Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

Jinghan and Zixuan spent an unforgettable night here, and even experienced the enthusiasm of the shepherd.

At night, everyone set up a fire in an open space outside. Everyone drank kumiss, ate hand-caught mutton, and then listened to the melodious melody of the morin fiddle, while enthusiastic girls and boys danced around the fire.

Zixuan was handsome and Jinghan was charming, which made the big girls and young boys among the herdsmen come to invite them to dance. The two people couldn't help everyone's enthusiasm and started dancing with them, holding hands. People sang and danced until midnight.

Everyone arranged a separate felt tent for Zixuan and Jinghan. It was the first time for the couple to live in such a felt tent, which was a novel experience. The two of them were a little tired after riding horses this day and dancing just now. Naturally, they stopped making trouble and fell asleep hugging each other until dawn.

The next morning, Zixuan and Jinghan had breakfast and were about to go back. These enthusiastic herdsmen repeatedly tried to persuade them to stay, but Zixuan was busy with official duties and could not stay out for too long, so he had no choice but to say goodbye to everyone. Batu and the elders of this small tribe kept inviting Zixuan and his wife to come back when they had time.

Jinghan had prepared things when she came, and now she ordered Anfu to distribute the things she brought to everyone. What they brought was naturally not gold and silver, but some brocade. For these herdsmen, the beautiful brocades from the Central Plains were something only nobles could afford. The hostess Wu Ya touched the smooth and gorgeous silk on her hands, excited and didn't know what to do.

Jinghan looked at her and took off an emerald bracelet from her wrist, "Sister Wuya, we hit it off right away, and I don't have anything to give you. You can keep this bracelet as a thought until later. I’ll come see you again when I have the chance.”

The bracelet is green and clear, and it looks like it's not ordinary at first glance. "The brocade given by Madam is already the best gift. This Wuya cannot accept it."

Jinghan forced the bracelet to Wu Ya, "Sister, we also have rules. If people don't accept the things I give away, they will look down on me." Jinghan liked the innocence and simplicity of these people, so she said this.

Wuya had no choice but to accept it, and then thanked her profusely.

Zixuan helped Jinghan get on the horse, and then got on the horse himself, "Thank you all for your warm hospitality. I will be a guest again when I have time someday." After saying that, Zixuan hit the horse and walked back all the way.

The herdsmen waved in the direction Zixuan and the others were walking until they were no longer visible. Then they each held the brocade given by Jinghan and went home happily.

Zixuan and Jinghan walked all the way to the county and returned to the county government office in the afternoon. Ruyu and others were very happy to see Jinghan. "Madam, you are back. We are still worried. It looks like it will rain today."

Jinghan raised her head and looked at the sky. It was indeed gloomy, and it looked like it would rain at night. "Okay, hurry up and prepare some food. We just ate some dry food on the way and have an early dinner later." Jinghan was quite satisfied with these girls. "Ruxue, go get me some hot water. I want to take a shower. I haven't taken a shower in two days and I feel uncomfortable." The key is that I was on a horse all the way and I was very dirty.

Ruyu hurried to the kitchen and told the women about having dinner in advance. When the women heard this, they immediately started cooking. Ruxue and Rumei quickly got hot water and asked Jinghan to wash it.

After Jinghan finished taking a shower and changed clothes, the meal in the kitchen was ready. Just as Zixuan came back from the front, the two of them had dinner together. "How was it? Did you gain anything from going out this time?" Zixuan asked with a smile as he looked at Jinghan who was dressed freshly.

Jinghan tilted her head, "How should I put it? Anyway, I think the life of these herdsmen looks pretty good. But it may be because we went there. When people entertain guests, they always have to bring out some good things. I I feel that the grassland is really big, but there are too few herders, and they have not taken advantage of the grassland at all. Furthermore, their use of wool is too simple, and a lot of things can be done about this. . I think we can start from this point, let the herdsmen expand the number of livestock, and then find a good market for them. "

"Also, Sister Wu Ya said, the beef they raised is very delicious and grows quickly. But since this place returned to the imperial court, the imperial court has issued a decree prohibiting the killing of cattle, so they did not dare to raise so many cattle. Cow. I wonder if you can tell the court that this kind of cow is not the cattle we usually use. It is a kind of cattle for meat. If it can be raised on a large scale, it can at least be put on the table. It’s more cost-effective to have more meat and raise cattle without feeding grain.” Jinghan told Zixuan what she could think of.

"As for what happens next, there are still many things that can be improved. In addition, I also plan to go to various places to take a look. Some of them just feel unclear to me just by listening to what others say." Jinghan still feels that she has seen it with her own eyes. Able to make accurate judgments.

"That's no problem. When I take a rest, I'll take you out for a look. If you want to go out on weekdays, just let Anfu accompany you. It's just hard on you." Zixuan looked at Jinghan's beautiful face and said, My heart is infinitely satisfied.

"It's okay, I can still do this. Letting the people live a good life is definitely not something that can be achieved overnight. You must persist to the end. The emperor wants you to stay here for a few more years, and we will slowly Come on." Jinghan likes this feeling. She actually just likes the process of making money. This is a challenge for her.

After the two of them finished eating, the girls put away all the food, and then the couple each took a book and read there. It was late at night before the two of them took a rest. The two of them were resting outside last night and couldn't be together. Tonight Zixuan got into the mood and pestered Jinghan to make out with her.

The two of them were newly married, and they were both young and full of energy. How could they endure it for so long? Jinghan naturally likes the feeling of being with Zixuan, so she is very cooperative. The two of them tossed around until midnight before falling into a deep sleep.

In the following days, Jinghan became busy. I would go out for a walk every now and then, and I would let Anfu accompany me wherever it was convenient. If we go further, we can wait until Zixuan takes a rest, and the two of them will be together.

After traveling almost throughout the entire county, Jinghan discovered a new problem. Although the population here is not too large, the food production is still quite high. In the central plains, almost every household has hundreds of acres of land. But there is a problem, that is, these lands are of no great use except for food at home. At most, they just exchanged it for some things, but the food couldn't be sold.

Later, I gradually found out that this was the place where Bei Yuan Guo belonged. Although the imperial court has taken over this place, some nearby places have an instinctive fear and disgust for the people here and are unwilling to do business with them. Therefore, even if people grow a lot of food, they cannot turn it into money. In many places barter is still used, and money is actually something that rarely appears. This phenomenon is not too obvious in the county town, but in rural areas a little further away, people rarely see copper coins.

This discovery made Jinghan a little angry, but also a little relieved. Since the food production was good, there was no need to worry about not having enough food to eat when there were more people in the future. But if we produce too much food, we have to find ways to consume it. Building a winery became Jinghan’s first choice.

So Jinghan and others found a place in the upper reaches of the Taoer River and began to build a winery. At this time of year, there are still a few days before the autumn harvest, so it is relatively easy to find them manually. As soon as people heard that they could get paid for coming to work, a lot of people came at once.

The winery was built relatively smoothly, and it took about ten days to cover the entire frame. People were about to harvest in the autumn next, so Jinghan temporarily stopped the winery project, and instead asked people to spread the word that they would purchase grain this year. Now, people are happy. In the past, they worried about taking out food because they couldn't sell it. Now the magistrate sent people to collect grain, and many people hurriedly collected the new grain, and then took it out after processing it. Jinghan learned that each family might still have some old grain from last year, so she asked people to collect the good old grain from each house that was not moldy first. Now, people were even happier. Many people kept food for their families next year, and the rest was sent to the place where grain was collected.

It just so happened that the imperial court's decree also came down, and it was agreed not to collect any taxes from here within two years, so that the people here could rest and recuperate. This was very good news, and people rushed to tell each other. For a while, the people were very grateful to the new magistrate.

By the time the autumn harvest is over, Jinghan has harvested over 100,000 kilograms of grain, and it is imminent to start work on the winery. It happened that the farmers had collected all the grain, and some had sold out all the grain, so it was time for them to be idle. Jinghan posted a notice saying that the winery was looking for workers, and they would only work for half a year. Work would stop before planting next year, so as not to delay farmers from planting. Now, there are many people coming to work. Anfu was the best at this and selected a hundred strong young men to stay in the winery to work. He also said that whoever does well can be promoted to a manager, and then even if he does not come to work during busy farming periods, he will still be able to receive wages. Now, these young men are working hard.

On the other hand, Jinghan also wrote a letter asking the Xu family to prepare 5,000 duck eggs and 5,000 goose eggs for her next spring. What are those swamps and wetlands left for? Of course, you have to raise ducks and geese quickly. The sooner you raise ducks and geese, the sooner you make money, right?