Chapter 89 This County Magistrate is Still a Prospect
"My home is in front. It's a simple abode!" Su Ying pointed to the small courtyard not far away.
Hu Erlang took a look and saw that the yard was surrounded by a wooden fence and covered with iron fences.
There are a few dilapidated houses that are almost crumbling, with only new doors, windows and thatched roofs, which are barely habitable.
The young men in the yard were happily discussing something. The curling smoke from the simple stove and the winnowing baskets hanging out to dry made the place seem full of pastoral atmosphere and not depressing at all.
"It's very good. If Mr. Wu Liu were here, he would definitely like it!" Hu Erlang joked.
Su Ying smiled and said, of course Tao Yuanming liked it.
Plant chrysanthemums in the fields and in front of and behind the houses, drink wine and recite poetry, it is elegant and leisurely.
It makes life hard for my wife and children. Life is not only about poetry and distant places, but also about the daily necessities of life.
"Is this rotten soil?" Hu Erlang saw a lot of soil piled up in piles on the roadside outside the yard, some of which were spread out on the ground to dry.
"Yes!" Su Ying nodded.
"Unfortunately, we were short on time and didn't have time to burn lime. If we had mixed in lime to disinfect insect eggs and bacteria in the soil, the insect eggs and bacteria in the soil would have been removed more thoroughly.
We will make some at the beginning of the new year and try to use it for spring plowing."
"You guys are really busy! You've got vermicelli, oil pressing, and road construction all underway, and now this lime burning thing has popped up. I'm really curious, how are you going to allocate the manpower?"
Hu Erlang felt that the tasks he had to do were not easy, and he could not handle them with such a small number of people.
"Eat your food one bite at a time, do your tasks one by one, prioritize, and allocate manpower appropriately. What can't be accomplished?"
Coming to the pile of rotten soil, looking at the loose and fine dark brown rotten soil, Hu Erlang couldn't help but reach out and grab a handful and squeeze it in his hand.
It is soft and elastic, without any impurities such as tree roots, particles, leaves, etc.
"It's really a good thing!" Even if Hu Erlang didn't know much about farming, he could still tell the good from the bad.
I couldn't help but lament, "If you had come earlier, perhaps the whole Wu County would have used it by now."
When such soil is spread on the ground, it is not only fertile, but also allows the roots of crops to take root deeply.
"It's okay. Spring farming will come in handy. The results can be seen in the growth in these few months." Su Ying comforted.
At some point, Old Man Yang and others also came with County Magistrate Hu, and they looked around as they walked.
There are plenty of fern roots and kudzu vines in the corners of the fields. By the way, I learned which fern roots are edible, and that kudzu roots are divided into two types: kudzu vine and powder kudzu vine. I also learned how to distinguish them.
"See, this trip is worth it!" County Magistrate Hu said to the lawyer.
For so many years, no one understood these things, including how to manage the land and improve the soil.
However, the new Su family is like an encyclopedia, bringing many surprises.
County Magistrate Hu seemed to have grasped something. Could it be that the imperial court exiled officials here in order to change the backward situation here?
Don’t say it, you really shouldn’t say it, County Magistrate Hu guessed right!
The imperial court exiled criminals to Lingnan, leaving them to fend for themselves in this miasma-filled Lingnan.
Another purpose was to change the current situation in Lingnan, because officials were unwilling to serve in such a wild place, not only because the environment was harsh, but also because the job was thankless.
They had no choice but to exile the convicted officials there. These convicted officials would bring a large number of books, advanced technologies and the latest ideas. In order to survive, they had to work hard to build and change their living environment.
Batch after batch of convicted officials were like fireflies, lighting up Lingnan little by little with their faint light and changing Lingnan. Thousands of years later, Lingnan was no longer barren.
County Magistrate Hu suddenly became full of enthusiasm, as if changing Wu County was not that difficult?
A few people came later in the team, each carrying a wooden box.
"What's the purpose of this?" County Magistrate Hu was sharp-eyed and saw that those people looked a little anxious.
"Beehive!" Su Bucheng whispered.
"Beehive?" County Magistrate Hu asked in surprise, "You also know how to raise bees?"
"Not really. My daughter thinks that the woods here are dense and the flowers and plants are flourishing, and the bees have no shortage of nectar all year round. I want to try to attract bees here." Su Bucheng explained.
"Mr. Su, your daughter is really bold!" County Magistrate Hu grabbed Su Bucheng's hand.
"If this is successful, there will be many more places for beekeeping in Wu County, and beekeeping will not take up too much time and energy.
Honey is highly profitable, and if every household raised honey, people wouldn’t be so poor.”
"Your Excellency is absolutely right! This is exactly what we meant!" Su Bucheng patted the hand of County Magistrate Hu. This County Magistrate still had some plans for success.
"Old Man Yang, is what Village Master Su said true?" Old Man Zheng pulled Old Man Yang.
"Of course!" Old man Yang puffed out his chest with a proud expression.
"You are so unreasonable, old man, hiding it from us!" Old Man Zheng said angrily, "You don't share such a good thing with us."
"It's not too late now! We don't know whether this will succeed or not. I'm just afraid that you will be happy for nothing." Old man Yang argued.
County Magistrate Hu and several others gathered around the beehive to examine it. It was a simple sealed wooden box with removable partitions inside. There was a narrow opening at the bottom for the bees to enter and exit.
"What's the use of this?" County Magistrate Hu didn't understand.
"Aying!" Su Bucheng called his daughter, "Come and tell the adults about beehives."
Su Ying came over and took down the movable partition. "This makes it easier to take it out and harvest the honey..."
Su Ying explained the structural principles in detail, and everyone suddenly realized, wow, it’s so simple!
"Girl, can we just leave it in the wild like this?" County Magistrate Hu was puzzled.
"No, you also need to smear honey on the entrance of the hive and on the partitions inside to attract the bees. Whether you can keep the bees depends mainly on whether you can attract the queen bee..."
He also talked at length about the reasons for attracting bees and the habits of bees.
"Then how do we harvest the honey?" County Magistrate Hu asked again.
Everyone knows that you will be stung by bees if you get close to a beehive. Could it be that the bees raised in this beehive are different?
"How is that possible? Honey will sting people into pig heads!" Su Ying said with a smile.
"You need to wear a gauze hat and gloves to cover your head, face, neck, and hands. When harvesting honey, you can't harvest all the honey, you have to leave some for the bees."
"Should we put the beehives there now?" asked County Magistrate Hu.
"Well, if you don't mind, let's take a look together! Wait a moment, I'll go back to get the honey." Su Ying walked into the yard carrying a basket on her back.
"Mother, please accept this!" Su Ying handed the needles and thread she bought and the remaining money to Mrs. Du.
"Xiaotao, Zhaoyan, Bingyan, Alu, this is your Hu Bing!" Share the Hu Bing to your younger brothers and sisters.
She took out three more steamed buns and gave them to Mrs. Du, “One for grandma, one for you and one for Third Aunt!”
"You kid! Why are you spending all this money?" Mrs. Du felt sorry for her daughter. "You guys couldn't even bear to eat!"
"Okay, mother, there will be many delicious foods in the future! Don't worry! Just enjoy your meal!" Su Ying smiled and took out the honey with the mark.
County Magistrate Hu and several other people, as well as a group of village elders, followed Su Ying into the woods to find a suitable location to place the beehives.
There are five beehives placed in five different locations, all of which are relatively secluded.
When she was smearing honey on the beehives and partitions, Zheng Laoer and others felt very distressed. Such precious things, Ah Ying was really willing to give them away.
Old man Yang looked calm. The honey that people spit on would not be wasted if it was used for this purpose.
Many villagers and children came over to watch the fun and asked, "Aying, will we be able to eat honey in a few days?"
"Well, we have to wait for a few months!" Su Ying replied, "You must protect the beehives and don't let insects or snakes get in. Don't get too close, or you'll get stung."
"No need to worry, no need to worry!" Everyone nodded in unison. If anyone dared to destroy the beehive, they would never let him off easily!
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