The worst time travel, surviving seven years of famine

At the same time, the soybean oil lamp was still lit in the room next door, and under the dim light, Mrs. Wang was soaking Wang's feet. Mrs. Wang raised her head and saw that Steward Wang was squinting his eyes in comfort. She asked worriedly, "I heard that Gu Boxi's family came today." Steward Wang didn't even bother to raise his eyelids and replied, "Yes, who told you that?" Mrs. Wang frowned and then relaxed and said, "Why do you care how I know? They didn't say anything this time, right? They didn't come to cause trouble, did they?" Steward Wang finally stopped squinting his eyes and showed a different look from that in the daytime, like the eyes of a fox that appears at night, showing a shrewd look and said, "What trouble can they cause? What can these country folk see? This... I think he will be grateful to me!"

"But, my husband," Mrs. Wang said worriedly, "Although Gu Boxi is honest and obedient, he is a good laborer. But he is an apprentice after all, and he doesn't want to be paid for his work. If he keeps doing rough work every day, anyone can see the clues."

"That's why I look for country people. They have no knowledge and no backing, so they are the easiest to control. They don't even look at themselves. They want to learn skills. Even if they know, what can they do? If they offend me, where can they find such a good place as the Guanjia Kiln Factory to learn skills?" Manager Wang pinched his beard and said with a sly smile.

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang also smiled and said, "My husband is right. But I think it's better to let him learn how to make clay, and continue to do the work of picking up clay and making mud at other times. In this way, he is learning the craft on the surface, but in fact, he can at least work for us for free for five or six years."

Manager Wang was thinking at this time: "My nephews and grandchildren are learning in this factory, and there are also relatives from my wife's side. How can it be the turn of Gu Boxi, a beast of burden, to learn the craft."

"What the lady said is right, let's do as the lady says."

"My husband, my nephew has been an apprentice for a month."

"I understand. In two days, I will transfer him from the mud mixing to make clay. You should also know that we have to follow the rules here. When you first start learning the craft, you must start with making mud."

"Thank you very much, my husband. It's worth our marriage." Although Mrs. Wang is nearly 40 years old, she looks gentle under the light.

Blow out the lights……………………

At dawn, Gu Liang was woken up by Old Man Gu. They had to go back early because there was still a lot of work waiting for them.

At this time, Gu Boxi had already gone to work. Before leaving, Old Man Gu went to Gu Boxi's bed and asked Gu Liang to secretly put a small string of copper coins under his pillow.

Gu Liang also felt sorry for his uncle, who left home to learn skills at a young age, and secretly put a bag of sugar under his pillow.

On the way back, Gu Liang still couldn't eat the vegetarian noodles sold in ancient times because of Old Lady Gu's frugality.

The two of them had the old coarse noodles left over from yesterday as breakfast and returned to Lanxi Village without stopping.

Around the Qingming Festival, melons and beans are planted.

Farmers have reached the busiest season at this time. After working in the paddy fields, they will be busy in the dry fields.

Gu Liang's dry fields are used to grow rapeseed and make rapeseed oil in winter. In summer, grains such as sorghum, buckwheat, and beans are used to adjust the taste.

Gu Liang's dry land only has two acres of land, so in addition to rice, other daily crops are basically produced from this field, including the oil needed for a year.

Rapeseed must be harvested before it is fully ripe. If it is ripe, the rapeseed will fall off when it is touched during harvesting, and a year's hard work will be wasted.

The old and young of the Gu family joined the battle. The women cut the rapeseed stalks with sickles and hatchets. The children like Gu Liang collected the cut rapeseed together, and then one person tied it up and transported it back home to dry.

At this moment, the men of the Gu family have more important things to do. They are responsible for weeding and hoeing. The women harvested in front, and the men pulled out the remaining rapeseed roots in the back, and at the same time removed the weeds that grew in the spring by hand. After the weeds were removed, the soil must be loosened immediately to prepare for planting other crops.

Farmers' land is never idle. They rotate crops all year round. After harvesting rapeseed, they start planting beans and sorghum.

The land is leveled and dug into neat little holes. Children put three or four seeds in each hole, bury fertilizer, cover with thin soil, and water it, and then wait for life to sprout.

Everyone is working hard. Although two acres of dry land is not much, it needs more refined management to have a better harvest.

In ancient times, farmers were self-sufficient. In addition to daily rations, they also had to grow other grains and vegetables by themselves. The more they planted, the more troublesome it was to take care of them.

For the same area, the effort required to plant ten crops is not equal to that of planting one crop. It is necessary to consider which crops like the sun, which are drought-resistant, and which poor soils can also produce harvests. All of the above often require a lifetime of learning. Even for rural veterans, there are cases where the actual harvest is not returned.

From harvesting rapeseed to weeding and hoeing, to ridge planting, Gu Liang's six adults and four children also worked from morning till night for five or six days before they finished. After finishing, they also needed to prevent birds from stealing seeds and wild animals from trampling on them, and often people had to watch over them in the fields.

After five or six days, the rapeseed brought home had dried thoroughly, and the oil pods burst open when touched, so they could start threshing. A layer of bamboo mat was laid on the ground, and the rape stalks were spread flat on it. The flail was used to continuously flip and swing, and the rape seeds fell one by one.

Gu Liang had a total of two mu of rapeseed. In the end, the dried rapeseed harvested was a little more than 200 kilograms. Judging from the fact that it was not heavy after weighing by old lady Gu, this harvest was already a bumper harvest. (Reference: "Rapeseed Production and Multiple Benefits in Jiangnan Region in Ming and Qing Dynasties")

If the dried rapeseed is to be pressed for oil, it must be sent to the oil mill in the village. This season is the peak season for oil pressing, and every household is waiting for this year's new oil. Gu Liang started queuing in the early morning, and it was not until the early morning that it was their turn.

The dried rapeseed is shiny black. First, put the rapeseed in the pot and stir-fry it. When the rapeseed emits a strong oily fragrance and bursts in the pot, it can be fished out. The rapeseed that has been fished out needs to be crushed on a sieve to make it easier to produce oil. After crushing, it cannot be pressed directly. It must be steamed. After steaming, it is packaged in molds and stacked up like a big pancake. Only in this way can the last step be carried out - pressing. The huge hardwood hits a huge machine. Every time it hits, it requires the strength of all the Gu family members to lift the wood pile, and then hit it forward with all their strength. The dull sound of the collision stimulates everyone's heart.

I don't know how many times it hit, and finally, a little yellow-black oily liquid began to drip, which also brought joy to everyone's face.

Gu Liang was dazed watching from the side. For him who has experienced the busy farming season in the past few days, this drop of viscous oil is like the heart blood squeezed out by the Gu family, and it seems to be exchanged for a body of sweat.

The night is getting deeper and deeper. Gu Liang has been coughing so hard that he can't stop. In the end, Gu Liang is so sleepy that he only knows that he woke up in his bed at home the next day.

The Gu family worked all night and squeezed out more than 80 kilograms of oil, less than 100 kilograms. This is the cooking oil consumed by the Gu family, excluding the third uncle Gu Boxi, for a total of ten people in a year. On average, they consume six catties of oil per month, and only half a catty of oil per person per month. In modern times, a portion of boiled fish requires four ounces of oil.

Is it really better?

(This chapter is too difficult. It is actually pieced together. I want to write something dark, but I dare not write too much. After all, farming stories should be beautiful little sweet stories. Sorry)

(Because although it is a fictional story, it mainly refers to the price system and crops between the Song and Ming dynasties. Vegetables such as peanuts, peppers, and tomatoes are not available. The most important thing is that there are no corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. If there are these drought-resistant and flood-resistant crops, most parts of China can achieve high yields, and floods and droughts will not pose much of a threat. I will try my best to fit the facts as much as possible.)