A cloud floated from the sky, covering the sun, and the world seemed to be much cooler. The cicadas on the willow trees also stopped chirping and wanted to take a breath.
Under the shed in the yard, the soldiers served food and wine.
The main dish was eaten by the servants here for lunch, a large stew of cabbage, tofu, beans, eggplant and pork belly. There's a lot of tofu in it, but the meat only has a few big fat slices. There is also a plate of pickles, paired with black steamed buns, which is the most important meal of the day.
When the servants go out to work, they have breakfast at home, lunch provided by the official, and dinner at home. In order to save food at home, many people usually skip meals in the morning, work hungry all morning, and eat as much as they can at noon.
Wang Xiaolie looked at the dishes on the table and said to Silang, a construction worker on the side: "Grandpa, are you still used to the food here? Are you eating well?"
Tong Silang said: "There are white-flour steamed buns and meat every day, so naturally they are very good."
Wang Xiaolie picked up a steamed bun, looked at it back and forth, and said, "The steamed bun is indeed made of wheat flour, but it's just too dark. Do you also eat such dark steamed buns at home? As for the meat, there is a big pot of vegetables. Don’t have two liang?”
Tong Silang smiled and said: "Guardian, these steamed buns are not bad. I saw it right. It should be eight and a half taels of white flour for a pound of wheat. This is the case in everyone's house. In recent years, the channels have been in disrepair, and many places cannot If you water it, it'll be good if you can have white flour to eat. As for the meat, it's not cheap, it's just a taste."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes, if the canals are not repaired, the ground will not be watered during drought. Wheat cannot be watered, so we can only plant other things. After a busy year or two, Henan The government should make a unified plan to see how many channels need to be built, and just build them year by year."
Tong Silang and several old people said together: "With channels, we can not only grow wheat, but also grow rice. Around Luoyang, rice was grown in the Taiping years."
When people in later generations talk about high-yielding crops, they think of corn and the like. As a C4 plant, corn is indeed more likely to produce higher yields than rice and wheat, which are C3 plants. But in this era, the real high-yielding crop was rice. Generally speaking, with about the same amount of labor, the yield per acre of rice can be nearly twice that of wheat. As long as paddy fields can be cultivated, people will try their best to plant rice.
Around Luoyang, where the Yi and Luo rivers can irrigate, it is customary to grow rice. But when the Jin soldiers came south, most of the irrigation canals were abandoned, and rice could no longer be grown here. Since the water conservancy conditions are good, wheat is grown in many places.
Generally speaking, rice is grown in places with the best water conservancy conditions in this era, and wheat is grown in places with poorer water conservancy conditions. If you really can't water, you can only plant corn.
Wang Xiaolie said: "Whether you are planting rice or wheat, the canal will eventually need to be rebuilt. To build water conservancy, you need people, and you need the efforts of people like you. Do you think fifty workers a year is a lot like now?" ?”
Tong Shiro felt a little embarrassed. Said: "To be honest with the officials, there are still more. There are 3600 days in a year, and there are fifty days of corvee work. How many days do the people have for themselves? However, compared with before, it is not that many. .”
Wang Xiaolie nodded. Asked: "So, how many jobs do you think is appropriate per year?"
Tong Silang said: "In daily chatting, many people think that thirty jobs a year is almost no more than no less."
Wang Xiaolie said to Chen Qiu: "I have reduced twenty workers at once, and I am afraid that it will not work in a short time. Now the world is full of waste and people are needed everywhere, and the corvee dare not reduce that much at once. One worker is one hundred Wen, if you cut twenty wages, the government will spend two more dollars per person. Alas, we are still short of money."
Tong Silang said: "Officials don't need to worry. We ordinary people's chatter cannot be taken seriously."
Wang Xiaolie sighed: "Why can't you take it seriously? The things in the world are how much the government thinks the people should pay, and how much the people think they should pay, and find a compromise. If the government has spare capacity, of course the people will pay more. Less is better. If you think thirty workers is good, then this is a reasonable number, and the government should try to stick to this number. For the time being, there is no choice but to start with fifty workers. Later, when conditions are better, reduce it to thirty A job."
Chen Qiudao said: "If it is reduced to thirty workers, the people think twenty workers are good. If it is reduced to twenty workers, they still think it is too much."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "The counselor is right. The government wants the people to work more, and the people want to work less. That's how it is. Now fifty jobs a year is indeed a lot, so we all hope it can be reduced slowly. But At the end of the day, there is always a number. After this number, people will work less and have to pay more in other areas. At this time, the government and the people can reach a consensus on this number."
Chen Qiudao frowned. After thinking for a while, he couldn't figure out what Wang Xiaolie meant, so he could only shake his head.
Wang Xiaolie said: "It's just that in theory we think there is such a number, but in fact, we can't find it. There is always a range that some people find suitable and some people find uncomfortable. As long as it is within this range, It’s just reasonable.”
Tong Silang and others did not dare to speak and looked at each other. Chen Qiudao felt that Wang Xiaolie was talking too much and didn't talk to him.
Wang Xiaolie could only sigh helplessly and said nothing more.
The soldier roasted the catfish and brought it over and poured wine for everyone.
Wang Xiaolie said: "We are here today. We will grill some catfish for you to try and drink two glasses of wine. Also, after we leave, we will slaughter a few pigs in the evening and make sure that each person has half a catty of meat." . You guys have worked so hard, I guess it’s the government that invited you.”
Tong Silang and others were overjoyed and hurriedly thanked Wang Xiaolie.
Wang Xiaolie picked up the chopsticks, first picked up a piece of stewed tofu, and then picked up a steamed bun. He said to Chen Qiudao: "Consultant, it is rare for us to go to a place like this. We want to taste what the workers eat."
Chen Qiudao nodded and picked up a steamed bun.
The flour turns black because the flour extraction rate is high and the flour is mixed with bran. This is not the whole-wheat bread eaten by later generations. It is not delicate when eaten, and the bran will irritate the throat. People who don't eat it often will inevitably frown when they eat this kind of food.
Generally speaking, when the wheat flour extraction rate drops below 70%, the flour will be very white. The higher you go, the darker the flour becomes. Steamed buns made from flour with a flour extraction rate of over 85% do not taste good.
In Wang Xiaolie's previous life, because bran was a high-quality feed and people pursued quality of life, the flour extraction rate dropped to less than 60%. The steamed buns made are soft, glutinous and sweet, which is not comparable to this kind of steamed buns. When the steamed buns are eaten in the mouth, they have a sour taste that is hard to describe.
(Originally, I was supposed to make up for it in the morning, but it turned out to be in the afternoon. Forgive me.)
