Farming and reading lady

"Grandpa, let me tell you, this is written in the book my master showed me. The reason why our rice yield is so low is because our method of growing seedlings is wrong." Gu Xixian lied without even frowning. Xiaoyue Bay is located in the south and originally had two seasons of rice, morning and evening. But Gu Xixian felt that if they could barely plant three seasons of rice, it should be possible.

"Oh, does it talk about how to grow seedlings? What's the name of the book you read?" The old man is not an illiterate person. He has good books and he is also studious and motivated.

Gu Xixian pouted: "I didn't remember the title of the book, but I remember the method of raising rice seedlings clearly. The book says that the best method of raising rice seedlings is using seedling trays. Let's give it a try. If it doesn't work, at most our output will be the same as it is now. But if it succeeds, wouldn't it be a great achievement?"

"Then you have to tell me how to do it specifically, and what is a seedling tray?" The old man asked without hesitation, he couldn't persuade her. This little girl would not give up until she pestered you to do what she wanted to do.

"The seedling tray is... a square box made of wooden strips, and the box is divided into small grids with small wooden strips." Gu Xixian muttered in his heart, this should be feasible: "After the box is made, we must first use the farmland... ah, no, it is the soil in our yard and the sandy soil mixed to make soil suitable for the growth of rice seedlings, and then add fermented manure to it, and expose it to the sun (instead of high-temperature disinfection), so that the seeds can grow better. Of course, the selection of seeds is the most important thing. They must be full and not damaged. After the seeds are picked out, they should be soaked in water for a few nights. During the day, they should be taken out and placed under the sun. When we see small sprouts coming out, we will sprinkle them into the seedling box filled with soil, and put two or three in a small grid. After arranging them, we will water them thoroughly, cover them with rags at night, and open them to the sun during the day. When the seedlings grow to a finger length, they can be transplanted into the field." (Excerpt from my grandfather's previous seedling raising method)

He finished speaking in one breath, and even pulled his grandfather's sleeve and shook it: "Grandpa, believe me, it will work."

The old man pulled her hand away: "I know, I know."

The old man was a man of action. He mobilized several strong laborers in his family and made more than 20 large wooden boxes with many small grids in one afternoon. Then he followed the instructions of his little granddaughter and directed the family around. Hard work pays off. It is true that the green seedlings are growing very well. It is September now, which is not a good time to sow seeds. However, the Gu family could not bear Gu Xixian's hard work and harvested two late rice seedlings in advance. Under the strange eyes of the villagers, the whole family planted the seedlings sparsely into the paddy fields according to the distance drawn by Gu Xixian. Hundreds of fish fry were also raised in these two paddy fields.

In mid-October, the late rice harvest was underway and everyone was busy, so no one paid much attention to it. However, when the rice was dried and stored in the warehouse, all kinds of curious and mocking voices appeared. Everyone in the Gu family felt that they were a little shorter, except for Grandpa Gu and Gu Xixian. Every day, the grandfather and grandson would put their hands behind their backs and inspect their rice seedlings one after another. Gu Xixian was also nervous, after all, everything was just talk on paper. Looking at the two acres of fresh seedlings that were particularly conspicuous in the vast expanse and growing well, the old man's mood became better day by day, and the wrinkles on his face were smoothed out a lot.

When the ears of corn hung down, all the strange voices changed from mockery to envy, and the team behind the two grandfathers and grandsons gradually grew larger and became a long line.

The Tong clan even sent people to patrol day and night. If this succeeded, they would also be able to benefit from it.

By the twelfth lunar month, the rice ears were already bent, and the heavy appearance showed that the yield was not low. The Gu family began to release water to catch fish. If you ask if they can eat all the fish they caught, it's a joke. They had already signed a contract with the restaurant in the town, and as soon as the fish came out of the water, someone would come to catch them. Speaking of this, we have to mention another amazing operation by Gu Xixian. But this is all later. The most important thing at the moment is the yield of the three-season rice.

"Grandpa, I'll take the fish away first. When you're done with your work here, come to town with the young lady and we'll talk about other things." This is the owner of Mingyue Pavilion, the largest restaurant in town. His surname is Guo, and he is known as Fatty Guo. He is smiling at the moment. In the middle of winter, there are so many big fish, which will be enough to make Mingyue Pavilion famous for a while.

The monk may escape, but the temple cannot. No one in the Gu family was worried about the fish payment. The old man waved his hand, signaling him to leave quickly. He was eager to make the villagers who laughed at them drop their jaws.

Two mu of land was not much, but with the help of the Tong family, it took only half a day to calculate the net value of all the rice, and the yield per mu was 350 jin. This really shocked many people. In the past, no matter how carefully they maintained it, the yield per mu of densely planted rice was only about jin at most, but this sparsely planted rice with such a large gap had such a high yield per mu, which they couldn't believe. So, at the strong request of everyone, the old man weighed all the rice again, and it was just more, not less.

Everyone was silent now. The rice harvesting, threshing and cleaning were all done under everyone's eyes. The facts were before their eyes and there was no room for doubt. The head of the Tong family was shaking. He was not only the head of the Tong family, but also the head of Xiaoyuewan Village. Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, the increase in per-acre yield of farmers, this was a big deal. It was not the Gu family, it was their Tong family, it was not their Xiaoyuewan Village, they were in big trouble.

Grandpa Gu was very excited inside, but he looked calm on the outside. Maybe, just maybe, their Gu family could turn things around.

"Old man, are you going to sell your grain?" People in every era have a long-term vision, and now someone is thinking about the issue of grain seeds.

However, before the old man could say anything, the head of the Tong family spoke up: "Brother Gu, you must keep this grain well. Don't even think about selling it. We must report such a big matter to our superiors."

He was afraid that the old man had a narrow vision and would sell the grain.

Old Man nodded and said, "Don't worry, Brother Tong, I won't sell this grain. If anyone is willing, come to my house to learn how to grow seedlings next time. I will never keep anything to myself."

Even if he wanted to keep this a secret, he couldn't. For such a big event, he was sure that the first thing Village Chief Tong would do when he returned home would be to write a letter to inform Tong Mingyan, and the county would also have to be informed.