Bianshanhan [farming]

Li Qingwen didn't follow him to the birch forest. He hadn't memorized and practiced calligraphy for a long time, so he had to hurry up and review it. In a month or two, he would be farming again, so he might be busy again.

He didn't go, so he didn't see the happy and crazy appearance of the villagers.

The birch forest was a little closer to the camp. After they arrived, some of them peeled off the bark and some cut down the trees.

Every few trees, there are ganoderma lucidum growing on the trees, and there are more on the dead wood, rows and clusters. Li Qingfeng leads people to pick ganoderma lucidum and cut birch antler with a knife.

In addition to the trees, some ganoderma even grew on rocks. The big guys dug and planed, and finally even the rocks were removed.

They also found a piece of wild Astragalus membranaceus, which Li Qingfeng recognized from Zhou Yao. Although the ground was still frozen, there were so many of them, they worked hard to dig out the roots.

Only Jiang Cong and Lao Sun were cutting down trees, while Li Qingfeng took two or three hundred people to the pine forest to collect pine cones and hazelnuts.

The big guys made preparations before they came. They came with loads and put the pine cones into the front and back baskets one by one. They picked them back without occupying the sledge.

Seeing that they were not satisfied with what they picked, Jiang Cong and the others waited for half a day after cutting down the tree, until everyone had filled their loads, and then set off to go back.

After everyone returned with a full load, they were all immersed in joy. Some people noticed that the wind in the border town seemed not so hard.

The snow was still thick, and the ice in the river was still hard, but it was warmer.

The people who noticed this immediately started sawing wood to make plow sticks and tidy up all kinds of farm tools.

This job can't be done inside the house, it has to be outside, looking at the vast wasteland around, the people of Yangshu Village are not afraid of the remaining cold at all, and started working in full swing.

There was a lot of movement among them, and other refugees also tentatively went out.

Finally, the gates of the camp were no longer closed, and many people came out to walk around.

These days, the sun is getting brighter, the days are longer and the darkness is shorter.

When the wind is not strong, the windows in the house are opened for ventilation, and the light shines in, and the breath of spring can already be vaguely smelled.

When Li Qingwen was endorsing the book, Ma Yongjiang leaned over and said in a friendly voice, "Do you like painting?"

Li Qingwen was stunned for a moment, closed the book, and said, "What painting?"

Ma Yongjiang put the things in his hand on the table in front of him, and while helping to spread them out, he said: "I think the painting is very good, it is very vivid, it should be valuable..."

The paper was unfolded, revealing piles of ink stains, with wilderness and withered grass on it, and mountains in the distance looming, it was an ink landscape painting.

Li Qingwen shook his head, "I don't understand this."

Ma Yongjiang looked at him, scratched his ears, and said, "Then do you think this painting can be exchanged for a few bags of food?"

Hearing what he said, Li Qingwen understood what Ma Yongjiang meant, "How many bags do you think are suitable?"

Ma Yongjiang said: "It should be ten bags or eight bags. Maybe it's not enough. If you add some fish and meat, it should be enough."

"How many people? Is this food enough?" Li Qingwen asked.

"Just the two of you, these grains should last for two or three years..."

Before he finished speaking, he realized that he had made a slip of the tongue and laughed twice.

"A friend of yours is in trouble?" Li Qingwen asked after putting away the slightly thin drawing paper.

Ma Yongjiang hesitated a bit, and nodded, "They have two grandparents, one is old and weak, and the other is a weak woman. They don't know how to farm, and they don't have much money. Life is very difficult."

Li Qingwen was thoughtful, the weak woman...couldn't be the one he kicked down before.

He was speechless, Ma Yongjiang thought that Li Qingwen regretted it, and said anxiously: "I didn't lie to you, that old man used to be a famous painter, and many people came to ask for his paintings. Later, because he was jealous, he falsely accused him of painting insinuations. Chaos in the dynasty, that's why he was exiled... Although he has sealed his pen, this painting was drawn by his granddaughter who taught him himself, and it's not bad. Look at the mountains and the water, how realistic it is..."

"I don't doubt it." Li Qingwen said: "We've accepted the painting, you go and deliver food to them."

Hearing this, Ma Yongjiang immediately raised his eyebrows and turned his head to run.

Li Qingwen called to stop him, "Ask your friend if he would like to draw the four seasons of our camp, spring, summer, autumn and winter. I'd like to pay food or other things as a reward."

Ma Yongjiang didn't understand what Li Qingwen was going to do, but he knew it was a good thing, so he quickly said, "Yes, of course."

Li Qingwen teased with a smile: "Why, your relationship is so good that you can make decisions for her?"

Ma Yongjiang's ears turned red, and he argued hard: "Why don't you agree to a good thing!"

When Ma Yongjiang ran away, Li Qingwen suddenly thought of a question, why did he ask himself whether to change the food or not? Obviously, Ma Yongjiang and the others also had food under their name...

While lying on the kang at night, Li Qingwen asked Jiang Cong about this, and Jiang Cong smiled, "Aren't you our little housekeeper, in charge of money, food, and people."

Li Qingwen: "..."

Who decided this without authorization, why didn't he know it?

After wondering for a while, Li Qingwen was happy again, turned his head over, faced Jiang Cong face to face, and said, "Brother, then I will take care of you too."

Someone next to him said: "Your brother has always listened to you, isn't that enough?"

Seeing his black and white eyeballs roll around, Jiang Cong said, "What do you want to tell me?"

Li Qingwen smiled happily, and rubbed his calf on Jiang Cong's body several times, "It will get warmer in a few days, I'm going to ride a horse and let the wind out, I'm almost exhausted."

"Okay." Jiang Cong agreed happily, spraying hot breath on Li Qingwen's face, he felt a little itchy, and was about to raise his hand when Jiang Cong wiped his face first.

After wiping, Jiang Cong looked at the fluffy fluff on his face, and couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.

Li Qingwen's way of expressing intimacy in the past was rubbing and arching. Since he got that stone, it has become even worse. He feels comfortable rubbing, but he doesn't know how much his brother has suffered.

The wind blew the gray from the sky, the sky slowly turned blue, the snow began to melt, and the sound of ice breaking in the river could be heard.

This time, Li Qingwen and the others didn't need to speak, the officers and soldiers distributed the farm tools early,

Picking a warm day, Li Qingwen took off his fur robe and changed into sackcloth, took out the candied dates, and walked up the river with Jiang Cong.

This big river is very wide. After the thaw, the water flows slowly, and there are still large pieces of ice floating on it.

The sun in the sky is warm, but the earth that has been frozen for too long needs to be relieved a little bit, and the footsteps of spring are so slow that it is heart-wrenching.

The two brothers were not in a hurry, and walked slowly for more than ten miles. Jiang Cong slowly reined in the horse.

Li Qingwen raised his head, and for some reason in front of him, the river overflowed, moistening a large area.

The two of them walked around this area and walked a little further, and they knew the reason.

The shore of this area is densely packed with logs. The logs should have floated down from the upper reaches, mixed with ice, and blocked the mouth of the river, which is why the embankment burst.

Li Qingwen and Jiang Cong got off their horses and took a closer look. The stubbles of the logs were uneven, as if they had been blown off by the wind...

There were some driftwood in this river last year, but not so much. It seems that the wind from the north is not weak in winter, and such a thick tree was blown off.

Seeing these logs, Li Qingwen didn't bother to go out for a walk, and went back with Jiang Cong to find someone to bring them back.

Wood is still very precious to their camp, especially if it is delivered to the doorstep, it would be a waste of money not to get it back.

Besides, if this thing blocks the mouth of the river, if it is not pulled out, it will be even more troublesome if the river mouth breaks its embankment in the future.

Hearing that there was a log floating in the water, all the workers stopped immediately, those who led the horses led the horses, and those who harnessed the carts.

There were a lot of them, and they all went north. The exiles and officers and soldiers all looked around curiously, not knowing what they were going to do.

When everyone pulled back the logs that were still wet, the answer would be known.

It is estimated that the fine wood has been blown away, and most of the thick wood is in the water. It was already submerged, and it was so soaked in water that it took a lot of effort to pull it out.

Put the hemp rope around the two ends of the wood, people outside pull it, and those who go into the river push it. Even though the river water is still bitingly cold at this time, everyone doesn't care much.

It is rare for such thick wood to last for decades.

After arriving at the camp, many exiles envied, "These few rough logs can be used to carve a canoe."

Li Qingwen said: "It's a pity to use such a big log for boats, but birch bark can be used, and it's still light."

"Can you make a boat out of tree bark? If you don't go into the water, you have to sink to the bottom..." The speaker smiled, thinking that Li Qingwen was really a child, and he thought about it as soon as he thought about it.

Li Qingwen didn't explain it either, and when he saw it later, he would naturally know.

Pulling wood is hard work, and when the piles are full in front of their door, the big guy's hands and shoulders will be covered with blood blisters.

No one finds it hard, and everyone is grinning happily. Is it too heavy to pick up things for nothing?

Jiang Cong's shoulders were also swollen, and there were a few clear rope marks on it. Li Qingwen blew on him while rubbing the medicine, and said, "It's better to wait until the wood rushes to our place before fishing. After running so far, it's hard to bear the pain." vigorously……"

"I see, if you don't pull it back, everyone must be thinking about it." Old Xingtou said: "I see that those horses have moved, and they may be about to pony."

Old Xingtou's estimation was correct. Two days later, those mares gave birth to foals one after another. After these horses arrived at the camp, they were well taken care of, and the foals were born very strong.

Not only the horses, but also the raised stomachs are getting big. I guess the lambs will be born after the grass grows, and the weather is just right.

A group of people surrounded the cowshed to death. This year, after the weather is warm, there will be happy events one after another, which is a good sign.

I hope everything goes well in the village too.

In fact, many things do not go as expected.

The spring of Bingzhou started earlier than that of the border towns, and the weather didn't tell how ugly Yinmao was, so the county government issued an order to conscript labor to build roads.

Spring plowing is the most important time of the year, and the people who made such a decision were either stupid or bad.

Sure enough, after the order was issued, he went on to say that this labor service can be exempted with money.

Guo Daquan and Li Maoxian went to the yamen to ask them. All kinds of things had happened before, and the officials recognized them, and some things were revealed inside and outside the words.

The county magistrate of Liushan County has already reached the end of his term, and he should be replaced, but the new county magistrate who succeeded him is seriously ill, so it has been delayed until now...

He now made it clear that he wanted to make a fortune before leaving.