Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

Time flies so fast, and autumn is here in a blink of an eye. August is the time of autumn harvest. Wen Cheng and Wen Han finally got through the days of fighting with people every day. With such a busy autumn, who has time to talk about the Wei family's nonsense? I was busy collecting things from home and it was too late.

Zhixiang had already gone to Zhoucheng. He was going to Qiuwei and was going with some classmates. Mrs. Chen took out thirty taels of silver from home and gave it to Zhixiang. Mr. Xue also took ten taels. The Xu family didn't have much good conditions, so they reluctantly gave it to them.

Zhixin and the old man led all the boys in the family to the fields. The school in the village was on holiday at this time, so the students naturally went home to help their families with the autumn harvest. Jinghan was restless, so naturally she followed suit. So, Mrs. Chen led Jingya and Huixin to cook at home, and the rest, including Wenxuan and Wenchang, went to the fields.

Autumn is definitely a season that makes people happy and sad. Happily, a year's hard work has paid off. Looking at the food in the fields, everyone's face is full of smiles. What worries me is that there is endless work to do every day, and I am too tired to stand up every day.

The Xu family had little land, only about ten acres, and it was all harvested within a few days. It happened that the people in the village had agreed on a date and went to the ginseng field to pick up ginseng. The rule here is that everyone agrees on a good day together, goes to the market together to pick up the goods that need to be made, and then processes what needs to be processed and sells what needs to be sold.

The villagers decided to go to the ginseng field on August 12th to pick up ginseng. Zhixin and Mr. Xu led Mr. Xue, Wenhan and Wencheng to the ginseng field. The Xu family didn't plant much ginseng. This year, there were a total of fifteen feet of sticks to be raised, and these people could finish it in one day. On the day of the ginseng harvest, county officials would also come to the ginseng market. Every household had to hand in the ginseng they were supposed to pay, and the rest belonged to their own family.

The amount of ginseng turned in is usually determined based on the number of feet of ginseng soil used each year. For example, if the Xu family wants to use twenty feet of ginseng soil this year, then the amount must be handed in at the rate of four pounds of fresh ginseng per foot. . However, not all of the twenty feet is used to plant ginseng. Generally, four to five feet are left aside to sow ginseng seeds. The ginseng soil is replaced with ginseng. After one crop is used, saplings must be planted. It does not mean that it is left alone after use.

According to this method, each household must hand over eighty or ninety kilograms of ginseng, which is not a small amount. These days, the output of ginseng is not high, one foot only weighs sixteen or seventeen pounds. Even if the Xu family's ginseng grows well this year, it is 15 feet long, which means it can lift 2,560 kilograms. It still has to hand over 80 kilograms, and the remaining ginseng is less than 180 kilograms.

In the evening, Zhixin and the others returned home and moved two sacks of ginseng into their home. The production this year was pretty good and everyone had a smile on their face. Mrs. Chen and the others had already prepared the meal. When they saw the people coming back from the mountain, they quickly asked them to wash their hands and then eat.

On autumn harvest days, the food is pretty good, with some meat in every dish. Everyone ate quickly, they were all very tired today.

"Old lady, tomorrow you will lead the eldest daughter-in-law and a few girls to paint the sticks at home. We will still make red goods this year, and the red goods are more valuable." The old man was eating and arranging the work. The red ginseng that the old man mentioned is a processing method of ginseng, which is to steam the ginseng in water for an hour and a half, and then take it out to dry. The ginseng processed in this way is red, so it is called red ginseng.

"Sure, I've been working for so many years, why do you still need to give me orders like this?" Ms. Chen nodded in agreement.

After dinner, Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Xue poured out a sack of ginseng, put it into a large water tank, added water and soaked it. This makes it easier to brush off the soil on the ginseng. After soaking the ginseng, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law quickly went to bed.

The next morning, after breakfast, Zhixin and the old man left again. They went up the mountain to get out this year's ginseng soil. The ginseng soil has been dug up and broken up with a three-tooth pick. This time, we need to use a shovel to turn the ginseng soil over again to make large pointed ridges, so that we can wait to plant ginseng in them.

Mrs. Chen led Mrs. Xue, Huixin and Jingya, all there to brush ginseng. There is no problem for Jingya and Huixin to do this job. Naturally, water is needed to brush the ginseng, but there is no need to worry about the problem of chapped hands. Because ginseng has a special effect, that is, it is better for the skin, so you will not get your hands chapped when you brush it.

Mrs. Chen took some ginseng out of the large vat and put it into several large basins. She also filled the basins with water, and then each person had a brush to brush off the soil on the ginseng. When brushing ginseng, be careful not to remove the ginseng seeds on the ginseng. Especially under the reed head and on the neck of ginseng, there are often some very large and thick ginseng whiskers, which are also called ding whiskers. This is the easiest to fall off. If it falls off, it can only be sold as whiskers. Of course, the price is not as high as buying ginseng.

Jinghan did not follow along to brush ginseng, but went up the mountain with Wenhan and the others. At this time, there are the most good things on the mountain. Pine cones, hazelnuts, walnuts, these nuts, as well as mountain grapes, schisandra, soft dates and other fruits are all ripe at this time. In addition, hazelnut grinding, winter mushrooms, etc. also come out at this time. Autumn is a harvest season.

The children were like a group of little squirrels, rushing to pull things home. Wen Han and the others also pulled whatever they encountered into the baskets on their backs. Where they came today, there were many pine trees, and the tall red pine trees were covered with yellow pine cones. Wenhan climbed up the tree, holding a big pole in his hand. When he saw the pine cone, he used the pole to poke it down, and then Jinghan and the others picked it up from the ground. Wen Cheng also wanted to climb the tree, but Wen Han wouldn't let him. Wen Cheng is only nine years old this year, how dare you let him climb a tree?

This pine cone was very big, and it didn’t take long to fill up a basket. Fortunately, everyone came with baskets on their backs. When this one is full, we can just put it into other baskets. "Brother, come down, our baskets are full." Jinghan shouted from below.

Wenhan heard this and came down from the tree. He was as light as a monkey. Any child in the countryside can climb a tree, even Jinghan can climb a tree, but Wenhan is determined not to allow Jinghan to climb a tree. Wenhan came down from the tree and picked up the largest basket on his back. "Let's go home first. Send these back and then come out." As he said this, he led his younger brothers and sisters home.

Wencheng and Jinghan's baskets are smaller than Wenhan's, and Wenxuan's and Wenchang's are even smaller. This is all made up by the old man and Zhixin when they have nothing to do. Farmers usually make everything by themselves. Although the things they make are not very beautiful, they can be used.

When the children arrived home, they dumped the things in their baskets on the ground, and then hurried out. At this time, not only do you have to fight with people, but you also have to fight with the sky. The sky may not change one day, and then you will not be able to go up the mountain. Returning to the previous place again, Wenhan climbed up the tree again. The price of these pine nuts is very high. You can make more money by breaking pine cones than doing anything else. Of course, you have to go home to get the pine cones first.

This time, everyone picked up a basket of pine cones again. It was getting late and it was time to go home for lunch. So Wenhan jumped down from the tree, and everyone went home carrying baskets on their backs.

At home, Mrs. Chen and the others also bought a lot of ginseng. Mrs. Xue took the time to cook. When the children came back, everyone stopped and went to eat.

"Grandma, there are a lot of pine cones this year. We have been shooting pine cones these days." Wen Han said to Mrs. Chen during the meal.

"Well, last year pine nuts were sold for fifty cents per catty, which is really a good price. You can get more this year, but be careful, you know? Climbing trees is not fun, so be careful." Chen After hearing this, Shi quickly gave some instructions.

"Hey, don't worry grandma, I will be careful." Wenhan nodded in agreement.

After lunch, the children didn't bother to rest and left again carrying baskets on their backs. Looking at the backs of the children, Mrs. Chen sighed, "They are all good children. They all know how to work when they are still young. There is no one who is tired. That little girl Jinghan is just a tomboy. She follows her all day long. Being behind Wen Han, I am not too tired to panic." Speaking of Jing Han, Chen could only shake his head. "Meilin, this Jinghan is getting older gradually. If nothing happens in the winter, she must be taught how to sew. She can't be like a tomboy, running around all day long. What should we do in the future?"

After hearing what her mother-in-law said, Ms. She’s still young anyway, so it’s not too late to teach her well this winter.”

The ladies were talking, but their hands were not idle either. They used a brush to brush off all the dirt on the ginseng, revealing the white and fat ginseng inside. "Mom, this year's sticks are growing really well. Do you think this one has to be more than two taels? If everyone thinks about this, then one foot is not worth thirty kilograms?"

"As long as you are beautiful, where can you go to such a good place? If you can lift twenty kilograms from one foot, that is very good." Chen said with a smile. "This year's production is good. Based on four pounds of fresh produce and one pound of dry food, we can produce about forty pounds of dry goods this year. This is really a lot. It can be sold for sixty or seventy taels of silver. Our family points to it every year. This year Zhixiang will go to the Autumn Palace, and if he wins, he will also go to the Spring Palace next year, which will cost a lot of money. Huixin is also old, and it’s time to get married. Dr. Tao didn't make it. After a while, he still had to arrange Hui Xin's marriage. If he could make it, it would cost a lot of money. "Living at home is really not enough." Living a living depends on this little money, which is really not enough to do anything.

"Mom, you don't have to worry too much. Whether it's Zhixiang taking the imperial examination or Huixin getting married, we won't care about it. When everything is fine in the winter, let Zhixin go to the town to see if there is any work that can be done. Make some money and come back." Ms. Xue quickly advised her mother-in-law.