Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

I am so busy that it is already around June 20th. In the past few days, the tussahs on the mountain should be almost there, so Jinghan doesn't dare to be careless and pays attention to them every day.

"Dad, how are you and Uncle Lin doing with the wine shop?" Jinghan asked during breakfast.

"We have already found a place. It is under the control of the town. We will find someone to measure the land in the next few days, and then go to the county to go through the procedures. This is not something that can be rushed. Take your time. This winter It would be nice to have a drink." Zhixin finished his meal and then went out, "Okay, I'm going to the town with your Uncle Lin today to find someone. Do you have anything to take back to the town?"

Mrs. Xue quickly wrapped the silk quilt she had made a while ago and took it to the bullock cart outside. "Father of the child, you go back and give this to our mother. Then sew the quilt on the outside and the inside of the quilt, and save it for Jingya's dowry." My mother took the time to make all four quilts, so that the family It can save a lot of things.

"Hey, it works. The tussah silkworms raised by Jinghan will form cocoons in the next few days. Please pay more attention. I will try to come back as soon as possible." Zhixin drove the ox cart away.

"Jinghan, let's go. Let's go to the forest to the north to see how the tussah silkworms you raised are doing. Is it time to spin cocoons?" Mr. Xue watched her husband go away, and then turned around to greet Jinghan.

"Well, let's go, it's almost time." Jinghan agreed, then led Jingxian and the four girls out, and everyone walked towards the woods to the north. Mrs. Zhu stayed in Shenchangzi, and she, Zhiming Wencheng and others took care of Shenchangzi.

As soon as Jinghan and the others arrived at the silkworm farm to the north, they saw that many oak tree leaves were beginning to curl. "Mom, the silkworms have formed cocoons." Jinghan said happily. Months of hard work have finally come to fruition, and no matter who it is, they are inevitably happy.

The same goes for Xue, of course. There are good things that can be exchanged for real gold and silver in these curly leaves. "When do you think we will go down to collect cocoons?" Ms. Xue didn't quite understand this. She had too many things to do and couldn't be here all day like Jinghan, so she didn't quite understand this.

"That's enough now. This stuff is easy to be harmed by birds and beasts, so we have to harvest it quickly. Pothos, please go back and talk to my third uncle and ask everyone at home to come over quickly. Didn't we prepare all those big baskets yesterday? Okay? Bring some over." Jinghan knew it and had prepared all the baskets at home a few days ago. They had always picked the tussah silkworms and sold them to the Yue family. When the Yue family's steward came to pull out the cocoons, he would take a big basket with him. When the reeling was completed, he would bring the big basket back.

It's not that Jinghan hasn't thought about processing it herself, but there are no workers who can reel the silk, and she doesn't have the equipment. If you use that simple method, even if you tire these people to death, they won't be that capable. There are a lot of these cocoons. Now the Yue family not only collects cocoons from the Xu family, but also from other people. There are several families in the village who raise tussah silkworms. Last year, the Yue family brought in several silk-reeling machines from the south, which were much faster than hand-reeling. They took away the cocoons, and it didn't take long to finish them all. In view of the limited conditions, Jinghan no longer thought about processing it by herself. The family did not have enough manpower and the technology was not good, so it was better to sell it directly like this to save worry.

Not long after, everyone in the venue came over, leaving only Mrs. Zhu looking after the house. In fact, nothing happened. There were people working in the ginseng field. They were all fellow villagers and we knew each other very well. Moreover, Ye Laoer has had a good relationship with the Xu family over the years, and those local gangsters don't dare to cause trouble.

The men came over carrying baskets on poles, and then everyone started picking the curly leaves from the oak trees. This job is quick to do, but there are too many cocoons to hold, so I can only do it as quickly as possible.

From 40,000 seed cocoons, the final harvest of silkworm cocoons is about five million, which sounds a bit scary. Fortunately, the Xu family now had enough hands. More than 20 people worked together, and it took more than seven or eight days to pick them all. All these cocoons were put in big baskets and placed in a specially built shed in the venue. Oh my god, it was so big.

"Hey, sister-in-law, it's great that your family has collected so many cocoons this year. By the way, sister-in-law, leave some seed cocoons for me this year. My wife and daughter are fine. There is a forest behind the house. Let me see. It's okay to let the girls do something else, but they still need to make up for it." When the people in the village saw the cocoons harvested by the Xu family, some of them had the idea of ​​raising silkworms. There are quite a few families in the village scattered around near the forest. There are also many oak trees in the forest, so it is possible to raise silkworms.

"Okay, what else is there? How much do you want this year? I'll just save it for you. You have to pick these things carefully. Only the good ones can be planted. We'll sell the rest." Mrs. Xue agreed. The more of these things, the better. The more, the more the Yue family will receive. Only then can more silks and satins be woven, and many people will know about this kind of tussah silk.

"Then I'll go back and discuss it with my wife. I'll send a letter to my sister-in-law tomorrow." The man couldn't guarantee that his wife and daughter would be willing to do it, so he had to go back and discuss it with his family.

"Then you give me the letter earlier. The Yue family will come to take away these cocoons soon." Xue didn't care. If anyone wanted it, leave some for them. If they didn't want it, they would sell part of it. .

Zhixiang had already sent someone over, saying that he would ask Jinghan to leave 200,000 silkworm cocoons this year. The weather there is much warmer than here, which is perfect for raising two crops of tussah silkworms. There are many farmers there who want to raise this kind of tussah silkworms, but some of these cocoons are not enough. Zhixiang's idea is to distribute these 200,000 grains to those people, and they can raise another crop in the autumn, so that they can save seeds for themselves this year.

After picking all the cocoons, you have to quickly remove the leaves of the oak tree and pick out the good cocoons to save seeds. Jinghan still left 40,000 seeds of seed cocoons this year, plus 10,000 seeds for the villagers, and another 200,000 for Zhixiang. In the end, there were about 4.5 million seeds left. .

Yue Siyuan had already received Xin'er, and before the cocoons were completely picked, someone came to take them away. When the person in charge saw Jinghan, he said to Jinghan very respectfully, "Miss Xu Er, my master said, let us take the selected ones away first, and we can wait for a few days for the rest. In this way, we can If you can open it slowly, silk reeling also requires effort. "

Jinghan nodded, "Okay, we have picked out most of them anyway. You might as well take some of them away first, otherwise I won't have room to put them."

So the people from the Yue family started to load the truck. Jinghan asked a few boys from the Wang family to help with the work, while the rest continued to pick leaves from the trees. The Yue family divided the cocoons into three batches and took away the remaining cocoons. In total, they could get more than 1,400 taels of silver from selling them this year. Jinghan kept the money and kept it to buy more for the mountains.

The girls had been busy for three months and actually earned more than a thousand taels of silver. Now the village was bustling. I didn't pay attention before and didn't think anything of it, but now I see people making money, and some people are envious and rush home to discuss it with their families. There are also people who are thinking of some bad ideas when they look at the anger in their eyes.

Of course Jinghan didn't know that someone had evil intentions and wanted to harm the Xu family secretly. But in her opinion, since her family has already bought a forest nearby, they might as well buy the forest to the north. There are many oak trees inside, where you can raise silkworms and pick acorns to feed the pigs. In addition, you can sprinkle ginseng seeds in the forest and plant understory ginseng. Of course, you can also plant some medicinal materials. Although ginseng can no longer be grown in this forest, if you make good use of it, it will not be less expensive than growing ginseng.

One day when Zhixin was at home, Jinghan told Zhixin about it, and Zhixin thought it was feasible. The key is that in the past few years, he has also seen some of Jinghan's ideas for making money, which are beyond the reach of ordinary people, so he strongly agrees with Jinghan's suggestions. "Okay, I've written down what you said. It just so happens that the land at your Uncle Lin's house is going through the formalities these days. Why don't you decide which piece of forest our family wants, and I'll go and go through the formalities together." I have to go to the county town when I can save it. But, Jinghan, do we still have enough money? We still need to invest 500 taels in your Uncle Lin’s wine shop.”

Jinghan did the math and said, "Dad, I earned a total of 1,400 taels from the tussahs this time. In addition, I also sold 300 taels of fungus and other fungus this spring. If I kept all of them to buy land, it would be almost the same. These are all The land is not that expensive. After all, the woods above are not mature trees. They can be purchased at about the same price as the wasteland. "Jinghan is determined to develop well here, even if she has to put all her wealth into it. Buy this forest.

"Okay, since you said so, dad listens to you. Then I will be busy with this matter these days. We farmers have the best land, so we don't feel panic." Zhixin supported Jinghan's decision very much, so After agreeing, I quickly found someone to measure the forest land.

Logically speaking, the Xu family has not been separated. These matters should be discussed with the old man and the old lady, and the wishes of Zhiming and his wife should also be obtained. However, the old man has already stated his position. From now on, Zhixin can make the final decision on family matters. The old lady also said that Jinghan made money by selling these things, and Jinghan has the right to decide where to use them. So the two men decided to buy the land directly without going through anyone in the family, and then went through the formalities directly without telling anyone.

Linzi measured out that there were 180 acres of land. Zhixin took the money and went to the county town with the Xingjia. They happened to find the Xingjia's brother-in-law and the Lu family. The master bookkeeper in charge of these things in the county, when he saw the Lu family coming, he quickly wrote the deed and stamped it with the county's seal. One hundred and eighty acres of forest was bought for one thousand four hundred taels. Looking at the newly released land deed in his hand, Zhixin couldn't be happier.