Start as a farmer from an ordinary world

Chapter 126 The Tribute of the Loess Plateau

Earning ten work points for a few catties of rabbit meat has attracted the envy of many people.

But for Wang Manyin, talk is better than nothing, and he doesn't care much at all.

On the other hand, Wang Qingming next to him was moved and immediately asked: "Brother Lian Shun, can you process the meat as long as you get it?"

"What do you mean, you can also get rabbit meat?" Seeing what Lianzizui looked like, Wang Lianshun asked in surprise.

Someone next to him thought that Wang Qingming was also planning to bring the local dog to catch wild rabbits, and hurriedly persuaded him: "Uncle Qingming, don't try to eat chicken farts. It's just your black dog. It takes a lot of effort to chase people away, and you still want to catch up with rabbits."

The terrain of the Loess Plateau is complex, and the speed of the earth dog cannot be exerted at all.Except for rhubarb, there are few native dogs in the village who can often catch hares.

"It's not a rabbit, is the ground squirrel meat okay? If it's worth the work points, I'll go digging at noon. Let's make it clear that the ground squirrel skin will be mine..." Wang Qingming's eyes were sly.

"Now digging ground squirrels, this thing has only been out for a few days, isn't it a bit early? It's hard to find."

Wang Lianshun hesitated to speak.

"Don't worry about it, just say whether to give work points or not?" Wang Qing was obviously confident.

"Okay, ten work points for four catties of ground squirrel." Wang Lianshun nodded and agreed.

Ground squirrel meat is also meat, as long as it can make the laborers on the construction site eat some oil and water, it doesn't matter if you add a few work points.Especially the ground squirrels in spring are chubby and fat, and can boil half a catty of oil.

Of course, the ones before hibernation are fatter.

"Brother Wang, what is a weasel... a weasel, are you discussing eating weasels?" Hearing this, Liu Xiangyang, who was waiting to load the soil, asked in surprise.

"No, it's a kind of rat in the ground. It's also called the big-eyed thief and the bean mouse. This thing looks like a hare, but its ears are very short. The small one is about one catty, and the largest can weigh two catties. In summer , They will come out in groups to steal alfalfa. If left unattended, it can destroy an acre of land in a few days. After autumn, they will steal other crops, especially in corn, millet, and soybean fields, where chinchilla holes can often be seen ..."

When it comes to chinchillas, Wang Manyin knows it very well.The scientific name of this thing is Daurian chinchilla, and it is also one of the few meats that farmers on the Loess Plateau can eat freely, and it is easier to catch than wild rabbits.

Usually in summer and autumn, farmers from ten miles and eight villages will search for squirrel holes all over the mountains.Irrigate directly with water in summer, dig with shovel and rake in autumn and winter, and get a lot of grain along the way.

If you are lucky, you can dig up more than ten catties from a chinchilla nest.Digging four or five squirrel holes a day is equivalent to dozens of catties of grain.

For today's farmers, it is naturally a huge income.

Of course, it is limited to the squirrel holes beside the farmland, those caves in remote areas, there is very little food in them, and most of them store the seeds of various weeds and shrubs.

During the famine in the early years, the ground squirrels near Guanzi Village were almost extinct.

But this thing breeds fast, and a litter can produce seven or eight cubs.Therefore, they have not been really eliminated, and they have stubbornly provided humans with a source of meat.

"Rat, is this really edible?" Liu Xiangyang only felt a little nausea in his throat, and immediately thought of those dirty guys he met in the cave dwelling.

"Of course you can eat it. The Loess Plateau has had a tradition of eating ground squirrels since ancient times. In ancient times, this thing was used as a royal food tribute for the emperor. organization."

The educated youths nearby all had doubts on their faces.

Wang Licheng shook his head again and again: "Really, bragging, I don't believe it!?"

"If you don't believe me, I have a chance to take you to the outside of Yuanxi County. There are several ancient stone tablets there, which record this matter. But a few years ago, the tablet was smashed, and the writing can still be read..."

Wang Manyin did not lie. For a long time in ancient times, ground squirrels were regarded as a kind of precious meat.

In the Liao Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty, this thing has always been a tribute.

What is even more exaggerated is that there were also ground squirrels in the Zhongqiu sacrifices of the ancestral temple in the Yuan Dynasty.In order to be exclusively used by the royal family, an order was issued to set up a protected area, "putting officials in their place, and people are not allowed to take it without authorization."

In the Ming Dynasty, it was also sought after by dignitaries. Many people were proud of eating chinchillas, and they were called "Shizhen".Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty celebrated the birthday of Princess Ning, and gave him [-] coins and [-] ground squirrels...

When the capital was the most expensive, a ground squirrel could sell for a penny.At that price, one month's rations could be purchased for an adult.

Even now in the Shige Festival Pigeon Market, ground squirrels are also sold, and the price is not low.

The reason why Wang Manyin knows so much about ground squirrels is that on the one hand, it is the memory of his predecessor, and on the other hand, he has stuttered in later generations.

When I was in college, I shared a bed with a good friend from Northwest who lived in a rented house outside.One year after the winter vacation ended, the other party said that he had brought special products from his hometown for him to taste.

When Wang Manyin arrived at the renting place, his friend had already cooked the dishes and cooked a large plate of meat in soy sauce.At the time, Wang Manyin thought it was hare meat, so he didn't ask any further questions. He just felt that the taste was very fragrant and special.

After the two finished the plate, the friend asked him if he knew what meat he ate just now.

Wang Manyin guessed wrong several times, and when the other party revealed that the answer was ground squirrel meat, he almost vomited it out, so he went online to check it out.

Only then did I realize that ground squirrels are not actually mice, but belong to a type of ground squirrel.Some people eat it all the time, and it sells for more than 80 yuan a catty.

Things have already entered the stomach, and it is impossible to really spit them out.

Wang Manyin can only comfort himself, this thing is equivalent to the bamboo rat in the south.The difference is that one eats the tender grass of crops, and the other eats bamboo roots.

Of course, experts in later generations have always emphasized that non-raised things cannot be eaten.

Regarding this, Wang Manyin didn't know what to say.

Especially in this era, food safety is too vague for farmers who can't even fill their stomachs.

It seems that some experts said that "instant noodles are not healthy", and many netizens scoffed at this. They are too poor to eat instant noodles, and they still care about health.

Of course, for field mice... Wang Manyin has always kept a respectful distance, unable to pass the psychological level.

This kind of proper double standard can only be done by him.

"Wait for the ground squirrels, I'll go and have a look..."

It's rare to have fun to join in, so Liu Xiangyang naturally didn't intend to miss it, and specifically confessed that he would be called when the time came.

With a hare as a base, the lunch meal is much richer than usual.

Wang Manyin filled a large bowl of vegetables as usual, plus a few black nests.

He was just about to find a place to eat, but was dragged away by Wang Lianshun and Wang Yanqiang to a place where no one was around.

"Man Yin, Xiang Yang told us about going to Yuandong County. Are the sheep in the northern grassland really so cheap?" Wang Lianshun asked in a low voice with a chopstick of rabbit meat.

Buy a sheep back, kill and eat dozens of catties of meat, and finally make money.Of course he was moved by such a good thing.

Wang Yanqiang next to him was also full of anticipation.

"Uncle Lian Shun, it must be true. The key is too far away, and there must be people checking along the way. I'm afraid I'm not lucky to come back. If the village issues a certificate, it shouldn't be a big problem..." Wang Manyin replied.

Now all regions implement strict unified purchase and marketing, and agricultural and sideline products cannot flow across regions, let alone trade privately.

If you go to the grassland to buy sheep privately, you will definitely make mistakes.And driving a walking tractor to buy it is a bit too blatant.

So if this matter is to be done, the letter of introduction can only be issued by the village level.

Even so, it is not guaranteed.

"I will talk to Man Tun later, and he will definitely agree. If we can buy dozens of sheep, our task of raising pigs this year will be easy...Even if five sheep are worth one pig, it is still a good deal."

On the Shige Festival side, handing in quest pigs has always been a persistent problem.Last year, due to swine fever, the villages did not complete their tasks satisfactorily.

In desperation, the commune opened the door and allowed the production teams to use sheep instead.

According to the size of the sheep, generally four are worth one pig.

For this reason, more than half of the sheep in Guanzi Village were sold last year, and they were not willing to kill sheep even during the Chinese New Year.Shuangshui Village was even worse. It is said that the sheep were almost caught and extinct.

According to the price given by the food station to buy live pigs, the worst grade C pigs can sell for more than 40 yuan a head.I bought sheep from the grassland, and it cost only 25 yuan for four.

If it is used to pay off the mission pig, it is too cost-effective.This account, Wang Lianshun calculated very clearly in his mind.

Raising pigs is a toss every year, many people are reluctant, and Wang Lianshun has to say good things back and forth.If this can be done, the task of the second team will definitely be completed smoothly this year, and they may even get rewards from the commune.

"Uncle Lian Shun, what are you thinking? How can there be such a good thing? You think the people in the commune are stupid and don't know if there is swine fever in each village. Besides, there are pigs in our village that don't hand over. Zhao Jianhai alone can't pass the test. .”

"This white chicken shit, you've been beaten lightly," Wang Yanqiang cursed again.

"But it's okay for us to buy some breeding sheep," Wang Manyin repeated the previous rhetoric.

"Okay, I'll discuss it with Mandun in the next two days. If it works, you and Xiangyang will make another trip,"

Wang Manyin nodded.

Let other people go to the grassland, I don't feel at ease.

With Wu Enqi as a friend, buying sheep can save a lot of things.

After the three of them finished talking about their business, they quickly ate in a place leeward of the wind.

There are a few extra pieces of rabbit meat in the bowl, which tastes extra delicious.In particular, Wang Shouchang's cooking is usually salty and salty, which is very suitable for the appetite of the workers.

After eating, there is about an hour of rest.Just as Wang Manyin was about to find someone to kill time, Wang Qingming called to stop him.

"Man Yin, I'm going to feed the ground squirrel, and I want to use your dog... When the time comes, I will give you a piece of ground squirrel skin, how about it?"

Ground squirrels also live in burrows, and the structure of the burrows is much more complicated than that of mouse burrows.In addition to the real living caves, they also dug many fascinated caves, also called false caves.

There are as few as two or three fascinated soul holes, and as many as a dozen.

If an inexperienced person spends half a day digging a hole of fascination and nothing in it, it is a waste of effort.

Even if a real hole is found, it is not so easy to catch ground squirrels.The hole of this thing can be one or two meters deep, four or five meters long, and there are many forks in it.

If you are not careful when digging, the real hole will be blocked.

But with water, it's not that much of a problem.

As long as the chinchilla is prevented from dispatching and escaping, rhubarb will come in handy.

"Okay, Uncle Qingming, since you found the squirrel hole, I don't want it, just follow along and watch the excitement."

The supply and marketing cooperatives for chinchilla skins buy them for eight cents per skin in autumn and winter.Now is not the season, and it only costs five cents a piece, Wang Manyin can't see it at all.

(End of this chapter)