Along the Huangsha River, a thin mist shrouded the Song family's ten acres of land, most of which were planted with rice. Now, in the season of flowering and heading, the land was a vast expanse of lush green.
In the corners, there were many vegetables planted. Song Zhenping had planted these since he started preparing to take over Tianxianglou and had been taking care of them every day.
In less than two months, the bok choy is growing well, and the green beans, peppers, and eggplants under the scorching sun are also blooming with small flowers, waiting for a bountiful harvest of autumn goods.
The peanuts and soybean pods are almost ripe and will be ready for harvest next month.
Since Song Liyun rarely came to the fields, Song Zhenping happily pointed out each of the crops he had planted to her.
They also whispered that they learned these planting techniques from a "heavenly book," and that they were indeed better than those of other farmers. They planned to plant some winter wheat this year so that they could have an extra harvest next year.
For the first ten years or so, Song Zhenping worked in the fields. He couldn't do anything else, but when he returned to the land, he had endless things to say.
Xiao An has become quite lively now, catching grasshoppers and showing them to Song Liyun. The three of them laugh and work together.
The rapeseed leaves had withered, while the bean pods were golden and plump, looking as if they would burst at the slightest touch.
Song Zhenping had no experience growing rapeseed for the first time, and he was worried that the seeds were not mature enough, so the harvest was actually a little late.
They could only take advantage of the damp morning mist to quickly cut down the rapeseed pods. Everyone worked very carefully, afraid that the plump pods would burst open in their hands at any moment.
These rapeseeds are all intended to be used as seeds; each one is extremely precious.
By the time the sun rose above the mountaintop, all eighty rapeseed plants had been harvested and laid out on a cloth by the field to dry off the last bit of moisture before threshing.
While they were at it, Xiao An and Song Zhenping kept busy, pulling up rapeseed stalks, weeding the ground, and cutting grass around the field for the rabbits and chrysanthemum horses to eat.
Worried that the rabbits and horses wouldn't have any grass to eat in winter, Song Zhenping and Xiao An now cut grass, dry it, and store it whenever they have free time.
Song Liyun was happy to see the two hardworking brothers. Now the family had no shortage of food or money, and they could support the two brothers even if they were idle every day.
But no one had the idea of eating and drinking for free, especially not asking Song Liyun for money.
Song Zhenping was either working in the fields or helping out at the cardboard box factory, where he was paid wages.
Xiao An was the same, except that the cardboard factory was full of hay and pools, so he couldn't do heavy work and went home to paste cardboard boxes to earn money.
Song Liyun felt that this behavior was worth encouraging, as contributing to the family is everyone's duty.
I just thought it was a huge waste of time for them to cut grass like that every day.
Moreover, storing hay outside is neither safe nor aesthetically pleasing; it should be processed into pelleted feed and stored away.
Hay is also needed to make animal feed.
Thinking of this, Song Liyun walked over to the two brothers, rolled up her sleeves, and started helping. She planned to get started as soon as she had this idea.
After the sun rose, they dried the rapeseed pods, and the three siblings pounded out the dark brown rapeseed seeds, packed them into bags, and then returned to Baolin Residence.
Song Zhenping was busy looking for a place to dry the rapeseed again, while Song Liyun went to the cardboard box factory to find Han Ming.
Since Song Liyun started going to Qili County every day, accompanied by people from the garrison, Han Ming stayed at home.
He was originally trained by his master to be a steward, but due to unforeseen circumstances, he became a runaway slave.
After arriving at the Song family, I had no choice but to follow Song Liyun around, but now things have finally stopped.
Now that the Song family has businesses, it's a perfect opportunity for him to put his skills to use, so he's restarting his management expertise.
The cardboard box factory used to be managed by Manager Mu, and the foreman was the meticulous carpenter Mu.
Now, the cardboard box factory and acorn workshop are all managed by Han Ming, who is much more professional than Manager Mu in every aspect.
Manager Mu had no objections.
Because construction will begin after the autumn harvest, timber, bricks, and craftsmen need to be arranged in advance.
Since several families' houses needed to be renovated at the same time, Manager Mu took on all the tasks and coordinated the entire operation.
As soon as Song Liyun arrived at the cardboard box factory by the river, she saw Han Ming talking to Mu the carpenter. Upon seeing her, he hurried over and said, "It's good that you didn't go out today, Miss. Come and tell me what to do about this matter."
"What's up?"
As Song Liyun walked over, she looked around.
The large pool at the cardboard factory is still filled with yellowish-brown straw stalks, which are used to make thick cardboard boxes. They need to be soaked for a period of time before being hammered into pulp.
In the open space not far away, piles of wheat straw were stacked up like mountains, and waterwheels with water wheels were turning day and night to hammer wood pulp.
Five workers were making paper in the pulp vat, each of them busy and organized.
In the spacious warehouse next door, cardboard was piled up and drying.
The cardboard box factory wasn't far from Baolinju, but it took Song Liyun more than a month to come over after purchasing the wheat straw.
When Mu the carpenter saw Song Liyun approaching, he still smiled憨憨地 (simple and honest) and said, "Miss Song."
He does less carpentry work now, and usually oversees pulp production with the same care he would take for carving.
At this moment, he was holding a bare blue stick in his hand, looking troubled: "Miss Song, look, this is what Old Han wants to use to make pulp, and he bought so much of it."
The two were arguing about whether these green straws could be used to make paper.
According to Lao Mu, stems that haven't fully grown can't be used to make syrup, and they'll spoil the whole batch of feed.
Han Ming said, "Miss, since they've already brought it, I can't very well refuse it."
I'll take this cartload for only fifty coins. If it really doesn't work out, just deduct it from my wages!
His monthly wage is now a little over one tael of silver, making the compensation burden much easier.
Song Liyun took the straw and looked at it, then couldn't help but laugh: "Uncle Mu, Uncle Han, please stop arguing. Can you tell me where this came from first?"
Han Ming said, “This is sorghum that didn’t grow well on the mountain. This year it was dry and there was little rain, so the corn and sorghum on the mountain slopes didn’t grow well. If they did grow, they would take up space, so the farmers cut them to feed their livestock. Someone wanted to sell the stalks for some money and brought them over to ask me if I wanted them. I saw that they were hard and thought I’d try making paper from them.”
Not every household has large livestock, so these sorghum stalks, which are not much thicker than a thumb, can only be used as firewood.
Song Liyun laughed: It's like you've got exactly what you need.
This batch of sorghum wasn't growing well; the seedlings were weak, and the ears were only the length of a finger, with just a few shriveled grains. The farmers simply cut it down and left the land fallow.
However, the grass meal in this silage should be the best.
"Uncle Han, keep all these stalks. Don't use them for paper; use them as animal feed!"
What is animal feed?
"What is feed?"
Old Mu and Han Ming asked in unison.
Sorghum stalks and corn stalks are high in coarse fiber and have a poor taste; they are generally only eaten by cattle with four stomachs and the ability to ruminate.
Horses need fine fodder; they can eat things like sorghum leaves and corn leaves, but they absolutely cannot eat the stems.
However, by grinding it into powder and adding other ingredients such as corn flour, grass meal, soybean meal, wheat bran, and bone meal, it can be made into feed.
Soon, Song Liyun handed the feed formula to Han Ming, and asked Mu the carpenter to improve the waterwheel and add a millstone.
In addition, two more grooved wooden boards, like washboards, were carved to make feed pellets after the grass was ground into powder.
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