Chapter 287 Cotton is called White Cotton
Because the Cao and Zhao families were quietly discussing the marriage, Cao Yingying did not come in person this time; instead, Steward Sun brought people over.
The two hundred mu of land in the village had already been measured and the land deeds written. That place was located on the edge of the village, where two hundred mu of trees were planted, like a natural barrier and fence for Dahe Village.
Unlike fruit trees, mulberry trees can be planted more densely, with at least a thousand trees per acre. However, planting too densely requires frequent pruning, increasing labor costs. Therefore, Manager Sun limited the number of trees to five hundred per acre, which would amount to one hundred thousand trees per two hundred acres. Planting these trees would also require considerable effort.
"I'll trouble Zhao Lizheng with the tree planting," Steward Sun said, cupping his hands in greeting. "Besides planting trees, we also need to build several rows of houses for silkworm farming next year. We also need to build dormitories for the silkworm farmers, as well as workshops for spinning and weaving. I've brought the blueprints with me."
The village head scratched his head: "Planting trees isn't a big problem, but it's winter now, so building houses is probably out of the question. The soil is too hard, and the weather is too cold, so we can't make adobe bricks. They'll be too brittle, and the houses we build won't be sturdy..."
“It’s not an adobe house, it’s a brick house,” Steward Sun said. “The weaving workshop needs to be moisture-proof and waterproof, so it must be a brick house. We’ll have someone deliver the bricks in a couple of days. Village Chief Zhao can receive them and we can start construction at any time. Here’s a total of five hundred taels of silver. Part of it is for the wages of planting trees, and the other part is for the wages of building the house.”
A heavy bundle was handed to the village head.
The village head sighed inwardly, "A workshop that does all the work actually uses blue bricks; the Cao family must be incredibly wealthy..."
However, the Cao family spent this money in their Dahe Village, which is a good thing for Dahe Village.
He patted his chest and promised, "Don't worry, Steward Sun, I will definitely handle this matter well for the Cao family. It will be completed before the New Year."
After completing the task assigned by the young lady, Steward Sun left the village.
No sooner had he left than the village headman gathered people to get to work.
Nowadays, most of the men in the village have jobs. Some work at Cheng Wanwan's house, some are hired as patrol members, some are repairing irrigation ditches on the mountain to prepare for irrigation and drainage next year, and some are building a house for Manager Yan's family. At this time, they are gathering people to plant mulberry trees for the Cao family, and only more than forty people are available to come.
Planting trees is hard work, especially in winter when the soil is frozen solid. Digging holes is laborious and time-consuming. After digging the holes, you have to pick out the loose stones, grass roots, and other debris by hand. To ensure the sapling doesn't move, you have to use both hands to slowly put the roots in. To plant one tree, you have to dig in the ground several times with both hands. In winter, one person can plant about twenty trees a day. For 100,000 trees, it would take one person five thousand days. For more than forty people, it would take about one hundred days.
The village head was a little worried. He had boasted to Miss Cao that he could plant all the trees in a month, but now he was about to lose face.
If the tree planting is delayed, the house construction will be delayed even further, and it certainly won't be completed before the Chinese New Year.
"Does anyone have relatives or anything like that? You can introduce them to work. Whoever it is, you'll get two coins for each tree planted. Twenty trees a day is forty coins. The more trees you plant, the more you earn—there's no upper limit," the village headman shouted. "Of course, if any tree you plant dies next year, you have to return the money. So, you can't be careless when planting trees; you have to be very careful and not kill the saplings..."
The villagers' minds suddenly became active.
There's always work to be done in their village, and the house-building business never stops. It's either at Da Shan's mother's house, or at Manager Yan's, and now it's at Miss Cao's. Miss Cao is building a spinning and weaving workshop, and she'll definitely need to hire female workers to weave cloth in the future. So, they're calling their relatives over to work and get to know them, so maybe they can be hired by the Cao family later.
As soon as the meeting ended, many villagers immediately went to their relatives' houses to call for more people.
In winter, most farmers are idle at home, so when this announcement was made, hundreds of men from nearby villages came to sign up to plant trees.
The village head smiled, his eyes narrowing, and sat under a tree on the edge of the wasteland, responsible for registration. Normally, this task was given to Zhao Tiezhu, but Tiezhu was in class at the moment, so the village head had to do it himself.
Those who come to register first register their names and addresses, and then go to the side to pick up saplings. They can pick up twenty trees at a time. After planting, a special person will check and record which row and column each person planted. The purpose of this is to prevent the person responsible from not being able to find out if the trees die next year.
Of course, the death of one or two trees won't really cause trouble for anyone, because a small number of saplings will die during winter. But if a large number of trees planted by one person die, it's obvious that the person who planted the trees is at fault, and they should be made to refund the money.
At the same time, the Cao family's blue bricks also arrived. Tens of thousands of blue bricks were piled up on the wasteland, attracting much attention.
The village head was never free, not only overseeing the planting of trees but also organizing people to start building houses... Basically everyone in the village had work to do, and some boys as young as ten would also be called in to be responsible for tasks such as handing bricks and mixing soil on the construction site...
In the past few days, the roadblocks around the village have been quietly completed. Only the patrol team knows where the roadblocks are located. The villagers are still going about their lives in an orderly manner, just like before.
The weather is getting colder and colder. It's mid-winter now, and in another half month it will be the twelfth lunar month, and in another month it will be the Chinese New Year.
Cheng Wanwan has already started heating the kang (a traditional heated brick bed). She is naturally sensitive to the cold, and whenever the wind blows outside, she feels cold all over when she hears the wind.
After Wu Huiniang finished her postpartum confinement, Wen went back to live with the Zhao family. She simply invited Wu Huiniang and her granddaughter to come and sleep with her on the earthen bed, as the weather was too cold and she was afraid her granddaughter would catch a cold.
As for the boys, if they are also cold, they can heat up the kang (heated brick bed) in Zhao Sidan's room. However, it is clear that the boys are not afraid of the cold and are not interested in heating the kang.
Cheng Wanwan bought several quilts from the mall and gave one to each of the boys: "These are cotton quilts that I asked someone to buy from out of town. They are warm to cover with, so you can take them out and cover yourself with them when you feel cold."
Every day, countless merchants would come to our house, all arriving in horse-drawn carriages. It was quite normal for them to bring us some unusual items.
"The quilt is so warm!" Zhao Sidan's eyes narrowed with joy. "It's so soft and comfortable lying on it, Mom, what is this quilt made of?"
Cheng Zhao said slowly, "The book says: 'This grass has a fruit like a cocoon, and the silk inside the cocoon is like fine cotton. It is called white silkworm cocoon. Is this the thing?'"
Shen Zheng was astonished: "How do you know everything?"
"It's said that this plant grows on southern islands, and when mature, it can be made into warm clothing. However, the southern islands don't experience freezing temperatures, so this plant hasn't been widely cultivated; it's only mentioned in a few books from the south," Cheng Zhao said. "If this plant could be mass-produced, how many people could be saved from freezing to death..."
Cheng Wanwan couldn't help but sigh, "Zhao'er will definitely become a good official who loves the people like his own children."
She said, "I asked someone to buy some seeds of white cypress from the south. I'll try planting them next spring."
Zhao Dashan patted his chest and said, "Leave the planting of white berries to me, I'm sure I can make them grow."
As the family was talking, a cheerful voice came from the doorway: "Grandma Dashan, it's done!"
Cheng Wanwan looked up and saw Zhao the matchmaker.
The children all turned to look at Zhao Ergou. Although Cheng Wanwan was very discreet, they all lived under the same roof, and the children weren't stupid; they naturally already knew what was going on.
Zhao Ergou blushed deeply, coughed, and said, "Auntie, come in and sit down. I'll go pour some tea."
After saying that, he quickly slipped away, and Chunhua brought in the tea.
Holding a document in her hand, the matchmaker Zhao said with a smile, "This is the given name and birth date of the eldest daughter of the Cao family..."
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