The five men stood up in fear, their dark, thin faces beaming with joy. "Madam, please speak!"
If you give them something to do, then they are useful.
Shui Qing didn't say it directly, but stood up and said as she walked out of the house, "Come with me."
The five obediently followed behind.
Shui Qing led the group to the outermost warehouse, opened it, pointed to the bundles of bamboo poles inside, and instructed the five men: "Carry these out, put them on the cart, and tie them up."
This is sugarcane. I originally wanted to grow it myself and make sugar this year, but firstly, there are too many people in the village and I need to find an excuse, and secondly, everyone in the village of over 400 people has something to do, so even if the sugarcane is harvested in the fall, I may not be able to find people to process the sugar.
Moreover, and most importantly, every inch of land in Shanshui Village is now usable! The same goes for our own land. Even if we allocate some land to grow sugarcane, it won't be enough to make a significant impact, and it's not worthwhile.
Let's divide the work: Shanshui Village will be developed into a medicinal herb village, with medicinal herbs as the main focus and toothbrush and calligraphy brush workshops as a secondary focus.
In the past two years, Zhulin Village has mainly grown potatoes to supply its food supply, but it will also gradually start growing sugarcane. When the war is nearing its end or when Zhulin Village is no longer needed to supply food, it can immediately switch to growing sugarcane and open sugar mills.
In this dynasty, salt and sugar were both precious commodities. However, salt belonged to the imperial court, and touching it was a capital offense. Sugar, on the other hand, was strongly encouraged. Growing grain on more than 500 acres of land would only yield a few coins per pound, which was not only tiring but also didn't earn much money. But making sugar could double, or even ten or twenty times, the profits!
If you earn a lot from your main job, you don't need to use other things like raising chickens, rabbits, or pigs to exchange for spare change. You can use that money to improve your meals. Whether it's China or the Ming Dynasty, as long as you eat well, you have hope for the future.
Without asking a single question, the five of them obediently moved the bamboo-like object onto the cart.
A bundle weighs about fifty or sixty pounds. Even though I'm thin now, I used to be a manual laborer. Plus, I ate a full dinner, so I could carry it by myself without having to lift it.
They each made two or three trips and moved all the inventory from the warehouse.
As they were heading back to Zhulin Village that very night, Shuiqing stood beside the cart and said solemnly, “Time is tight, so I’ll explain it to you all first. Listen carefully, and ask each other questions when you get back. If you still don’t understand something, come back and ask us again!”
You know the road now, and having a donkey makes traveling back and forth convenient. This is crucial for your future livelihood, so we can't be careless. Understand?
"We know!" the five answered in unison.
Everyone looked serious.
Even without donkeys, it would only take two or three days to make the round trip on foot, and bringing dry rations wouldn't be a problem.
The host family values this bamboo-like thing so much; they must take it seriously. Perhaps they bought the land from them because of this thing, so they'll definitely do a good job.
Shui Qing demonstrated on-site: "Okay, look at the raised part, about the size of a corn kernel, this is the bud point, it should face upwards when planting."
The fields for planting them should be ridged, roughly from the calf to the knee.
......
"When you get back, you need to plant it as soon as possible. This should be enough to plant about five or six acres. Harvest in the fall and winter. There's no rush; I'll come over later to teach you how to store it. Save it all for next year's planting."
She selected a sugarcane variety from the mall that has a particularly high yield per acre and is suitable for sugar production. It is well-suited to the southern climate and can produce tens of thousands of kilograms per acre!
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