Chapter 167 Simultaneous

"We use 100-150 kilograms of lime per mu of land. We divide it into two parts: one part is spread directly on the ground, and the other part is mixed with compost to disinfect the bacteria.

"Whether it's newly reclaimed land or previously cultivated land, it must be thoroughly disinfected before it can produce healthy paddy fields," Su Ying emphasized.

"Don't worry, we have enough lime this time!" the villagers laughed.

In order to disinfect the soil, a large amount of lime was specially burned and each household was given a considerable amount. Before use, instructions were given in the yard of the vermicelli factory on how to use it, for fear that someone would not know the amount and weight and sprinkle it carelessly.

If too much lime is applied, the roots will burn; if too little is applied, the insects and fungi will not be killed. In the end, the crops will either have their roots burned or be rotten by insects and fungi.

"Aying, we've gone to so much trouble to build a blast furnace and lime kiln just to burn this little bit of lime. It's not really worth it." Someone joked.

Using the old-fashioned kiln, one kiln is produced every half a month. Not only does it waste fuel, but the output is also low. It is estimated that by the beginning of spring, we won't be able to collect enough lime for a whole village.

This blast furnace lime kiln saves fuel, greatly shortens production time, and has high output, but it is only used once and there are few opportunities to use it again, which seems wasteful.

Fortunately, we were able to borrow it from Jinfengzhai later, otherwise it would have been really not worth it.

"Who said this blast furnace is useless? It will be of great use in the future!" Su Ying retorted.

"What else can we do?" asked the villagers.

"Burn lime. Lime has many uses. At least it is used for building houses and disinfection!" Su Ying said with a smile.

"Build a house? It's rare for people to build houses in a poor mountain village like ours. It won't take many times..." Someone stopped talking halfway.

Whether other families in the village would build houses or not was anyone’s guess, but the Su family was definitely going to rebuild theirs. The house they had was already shaky, so they were just living there temporarily.

Now that conditions have improved, it won't be long before the Su family starts building a house. The dilapidated house might collapse one day.

In ancient times, people usually built houses by making bricks out of clay, or by mixing lime, clay, and straw into small pieces and applying the mixture to bamboo fences to make walls.

Only wealthy families were qualified to enjoy brick and tile houses.

"We should always have some lime on hand. In the summer, when rivers swell due to heavy rain, adding a little to drinking water will make it clean and prevent diarrhea and parasites.

Especially in floods, swamps, and dead animals, it should be spread to prevent mosquitoes from spreading malaria, plague, etc. If measures are taken properly, many lives can be saved..."

As soon as the conversation started, everyone talked about the various protective measures against floods and plagues.

Spreading lime powder, spraying lime water, etc., and even when an epidemic breaks out, isolating the infected and the uninfected, protecting themselves with masks and gloves, washing hands frequently, and ventilating the room regularly.

"Oh, Aying, I didn't expect that lime can have so many uses!" The villagers stopped laughing.

In ancient times when productivity was low, people relied on the weather for their livelihood. Floods would occur every two or three years, but the severity varied. Therefore, people prayed for good weather every year.

Floods not only destroy farmland, leaving farmers with no harvest and causing large numbers of casualties among people and livestock, but also easily lead to epidemics, wiping out entire families or villages.

Having to escape floods and facing hunger and plague, it is not easy for the poor to survive.

Everyone took Su Ying's words seriously and made preparations in advance so that when a disaster strikes, they will have response plans and sufficient supplies.

Especially the isolation and disinfection measures, which make a lot of sense.

Old Man Yang and several village elders had dealt with floods and plagues in various places in the court, but they had never heard anyone put forward such reasonable and constructive suggestions.

All of them locked the refugees outside the city. The better ones drove them to remote places, while the lazy ones allowed them to move around and expand the scope of the plague.

According to Su Ying, once the plague is discovered, the channels must be cut off to prevent the possibility of the plague spreading.

Then isolate the plague population, separate the infected and uninfected, and set up an isolation zone in between, and disinfect with lime.

Medical staff should take protective measures and then provide drug treatment.

"Mr. Su, it would be great if Aying could come up with some plague prescriptions!" Old Man Yang said with a smile.

"My daughter has read a lot of miscellaneous books, but not much about medicine, so she can't write any prescriptions for plague, otherwise she would have become a miracle doctor!" Su Bucheng said with a smile.

For several days in a row, the fields in Huanggou Village were busy. After plowing the land, they spread lime, covered it with disinfected rotten soil, and then stored water to nourish the fields.

The pond was already full of water, and the breach was dug to irrigate the fields.

The paddy fields are irrigated one by one, waiting for sowing and transplanting next spring.

The arable land in Huanggou Village has doubled in size. After nearly twenty years of hard work, this year's reclamation was the easiest and most efficient, and it was the paddy fields that were being reclaimed.

Everyone stood at the edge of the field, looking at the green wheat fields above and the vast paddy fields below. The joy and sense of accomplishment in their hearts were beyond words.

When I think about this time next year, the second season of rice will be harvested, and I can’t imagine what it will be like when every household’s granary is filled with grain!

"Village chief, we have wasted a lot of time. It's time to start building the road!" Su Bucheng said to Old Man Yang.

"No hurry, no hurry!" Old Man Yang said with a smile, "There is still one thing to do."

"What's going on?" Su Bucheng was puzzled. Hadn't these things been discussed long ago? What had been missed?

"Build a few school buildings! It's getting cold, and we can't just sit on the ground outdoors." Old man Yang said with a smile.

"What the village chief said makes sense. I was negligent." Su Bucheng slapped his head.

The children go to school in their own yard. It’s okay when it’s warm, but it’s freezing cold in winter. How can they sit on the ground?

Not to mention the cold ground, the chilly wind was also uncomfortable, not to mention the occasional drizzle.

If I don't attend the class, I'll be wasting my time. If I go, I'll be soaked in no time.

Poor people only have one or two pieces of warm clothing and no extra replacements.

Not to mention that it is easy to cause colds, which can be fatal in severe cases.

Children are hope, the future, and the continuation of family and bloodline.

Isn’t everything we do just to help the children go beyond Lingnan? Building a school is imperative!

However, due to the construction of the school building, the road construction was delayed and could not be carried out. It was delayed again and again and finally completed within a year.

"It won't take that many people to build a school building. It would be better to divide the manpower into several groups and work simultaneously." Su Bucheng thought for a while and said,

"What arrangements do you have for Mr. Su?" asked Old Man Yang.

"The women are responsible for making vermicelli and honey, leaving a few laborers to pound the juice;

Forty people will be left to build the school building. If we are going to build it, we should build it better. It doesn’t matter if we spend more manpower and time, as long as we can do it once and for all.

The remaining people repaired the road and first removed the rocks that were blocking the way.

"Once the school building is completed and we have all the manpower, we can start the road construction in full swing, and the process will be much faster. What do you think, Village Chief?" Su Bucheng pondered.

Now the fern roots and kudzu roots are becoming less and less, and the villagers are searching along the mountain road, almost working one day and resting one day.

Because the whole county is producing, Hu Ji Grocery Store has sufficient demand and is not affected by the reduction in quantity in Huanggou Village.

"Very good!" Old man Yang agreed very much.

The entire village, including the remaining people from the county government and the state government, had a total of about 130 people.

Excluding the three laborers needed for flour production, there are forty people building the school building and ninety people repairing the road. Let's tackle the tough spots on the road first.