PNB Chapter 165 Sorghum and Corn Seedlings, So Easy to Tell Them Apart
Chapter 165 Sorghum and Corn Seedlings, So Easy to Tell Them Apart
After installing the non-powered water pump, Lin Yong, full of pride and high spirits, led Lin Fei and Lin Chi home immediately and began sharpening knives for the wooden bucket.
The three of them worked with great enthusiasm.
The word about the "water pump" spread through the village, and in no time, everyone in the village knew about it.
He didn't even have time to put down his work before rushing to the Lin family's old house.
Gao Mengli looked at the villagers surrounding Lin Yong as he worked, three circles deep, all craning their necks, afraid of missing a single detail.
Among them, the "corn seedlings" held by several women caught Gao Mengli's attention.
She turned to Jiang Shuzhi and asked, "Mother, could you set aside three-tenths of an acre in our backyard to help me plant corn?"
Thinking of the rich and mellow corn soup, the crispy outside and tender inside of the corn cakes, and the sweet and soft boiled corn, Gao Mengli smacked her lips.
I must say, every single one of the hundred ways to cook corn is so appetizing that you can't stop eating it.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Shuzhi was filled with questions. "Corn? What corn?"
Jiang Shuzhi looked at Gao Mengli with a blank expression.
Gao Mengli was taken aback, then pointed to the tender shoot in the woman's hand, "That's it."
What the woman was holding was a corn seedling.
Jiang Shuzhi looked in the direction Gao Mengli was pointing, stared for a while, and then nodded knowingly. "That's sorghum from the eldest son's family. Don't worry, we've already started growing seedlings at home."
"Once I'm done with these next few days, I'll plant the seedlings for you!"
Gao Mengli stared wide-eyed, her face filled with disbelief.
Sorghum?
So, the toilet she used to build in her backyard wasn't made of corn stalks at all, but rather of sorghum stalks?
I can't tell the difference between sorghum seedlings and corn seedlings...
That's understandable; after being here for so long, I haven't seen a single grain of corn in the house...
Gao Mengli eagerly grabbed Jiang Shuzhi's arm, "Mother, tell me, what crops have you planted in the fields?"
Jiang Shuzhi raised an eyebrow, secretly delighted. Her eldest son's family member had actually become interested in crops!
He immediately blurted out everything, like spilling beans, "It's winter wheat, rapeseed, rice, and sorghum!"
Upon hearing this, Gao Mengli's heart skipped a beat, and her entire body immediately felt cold.
Her world collapsed...
Therefore, there are no high-yield crops like corn, potatoes, or sweet potatoes here.
If there's a natural disaster, won't she and Lin Xi starve to death?
How can this be done?
Immediately, she turned around and ran to their new home, calling out twice, "Xixi, come out, I have something to tell you."
Lin Xi was poking at the glutinous rice clay on the ground with a wooden stick when she heard Gao Mengli's voice. She quickly dropped the stick and ran out, "Mengli, what's wrong?"
Gao Mengli pulled Lin Xi aside and analyzed what Jiang Shuzhi had just said for Lin Xi.
Upon hearing this, Lin Xi was shocked and her expression became somewhat anxious. "Mengli, does that mean that wheat, rice, and sorghum are the staple foods here?"
Gao Mengli nodded again; this was the third time Lin Xi had asked.
Gao Mengli patted Lin Xi's hand, "Don't rush, calm down, we still have time."
Go and tell the remaining soldiers and villagers first.
After the house was built, a large cellar was dug out behind the old house, under our acre of land.
"If we dig a full acre of cellar, we can store soy sauce, loquat syrup, and grain."
After hearing this, Lin Xi hurriedly nodded and ran back into the courtyard to talk to the remaining soldiers and villagers about digging the cellar.
Everyone thought that once the house was built, there would be no more work to be done.
Little did they know, to their surprise, there was even the wonderful opportunity to dig a cellar!
They readily agreed; to hesitate even for a moment would be disrespectful to the 25 coins they were owed!
Standing outside the courtyard, Gao Mengli stroked her chin, seriously considering her next plan.
It doesn't matter if there isn't a high yield of grain; after all, having enough wheat and rice is better than anything else.
They are people in the end times who have never eaten fresh food, so they are not picky about the type of food.
Therefore, the next step is to address the problem of low rice yields.
The yield of rice during this period was only 400 to 600 jin per mu, and the varieties were certainly not as good as the hybrid rice that has been improved over the decades.
To increase production, we must start by improving soil fertility.
Each household in the village has no more than two palm-sized chickens and ducks.
Each family only raises one pig, so that it's convenient to slaughter it for the Lunar New Year.
However, the villagers are reluctant to slaughter pigs; they sell the whole pig and then buy a pound or two of meat to get by for the New Year.
Moreover, salt is a regulated condiment, so making cured meat or anything like that is out of the question.
If you kill them but can't finish eating them, they'll just go bad.
It would be better to sell them for money, which could then be used to buy some grain to feed the family for more than half a year.
Therefore, the pig manure in the village is simply not enough to meet the needs of the fields.
Even man-made ones aren't enough.
After all, even dry land needs manure to irrigate vegetables.
Gao Mengli immediately turned around and went to the oil mill to find the village chief, Zhao Hua.
Gao Mengli hurried along until she reached the village entrance.
She looked up and saw the oil mill under construction; the construction was progressing quickly.
Over the course of more than half a month, every household in the village contributed people to the construction, and now they have begun laying the roof tiles for the oil mill.
At that moment, the village chief, who was pounding glutinous rice clay, looked up and saw Gao Mengli standing not far away, looking at the oil mill, which made him overjoyed.
He quickly put down the mallet and ran over.
When did their golden goose return?!
The village chief, beaming, ran up to Gao Mengli. "Hey, Lin family, what brings you here?!"
Gao Mengli nodded, which was her way of greeting her.
She looked at the village chief and said directly, "Village chief, I've come here because I have an idea I'd like to discuss with you."
"Look at the fertilizer shortage in our village. After thinking it over, I think we can bring back some manure from the county town to fertilize the fields."
Upon hearing this, the village chief looked curious and scratched his head: "The county town? You mean, you're going to collect night soil?"
Gao Mengli was taken aback. Did the village chief not know about the public toilet?
He immediately asked, "Village chief, don't you know about the public toilets in the county town?"
When designing the public toilet plans, she specifically asked Dou Weiyi to dig a large pool outside the city wall of Xicheng to collect and compost manure.
The village chief nodded. "I know. You mean, to transport fertilizer from the public toilet? But wouldn't that just dump it into the river?"
Gao Mengli was taken aback, "Into the river?"
She frowned, then realized the key point and nodded knowingly.
Yes, the county's domestic sewage and excrement are all discharged into the river.
So before there were public toilets, the city's residents would take their chamber pots to the river to wash every morning.
After all, many city dwellers do not own land.
Most of the city's residents were either merchants or people who had left their hometowns to work elsewhere.
Upon realizing this, Gao Mengli understood that the village chief had misunderstood, and immediately explained to him, "Village chief, the public toilet has a large pool dug specifically for collecting compost, located outside the city wall of the west city."
The village chief was taken aback upon hearing this, then overjoyed, his wrinkles deepening into a wide smile.
He believed Gao Mengli's words without a doubt.
If she says yes, then that's it!
He slapped his thigh excitedly, his voice rising several octaves: "Oh my, the Lin family!"
This is such great news!
We were all unaware that the county magistrate had actually dug a large pond for composting.
That means there won't be a shortage of fertilizer in the fields this year!
With so many people in the county town, I heard the public toilets are doing pretty good business every day. If you collect all that data, how much must have accumulated?!
At least, it's more than enough for their village's fertilizer needs!
The village chief is a man of action.
After saying that, he excitedly ran home and brought out the gong.
Standing at the village entrance, he banged the gong loudly.
Grain is the lifeblood of farmers. If they can get enough fertilizer and water quickly, the rice will grow strong and the grain yield in their fields will be high.
Take advantage of the moment, strike first, grab the good stuff, and you'll earn food.
After all, the grain tax is levied on the middle 500 catties of a mu of land, with four parts of the grain tax going to them and six parts left over.
In other words, 200 catties of tax grain are needed per mu.
The same applies to dry land.
Therefore, by increasing grain production while keeping taxes the same, they will have more grain in their hands!
How could he not be excited and thrilled!
Upon hearing the sound of the gong, Gao Mengli saw villagers rushing from all directions to gather in front of the village chief's house.
She didn't join in the fun and went straight to her home at the end of the village.
As for farming, she wasn't worried.
She saw a simplified version of the curved plow when she was riding back to the village in a horse-drawn carriage.
That's why she had preconceived notions and assumed there would be corn or something.
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a misunderstanding.
However, not every household has a water buffalo. Apart from borrowing buffalo to plow the fields, most people still rely on manpower to pull the plow.
Having resolved her major concern, Gao Mengli happily returned to the county town with Lin Xi!
As soon as the two arrived at the restaurant entrance, they saw Bucktooth Jade squatting to the side waiting for them.
"Ah Li, you're back!" Buck-toothed Jade quickly stood up and ran over.
"Ayu, I'm sorry we're back a little late," Gao Mengli replied, and quickly opened the shop door with Lin Xi.
Bucktooth Jade quickly shook his head.
After the door opened, Bucktooth Yu looked delighted and quickly pulled Gao Mengli to run to the backyard.
Gao Mengli was completely bewildered. What was going on?!
Upon reaching the backyard, Bucktooth Jade took out two silver notes from his pocket and handed them to Gao Mengli.
"Ah Li, this is the bounty money for Hua Mengnan. Zhang Biao brought it back from the prefectural city. It's a total of three thousand taels! Dou Weiyi asked me to bring fifteen hundred taels to you!"
Two silver notes, one for one thousand taels and the other for five hundred taels!
Gao Mengli and Lin Xi exchanged a glance. They hadn't expected that a "Hunky Flower" could actually be exchanged for silver!
I was wondering why I hadn't seen Zhang Biao lately!
It turns out that they went to the prefectural city to hand over the person and receive the silver in return!
Gao Mengli looked at the silver notes in her hand and was overjoyed. This meant that Dou Weiyi and the two of them would split the money equally!
Gao Mengli turned the silver note over and over, then clicked her tongue and said, "So this is what a silver note looks like!"
"Tsk tsk, indeed, universal currency just feels so good no matter where you are!"
Lin Xi also took a five-hundred-tael silver note and looked at it with curiosity.
Gao Mengli suddenly remembered Baoya Yu's injury, so she couldn't help but ask, "Yu, are you feeling better?"
Bucktooth Jade didn't seem to mind, a smile playing on her lips. "Ah Li, I'm perfectly healthy. In two more days, we'll be back at work!"
At this moment, Lin Xi, holding the silver note, suddenly exclaimed "Oh dear!"
Gao Mengli turned to look at Lin Xi, "What's wrong?"
Lin Xi held up the silver note with a bitter face, "Ah Li, this silver note is a deposit slip. There aren't any money shops in our county yet..."
"Yes!"
Gao Mengli slapped her forehead, only then remembering this matter.
So, Gao Mengli turned to look at the buck-toothed girl and handed her the silver notes. "Ayu, could you ask Lord Dou to exchange them for cash? Silver notes are inconvenient to use."
With a smile, Yu pushed Gao Mengli's hand holding the silver note back, "Ah Li, don't worry!"
In two days, Qian Yun will open a money exchange in Pingyao County.
"Then, you can just take the silver note to exchange for silver!"
Lin Xi looked at her in surprise, "So fast!"
With the silver, they could build a duck farm next to the oil mill.
Then we can buy some ducklings to raise!
Hearing Lin Xi's exclamation, Bucktooth Jade nodded.
After all, Dou Weiyi is obsessed with money.
Therefore, he wanted as many shops as possible to open in the county.
In Pingyao County, Dou Weiyi personally handled the management of half of the shops.
That speed must be fast!
Bucktooth Yu turned to look at Gao Mengli, "Ah Li, I'll go back first. In a couple of days, I'll come back to work with Qian Yan'er."
Gao Mengli nodded, "Okay, Ayu, you should go back and rest well. You and Qian Yan'er should recover from your injuries before coming back. There's no rush."
The buck-toothed girl smiled sweetly, nodded, and then reluctantly turned to leave.
Lin Xi glanced at the departing figure of the buck-toothed jade, then at Gao Mengli, and pursed her lips.
I have a feeling that someone is eyeing my "childhood sweetheart," and it makes me uneasy.
Gao Mengli glanced at Lin Xi, whose face was full of confusion, and pinched his arm in an annoyed tone: "Your face is all scrunched up like a bitter gourd, what are you thinking about now?"
Lin Xi snapped out of her daze in pain and hurriedly shook her head, "It's nothing... By the way, Mengli, after we exchange these silver notes for silver, we'll build another duck farm and buy some ducklings to raise."
The rest we bought were all wheat, rice, and sorghum, just in case.
Gao Mengli waved her hand, "Well, when the time comes, you can give the money to Mother, and I will give her the blueprints for the duck farm as well."
"Let her take it back, and then have the village chief designate a piece of land to build a duck farm."
As for the ducks, they are all made into pickled duck in winter.
Duck eggs, made into salted duck eggs with runny oil.
However, it's estimated that not many salted duck eggs can be made.
After all, each household can only buy 20 jin of salt a year, while merchants can buy 100 jin.
But that's still not enough.
If you're making smoked bacon, you'll need to use even more salt.
Unless, Dou Weiyi is allowed to "smuggle"...
These salted duck eggs really depend on Dou Weiyi's salting.
Otherwise, we really can't do anything.
But selling smuggled salt was a capital offense, so she could only dream about it.
Never mind, I'll think about it later...
Gao Mengli sighed, her face full of regret.
Seeing Gao Mengli sigh, Lin Xi asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Gao Mengli breathed a sigh of relief, "I was thinking that we should raise ducks in the future, then we'll definitely have a lot of duck eggs."
Thinking about it, making them into salted duck eggs would make them easier to preserve, and then they could be transported to other places to sell.
But I forgot that we simply couldn't buy large quantities of salt.
Lin Xi covered her mouth and chuckled, "That's all? Duck eggs aren't only preserved by making them into salted duck eggs; they can also be made into preserved eggs!"
However, preserved eggs, like houttuynia cordata, are selective about who they are sold to.
What you like is delicious food. What you don't like is 'culinary disaster' that you should avoid at all costs.