On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, early in the morning, just after dawn, the villagers gathered at Lao Ganbang's house. Wang Zhong, Niu Dangdao, Ma Renli, Three Monkeys, Blind Lao Yin and others who were close to Lao Ganbang all came there. When they came over, Lao Ganbang rode a borrowed donkey, wore new clothes, and hung a piece of red silk. Wang Zhong took out a suona from nowhere, and Niu Dadan took the gong and beat it all the way to Jixian. The town is gone.
Jixian Town used to be called Jixian Village. Last year, Jixian Town was established with Jixian Village as the center. A market was set up next to it. The market is held every five days. From Maixiang Village to Jixian Town, it covers a total of 20 miles. Looks like, it only takes more than an hour to walk.
The county seat is a little further away. Starting from Maixiang Village, it takes more than two hours to get there just by walking.
The fourth Han family is in the middle area of Jixian Village. The Han family is a common surname in Jixian Village. Early in the morning, the fourth Han family also gathered in the yard.
Wang Zhong also officially met Lao Ganbang's daughter-in-law Han Chunmei. She did look exactly as the matchmaker said. Not to mention how handsome she was, but Zhou Zheng was about the same height as Lao Ganbang. She was wearing a floral cotton-padded jacket that was not new and old, and her hair was combed with two combs. She has braids, broken bangs on her forehead, and a thick cotton coat that can't hide the bulge on her chest. She looks like she's very child-bearing.
Lao Ganbang couldn't afford a banquet, but it was still possible to treat the people who were helping to pick up the bride with a bowl of wine, a few big white steamed buns and scrambled eggs.
After all, this is a big day.
Early the next morning, Wang Zhong had just baked a stack of scallion pancakes and placed them on the grate. The polenta in the pot was almost cooked.
"Wang Zhong! Wang Zhong!"
Wang Zhong was just about to start eating when Niu Youdao's voice came from outside. Wang Zhong opened the door and saw that Lao Ganbang and his newly married wife Han Chunmei were standing side by side in the courtyard.
"What are you doing there in the cold weather? Come in, come in!"
"You two arrived at just the right time. The scallion pancakes just came out of the pot and are still hot! There is porridge in the pot! You two serve it yourself." While he was talking, Wang Zhong had already taken out two sets of bowls from the cupboard against the west wall and placed them on the table. The couple came forward.
"No, no, we just came after breakfast!" Lao Ganbang waved his hand and refused: "Chunmei and I came here because we wanted to thank you. We don't have anything good at home, so Chunmei just wanted to give it to you. You make a pair of shoes to show our appreciation for you.”
"You really want to thank me, so come over and help me!" Wang Chong smiled and gave the two of them a scallion pancake: "Taking advantage of the slack farming season, let's make more windmills and earn more money. It’s spring these days, so it’s quite busy.”
Lao Ganbang said: "I'm here just to help you!"
"Then don't be polite to me and eat more! You can't work without energy!"
······
The well-known Lao Ganbang in the village actually married a wife, which made the remaining old bachelors in the village envious.
Even Wang Zhong couldn't help but sigh. His life was the most nourishing among all the ten miles and eight villages. He had been a monk for more than a year. It was time to find a woman to cook and wash for him. Make the bed and fold the quilt to warm the bed.
The most important thing is that recently, the true energy in the body has become more pure and powerful. Coupled with the extraordinary energy, even if I meditate for two hours every day to practice breathing and breathing, so that I can have a clear mind and no distracting thoughts, I can still After a night's rest with strong energy, the body will always react involuntarily.
Who to look for? There are only a few decent-looking girls in the village, and Qiao Yue is definitely not good enough. This girl is too lazy. From the original novel, after she married Niu Bingdao, she only slept in doing nothing but painting her eyebrows all day long. How can she live a good life?
Yang Deng'er is not bad. Not only is she handsome, but she also has a good personality. The most important thing is that she is diligent and can return first. But now this girl's heart is tied to Niu DaDa.
Wang Zhong would never give in to a woman casually, and would rather stay alone if he didn't have one.
In his free time, Wang Zhong went to the county and bought a dozen jars, cleaned the radishes collected in the field, and made them into pickles.
Radish is full of treasures, not only the fruit can be used to make pickles, but also the stems and leaves, and they have a unique flavor.
Although Wang Zhong is not picky and can accept tastes from all over the world, he comes from a spicy-loving place like Sichuan and Hunan, so the pickles he makes naturally include chili peppers.
Wang Zhong didn't grow many chili peppers last year, so he only had enough for himself. Fortunately, there was a seller in the county who sold dried chili peppers. Wang Zhong bought them, stir-fried them, chopped them into pieces, and sprinkled them with a little salt and soy sauce. Pour hot oil on it and the aroma of the chili peppers will be fully stimulated immediately.
While drinking a little wine, I dipped in slightly sour pickled radish and a little oily chili pepper, and the taste was amazing.
In the real world, this is what Wang Zhong's uncle loves most.
As time goes by, the weather gradually gets warmer, and the wheat in the fields gradually turns green.
Spring has begun and we need to apply fertilizer and water. The manure has already been soaked. Under Wang Zhong’s suggestion, several people from the mutual aid group renovated their huts last year. The straw and other things that have been prepared are lettuce together.
Spring irrigation begins about seven or eight days after top dressing. This year’s rain is quite sufficient. It rained continuously for seven or eight days just after spring began. Although the water level of the Maixiang River has not risen much, the wheat growth in the field is quite gratifying. .
Rainwater alone is certainly not enough. In the absence of fertilizers, spring irrigation is essential if wheat is to grow well.
Before the spring irrigation, Wang Zhong had already led his people to carefully inspect the water tanker, the dump truck, the weir pond and the irrigation canal from beginning to end. The water tanker and dump truck were all made of good materials, and there were no problems. The only problem was that the irrigation canal was filled with waste. Some places needed to be repaired, but the villagers worked together and cleared all the irrigation canals in less than half a day.
Several weirs and ponds have been filled with water early. As time passes, spring irrigation begins.
Seeing the steady flow of water in the irrigation canal flowing from top to bottom into the ground, the villagers also had bright and simple smiles on their faces.
A few months later, during the summer harvest season, a picture completely different from other fields in the village appeared in the field of Wang Zhong, leader of the Second Mutual Aid Group.
I saw a square wooden box half covered with an oilcloth held up by rattan. Behind the oilcloth was a device similar to a bicycle seat and pedals, driven by gears and chains. Ma Renli sat on the pedals, holding his hands Holding the handrail and stepping on the pedal with both feet, Mrs. Jin Hua and Han Chunmei took turns holding handfuls of cut wheat and placed them in the half-covered oilcloth cloak. After a while, they piled the finished straw into a pile. Go aside.
Wang Zhong, Lao Ganbang, and the Three Monkeys were cutting wheat in front and had already opened a passage in the golden wheat field. After Ma Renli and the other three had cut a row each, they started to pull the threshing machine to perform the threshing work. .
"Sister-in-law Jinhua, this thresher is really easy to use!" Han Chunmei just got married at the beginning of the year. She often hears her husband talking about the thresher, but this is the first time she has used it.
Sister-in-law Jinhua said with a smile: "It's really easy to use. It's much easier than using a flail."
"That's right! Don't even look at who designed this!" Ma Renli, who was stepping on the pedal, also said with a smile.
Compared with cutting wheat under the sun, the job of stepping on the thresher is much easier. Ma Renli only needs to step on the pedal at a constant speed and wait until all the nearby wheat has finished threshing, and then help Jin Hua and Han Chunmei. Just push the thresher forward.
"Our Captain Wang is really awesome!" Han Chunmei exclaimed.
"No!" Sister-in-law Jinhua said with a smile: "There are windmills, threshing machines, water trucks, and irrigation canals. I have never seen anyone as capable as our team leader in my life!"
Han Chunmei also smiled and said: "I haven't seen it either!"
"None of us have seen it!" Three Monkeys and Lao Ganbang, who were immersed in harvesting wheat not far away, also stood up and said.
Han Chunmei had just been married to Lao Ganbang for just a few months, and she wasn't someone who liked to drop by. People in the village hadn't recognized her yet. Now she only had a good relationship with Mrs. Jinhua and Xiaozhuan, who often came to visit her, and she only had a good relationship with Yang Deng'er. A few are worse, let alone the rest.
The main reason is that there are not many women of similar age left in the village, and there are a lot of single men like the Three Monkeys and Hungry Men in the village.
"Sister-in-law, our captain looks very kind-hearted, why does everyone call him Big Chong?" Han Chunmei asked curiously.
"Sister, didn't you ask who is the head of your family?" Sister-in-law Jinhua asked.
"I know about this!" Ma Renli couldn't wait to answer.
"I also heard what my father said. I just went to Peking that year, and it was the autumn plowing at home. For some reason, my old scalper suddenly went crazy and ran rampant in the fields, injuring several people. No one dared Go up, and then Wang Zhong stood up and rushed towards the crazy old scalper alone!"
"Ah?" Han Chunmei was trembling with fright. A crazy old scalper could kill him.
"The old scalper also ran headlong and bumped into it. Who would have thought that Wang Zhong did not dodge or evade, but directly hit him head-on. He grabbed the horns of the horn with both hands, pressed the cow's head, and withstood the crazy old scalper. He was pushed four or five feet away, and when he stood firm, he threw it hard, and the eight to nine hundred kilogram old scalper was knocked to the ground by him."
Sister-in-law Jinhua's eyes were widened, with shock written all over her face.
An adult scalper weighs only eight or nine hundred pounds, or about a thousand pounds at most. People who can knock down a cow are rare, but not impossible, but those who can restrain a crazy old scalper are Han Chunmei. Never heard of it.
"This is too awesome!"
"Isn't it?" Sister-in-law Jinhua said: "So after that, the villagers gave him a nickname, called Big Chong." The so-called Big Chong is a tiger. In the eyes of these people, the most powerful animal is the tiger. Tiger now.
"Don't just chat! Check whether the bucket is full of wheat. If it is full, fill it up first." Ma Renli said anxiously.
"How can you be so fast?" Mrs. Jinhua looked at Ma Renli and said with a smile, "You are not too weak to pedal, are you?"
"How is that possible!" Ma Renli immediately retorted with a frown on his face. How could a man admit that he was weak, especially in front of a woman: "I am strong."
This very different scene was like a big ink dot on a piece of snow-white rice paper. The villagers in the fields nearby couldn't help but look this way when they took a short break to catch their breath. .
In just over an hour, Wang Zhong and the others had cut all the wheat in more than an acre of land. Ma Renli and the two women took turns pedaling to thresh the wheat. Needless to say, Ma Renli's body was indeed a little weak.
After all, it is a threshing machine driven by manual pedaling, and its speed cannot be compared with the motor-driven ones of later generations. After the three of them have finished cutting the wheat, it will take a while for them to thresh.
The three wheat harvesters wore straw hats and sat in the field to drink water and rest. After resting for about five or six minutes, they went to the nearest field with their sickles and continued their harvesting work.
The wheat that has been threshed will be packed in sacks or rattan frames and placed on the field. When work is finished in the evening, they will be carried back together. Now everyone's job is to take advantage of the good weather to take back all the wheat in the field.
At noon, when the sun was at its highest, they finished cutting the third two-acre field. The six of them stopped to eat, drink water, and rest for half an hour.
The three plots of land harvested in the morning were one over an acre and two over two acres, adding up to nearly six acres, which was quite tiring for several people.
"Damn, I'm so exhausted!" The three monkeys fanned their straw hats and panted heavily. Their faces were already red from the sun.
"Who isn't tired?" Lao Ganbang next to him held his waist and kept rubbing it.
Wang Zhong smiled and said: "Brother Youdao, please take it easy these days and don't just spend time making out with your sister-in-law."
When the three monkeys heard this, a smile appeared on their faces: "That's right!"
"Go, go, go!" Unfortunately, Lao Ganbang's face was already red and sweating profusely, and no change could be seen.
"Brother! You have such a good figure!" The three monkeys looked at Wang Zhong and said with envy.
Wang Zhong said: "Doesn't this further prove that I am born to eat this bowl of rice?"
"In this area of Maixiang Ridge, I, the three monkeys, will obey you." The three monkeys gave a thumbs up: "No wonder Ma Datou, such a shrewd man, was willing to let you be a long-term worker and still care about you. Eat enough."
Lao Ganbang said: "The more you eat, the more you do! Ma Datou is so smart, how can he suffer a loss? If we put them together, we will not get as much as the captain."
"The wheat in our fields is growing better and better every year!" Looking at the golden sea all over the mountains and plains, the three monkeys' faces were filled with happy smiles, tired and happy.
"I think our group is the one that has grown the best this year." Lao Gan said with a smile on his face.
"Brother, why did Ma Datou, a smart man like Ma Datou, not think about digging canals to divert water?" Three Monkeys asked curiously.
Wang Chong smiled and said: "If canals are dug to divert water, the wheat yield in our fields will increase. Where can he annex the land?"
Wang Zhong's words stunned the Three Monkeys and Lao Ganbang.
The three monkeys threw the straw in their hands to the ground and said angrily: "Humph! I said so!"
"Ma Datou's family has more and more land, and ours has less and less land."
"Okay, okay, this happened many years ago, isn't it all ours now!"
"That's true!" The three monkeys smiled again.
Ma Renli, who was pedaling on the wheel at the end of the field, stuck out his tongue and panted heavily. His speed became slower and slower, and finally he stopped and said out of breath, "I can't do it anymore! I really don't have the strength. Got it!"
"I said Ma Renli, these are the last ones left, please work harder." Mrs. Jinhua stood in front of the threshing machine with a sheaf of wheat in her hand.
"No more! No more!" Ma Renli waved his hands repeatedly, breathing heavily and swallowing: "I really can't step on it anymore, I have no strength at all!"
When Wang Zhong over there saw this situation, he shook his head and walked over, "Okay, you go and have a rest, I'll do it!"
Ma Renli got out of the car, staggered to the side, and after taking a few steps, he sat on the ground regardless of his image, put his hands on the ground, and breathed heavily with a tired look on his face.
Wang Zhong's movements were much faster than Ma Renli's. He was pedaling very fast. If he wasn't afraid that the machine wouldn't be able to bear it, he could go even faster.
Han Chunmei and Mrs. Jin Hua gave Ma Renli a look of disdain and said, "It's really useless!"
In only about ten minutes, with Wang Zhong pedaling quickly, the remaining harvested wheat was successfully threshed.
Three Monkeys and Lao Ganbang, who had almost rested, also came over to help put the wheat in the bucket into the sack.
Everyone washed their hands and wiped their faces before starting to eat lunch.
While they were eating, Mrs. Jinhua suddenly suggested: "Captain, how about we change things this afternoon and let the three of us put the wheat away for a while, and you guys can take a rest first."
"That's a good idea!" Han Chunmei nodded repeatedly.
Wang Zhong did not act arbitrarily, but looked at Lao Ganbang and Three Monkeys, "What do you two think?"
"Captain, you might as well take it slow, it's not that you don't have the strength, it's just that your waist can't bear it!" said the three monkeys.
Lao Ganbang said: "Why don't we let Sister Jinhua and my wife cut a piece of land, just for a little while, and the rest of us can continue?"
"Okay, since everyone agrees, let's do it."
Ma Renli: "······"
In the evening, as the sun was setting and the fields were almost busy, several people covered the threshing machine with oilcloth and carried the wheat tied up in sacks home.
At the end of the day, a few people harvested a total of six pieces of land, four of which were more than one acre, and two of which were more than two acres. In total, they harvested almost ten acres of land. In the afternoon, they harvested only about four acres. On the one hand, it was because The sun was too strong, and we had been busy all morning. Everyone was very tired, and their efficiency was naturally not as good as in the morning. On the other hand, Mrs. Jin Hua and Han Chunmei also went back to cook, and there were two less quick workers. Ma Renli still had to work hard. Somewhat stretched.
But overall, the speed is not too slow.
The wheat yield today is not high, let alone in the real world. It is not even comparable to the time in the copy of "Mountains and Seas". The average yield per mu is about 150 kilograms to 200 kilograms. The land is more fertile. There is enough water and fertilizer, and it may exceed 200 jins, but it will never reach 300 jins. Whether it is the density of the plants or the yield, it is naturally incomparable to the later generations when the yield per mu was more than 1,000 jins, and the speed of harvesting wheat is naturally also There is no comparison.
Although Wang Zhong's planting density was much denser than in previous years, the method of spreading fertilizer was also changed, from large-scale spreading to concentrated spreading, and there was never a shortage of winter irrigation and spring irrigation. Water, Wang Zhong also used herbs to make insecticides, and he never stopped weeding or killing insects.
However, due to the limitations of the quality of fertilizers and seeds, although the wheat harvested in each field was much more than last year, it was not much more. Those fields were more than an acre, and the wheat harvested was dried in the sun. From now on, each field will be able to produce about eighty or ninety kilograms more on average, and the two-acre field will be able to produce an extra one hundred, forty or fifty kilograms. Calculating, the yield per mu has exceeded two hundred kilograms, but it is only three meters away. One hundred pounds is still some way off.
Everyone's speed was obviously much slower on the second day, not because they didn't want to work, but because they were too tired on the first day, but they still finished harvesting the remaining wheat fields.
The second mutual aid group has also become the fastest mutual aid group in Maixiang Village to finish harvesting the wheat in the fields.
When the villagers saw how easily Wang Zhong and the others threshed the wheat and took it back, they immediately became interested.
On the third day, someone came to Wang Zhong to borrow a threshing machine. The person who came was none other than Niu Bingdao, and he was carrying a bottle of Baigan in his hand. Wang Zhong naturally would not refuse.
While the villagers were busy threshing the wheat, members of the second mutual aid group had already started drying the wheat.
The family only has a few hundred kilograms of wheat, so drying it is not troublesome.
On the evening of the fourth day, everyone gathered at Wang Chong's house for a meeting.
On the Kang in the main room, Wang Zhong was sitting inside. Three Monkeys and Lao Ganbang were sitting on Wang Zhong's left and right hands. Next to them were Mrs. Jin Hua and Han Chunmei respectively. Ma Renli was sitting on a round stool.
Wang Zhong asked: "How is everyone's wheat drying?"
The three monkeys said: "My family is almost done. I will dry it for another day tomorrow and then put it away."
Sister-in-law Jinhua said: "I am almost the same as the Three Monkeys!"
The progress of Lao Ganbang and Han Chunmei is also the same.
"I may need two more days." Ma Renli was the slowest.
"The weather is good during this period, so everyone should hurry up. The folks are also waiting to dry the wheat. If we finish drying it early, they can finish drying it early."
"Let's discuss the next summer planting issue today."
"Brother Big Chong, what's there to discuss? Just do what we did last year." The three monkeys said.
"Captain, do you have any ideas?" Lao Ganbang looked at Wang Zhong and asked.
Wang Zhong asked: "What did everyone grow in summer in previous years?"
"Basically, they are all made of rice and soybeans!" Mrs. Jinhua said, "There are also peanuts, but there are fewer of them."
"What about the output?" Wang Zhong asked again.
"The output is not high." Lao Gan said.
"Since the yield of summer planting in previous years was not high, let's try new methods and conduct experiments through comparison to see which one can increase the yield. What do you think?"
"This method is good, but we don't know any new methods!" said the three monkeys.
"I do know a few methods. When I was a child, I saw my elders planting it like this. The yield was indeed higher than ours last year. Of course, there are many factors that affect the yield, not necessarily all the planting methods or fertilization. It depends on watering, climate, and region, but I think now that we have both land and people, we might as well give it a try. If we find a way to increase production, it will be beneficial to everyone."
"I agree!" Three Monkeys immediately stated: "I believe in Brother Big Chong."
"I agree!"
"I have no opinion!"
Everyone expressed their opinions one after another.
"Brother Chong, what's the good idea?" Three Monkeys couldn't wait to ask. Everyone looked at Wang Zhong with expectations in their eyes.
"One is crop rotation and the other is intercropping."
"Crop rotation?" Ma Renli asked, "You mean we plant corn and soybeans instead?"
"Yes!" Wang Zhong said: "In fact, our current planting method of winter wheat, summer rice, and summer soybeans is a crop rotation, but it is still too simple. Now there are five families in our group, and the total land is more than 24 acres. "
"We still have to plant winter wheat every year, but in summer, we can plant peanuts, rice and soybeans in rotation. For example, this year San Monkey and Jin Hua's fields were planted with peanuts, and Lao Ganbang's fields were planted Soybeans are grown here, and Bao rice is planted in Ma Renli and I. Wait until next year, we will change the crop again, Sanhou Monkey and Jinhua Sao will plant soybeans, Laoganbang Zhong Bao rice, and Ma Renli and I will plant peanuts .”
"This is a good idea!" Lao Ganbang nodded.
"Brother Big Chong, what's going on with that intermission?" The three monkeys asked again hurriedly.
Wang Zhong explained: "As the name suggests, intercropping means planting several crops at intervals. For example, we divide a piece of land into several ridges, one with rice, one with soybeans, another with rice, and another with rice. Soybeans, sow them at intervals like this.”
"What's the use of this?" Three Monkeys asked doubtfully.
Ma Renli's eyes lit up: "This is a good idea! The tall corn plants can block the wind for the soybeans and prevent the soybean plants from being blown down by the wind. The shorter soybean plants can promote air circulation between the corn plants and provide more sunlight. , maybe it can actually increase production.”
Three Monkeys, Lao Ganbang and others looked at Ma Renli, and their eyes lit up when they heard the word increase production.
"Brother Big Chong, is what Ma Renli said true or false?"
Wang Chong said with a smile: "It's true or false, but we can give it a try with one or two pieces of land, compare it with one that only grows one kind of land, and see the yields on both sides!"
"I agree!" This time Ma Renli was the first to raise his hand in agreement.
"I agree!"
Several people expressed their opinions one after another.
"The corn and soybean seedlings in our fields are almost grown now. After the wheat is dried and stored in the warehouse, we will speed up. Lao Ganbang and I, the three monkeys are responsible for plowing the land, Jinhua Sister-in-law, Ma Renli, and Han Chunmei We will be responsible for topdressing, dividing ridges and transplanting. After the three of us have finished plowing the land, we will come back to help everyone. Do you have any objections to this arrangement?"
"No comment!"
"Brother Big Chong, we all listen to you!"
Naturally, no one would have any objections.
"Then let's discuss what to plant on which plots of land."
"Brother Big Chong, what are you talking about? You can just make the decision. We all will listen to you!"
"The three monkeys are right, captain, we all listen to you!"
"That's okay!" Wang Zhong said with a smile: "In that case, I'll share a point!"
Since everyone is willing to listen to Wang Zhong, Wang Zhong is also happy to save trouble and distribute directly.
"But we have to make one thing clear first. The output of whose land belongs to whoever owns it. Then we can exchange it with each other. What do you think?"
"It's definitely no problem."
Everyone expressed their opinions one after another.
Wang Zhong is not surprised that several people are convinced of him. After all, Wang Zhong’s prestige in Maixiang Village is now so high that no one except Zhou Yihu can match it. Even Wang Wanchun, the village party secretary and village chief, He is not as admired by the villagers as Wang Zhong.
Especially this year, the wheat harvest in the fields of the Second Mutual Aid Group has just been harvested. According to Wang Zhong and Ma Renli's methods, the production can be much higher than last year.
