Bianshanhan [farming]

The wooden houses in the forest have changed from one at the beginning to eight now, two by two, not far apart.

A circle of wooden piles was buried around the wooden house, and wood and hemp rope were inserted in the middle to make a long fence.However, this wall is obviously useless. The traps inside and outside the wall are all to prevent big beasts. Pine trees, rabbits, and pheasants come in and out casually, and you can see various shapes of feces everywhere.

After arriving in the forest, some people picked the fruit, some pulled it back, some washed it, and some cut the fruit. Li Qingwen grabbed the salt, sprinkled it into the clear spring water, and then soaked the pieces of fruit.

Put the soaked fruit in a pot and cook, add sugar, add some water and start cooking.

Every household in the border town has a lot of things like sugar. After all, the sorghum harvested is squeezed out every year.

Skim off the froth, cook the jam into a yellow piece, add sugar and sour sea buckthorn juice, and finally make a pot of sweet and sticky jam.

The wooden barrels for jams are not as big as those for wine. The birch bark is soft and firm. After each is steamed with boiling water, the jam is scooped into it.

The wooden barrels made of birch woods are very special. Whether they are used to hold wine, jam or fruit juice, the taste will be more mellow. This is what everyone nods after tasting.

In addition to picking fruits, the big guys also pick mushrooms, fungus, wild astragalus, nasturtium and various wild vegetables. There are more types of mushrooms here than other places, and there is no need to sort them when they are picked, and they are sorted while drying when they come back.

There is a shoveled space outside the wooden house, which is already full of various things to dry.

Li Qingwen and the others had been in the forest for more than ten days. Jiang Cong arrived with his people, and Liu He was also with him. The ginseng diggers and Puju people brought a lot of trouble to the Chatu tribe. They chose to patrol with the officers and soldiers from the border town. forest.

This forest is too big, with several mountains running through it, more than 2000 miles from north to south, and hundreds of kilometers from east to west. Without the people of the Chatu tribe leading the way, the officers and soldiers could not go deep.

Li Qingwen hadn't seen Liu He for a long time, and the two of them and the group of dogs were very happy.

When patrolling the forest, Liu He also brought a group of big dogs, and they ran into Li Qingwen and the others. They barked louder and rolled into a ball, with a lot of dirt and dry leaves stuck to their long bodies.

Because of this, everyone went to the hot spring together.

They were both men. Li Qingwen and Jiang Cong both wore a piece of coarse cloth around their waists during the soaking in water. After being teased a lot by everyone, they still didn't untie it.

Halfway through the soak, Li Qingwen and Jiang Cong quietly went to the side.

Ma Yongjiang was kicked aside by everyone because he farted a few times, and he walked aside cursing, "Everyone eats whole grains, who doesn't fart and shit?"

Turning his head, he saw Li Qingwen laying on Jiang Cong's body in the heat, and asked, "Did you get dizzy?"

In the distance, Jiang Cong let out a "hmm".

The voice was a bit strange, but Ma Yongjiang was angry and didn't take it to heart.

After Ma Yongjiang left, Jiang Cong blew into the glowing red ears to make him relax.

As soon as Li Qingwen opened his tightly clenched mouth, he was bumped and couldn't help whimpering, and immediately bit the beautiful and powerful shoulder in front of him like revenge.

At this moment, a few big dogs came following the sound, their wet hair clinging tightly to their bodies, and each of them looked extraordinarily big.

The big dogs habitually went to the two of them, wanting to brush their hair and take a bath, but the two of them in the hot air were always tightly entwined, and they didn't care about them at all.

Without the sensible Mao Mao around, these dogs became restless, surrounding Li Qingwen and Jiang Cong, barking vigorously while swimming.

An intoxicating red glowed all over Li Qingwen's body, and he buried his face in Jiang Cong's firm chest, feeling ashamed.

In the past two years, because of recuperation and studying, Li Qingwen's body has cultivated a thin layer of flesh. From the side face to the neck, it is crystal clear and white. After being dyed red, it seems to have been painted with a thin layer of red glaze. The curve is beautiful and the color is charming .

Jiang Cong didn't control himself. He lowered his head and kissed him very hard, leaving some traces on purpose.

Because it was ignored, the clever dog started to play with himself, and found two pieces of cloth in the water, they fought and fought with each other, and the hot water splashed high and far.

The barking of the dog drowned out the lack of strength in it.

After everyone washed up and went ashore, they found that two people were missing. After shouting a few words, Jiang Cong replied in the white air of the hot spring, telling them to go first, and the two of them soaked again. All dogs are taken away.

Everyone turned around when they heard the words, only Ma Yongjiang looked puzzled, everyone was dizzy, why are you still in the bubble, it's too late.

However, he thought that Jiang Cong cared more about Li Qingwen's body than he did, so he must have a sense of proportion, so he didn't say much, turned around and left with the others.

After returning to the wooden house, everyone's body and hair were almost dry, but the inside of the big dog's fur was still wet. Liu He led someone to comb them clean one by one.

It was getting dark, and Jiang Cong and Li Qingwen just came back. Today's dinner is stewed pheasant. These days, I have smelled enough of the sweet and greasy jam. The big guy went to the limelight to eat some meat, and barely suppressed the smell go down.

Although he tried his best to control it, Li Qingwen still looked a little weak. Liu He and everyone greeted him with concern, and even the well-fed dog took the initiative to send the fluffy hair to Li Qingwen's hands.

On the second day, Li Qingwen and Jiang Cong followed Liu He to the Chatu tribe.

At this time, the elder and the patriarch went to herd the reindeer. Although they still lived on the mountain wall, this place was different from the place where Li Qingwen and the others went. There was a tall windmill standing here.

This windmill was used to forge weapons. With the help of wind power, it was rammed down one by one, and over many years, a deep pool was smashed on the ground.

The second piece of ebony wood that Li Qingwen sent over was not made into an arrow, but a few broken pieces of wood, which were put in a leather bag and returned to Li Qingwen.

From the outside, there is no difference between the two pieces of wood, but after a lot of tempering, some can be formed, while others fail. No one can explain this.

The old witch doctor was still there, and checked the bodies of Li Qingwen and Jiang Cong respectively, saying that the disaster had been eliminated and they were fine now.

After listening to his words, Li Qingwen was finally relieved, and thanked the old witch doctor again and again.

The Chatu tribe can dry their own salt, and they don’t need to buy or exchange salt for people and deer. They grow sorghum and medicinal materials, can make sugar and candles, and only exchange rice and cloth with the border town.

Of course, carrots are the most grown ones, and deer are willing to eat them. It’s much faster to eat a carrot than to lick moss with your mouth.

The people of the Chatu tribe also thanked Jiang Cong for protecting the forest with them, and specially gave them two wooden signs with red patterns on them, so that they could carry them with them, so that they could be blessed by the mountain god.

In the past, Li Qingwen and Jiang Cong didn't really believe in these things, but since the two of them were cured here, they couldn't eat and smash pots at the same time, so they believed a little bit, so they wore two wooden plaques around their necks .

When Li Qingwen tore off his collar, it revealed a dense red color. Although Jiang Cong blocked it in time, Liu He and the old witch doctor only caught a glimpse. Before leaving, they packed several boxes of insect repellent medicine for them.

After leaving the Chatu tribe, the two of them rode horses through the forest. The sun was just right and there was a bit of wind. The two horses seemed to understand the mood of their owners.

Li Qingwen, who was on horseback, put the insect repellent in front of his nose and smelled it. The high-end medicinal materials only needed the simplest preparation method. He knew that there must be a lot of treasures added to these few boxes of ordinary ointments.

The Chatu tribe has always been closed. Their ancestors have guarded the forest for generations, and at the same time they have received gifts from the land here. They have an inexhaustible supply of all kinds of precious medicinal materials. But now, there are countless pairs of coveting eyes staring at them.

Li Qingwen hopes that this forest will always be peaceful, and it does not belong to anyone.

After smelling it for a long time, Li Qingwen packed the medicine box again. He was not bitten, and it was a waste to use the medicine.

Thinking about it, Li Qingwen turned his head and looked at Jiang Cong. If there were such big bugs, the medicine wouldn't work.

The leaves in the forest are still green at this time of year, the sunlight leaks from above, and small spots of light fall on Jiang Cong's face. The bridge of the nose, which was originally tall, looks like a small mountain peak, and the scenery on it is unique...

Li Qingwen was still watching, when suddenly a hand was stretched out beside him, and he was taken from the horse's back. Both the man and the medicine were replaced by the horse.

Sweet jujube was happy and brisk, snorted, and was even happier after eating.

"I want to apply medicine too." A deep voice rang in my ear, "I was bitten badly by bugs too."

Being slandered, Li Qingwen immediately defended himself: "I didn't bite you, I just, just, just grabbed a few times..."

In fact, he didn't even remember that he did it, and he realized it later when he got dressed, but he can explain this.

On the way back, the two went to the stronghold set up by the officers and soldiers in the forest. They arrested more than 100 Puju people here, and they have been escorted to the border town.

The people caught this time are different from those Puju civilians who were rescued. They fought with the officers and soldiers of the border city, and they are regarded as prisoners. If Puju doesn't give an explanation, the relationship between the two parties may deteriorate even more.

To Li Qingwen's surprise, without the powerful enemy in the north, the imperial court paid more attention to the border towns. They heard that they would send troops here, and they didn't even force the Chatu tribe to surrender first, so they put so much effort into protecting them.

Of course, this kind of protection is what he is happy to see. After all, the chatu tribe has too deep entanglements with him and Jiang Cong, and it is also a kind of fate to be able to fight side by side.

Li Qingwen just doesn't understand it now, but in the future he will know that nothing happens for no reason in this world, everything happens for a reason.

Because there are tall trees in all directions, the seasonal changes in the forest are not as obvious as outside. After the fruits mature, pine nuts and hazelnuts start to be picked, and it becomes colder in the morning and evening.

The villagers and officers and soldiers collected a lot of things, and they were not in a hurry to go back. They just waited for the snow to fall. The sledge is much better at pulling things than a car, especially when the ground is uneven, and the sledge is more labor-saving when walking in the snow.

In the year of fleeing famine, Li’s family traded grain for many helpers. Until now, each of the big guys has their own fields, but the helpers have not yet been repaid, and there is no shortage of manpower. Li Qingwen is also happy to break open the pine cones and take out pine nuts .

The pine nuts in this forest are red and very long. After being cooked, the nuts inside are very fragrant. When they are taken to Hongzhou, the old people and children say they are good to eat.

The pine tree is too tall. In the past, they just picked up the pine cones that fell on the ground. Later, they realized that it was a good thing. Men with agility would go up the tree to pick it. Although they were tied with ropes, they would accidentally scratch them hurt.

In order to get money from selling pine nuts, the big guys also took some risks. After all, every household can get more than ten taels of silver every year, which is really not a small amount.

Every year, this piece of squirrel's nest will be ransacked again, because Li Qingwen's "grain for food" policy has taken effect, so far there is no obvious feeling that the squirrel has any plans to move.

The outside of the wooden fence is full of carrots, peas, soybeans, etc. These are the squirrels' private plots. If the pheasants dare to come to join in the fun, they will be caught, bled, plucked, and stuffed into the pot to cook.