Chapter 219 Bumper Harvest of Ratoon Rice

After several days of sunny weather, the rice in the fields slowly turned yellow.

Ratoon rice has a very short growing period and differentiates extremely quickly, generally maturing within two months, with the harvest time being late September to early October.

The village head held a meeting under the big locust tree in the middle of the village. Each household officially went to the fields to harvest rice. Ratoon rice is different from the first crop of rice. It is more complicated to harvest and the process will be relatively slower. But that doesn't matter. As long as there is grain to be stored, the villagers can accept any trouble.

The whole Cheng family came out to help. Cheng Zhao and Shen Zheng, who usually read books, also put down their books and went to the fields with them.

There is a lot of rain in autumn. If it rains in the middle of the harvest, the rice will easily mold and rot in the field. The whole family worked day and night and it took four days to harvest all the rice.

Taking it back doesn't mean the job is done; there's still a lot to do afterward.

When Shen Zheng first arrived, it was late summer, the harvest season. Now it was autumn. After two months, he was no longer averse to these farm tasks. He followed Zhao Dashan to dry and thresh the rice. Even the young lady Cao Yingying did not shirk her duties. She learned from Wu Huiniang and threshed the rice. Watching the golden rice grains fall into the wooden basin, she felt a sense of pride.

This time, the yield of ratooning rice reached 140 jin per mu, and when combined with the yield of the first crop, it was an astonishing 340 jin per mu! Moreover, the first crop only had a reduced yield due to locust plagues and droughts. Based on the yields of previous years, each mu could produce at least 400 to 500 jin of grain, which completely overturned everyone's imagination!

Cheng Wanwan herself was somewhat amazed. If the rice regeneration method were promoted, the lives of people at the bottom of society would improve many times over.

But these are not things she can decide.

She continued to worry about her family. Fortunately, the courtyard was now paved with blue bricks, making it more efficient to thresh the rice with a stone roller.

While she was busy, a large number of villagers suddenly rushed towards her door.

Leading the group were the village head's wife and Mrs. Zhao, followed by many other women, each carrying a cloth bag.

Cheng Wanwan quickly came out to greet them: "What happened?"

It's the busy season for autumn harvest, so why are these people coming to her house in groups?

The village head's wife smiled and said, "Didn't we agree before that after the ratooning rice harvest, each household in Dahe Village would give you ten catties of rice? If you hadn't suggested leaving the rice stubble, who would have known we could have another bumper harvest? This time, the yield was 130 to 140 catties per mu, and my family harvested more than 1,000 catties. It's all thanks to you!"

Aunt Wang squeezed in: "These ten pounds are all yours, take them!"

Grandma Zhao untied her cloth bag: "I specially brought you the driest rice I've ever dried, a full ten pounds, so please keep it safe!"

Cheng Wanwan covered her face.

The old woman was clearly implying to the other villagers not to use wet rice as a substitute.

Sure enough, she saw several women quietly leaving the crowd, probably going back to exchange their rice.

Old Mrs. Zhu came in carrying two cloth bags: "Grandma Dashan, this is the rice from our family and the three children of Dashu!"

Since Widow Zhang left, Old Lady Zhu has been living with Widow Zhang's three children. Although they live together, they are still two households, so she sent a full twenty catties of rice, all of which was dried in the sun.

Cheng Wanwan pushed the rice bag back: "Grandma Zhu, you have no son, and Dashu and the other two have no elders. You yourselves have it tough enough, how can you give me these things for nothing? I can accept things from other people, but I absolutely cannot accept things from the elderly and children in the village."

Old Mrs. Zhu's attitude was also firm: "Without you, there would be no second bumper harvest in our village. We won't go hungry this year because of you. These twenty catties of grain are far from enough to express our gratitude, but this is all we can offer. You have to accept it whether you want to or not!"

The old woman tore open the rice bag and poured the rice onto the drying ground in Cheng Wanwan's yard. Then she turned and left. Despite her age, she walked very fast, giving the impression that she was getting younger with age.

With Granny Zhu leading the way, the able-bodied young people in the village had even less excuse not to give them food. Even Granny Zhang, who had always been at odds with Cheng Wanwan, brought ten catties of rice. The rice wasn't completely dry; it was still a little damp. After drying, it would probably yield about eight or nine catties.

After all the rice from the village was delivered, Cheng Wanwan's family had nearly 2,000 jin of rice left over, which was equivalent to two years' worth of their total harvest. Fortunately, their house was large, otherwise they would have had nowhere to put it.

Her impulsive decision led to another bumper harvest in Dahe Village, and also brought her the kindness and gratitude of most people.

He Xiao sat at the doorway basking in the sun. Dahe Village had been very busy lately, but he was quite free. After finishing the two wooden swords, he only had one thing left to do each day: to take good care of his injuries.

He sat at the doorway, watching the villagers busy harvesting rice. For some reason, the empty space in his chest felt as if it were being filled with something.

Even people at the very bottom of society are working hard to make a living, so why is he so despondent?

Does leaving the He family mean he's no longer He Xiao?

He Xiao closed his eyes and continued to bask in the sun.

At the school gate, Master Yu was painting. He hadn't picked up a brush to paint for a long time, but after coming to Dahe Village and seeing everything thriving here, he always felt the urge to compose poems, couplets, and paintings. In just a few days, he had already painted several pictures: the whole village working together to catch a pig, the rice ears swaying in the autumn sun, the village at sunrise, the villagers busy with the harvest, and the students reading... Each picture was full of positive vitality, which inspired him and stirred his heart.

As the harvest drew to a close, the village headman summoned all the households to a meeting by the big locust tree.

"I've called everyone here today to discuss the matter of tax payment," the village headman announced loudly, standing atop a high stone. "This year, our Dahe Village has had a bumper harvest, though it was neither expected nor anticipated by the imperial court..."

Before the village head could finish speaking, Zhang Wulai shouted, "Uncle Village Head, you don't want us to pay taxes again, do you? This harvest is unexpected wealth, and the imperial court didn't say we had to pay taxes. How can we just give it away for nothing!"

The village head's voice became more authoritative: "The imperial court has clearly stipulated that all grain grown on the land must be taxed. Just because the court doesn't mention it doesn't mean it's not required. Rather than waiting for the government to forcibly collect it, we might as well pay it ourselves! Moreover, the county magistrate said that our village only needs to pay one-fifteenth of the tax, which is much luckier than other villages!"

Grandma Zhao spoke up: "I heard that other places didn't survive the famine and relied entirely on the imperial court to open the granaries and distribute grain. If the imperial court's grain runs out, those people will become refugees. Will we still have the peaceful life we ​​have now?"

Upon hearing this, many people around nodded in agreement. Without food, people would become refugees, and if there were too many refugees, they would turn to banditry. In that case, if the world fell into chaos, they would not be able to keep the food they had.