Chapter 186 Dioscorea/Change
Chen Lie came over and when he saw what Sang Luo was holding, he exclaimed, "You have this thing?"
Sang Luo looked at him: "Do you know him?"
Chen Lie shook his head. "I saw some in the mountains on my way back last year. We had been in the mountains for a long time and had no food. We relied on hunting and mountain products to fill our stomachs. We roasted a few and fed them to the wild boars we caught in the trap. After observing the wild boars for two days, we found that they were fine. We picked a lot of them and ate a lot of them during that time. They tasted pretty good. I didn't expect that we also have them in Qiyang."
Everyone was already nearby, and when they heard the conversation between the two, they knew that they had found some new food, so they all came over.
When Chen Dashan and Lu Erlang saw what Sang Luo was holding, they were delighted: "This is delicious. Do we have it too?"
As he said this, he looked at the bushes behind Sang Luo.
Shopkeeper Xu asked, "Mrs. Sang, do you recognize this?"
Sang Luo nodded and wanted to say yam beans, but then she remembered that yam was a term used in later generations, so she changed her words and said, "Lingyu seeds are a kind of medicinal material that can be used as medicine or eaten. They are good things, but the best ones are not these. The harvest of this thing is the rhizome."
This sentence made Shen Lie and the others stunned.
"Growing in the soil like taro?"
No, it grows in the soil, how can there be fruit on it? Then were they a little stupid last year, wasting so much food?
Sang Luo guessed it just by looking at the three people's expressions, and said with a smile: "Yes, but not now. You can identify this vine. You can pick the seeds first. Only after picking these can the yam in the soil grow well. It will probably take more than a month before it can be harvested."
There really were yam in the Dagan Dynasty, but it was not widely cultivated and was collected as a wild medicinal herb. Rich families also used it as a medicinal food for food supplement. I knew about Dioscorea in my original memory and had seen it served on the table, but I didn't know about the seeds of the Dioscorea batatas.
When Shopkeeper Xu heard Sang Luo mention yam, he pulled the vine beside him and took a closer look with a surprised look on his face: "Is this yam?"
Their Dongfulou also has medicinal food, but Manager Xu has only seen the yam sent by the head office, and he really has no idea what it looks like when planted in the field. Moreover, he has never even received any mountain people in Qiyang County selling this, and most of the time he relies on the Dongfulou head office to send him some.
Sang Luo nodded, and Shopkeeper Xu was happy, "If there were yam in this mountain, we might be able to save a lot of food this year."
Chen Youtian was a farmer, so he was most concerned about this. He went over to ask Shopkeeper Xu, "Is this thing very profitable?"
My eyes couldn't help but look towards the roots of the vine.
Shopkeeper Xu was not sure either, but he said, "It should be OK. Every year, we at Dongfulou receive some from the head office. They are quite long, and the big ones can be half a person's height."
This one sentence made everyone's eyes light up. People here make a living by digging the land.
Sang Luo heard that the plant was half a man's height, and thought that there are more than that in modern times. However, who knows how many generations of cultivation it has gone through. The wild one that is half a man's height might already be of good quality, so she said, "We'll know when we dig it up. In fact, it can grow in the mountains and under the forests. We can find a place to try to plant it next spring. We don't have to open up land specially. We can just plant some in the mountain where we live."
Knowing that there are mountain products that can replace food, are high-yielding and can be grown, everyone's enthusiasm has increased. Chen Youtian was so excited that he rubbed his hands. He was usually a man of few words, but he rarely discussed with Sang Luo: "A Luo, next time we go out to look for mountain products, why don't you come with me more often? I think you know a lot of things. If it were us today, we would either chop the yams and yam as firewood, right? Or at most pick a few fruits and leave. Who knew that the roots underground are the ones we can eat."
Reading is really good. He is going to go back and give the second child a good beating. No, even Dashan should be included. The only one who is active in learning to read in the family is the little girl. The two older ones are much worse than her.
Chen Dashan didn't know that he would soon have to join Chen Lie in reading the Thousand Character Classic. He was still smiling foolishly. He knew what the vine looked like, but he didn't look at it too much. He ran back to continue working, pounding the wooden stakes.
After hearing what Chen Youtian said, Shopkeeper Xu also agreed: "Yes, Madam Sang does know a lot about this."
In those few short months last year, we created a lot of food. In addition to the dried tofu sauce sold in the East and West markets, we also produced vegetarian tripe in cooperation with them, and we probably also cooperated with other shops in the county.
I thought she was very capable before I knew the Shen family’s situation. Now I know the Shen family’s previous situation very clearly. Then how did Sang Luo get the things she made and sent to the county town to sell?
Apart from the tofu, which he knew was made from soybeans, he couldn't guess what the other ingredients were. For example, he still couldn't figure out what the vegetarian tripe was made of.
"Okay."
I thought it was just the same as before, just an ordinary trip out to collect. Sang Luo herself loves to go out, and as long as she can ensure her safety, going out can improve the conditions at home and relax. What a good thing, so I agreed without thinking.
Unexpectedly, on the sixth day, Sang Luo, Chen Ning and Shi Erlang's wife were basking in another big surprise from this trip, when Chen Lie and his group, who had been out for more than an hour, hurried back with serious expressions.
"There are more than ten people entering the inner circle."
Sang Luo was a little surprised. If someone had the ability to come in before, they should have been able to go in earlier. Why did it happen at this time? Whatever was in the inner mountains, there should be no shortage of things in the outer mountains. There was only one possibility.
"What's going on outside?"
Chen Lie shook his head: "I don't know. We wanted to ask. We saw him from afar on the mountain, but we couldn't find him when we got down the mountain. We could only come back to meet you."
If it's just for protection against animals, a wall would be fine, but if it's for protection against people, Sang Luo and her friends don't have enough young and strong people here.
Zhou Laizi was the one who stayed behind. When he heard that people had entered the inner circle, he became anxious. Only his wife and children were at home, and the eldest son was the only one who could really protect his family.
It's not just Zhou Laizi who is anxious, everyone here is worried.
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan's group had discussed it outside long ago and decided to turn back immediately. The harvest in the past few days was pretty good. Every family should have more than half a sack of chestnuts after removing the thorns from the chestnuts. In addition to smoked meat, chestnuts and other mountain products, although the bags and baskets they brought were not completely full, they were not far behind.
"Pack up everything and head back now."
Most of the things that had been dried were packed in bags, and those that were still drying were quickly packed up. In less than fifteen minutes, they were all packed up and the door of the wooden fence was closed, and the group hurried back.
It took nearly three hours to get from the camping point to Zhou's house. After walking for just over an hour, they met two groups of people. The first group avoided them when they saw them, while the other group consisted of only a dozen people, young and old. Two or three of them were injured, and looked like they had been bitten by wild beasts. Because of the injuries, they did not move fast, and they ran into Chen Lie and his men head-on. They could not avoid them, and were stopped by Chen Youtian and Zhou Laizi to inquire about the situation.
Seeing that Chen Lie and his group were carrying a lot of things, and there were women and children in the crowd, the other side relaxed their vigilance. The old man in the lead said, "Qiyang County is gone. I heard that the imperial court had a large army coming to quell the rebellion. They killed a lot of rebels along the way. The bandits who occupied Qiyang County before took away those who wanted to take it, killed those who didn't want to take it, and burned Qiyang County down. There were also many people who had been bandits who fled into the mountains. Now it's too chaotic outside. Stealing food is the least of their worries. People like us dare not stay here. We can only come here. Look, we encountered wolves last night. Two of our young and strong men died and three were injured."
The old man looked around the mountains and said sadly, "We have entered this deep mountain. We don't know how many days we can survive or how many people can survive."
When Shen Lie and his group heard that Qiyang County was burned down, they were stunned for a long time, especially Shopkeeper Xu. Many of his old friends were still in the county, including the accountant, the chef, and the waiter...
He didn't even dare to think deeply, were they the ones who were taken away, or the ones who were slaughtered? He was speechless.
Chen Youtian saw tears in the old man's eyes, and saw that there were many old and weak people among them, and there were only a few young and strong people who were not injured. He felt sorry for them, and thought that they were not far from the safe point they built last time, so he turned around and asked Chen Lie and Chen Dashan in a low voice what they thought.
When they met on the road, he offered help and both of them had no objection and nodded.
Chen Youtian asked the old man, "Where are you going, old man? Are you going deeper?"
He looked at the three injured young men and they were not in good condition.
The old man was also hesitant and said, "Let's find a cave to stay before dark."
Chen Youtian: "If you trust us, old man, let's go back a little bit. We have a place where we usually rest when we hunt. Let's rest there first. We have built a wooden fence. If you want it to be safer, you can also use stones to surround it. At least let those young men heal their wounds."
As for whether to return the land in the future, this is not the house from the peaceful past. If the old man's family is not allowed to live there, someone else will soon move in. Life is not easy these days, so there is no need to worry about it.
At this point, I remembered: "If there are many people entering the mountain, I don't know if the place is occupied by someone now."
The old man was excited when he heard that he had a safe place to stay, but he had women and children at home and was afraid of encountering bad people. His expression changed several times, but he looked at Chen Youtian and his group again. They all looked kind. In addition, he saw that some of them were carrying rolls of wolf skins, and the women and children looked fine. He relaxed and said repeatedly: "You can trust us, you can trust us. It's great to have a place to stay for the children to recover. Thank you very much."
As he said this, he bowed.
"Not worthy of it." Chen Youtian hurriedly dodged and said, "Then let's go. It's not far."
It was originally convenient for me to lead them along the way. If I just went a little further inside, it would take me half an hour to get in and out. But seeing that the family had old and young, and the young and strong were injured, I really couldn't bear to just let them go when I could help them.
Lead the people to the safe area where they rested during the last hunting trip. I guess the people from the outside had just run in, and no one had been here before.
The family was so excited when they saw the rough wooden wall with a door, and the many sheds inside that provided shelter from the wind and rain. Because it often rained at night in the mountains, the sheds were covered with thick straw curtains. They didn't know how to thank the owner.
Chen Youtian did not accept the thanks. He just said that he had to hurry on his way. He said take care, and the group left quickly.
The old man watched from afar, and when he could no longer see them, he said to his family, "We met a good man."
He turned around and told his family, "Quickly pack up and pick up some firewood and stones nearby to place them first."
…
Chen Youtian and his friends were helping people just as a side job, and they turned around and didn't think about the matter anymore. They were thinking about Zhou Laizi's family.
The Zhou family is doing well now, but it is still some distance away from their valley. It's a half-hour journey and it's a single-family house, so there's bound to be some risk.
Chen Lie and the others had not expected that something unexpected would happen outside so quickly, so they were a little hesitant now.
There are still small caves closer to the outside of the village. They did not choose those locations when they were choosing the caves because they could not see the cave entrances. Without visibility, they naturally could not see them. However, none of the elderly, the weak, women and children among them were found. The Zhou family knew how many people they originally had, so they knew it would be unusual.
However, he could still trust Zhou Laizi's family, especially since the Zhou family relied on them to go hunting and gathering in the mountains, so they had enough food and drink and would not have any bad intentions.
He asked Zhou Laizi and his son whether they should lock the door and move to a small cave closer to them first.
Zhou Laizi didn't respond immediately, but just said, "Let's wait and see."
It was already late noon when we arrived at Zhou's house. On our way out, we met another group of people, but since we saw from a distance that most of them were young and strong, we avoided them.
The wooden door of the Zhou family was closed. Zhou Laizi stood outside and called out for the door. Then the eldest son of the Zhou family hurried over to open the door. The mother and daughter of the Zhou family also followed them out, but they did not stand too far outside and stayed in the yard.
Zhou Dalang looked a little nervous: "Dad, did you know that someone came from the mountain?"
It turned out that he saw some people when he was reinforcing the courtyard wall with yellow mud and stones outside in the morning. He briefly described the situation and said, "There must be 20 to 30 people, and they looked like a big family. They saw our courtyard and stood there for a while, but didn't say anything and left quickly."
Zhou Laizi's heart tightened: "Can you tell if there is any malicious intent?"
Zhou Dalang shook his head: "Probably not. It seems more like he is looking at how our high courtyard wall is built."
Zhou Laizi breathed a sigh of relief.
Yes, the evil ones dare to stay in the outer mountains to make a living. There are many people in the outer mountains and there are abundant mountain products in autumn, so they will not starve for the time being. Only those who are frightened by the evil ones will flee to the deeper parts of the mountains at the risk of being eaten by tigers and wolves.
Speaking of it, the people who have entered the inner area now are also lucky. At least this area has been cleared by Chen Lie and his gang, and they have really broken through the barrier area outside and entered this small area. It is relatively safe. There are ferocious beasts, but not many.
But their family still needs to be more careful in the future. At least not all of them can sleep at night. He and his two sons have to take turns to keep watch and stay alert.
Chen Youtian looked at him and asked, "Are you really not going to our place? The cave is smaller, but it's close to us, so if anything happens and makes a noise, we can have someone to take care of us."
Zhou Laizi shook his head, "No, the wall is high enough, and we have a large family. Besides, those who are coming to the inner circle now seem to be escaping from those evil-minded people outside the mountain. After all, they are probably the same kind of people as our family. There is no need to be so nervous. If things really get chaotic, I will ask you to take care of them then."
Seeing that he refused, Chen Youtian didn't know what to say for a moment.
Chen Dashan, on the other hand, asked Chen Youtian and took out the bow and arrow that his father always carried but rarely used, and handed it to Zhou Laizi, saying, "Uncle Zhou, keep it for self-defense. Set up a target in the yard and practice your aim more often. Cut more bamboo arrows. I'll make two more bows with animal skins as strings when I get back. I'll send them to you tomorrow and teach you then."
Zhou Laizi was a little excited when he saw Chen Dashan gave him a bow and arrow. Many places on the wall were made into observation holes, and it was best to defend with a bow and arrow. He took the arrow and stroked it: "Okay, thank you very much, it will be safer with this."
Chen Dashan nodded. He actually had a bottle of curare in his sleeve, but the situation had not yet reached that point. Moreover, although the medicine belonged to his family, if he really gave it away, he would be exposing his back to others. Instead of giving the medicine, it would be better to let the Zhou family move to a place that was closer to them so that they could be taken care of but where they would not have direct sight of the entrance to the valley. Therefore, he suppressed this idea for the time being.
After Chen Lie and his group left, the Zhou family closed the gate and bolted it tightly. Zhou Erlang then asked, "Dad, are we really not going to live near Chen Lie and his group?"
Zhou Laizi shook his head: "If you can avoid going, then don't go."
"Why?"
Zhou Laizi just looked at his wife. The reason why he refused was actually because he had been chatting with his wife a while ago about where Chen Lie and his friends lived. After listening to a few words from his wife, he refused twice today.
He was not a very smart man, and when asked by his son, he subconsciously looked at his wife.
Zhou Laizi's wife took over the conversation and said, "Because it's inappropriate."
Seeing the brothers' confused faces, she asked, "Look at Chen Lie, Dashan and the other families, how do they treat our family?"
Zhou Dalang: "No problem. He brought us into the mountains, made us a home, and even went hunting in this direction just to take care of us."
Zhou Erlang also nodded: "That's great. You have considered everything for us."
Zhou Laizi's wife said, "That's right. From the beginning, they took us into the mountains and treated us very well. But you just heard that there are caves near where they live. Why didn't they take us to where they live at the beginning?"
The Zhou brothers were stumped by the question.
Zhou Ge said: "Because it's inconvenient."
Zhou Laizi's wife nodded: "That's it. Although I don't know the specific reason, it should be inconvenient. Everyone has helped our family enough. Unless the situation is particularly critical, we will not cause trouble to others if we can."
"After all, people have to stand on their own feet in this world, and they have to go through their days on their own. If you can stand up straight, people will be willing to help you when you encounter difficulties. But if you keep relying on others for support, everyone will get tired after a long time."
The Zhou brothers nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
Zhou Laizi's wife then said, "Okay, you and your sons should go and shoot some targets as Dashan said. Practice your archery well. If you practice well, you will have a skill. When you really need to rely on others for help, we will not be useless."
The voice was soft, but it filled the sons with enthusiasm. Zhou Erlang and Zhou Sanlang responded and ran to get some hay to make targets.
Zhou Laizi's wife smiled and looked at the bags and baskets that the man and his son brought back. "What did you get this time?"
Zhou Laizi's voice was not loud, but he was very happy: "More than 30 kilograms of meat, more than half a bag of chestnuts, and something called Lingyuzi. Alie's wife recognized it and said it was a kind of medicine. It tastes good when steamed. In more than a month, we can dig out a lot of things from the roots of the vines that grow Lingyuzi. They can be used as rations. We can save up enough to eat."
"By the way, Alie's wife said that this lingyuzi and the one we'll collect later, called yam, are good for your body. I'll tell you to eat some every day. It's good for your health."
"Can it replenish the body?"
"Yes, it's said to be a warm tonic. I don't understand it either, but it's good to eat anyway. I'll find more in the future. We don't eat this thing, so I'll give it to you. You can eat more tonic."
The couple had smiles on their faces. Zhou Ge watched from the side with a smile on her face as well. She went back to the house to bring out the newly made large round basket and placed it on the drying rack. Together with her father and elder brother, she continued to spread out the things she brought back to dry in the sun.
The author has something to say:
The ancient name of yam was Shudi. Later, it was renamed twice to avoid national taboos, and finally became the name of yam. The earliest record was found in the pre-Qin geographical book "Shan Hai Jing" from 770 BC to 256 BC. The earliest record of eating it was found in the Spring and Autumn Period, when Wei Henggong was a tribute to the Zhou royal family from Huaiqing Prefecture (now Jiaozuo, Henan). However, it may have been wild at that time, and more records were recorded in medical books. It may not have been cultivated artificially. The earliest record of artificial cultivation was found in the Western Jin Dynasty's "Southern Plants and Trees" (304 AD), and it was quoted in the Northern Wei Dynasty's "Qi Min Yao Shu", but listed in a volume of non-Chinese products. The "Four Seasons Compilation" in the late Tang Dynasty quoted the method of planting Shudi in Taoist Wang Min's "Shan Ju Yao Shu", and recorded the method of cutting yam into pieces for cultivation and powder making. It can be seen that the artificial domestication of yam began in the south, and it was cultivated in the north after the Sui and Tang Dynasties. After the Song Dynasty, yam began to be widely cultivated. ——The above is from the information found on the Internet.
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