Mid-Autumn Festival has passed, and the fragrance of rice wafts through the air.
While other people were harvesting their crops, the ratooning rice also had a bumper harvest.
Lin Pei visited Lijia Village again. The last time he came, it was Shuxia Village, but now it is Lijia Village.
Many new small wooden houses have been built by villagers in Lijia Village, and these are all guesthouses.
The manager's office is located at the entrance on the first floor. Guests wishing to stay must check in here and have their names verified on the guest list.
The guest rooms are located on the first and second floors. The rooms are clean and tidy, and each room has a private bathroom and toilet.
The toilet is a squat toilet; once you're done, you just need to gently pull the rope above your head and water will flush it away.
The waiter would also come in every day to clean the room, only knocking on the door to clean when the guests were present.
The inn does not provide meals. You need to pay extra to have meals delivered.
If you don't want to spend extra money, you can eat out. There are plenty of food stalls outside that are cheap and filling.
These inns were all built in one place, but not close together.
Because of the many new buildings, Lijia Village looks several times larger.
Hearing that the Li family was building a clan school, Lin Pei went to see it and expressed his approval of the Li family's actions.
This time, the Cao family didn't come; Cao Shang came in.
Now, Cao Shangjin can no longer be on friendly terms with Li Xuming, as he still has his uncle above him.
He was demoted by a generation for no reason.
Several teachers from the clan school were also invited to accompany them. The two scholars were overjoyed, never expecting such a happy event to happen to them.
Lin Pei tested the two men's knowledge and urged them to continue taking the imperial examinations to become scholars.
Lin Pei treated Master Liu as an equal, since a successful candidate in the imperial examinations could now be selected for an official position. However, Master Liu was very perceptive and always treated Lin Pei with the utmost respect.
When the group arrived at the rice paddies, the harvest had already begun.
This time, the Li family hired someone to harvest their crops, and because it was the busy farming season, they even added some copper coins.
However, the paddy field for the ratooning rice was only ten mu, so this time it took much less time than last time.
The threshing on the shore was still done by members of the Li family. The first mu (unit of land area) of grain was threshed and weighed, totaling 134 jin (unit of weight).
Next, they threshed and weighed the grain from the next few acres, with an average yield of about 160 jin per acre.
Lin Pei was very satisfied with this yield. It was a great achievement to have two harvests from one rice crop, and to have this yield in the second crop!
It should be noted that in mountainous or barren areas, a normal harvest is 160 catties per mu (approximately 0.16 acres).
"Xu Ming! His Majesty is very concerned about the yield of our ratooning rice. Now that the conclusion of the harvest has been reached, I must immediately return to the county to report to His Majesty!"
Li Xuming didn't try to keep him; he directly saw Lin Pei off out of the village, as the sooner the news reached the capital, the better.
"Give us the money!"
After seeing Lin Pei off, Li Xuming went back with a smile to distribute money to everyone. It was another bumper harvest, and even if the yield was low, it was still a profit for the Li family!
The impact of ratooning rice is profound and long-lasting.
Next, the ratooning rice planted by Zhao Qi and others was also harvested, and the yield did not change much.
Two days after they finished harvesting their crops, these people brought gifts to the Li family to express their gratitude.
"We're all from the same village, what are you doing here when it's neither a holiday nor a festival!"
“Village chief! Thanks to the old lady’s method, our families have harvested an extra season’s worth of grain. In a famine year, this would be a life-saving grace, and we must accept it.”
“That’s right, village chief. Crops are our foundation. We rely on these grains to survive all year round.”
“Grain is money. In the past, after selling the new grain, we would exchange it for coarse grains, and when we were hungry, the whole family would just drink water. Now, even if we sell one season's worth of new grain, it's enough for our family to eat.”
Everyone was smiling, and Li Xuming realized that these people were truly different from when he first met them.
No longer frowning, no longer hunched over.
Because their lives have become more prosperous, their faces have become kinder.
It turns out that in this world, poverty is the most deadly thing.
Li Xuming still refused their gifts, after all, the Li family had already received a reward from the emperor.
After the ratooning rice harvest is complete, it's time to dry the grains. Taking advantage of the good weather, the people dry the harvested crops and store them in the granary.
Li Family Workshop has also begun to promote its new products.
—Stinky tofu.
The Li family has been making stinky tofu for some time now, but unfortunately, their previous attempts all ended in failure.
It's either contaminated or the fermentation failed.
After several attempts, I finally succeeded in making the first batch of perfect stinky tofu.
Stinky tofu smells a bit hard to describe, but it really tastes good.
At first, the Li family couldn't accept it either, thinking that the tofu had been made badly.
However, after Pan Jinhua asked the cook in her household to prepare the dish, everyone was willing to take a bite and try it.
The fermented flavor is rich and has a tofu-like taste. It's very chewy, and it's even more delicious when stir-fried with chili peppers.
Besides stinky tofu, the Li family also made fermented bean curd.
It's red spicy fermented bean curd. The surface of the bean curd is bright red, and the rich aroma of beans is intertwined with the spiciness, making it a great side dish.
Fermented bean curd is mainly for the general public. The price of fermented bean curd is not too high. A piece of red spicy fermented bean curd costs three copper coins, which is very affordable.
The main reason is that fermented bean curd goes very well with rice; a little bit can make you eat a lot of rice and save you a lot of dishes.
For many frugal families, fermented bean curd is a very good dish.
This characteristic made fermented bean curd an instant hit with the people, and sure enough, when it was launched, orders came one after another.
Merchants aren't stupid; this is clearly something that will sell well, so why would they miss out?
"Fermented bean curd, fermented bean curd, new products from Li's Workshop are now available!"
"Stinky tofu smells bad but tastes delicious!"
"Products made by the Li family are trustworthy."
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