Meng Zhao first focused on the issues of site selection and pigsty construction, and asked Meng Dashan to keep an eye on which family's pigs were pregnant recently, so as to reserve the piglets in advance.
Although the starch workshop is currently located in the ancestral hall, it will have to be moved out sooner or later.
The potato residue left over after the starch production in this workshop is mixed with straw, rice bran, and other materials and fermented to make pig feed.
Pig manure from pig farms can be mixed with potato residue and fermented to make fertilizer, which can increase the yield in the fields.
This creates a simple loop, minimizing resource waste.
The distance between the farm and the starch workshop cannot be too far, otherwise transportation will be difficult.
However, they can't be too close; the food production workshop and the pig-raising area must be clearly distinguished.
After discussing with the village head, it was decided that the workshop would be located not far from the river, where there was an abundant water source, making production convenient.
The pig farm is located on a vacant lot at the foot of the mountain, far away from the houses in the village to avoid disturbing the nearby villagers with noise and smell. In addition, the surrounding open space is relatively large, which will make it easy to expand if the scale is to be expanded in the future.
Since we've decided to build a house, we need to start now, otherwise we won't be able to get it done when it gets too cold.
"Meng Zhao, how do you plan to build this pig farm?"
Since the workshop is mostly open-air, the main thing is to build a large courtyard wall and several sheds to prevent it from getting wet when it rains. Instead, there's not much need to build a few rooms.
"I plan to build all the pig farm buildings out of brick." Pigs are also afraid of the cold, and brick buildings have good insulation.
"A brick house, that must cost a lot of money."
At that time, pigs were raised in a very rough manner. People didn't eat well, so there was no grain to feed them. The better ones were fed leftover rice bran, and the worse ones were fed straw and grass. I had never seen anyone build a pig farm specifically for this purpose.
"Don't build it too big at first, just big enough to raise ten pigs."
Whether it's building a pigsty or buying piglets, it's a considerable investment. To be on the safe side, it's best to raise a few pigs first to try it out.
The money for building the workshop came from the workshop's accounts, while the money for building the pig farm came from Meng Zhao himself, and the village headman recruited workers for both.
No one in the village has been building a house for a long time. The village head said that not only is a workshop to be built, but also a pig farm. Those who are not assigned to work in the workshop are all scrambling to sign up. Everyone wants to save more money at the end of the year so they can have a good New Year.
The village head selected several experienced builders and assigned them a few laborers. Once the materials arrived, they began construction immediately.
* * *
Before they knew it, Meng Zhao and her friends had been selling liangpi (cold skin noodles) at the dock for almost two months. As the weather got colder, fewer and fewer people were willing to buy liangpi.
In addition, making liangpi (cold skin noodles) is quite complicated. Whether it's washing the dough or steaming the noodles, someone needs to keep an eye on it. After discussing it, the group decided to stop making liangpi so they could have more time to do other things.
Today, Meng Zhao went to the fish market and bought a few sea bass. Sea bass have few bones, which are easy to remove.
Prepare scallions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, and star anise, and soak them in hot water for about half an hour.
Mince the fish into a paste, adding the soaked scallion and ginger water in small amounts several times as you mince.
Then add salt, sugar, soy sauce, pepper, an egg, and potato starch. Stir in one direction with chopsticks until the fish paste is firm and doesn't fall off when turned upside down.
Spread the beaten fish paste evenly on a plate, steam it for about 25 minutes after the water boils, remove it from the steamer and let it cool, then cut it into small square pieces.
The final step is to fry it in oil in a pan until golden brown on all sides, then it's ready to serve.
Meng Zhao first ate one to taste it, then took a pair of chopsticks, threaded five pieces of fish tofu onto one chopstick, and handed it to the two children.
"Try it and see how it is."
The two found this way of eating very novel. Each of them took a skewer and tentatively took a bite. The outside was slightly charred, but the inside was chewy and springy.
"Delicious, sister-in-law! What is this? It looks like tofu." Shen Qingyu really liked the taste.
Meng Zhao explained, "This is called fish tofu, which is tofu made from fish meat."
Shen Qingze also liked this novel way of eating. "This fish tofu is so delicious, sister-in-law, and it looks beautiful too, just like candied hawthorn."
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, many adults will likely bring their children out to play. These kinds of skewers are most appealing to children, so Meng Zhao continued to research how to make other types of meatballs.
* * *
On the day of the county school entrance exam, Shen Qinghe took a day off in advance, changed into a new set of clothes made for him by Gu Shi, and went to wait at the back gate of the county government office early in the morning, following the instructions in the invitation.
Not long after he arrived, more than twenty other people came over.
Around 9 AM, a yamen runner came and verified their name cards one by one before taking them all inside.
Shen Qinghe lowered his head and followed the others inside. After several months of improved meals, he had grown much taller. Standing among a group of scholars, he was tall and slender, like a tall and straight pine tree.
The students in the courtyard were called in one by one. Some came out beaming, while others were sullen.
When his name was called, Shen Qing suppressed his nervousness and followed the constable into the magistrate's study.
Since it was just an entrance exam, the magistrate's questions were not difficult. Shen Qing answered them one by one and waited for the final result.
"I know a little about your situation. Your grades in the academy are excellent, but you cannot participate in the imperial examinations because of the mourning period. I have high hopes for you and can recommend you to study at the county school. I hope you will not let down the county's efforts and that you will achieve great results in the future and serve the court."
Upon hearing the result, even the usually composed Shen Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief, bowed, and replied.
"Thank you for your recommendation, Magistrate. I will definitely study hard from now on and live up to your painstaking cultivation."
There were many people to be tested, so Shen Qinghe didn't stay long. After thanking them, he left, and the whole thing took no more than a quarter of an hour.
After leaving the county government office, Shen Qinghe saw that it was about time for his mother and sister-in-law to go to the dock, so he went directly to the dock to wait for them.
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