most of them are divided land that must be handed back upon death. Even this Yongye land is only allowed to be sold unless it is for burying family members or moving to a border area, otherwise it is not allowed to circulate.

  Low-lying wasteland like that, even if you pay thirty or fifty yuan per mu, it is too much, Qin Lang directly offered a price of one hundred yuan.

   "I don't need so much, Saburo will give me 10,000."

"Brother Liu, do you think I'm short of money? I just think that land has value for renovation. I want to try it out. I can't let others think that we are doing some kind of power-for-money transaction. Let's just pay a hundred dollars, and some extra price can stop it." Other people's cranky mind, save some trouble."

  (end of this chapter)