Wanli Xinming

Chapter 131 Rooted
In the autumn of the third year of Wanli, in Daning, where the forests were completely dyed, the men of Huojiabao and Lijiabao who completed the first year of land reclamation were stunned by the yield of corn and soybeans produced on the black soil.

Because the fertility of the land is beyond their imagination, the men who have eaten wild vegetables for several months, as well as rabbits, snakes, frogs and other strange meat-eaters, have been slaughtered by mosquitoes and leeches. When I was finally able to pounce on the corn cobs and pods, crying and laughing, I vented my joy.

Three of the young men in Huojia Village had already died, and only 53 remained. Fortunately, Mrs. Huo, who had enteritis in summer, survived after three days of diarrhea.

When they first arrived in Daning, they were helpless in the face of the grassy land. Only four thin horses were able to plow through the grass.

The men in Huojia Village did a simple calculation. According to the previous experience in Shandong Kaishengdi, the food produced by Ma Xinkai's real estate may not be enough for the villagers who will move to Jucun next year.

In desperation, only human power can be used to replace animal power.The Huo family man first used his head and a shovel to shovel the grass roots, put tattered clothes on his shoulders, pulled the long rope rubbed from wild hemp fibers, and pulled the plough with his shirtless to turn the ground. ——Fortunately, I brought a carpenter, otherwise it would be troublesome to bring a plowshare.

What made Mrs. Huo's eyes split was that the Daning House actually gave two oxen to the newly arrived Li family on the third day.

Wang Peng went to the mansion to reason, and the tired and sallow-faced Wangfutai personally met him, and said embarrassedly, "Don't you have four horses? The Li family came all the way to beg for food. If there were no cattle, they could only Starve to death—there are only these cows in the house, and there is no way."

Wang Peng was amused by the government's logic and asked, "Then the government still manages the rations of the Li family?"

Wangfutai led him to the granary, pointed at the moldy millet and old Chen Liang with a lot of grit, and said, "This is the grain that the General Military House supports for this house. If you want, you can also give it to you, this is enough."

In desperation, Wang Peng had no choice but to use a horse-drawn cart to load up a truckload of stored grain and take it back. Unless there is a famine, people don't eat this food at all. It's barely enough to feed livestock, and those beasts are not picky eaters.But you have to cook the moldy grain before you dare to feed it. After all, these horses are now more expensive than people.

Within five days of opening the grounds, a few villagers of the Huo family began to fall ill.Because the time was very tight, they spent all their time on reclamation, and simply built two shacks and didn't sleep on the ground.

There is no doctor's medicine when you are sick. Tong Chun introduced two kinds of herbal medicines, which the patients chewed in their mouths, all relying on their physical strength - fortunately, all the patients in the first wave came over.

Seeing the slow progress of the opening, Mrs. Huo jumped in a hurry.At this time, Tong Chun appeared again like a big Buddha radiating golden light. He gestured and told Mrs. Huo, I heard Yu'er said that you don't have enough livestock.
This time it was urgent. Wang Peng said that sharpening knives would not be a mistake for chopping wood, and it would be more cost-effective to domesticate animals first.Therefore, the five men who often play with livestock in Huojia Village were selected, including Huo Laoshuan, who was responsible for domesticating the horses of Tong Chun's family.

Horses can be used for riding, and they can be used for farming, but—all need to be domesticated.Any kind of livestock that has not been domesticated will not pull carts or plows.

The domestication of livestock by the Han people is a method passed down from generation to generation. The foal, calf and so on all follow the father horse and mother cow. Yuan, as the main force.

Now we can't wait for the foal to grow up in the wasteland, and we can only train the adult horses of Tong Chun's family. For several old animals, this can be regarded as a new problem for the old revolution.

Adult horses are not trained to pull plows in their childhood and do not cooperate at all.At the beginning, Huo Laoshuan and others put the sling on the back of the horse's neck. These beasts felt that it was different from the saddle, so they began to slap the horse.

Huo Laoshuan and the others had no choice but to choose the strongest one from the four horses brought by Huojia Village, and let the Tong family's horse pull the bridle by the side, and teach it by passing the help. .

But untrained horses don't push hard, don't walk in a straight line at all, to put it wisely, don't turn over a lot throughout the day, and trip over the wheeled horse several times.

The turnaround came five days later. One day, Yu'er saw that her horse was beaten with blood by the Huo family. care in the barn.

As a result, the horses of the two families communicated for one night. It may be that the beasts have animal language, or it may be that a passing fairy has enlightened. When they were put on the set the next day, the horse of the Tong family actually walked out of a straight line, which can be solved now. big problem.

Tong Chun's family has a total of six horses, and ten horses plough the land together. The process of opening the land has been greatly accelerated. Tong Chun sent the labor of the family to observe and study, and mastered a lot of skills.

Later, Mrs. Huo was not satisfied, and after discussing with Tong Chun, the villagers of the Huo family and the Tong family became a pair of helpers, and the land that the Huo family gave to the Tong family was also opened and planted.

Their side is progressing smoothly, but the Li family on the west side of the river is miserable.The old grains eaten are not nutritious, and I dare not eat seeds. Every day, half of the people need to go to eat and hunt, otherwise they will starve - the remaining half of the people, if they don't starve to death, they will save their lives, how can they have the strength Reclamation?

Wangfutai sent Xiong Xiaoqi over to take a look, and later sent two bags of food, which was a drop in the bucket.

Just this little ration made Mrs. Huo angry, and she kept shouting that Wangfutai's heart was slanted to the west and disappeared, "We are like this, is it illegal to bring our own food?!"

Huo Taigong complained and complained, and finally listened to Wang Peng's words and joined the Li family. As a result, the three families were helped to open and plant the land by the Huo family. The old Huo family built the house and built the granary. delayed.

The name of the head of the Li family is grand, called Boss Li.Boss Li didn't expect the Northeast Enclosure to be so lame, and he didn't give them the rations promised by the court, and almost led the entire clan to the annihilation of the entire army.

Fortunately, in the northeast, I met the good people of the Huo family, and helped me, otherwise it would be complete.Boss Li was very embarrassed and said that he would give the cattle to the Huo family.

The Huo family's grandfather was also very arrogant, and promised to give the Li family a horse, but he couldn't give it at this time-the animals of the three families were kept together for use in captivity.

Cooperative organizations organized spontaneously by simple farmers have brought new changes to the northeast reclamation.In the second half of June, the imperial court gradually became more powerful. Occasionally, they were able to provide food. Although it was only enough to hang their lives, the Li family finally woke up after collecting wild vegetables and hunting.

By the end of July, when the green corn cobs and beans were ready to eat, Mrs. Huo and Mr. Li confirmed at the same time that the immigration would be a success.

At the suggestion of Boss Li, the three families formed the first villager cooperation group in the land of promotion, and Taigong Huo became the leader.After the blood was an alliance, they jointly hunted and killed a bear to sacrifice to the sky, and then began to build houses.

Many people are powerful, and nearly a hundred people work together, which is more than double the efficiency of building slowly by their own families.Mrs. Huo divided house building and warehouse construction into four working groups, and the assembly line was running.

One group is the foundation group, which is responsible for laying the foundation. According to the locations selected by each family, fifty men are responsible for digging trenches and collecting stones to lay the foundation under the leadership of the bricklayers.

The second group of ten people is the de-baking group, collecting yellow mud, mixing it with sun-dried wormwood and wild hemp fibers to make mud blanks.At the river beach, the site is leveled out, and these people are responsible for stepping on the mud and drying it.

The third group of ten people is the lumber group, who follow the carpenters to cut wood to make beams and purlins.

The fourth group of 15 people is the thatch cover group, responsible for going to the lakeside reeds to cut the reeds, dry them and tie them up, and build the thatched house.

As for windows, doors, etc., the carpenters from the two villages are too busy to work together, so they plan to replace them all with wooden boards. After the whole village moves in next year, they will do it slowly.

In this way, the process is greatly accelerated. The foundation is laid here, the mud slab has been dried, and the wall is directly started.When the wall is finished, the finished beams are put on, and the beams are tied to the purlins, and then the cover can be started.

Xiong Xiaoqi came a few times when they were building the house. Seeing that their speed was unusual, he reported to the Wang Zhifu when he returned.Wang Zhifu was so happy that he promoted the experience of the immigrant organization cooperation group in Daning, and reported it to the court, and named it "Daning Experience".

Jurchen Tong Chun also came to help every day, learned the craftsmanship of the Huo family's house building, and put forward suggestions for improvement - a layer of mud and yellow mud slits can't resist the cold wind here, it is best to be inside and out The three-story wall is staggered, otherwise in winter, no amount of firewood will be able to withstand the fire in the house.

This goddamn aftermath!Mrs. Huo scolded Tong Chun badly and complained that he didn't speak up earlier.I had no choice but to scrape the first house that was about to be built and lay the foundation again.Otherwise, the mud billet is placed directly on the ground, and the rainwater will have to fall as soon as it is brewed.

In this way, the laborers of the Huo family, Li family, and Tong family have been busy for more than half a year. With sweat and tears, they have withstood the turns of the three legions of mosquitoes, bed bugs and leeches. Despair and pain - finally struggling to the harvest season.

The sickle chopped down the rows of corn, and the heavy corn cobs were picked up and stored in the granary, and together with the sharp soybeans piled up in the granary, they shone with golden light and reflected each other - such a scene, at this time, the empire reached from the north to The farmers in the south, who can I see?

Such a scene made the men who had only known coolies all their life to stop crying.They ran and told each other, saying that there was a new owner on the land.

After that, the creatures on this black soil and all the gods and gods who bless the Chinese nation will know that on this new fertile soil, a great nation has taken root since this autumn.

(End of this chapter)