The sky was overcast and it looked like it was going to rain.
There was a strong wind in the morning. When Huaiyu got up, he went to check the corn, potatoes, peppers, etc. planted in the yard. The corn he planted before leaving Beijing last time was two months old, and it was already as tall as a person.
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He was surprised to find that these green corns were beginning to ear.
Finally I see some hope of harvest.
The corn, etc., which had been laboriously transported back from Longyou, was a little shorter, and at this time it still looked thin and weak.
"Run Niang, come and see, the corns are about to bloom."
Chen Runniang came over quickly after hearing this. When Huaiyu was away, she took care of these every day, just because Erlang said these were treasures that could not be exchanged for a thousand dollars.
"Yeah, really."
After jointing and tasseling, corn has entered the second important turning point. This stage is the most vigorous stage of corn growth and the stage where water and fertilizer are most needed.
"Get some fertilizer quickly."
Huaiyu cherished these things and prepared a lot of fertilizer early. The horses, mules, stable grass, horse manure and other materials raised in the stables were specially composted and fermented. They were soaked and dried in the sun to become high-quality organic fertilizer.
He asked two young Turkic slaves to fetch fermented and sun-dried horse grass manure. Huaiyu also asked him to fetch a lot of accumulated vegetation and stove ashes from the kitchen, mix the stove ashes and manure evenly, and then add them to the vegetable garden and corn field.
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Although there is no chemical fertilizer, with these organic fertilizers, Huaiyu believes that there will be enough supply for the growth of corn.
By the way, I also covered the peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. with a layer of fertilizer. Just after I finished doing this, the heavy rain fell.
"If it rains right after we apply fertilizer, will it wash away all the fertilizer?"
"Don't worry, it won't be washed away, but it just allows the fertilizer to penetrate into the roots of the ground."
"Erlang, are these corns, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peppers really that magical?"
It's been two months, and Runniang can't help but feel a little suspicious when she only sees the green branches and vines.
"Don't you see that the peppers are blooming and bearing fruit? It won't take more than a month at most to pick green peppers and eat them. After two months, there will be red peppers to eat.
There are also potatoes, red tomatoes, and they are all ready to eat very quickly.
After the corn heads and flowers, it will soon bear fruit and can be harvested in October. Next year, we will plant it earlier, in the spring, and we can harvest the corn in the summer."
The place where flowers and grass were originally planted in the small courtyard is now planted with various vegetables, corns, etc. Huaiyu spends half a day studying here whenever he has free time. He has been self-sufficient in Zhongnan Mountain for five years, so he is no stranger to these.
I just feel that the growth is too slow, and I always hope to see results soon.
Huaiyu couldn't rashly mention these treasures to Li Shimin before they were truly mature and harvested. If he directly said that I have corn, which can produce several times higher yields than millets and wheat, Li Shimin would definitely not believe it.
If he said that the potato yield per acre was several thousand kilograms, Li Shimin would probably slap him in the mouth.
It is better to wait until the results are obtained, then bring Li Shimin over to harvest together, and let the facts speak for themselves.
Next year, Huaiyu will be able to plant more of these crops on his fields.
"Is the corn delicious?"
"It's delicious. The fresh ones can be boiled, steamed, or stewed. The mature ones can be dried and ground into flour, and used to make pancakes, batter, and porridge. It's quite a good thing."
"Potatoes are also delicious. They can be steamed, grilled, fried, and can be made into starch to make vermicelli..." Even in the era when there was no shortage of food, corn and potatoes were still the staple food in many places.
Potatoes, in particular, are particularly suitable for alpine regions, such as Inner Mongolia, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu, where larger potatoes can be grown.
In places with low altitudes and high temperatures, potatoes will actually grow smaller and smaller, requiring constant renewal of seeds. Liangshan, Zhangjiakou and other places have become famous places for breeding potatoes in later generations.
Chang'an is not a place suitable for growing potatoes, but it is relatively lacking, especially on the high loess slopes outside the Guanzhong Plain. It is also difficult to grow other grains. Potatoes and corn are better.
Gunpowder is a weapon of death, but potatoes and corn bring life.
Looking at the pepper seedlings, the earliest peppers that have grown are already as thick as a little finger. Huaiyu has the urge to pick up a handful and make fried pork with peppers.
I have been craving the taste of chili for a long time.
People in the Tang Dynasty also had spiciness, such as dogwood and Fu Liu Teng, but they always felt that it was not authentic enough. As for other things like leeks and garlic, people in the Tang Dynasty said that onions are spicy, garlic is spicy in the heart, and leeks are spicy in the neck, but this kind of spiciness is similar to that of chili peppers.
Spicy, they are two different things.
He still likes the spiciness of chili peppers, which is a sense of pain rather than a sense of taste, more direct and hot.
Sitting on the porch, looking at the corn, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes and other treasures in the yard, being nourished by the heavy rain, Huaiyu felt very relieved.
The wind stopped and the rain stopped.
Huaiyu went to keep the appointment.
It has been several days since Li Shimin ascended the throne, but Chang'an City is still under martial law. In the street shops in front of the street squares, the number of Wuhou has doubled, and the knights patrolling the streets are constantly coming and going.
There are many more guards at the entrance of each workshop to guard and check.
The price of food is still very high. Before the warrior Yu left office, he had just killed a group of profiteers and evil merchants who were hoarding money. However, the Turkic army has not left the Guanzhong Plain for a day, and the food cannot really fall back to what it was before summer, or even fall back to what it was before.
It was even lower in a few years.
One bushel of grain costs almost two bolts of silk. This is the biggest cost of living for the people in Chang'an today. War is the biggest killer of this era, especially for ordinary people.
A Chang'an city, the same sky, faced the same threat from the Turks, but Huaiyu clearly felt that the people at the bottom were in completely different situations than the nobles and nobles at the top.
The influence of the upper-level aristocratic officials is not great. After all, the salary of the officials is mainly based on lumi. Even for low-level officials of seventh or eighth grade, the annual lumi is sixty or seventy dan, let alone senior officials.
Moreover, they still have land rent for their jobs, and they have land for officials to work in. Many of them are also landlords themselves, with a large amount of land and grain at their disposal. However, they are the beneficiaries of the current high grain prices.
Not only are grains sold at high prices, they can even take advantage of the opportunity to borrow grains and lend them at high interest rates, making another fortune. The poor people at the bottom have no choice but to borrow grains and loans. In the end, they can only repay the debts with the difficult fields they have, because it is not easy to pay off the debts due to the change of dynasties.
The few means of production that were divided were quickly annexed by bureaucratic landlords.
Huaiyu now also belongs to the upper class. He now has many clerks and servants. They work hard in the current situation, but in the end they have to borrow food and money from Huaiyu. Qiu borrows
Spring returns, borrowing one for two, and kowtow to Huaiyu to express gratitude. This is a rare favor, and no one else is so kind.
But there will be very few people who can hold on and pay back next year.
The way of the world is like this, it is more direct and bare-fruited, more ruthless in cutting, and the cycle is shorter than in later generations.
I met An Yuanshou and came to the warrior Xun Mansion together. An Yuanshou gave me gifts, including two cars, all kinds of gifts, such as paper, ink, pen and inkstone, Ling Luo Ling, if I hadn't been afraid of the first time
It's too ostentatious to come to the door, even if he brings a bloody horse, a Persian orchid, or a Turkic slave, there will be no pressure.
This is the background of a wealthy family. Usually, when borrowing grain from the tenants, they have to pay a small amount for a large amount, and they are very fussy, but for a relationship where there is mutual benefit, they will give gifts of thousands of dollars without batting an eye.
Huaiyu accompanied An Yuanshou to meet with the warrior Xun, and stayed with him throughout the whole process. However, An Yuanshou gave two large cars as gifts, but only chatted with the warrior Xun about daily life, and did not mention anything about the transfer of benefits at all.
He didn't stay for a meal, and Lao Wu had no intention of staying. After sitting there for about half an hour, An Yuanshou said goodbye with a smile and left.
Huaiyu felt that he had learned a lot, and everything was understood without words.
You know it, I know it, and I know it in my heart.
"Let's go to Yankangfang." An Yuanshou was very satisfied with today's meeting. Although Lao Wu said nothing, he accepted his gift and was very polite to him, which shows that the two parties have reached a tacit understanding.
Lao Wu is going to Liangzhou, Hexi to guard one side. He has a cooperative relationship with the An family and will not go to the An family. The An family has taken the initiative to give gifts and has already expressed his intention to fully support the warrior Xun in governing Hexi.
good for everyone.
Yang Gongren had been guarding Hexi for many years, and he had a tacit understanding with the An family and had made many political achievements. Yang Gongren became the prime minister for this merit. The An family also used the official power of the imperial court to control the internal affairs of the Sogdian Group in Hexi.
Their opponents, Mugada and other deputies, returned and were killed, which further consolidated their position in the Sogdian merchant group.
Now that Yang Gongren's cousin-in-law, Samurai Yu, has gone to Liangzhou, the An family certainly hopes to maintain the previous relationship.
Huaiyu even had reason to believe that the reason why Li Youliang was replaced so quickly was because the An family was involved in planning. After all, it was said that Li Youliang had recruited a large number of gangsters in Liangzhou, harassing the countryside everywhere, preying on the people, and even threatening the Silk Road trade routes.
This sounds like Li Youliang used his status as a royal family member and his power as the governor of Liangzhou to attack the local snake An family and others.
An spread the news about Li Youliang harming the people, and even secretly accused him of colluding with the Turks. If he could not cooperate, he would become an enemy.
Drive the enemy away and replace him with someone who can cooperate.
"I heard that Duke Shen, your uncle, has just been transferred to General Tianji?"
"Well, General Fan was appointed General Swaggering and guarded Binzhou, while my uncle was appointed General Tianjie and went out to guard Yizhou."
Guanzhong Twelve Roads, Twelve Armies.
Since the Li Shimin Palace Incident, the Twelfth Army has been mobilized frequently, and now Zhang Jin has been completely removed and replaced by Fan Xing.
And An Xiuren, the general of Zuo Wuhou, also came out of Yizhou to serve as general Ren Tianjie.
Yanshoufang.
It is adjacent to the West Market to the west and Guangde Square owned by Jingzhaofang to the south. Because it is close to the West Market and close to the Jinguang Gate leading out of Chang'an to the west, there are many Hu people living in this square, and there is even a Zoroastrian Temple of the Hu people.
Next to the Yong'an Canal in the square, there is a small house of two acres, full of the Roman architectural style of the Fulin Kingdom, with a unique round dome and white walls.
It's full of exotic flavor, even a little bit Mediterranean.
"The previous owner of this house was originally built by a merchant who opened a spice shop in the West Market. How does Erlang like it?" An Yuanshou asked with a smile while standing in front of the house.
Huaiyu felt that this house was quite special, especially the prominent round roof, which was unforgettable at first glance. It felt like it was a small church rather than a residence.
As soon as they entered the courtyard, Irina came up to them, smiling happily at Huaiyu.
An Yuanshou gave Huaiyu a Hu Ji, gave him a small courtyard, and even bought him a few slaves to serve in the courtyard. Everything was arranged.
In the Tang Dynasty, Wu Huaiyu's situation of hiding a spoiled child in a golden house was called raising a housewife, later known as Bao Ernai in the secular world. In the Tang Dynasty, living in a housewife was a relationship that was not recognized by the law. It was not even as good as a concubine, and an eldest wife.
If he knew, he might knock on his door at any time.
