Autumn plowing is deep and spring plowing is shallow. Spring plowing is like turning pancakes, and autumn plowing is like digging a well. One inch of spring plowing can take up one manure. I refuse to be busy in spring plowing, and my face turns yellow from hunger after autumn. After the beginning of spring, and the Spring Festival has passed, every household becomes really busy.
In order to promote production for the people and prevent the monoculture of crops and their ability to withstand natural disasters, the government issued multiple edicts explicitly requiring that rice crops in the south should not be single-valued. Rice yields per unit area are high, but once there is a drought, there were no modern reservoirs and dams like modern ones in the Song Dynasty that could transport water over long distances, and farmers would have no choice but to have no production or harvest.
Since the Han Dynasty, official meetings to encourage farming have required villages and communities to build earthen cows. The earthen cow is a symbol of the spring encouragement of farming. This ancient formalism is equivalent to the banners hanging on the wall today: Every family raises cows, and there is no need to worry about getting rich. Slogans such as greenhouse vegetables and everyone getting rich quickly. This kind of native cow is generally three feet six inches tall, symbolizing thirty-six and ten days, and eight feet four inches from head to tail, which is close to the twenty-four solar terms. A straw shed is built on the head of the native cow to protect it from wind and rain.
He Lu was building a native cow year after year, but the people's enthusiasm for farming was getting lower and lower. Now the native cow he built at the beginning of spring looked like a mule that was about to starve to death. It looked completely lifeless and had not been beaten by a peasant woman. The dung piles are high.
Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, there have been four emperors. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, he called on local officials in Jiangnan, Jinghu, Liangzhe, and Fujian states to promote crops such as millet, broomcorn millet, soybeans, barley, and barley, and the government would distribute seeds. These southern regions grew these northern crops without charging taxes.
Because there are no taxes for growing these food crops, after the imperial court promoted them, after a long period of crop domestication, the crops in the north adapted to the climate in the south and achieved bumper harvests in the south. In addition, due to the war in the north, a large number of people moved south, and they still liked to eat crops from the north. Gradually, there were more dryland crops in the south.
However, the seeds distributed by the government are limited after all, and will not be promoted on a large scale. They are only distributed as a kind of war preparation food. Rice requires relatively high land, and most of it is in the hands of powerful households. Small farmers cannot grow paddy fields, so they guard a few acres of dry land every year and grow some grain to satisfy their needs. Or take the beaten grain to the market and exchange it for some white rice to eat back.
Because they can be sold in the market, individual farmers or restaurants will also buy some farm vegetables, and some crops such as leeks, alfalfa, turnips, castor, garlic, ginger, and rapeseed will also be planted in the fields according to the season. , try not to let the land go unused and increase some income.
Farmers plant according to the seasons throughout the year, working at sunrise and resting at sunset. If there is a locust drought, their hair will turn gray. It is not that they do not try their best to take care of it, but because their human power is weak and they cannot defeat nature.
At this time of year, if we don’t get busy, this place will really be in ruins. In the fields, farmers were busy using hoes to release water, irrigating the land, and testing plows to prepare for plowing. He Baozheng and Uncle He are now immersed in their fields all day long. They don't come back until the sun sets in the evening. Liang Chuan has no chance to get him to chat. I can only stay in the yard and chop wood.
On this day, Liang Chuan was chopping firewood quickly as usual, alternating between the big ax and the small ax in his hand. Lao Cai, the housekeeper of the Zheng family, suddenly arrived at the door of Liang Chuan's house in a carriage. A servant was driving a carriage, and the horse's hooves were clicking. Lao Cai was the only one in the carriage, and there was no one else.
Lao Cai's journey was dusty, and Liang Chuan asked Ye Xiaochai to pour him a bowl of water. Lao Cai finished the water and told Liang Chuan about renting Zheng's Ming Yi Shop, which he had discussed at Zheng's house a few days ago on the first day of the new year.
Liang Chuan originally thought that he would come to Zheng Mansion to talk about this matter in a few days. Unexpectedly, the old servant came to his door on his own. He must have received instructions from Master Zheng.
Lao Cai said: "Master Zhang, my husband agrees to rent the shop that shopkeeper Xu was originally responsible for to you, but there are several conditions. First, he cannot commit adultery and commit crimes in the shop, and second, he cannot use it for illegal and disciplinary activities. The shop is demolished and rebuilt privately. The house is an old one, and it may collapse if you strain your muscles and bones again. Third, you cannot do anything with the business that the Zheng family already operates. Otherwise, the shop will be taken back and you will be asked to find another home. You can do it. , if we can, we’ll go see the shop right away.”
These requests are all reasonable and reasonable, and there is no one Liang Chuan would not agree to. Immediately, he called Ye Xiaochai and went with him to Fengshan to see the shop he was about to rent. Lao Cai invited the two of them to ride in the carriage together. Walking was too time-consuming.
It's a long way from He Lu to Fengshan Mountain. Lao Cai has been working in the Zheng family since he was a child. He has been working in the Zheng family from a low-level servant to the current housekeeper. But things were different since he met this young man. This young man was very polite to him, but he would not take the initiative to get close to him. He is a discerning person. Even his master's brother-in-law is so polite to this farmer from Helu. If he tries to be stronger, he is asking for trouble.
Now we are in the same car. We can only sit across from each other in the carriage. It is quite boring to stare at each other with big eyes and small eyes. Lao Cai simply closes his eyes and rests for a while. Liang Chuan wandered around in the car for a while, but Lao Cai didn't say anything. He pretended not to see him, so he took the initiative to chat with Lao Cai and said, "Steward Cai, you have been in the Zheng Mansion for some years."
Lao Cai also didn't expect that Liang Chuan would take the initiative to answer him, because he intuitively felt that Liang Chuan was a capable and tempered person, and he had a bit of a temper. He had been to Liang Chuan's house several times, and he fully felt that Liang Chuan was different. He didn't expect Liang Chuan to ask this question, so he replied calmly: "I have been in the Zheng family all my life. I have been following my father, my grandfather and their generation since I was sensible. I have forgotten how long it has been."
"Awesome, awesome..." Liang Chuan looked at Ye Xiaochai and nodded, his eyes showing a look of surprise and admiration. "If we can settle this matter today, will we have to sign a contract or something later..." Liang Chuan asked weakly.
Lao Cai slowly opened his eyes, looked directly at Liang Chuan, and asked crisply: "Are you worried that when the deed is signed, I am not qualified enough to sign the deed on behalf of the Zheng family?"
Lao Cai's words were too direct. Liang Chuan didn't mean it originally. There was no trace of hip-hop on his face, nor did he show any signs of slowing down after being exposed. He said seriously: "Manager Cai, I don't question your identity. Don’t worry about who signed the deed. It doesn’t matter to me whether you sign or not. Letters come first when doing business. Your Zheng family is the biggest brand in Fengshan, so I won’t worry about that.”
Liang Chuan continued: "You are an old man of the Zheng family. Even everyone in your family respects you as their own relative. How can I dare to be disrespectful to you?"
Ye Xiaochai also put in good words: "Yes, Butler Cai, our boss is not the kind of snobbish person, and he would never have such an idea."
"Then why do you ask?"
"I just want to see if this matter can be settled once and for all today. Since you took the initiative to come to Helu to find me, you must be sincere. I also really want to rent your shop. If you still have to go through a few more troubles and run back and forth, Not to mention the long journey, it will be a waste of time, and I’m afraid that your old man will get hurt.”
This was a fair statement. Lao Cai responded calmly: "My young lady is already waiting for you two in Shopkeeper Xu's shop. Everyone relies on you so much, so there shouldn't be any surprises in this matter."
The carriage walked on the bluestone of Fengshan Market Street, and the wheels of the carriage collided with the ground, making a rhythmic clicking sound. I don’t know who built the bluestone road in Fengshan. It’s so well built. One road has improved the quality of the entire town by several levels. When it rains, you don’t have to walk on the muddy road, which benefits the people. There are not even many such good roads in Xinghua County.
"Hey——", the groom's boy said softly outside the carriage: "Butler Cai, here we are."
Lao Cai responded and went to pull up the car curtain. Liang Chuan took the initiative to lift it and let Lao Cai get out of the car first. A small gesture made Lao Cai look at Liang Chuan a little kinder. Zheng Ruoying was waiting at the door of the store with her spicy cousin Zheng Yuzhi.
Zheng Ruoying was filled with joy when she saw Liang Chuan get out of the car. She didn't know why, but she always felt that this man was different from other people. He always exuded a unique charm. Liang Chuan jumped out of the car, followed by Ye Xiaochai, who reached out to support Ye Xiaochai.
When Zheng Ruoying saw Ye Xiaochai coming with her, her face was obviously unfriendly, as if there was a natural hostility between women of the same kind, and her face suddenly dropped. This woman is more eloquent than Liang Chuan's wife, and her beauty is not bad. She is a servant who follows Liang Chuan every day. Those who don't know it think she is Liang Chuanna's concubine!
Liang Chuan didn't have time to pay attention to the expression on Zheng Ruoying's face now. It was the first time he walked to this rural intersection on the north side of Fengshan. The flow of people and passengers here was several notches lower than that in the core area of Xiatinglou. It was as if a shop had been opened in Helu. It was sparse. , nothing angry. The bluestone paving on Fengshan Street just broke at the entrance of this shop, and the wind blew outside and kicked up waves of sand and dust.
There are two trees planted at the entrance of the market. On the right is a willow tree. The buds on the willow branches have been pulled out, and thousands of green silk ribbons made of jasper hang down. On the left is a pine tree, with curved branches and trunks, green pine leaves, and the four seasons are as usual. The two trees stand tall and graceful, as big as car hoods, with thick trunks, showing that they are quite old. A small, almost collapsed pavilion under a willow tree didn't even have a name.
Looking at this shop again, the flag at the door has been taken off, leaving only a bare flagpole. The signboard on the door was also removed, leaving a clear mark where the signboard was. The size of the shop is the same as the others, and the doors are closed and locked tightly. The house is a duplex structure, with a small attic upstairs. The structure is good, but the house is a bit old.
"Go and open the door." Zheng Ruoying ordered a boy to go in through the back door and remove the door panel before entering the store. Shops at this time all used long thick wooden boards as store doors. Firstly, the iron tools used to decorate the doors were a bit too expensive, and secondly, the door width could be increased. The servant removed the door panels piece by piece and placed them against the wall.
Zheng Ruoying led Liang Chuan in. There are also many gold and silver utensils made from Hades paper that have not been sold out, and they are placed on the floor and shelves in clear categories. If you don't have to use these items, who would like to go to this kind of store to do some household chores on weekdays. .
