Chapter 424: Records of Dayu Ridge

Su Ying opened the box, took out the cotton seeds inside, soaked them in warm water, and placed them in a sunny place in front of the window.

"Sister, how long do you want to soak for?" Xiao Tao asked.

"One day! There's another way, soaking in hot water for a quarter of an hour." Su Ying said, "But I'm not sure about that, so soaking in warm water is safer."

"Sir, is this what you mean by soaking and germinating the seeds?" Xie Qingyun asked.

"Yes!" Su Ying stood up. "Okay, we've finished the first step. Let's go to class! Remember to take notes."

"Yes, sir!" The children rushed back to the classroom for class.

Su Ying went out and went to the field to check.

When planting winter wheat, we deliberately reserved more than one acre of land for planting cotton. This piece of dry land is sunny, ventilated, has good drainage, and the soil is loose and fertile.

It is already March, the wheat fields are lush and green, and this year is another bumper year.

There was a lot of weeds growing on the empty land, and it was also lush green.

"Uncle Tieniu!" Su Ying shouted to Qin Tieniu who was plowing the field not far away.

"Master Su! What's the matter?" Qin Tieniu stopped and wiped the sweat off his face.

Taking advantage of the free time, I plowed the paddy fields that had been filled with water for the winter again. Life felt more promising and I felt refreshed.

During the Chinese New Year, the villagers and people from Jinfengzhai helped build a few houses, and they finally settled down completely.

Relatives from my hometown in Xingyang sent a letter before the New Year. The Su family is on the rise again, and the people in Qinjia Village are living a much better life, so they don't travel so far to Lingnan.

"Uncle Tie Niu, please help me plow this land and plant some white radish in a few days!" Su Ying didn't ask Uncle Tie Niu for any compensation.

The green grass fermented in the ground is just right for making green manure.

"Okay!" Qin Tieniu said readily.

"Master Xiao Su, I'm free now, let me do it!" Zhou Wulang and Liu Lang passed by carrying a plow and driving oxen.

"Have you finished plowing your land?" Su Ying asked.

"No, I just happened to pass by. It's just a small piece of land. It won't take long." Zhou Wulang put down the plow and harnessed it to the ox.

Two men from the Zhou family went to build the road, and Zhou Wulang and Liulang were still in charge of the soy sauce business.

The two of them had good skills and the soy sauce they brewed was of good quality. Their wages doubled, and they also had to take care of farm work at home.

"Huahua!" Chunbao, who was over two years old, picked a few Chinese lantern flowers from the edge of the field and gave them to Su Ying when he saw her.

"Well, Chunbao is so good!" Su Ying took it with a smile and took out a piece of rock candy from her pocket to feed him.

Chunbao's eyes were curved with joy, and his sister always gave him delicious food.

"Aying, what should we do?" Yan, who was standing behind, saw this and felt heartbroken.

Such a valuable thing, yet the village elder of Aying just gave it to the child so casually.

"Chunbao, be good. It's worth it!" Su Ying moved Chunbao's little head.

The little guy has grown a lot whiter and fatter, with a chubby little face, which is very cute.

"Hey, Zhou Wulang, why are you stealing my job?" Qin Tieniu saw it, dropped the work in his hands and ran over.

"Uncle Tieniu, you have a lot of land, so don't fight with me." Zhou Wulang said with a smile, "It's only the size of a palm!"

"You little brat!" Qin Tieniu saw that Zhou Wulang had already driven the ox to plow, so he didn't insist any longer.

"Master Xiao Su, can we really grow white clover here?" Zhou Liulang asked while squatting on the ground.

"Of course! But the best places are Henan Road and Hebei Road. It's dry and sunny there, and the cotton grown there is fluffy and has long fibers." Su Ying nodded.

"Really? Then should the white diezi be moved back to Hebei and Henan provinces for planting?" Zhou Liulang's eyes sparkled, and he seemed to have an idea.

“Well, we will plant it on a large scale in Henan and Hebei Provinces in the future.

"If you learn it, you can be hired by Sinong Temple as a technical instructor in the future, and you can go back to your hometown to visit." Su Ying encouraged.

"Great! Brother, now that we have learned how to grow white radish, let's go back to our hometown!" Zhou Liulang shouted happily.

"Aying, can we really go back?" Yan's eyes were eager.

Who doesn’t miss home? Last year, I was starving and had no choice but to follow the Fulong caravan to Lingnan to survive.

Now that Dayuling Mountain is open, the road is easier to travel, and the family has some savings, I miss home very much.

"Of course you can go back if you want, but will there be any land to farm if you go back?" Su Ying asked a practical question.

During years of famine, the wealthy and powerful landlords took advantage of the opportunity to buy up and merge the cultivated land in the hands of farmers at low prices.

It's impossible to buy it back.

Either leave your hometown or reclaim the wasteland on your own.

In settlements like Henan Dao and Hebei Dao, the entire flat wasteland has long since disappeared, leaving only scattered rocks and barren land.

People will starve to death before the wasteland is reclaimed.

"Alas!" Yan sighed sadly. Unless she became rich, returning to her hometown would just be a fantasy.

"Don't be sad. Earn more money and send Chunbao to school when he is five or six years old. Maybe I can leave Lingnan and take you back to my hometown in the future." Su Ying comforted.

After the New Year, the order to teach in Lingnan had spread throughout the country, and students from poor families came to Lingnan one after another.

The county school in Wu County was being planned and the new county magistrate had also arrived with his staff.

During the handover, Fuxi took the new county magistrate to various towns and villages.

When the students passed Dayuling, they were shocked by the wide four-lane cement road.

Isn't Lingnan supposed to be wild and remote? Why is it so bustling with people and merchants?

What kind of road is this? A cement road? How could such a clean, tidy road appear here? Is this wilderness?

At both ends of Dayuling Road, there is a stone wall with merit tablets at the Pearl River and Ganjiang River docks, engraved with the great achievements of the construction of Dayuling project.

The article reads: In the summer of the third year of Zhenguan, I was ordered by the emperor to repair and dig Dayu Ridge...

The full text is nearly a thousand words long, describing the whole process and hardships of this project, praising the emperor's wisdom and compassion for the people, the court's clean administration and strong support; the active participation of local officials and people, and the free donations made by ship merchants and merchants from both places, etc.

At the end of the text are engraved the names of officials, clerks, various departments, yamen, etc., as well as the ship merchants who donated free of charge and supported the construction, and the amount of money converted from their donated materials.

Every traveler passing by stops to admire it, and after watching it, they can feel the boiling blood and surging passion.

This article was written by Su Laoer on the night of the celebration banquet. He was slightly tipsy and wrote it quickly. His thoughts flowed like a spring and he wrote it in one go. It became an essay that he could never surpass in his life.

The ship merchants printed the manuscript at their own expense, distributed it everywhere, and promoted it under the title "Records of Dayuling Mountain".

It even spread to Chang'an City and became an excellent prose work that students competed to recite.

Even the emperor read it personally, and from time to time he admired Su Yuanwailang's lofty ambitions and aspirations.

The students were deeply inspired by looking at Dayuling Road.

Only when you go further in can you truly experience the wildness, difficulties and dangers.

Fortunately, the order to support teaching was known to everyone in Lingnan, and the students were treated kindly and cared for by government officials, inns, and the people along the way.

Although it was hard, they all arrived at the state capitals with determination.

The state capitals that were originally short of talent were overjoyed. They saw talents coming out of nowhere and made full use of these students.

In addition to organizing the county school, he was also asked to do miscellaneous work in various departments.

The students did not refuse and worked very well in their respective positions.