met free Chapter 44 What more could you want?
Chapter 44 What more could you want?
Having been slapped and then given a sweet treat, the village chiefs and communes were completely manipulated by Magistrate Yang Shaofeng, unable to tell whether the slap hurt more or the treat was sweeter.
After leaving the county government hall, the village chiefs and commune leaders gathered together.
Liu Sanshier, the head of Liumiao Village, spoke first: "With the Grain in Ear season approaching, the magistrate forbids us from sending able-bodied men back to harvest wheat. If we can't help each other out, I'm afraid this summer harvest will be difficult."
Wang Wuqi, the head of Xihe Village, echoed, "My opinion is the same as Lao Liu's—although the magistrate said that there are enough able-bodied men left for each village and commune, and the wheat can be harvested in one or two days at most, as you all know, wheat is not only to be harvested, but also to be harvested quickly. Moreover, after the wheat is harvested, we still have to plant late rice, so time is very tight."
The "Mangzhong" mentioned by Liu Sanshier refers to the ninth solar term in the twenty-four solar terms. Crops with awns, such as wheat, will mature after the arrival of the Mangzhong solar term and need to be harvested. "Zhong" refers to the sowing of millet and sorghum crops.
The "Collection of Explanations of the Seventy-Two Seasonal Phenomena" states: "The fifth month's festival means that grains with awns can be sown." This means that the seeds of awned crops such as barley and wheat have matured, and the harvest is urgent. The folk saying "fight for the day in spring and fight for the hour in summer" refers to the busy harvesting and planting season at this time.
There is a folk saying about Grain in Ear (芒种): "If it rains on Grain in Ear in April, there will be no dry soil in May, and the land will be scorched in June." It is believed that the weather on Grain in Ear can predict the rain and drought conditions in the fifth and sixth lunar months. If it rains on Grain in Ear, there will be plenty of rain in May, and a dry month in June.
Wang Wuqi's advice to hurry up and harvest means that regardless of whether it rains on the day of Grain in Ear, all the wheat must be harvested before the Grain in Ear solar term arrives. Otherwise, if it rains on the day of Grain in Ear, the wheat may fall over, the grains may fall, the ears may sprout and become moldy, and the wheat field may rot because it was not harvested, threshed and stored in time, which could ruin the crops that were just about to be harvested.
The proverb "Harvesting wheat is like fighting a fire, and the grain must be snatched from the dragon's mouth" vividly illustrates the tense atmosphere of the wheat harvest season, where every favorable opportunity must be seized to rush the cutting, transportation, and threshing.
The other village leaders and elders were all farmers who had worked the land for many years, so they naturally understood what Liu Thirty-Two and Wang Five-Seven were saying.
After pondering for a while, Zhang Liuqi, the head of Jia Yilu, took the lead in expressing his opinion: "In that case, the able-bodied men who are left in our villages and communities should still go to harvest wheat. However, the women in our villages and communities should help each other. Jia Yilu is willing to arrange ten women to help bundle and transport wheat in Xihe."
Wu Qiba, the head of Jia Erlu, nodded in agreement: "We, Jia Erlu, are willing to send six women to help Liu Miao Village bundle and transport wheat. Heshan and Wang Bian are close by, so why don't you two villages help each other out?"
Yang Er, the head of Heshan Village, nodded in agreement: "Okay, then we Heshan and Wang Bian will help each other out."
After a slight pause, Yang Er continued, "We can't afford any more mistakes this time, especially no one can play the game and lose. Otherwise, if the master finds out, we'll never be able to explain ourselves."
As Yang Er finished speaking, the assembled village leaders and elders fell silent, inwardly cursing the bastard who had bet on eating fifteen steamed buns.
If it weren't for him, would the master be so angry?
After a long silence, Liu Sanshier, the head of Liumiao Village, finally spoke in a hoarse voice: "When you go back, remind the people in your villages and communities again not to play gambling games like that idiot."
Yang Er, the head of Heshan Village, chimed in, "Old Liu is right. It's not easy for us poor folks to have such a benevolent official like him. If some idiot were to play a gambling game and anger the official, who would be willing to allocate land to us like he does?"
Wang Wuqi, the head of Xihe Village, suddenly snorted and said, "Damn it, we've been looking forward to a good life every day. We finally got a big boss and a good life, but that stupid bastard went off to play gambling games with other people. He's a damn worthless scoundrel!"
Just as the village heads and wardens were discussing how to harvest the wheat before the Grain in Ear solar term and how to completely ban the gambling game, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng had already run to the chicken farm not far from the county government office.
The chicken farm that Yang Shaofeng, the county magistrate, started now has more than 70 chickens. Compared to the pitiful state when he only had about 30 chicks at the beginning, the chicken farm has now taken shape and has even begun to breed chickens in different categories under the guidance of Yang Shaofeng, the county magistrate.
The so-called classified breeding involves marking the hens that grow faster with paint, and raising the chicks hatched from their eggs separately. Later, when these chicks grow up, the hens that grow faster are selected, and the process is repeated.
The same treatment is applied to hens that lay eggs quickly and in large quantities. They are marked with paint to distinguish them from hens that grow faster, and then the chicks hatched from them are selected for further breeding.
If nothing unexpected happens, after several or even a dozen generations of selection and breeding, the chickens in the chicken farm will gradually develop in two directions: one is to lay more eggs and faster, and the other is to grow meat faster.
As for the taste... In the agricultural era when it was difficult to even get enough to eat, ordinary people could only eat meat a few times a year or even a lifetime. No matter how bad the chicken tasted, it was still a rare delicacy for ordinary people. Who would care about the taste?
As I always say, we're lucky to have meat to eat, what more could we ask for?
In addition to the expansion of the chicken farm, the ducks on the farm have also started laying and incubating eggs one after another. It is estimated that in a few more months, the number of ducks will also begin to increase slowly.
If it weren't for the high probability of a drought, the situation in Ningyang County would be absolutely fantastic, excellent, and wonderful.
Unfortunately, there have only been four or five rain showers in three months. The drought is now a foregone conclusion, and the originally promising situation in Ningyang County will take a sharp turn for the worse due to the drought.
After wandering around the chicken farm for a while, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng went to the nearby livestock farm. If there were more cattle, horses, and mules on the farm, it would be easier for the people to harvest wheat and thresh it with a roller.
At this moment, the livestock farm was bustling with activity.