When Xu He heard this, he couldn't help but be surprised.
It is said that "spring silkworms will not run out of silk until they die". It is already late autumn, why are there still silkworms? I'm afraid I heard it wrong?
But when Magistrate Hou heard this, his expression suddenly changed, and he cupped his hands to Xu He and said, "Mr. Xie Yuan, I will ask someone to take you to rest first. If there is something at home, I will come as soon as I can."
Xu He came here with the purpose of reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles. How could he miss this opportunity?
So he asked: "Mr. Hou, what I heard just now was silkworms?"
Hou Zhixian nodded and said worriedly: "That's right!"
Xu He frowned and asked: "Isn't silkworm raising done in spring? You also raise silkworms in Huzhou in autumn?"
County magistrate Hou said: "Gong Xie Yuan didn't know that apart from writing brushes, silk is the most famous in Huzhou. A long time ago, the ancients raised silkworms not only in spring. Huzhou not only has autumn silkworms, but also eastern silkworms."
So magical?
Xu He's eyes lit up and he said: "I'm ashamed, my junior's knowledge is so shallow that I made the old gentleman laugh. I wonder if I can accompany the old gentleman to see it?"
The county magistrate Hou was very surprised when he heard this. He was an official magistrate of the county and took care of his family affairs after returning to his hometown, so he put down the book.
But what he didn't expect was that a sixteen-year-old reading genius would also be interested in these things.
He originally invited Xu He to come to Nanxun for the purpose of making good friends with Xu He, so naturally he would not refuse Xu He.
After people brought Hou Zhixian and Xu He to the silkworm room, Xu He was surprised to find that the Hou family was indeed a wealthy family in Nanxun. There were dozens of pieces of paper in this small silkworm room, and he heard on the way that, The Hou family has dozens of such silkworm rooms.
And along the way, Magistrate Hou also taught Xu He a lot about autumn silkworms, which was an eye-opener for Xu He.
For example, why do people hear most about spring silkworms instead of autumn silkworms?
Because the mulberry leaves are the freshest in spring, the sunlight and temperature are also most suitable for the growth of silkworms. After the ice and snow cover in winter, there are not so many diseases, so relatively speaking, the growth environment of silkworms is much better than in other seasons.
Therefore, spring silkworms are widely known.
In summer, pests and diseases breed seriously, and silkworms are delicate and prone to illness, so silkworms cannot be raised in summer.
But in autumn, the weather gradually turns cooler, and the temperature reaches the time when silkworms are most comfortable. After a period of cultivation on the mulberry trees, the mulberry leaves have also accumulated to a certain extent. Although compared to the mulberry leaves in spring, they are not as delicious, but It's enough anyway.
Therefore, people will rush to use the last crop of mulberry leaves to breed a wave of silkworms before the mulberry trees enter winter.
So what is a worm?
This Xu He does know a little bit about it. There is a saying about "national raccoon dog and worm" in "Erya".
To put it bluntly, a worm is a kind of fly. This thing likes to lay eggs in the body of cicada pupae. The eggs turn into maggots, commonly known as worms.
As soon as they entered the silkworm room, the magistrate of Hou County called the woman who managed the silkworm room and said, "What's the matter with you? Autumn silkworms are most afraid of worms. I already told you in the courtyard in the summer. I also specifically said that you must use paper." Paste the windows to avoid flies and block out the traffic..."
Having said this, he glared at the woman and asked, "Did you not close the doors and windows tightly when you came in and out?"
The woman was a servant hired by the Hou family. When she heard this, she was so frightened that she knelt down and said, "Master, it's not that I'm not careful. It's just that one day when I entered the house earlier, I found that a corner of the window paper had been pierced. It was at that time that we were hit by worms! And I even told the housekeeper about it at that time."
After hearing this, Zhixian Hou thought about it, and he really remembered that such a thing happened.
But he didn't treat it as a big deal at the time, and just asked the people below to patch up the window paper.
But I never thought that this careless move would lead to such a big mistake.
Seeing the silkworms in the silkworm tray, each and every one of them was miserable and could not survive, he felt distressed and depressed.
Seeing this, Xu He asked the woman, "Apart from your room, does this happen elsewhere?"
The woman trembled and said, "Yes, more than twenty silkworm houses are infested with worms!"
"More than twenty rooms?" Hou Zhixian's voice suddenly became shrill. He no longer cared about Xu He's presence and hurried to check.
The last information we got was that more than 20 silkworm houses had damaged window paper.
However, the damage to the window paper did not seem to be man-made, and the people below thought that if it was damaged, insects might not fly in, so they kept it secret and did not report it.
Hearing this, Magistrate Hou was furious and called the servants to punish the servants.
Seeing this, Xu He quickly stopped him.
After all, Houzhi County gave him face, but he still felt unhappy, and his smile felt too forced.
Xu He looked at this situation and realized that someone did it on purpose.
So he asked the county magistrate: "Did the old gentleman offend someone in his house?"
Hou Zhixian spread his hands and said: "I am an official who has become an official. I don't fight lawsuits on weekdays. Apart from tending the fields and supervising my grandson's studies, I basically don't care about anything else. How can I have an enemy?"
Xu He said nothing more because he didn't know the situation.
At this time, Hou Zhixian called the housekeeper, scolded him, and finally told him: "Hurry up and ask for the silkworm doctor in Xizhuang!"
The so-called silkworm doctor is a veterinarian who specializes in treating silkworms. There is a silkworm doctor in Xujia Village. Although he does not farm, his life is more comfortable than that of ordinary small landowners. In the spring, who has problems raising silkworms? You have to invite him to work for a season and eat for a year!
After Hou Zhixian finished speaking, the housekeeper said with a bitter face: "Doctor Qin in Xizhuang is very arrogant. You have to go and invite me personally every time and spend a lot of money to come. I go and he doesn't buy it!"
When Hou Zhixian heard this, his heart ached, and he had to spend money again.
But it’s not enough if the money is not spent. The autumn silkworms in the twenty or so rooms are already useless. If other rooms are not prevented, if they are infected, it will be too late to regret it.
"Prepare the car and collect the money from the accounting room! Let's leave quickly!" Hou Zhixian anxiously ordered the housekeeper.
After saying that, he turned to Xu He and said: "Jie Yuangong, look, look, I..."
Xu He said: "Old sir, don't worry, I just have nothing to do, I will go with you."
"How can there be such a reason?" Hou Zhixian was startled, "How can we let Mr. Xie Yuang work with the old man!"
Xu He smiled: "It doesn't matter, I just gained a lot of experience."
Hou Zhixian felt that this Xie Yuangong was really weird. How could any scholar be interested in these things?
But since the guest had spoken, he had nothing to say. When the carriage arrived, he invited Xu He to get on the carriage and rush to Xizhuang.
Xu He was still asking for advice on the way: "Doctor Qin's methods are really so good?"
Hou Zhixian nodded and said: "Other families have no cure for the same silkworm disease, but I saw with my own eyes that he took mulberry leaves that were about to die, ground them into flour, added something unknown, and killed the silkworms in one fell swoop. The fever was cured, and he is very famous in our local area."
Xu He said doubtfully: "This Dr. Silkworm's arrogance is a bit too big. How can the master personally invite him? Not even the housekeeper can do it."
When Houzhi County heard this, he was even more angry: "This man is so weird. If the poor beg him, he will come to the door to cure silkworm diseases for free. For people like us who have a little money in the family, if we don't bring the money to the door in person, he will ignore it." !”
"..." Xu He became even more curious about Dr. Silkworm, "I didn't expect him to be a cynical veterinarian, which is quite interesting!"
