On the second day of the first lunar month, the headman called to the workers not to rest. In previous winters, there was nothing to do. The women would darn and the men would tidy up the yard.
Not this year. How can I be idle when I eat so well?
Everyone brought fried rice, water bags, shovels, and sacks, and drove their animals and cars to dig soil to the north.
They had dug back a lot of peat years ago and piled it on the wasteland north of the village.
The number of carriages is insufficient, so continue to build them.
Zhu Wentian doesn't do physical work. He takes his friends to feed bamboo rats, sheep, five unkilled pigs, ducks and chickens.
“One plus one makes two, one plus two makes three, one plus three makes four…”
Zhu Wentian began to teach the children addition formulas. He memorized them first, then taught subtraction, and then multiplication. Division was not used.
The friends followed and learned it as a game.
While the children were feeding and reciting things, Zhu Wentian found dried bamboo and made calculations while watching the children.
Beginners to arithmetic cannot think in the same way as those who have studied arithmetic for many years. They have to do it bit by bit.
Unless you meet a genius, like yourself.
***
In this case, one month passed and it was February.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the village is busy. If you have money, you can be busy every day.
The friends competed with each other and finally memorized the addition, subtraction and multiplication formulas.
People in the village have long known it. When children come back to recite it, when asked, they will say that Brother Hanhan taught it.
People don't ask the village guards and pretend they don't know.
"Brother Hanhan, the bamboo shoots have come out, shall we go dig them?"
After feeding the bamboo rats, the little girl came to Zhu Wentian.
"Okay! Hehe!" Zhu Wentian nodded.
A group of people ran to the bamboo forest to look for bamboo shoots. The bamboo shoots had just sprouted and were still tender.
"Brother Hanhan, when the weather gets warmer, there are mushrooms in the bamboo forest, and a salesman will come to collect them. The price is not low!"
The little girl dug out a bamboo shoot, put it in the basket, and talked about making money.
"Mushroom?" Zhu Wentian forgot to act stupid for a moment.
"It looks like an umbrella, with a hole and a black top." The little girl introduced it with gestures.
"Okay! Hehehe! The mushrooms are good!" Zhu Wentian was happy, as long as someone takes them.
He originally thought that bamboo fungus would be valuable only in the Qing Dynasty, but he did not expect that in the early Ming Dynasty, someone would collect it and sell it.
There are not many wild bamboo fungus, but it doesn’t matter, we can plant it.
A large piece of one kind, where can I go to explain it?
***
The weather is getting warmer, and it’s time to plant vegetables in the village.
The former cotton fields and ramie fields are now filled with manure, and more livestock are raised, so the amount of farmyard manure increases accordingly.
This year we plan to plant all the ramie land into cotton and harvest the cotton so that we can weave cloth and make clothes.
Next month, we will plant cotton first, use the good land left to raise rice seedlings, then harvest rapeseed and ramie, and quickly plant rice.
As time went by, more and more bamboo shoots appeared. Zhu Wentian had no intention of preserving the bamboo shoots for a long time. He did not have a refrigerator.
He began to teach children to write number symbols, one, two, three, four, five, six...
At this time, it was used for accounting in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that after a few years, there was a problem with the accounts, so they were changed to one, two, three, four...
Both should be taught, the simple one with fewer strokes first.
"Chief, Hanhan is teaching the children how to read again."
The little girl's father came to the village chief while plowing the wasteland and whispered.
“If you are good at literacy, the guardian of our village saves us money to go to school.
A few years ago, I planned to send my children to outside schools when the village had more money, but now I no longer have to.
That day when Hanhan was buying pens, ink and paper, I started thinking about it. The baby who has been raised for twelve years is finally enlightened! "
Li Chang had a smile on his face. He didn't care why Han Han suddenly became literate!
The little girl's father nodded vigorously: "Can we open up 400 acres of land this year, all of which will be planted with purple-flowered grass?"
He felt sorry for the good land and was so tired from transporting the soil that his back ached.
If it weren't for the large livestock in the village, how long would it take for the four hundred acres of wasteland to be plowed?
The big animals all went into battle, plowing a hundred acres of land a day, and they haven't even used it hard yet! Oh my gosh! Laugh in your dreams.
"If Hanhan wants to sow, just give it to him. Don't doubt what Hanhan says in the future. Will the village guard harm you? Will he harm you? Will you have meat to eat?"
The village chief emphasized discipline and was not allowed to question the village guards. To question was to distrust, to distrust was to oppose, and to oppose was to violate the oath, to violate the oath... It was over.
"You can plant it and feed it to the animals." The little girl's father shrank his neck.
While the men worked, the women cooked on the fields and used the wasteland opened for the village to cook a big pot of rice with money from the minister.
People from other villages come over from time to time to see the rapeseed and hemp in the fields. They are about to bloom. Can they bloom normally?
Naturally, Feng Gui from Xihe Village also came over. He found the village chief and handed over two fish, which he had caught from the river. He had taken back a pound of mutton before, and now he was giving the fish.
"How good it is for the children to eat." The chief took the fish and threw it to the cook, who just finished cooking it.
"Yes, I can't finish it."
Feng Gui laughed and said that for him, economic strength determines social status.
Xihe Village is larger than Xiaqiu Village and has a larger population, but no family is rich.
Look at the things being prepared for cooking next to you. Tofu, bacon, and bundles of rice noodles are soaked in a basin.
"How can there be endless fish and meat? Bring a bag of candy for the child when you go back." The director shook his head.
"The child has a toothache after eating sweets. A new field? Planting cotton?"
Feng Gui changed the topic and looked at it with envy.
A large group of animals are lining up to plow the fields. It looks like they are not driving hard, but they are still using their energy!
The head of the village did not directly say what to plant, he only said: Take a look.
After chatting for a while, Feng Gui wanted to go back after observing the rapeseed. The head of the village gave him a bag of glutinous rice candy and a few pieces of rock candy, which were much more valuable than two fishes.
If he doesn't bring the fish, the headman promises not to give him candy.
It was noon. The headman looked around and said, "Call Hanhan to come for dinner."
"Come on, come on, a group over there is coming."
Someone with sharp eyes saw a group of children running here from a distance.
There was a smile on Li Chang's face. When Zhu Wentian came closer, he said, "Eat and wash your hands."
"Yeah! Hahaha!" Zhu Wentian led his friends to wash their hands before meals and after using the toilet, and to boil water for drinking. This was his request.
For lunch, we have bacon stewed with tofu and rice noodles as staple food.
Li Chang ate two bites. After Zhu Wentian finished a bowl of rice noodles, he asked, "Do you have enough seeds to plant this land? Four hundred acres."
Zhu Wentian raised his head in confusion, and shook his head after thinking: "Half, well, half."
"What are you going to plant with the rest?" the manager continued to ask.
"Uh... beans, eat tofu, hehe!" Zhu Wentian chose to plant soybeans. Soybeans nourish the land. Two hundred acres can produce a lot of beans.
The head of the village nodded. He knew he could grow beans. He took a piece of bacon and said, "There aren't enough beans in the village. Let's go to Pangtu to buy some. Do you want to sell sugar again?"
Zhu Wentian stopped his chopsticks and thought silently in his mind. It would be okay to sell it again. What would he use the money to buy?
After a few dozen seconds, he looked at the manager and said, "Sell, buy beans, wheat, and cattle."
"Spring has begun, and cattle are expensive!" the village leader reminded, everyone is waiting to plant the land!
"Buy it, uh uh uh uh!" Zhu Wentian gritted his teeth. He bought it even if it was expensive. It's useful to him.
"Let's eat! It will get cold in a while." The chief agreed.
