It was still early, and Wu Huaiyu and his wife, concubines, and children were harvesting corn at the camp.
This is a fragmented piece of land by the river, only two or three inches in size, with hundreds of corn plants planted there. The owner of the land is an old man from Guanzhong, who is holding a bunch of money in his hand.
Wu Huaiyu gave him a bunch of money, one hundred Kaiyuan Tongbao, minted at the Shaozhou Qianjian Money Casting Factory, which was very brand-new.
"If it weren't for so much money," the old man murmured.
Shi Shouxin looked at the old man and said with a smile, "If there are more, I will reward you."
The old man looked at the nobles who were happily chopping corn in the cornfield. Although he didn't know their identities, they were obviously nobles, and they must be the top nobles in Chang'an.
"This is only three points of land. At most, we can harvest half a stone of corn, but it's not worth that much."
There is a lot of good harvests, four or five cents per pound of rice. Since the third year of Zhenguan, there have been basically no major nationwide floods, droughts, or locust plagues. Generally speaking, it has been a good year. The world has been unified, there have been fewer wars, and the people have been able to engage in production.
, food prices have remained at very low prices.
Corn is a coarse grain, costing only three cents per bushel and thirty cents per stone.
In this corn field, the corn harvested and dried only costs half a stone, and can be sold for at most fifteen dollars.
The nobleman directly rewarded him with a hundred coins, which can buy more than three shi of dried corn kernels.
"I wonder if he is a nobleman from Chang'an?" the old man asked boldly.
Shitou smiled and said, "My Alang is the Duke of Jin."
The old man was shocked, and then excited, "It turns out that it is Wu Xiangguo, and this corn is the auspicious seed passed down by Wu Xiang. After planting the auspicious seeds, corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes passed down by Wu Xiang, the people can basically have enough to eat, and no longer have to worry about the shortage of crops.
The famine of the time..."
The old man insisted on thanking Wu Huaiyu, and even refused to accept the one hundred money.
Over there, Wu Huaiyu took his wife, concubines, and children to harvest corn in the field. It was an experience. The three-thirds of the land was actually quite big. The whole family was more playful in the field.
After picking for a long time, I actually only picked a hundred or so corn cobs, but I didn't finish them all.
Everyone was very happy to pick the corn. It was a good parent-child activity. The wives and concubines of each house took their children to interact with each other and experience the farm work in the fields.
However, many of the little guys fluttered their petals, either chasing grasshoppers or frogs, while the girls preferred to look for wild flowers and grasses.
Weave a straw hat, weave a garland,
Had a great time playing.
It's getting late, so this activity is the end result.
The old man has been waiting,
"I don't dare to accept money from the Prime Minister."
Huaiyu instead gave him another hundred yuan.
"This year is another good year. Can you save some food and store it?"
The old man is a semi-owning farmer. There are seven people in his family. He owns 20 acres of farmland, and then rents dozens of acres of land. During the slack time, he will go to the manor and do some work in the workshop to earn some copper coins to support the family. According to the old man, this
A few years of peace, the days are getting better and better,
Especially after the implementation of the new two-tax law, the burden is much lighter than in the past when the tax was paid. Especially with the current labor service law, there are no longer so many Yao and Yao servants to be collected and paid. Now the government is first to pay for the service, and then spread it out.
In the fields, after collecting the labor payment, hiring people to work is no longer so compulsive, and it does not affect the farming work so much for the common people.
"Now our family can basically have enough to eat, and we can have a surplus of food every year. Even when there is a recession, we no longer have to worry about going hungry, and we no longer have to borrow food and money at high interest rates,"
The old man said that he was afraid of hunger before, but now everyone saves some food. Basically every family in his village has saved enough food for a year, and some even save more.
Even if there is another famine disaster, or even if there is no harvest for one or two seasons, there is no need to panic.
It is true that food prices have been very low in recent years, but on the other hand, the world is stable and the people are indeed not rich yet, but at least they are stable.
From the perspective of old people like Lao Han who have experienced those turmoils and hunger, the current Zhenguan era is truly a prosperous one.
Wu Huaiyu had a high status in their hearts, because this young military prime minister brought auspicious food that filled everyone's stomachs, and also helped the saint launch new policies that reduced burdens such as the Two Taxes Law and other benevolent policies.
A prosperous age is when you can have enough to eat. As for expanding territories, for the vast majority of ordinary people, those are too far away.
They are even afraid of and opposed to war and the opening of Xinjiang in their hearts.
In an era when most wheat crops produced only one stone per mu, the yield of sweet potatoes could reach ten stones per mu. Although this item is not as valuable as wheat, it is a good thing for ordinary people to fill their stomachs and supplement their rations. It can also feed chickens and pigs to supplement their household needs.
Unfortunately, the old man only has twenty acres of land. The rest of the land is farmed by tenants and requires payment of rent.
"The imperial court is now vigorously developing Lingnan. If you are willing to immigrate to Lingnan, one person can be granted a hundred acres of land, and both middle-aged men and women can be granted fifty acres of land. They will also be rent-free for several years. There is also a lot of land that can be reclaimed.
Once the reclaimed wasteland is registered, it will become your own Yongye Field. Old man, your family of seven has ever thought about immigrating to Lingnan?"
The old man seemed a little envious of Lingnan's land allocation policy, but in the end he still shook his head.
"I have never been to Lingnan. It is so far away and I dare not go there."
Huaiyu was not surprised. Even in later generations, the Tianshan Corps recruited people, divided their fields and even gave them settling-in allowances and houses, but there were not many people who were really willing to settle there. There were still many people who were very disappointed after they left.
Almost gone again.
In this era, most people have never left home hundreds of miles away.
I can’t even name the county, let alone the state.
Lingnan, it really seems like the ends of the earth.
After chatting with the old man for a while, Wu Huaiyu finally asked him to accept the two hundred dollars.
Wu Huaiyu and his family only picked a hundred or so cobs from the three-quarter field of corn, but they did not take them away in the end. They were all old corn and were not suitable for cooking and eating directly. Actually, today it was just for fun.
Back at the camp, the family was still excited.
Huaiyu simply asked someone to fetch the meat and vegetables, and took his wife, concubines, and children to cook together. It was very fun to have a picnic.
Huaiyu is the chef, his wives and concubines are the helpers, and the children who are four or five years old, or even one or two years old, are simply a disservice.
But the happiest thing is these children,
Fan Xuanfu and Li Qing kneaded the dough to make noodles, while Wu Huaiyu cut the meat into skewers for barbecue.
Boil the rotten meat and vegetable noodles in a big pot, and serve them with barbecued skewers.
Under the late autumn sunset,
The whole family had a great time eating under the red clouds.
After the children finished eating, they were still running and playing tirelessly in the camp under the sunset.
Huaiyu ate very well, boiled water to make tea, lay in a chair, and felt the evening breeze blowing, feeling extremely warm and comfortable.
The sky is getting dark,
Shuying asked Fan Xuanfu, "Alang, do you want to turn over the cards?"
Fan Xuanfu glanced at her husband, who was lying on the recliner and was asleep. His eyes were full of tenderness, and he whispered, "Alang has been tired these days. I won't read the cards today. I will rest in my tent at night."
Shuying reminded her, "Madam is pregnant, she is pregnant soon, and she is in a hurry now, so it's best not to have sex to avoid fetal motility."
"I know." Fan Xuanfu said. She is a martial arts practitioner and her body is relatively strong, but she is still careful not to take risks.
Let Huaiyu sleep in her tent tonight. She has no other thoughts. She just wants her husband to have a good rest.
Those concubines, who have been around for a long time, are like wolves and tigers. They can easily let go of any one who turns over the sign. Last time, the Yun family directly went to the three sisters together.
She feels sorry for her husband.
Even when you are young, you have to exercise moderation.
She looked at Shu Ying and said, "You are my maid, but before we get to Guangzhou, don't worry. Let A Lang rest more on the way. When we settle down in Lingnan, I will arrange for you to serve A Lang."
.”
Shuying blushed a little when she heard this in front of Madam. In fact, when Madam said she would let A Lang sleep in her tent tonight, she did have such thoughts in her mind. Madam is not suitable to serve A Lang now, so should she do it tonight?
Fan Xuanfu asked Shuying to inform the other concubines that they would not read the signs for the next few days, and Alang would share a tent with her.
She sat next to her husband and watched him fall asleep tenderly. She was afraid of the cool night breeze and even brought him a blanket to cover him.
Huaiyu woke up after sleeping for several hours,
it's getting dark,
"It's so late, why didn't you wake me up?"
"Seeing that Alang is tired, I'll let you take a nap."
Huaiyu stood up and moved his hands and feet, then took Xuan Fu and turned around to enter the tent. The autumn night was relatively cool, but it wasn't actually too cold. On the contrary, it felt a bit neither hot nor cold, which was quite suitable.
Xuanfu's tent is very big, and there is even a short bed that can be easily assembled and carried inside. It can be loaded into the car when traveling. When it reaches the camp, it is taken down to form a couch, covered with brown straw mats, and then covered with sheets. It is very comfortable.
It's even a bit of a luxury when traveling.
After sleeping for a while, he felt less sleepy now. Xuanfu asked Shuying to make some ginseng tea for Huaiyu without disturbing her husband.
When Wu Huaiyu had some free time, he took up writing and continued to write Zizhi Tongjian. This is a huge work with hundreds of volumes, and the original work has as many as three million words. Wu Huaiyu has read it many times before, especially during the years in Zhongnan Mountain. He studied it repeatedly and learned a lot.
A lot of gains.
This book was originally written for the prince, but now Li Shimin has been urging it to be updated, and it has been designated as a must-read book for the first prison and second hall, as well as the royal family and officials.
The emperor was in a hurry and the task was very heavy. Wu Huaiyu wrote some when he had time.
Fan Xuanfu also held a book and looked at it quietly beside him. The three Chengsi brothers left it to the wet nurses and nannies to take with them in another tent at night.
At this time, in the tent, Huaiyu was writing a book and Xuanfu was reading.
The girl in the common room is sparsely shadowed in a corner, making ginseng tea.
Jianyi is on duty as a guard on the other side. This is the third generation of Jianyi. The first generation of Jianyi has now become a concubine of Huaiyu and has given birth to a daughter for Huaiyu. The second generation of Jianyi has served for three years.
Later, Xuan Fu acted as a matchmaker and married a Qianqi Colonel of the Forbidden Army, which was a good result.
The Third Swordsman, who had just become a regular swordswoman from the trainee swordsmanship not long ago, is the best among this batch of swordsmen. She has good swordsmanship, is beautiful, and is actually still young at the age of eighteen.
Huaiyu writes hard and fast. Because he is familiar with it, writing is not troublesome and he is even completely immersed in it.
Fan Xuan was a little sleepy when he wrote the letter. He yawned and saw that his husband was still writing.
She asked Shuying to pour a cup of ginseng tea, and then brought it to Huaiyu herself.
"Alang, it's getting late. Let's get some rest early. We have to get up early tomorrow to go on the road."
"Okay," Huaiyu stopped writing, raised his head and said to Fan Xuanfu with a smile.
Xuanfu then asked Shuying to fetch water to help Huaiyu wash and change clothes.
