So following along from time to time is a must.
Before coming over, Lin Yuanqiu specially wrote down the entire process of planting rice on paper. So after hearing Zheng Zheng in the village saying that he was literate, Lin Yuanqiu handed the booklet to Zheng Zheng.
In this way, if the villagers forget the steps, they can go to the village to ask.
In fact, Lin Yuanqiu was overly worried. He was a veteran in farming, so there was no reason why he couldn't remember it.
No, a gray-haired old farmer was recounting the process of soaking and planting seeds, "First soak the seeds in water for half an hour, then pick up the seeds and put them into lime water and stir them, then put them into a wooden barrel and wait for the grains to be harvested. The seeds are sprouted and then spread evenly over small fields.”
Lin Yuanqiu nodded repeatedly and said with a smile, "Yes, that's right. This old man has a good memory, but don't forget that the barrel must be covered with a straw mat to prevent the loss of water from affecting the germination of the grain seeds."
The villagers nodded, but the white-haired old man was praised for his good memory, and he couldn't help grinning from the corners of his mouth to his ears. He was praised by the prefect.
A strong man couldn't help but asked, "Sir, when the seedlings grow to one foot high, you can just pull them out and insert them into the paddy field, right?"
After so many years of farming, this is the first time for the strong man to hear about rice being grown in this way, so he always wanted to ask more questions.
What the strong man asked was exactly what the villagers present were worried about.
Lin Yuanqiu could understand the villagers' concerns. After all, this was related to the food rations of the whole family. If there is no harvest, we will go hungry.
Lin Yuanqiu replied, "Please rest assured, starting from today, I will come over from time to time to check the status of the rice seedlings. When it is time to plant seeds, I will personally demonstrate to you the method of transplanting. By the way, while I'm at it, When you have free time, everyone rolls up a few rolls of straw rope to prepare, we will use it when planting."
Regardless of what Lin Yuanqiu said now, you must know that last night, in order to recall the farming steps in his previous life, he was busy until the middle of the night before going to bed.
When they heard that the prefect would personally come to teach them how to plant seeds, the villagers' hearts finally returned to their stomachs.
Gao Tongzhi and Qian Tongpan did not speak during the whole process. They were both laymen in tending crops, so it was best not to interrupt.
But at this moment, both of them couldn't help but think that compared to their age, Mr. Lin was nearly twenty years younger than them. Unexpectedly, he was much more knowledgeable than them.
…
There were three official matchmakers who arranged the marriage arrangements this time. Lin Yuanqiu did not assign any special tasks to them. He only said that he would reward them with one tael of silver for each marriage they negotiated. With such motivation, the three matchmakers naturally Dedicated.
Therefore, by mid-March, the marriages of the twenty-seven girls, except for the two oldest ones, had basically been agreed upon.
Why do we say basic? It is because there are several girls and men who have not yet seen each other. If both parties are satisfied after seeing each other, then the next step is to decide on an engagement.
The two older girls are both thirty-six years old. Hong Zao, who was married to the Mountain Wife in the same year as them, was two years younger and had also made a marriage arrangement a few days ago. The man is a lame man, who is in his mid-thirties this year. Because he was in military service more than ten years ago, He injured his leg and there were many brothers in the family, so he never talked about his wife.
Several official matchmakers secretly hoped that these older girls would marry good husbands. Therefore, although many widowers came to inquire about marriage, none of the official matchmakers responded.
In their opinion, marrying a serious young man is better than being a stepmother, even if the young man married is slightly disabled.
When the official matchmaker told Hongzao, Lianxiang and Guiju about the proposed marriage proposal, the three of them agreed after careful consideration.
Lianxiang and Guiju are the two oldest among this group of girls. Originally, they had no intention of getting married. After all, at the age of thirty-six, it would be difficult to find a good marriage.
But seeing that all their companions had said they were going to get married, especially after Hong Zao's marriage was decided, the two of them felt confident again.
There is nothing to be afraid of if you have a disability, as long as you are a good person and can live a stable life, and being lame is only a little more inconvenient for walking, and other things such as working in the fields will not have any impact.
For a matchmaker, it is too easy to find such a young man. No, there are several in the Chen family alone.
The three of them quickly picked out two who looked trustworthy and started talking about marriage.
Hearing that the man was from the Chen family, Lianxiang and Guiju were very satisfied. Many of them sisters had said that they were related to the Chen family. If their own marriage could be achieved, then in the future, all the sisters would be They took care of each other.
…
During these days, Lin Yuanqiu, who often traveled between Housi Village and the government office, focused entirely on raising seedlings.
Therefore, when he heard that all twenty-seven girls had proposed marriage, he was stunned for a moment.
It's only been a little over a month, and the speed is a bit astonishing. Also, he didn't expect the older ones to get married so quickly.
Lin Yuanqiu no longer felt uneasy after hearing that it was all decided by them after looking at each other.
Now that the marriage has been decided, the next step is to set the wedding date.
According to Wu's wishes, the sooner the better. These girls are quite old. If they get married earlier, they can have children earlier. Especially the older ones, Mrs. Wu very much hopes that they will be able to conceive their own children after they get married.
Old Lintou also had the same idea. Since the marriage has been decided, let's get married as soon as possible.
Finally, the two parties reached an agreement and chose the auspicious day of April 18th, which was more than a month later.
More than a month is definitely enough time to make a wedding dress.
Zhong Yurou and Feng asked the shopkeeper of the cloth shop to send over a dozen pieces of red silk material. Then Feng taught everyone how to cut and let them make their own wedding dresses.
The finished camphor wood boxes, descendants' treasure barrels, and wedding pots have all been painted. They only need to be dried before the carpenters can deliver them.
The color of the paint is the most festive reddish brown, which was chosen by Lin Sanzhu.
Compared to the Lin family who were busy buying dowry, many clan members laughed privately when they learned about the wedding date.
In their opinion, they are so anxious to hold a happy event because they are worried that it will take a long time and that the man will regret it.
But thinking about those who were planning to marry wives, they were either from poor families or lame. At that moment, I felt that there was nothing much to say. Anyway, a broken earthen pot with a broken tile lid was just right.
…
The grain seeds planted in the rice fields usually take more than a month to reach the standard for transplanting.
Every time he went to the field, Lin Yuanqiu would write down the growth of the seedlings in a book, including the number of leaves that grew at the beginning, the height of the seedlings, etc., so that he could have a reference in the future.
By the beginning of April, the seedlings were almost a foot tall. Lin Yuanqiu asked Li Zheng to inform people who had not plowed the land to speed up, because they would start planting rice in two days.
During this period, Lao Lintou often followed his grandson to see the seedlings. He was naturally very interested in this new farming method.
So on the day of transplanting rice seedlings, Lao Lintou got up early and went to Housi Village with his little grandson.
Gao Tongzhi and Qian Tongpan also came to Housi Village early.
When they arrived at the village, Lin Yuanqiu saw that the villagers were already waiting in their seedling fields.
Seeing that everyone was eager to try, Lin Yuanqiu didn't waste any time. After rolling up his trouser legs, he quickly went down to the rice field.
The water in early April was still a bit cold for the feet. Because he had to work in the fields, Lin Yuanqiu specially wore a short brown suit today.
The same goes for Lao Lintou. After not going to the fields for many years, he also changed into short brown clothes this time. After he got down to the field, he said, "Yuan Qiu, I will do whatever you say, I will listen to you."
"Yes, we all listen to the prefect. We will do whatever you ask us to do!"
Everyone present said in unison, and it sounded unusually impressive.
Lin Yuanqiu nodded, then bent down and demonstrated how to pull out the seedlings, "Look, just pull them out gently along the roots of the seedlings. Remember not to hurt the roots."
The seedlings are soaked in water, and the seedlings can be separated from the soil with just a single tap. Within a moment, there were many seedlings piled up at Lin Yuanqiu's feet. He took a small handful of prepared dry straw and tied the seedlings into bundles.
"Remember, don't tie it too tightly, otherwise it will hurt the seedlings."
"Young people know it!" Everyone responded in unison, sounding very impressive. Then the villagers returned to their own rice fields and began to pull up the seedlings.
It was best to plant all the seedlings that were pulled out on the same day, so after almost half of them were pulled out, Lin Yuanqiu asked Gao Tongzhi, who still had money, to carry the seedlings to the paddy field next door.
Hearing that the prefect was about to start teaching rice transplanting, all the villagers quickly gathered together again.
In his previous life, Lin Yuanqiu planted rice seedlings several times. It is not difficult to teach people now, not to mention that there is a straw rope pulling them, so they will definitely not go anywhere. As expected, when the rice seedlings were planted in the small half-acre of land, they still looked neat. Neatly.
For the villagers, this method of planting while pulling straw ropes is really novel. Planting an acre of land is like playing and they don't feel tired at all.
But by the second day, the villagers either had sore backs or legs, and their whole bodies felt as if they had been crushed by stone mills.
But as long as we can grow more food, it will be worth it no matter how hard it is.
…
On April 10th, Lin Yuanqiu went to Dinghu County. When Xinzhi County took office, he naturally had to go over and make a handover.
As for the new magistrate of Xinxian County, it was the original Wangxian Cheng. Perhaps considering Wangxian Cheng's familiarity with Dinghu County, Emperor Jingkang directly arranged for him to take over the position of Dinghu County magistrate this time without sending anyone else.
Lin Yuanqiu was naturally happy to see such an arrangement.
Dinghu County has only just started. If it were anyone else, Lin Yuanqiu would really be a little worried. But Wang Xiancheng was different. He had personally handled many official affairs in the county, so he naturally knew the next direction of Hu County.
On April 15th, Lin Yuanqiu went to Yongning Prefecture again. Just like he went to Dinghu County a few days ago, this time he also went to handle handover matters.
The new Zhizhou's surname is Shen, and he looks to be less than forty years old. Lin Yuanqiu had no impression of this person. He thought he did not come from the capital, but was directly promoted from the local area.
Sure enough, without saying a few words, Shen Zhizhou introduced himself straight to the point. It turned out that Shen Zhizhou had previously served as Tongzhi in Jinzhou. By the end of last year, the three-year term had expired. Because of his good evaluation, he was promoted to the post of magistrate of Yongning Prefecture.
After handing over the official seal and military talisman, Lin Yuanqiu had truly relieved the burden of Yongning Prefecture. Logically speaking, he should feel relaxed since there were many fewer things to do, but for some reason, Lin Yuanqiu suddenly felt a lot of reluctance.
When he returned to Shizhou Mansion, Lin Yuanqiu picked up his pen and wrote a memorial asking for the imperial title. It has been three months since he was appointed magistrate, and this is the best time to apply for the imperial title.
In the Da Jing Dynasty, there was a clear document that officials of the fourth rank or above could apply for imperial titles for their female relatives, and these female relatives refer to their aunts, mothers, and wives.
Lin Yuanqiu didn't think much and directly wrote down his grandmother, mother, and Zhong Yurou.
Because he didn't know whether the Holy One would approve it, Lin Yuanqiu didn't tell anyone about the request.
…
April 17th is the dowry day.
A happy day always has to be decorated with lanterns and colors to make it look festive. Early in the morning, Mrs. Wu asked her servants to hang up the red silk.
Chapter 217 Getting Married (1)
Ever since the government office posted a notice that all mountain wives would be married off to the Yang, Zhao, and Chen clans, the people of Shizhou Prefecture have been paying attention to this matter.
And among these people, most of them think it is impossible for the prefect to accomplish this matter. After all, the marriage is a matter of mutual consent. If forced, many troubles will definitely arise.
So after hearing that the husbands chosen by the mountain wives were either poor or lame with broken legs, the people felt that this was normal.
I thought that this matter would end next, but I didn't expect that the prefect would actually hold a wedding ceremony at the gate of the government office. Isn't this a joke?
Thinking of the shabby grooms and the skinny and dry looks of the brides, everyone was extremely looking forward to the day when the mountain wives would get married soon.
As for the reason for such expectation, naturally I am planning to come and watch this wonderful show.
Thinking about such a rare scene, it will definitely make people laugh.
As a result, not only the people in Shizhou Fucheng, but also the surrounding counties and cities, many curious people came after hearing the news.
As for the storytellers in major teahouses, let alone the storytellers, how could they miss such a good storytelling subject.
For a time, all the inns in Fucheng were packed to capacity.
Of course, Lin Yuanqiu didn't know this.
