The busy father and daughter in Tianzhong looked up at Zhang Yanling and his entourage coming from the field ridge, and then started working again without saying a word.
"Hey! Why are these unruly people so virtuous? Don't they know how to greet people when they meet them? Don't they know whose land they are farming on?"
Ma Quanzhen's nose was so angry that if the Marquis hadn't been there, he would have started to curse.
"My family doesn't owe rent, so why are you looking for me? Find someone else. I pay the rent every year." Blacksmith Zhao stood in the rice field and shouted, holding his neck.
Ma Quan was about to scold him when Zhang Yanling waved his hand to stop him and shouted loudly: "Old man, I'm not here to ask you for rent. I just want to find someone to talk to and understand the situation. I don't know why we in Zhuangzi People can't pay their rent, is there something wrong? You are all avoiding me, and I don't know why, how can I help you solve your problem? Besides, you can't hide from this matter, and you can't hide from it. It's not a problem. If the problem cannot be solved and I don't know the reason, then I can only take the land back and find someone else to cultivate it."
Blacksmith Zhao was stunned when he heard this, waved his clay hands randomly in the muddy water, and walked up to the ridge of the field.
"Zhao Laoji has met his employer, the Marquis." Blacksmith Zhao stood on the field ridge with his bare feet and raised his hands in salute.
Zhang Yanling cupped her hands and said with a smile: "You're so polite, old man. I'm really sorry for delaying your work."
Zhao Laoji said: "It's nothing. My family has little land, just seven or eight acres, and there isn't much work. It will be done soon. Well, the sun is very hot here, let's go talk under the trees in the field. I Where is the jug of water?"
Zhang Yanling nodded in agreement, and the group followed Zhao Laoji to a willow tree at the head of the field. Zhao Laoji called to the woman who was still working in the field: "Axiu, come up and rest." Yes, drink some water."
The woman wiped her sweat and shouted from a distance: "Father, please rest, I'm not thirsty, I'll just take this piece."
Zhao Laoji smacked his lips and nodded, sat down on the dirt under the tree, picked up the earthen jar and drank a few sips of water. Suddenly he remembered that his boss was nearby, so he handed the jar over and said with a smile: "My boss, country people don't understand. As a courtesy, I should treat you to a drink of water. Please, please."
Everyone's eyes fell on the earthenware jar that Zhao Laoji drank from. The earthenware jar was quite old, and the black surface seemed to be covered with stains. There were grass leaves floating on the water inside, and there was also an unknown source of water. The flying insects that flew in floated on the water and struggled with their claws.
Zhang Yanling instinctively wanted to refuse, but suddenly she followed Zhao Laoji's example and sat down on the dirt, took the jar and started drinking. Ma Quanhuang Si stood beside him, stretching his neck and staring blankly. His own Marquis was a very refined man. , he is extremely picky about his food, and he never touches anything that is not clean. At this moment, he is actually sitting on the dirt floor holding that dirty earthen pot and drinking water. This is really unprecedented. The Marquis looked like this after he woke up from a coma. He has changed as a person.
Tan Ruqing watched Zhang Yanling do this with a thoughtful look on her face. She walked aside, spread a white handkerchief on the ground, and sat down.
"Good water, very sweet. It quenches your thirst." Zhang Yanling praised, wiping the water stains on her mouth.
A smile appeared on Zhao Laoji's face. Zhang Yanling sat on the ground like him and didn't mind it. He also praised his water as delicious. In his heart, Zhao Laoji suddenly felt that Zhang Yanling became more friendly. I don't know who heard it, His boss, Marquis Jianchang, was a mean and domineering person, and he doesn't seem like that kind of person now.
"How is your age this year, old man?" Zhang Yanling further narrowed the distance and started chatting about daily life.
"Oh, let me report back to my boss, old man, I am sixty this year." Zhao Laoji said hurriedly.
"You are already in your sixties, you can't tell at all. Your body looks very strong. I'm afraid many young people are not as strong as you." Zhang Yanling said with a smile.
"I don't dare to take it seriously. The Marquis is complimenting me. But I am a blacksmith, and my body is stronger than ordinary people." Zhao Laoji said.
"It turns out you are a blacksmith, no wonder you are like this."
"Yeah, it's not a regular business. When I'm not busy with farm work, I just go from village to house and make some axes, shovels, sickles, hoes and so on for people to supplement the family income." Zhao Laoji said.
Zhang Yanling said: "Old man, how many people are in your family? How many acres of land have you rented?"
Zhao Laoji said: "To report to my boss, my family has rented eight acres of paddy fields and three acres of dry fields. There are currently six people in our family. My son, daughter-in-law, two grandchildren, plus my daughter Axiu and myself. The old woman died of illness eight years ago.
Already."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "There are so many people in the family, and the acres of land you rent are not that big."
Zhao Laoji said: "It's really not much. Other people rent ten or twenty acres of land, but I want to make iron, so I don't plant that much land. Besides, these days, I can't support my family by farming.
When the situation is bad, the fields cannot harvest food, and the whole family will starve. No matter how much you plant, it won't work."
Zhang Yanling said: "Why is that? Is our rent too heavy?"
Zhao Laoji shook his head and said: "To be honest, my employer's rent is not very high. However, there have been many natural disasters in the past two years, and the harvest in the fields is not good. There are droughts and floods, so it is really difficult."
Zhang Yanling pointed to the green fields around him and said, "I see that these rice plants are growing very well. There should be no problems this year."
Zhao Laoji shook his head and said with a smile: "My boss, you are not a farmer, how do you know this? It is only June, the rice has not yet eared, it is very early. A severe drought started in July last year, and the whole village, old and young, came from the river ditch below.
Carrying water to moisten the seedlings is of no avail. In the final harvest, half of the grains are shriveled, which is caused by drought. God is blind and won’t give you food to eat. This year, the rice seems to be growing well, but I dare say, this year
Absolutely no harvest."
Zhang Yanling said: "Why is that? Will there be another severe drought?"
Zhao Laoji said: "I dare not say whether there will be drought or flood. That is God's expression. I am talking about insect plague. Boss, look at this."
As Zhao Laoji spoke, he reached out and grabbed a branch nearby, leaned forward and swiped at the seedlings in front of him. He saw a large group of small black flying insects flying out from under the lush green seedlings, jumping and flying.
Many of them even jumped on everyone's bodies.
"Ah!" Several bugs jumped on Tan Ruqing's body. She was so frightened that she stood up and swatted at them randomly.
"Don't be afraid, girl, this insect doesn't bite people, it only eats seedlings." Zhao Laoji said hurriedly.
How did Zhao Laoji understand that Tan Ruqing was just afraid of insects, regardless of whether they bite people or not? Tan Ruqing waved away a few small flying insects, sighed, turned around and saw Zhang Yanling looking at him with a smile, and felt in his heart
I thought angrily: Damn it, he saw me in a panic.
Zhang Yanling also had a lot of flying insects jumping on his body. He stretched out his hand to catch a few and put them in the palm of his hand to observe. He found that these flying insects were very small, gray all over, and had small wings. They looked like little birds with wings.
It looks like fleas. They are jumping around very actively.
"What kind of insect is this?" Zhang Yanling frowned.
"We call this thing rice planthopper. Not only does it look like a louse, but it also sucks blood like a louse. But what it sucks is not real blood, but the juice in the stems of the seedlings." Zhao Laoji said and reached out to pull it out.
I picked up a seedling and handed it to Zhang Yanling. I saw dozens of planthoppers crawling densely on the stem below the seedling. The stem of the seedling was gray and black, all of which were scars left after being sucked by the bugs.
, given time, it will wither and fester.
"These bad things can still lay seeds very well. This is just the beginning. In less than two months before harvesting in the autumn, they will produce four or five seeds, each with hundreds of seeds. By then, the whole stalk under the rice will be
The whole thing is crawling, and the rice can’t survive at all. By then, what harvest will there be?” Zhao Laoji said with a frown.
Everyone had goosebumps all over their bodies as they imagined that scene. Although Zhang Yanling was not a patient with trypophobia, she still shuddered when thinking of such a scene.
"How could this happen? Don't you think of a way to solve it? We need to capture them now while their numbers are still small. After they have reproduced for a few rounds, nothing can be done by then." Zhang Yanling frowned and said.
.
"There is no way to cure it. These things are hidden under the seedlings, and they are too small and too small to catch them. Some people said that spreading lime can burn them to death, but when the lime was spread, the seedlings were also burned to death. It was simply impossible to catch them.
It can't be done." Zhao Laoji shook his head.
Zhang Yanling nodded slightly. There are no pesticides these days, and pests and diseases are indeed difficult to deal with.
"This is indeed a troublesome matter. If this is not resolved, this year will be another bad year." Zhang Yanling frowned and said softly.
Zhao Laoji cupped his hands and said: "My boss, I am not a talkative old man. I heard that you are here to collect last year's rent. The old man boldly asked my boss to show your kindness and give me a few more days. The people in the village are not lazy. Last year was flooded again.
There was another drought, and the harvest was indeed reduced by half. They were not unruly people, nor were they denying rent. It is only natural and right for them to plant land on their employer's land and pay the rent to their employer. The common people had no land to cultivate and confiscated it, so they had no food to eat.
Everyone understands. But there is really nothing we can do. We can’t collect food, and we have a whole family, old and young, with their mouths open to eat. So what should we do?”
"Hey, it's not right for you to talk like that. You are the only ones who want to eat. What about my Marquis? I will plant the land for you, but in the end you will get nothing. You are full, but my Marquis drinks the northwest wind? We can tell you that outside
There are so many people who don't have land to farm. If anyone doesn't pay the rent this time, all the land will be taken back and get out of the manor." Ma Quan shouted loudly.
Zhao Laoji didn't know how to answer for a moment, but he heard someone say: "What do you want to do with my father? My family doesn't owe you any rent. Besides, if you pay the rent and the whole family has to go out to beg for food, it's better not to farm."
, After working hard for a year, you still have to starve, who is willing to farm? You want to take it back, it’s better to take it all back, and you can plant it yourself. Let’s see how capable you are.”
Everyone turned to look, but it was the young girl who was working in the fields walking up from the field ridge next to her. She had her trousers rolled up and her bare legs exposed, her face was hot and red, and her appearance was pretty good.
She is beautiful, but her skin is slightly dark, presumably from the sun. But in this way, she exudes the healthy vitality of a young girl.