Chapter 169 Baiqu Field Burns Hope
Qin Lang originally said that he would only be delivered to the gate of the city, but he sent it for another twenty miles, and finally followed Zhang Zhen to his home.
Zhang Zhen's family lives in Sanyuan County, Weibei, and his home is next to Baiqu.
The Baiqu is a very important irrigation canal on the Guanzhong Plain. It was built in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Because it was suggested by Bai Gong, a doctor in Zhao Zhong, it was named after the person, so it was named Baiqu. important projects.
From the mouth of the valley at the beginning, into Liyang at the end, and into the Wei River, the middle stretches for 200 miles, and more than 4,500 hectares of fields are irrigated.
This is an important granary in Guanzhong.
There are several members of Zhang Zhen's family, and each of them has 60 mu of land here, which is far less than the average amount of land. However, the Baiqu area in the north of Weibei has always been a town with serious land mergers, less land and more people, and the average area can reach 60 mu. It was the same land that all three members of his family arrived at, and each person only got 20 mu of land, of which 20 mu was mulberry field, and the actual grain field was only 40 mu.
Even with the fertile land around Baiqu, the farming methods and techniques of this era are not enough to support their families. Therefore, Zhang Zhen’s family used to be tenants for the noble officials and powerful people beside the Baiqu, besides farming their own fields. Plant their fields, or lease the government's public land and officials' work fields.
When mentioning farming, Zhang Zhen was full of hope.
For them, the field is their most precious support, and their hard work on the field will eventually be rewarded.
Relying on these fields, they grew up here from generation to generation, and their relatives and friends are all over the village. Their footprints generally seldom leave their hometown, and they live the life of acquaintances.
"Fortunately, the Turks left early this time, otherwise the winter wheat would not be able to be planted. Once the autumn sowing is missed, there will be no harvest next summer. Although some millet can be replanted after the beginning of spring, it will affect a lot of harvest."
One crop of millet and one crop of wheat can guarantee two harvests a year. Even if it is extensive cultivation and low harvest, it can still increase the harvest by a lot compared to only one crop a year.
On average, one acre can harvest about two stones, and everyone is very satisfied.
"The land beside our Baiqu is fertile and has water to irrigate. Compared with other places, the yield per mu is much higher."
However, for the common people who own less land, the rent to rent the land is much higher. After a year of hard work, even if the weather is good, there is actually not much food left.
But Zhang Zhen and the others didn't expect too much. Compared with previous years, life is much more stable now.
"I heard that in Hebei and Henan, there are still many places where there are no chickens for hundreds of miles, and no one collects the bones on the roadside." Zhang Zhen said this, with a sense of superiority in his tone. The people on the side are much more miserable, with ten rooms and nine empty rooms.
Qin Lang has many fields beside the Baiqu.
He can barely be regarded as a big landlord now. The land that has been rewarded successively, as well as the land that holds Changle Princess on behalf of him, total 28,000 mu, including 8,000 mu in the Guanzhong area.
There are about 3,000 mu at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, another 2,000 mu in the west of Beijing, and 3,000 mu in the area of Weibei Baiqu.
When Qin Lang and Zhang Zhen went to Weibei, they also wanted to take a look at their own fields and their tenants.
Although Qin Lang does not rely on this little field income, he also knows that in this era, fields are high-quality assets. He hopes that his tenants can also settle down quickly and resume production.
Of Qin Lang's 8,000 mu of land in Guanzhong, only a very small amount was cultivated by his own farm. The farm adopts the farm and manor style of production, that is, he sends out a steward to manage it, and then the slaves are responsible for farming and management. During the busy season, we will hire some short-term laborers, Mai Ke and so on, and we will also hire some long-term laborers during normal times.
The manor generally also engages in some farming, such as raising pigs, feeding cattle, raising chickens and ducks, selling eggs and poultry, etc.
However, now is the beginning of the founding of the country when the war was just over. The government’s land equalization policy has a great impact on the economy of the manors of the nobles. The biggest impact is that many poor people have their own fields. Even if there are not many, they are more or less equal These fields, so that they do not have to be completely dependent on the landlords.
After the war, the lack of enough slaves and long-term workers greatly reduced the number of manors of the landlords, and more fields were forced to be rented out to small self-cultivating farmers to lease and plant, and then only charge some rent.
This kind of rent, compared with the manor, naturally has much lower income, but it is also a helpless move.
The land beside the Baiqu is fertile, and this is the grain area with the highest yield on the Guanzhong Plain.
Water is the key to ensure production.
Compared to other areas that rely on the sky for food, there is a white canal that borrows water from the Jinghe River to irrigate crops from the old Dragon King of Jinghe River, which can make the grain production here stable and high.
But because of this, this place has always been the place that the rich and powerful landlords have been eyeing. One field has nine owners in ten years.
At the beginning of Wude, Li Yuan led his troops into Guanzhong. After he proclaimed himself emperor in Chang'an, he organized those who were willing to stay in the army brought by Taiyuan into the emperor Yuancong, guarded the north gate, and gave them a home near Baiqu.
The 30,000 emperors, Yuan Cong, occupied a large piece of land on both sides of the Baiqu River, and most of the rest were in the hands of powerful noble families.
Like Qin Lang, through previous rewards, he has owned dozens of pieces of land on both sides of the Baiqu, totaling as much as 3,000 mu.
Out of Chang'an, and then across the Weishui River, there are people driving home everywhere along the way. In the fields, many people who have driven back are even busy farming.
Everyone wants to rush to get back the lost time. The whole family, young and old, regardless of gender, go to battle together.
Qin Lang saw many common people carrying plows by hand, and some even dug the ground directly with hoes.
Even children who are only two or three years old are precocious and sensible helping to farm and doing what they can.
Looking at everyone's hopeful faces and the sweat of everyone's hard work, Qin Lang realized that in this era, although the rich and powerful are superior, it is these ordinary people of low status who really hold this era forward.
Turkic invasion for three consecutive years in the seventh year, eighth year, and ninth year of Wude.
Although there was no fight this year, the Turks besieged Wucheng and committed Shuofang before, and after that, hundreds of thousands of Xieli troops came to Chang'an.
The northern border and central plains of the Tang Dynasty have been greatly affected. In addition to this year's drought, both summer and autumn harvests have been greatly affected.
Seeing that winter has come, what will everyone do when the first frost falls?
Even if they rush to plant the winter wheat, they will not be harvested until next summer.
All the way to Sanyuan County, which is the hometown of Qin Lang's neighbor Li Jing.
Zhang Zhen's village is on the plain beside the Baiqu. The last time Yu Chigong and the others ambushed and wiped out the 8,000 troops of Wumaichao, it was not far from here.
Having not come back for a month, Zhang Zhen's family is already in disrepair.
The bamboo fence in Chaimen was crumbling, and the thatched cottage was left with only broken walls. Those **** Turkic people came to dig the grass valley, but found nothing, so they burned the village down.
"The well is okay." Zhang Zhen walked around the house a few times with a dark face, and finally went to the village to look at the well, and found that the well had been cleaned by the villagers who came back first, and a bucket of water came up. It was clear and sweet.
Zhang Zhen smiled again.
It seems that as long as there is this well, there is still hope for life.
Zhang Zhen's family put down their luggage, rolled up their sleeves and began to pack up the house.
After carefully inspecting the ruined walls, Father Zhang Zhen said that the walls can still be used, and even some beams and columns left after burning can be used for other purposes.
"Now we have to find a way to cut some thatch or get some bark to repair the roof and repair the walls, so that the house can be lived again."
As for the burned furniture, etc., no one mentions it.
After a catastrophe, it would be great if the whole family can be tidy, not to mention that Zhang Zhen brought back a fiancée.
The dry food brought back by everyone is enough to get through this winter, and the two clothes and shoes can keep you warm. What is there to be dissatisfied with?
Qin Lang also rolled up his sleeves, and led the family soldiers to work together with Heiyun Longjian.
With everyone's efforts, Zhang Zhen's family soon regained some family status.
In the afternoon, the village head came over. After everyone met and greeted each other, the village head registered the information for Zhang Zhen’s family, and then revealed some news by the way, such as which family came back, but how many people were missing, which family’s children disappeared, Which mother-in-law did not wait.
There are even those who haven’t come back yet.
"I heard that the Tuozi family in the west of the village is gone, hey." After the village chief finished speaking, he took the registered handbook and reported it to Lizheng. After the war, the government will re-count the household registration population.
Families that were wiped out in the chaos like Tuo Zi, their fields will be taken back.
Zhang Zhenjia sighed and fell silent.
Zhang Zhen's father found that all the agricultural tools at home were gone. He was probably snatched by the Turks to melt iron. He walked around the field with a stick, and then decided to let Zhang Zhen go to the county to buy some agricultural tools and seeds first. return.
"The crops must be planted first."
Qin Lang asked Ah Huang to accompany Zhang Zhen to buy farm tools and seeds, "If you have cattle and horses, buy them and come back to plow the land."
Zhang Zhen repeatedly thanked and refused, "It's hard to buy at this time, and it's too expensive to be worthwhile. Let's work harder this year."
After working for a long time, Zhang Zhen took his family down the Baiqu to catch fish and shrimps. In the end, they found a lot of fish, shrimps, crabs and shells. Although they were all miscellaneous, everyone's faces were full of joy.
"There is nothing good to entertain." Zhang Zhen was a little embarrassed.
Qin Lang said with a smile, "These are good things, together with the wild vegetables that Si Niang and Wu Niang found, cook them in a pot, and they taste delicious."
In the evening, Qin Lang personally made a big pot of seafood. The taste was not bad, and it was served with camellia noodles. Everyone sat in the house without a roof, enjoying the night breeze while admiring the starry sky. They were very happy to eat.
There are also returning villagers eating nearby. Although it is simple, it is very warm.
Qin Lang found that although the meal was simple, it seemed to make him feel a rare warmth, and it seemed that these should be the embodiment of this era.
At night, the sky is the bed and the ground is the bed, lying under the starry sky, Qin Lang chatted with Zhang Zhen.
"You should still have some money in your hand. You can find a way to buy some chicken and duck seedlings. There are still some grass seeds to eat. Chickens and ducks can lay eggs. After laying eggs, you can sell them in Sanyuan or Chang'an. This can also increase your income. .”
Pigs and sheep are not easy to keep in winter, and they will lose fat if there is no forage.
Zhang Zhen is also talking about his plans for the future.
At the end, he sighed, "Thank you Sanlang, you not only took us in and rescued us, but the money, food and clothing you gave us also gave us the capital to rebuild our homes."
"This is not relief, it is your income from labor." Qin Lang said.
He blinked his eyes, looked at the stars in the sky, and suddenly thought that after the busy farming time, everyone will be free in winter. Maybe he can build some dry food workshops in Chang'an or other counties in Gyeonggi, and recruit Zhang Zhen. More people come to work, which can not only give everyone a chance to work and earn food, but also the dry food processed by the dry food workshop can also turn limited food into more dry food for disaster relief.
"Zhang Zhen, do you think that if I open another dry food workshop like Pingkangfang's in Sanyuan County in a while, would you still be willing to come back to work? The wages and room and board will be included."
Zhang Zhen sat up all of a sudden.
"Of course I do!"
"Okay, it's settled like this. When everyone finishes this section, I will send someone over to open a workshop and you will do the work."
(end of this chapter)