82 Chapter 82
◎Slavery◎
"We need good grain, but," Xu Huan said calmly, his words unhurriedly, "Your family is dozens of miles east of Tianma Town. Our surprise attack caught the Yan people off guard. Now they've reacted and are deploying troops to reinforce the northern Yan defenses. Traveling back and forth is incredibly difficult. How do you plan to redeem yourself with grain, Madam Cheng?"
Cheng Mu clenched her fingers. She could, but she had no other choice.
Shangguan Duan watched coldly and poured Xu Huan another cup of tea.
Xu Huang was still looking at Cheng Mu. She was not confused or timid despite the impossible task. The sketch of farm tools she had drawn before appeared in Xu Huang's mind.
Cheng Mu thought for a moment. She didn't answer directly, but said, "May I ask you two gentlemen, what were the per-acre yields of rice and wheat in the best areas of the Yangtze River Delta, south of the Mongolian desert, last year?"
Xu Huan and Shangguan Duan looked at each other. How could they know?
"What do you want to say?"
Cheng Mu said, "I've previously told Master Shangguan that last year's snowstorm caused considerable losses in Yunzhou, and the Mongolian Plateau must have suffered heavy losses as well. I don't have any other skills, and for the time being, I can't figure out how to transport the surplus grain from home. However, I have some experience in farming over the years. If the two Masters are willing to agree to three rules with me, I'm willing to help you with all my strength and single-handedly promote a good harvest in the region."
After the autumn harvest, if the increased production reaches the amount agreed upon today, I wonder if the two gentlemen can let my daughter and I return home."
Xu Huan raised his eyebrows when he heard this, turned around and ordered his personal guards outside the tent to bring paper and pen.
"Madam Cheng, if you have any rules, please list them in writing."
"Before we make the final decision, I have one request. Master Shangguan, where is my daughter?"
Cheng Mu was settled in Neizhou. When Shangguan Duan sent her there, he also returned Xiaoliu to her.
Fan Qingsong was actually with Xiaoliu.
Shangguan Duan handed the man over to her, and said meaningfully, "Madam Cheng, you have never cared about your man from the beginning to the end. Do you treat men like clothes?"
man?
Cheng Mu looked at Xiaoliu, who was tugging at Fan Qingsong's clothes, crying and blinking desperately, saying, "Mom, Dad has been arrested too."
Cheng Xi remained calm and said, "Thank you, Master Shangguan, for reuniting our family."
Although Neizhou is called a state, it is not a town. Since it is not far from the original Xijing, the climate and geographical conditions are not much different. On the contrary, because it is located in the Yellow River irrigation area, the terrain is flat and open, and the land is more fertile.
During the pre-Qin period, this area cultivated grains and served as the Qin state's grain and fodder base. During the Han dynasty, wheat was the main crop. During the Northern and Southern dynasties, people from the south of the Yangtze River who were exiled here brought rice cultivation with them. The area reached its peak during the Tang dynasty, with no fear of drought or flooding. Even during its time under the rule of the Western Xia, the Western Xia relied on rice harvests for over two hundred years of survival.
Even the Jiangnan region on the Great Wall could not withstand the magic of the Little Ice Age.
As long as she is useful, as long as they can use her abilities, she can find a way to survive.
Farming may seem like hard work to others, but Cheng Mu relied on this ability to live a peaceful life in a foreign land.
When there were no outsiders present, Cheng Mu did not ask why Xiaoliu recognized Fan Qingsong as his father. She was only concerned that Fan Qingsong was also arrested. What about Mu Yun and Huang Chongyang?
Fan Qingsong told her that when he and Young Master Yun went to find the woodcutter, they encountered assassins and were ambushed. "Young Master Yun was injured, and the wound turned black. The enemy had a large number of people. We tried several times to break through, but the wounds and poisons could not wait. Fortunately, during the fighting, chaos broke out in the city, disrupting the enemy's formation, and we were able to escape."
They didn't know it was a Mongol attack yet, so they were only focused on finding a doctor to detoxify them. They couldn't get their doors opened. "After learning it was a Mongol attack, Master Yun told us to come back quickly to protect Madam Cheng. How could we leave him alone? We decided that Chongyang would stay behind to take care of Master Yun, and I'll come look for you two."
Cheng Xi was worried, "Did they find a doctor to detoxify you when you left?"
In fact, there was nothing. Fan Qingsong knew that Madam Cheng and Master Yun had a special relationship, and he was afraid that she would always be worried, so he had to lie and say that he had found it, and the doctor was scraping out the poison when he left.
"When I arrived at the inn, I saw Xiaoliu standing at the door."
Xiao Liu continued, "Mom, that Shangguan was so scary back then. I was afraid he would break my neck, and when I saw him, I thought my dad had returned, so I called out to him to save me. That Shangguan thought he was my dad, and I thought if my dad was still around, he wouldn't bully me, so I accepted him..."
Cheng Mu felt a pang of pain in her heart and hugged her, "You responded well and did a great job. That's why I can see you again."
Xiaoliu had some idea of her current situation and knew that this was not the time to be happy, but after receiving her mother's praise, she still couldn't help but look proud.
Cheng Mu bowed to Fan Qingsong and said, "I'm so sorry that you came to Mongolia to protect Xiaoliu."
Fan Qingsong felt very uncomfortable. "I came here on Master Yun's orders. I was unable to rescue the two of them. I'm already ashamed of myself, and I even took advantage of Madam Cheng."
"Don't worry about it. They think it is what they think. During the time in Mongolia, please pretend to be my husband and Xiaoliu's father."
"This, this..." Fan Qingsong's dark face couldn't help but turn red.
The land that Shangguan Duan handed over to Cheng Mu was about a hundred acres, and there were already several families working in this area.
According to preliminary investigations, the reason for the continued decline in harvests in recent years is similar to that of the land outside the Yanbei defense line, which is salinization of the land.
Because rice has been grown here for a long time, the drainage has been discharged into low-lying areas, forming many puddles and lakes.
It took Cheng Mu more than half a month to personally familiarize herself with this area. She drew a map on parchment and listed the different geographical conditions of each area.
There are many ways to improve the land, but we obviously cannot directly use the method used in Zhaojia Village. The biggest problem here is that the rice has been planted for too long, and all the planting is done by broadcasting water. Agricultural water conservancy construction is very important. The open channels have been arranged very reasonably. The main thing is to build underground ditches, and special pipes are needed for drainage to lower the groundwater level.
The second is to adjust the industrial planting structure. Alfalfa that has been improved in the soil can be planted, and the salt-tolerant rice and wheat she has cultivated can be arranged. Corn, potatoes and other crops can be planted on land with slightly less severe conditions.
Cheng Mu asked Shangguan Duan for the grains he had snatched back from Tianma Town. These were the good varieties of grains she had cultivated that were resistant to salt and alkali, and it would be a pity to eat them.
She couldn't transform the crops through space, so she had to find a practical way.
Shangguan Duan was concerned about the soldiers' emotions and was reluctant to give it, but Cheng Mi persuaded the local farmers to exchange the seeds they had left. As long as the soldiers had food to eat, the farmers could get seeds with higher yields, which was a win-win situation for both parties.
They had never grown potatoes or corn before, so they were unsure. Cheng Mi repeatedly assured them that they were high-yielding and delicious.
"My mother is dark."
Xiaoliu, who was combing Cheng Mu's hair, suddenly lay on her back. Cheng Mu tilted her head. Xiaoliu's small hand moved from her face to the base of her neck inside her clothes. "The color is different now."
After coming to Neizhou, I have been running around for more than two months, either exploring the fields or watching the kilns and breeding. I am exposed to the wind and sun and cannot be idle. Without any protection, my fair and tender skin that I used to have was soon as dark as the powder I deliberately applied.
Cheng Mu smiled and touched the little guy's face with heartache in her eyes.
"Mom's hands are rough too."
Xiao Liu grabbed her hand and looked at it carefully. "There was no black mud between my mother's nails before."
"It's always like this when doing farm work." Cheng Mu sighed, "It was the past. In the past, there were many people helping Mom."
Xiao Liu was puzzled. "Aren't there many people helping us now? Why does Mom still have to do it herself?"
"It's different," Cheng Mu wanted to tell her, but it seemed too profound. After a moment's thought, she simply said, "Mother is a captured slave like everyone else. If she behaves like a landlord, wouldn't that mean she's rebelling against the slaves' mastery and becoming a traitor?"
Shangguan Duan not only settled the "family of three" here, he also placed almost all the people he captured from Tianma Town here as slaves, except for the women.
Cheng Mu could arrange for these male slaves to work, and even order the farmers who were originally here to work, but if she took herself seriously, she would be no different from a traitor in the eyes of these "fellow villagers".
Although Xiaoliu still didn't quite understand, she remembered that her mother said she had to do her duty and always remember that she was a slave, not a master.
She leaned over to Cheng Mu's ear and whispered, "I used to hear adults say that Mongolians are like wolves and tigers and will eat people, but Tali and the others are just like us, they cook with firewood and don't eat raw food.
I quietly asked him if his family had ever eaten human flesh, and he was quite shocked.”
Cheng Mu pulled Xiaoliu to her side and asked her to comb her hair.
"They are all ordinary people like us. They have food to eat, so who would eat people?"
Xiaoliu blinked, "So Mom is doing a good deed. By giving them food to eat, they won't steal ours."
There was a voice outside the door. Xiao Liu jumped up and looked outside. "Dad and the others are carrying something back."
After quickly packing up, Cheng Xi and Xiao Liu went out to see.
Fan Qingsong greeted Cheng Mu as she came out of the house and reported, "The secret tubes are almost finished. We can bury them all in the next two days."
Cheng Xi knocked on the porcelain pipe. Although its quality was not good, it was completely sufficient to be buried underground as a pipe to prevent water from seeping into the ground.
In ancient times, when there was no plastic or steel, underground pipes were either made of brick or porcelain, which sounds like a luxury. Both ceramic and bricks need to be fired, but once the ceramic is formed, it simply needs to be buried. Bricks need to be laid after firing, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming, so using porcelain directly is more cost-effective.
After the spring, the ground thawed, and the ditch was dug while turning the soil. Then we waited for the porcelain pipes to be fired and buried. The things were transported over and buried and filled, and the work was completed in two or three days.
Now that the drainage pipes are in place, the next step is to arrange for floor washing.
This year, the rice seedlings were sown using cuttings, and they have already sprouted, just waiting for the right time. Spring wheat, potatoes, and corn are also planned to be planted in the fields as soon as possible, sowing early and harvesting early.
Fan Qingsong changed his muddy clothes and threw them into the wooden basin. He turned around and found Cheng Mu pouring water into the basin.
"Madam Cheng, I can do it myself." He grabbed the barrel and unexpectedly grabbed Cheng Mu's hand.
Cheng Mu let go as if nothing had happened, "I have to wash Xiaoliu and I's clothes anyway."
Fan Qingsong was very embarrassed. "There is no outsider here. Madam Cheng, you should rest more."
"You're tired enough every day." Cheng Mu didn't feel sorry for him, but no matter what she wanted to do, Fan Qingsong would fully support her. He did the most work and was the one who deployed and managed the people.
We are all slaves, who would be willing to obey him? Some unpleasant words were often thrown in his face, and Cheng Mu heard it several times by accident.
Once, Cheng Mu couldn't bear it anymore and stood up to warn everyone that being a slave here was just tiring. If you don't want to do it, you can go somewhere else. In other places, slaves are whipped and forced to do it. It is basically impossible to have a full stomach and a good sleep. If anyone wants to change, just tell her directly and she won't stop you.
In this area, they were free on the land they worked on. They also went out to pull the fired porcelain pipes, so naturally they found that there were soldiers guarding the border around them.
After that, these people gradually became obedient.
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