Although there is the idea of retaining the technical backbone and retaining a professional construction team, the time is obviously not mature at present. After the celebration, the army returned to their respective residences in Hanzhong and Xianyang counties. Those prisoners with long remaining sentences must first use the titles they earned to redeem their sentences. Those whose sentences are about to expire are struggling with whether to return the title to reduce their sentence, or to survive the sentence and keep the title for later use.
Zhang Lu and his party returned to their home in Huaili, Qiuqiu. After the group left, only Xiaonu and Wuwang were left at home. Wuwang was a self-taught man, and he fully utilized all the provisions of the Qin Code for the development of agricultural production. He also developed his own hard-working spirit and took care of all 300 acres of wasteland by himself. Xiaonu cooks at home. When Wuwang leaves early and returns late, Xiaonu prepares the rice and delivers it to the field in person.
Zhang Lu and the others have been out since mid-October, and now the summer is over, the autumn wind is picking up, and it's the harvest season. It can be said that they came back at just the right time. Harvesting grains in the fields is completely manual work. With a few more grown men, a year's hard work has paid off.
It was about noon when Zheng Anping came back. The children in the village saw it and dispersed, each going home to report the news. There were also children who consciously ran to the field to report the news to Wuwang. Wu Wang, who was harvesting in the field, was so happy when he received the news that Zheng Anping was back, he put down his work and went straight home; while the slave cooked millet porridge and prepared salt and plums early.
There was not much fried millet left in the dry food bags of Zheng Anping and others. The fried millet tastes great when you first eat it, but you get bored after eating it for a long time. Now when you get home and drink the ordinary millet porridge, the extra sweetness fills your chest, and even the little slave looks extremely sweet!
Xiaonu and Wuwang got up early and had breakfast, and now they were sitting next to them watching them eating and drinking, which made them feel very happy.
While Zhang Lu was eating, he asked what had happened in the countryside during the past few days. Wuwang told him that there were two people in the house, whose names they could not tell, who got into a fight for some reason. They were both arrested, shaved off their beards, and sent to the county to build a city. I also heard that someone beat his wife because she was unruly and had his beard shaved off! But he was not punished to build the city... He went on to talk about several incidents in which people from the surrounding countryside were punished for committing crimes. Zheng Anping said: "How do you know the details?"
Wuwang said: "But if there is an offender, the local husband will call the village to announce it, so he knows about it!"
Zheng Anping said: "Three hundred fields, how can you prepare them for cultivation?"
Wu Wang said: "How can we be unprepared? In the spring, I went to the countryside to lend seeds, and they were all full of big seeds. The loan was for a certain amount, and it was not allowed to be more than it was, and it was not allowed to be too small. You must get the right amount. Use fire to burn the wasteland, and then borrow the official oxen and iron to work. With plowing and plowing, we cleared three hundred acres in just a few days. We planted the seeds again and watered them. The seedlings were very strong, and they were actually quite large. I cut them, and when I heard that my father was coming, I returned home. My father rested for a while, You can explore it.
Everyone was happy to see Wuwang talking with joy. They finished the porridge hungrily and followed Wuwang to the fields: The millet sure grew strong! There are already a few ridges cut by Wuwang in the field, and they are all lying across the field. Zheng Anping got excited, took off his clothes and went to the fields to harvest. Wuwang said: "I didn't know that my father was coming, but I just used a sickle. My father can go to Qiu Shifu and use another sickle."
Zheng Anping said: "You reuse oxen, plows, sickles, and seeds again. How can you pay for it?"
Wuwang said: "The oxen, plows, and sickles are all free of charge. If you sow, you will take ten and five of them. Every mu of millet is a dou, and a loan of thirty shi will be given to three hundred acres. It will not increase or decrease, but it will be the same. It will be paid at the end of the year." Forty-five stone."
Zheng Anping looked at the growth of millet grains around him. He saw that the grain harvest per mu was more than three shi, and 300 acres would probably yield nearly a thousand shi. Forty-five dan is still a great deal!
Except for Zheng Anping, Mang Wei is a noble son and is not good at farm work; Chen Si is good at martial arts, although he has worked in the fields, he is not very good at it; Zhang Lu is disabled and cannot go to the fields at all. Zheng Anping asked Mang Wei to borrow a sickle from Qiuli, and he, Chen Si, and Gai Nie collected the millet together, tied it with straw, and carried it home with a pole.
Several people tried it, but Chen Si and Gai Nie could barely carry a load and couldn't tie knots at all. Ge Nie tried to tie the bundle, but his hands were pricked and they bled. So the work was divided: Wuwang harvested in the field, Zheng Anping moved the cut millet to the field and tied it up, and Gai Nie and Chen Si went back and forth to pick it up at home. With the addition of labor, the harvest speed was significantly accelerated.
There are not many acres of fields in the west of Fengshui, but there are acres of fields in the east of Fengshui, and farmers in the countryside are harvesting in the fields everywhere. When they see Zheng Anping come back, no matter whether they are familiar with him or not, they will come up to say hello and ask, "Is the service finished?" They think that this family has been conscripted to serve in the country - in fact, it is almost the same! Zheng Anping cupped his fists and raised his hands, saluting one by one, thanking the villagers for their care!
In the evening, Mang Wei borrowed the sickle. Zhang Lu had nothing to do, so he went with him. Qiu Shifu was relatively well-informed and already knew that Zhang Lu and others were about to be promoted to nobility, so he smiled and congratulated them in advance. Also asked if we want to expand our residence? Zhang Lu said that the title has not been finalized yet and will wait until the documents arrive. Qiu Shifu said: "It's a routine matter! How can we be inaccurate?"
Zhang Lu said: "Thank you for your good advice, if it is accurate!" Qiu Shifu picked out a new sickle and handed it over, saying: "This sickle has just been struck and has a sharp edge. Please be careful with it!" Zhang Lu said. Lu et al expressed their thanks.
When I got home, the people who were busy in the fields were back, and the slave had already cooked dinner. Chen Si tried the newly borrowed sickle, and it was indeed extremely sharp: when the knife struck the grain stack, all the ground was broken. Everyone has their own dinner. After the meal, everyone went to hang out in the front yard. People from the village came to ask what happened. Gai Nie happily explained to them the thrills and beautiful scenery on the road. They could not feel the difficulty of the construction and the hardships on the construction site at all. It was like going on a trip, which made everyone feel itchy and wished they could go too!
There are two sickles, and the speed of harvesting is increased. At first, Zheng Anping was not used to using the iron sickle and even made several cuts on himself. After walking down the field, I became familiar with the performance of the sickle. In addition, it was a new sickle, and the sharpness was different from the old sickle, so I gradually kept up with Wu Wang's progress.
During the harvest, Zheng Anping asked Wu Wang if he had 500 acres of land, could he still cultivate it? Wu Wang hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "It's necessary!" He also said with some regret and a little wistfully: "If my family were in Qin, and the fields could be cultivated, and there were oxen, plows, and sickles, how could we not be prosperous! There are few people in Wei. Tian, Qin has a young man named Tian, so how can it be difficult to conquer it?"
Zheng Anping said: "If there are people there, why worry about not having land!"
Wuwang suddenly said: "What father has nowhere to go?"
Zheng Anping was a little embarrassed and confused and said: "Although we farm diligently, we can't do anything!"
Wu Wang said: "My mistress once raised Gai Nie, how could she have no life? If not, she might be a concubine."
Zheng Anping said: "All the five men in my family should be married. I will marry you this year. What can I do?"
Wuwang was a little shy and said, "I don't know Qin Yin well. What would I do if I got Qin's daughter?"
Zheng Anping said: "There is no need to worry. But if you have children, it doesn't matter what Qin's voice is or Zheng's voice."
Wuwang was a little hesitant, but he seemed to be willing.
Zheng Anping said: "Fourth brother Chen, and even brother Wuwei, should also marry!" He thought that he had just arrived in Qin not long ago and had few relatives. If he had a few relatives, he would have relatives. He even thought, should Zhang Lu also get married?
The day after Zhang Lu returned home, he began to go to court every day. Mang Wei drove him to Zhangtai Palace every day. Chen Sigu was on the right side of the car and accompanied him as a guard. He no longer needed Qin guards to accompany him. Zheng Anping and Wu Wang stayed at home and were busy with farm work, while Gai Nie was responsible for delivering the goods home. After going to court, Chen Si will also come to help.
About ten days later, the harvest of millet in the field is completed, and it is time to dry and thresh the grains. There is a big stone mill inside, and each family in the house takes turns using it.
On this day, Qiu Shifu came to his home and announced the good news to everyone: Ke Wuwei was promoted to a noble family, Chen Sijue was not changed, and Zheng Anping was promoted to a doctor. Qiu Shifu was very envious and said: "You guys have achieved great success, and if you have something to do, I am willing to support you!"
Zheng Anping said: "It's not far away, so there should be an order."
As soon as the title came up, the marriage proposals also came to the door. The Chen family lived in the suburbs of Chen, and Mang Wei went under the pseudonym Wuwei, hiding his name. Marriage was not done by the family, only Zhang Lu asked someone to perform divination. In the end, the daughter of Qiu Shifu's family and the daughter of Li Shifu's family were married respectively. The betrothal was given to Chen Si and Wuwei, but they could get married after both parties had prepared the bride price and dowry.
Two nobles and a doctor appeared in the room, causing a sensation immediately. Zheng Anping and Li Shifu discussed and decided to treat everyone in the village to an extra meal of thick millet porridge in the square in front of them to celebrate the harvest and worship the country. Qiu Shifu also attended, and it was a lively meal.
When it was time for the grain to be put into warehouses, handed over and harvested, each family began to build new homes for Wuwei and Chen Si. Originally, it was planned to be expanded for Zheng Anping, but Zheng Anping refused to expand because he had just arrived and the population was not as large as before. He only said that Wuwei and Chen Si were his guests, and if he built it for them, he would build it for himself. After working hard in the countryside, Very uneasy.
When Zheng Anping built his house, they were all studying Qin laws and did not participate in labor. This time, they all participated in building the house. The beams and rafters were brought from the county, and everyone worked together to build the two houses in more than a month. This time, among the three of them, Chen Si's house was the tallest, because he did not live in the house, while Mang Wei and Zheng Anping still lived in houses with hairpins.
And the sweet trouble that followed was to share the land. Mangwei had 300 acres, Chen had 400 acres, and Zheng Anping expanded it to 500 acres. The total of the three of them was 1,200 acres. No matter what, they could only rely on 500 acres. People can't take care of it. Under Zhang Lu's advice, Mang Wei and Chen Si both took over mature fields and farmed them as tenants. They could only get 30% of the harvest and had to pay 10% of the land rent. In fact, they only had six bushels of grain per mu. Fortunately, the fields are vast, and one or two hundred shi of grain per year is enough to support a family of five. Even if the two of them marry, there will only be two people for the time being. Only Zheng Anping expanded 200 acres of wasteland around the original farmland, which Wuwang strongly requested.
