Chapter 38 Joyful
Widow Qu was calculating in her heart. It would be good for Qu Yutao to go out and meet more people. Who knows, maybe she would fall in love with someone.
Zaihu Village is a very good choice.
Her daughter is a good person. If it weren't for her social status, what kind of good family would she not be able to find?
Here in Lingnan, men and women are not so particular about separation.
This was settled, and Qu Yutao happily followed Zhao Liya to Zaihu Village.
Along the way, she was extremely excited and kept chattering and asking questions.
She gave Zhao Liya the impression of being gentle and quiet, but she didn't expect her to be so talkative. Zhao Liya was of course happy to have someone to talk to, and she told her everything in detail and enthusiastically. The two of them chatted happily, becoming closer and closer as they talked, and they really looked like good sisters.
When they arrived at Zaihu Village, everyone was very happy to see Zhao Liya and greeted her with smiles.
The six hundred acres of land have been completely cleared, and the weeds are piled up on the edges, ready to be burned after drying.
The fresher and tenderer ones were picked and taken back to pad the pig and cattle pens.
The felled trees were cleared of all their branches and leaves and piled up in piles. Brother Li Guangwu smiled warmly at Zhao Liya and said, "Take these home and dry them to use as firewood. I'll ask two ox carts to send them back to you, Miss Zhao."
Zhao Liya looked at the pile of firewood that looked like a small mountain. There were six hundred acres of land, and there were countless piles of firewood that had been cleared. A bundle of firewood that was roughly as big as an embrace could burn for half a month, which was just enough for cooking and boiling water. So much firewood might not be burned even if it was piled up and turned into rotten wood.
Zhao Liya smiled and said, "We don't need so much. How about this? Brother Guangwu, please help me find two ox carts. I can just send two over, and the rest can be divided among us."
Everyone was very happy after hearing this and expressed their gratitude.
Now that the ground has been cleaned, it's time to pay the three days' wages.
The day before yesterday, Zhao Xiang went into the city to exchange copper coins. Today, Zhao Liya and Qu Yutao came over, and it was just the right time to distribute the wages to everyone.
Each person who did the work received one hundred coins, which was a considerable windfall for each family, and everyone was happy.
Before Zhao Liya and the others came, they counted the copper coins, one hundred coins per string, and handed all the strings of money to the two elders of the Ruan and Li families.
The two elders led a dozen villagers who could count, and then randomly counted dozens of strings. When they found that the number was correct, they nodded and smiled in agreement, took the money from Zhao Liya and the others, and distributed it to each family one string at a time.
Most villagers would not even count to one hundred, but they believed in the patriarch. Holding such a heavy bunch in their hands made them feel very secure, and they knew there would be no shortage of it.
Even if a few are missing, I won’t feel bad.
There are so many anyway!
Zhao Liya smiled at Qu Yutao and said, "If you don't mind, cousin, why don't you go back and learn to read and count with my father? That way it will be easier for you to do things in the future."
Qu Yutao was also a very thoughtful girl. She knew that with her status, getting married was not a good way out, but making money was. Upon hearing this, she was surprised and happy, and nodded quickly: "That's great! Can I really do it?"
Zhao Liya nodded and smiled: "Of course!"
The ground has been cleared, and the next step is to reclaim the land.
Zhao Liya invited the best farmers in the village to go to the fields together to see where would be the best place to dig the canal to divert water.
We also need to set aside about 30 acres of land to build a sugar-making workshop and various tool sheds, warehouses, etc. Where is the best place to leave it?
The experienced farmers discussed the matter and eventually came up with a reasonable plan, including land for the workshop.
Zhao Liya expressed her gratitude and hurriedly asked Li Guangwu and his brother to bring a few people to dig shallow pits along the route of the canal and spread lime to mark the width.
The land reserved for the workshop was also fenced off with lime.
The land reserved for the workshop is located in the northwest corner of the entire plot. Zaihu Village leaves the village from the back mountain, walks through the valley that feeds the back mountain, climbs up the high ridge, and stands on the ridge ridge to look out from afar, and the workshop is within sight. If there is any abnormality, it will be easily discovered.
It won’t take long to reach the destination by coming down from the ridge.
If you count from Zaihu Village and walk from the back mountain to the workshop, it takes about twenty minutes at an adult's normal walking speed. If you walk faster, you can reach the workshop in less than fifteen minutes.
Very convenient.
Now that this matter has been decided, the next step is to dig and level the ground.
Planting sugarcane requires deep plowing of the land, at least to a depth of twenty centimeters, which is conducive to the growth of the sugarcane roots.
Naturally, this task was left to the men of Zaihu Village, who were paid twenty wen a day, every five days. The Li Guangwu brothers were responsible for coordination, while Zhao Liya and Qu Yutao personally supervised the work and checked whether the soil depth met the standard.
It doesn't matter if the digging speed is slower, this first step must not be taken lightly.
After deep plowing, ditches need to be dug and fertilizers applied. Before planting the sugarcane, the seeds need to be soaked in lime water with a concentration of about 2% for one day. This will make the sugarcane more drought-resistant and prevent diseases and pests to a certain extent.
As for fertilizing, Zhao Liya planned to use farmyard manure, and she had to find it in advance.
Almost every household in Zaihu Village raises pigs, and many families raise cows. The compost can be used as long as they are willing to sell it.
But Zhao Liya needed a large amount, and the compost in Zaihu Village was clearly not enough. So she hired another 20 people from the village to go to Bajiao Village and other villages next door to buy compost. They only wanted compost, not raw manure, and a full bamboo basket in the village cost five coins.
A basket like this could be sold for five coins, which was quite a bargain. A large pile of compost could fill more than one basket, sometimes more than ten, and you could make dozens of coins, and your neighbors would be envious as you counted the coins.
After all, it's not spring plowing season yet, so why not sell it? As for the manure needed for next year's spring plowing, isn't that easy? Just spread more grass in the pigpen!
When the ditch was about to be dug, Hu Ling brought back the first batch of sugarcane seeds from Suixi County.
These sugarcane seeds were piled up in Uncle Ruan Gui's yard, and two large pits of medium depth were dug in the open space outside his yard for soaking the seeds.
This time, the conditions were poor and we had to make do with what we had.
Once the workshop is built, several pools will be built with blue bricks for soaking seeds, and there will also be a dedicated warehouse for storing sugarcane seeds.
Fortunately, the people in Zaihu Village are kind and simple by nature. The Zhao family brings them extra income, and everyone cherishes it and will not do anything behind their backs.
Even if there were a few who were a bit talkative, they were suppressed by the village head and clan leaders.
The village head and clan leaders were thinking long-term. Zhao Xiang had once been the top scholar in the imperial examination. Regardless of his current situation, his knowledge was undoubtedly excellent! They also hoped to ask him for help in the future and have him teach the children in the village.
(End of this chapter)
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