Bianshanhan [farming]

He woke up several times a night with pain, and when it was still dark outside, Li Qingwen woke up as usual, really hungry, as if a big hole had been hollowed out in his stomach.

Since the beginning of spring, his stature has grown again, and he eats four or five meals a day. Because of this, bones, fish meat and peeled eggs have been stewed in a small pot for a long time at home, and Li Qingwen can fill his stomach when he gets up.

Because he had to exercise his hands and feet to practice arrows later, Li Qingwen only ate [-]% full, and then took the basin, went out with his eldest brother and fourth brother to lead a horse to the river to drink water.

There are too many horses in the family, and it is difficult to bring water back to drink. Every morning, noon and night, they will lead many horses to the shallow water of the river.

At the beginning, this place was not suitable for mules and horses to drink water. It was Li Maoxian who led people to dig a large area of ​​land to bring out such a puddle of water.

It’s okay in winter, ponies and foals don’t have to worry too much, they will follow behind the big horse’s buttocks. Now that the snow has melted on the ground, there are dead grass and green grass sprouts. They eat while walking, and they are very lazy.

At this time, the four puppies would run out. They seemed to have seen their parents help herd herds of deer before, and they also barked at the horses gnawing grass, urging them to hurry up.

Although the sound is a bit immature, but the effect is still there. They are so capable in just a few months, and they are so good-looking. Not only are they rare in the Li family, but they are also loved by women and children inside and outside the camp.

They have short legs and short necks. Li Qingwen dare not let them stand in the mud by the river to drink water like horses. He scoops water from the river with a basin and puts it on the ground. The four of them run over to lick the water. .

The three little mischievous ones started to play while drinking. One of them fell into the basin and got wet all over. It finally came out, and together with the other two brothers, they overturned the basin.

Then the dog sister Mao Mao stretched out her paw and began to teach them a lesson.

After the pots were overturned, Li Qingwen stopped scooping water for them. At this time, they probably had enough to drink, and it didn't matter if they didn't drink enough, as there were water pots at home.

Here the horses drank the water, and the helper rushed to the river after eating, took the horse from Li Qingwen's hand, took it back to the cart, and then took the plow stick to the field.

The spring planting had already started, and there were so many helpers, Li Qingwen didn't have to go to the fields. After drinking the horses, the sky was still light gray, and he ran from home to the new town in thin clothes.

The four on the ground are more energetic than him. Although they are only a few months old, they are very active. They run more than ten miles with Li Qingwen every day, and they still have the energy to play with him.

The foundation of the new city is being dug, with stones and blue bricks piled up beside it. There are several pools in the southeast, northwest, and white smoke. The pools are filled with water and lime. After the lime is matured in the water, the walls can be built.

Li Qingwen never got close to these pools, and took the puppies away from them, in case they would be curious about it.

Zheng Zhun and Chen Wen were there so early, and if they didn't watch, the convicts and officers and soldiers who were working would find ways to be lazy.

Li Qingwen didn't sleep well yesterday, and Li Qingwen sweated a lot when he ran here. Without him needing to speak, Chen Wen asked, "Did Brother Jiang and the others go to the border post?"

Li Qingwen: "I left early yesterday morning."

Nearly a thousand officers and soldiers went out to search for two or three months, but still did not find the missing persons, not even the corpses or other traces. Finally, General Lin decided to set up a border guard post [-] to [-] miles north of the camp. There are dozens of people at each sentry post, watching the military situation, discovering the enemy's situation in time and reporting it.

Most of these border guards are officers and soldiers, and there are also powerful exiles like Jiang Cong and Jiang Liping.

As soon as the border guard post was set up, Jiang Cong stayed in the north and did not come back. Jiang Liping and the others were transferred to more than 30 people, and they had already set off with the officers and soldiers yesterday.

The three of Fang's mothers had just been reunited with Jiang Liping for three months, and they separated again. However, they were rotated every few months, and the exiles who went to the border post were given special care. Salary and silver are basically no different from officers and soldiers.

Chen Wen asked again: "When are you going to the capital?"

This spring, there were more than a dozen convicts escorted by the capital, and I heard that there were many more behind. I learned from the guards who came over that the new emperor had reopened the imperial examinations less than three months after he ascended the throne. Anyone can take the test.

Li Qingwen brushed back his sweaty hair and said, "Maybe next year, my second brother wrote to say that he is helping me find a suitable place to study."

"Okay, it's better to study." Chen Wen said.

The two talked for a while, and Li Qingwen ran back with the pup. When they arrived at the camp, it was dawn, so they moved their hands and feet and practiced arrows for a quarter of an hour. with him.

Then, Li Qingwen took the group of children to the fields.

There are several acres of separate fields near the river, and the fields are full of one- to two-year-old saplings, including birch, poplar, pine, oil fruit tree, hazel tree, wild walnut tree, willow tree, orange tree and so on.

Some of these tree species were collected from the forest, some were bought, and there were too many that Li Qingwen could get by himself, and he needed the help of his family and the village.

Li Qingwen took the group of children, dug out the saplings, transplanted them into the tree pits they dug a few days ago, filled them with soil, and filled each small pit with water.

These tree pits were not dug casually. Poplars and willows were planted on both sides of the river, which can fix the soil. Birch trees were planted in the gaps between each field, which were beautiful and could distinguish the fields of each household. The large open space to the north of the field was Pieces of pine, birch, walnut and orange trees are planted, which can not only keep out the wind, prevent soil erosion, but also have edible fruits.

Needless to say, the riverside and the fields, the stretches of woodland, Li Qingwen didn't dare to grow it on his own, he went to ask Zhou Fengnian for instructions, and after getting General Lin's order, someone came to mark out the land before he started working.

The children are very serious about their work. They plant the saplings carefully, not only because they know that these trees will bear fruit when they grow up, but also because they plant the trees just like the grown-ups, and they count as half-day helpers.

The spring in the border town is too short. It is so short that people can't wait to work day and night. They are too busy to plant the land. If Li Qingwen wants to plant trees, he can't do it alone, he can only find children.

Children aged seven or eight to eleven or twelve have a little strength, but they are not good at farming. They can dig small pits, carry water, plant trees and so on.

Li Qingwen looked at them while working, telling them to rest every once in a while so as not to get tired.

Most of the people who fled last year borrowed a lot of food from the Li family, and each family owed many days' work.This spring, some people are reclaiming new fields and planting their own land, and some are helping the Li family to farm and do some work. A child can do half a day's work for an adult by planting trees, and he also manages the food. cost-effective.

At Chenshi, Chen Shi, Jiang Shi, and Li Maoyuniang went home to light the fire, and made egg soup and sorghum pancakes. The soup was put in a bucket, the cakes were put in a basin, and the bowls were half lying in the clay basin. , picked up the bucket, pulled the cart and sent it to the field.

With a few shouts, the workers stopped, untied the splints of the animals, let them rest for a while, and then a group of people came to the field to drink soup and eat cakes.

If you get up too early in the morning, you will get hungry easily if you do physical work. You must have a meal at this time, or you will feel dizzy before noon.

Li Qingwen led a group of children, washed their hands, and went to the field to eat.

After the Chinese New Year, the chicken pens were broken, and thousands of chickens ran all over the camp. General Lin Tan stepped on chicken droppings when he came out, so he asked them to move out the chicken pens.

Half of the chickens were confiscated, and the other half belonged to Li Qingwen's family. The officers and soldiers built a large chicken pen outside the camp, and the Li family also ordered people to enclose a large area with birch bark, hemp rope and wooden stakes.

It's not that they were lazy, but that they were busy with spring planting at that time and couldn't build chicken coops.

Chickens can lay a lot of eggs every day, and most of them go into the stomachs of these workers. Heavy work must eat well, otherwise it will not last.

Fishing and hunting are not allowed in spring, and eggs are the only fresh meat that can be eaten, not including salted fish and bacon.

Each child was given a large bowl of egg drop soup and a sweet pancake. The sweet pancake was filled with sorghum sugar, and the pancake was still warm. When one corner was bitten open, brown sugar juice dripped down. The children hurriedly blocked it with their mouths. On the table, everyone ate happily.

Li Qingwen was also very hungry. He drank a bowl of soup and three cakes, which attracted people from the field to look at him frequently, "Zai'er's food is not in vain, he can grow up every day."

The brothers of the Li family were not short. Li Qingwen had grown up once before, but this time it was even stronger.

After resting for a quarter of an hour, the adults put on their animals and started to work. Wild horses started to walk in the field. Behind the plow, a woman with quick hands and feet was picking seeds.

The small wild horses are unexpectedly able to bear weight and have endurance. They are better at plowing the land than the war horses in the camp. They are similar to mules and can plow several acres of land in a day.

Just like people, during the Spring and Autumn Period, cattle and horses ate fine grains.

After the children had finished eating and added sugar juice to their fingers, Li Qingwen took them to continue planting trees.

Just after planting a birch sapling, Li Qingwen felt that someone was watching him, and when he turned around, he saw a slender girl standing not far away.

"Miss Tao!" Li Qingwen waved at her.

Tao Ruoning helped a child bring water over, and said, "Why do you plant so many trees?"

"It's very useful." Li Qingwen said: "It can block the wind, hold water and consolidate the soil, use it as firewood, turn it into timber, and eat fruit...it's too many to count."

Tao Ruoning, that is, the girl who exchanged paintings with Li Qingwen for food, has always followed the original agreement and sent several paintings to Li Qingwen every season.

The child supported the sapling, and Tao Ruoning filled it with soil. She looked at Li Qingwen and asked, "How long does it take to grow up?"

"Quick, soon." Li Qingwen wiped the sweat from his brow. He used to worry like this before, but when he saw the saplings growing up on the road, he knew it in his heart.

Seeing Li Qingwen's hopeful face, Tao Ruoning didn't say anything, and fell down together.