Irrigation canals are dug next to the farmland in Xujiazhuang, and water flows continuously in them. On the distant river bank, several water trucks continuously take out water from the river and pour it into the irrigation canals.
Compared with the reduction in production in other places, Xujiazhuang's fields not only did not harvest less grain, but because there was enough water for irrigation, the dry fields became fertile fields, and the grain harvest was more than in previous years.
After the farmers in Zhuangzi paid the yellow and white bills, they still had a lot of surplus grain left at home, which was enough for the family to eat until the end of the year. When the autumn grain comes, excluding the rent and the two bills, the rest can be sold.
"It's Dongzhu Liu, Dongzhu Liu is here." A farmer who was watering the fields shouted hurriedly when he saw the horse team approaching from a distance.
There were many farmers standing beside the irrigation canal, waiting to water their fields, and they all crowded towards the road in front of the fields.
Liu Heng, who was coming from a distance, saw farmers blocking the road and pulled the reins in advance to prevent the horse from rushing too fast and injuring people.
"Kneel down quickly, kneel down quickly and kowtow to Dongzhu Liu." An older farmer called on others to kowtow to Liu Heng.
Following his greeting, the surrounding farmers blocking the road all knelt down.
The old farmer said: "Let's kowtow to Dongzhu Liu."
After speaking, he took the lead in kowtowing to the ground, and other farmers around him also kowtowed.
"No, no, please get up quickly." Liu Heng hurriedly jumped off the horse, walked to the elderly farmer, and stretched out his hand to help him.
The old farmer got up from the ground and said excitedly: "That's right, that's right. If it weren't for these waterwheels built by the boss, the people in Zhuangzi would be hungry again this year."
Hearing this, Liu Heng breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "This is nothing. A few waterwheels can bring more harvests to the fields, and I, the owner, can also collect more rent."
The old farmer said: "Then I have to thank you for your great kindness, my boss. If it weren't for these water trucks, my family would not even be able to pay the rent in full, let alone the surplus grain left at home."
Liu Heng smiled, then saw water in the irrigation ditch and asked, "Old man, are you watering the ground?"
"Yes, yes, yes." The old farmer nodded and said happily, "This waterwheel is really easy to use. Originally, the few acres of dry land at home could not harvest a few buckets of grain every year. This year, with these waterwheels and ditches dug, I actually harvested one stone’s worth of food.”
As he spoke, the old farmer smiled from the bottom of his heart.
"That's good." Liu Heng said with a smile, "It's a pity that the waterwheel was not built before the freeze last year, otherwise the harvest this year would be more."
The old farmer said with a smile: "We are satisfied. Being able to harvest one stone of grain is already a blessing from God. It is a great favor from my boss. If the old man is not satisfied anymore, he will be a little disrespectful."
"When conditions are met in the future, our fields will only receive more food." When he said this, Liu Heng thought of two crops with high yields.
One is sweet potato and the other is potato. These two things are already available in Ming Dynasty, but they have not spread yet.
Potatoes, in particular, should have become part of the meal for some officials, and should have been grown in the emperor's palace. Unfortunately, no one thought of growing such a high-yield thing for the common people.
Even fighting for the foundation of the country is more important than whether the people can have enough to eat.
Liu Heng thought that as long as these two products were planted in the farms of Huzi Banner, even if the natural disasters were more serious in the future, Huzi Banner and the farmers who rented Huzi Banner fields would not go hungry.
Thinking of this, he said to Zhao Wu beside him: "Go and find Zheng Chao."
Zheng Chao ran across the ship at sea. He thought that Zheng Chao should know about sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Zhao Wu bowed and said: "Master, Zheng Chao went to the grassland with Mr. Zhao and has not returned yet."
"Yes, yes, if you didn't remind me, I would have forgotten that he also went to the grassland with the convoy." Liu Heng added, "Hu Guangyi from the artillery crew, and Chen Siping and the others, just call someone here. I have something to ask." them."
"Yes, my subordinates will bring them here." Zhao Wu responded and rode away.
Liu Heng turned to look at the old farmer and said with a smile: "Old man, who grew the rice in front of you?"
"To be fair to my boss, the old man planted it." The old farmer said respectfully.
Liu Heng smiled and asked, "Can you take me there to have a look?"
"It looked fine in the past, but this land..." The old farmer hesitated and looked at the ridge leading to the rice fields.
Liu Heng looked over.
The ridge is relatively narrow and a little wet, making it difficult to walk.
"It's okay, old man, please take me there!" Liu Heng took off his boots and handed them to the guard on the side.
The road on the ridge was indeed difficult to walk on. Walking on it, Liu Heng felt his feet slipping underneath, and the ground was slippery, so he did not dare to walk too fast.
On the contrary, it was the old farmer who was leading the way. Although he was old, he walked briskly on this kind of ridge, which was much better than the young man Liu Heng.
If it weren't for taking care of Liu Heng, I'm afraid the old farmer would have left Liu Heng and the others behind.
"Master, walk slowly, your feet will slip." As he walked, the old farmer did not forget to remind Liu Heng.
Liu Heng's attention was focused on his feet. He could easily step into a ditch if he was distracted, and he had no energy to distract himself from talking to the old farmer.
The old farmer walking in front looked back from time to time. He could tell that it was Liu Heng's first time walking on such a ridge, and his feet were very unfamiliar.
After a long time, he finally reached the rice field. Liu Heng breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
This trip to the ridge felt more tiring than walking ten miles.
Although it was not easy to get through, he knew that natural disasters would only become more and more serious in the next few years, food would be a problem for Tiger Flag, and Tiger Flag's fields would become very critical.
Nowadays, food can still be guaranteed to cost three or four cents of silver per stone of rice. During the Chongzhen period, when it was the most expensive, one stone of rice cost several taels of silver.
"This rice is almost ripe!" Liu Heng noticed that the rice in the field was already turning yellow.
"It's almost ripe and can be harvested in more than half a month." The old farmer said with a happy face, "Thanks to my boss's water tanker, otherwise all the rice in the field would have died of drought this year."
The weather this year is not only hot, but there has not been a drop of rain for several months, which is a disaster for the people who depend on the weather for food.
The grain production in various places has been severely reduced, and the harvests are much worse than in previous years. Many families cannot collect enough grain to pay their rent.
It was precisely because he knew this situation that Liu Heng decided to go to his own field to take a look and understand the situation.
A person without long-term worries must have immediate worries. Compared with others who can only rely on the sky for food, he knows that God will not be kind to him in the next ten years. Natural disasters will only become more and more serious, and the fields will even lose their harvest.
"Old man, how many seasons do we grow rice a year?" Liu Heng asked.
"Two seasons." The old farmer stretched out two rough fingers and gestured, and said, "Transplant and raise the seedlings in March. They will be almost mature in a hundred days. Take advantage of the time during harvest to transplant the seedlings. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, they will be almost ready." Harvested.”
In his two lifetimes, Liu Heng had never farmed.
He used to think that rice was only grown in the south, but now he learned that there are farmers growing rice in Datong, and they also harvest it in two seasons.
"Master, Zhao Wu is back." The guard beside him whispered.
Liu Heng turned around and saw Zhao Xuewu standing on the ground, and standing next to him was Zheng Chao who had gone to the grassland.
