Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

After lunch, Zhixin led the children to where the villagers were digging the soil and told them about blocking ginseng seeds.

"Brother Xu, if it's just such a small thing, do you still need to bring the children over to ask? As for those ginseng seeds, I just let them fall off before. If the children are willing to pick them, then just pick them. How many can't be used? How about a couple of bucks? The kids are going through hardships with you, how about you earn some money to buy something delicious? Brother, I say you don’t need to take too much care of your kids. Smart and sensible, where can I find such a good person?" A tall man over there said with a smile.

"After all, it belongs to the big guys. It's always not good to pick it without asking. Since the big guys don't have any objections, I will let the children go." Zhixin waved his hand and asked. Wenhan led his younger brothers and sisters to pick ginseng seeds.

In one afternoon, everyone pinched another hundred feet, and then Zhiming led everyone to the riverside to wash out the ginseng seeds. Because the ginseng seeds were already ripe, they washed them very quickly. After a while, they returned to the ginseng place carrying the white ginseng seeds.

In the next few days, the children focused on harvesting ginseng seeds, and they were able to harvest more than 200 feet of ginseng seeds in one day. Later, even Jingya and Jingxian went to work. It took everyone a total of eight days to finish everything. All the ginseng seeds were dried out, and there were twice as many ginseng seeds as the ones left at home. Now even the old man was shocked, "Oh, but I didn't expect that these ginseng seeds could be obtained. This If the people in the village find out, why don’t we regret it?”

Mrs. Chen glared at the old man and said, "Do you think this is an easy job? Look, it took seven or eight days for all eight of our children to do it. Who else has the conditions like ours, leaving It’s close, do you still have enough manpower? They just want to be greedy, what if we don’t do it next year?”

Jinghan smiled as she watched her grandparents bickering, knowing that her grandmother felt sorry for them. Jinghan thought to herself, when the sticks come out in autumn, I will let you know the other benefits of seeing ginseng. Then you will be even more glad that you chose to go up the mountain to see ginseng. "Grandpa, can our family get more ginseng soil next year? With these ginseng seeds, we can scatter a lot. Our family should take advantage of this opportunity to plant more ginseng."

After listening to Jinghan's words, the old man lowered his head and thought for a long time before speaking. "Oh, you're right, but if we want more ginseng soil, we have to hand over the hammer. One foot of ginseng soil costs four kilograms, and these ginseng seeds need to be at least ten feet, so our family will There are not many mallets left." The old man felt a little sorry for the mallets he handed over.

Jinghan secretly cursed the court's policy. One acre of land can be cultivated with about sixty-six feet of ginseng, but one foot of ginseng soil requires four pounds of fresh ginseng. These four kilograms of fresh ginseng can be sold for at least one tael of silver. If you think of the price that the Xu family sold for last year, it was more than two taels of silver. This means that one acre of land will cost six, seventy or even one hundred taels of silver. God, is this too cruel? Jinghan secretly vowed to find a way to make money in the future, and then buy a forest to grow ginseng at home. In this way, even if they pay taxes, they will not hand over all the hard work of ginseng farmers to the court like now.

"Grandpa, you have to think this way. When this crop of ginseng seeds grows into sticks, wouldn't it be possible to sell them for a lot more money? We have lived in the mountains in the past few years, and it is very convenient to handle sticks. Why don't we take this opportunity to plant more "Oh, wait a few years, where will we have such an opportunity? We can't just watch it on the mountain for the rest of our lives, right?" Jinghan explained some of the pros and cons to the people in the room.

After hearing what his daughter said, Zhixin couldn't help but nodded, "Dad, Jinghan is right. It seems to be a bit difficult for the time being, but when we get the hammer started, we can sell it for a lot more money. I think this can work, dad "Why don't we listen to Jinghan for a while?" Zhixin looked at the old man.

The old man pondered over and over again, finally made up his mind and nodded. "Okay, let's just fight it out. We've been doing this in a small way for so many years. How can we make big money in this life? In these first two years, we may have to suffer a little. After all, we have a lot of money in our hands. I don’t have much money, so I can save as much as I can.” The old man has been growing ginseng all his life and has never dared to go big. But who of this kind of ginseng doesn't want to have several hundred feet of sticks at home, so that when the goods are shipped in the fall, they will be hauled home in trucks?

When Jinghan heard what grandpa said, she couldn't help but laugh, "Grandpa, where can it be difficult? If nothing else, don't we still have thirty taels of silver for ginseng a year? In addition, I think we will be able to plant ginseng this year. The land is pretty good, and there shouldn’t be much food shortage, so you don’t have to worry too much about food. This year, my eldest brother has been delivering fish and crickets to restaurants in the town, and I can still have six or seven taels left in addition to shopping for groceries in a month. In addition, we are also digging for medicinal materials with my third uncle. We can also collect walnuts and pine seeds in the autumn, so we can still make some money. Isn’t it better in the mountains than in our village? , there are naturally a lot of prey. Grandpa, if you think about it this way, we can still have a lot of money left over a year, right, grandma?" Jinghan told everyone the calculation. .

Mrs. Chen glanced at Jinghan and couldn't help but smile. "You are the only one with a small mouth who has calculated all the family's accounts. Yes, you are right. Our family has really saved some money these days. After selling the stick in autumn, I will first buy the five pieces of the Lin family's money. If you are not a relative or a friend, it is not good to use other people's money for too long. You have to wait for Hui Xin, otherwise our family will not be able to move forward. "

It was getting late, and once everyone saw that the matter was settled, they went back to sleep. Zhixin and Zhiming first went for a walk in the garden, then returned to the newly built house this year and went to sleep.

It's already the end of July, and it's not long before the stick is lifted. At this time, we need to be most careful. Many thieves would come to the ginseng market to steal ginseng at this time. In the past, when Old Liu Tou was looking at ginseng, his stick would be stolen. So the Xu family is particularly concerned about it at this time. Every night, Zhixin, Zhiming, and even the old man, Wenhan, and Wencheng go out for a walk. Fortunately, they have been in the mountains for a long time, and the terrain in the field is very familiar, and they can walk very steadily even if it is dark. The old man and Wenhan were in a group, Zhiming and Wen were in a group, and Zhixin himself was divided into three groups. They took turns walking around. Once they found something happened, they would ring the copper basin. If the family heard it, they would all go out.

Shen Changzi originally had two big dogs, and then Zhixin got two more puppies, and they have grown quite a lot now. These dogs are kept tethered on weekdays, but they are loosed when they go for a walk in the evening. In this way, if there is a problem, these dogs alone can take care of it.

This is the most difficult period for ginseng watchers, and it won't be over until the villagers have taken away the sticks used to make goods.

From the end of July to the beginning of August, it was always sunny, until the fifth day of August, it started to become a little cloudy. The wind picked up in the evening and tended to get stronger, and it started to rain at the beginning of Xu. In this kind of weather, we need to pay more attention. Isn't there an old saying that steals the wind but not the moon, and steals the rain but not the snow? It's windy and rainy outside, which is not the best time for thieves to come out.

The old man was lying on the kang, listening to the noise outside and feeling a little unable to sleep.

"What's wrong with you? You're tossing and turning. If you don't want to get some sleep, you'll have to get up and take a walk soon." Mrs. Chen asked when she heard the old man moving.

"Listen, it's very windy outside. It's the most dangerous weather on a day like this. I can't sleep." The old man said in a low voice.

"Okay, you go get some sleep first. You and Wenhan get up at midnight for a walk. If you don't sleep, you won't have time to sleep." Mrs. Chen advised.

The old man calmed down and slowly fell asleep.

That night, no one in the family dared to sleep, and the men took turns going out for a walk. When going out in this kind of weather, you naturally have to wear a hat and a raincoat. But the wind is very strong. If a person walks in the wind wearing a raincoat, he will be swayed by the wind and fall down if he is not careful. The old man and Wen Han were in a better situation, and the rain was not too heavy. When Zhixin went out in the middle of the night, the wind blew harder and the rain became heavier. Xue was so worried in the house that she did not dare to sleep.

There was a strong wind all night, and it was like a howling ghost. After finally getting to daybreak, the rain stopped and the wind seemed to be lighter. Zhixin hurriedly went out to take a look. In the field, many people's sheds were damaged. Although they were wooden sheds nailed with nails, they could not withstand such strong winds.

Walking in the Shenchang, looking at the mess everywhere, Zhixin felt really scared. This guy, if a board on the shed flies up while walking Chuan'er at night, why should he smash it? After careful inspection, it was found that the ginseng in each household was not lost, and Zhixin felt relieved.

"Dad, don't worry. Even though some ginseng sheds were damaged by the wind, the sticks were not damaged. The wind outside has dropped a lot now, so we have to pay attention today, just in case someone didn't dare to come out last night and took advantage of it during the day. Zhiming and I took Wenhan and the others to take a look. You can just rest at home. You were tired enough last night." Zhixin told the old man about the situation outside. "By the way, it seems that the wind knocked down a lot of trees in the woods outside. When the wind stops, we can take the time to get them back. It would be good to keep them for the fire in the winter."

The old man didn't have a good rest last night and he didn't feel energetic today. "Okay, you can figure it out. I'll take a nap after dinner. I'll watch you go to bed in the afternoon." He was really tired.