Bianshanhan [farming]

After the beginning of spring, the border town was still very cold in the morning. Ma Yongjiang got up from the kang, drank porridge, and went to feed the horses and sheep first.

Poured the sweet straw on the ground, the sheep bowed their heads and began to eat. Ma Yongjiang was about to leave when he stopped suddenly and stared at the sheep's belly for a long time, his face was cloudy.

Li Qingwen and Li Qinghong were knocking down the mud on the Erchi pick, when they saw Ma Yongjiang rushing back, "No, it's not good, the sheep seems to be sick."

The two of them were startled. They had come all the way to this sheep. They managed to survive the winter, but they fell down in spring.

Putting down the things in their hands, the two of them rushed to the side of the stable. Li Qingwen was still wondering if Zhou Yao would treat the sheep. Li Qinghong wandered around and said, "It's okay, the sheep is carrying the lamb."

"Ah? It's fine, it's fine, it's fine..." Ma Yongjiang blushed, and tried to make amends for himself: "There is no sheep in our house, and I have never seen sheep give birth. I promised Qingfeng to take care of them, for fear One slip."

Li Qinghong nodded, and used straw and hay to pad the sheep pen.

The three ewes all had cubs, some with big bellies and some with small bellies. They seemed to have adapted to the climate of the border town earlier than humans.

The snow hadn't completely melted, and the wind was blowing in the border town.

The exiles who went out to patrol finally returned, but what awaited them was not a rest, but an imminent spring seed.

Jiang Cong and some officers and soldiers did not come back. I heard that they went further north. If everything goes well, they will arrive at the camp in a month or two.

There are no trees or stones in this wilderness, so it is not difficult to open up wasteland. After plowing, you have to pick up the grass roots and put them on the ground to dry. Otherwise, this thing is tenacious, and it can grow again after touching some soil.

The two brothers of the Liu family and Guo Dayong each opened 300 acres first, and a group of them opened more than [-] acres. It sounds scary, but it took only a few days for seven plow sticks to go to the ground.

Autumn is the best way to open up wasteland, but they missed it. This year's output must be less. Even if they pack the same number of bags of grain, one bag of grain will be a few to ten catties lighter than Li Maoqun's and the others.

This is the experience they have planted for so many years.

Chen Wen was distributing land to the messy refugees, but as soon as he arrived, he saw that they had leveled thousands of acres of land, and he slammed his mouth for a long time, "Oh, it looks old-fashioned at first glance, and I feel comfortable when I look at this land."

He asked Li Qingwen if he still lacked anything, and Li Qingwen said that if he had extra plow sticks, he would borrow two of them first.

Chen Wen not only brought him four plows, but also brought a horse, but he said a few more words, this horse is different from an ox, and the field is too heavy to live slowly.

If he doesn't say anything, Li Maoxian and the others will also pay attention. When the horses are working in the field for two hours, they will take off the cage and rest on the ground. At noon and evening, they will feed the fried soybeans to the cows and horses.

The feed for spring planting and autumn harvesting must be sufficient, otherwise the body will not be exhausted.

The land dug out from wasteland was not planted immediately, but the soil under it was first allowed to bask in the sun, and the plow sticks were turned back to plant Jiang Liping's land.

Li Maoxian held the plow stick in the front, and Li Qinghong nodded the seeds in the back.The seed was made by Li Maoxian, who rolled birch bark and sewed it into a tube half as tall as a human arm, sealed the mouth with only a few holes left, and made a bucket with bark on the top, so that every time You can add more seeds.

Pour the seeds into the seed gourd, hold the seed gourd in one hand, and hold a wooden stick in the other, and knock on the bark tube while walking, and the seeds will jump into the furrow from the hole in the front.

This is much faster than people grabbing seeds and throwing them into the ground one by one.

The whole body of the seed gourd is made of birch bark. It is not heavy, but after putting two or three catties of seeds in it, it feels easy to pick it up at first glance. When I got back to the ground, my arm was sore.

Not to mention Li Qingwen, even Ma Yongjiang couldn't do this job.

Of course, the two of them were not idle. After planting more than a dozen or so ridges, they had to harness the animals to pull a log.As the mule moves forward, the wood is dragged on the ground, and the high back will be leveled, and the soil on the back will be buried in the furrow, so that the wind will not blow away the seeds inside.

This job was the easiest and cheapest, but when he thought of using such a long log to level more than 1000 mu of land, Li Qingwen's eyes turned black.

Ma Yongjiang followed behind him, leading the animals to roll, which was the last job in farming.

It is not enough to just bury the seeds in the soil, there are still gaps and ventilation, so you have to roll them over with a stone roller to compact the soil, which is called moisture conservation.

The moisture in the pressed soil will not be blown away by the wind, and the furrows and furrows are pressed out, and the rainwater is easy to store in the furrows after it rains.

Ma Yongjiang had been farming for a whole year last year, but this year he is much better, not because he is not tired, but because he is strong.

Li Qingfeng risked his life to patrol for him. It would be too embarrassing for him to die if he farmed the land.

It was rare for him to harden his bones for a few days, but he collapsed from exhaustion, his hands and feet were weak, and it was difficult to stand up.

He had never been tired before, so it was inevitable that he would be overwhelmed when he did this heavy work. Last year, there were more than 40 of them.

This year there are fewer people and more land. Although Li Maoxian took care of him, he couldn't bear it.

Li Maoxian told him to rest, Ma Yongjiang's eyes were red, and he secretly hated himself for being useless.

Li Maoqun and the others persuaded him to live and learn slowly. Li Qinghong started doing it when he was young, and it was very difficult. It is very rare for someone like him who has never farmed land before to survive until now.

Ma Yongjiang looked at Li Qingwen, Li Qingwen was younger than him.

Li Qingwen's whole body was covered in dirt, and he waved his hands weakly, "Don't look at me, if you look at me one more time, I'll fall down too."

Don't mention them, Zhou Yao is too tired after cooking these days.

Their family has been exiled in Anyangguan for more than ten years, and they have never exerted such strength.His father is good at medicine. He has been treated from generals to officers, soldiers and refugees. He doesn't have to work in the fields at all, and food is provided by others.

They opened a small pharmacy there to help people see a doctor. Going up the mountain to collect medicine is the most tiring, and they usually don't need to do it.

Ma Yongjiang got up after lying down for a day. After all, he is young and has a good foundation.

They have planted half of them, and many convicts have not yet finished digging.It's not that they are not in a hurry, but they really won't.

Those who were exiled here were either rich or noble. In the past, they called slaves and maidservants, and they never lifted heavy objects. Now let them farm the land, one can imagine how difficult it is.

However, living people will not be suffocated to death by urine. They can't grow by themselves, so they put their ideas on Li Maoxian and others. Soon, someone came to the door and asked Li Maoxian to help plant the land, and they paid for it.

Li Maoxian only said to plant his own land first, and those people immediately doubled their wages. Guo Dayong and the others were very moved when they heard this.

They came to the border town to earn money, because they only know how to farm, so they came to farm, and now if they can earn money by helping people farm, that's the same...

Seeing that they were wavering, Li Maoxian didn't say anything, Guo Dayong hesitated again and again, but didn't respond immediately.

After sending those people away, everyone continued to farm as usual until dark. When Li Qingwen went to feed the horses, he heard someone talking behind him.

"We have more than 20 people with more than 300 mu of land. Six or seven of them planted a thousand mu of land. After working for a long time, we have helped a lot, and it is almost the same..."

"Yeah, so much land is planted and so much food can be produced. We can't carry the food back. Earning money is the real thing."

"Before we came, we said that we would do it alone, so we don't need to listen to Li Maoxian. Their son didn't take us when he went out to find good things. We helped to plant the land, and we paid back the favor of eating and drinking for the past few months."

"That's right, they have so many medicinal materials and furs, and they can sell them for a lot of money if they take them back. Of course, this kind of wages are not in their eyes. We have a whole family waiting for them. We can't come for nothing. "

I don't know how many people there are, and after talking for a long time, someone asked: "Brother Guo, can you say a few words?"

Guo Dayong came over with a muffled voice, "I can't get in on what you're talking about. Brother Maoxian told me just now that anyone who is willing to earn wages should go. There are not many lands left. They will leave in a few days It can be planted almost."

After being silent for a long time, someone muttered: "Then you didn't say it earlier, and we wereted a long time of saliva."

After the people outside dispersed, Li Qingwen didn't move. He sat on the haystack, watching the sheep chewing the grass, and felt that he had no strength in his body.

Li Maoxian came out from behind the haystack, touched his head, and said, "Tired?"

Li Qingwen shook his head, "Dad, did you hear that?"

"Yeah." Li Maoxian was also sitting next to him. He had just come back, and his face hadn't been washed yet, and there was a layer of dirt hanging on it.

"Don't take it to heart." Li Maoxian said in a low voice: "Your uncles don't have any other thoughts, they just want to earn more money, the whole family is waiting at home, and they don't care about their lives. Have a good time at home."

Li Qingwen nodded. He also knew that the days of not having enough to eat were difficult. The villagers came to the border town with great effort. It had been almost half a year and they hadn't made much money yet, so they were naturally anxious.

After thinking for a while, he couldn't help but said: "Actually, the last time Brother Jiang and the others went out, they didn't take anyone with them because they were afraid of the danger when looking for tribute..."

That year, we braved the heavy snow on the road and almost lost our way. To this day, everyone still has lingering fears and dare not take the folks for a random walk.

"Brother Jiang said it before he left last time, and the folks know it, but just said it out of a hurry." Li Maoxian said.

The things that had gathered in Li Qingwen's heart dissipated, and he went out of the stable with his father.

On the second day, more than half of the people went to farm for the exiles, while Guo Dayong, Fang Kui and two brothers from the Xu family stayed behind.

The tools over there were not in hand, Li Maoxian asked them to bring some over here, anyway, there were not enough people here, and the things were idle.

In the morning when the sun was at its best, Zhou Feng came. Two of his guards changed their clothes to help plant seeds. Li Maoxian politely said a few words to them, but he didn't refuse. The sooner the seeds are planted, the sooner the peace of mind will be.

If it is planted one day earlier and matures one day earlier, it may not be obvious now. In autumn, there will be a big difference in the grain produced when there is frost one day earlier and one day later.

Zhou Fengnian didn't wear those exquisite robes or anything. He changed into clothes and stood on the ground, blinded by the wind.

Li Qingwen led the mule to the ground, and instead of returning in a hurry, he stopped and found an iron awl to wipe off the soil on the trailing logs.

The ground is wet, and the soil will stick to the wood. The more you drag the wood, the more soil will be on the wood, and it will be very heavy. You have to clean it up from time to time. Otherwise, the mules will struggle to pull it up, and the ground will be flattened.

Zhou Fengnian squatted on the ground to help him, and Li Qingwen ate several mouthfuls of dirt when he opened his mouth to thank him.

With his back against the wind, Zhou Fengnian said with difficulty: "Jiang Cong and the others work for the camp, and the rations will be distributed. What are you doing so much?"

"This land has just been developed, and it has been left unused for a year. It will not be ready next year." Li Qingwen said.

Zhou Fengnian sighed, he couldn't figure out what these people were thinking.

Chen Wen yelled at those people from a distance, "Is it going to be autumn at this point? If you work like this, you will starve to death sooner or later!"

Sun Yonghao has been very good at farming this year. He thinks that Li's family's seed gourd is especially useful. He ran over and borrowed one. He plowed the field, and his sister seeded it.

The Qian family has a large population and has more land to plant, but the servants who work hard are the servants who came along. The female family members did not show up, and the men stood on the ground without bending their waists, let alone working.

Even if they are all reduced to border towns, some people have to work hard, and some people can still be uncles. The difference lies in the word "money". Money can turn ghosts around, let alone spending money everywhere. The world of money.

Zhou Fengnian couldn't stand the wind and dirt, so he left after staying for a while, but his two guards stayed behind. These two were not officers and soldiers, they were guards who had been protecting Zhou Fengnian since he was a child, and his ancestors took the Zhou family's surname .

One of them helped roll the roller after lighting the seeds, and walked side by side with Li Qingwen.

It was getting dark at this time, and the exiles in the distance packed up their things one after another and walked back with tiring steps. In the large field, almost only their side was still working.

The work was about to end, and everyone was not in a hurry. Zhou Congxin asked Li Qingwen, "Did you make the candle that was burned during the Chinese New Year?"

Li Qingwen nodded, dust fell from the top of his hair, "There's still a lot left, brother Zhou, if you want to use it, I'll wrap it up for you when I get back."

"Okay." Zhou Congxin agreed, and led the animals forward, "At your age, you are really good at making candles."

Li Qingwen said modestly: "It's just a coincidence, it's actually not difficult."

Zhou Congxin didn't just ask about the candles, but also said, "Brother Rong Zhou, please ask, are you going to sell candles or recipes?"

This time, Li Qingwen was stopped. He only wanted to make candles to make money. He didn't know that recipes could be sold, so he said straightforwardly: "Choose whichever makes money."

Zhou Congxin smiled, "I heard that the reason you make money is to save Jiang Cong and the others from here?"

After drinking the big wine during the Chinese New Year, they will know all these things.

Li Qingwen said "yes", at this moment he also noticed that Zhou Congxin might not have just said this to him casually.

Sure enough, after he responded, Zhou Congxin continued: "If you want to save Jiang Cong, the only way to save Jiang Cong is to use money. For example, this recipe for making candles is very valuable. If you want to, give the recipe to the court." A certain important official in the middle school has someone in the capital to handle it, so there is room for change in this matter, even if he cannot be freed immediately, after three to five years, Jiang Cong will definitely be the first on the list of pardons if he has a chance."

Hearing this, Li Qingwen was taken aback, this, is this teaching him to bribe?

He was thinking about it, Zhou Congxin said again: "Of course, one prescription may not be able to save all of them, but it is better for some people to leave than to waste everyone here."

The little flame in Li Qingwen's heart was instantly extinguished.

If you can't save everyone, who will you let go and who will stay? !

Seeing his expression, Zhou Congxin knew it in his heart, and said: "My young master Jiang Cong mentioned this a long time ago, he didn't tell you, but he just didn't want to go this way, it seems that you should choose the same way as him. .”

Li Qingwen: "..."

His brother never mentioned this to him.

No matter what, Li Qingwen still thanked Zhou Cong. After all, he was worried about this matter, and only said to discuss it after Jiang Cong came back.

Going back at night, Li Qingwen sent over the remaining candles, and Zhou Congxin gave him a box.

Li Qingwen quickly took a step back, "We are usually looked after by Mr. Zhou, this is not a respect, how can we accept anything else."

"Take it, it's not something valuable, you take it back and play with it yourself." Zhou Congxin said.

Li Qingwen believed it, took it back and opened it, and there were pearls inside...

The things were brought back, so naturally they couldn't be sent back, so Li Qingwen had no choice but to put the wooden box at the bottom of the cage.

He wanted to wait for Jiang Cong to come back to discuss the matter, so he put this episode to the back of his mind for the time being.

After digging and planting the land for more than a month, Li Qingwen was tired and walked crookedly. Old Xingtou and the others couldn't see it, so they asked him to help look after the livestock and mop the ridges.

In this way, Li Qingwen couldn't be idle, watering these seedbeds, and digging mud by the river to make a whole paddy field.

After digging for a long time, he didn't find anything. The mud below his knees made him almost crawl out.

At this time, many people came back from the camp.

Li Qingwen stood on a slope by the bank, watching a group of people riding back from a distance, his heart moved, he dragged his muddy legs and walked over there.

Most of the people who came in on horses stopped, only one came towards the stable, and the person on the horse shook his hands vigorously and shouted, "Dad, son, I'm back!"

It's the voice of the fourth brother!

Li Qingwen suddenly felt that his lead-filled legs stepped on the hot wheels, and ran forward.

When he was approaching, he finally saw Li Qingfeng and Tianzao clearly.

Maybe it was after several months of riding that Li Qingfeng finally got off the horse. Looking at Li Qingwen, who looked like a mud monkey, he was taken aback, "How many times did you roll in the mud?"

Li Qingfeng and Tianzao were also muddy, and their heads were covered with strands. Li Qingwen felt that the two brothers looked fine.

At this time, Lao Sun and the others also came over one after another, still wearing the leather jackets they wore when they set off. Listening to their conversation, nothing should have happened this trip.

Li Qingwen was about to find Jiang Cong from a pile of clay figurines, but Li Qingfeng saw his intention and said, "He and Brother Jiang should go back to their lives."

No wonder I looked around in the crowd and found nothing.

Li Qingwen went back with them, and when they reached the door, they took off their muddy leather boots and threw them aside, and immediately felt much lighter.

"This one is full of mud..." Everyone was extremely exhausted, their bodies were dirty, they couldn't enter the house, so they took off outside, sighing as they took off: "It's too hard to go."

Li Qingwen brought out the basins and poured water for them to wash their hands and faces.

As soon as I put my hand in, the basin of water turned into a muddy soup. One can imagine how dirty my body is.

Li Qingfeng ran to the field, Li Maoxian and the others knew about it, they didn't stop what they were doing, they just told them to rest first.

Li Qingfeng was still wondering, why are there only a few of the more than 20 people left...

Li Qingwen first put the rice and meat into the pot, put it on the fire, and then came out to wash the mud from his body and mane for Tianzao.

Tianzao was also uncomfortable with the mud on his body, and he didn't move when brushing his hair, which was very cooperative.

Ma Yongjiang came back and took a look. He was so tired that he was listless. He called out twice and went back to roll.

I heard that the field has not been planted yet, and everyone stopped washing their hands, put on cloth shoes, and walked to the field in a loud voice.

Li Qingwen also wanted to follow, Zhou Yao called to stop him, "There are so many of them, they don't need you anymore, stay here to cook."

Li Qingwen thought so, and immediately went to pick meat from the wooden shed.

Originally, Jiang Liping and the others had been away for so long, and they should have a good time when they came back, but they were too busy, and Li Qingwen was really tired, so they only stewed some meat.

He lit a fire in front of the stove, and the fire in the stove was warm in front of him. Li Qingwen wanted to stew the meat for a while, so he leaned against the wall and took a nap.

When Jiang Cong came in, he saw Li Qingwen leaning against the wall and falling asleep, the layer of dust on his face couldn't cover up his deep tiredness.