Like many dynasties in history, one shi (石) in the Dasheng Dynasty was approximately equal to 120 jin (斤), and three shi per mu (亩) was equivalent to about 360 jin. Based on this calculation, the yield per mu in this area was quite considerable.
Leaving all the rice was also the idea of Liu and others. Firstly, they had promised the villagers to leave seeds for everyone. Secondly, their family was currently in good financial condition and didn't really need the income from selling rice, so they thought it better to store it for themselves.
Those who have experienced fleeing from disaster know how precious food is! Even the youngest children know that food should not be wasted. Even Liao Hongying's youngest son, Hu Zi, who was just over two years old, knew to finish all the rice cereal in his bowl and not waste a single bit.
The Qin family has already dug a cellar, about the size of a main room. Qin San Niang looked at it and it was about forty square meters, which was enough for them!
The cellar was dug by Gu Qingshan, Da Wa, and Lu Song in turns. The entrance was set under the kitchen cabinet so that no one would find it.
In Shiligou, not every household has a cellar, which is different from the north. This may be due to differences in grain reserves and geographical environment.
Following her advice, the other families also dug cellars, but they were much smaller than hers. Since there was less farmland available, there was no need to dig too big a cellar, since the size of the cellars could be expanded anyway.
Looking at the small mountain of rice before her, Liu was beaming with joy! Suddenly, she remembered the cellar and slapped her thigh. Oh no! She'd forgotten to protect it from moisture!
Gu Qingshan was also taken aback. His family were hunters and had never stored so much grain. They did store more dried meat, but that didn't require a cellar. Naturally, he didn't know that cellars needed moisture-proofing.
Qin San Niang had never experienced this before. Back in her parents' home, the cellar had been built by Liu Shi and Qin Lao Die when they were young. When she moved to her husband's home, the cellar had already been built long ago. She vaguely remembered that the cellar needed to be dried, but she couldn't recall the specific steps.
Liu remembered this much, and said as she thought, "We need to burn a big fire in the cellar first to dry the floor and walls."
As for how much to dry it, Ms. Liu said she didn't know; it was up to her to decide.
Xiao Er thought it would be wise to consult the Master, after all, Mr. He was a man of wide learning. As he grew older, Xiao Er's admiration for He Yingyuan only increased.
Sure enough, when He Yingyuan heard their purpose, he said, "Auntie is right. Cellars used as granaries should indeed be dried as much as possible. But if you want to be even more careful, you must lay down another layer of wood ash. Repeat this process five or six times, and the grain can be preserved for ten years without rotting or getting infested with insects."
Wow, I never knew it could be done like that! How could it be preserved for ten years like that? Wow, I never knew that well-educated people knew so much!
Liu nodded hurriedly and, together with the women in her household, began the great task of waterproofing the house by heating it in the sweltering summer heat.
Qin San Niang was speechless and choked with tears. Just imagine how unpleasant it was to light a fire during the hottest days of summer!
She knew that He Yingyuan's method would definitely work. In her previous life, she had visited the imperial granaries during the reign of Emperor Jiaqing and heard the tour guide explain the construction process, which was very similar to this one. Although she wasn't sure if the grain could be stored for ten years, the grain in Jiaqing's granaries hadn't rotted or become infested with insects even after decades; some grains could even sprout and be planted when taken out!
However, she certainly didn't need to store the food in her cellar for ten years. Even if she did, she still had space, so she would never let the food go to waste.
Actually, she could have used plastic sheeting and storage containers to store the grain, which would have been much better. However, the thought of them being too conspicuous made her decide against it. Instead, she decided to simply enjoy the wisdom of the ancients!
Hey, who said everyone thinks time travel is great because people in ancient times are naive and easy to make money? Not at all! Judging from the people she's met, they're all very intelligent.
The reason I've been able to achieve even a little success is entirely due to the difference in time and space!
A few days after the rice harvest, Shiligou ushered in the day to pay the grain tax.
Although most families did not follow Qin San Niang's new planting methods this year, quite a few did raise fish in the rice paddies. As a result, many families received a sum of money for nothing. The fish in the fields did not need to be raised too meticulously, so even though it was time to harvest the grain, with this subsidy, everyone did not feel that this year was too difficult!
The officials collecting the grain were also people they knew; they were the two brothers who had come with Qi Yuchen. The two brothers were responsible for more than a dozen villages, including Shiligou.
When the village head Chen Sheng heard that the officials were coming to collect grain, he quickly beat the gong and drum to notify everyone to bring their own grain to the village's grain yard and not to delay the officials' grain collection time!
The grain threshing ground was built on high ground in the village, about half the size of a football field, enough for more than a dozen families to dry their grain at the same time.
The soil was compacted with a large roller, and it was much cleaner after a sweep, but there was still a lot of dust flying around.
"Zhang, are you also going to deliver grain? I wonder who's collecting the grain this year, and whether they're using a measure or a scale..."
“Chen Er’s wife, we’re going to pay our grain too. This year, my family’s land yielded only one and a half shi (a unit of dry measure), not much. But we sold six hundred jin (a unit of weight) of fish, hehe, that’s six hundred copper coins! Who knows what kind of tools that official is carrying? Sigh, aren’t we common folk just people to be slaughtered?”
"Oh dear, stop talking now, lest the village head hears and we get a beating. But last year we used scales, and that county magistrate seemed like a decent man. He said he came from a farming family, so surely he knows the hardships of us old farmers?"
"I hope so!"
The group chatted amongst themselves as they hurried toward their destination, each carrying baskets from their respective households.
Village head Chen Sheng had been waiting at the grain yard for a long time. He had received the news long ago that the villages were interconnected and that the village heads or chiefs were communicating with each other so that they could make arrangements for the villagers before the officials arrived. In addition, he also had to issue a warning that if anyone tried to sneak through and not pay the grain tax, that was absolutely not allowed. Not only would they be punished, but he, as the village head, would also lose his position. In serious cases, the village head would also be implicated!
Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, Chen Sheng addressed the crowd in a loud voice, "The officials will be coming to our village to collect grain in a little while, so get moving! This isn't the first time you've handed over grain, so you all know the rules very well!"
The grain must be good and thoroughly dried; it can't be old, rotten grain, and it can't be mixed with straw or scraps. Especially, you can't use uncooked rice to fill the quota; if you're caught, you'll be punished!
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