Today is Han Huzi's first day at work at Daming Railway Construction Company. He wore work clothes made of newly issued labor cloth and a wicker safety helmet. Carrying a pickaxe, he worked hard to dig the soil on the street.
His ancestors have been Texas farmers for generations. Crops are being planted with the loess facing toward the sky and the sky behind. But in the past two years, there has been no rain at all. Seeing that the seeds planted did not sprout. A year's harvest was ruined.
The whole family had no choice but to escape. On the way out of Texas, he heard someone say that he could find a way to survive in Beizhili. Reservoirs, dams, roads and railways are being built in a big way. There are also many mines recruiting miners and many workshops recruiting workers.
The whole family came to the north. After a few months of wandering around, it turns out that the situation here is indeed better than the surrounding areas. He worked odd jobs to keep his family from starving to death. I have been coming to the south of the capital, and I heard that the capital has been recruiting a lot of people recently.
A month ago, their family came to the outskirts of the capital in ragged clothes. Seeing the scene here, the whole family opened their eyes wide and couldn't believe it. The crops in the fields here have been harvested, and the neatly harvested stubble of wheat seedlings in the fields. It shows that this place has not been affected by drought. The land yielded good harvests.
In some places, cattle are being used to plow the land, and winter wheat will be planted soon. After asking around, I found out that there were no farmers on the land for hundreds of miles around the capital. The land here belongs to the nobles in the capital. The manor is connected to the manor. Some are royal palaces, and some are fiefdoms for princesses and clans.
Some of them are Gonghoubo's farms. Some of it was the land of the civil servants of the current dynasty. There are also a very few estates owned by big businessmen, and these people also have extremely powerful backers. Many people are white gloves for civil servants.
There is no rain in other places, but here there are many machines and fires in the fields. Many tenant farmers are filling in firewood, mainly straw. The machine rumbled and a pole moved up and down. Drive a machine. Pump out groundwater and use it for irrigation.
Seeing an old farmer in tattered clothes pumping water for irrigation, Han Huzi couldn't help but ask, "Brother, what does this pumper do?"
The old farmer knew that he was a refugee who came to Beizhili looking for work. His family also came from Shandong the year before last. Here I work long-term for Chengguo Gong's manor. The whole family can still make a living.
Listening to the familiar accent of my hometown in Shandong. The old man asked Han Huzi and his family to sit down and asked the old woman to bring out several bowls of boiling water. Let the family rest.
Han Huzi's family quickly thanked him. Although society at the end of the Ming Dynasty was already in chaos and bad people were everywhere. However, there are still many kind-hearted people. Along the way, I received a lot of help.
Han Huzi and his wife had three sons, two daughters, and my mother. The three sons are thirteen, eleven and eight years old. One of the two daughters is five years old, and the other is still breastfeeding. Being carried on my wife's back.
"He escaped from Texas, right?" the old man asked.
"Yeah, judging by your accent, you must be from Texas."
"Yes, our family also moved here from Wuqiao Town, Dezhou City, Jinan Prefecture. (During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Wuqiao was under the jurisdiction of Dezhou City.)" The old man was very happy to see the fellow villagers, and continued: "Old woman, put the sweet potatoes roasted in the pit Bring me a basin, this is from our hometown."
Han Huzi didn't know what sweet potatoes were, so he watched the old woman bring a pot of black things in a black pottery pot. Each one was as big as a large lotus root, and they were covered in ashes from the fire in the stove pit.
The old man saw that Han Huzi and his family were afraid to eat, so he smiled and picked up one by himself, his left and right hands constantly flipping. Blow with your mouth to cool it down. I patted down the dust on the outside and broke it off with my hands. Immediately, the golden sweet potato with sugar left in it was broken open.
A sweet smell came out.
Han Huzi's children almost had fire in their eyes, staring closely at the golden and amber honey flowing on the sweet potatoes. They hadn't eaten since last night, so the family planned to share half a piece of wheat bran cake each person in the evening.
The old man smiled and distributed the sweet potatoes to several children. Although it burned my mouth and screamed, I still ate it hungrily.
The old man handed one to Han Huzi, his wife, and his mother. Several people are big
He ate it with big mouthfuls. After finishing the sweet potato, he licked all the honey juice on his fingers.
Han Huzi smiled sheepishly, raised his hands and asked, "Brother, what is this sweet potato for? Why is it so delicious?"
The old man said: "This is a new type of crop brought by Uncle Dingyuan from America. It is drought-resistant and has high yield. It is said that the yield per mu can exceed a thousand kilograms. It is the best thing to use to survive the famine. But no one believed it. Uncle Dingyuan gave it to him Dear nobles, I have given you a batch of seeds. But no one is willing to use good land to plant this. If the yield is not good, wouldn't it be a waste of good land?"
Han Huzi nodded and said, "Yes, no matter how big the landowner is, he would not dare to take good land and plant random things."
"The chief steward of Duke Cheng Guo sent all the sweet potatoes to us. I took some and planted them on the edges of the fields, on ditches, and in the cracks of stones. In the autumn, I saw that some were dead and some were alive. The yield of this thing is indeed very high, one plant weighs more than ten kilograms. However, there must be water, and it cannot survive without rain. Those who plant crops are irrigated next to water. Although I did not water, but By irrigating the ground with water, the soil moisture is not bad."
Han Huzi said: "It would be great if our hometown in Shandong had something like this. We wouldn't have to go out to escape famine. This thing requires very little water. You can even water the ground with a ladle. The yield is so high that it can be enough for a family." I’m full. It’s a pity that Uncle Dingyuan didn’t promote this thing in Shandong.”
The old man said: "I think the harvests around Gyeonggi Province are good this year. Someone will continue to try planting next year. Gradually it will be promoted to other places."
Han Huzi nodded and said, "This is a good thing. Uncle Dingyuan has done a great job by promoting this drought-resistant and high-yielding crop. Brother, I saw you light a fire for this thing, and this thing can draw water out of the ground." .What is this."
The old man said: "What is this thing called? Newcomen's steam engine. There is also that round thing called a water pump, which is specially used for pumping water. This set of things combined can pump water to irrigate more than 500 acres of land a day." . When there was a serious drought some time ago, this thing kept pumping water day and night, watering one side of the more than 7,000 acres of Zhuangzi's land, thoroughly watering it. The wheat in other fields was withered, and only this part of the land was watered. There will be a good harvest of wheat in autumn. I heard that Duke Chengguo’s government has said that it will buy another hundred steam engines next year to turn all the fields into irrigated fields."
Han Huzi asked: "Is this expensive? The farmers can afford it."
