Zhao Lizheng sat at his doorstep, head bowed, lost in thought.
When he noticed the commotion at the door, he looked up, his face filled with worry and despair.
"Little Lian'er, you've come."
"Yes, Uncle Zhao, I need to talk to you about something."
Qiao Lian'er was carrying a basket on her back, inside which was something folded up. It was white, and the material was unclear, but it was quite heavy.
Zhao Lizheng went into the house and brought out a stool.
"Little Lian'er, what's the matter?"
Qiao Lian'er said, "I went to the county town today and saw a lot of villagers gathered together, wanting to find the grain requisitioners and reclaim their grain."
"They are now recruiting disgruntled people, and their ranks are growing larger as they go."
Zhao Lizheng was somewhat surprised, but quickly realized that this was not unexpected and was bound to happen sooner or later.
"People's lives are already hard enough. They take away so much of their hard-earned money and don't even want people to live. How can they be afraid of death?"
“However, the imperial court has a million-strong army. How can we resist them? This would be a pointless death.” He thought of something, and his face became even more serious: “The villagers of Datian Village will definitely not allow them to do that. I will make them understand the importance of this matter and not act rashly.”
Once we get through this year, things will be better. We're not really at our wits' end, so there's no need to risk our lives.
Qiao Lian'er continued, "I went to Lingjia Village and saw the villagers loosening the soil in the paddy fields, preparing to plant another season of rice."
“But the winters are quite cold in our area, so we can’t grow two crops of rice. Unless we go another 300 miles south, that’s another country where we can grow two crops of rice.” Zhao Lizheng shook his head after hearing this.
“Winter has arrived here in the south, and the cold wave and frost are severe. A single frost can kill all the crops. This is no joke. They are doing useless work. They are being foolish. I'm afraid the rice won't even sprout ears of grain, and even if it does, it won't grow big.”
Normally, no one would do something so ridiculous, but thinking about being driven to the brink of despair and having to rely on a tiny bit of hope, Zhao Lizheng felt heartbroken.
"That's the point of this stuff." Qiao Lian'er took out a plastic greenhouse cloth from her basket. It was a small one, designed to be easy to carry and could cover a small vegetable patch.
"What is this?" Zhao Lizheng had never seen this before, and he picked it up to examine it curiously.
"This is called plastic film. It is used to cover the fields and can lock in the temperature of the soil and air, so that crops can be protected from the effects of frost and cold waves. Although the growth rate is still much slower than in spring and summer, there will still be a certain harvest. At least 70 to 80 catties can be produced per mu."
"Such a miraculous effect?" Zhao Lizheng's eyes lit up. He suddenly thought of something else: "No one has thought of covering the fields with something to keep them warm, such as building thatched sheds and blocking the sides with straw and rice straw, but it didn't work and even caused large areas of crops to wither and die."
"The wrong material was used. Straw and stalks are inherently prone to drafts and cannot withstand cold waves and frost. In addition, they completely block out sunlight. Without sunlight, nutrients cannot be synthesized, and the crops will naturally wither and die. The greenhouse film I have here is made of special materials that allow sunlight to penetrate. Even at night, the greenhouse can maintain a certain temperature, which can reach the soil and keep the roots of the crops warm."
Because plastic greenhouse film absorbs a large amount of short-wave radiation, which comes from the sun, travels quickly and efficiently, and can rapidly raise the temperature inside the greenhouse. Long-wave radiation comes from the ground and the atmosphere, has a weak warming capacity, and is reflected out by the greenhouse, thus creating a greenhouse effect inside the greenhouse.
These details are modern scientific knowledge, which would be difficult for people in ancient times to understand, so she didn't explain them to Zhao Lizheng.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
