"Plant it! Just plant the three acres of medium-sized land. Don't plant the newly reclaimed land for now, so as to save some wheat seeds."
Song Dachuan said after thinking about it.
"I'll listen to you. We can handle planting three acres."
Hui Niang is a typical woman who regards her husband as her God, and she does whatever Song Dachuan says.
Lianyi also helped this time. She didn't let Song Dachuan cut the ungrown winter wheat. Instead, she dug a firebreak and burned all the empty wheat stalks directly. The ash from the burnt grass could be used as nutrients for the soil and could also kill some of the insect eggs in the soil. Although not all of them could be killed, the fewer the better.
After that, Song Dachuan started to plow the soil. Lianyi still brought Hu Zi with her, cooked for the couple, and took care of the vegetable garden in the backyard of their home. They could plant vegetables in the spring and harvest a wave of vegetables before the drought.
Hu Zi can now walk more steadily and speak more clearly. Perhaps due to the warm spiritual energy, he has also grown a little taller. Now he looks no different from a four-year-old child. Hu Zi is also very smart and can learn quickly what Lianyi teaches him.
Lianyi started teaching with Three Character Classic, which was the best-selling enlightenment book. She went to the town and spent money to buy a copy, which has been well kept at home until now.
When Song Dachuan asked about it, Lianyi just said that she learned it at the Dong family. Because she was going to be a dowry maid, she had to be able to read and write, otherwise she would not be able to tidy up the study for Miss Dong Er.
"I learned a little from Miss Dong Er on weekdays. Later, when I was determined to be a dowry maid, there was a special female teacher who taught me. The purpose was nothing more than to help the young lady win the heart of the son-in-law. But in the end, I was the one who benefited. What they learned from my mind, they couldn't take it back, so I just taught my younger brother."
Ripple explained with a smile.
"It's hard for you."
Song Dachuan once again felt that he owed his daughter.
"What's the problem? I've learned a lot. My family's financial situation is limited now, so I'll teach Huzi what I know first. When my family's financial situation improves and Huzi is older, I'll send him to school. Huzi is smart and will definitely be able to learn something."
Lianyi already has plans for Huzi.
"Sister, I will definitely study hard."
Hu Zi promised with sparkling eyes.
"Okay, when Hu Zi becomes the top scholar, I can also benefit from it."
Ripple said with a smile.
After the villagers finished their spring planting, they prayed to God for rain every day. However, after the spring rain, there was no more rain. In order to make the seeds germinate, the villagers could only carry water to irrigate the fields.
Song Dachuan's family also joined the ranks of watering the fields, but this time the main force was Lianyi and Song Dachuan. Hui Niang stayed at home to take care of Hu Zi and also took care of the family's vegetable fields and chickens and ducks.
When Lianyi fetched water, she would collect some water into the space. A little bit would add up to a lot, which was at least enough for drinking and use. She also paid attention to the water tank at home, and the water level never dropped.
Everyone in the village was carrying water to irrigate the fields, and the water level in the river dropped sharply. Finally, the village chief came forward and lined up to ensure that at least three acres of land could be irrigated for every household. The rest depended on the water level in the river.
Fortunately, Song Dachuan had foresight and gave up two acres of wasteland and planted three acres of medium-sized land. With the land being watered thoroughly, the wheat in the field barely took root and sprouted. The farmers had just breathed a sigh of relief, but on the day of the beginning of summer, a swarm of locusts attacked all the farmland south of Liangzhou Prefecture. This became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
All the towns and villages under the jurisdiction of Yongfeng County suffered from insect plagues. The county magistrate was so anxious that he pulled out his beautiful beard. He had to write a memorial overnight and then send it to Kyoto at an express speed of 800 miles. The next step was to comfort the people affected by the disaster, and he had to take care of every detail.
Without an imperial decree to open the granaries to release grain, the county magistrate could not open the granaries privately. However, the people had realized the seriousness of the problem and began to scramble for food. Many grain stores in the county were closed down. Some grain merchants who wanted to make a fortune in the national crisis temporarily closed their stores and planned to wait until the grain price was higher before they started selling to the outside world. They also set a daily limit on the amount and slowly raised the price according to market conditions.
These were what Song Dachuan and the four brothers of the Zhang family found out in Wangshan Town. Although they had some stored grain at home, they would go to the town to grab some food like the villagers. If everyone was grabbing food and you were still lying at home, people would definitely be suspicious of you.
The Zhang family is now very glad that they listened to Hui Niang and bought some food in advance. At least when they bought it, although the price of food had increased by one or two cents, it was still within the normal range and they could afford it.
Now the price of grain has risen to an incredible level. One tael of silver can't buy 50 kilograms of grain, and that's coarse grain.
"We are still relatively well off, we are not at the end of our rope yet, but now the entire state has been hit by the disaster, we don't know how long our little food can last."
Old man Zhang was also frowning. They were living in the village that had been hit by the disaster and they couldn't just sit there and do nothing.
If it was just their village, they would have saved their face and at least been able to borrow some money from relatives and friends, but now everyone has suffered from the disaster and is in the same situation, so no one can help anyone else.
"Master, let's prepare to escape the famine!"
Lianyi spoke directly when everyone was silent.
After hearing Lianyi's words, Song Dachuan and the Zhang family focused their attention on Lianyi. Old man Zhang even frowned, obviously disagreeing with Lianyi's proposal.
"Lianyi girl, do you know what it means to flee from famine?"
"I know, but we have to survive first. Are we going to die guarding a land where not even a grain of food can grow?"
Ripple said disapprovingly.
"The county magistrate will not sit idly by and watch the people starve to death."
Song Dachuan said without confidence.
"Dad, if the county magistrate really had a way, the price of grain wouldn't change every day. It would go up by three or five cents every day. Besides, the big grain merchants are holding on to the grain tightly. They won't buy grain unless people starve to death."
The ripples broke Song Dachuan's fantasy.
"But where should we flee to?"
This was the question asked by old Mrs. Zhang. After all, she had lived in Zhangjia Village all her life. The farthest she had been was to the county once. She had never been anywhere farther. She felt very confused about leaving here.
"Escape to a place where there is no trouble. There you will have a way to survive."
Lian Yi said directly.
"This is a big deal, we need to discuss it carefully."
Although Old Man Zhang did not agree, he also knew the principle of moving to survive, so he wanted to hear Lianyi's opinion. After all, it was she who proposed this matter.
"Master, there are many people who think the same as you do. They think they can wait for relief from the government, but once the stored food is used up and the government does nothing, a large number of people will surely flee the famine. If we leave at that time, we will have no advantage.
The closest state to our Liangzhou is Huzhou, which is smaller than our Liangzhou and cannot accommodate so many people fleeing famine. Conflict is inevitable."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
