She looked around at the environment around the mule shed and the big black brothers inside who were lowering their heads and chewing grass slowly, and secretly admired them in her heart.
Although these mules are kept in sheds, they are not dirty or smelly inside, and the yellow mud floor is clean, presumably because someone cleans them frequently.
There are still some sparse withered grass on the small slope outside the mule shed. You can imagine how green it will look when spring comes.
But Old Man Liu was not very interested. He did not show any joy after being praised. Instead, he blew out a smoke ring and sighed:
"Our Beipo Village is too far away from the Qingling River. A few years ago, our village had a fight with Qiantou Nanpo Village over water. We didn't win, and the water source was cut off. Now it's difficult to farm."
Once he returned to his own territory, he became more outspoken.
He clicked the dry cigarette in his hand, puffed it out, and talked to Zhuang Keqing and the other three about what happened in the village in the past without feeling embarrassed at all.
Zhang Da had heard some news about the incident in Beipo Village.
Many villages around Songling Town, such as Daxing Village and Erli Village, have tributaries of the Qingling River flowing through them. The water network is rich. Irrigation only requires digging canals to divert water. It does not require labor. All the villages are of the highest quality.
Paddy fields are everywhere, all connected together in patches.
But in Nanpo Village and Beipo Village, only a small tributary of the Qingling River flows far away. If one village diverts water, the other village will have to dry up, not to mention that in dry weather, that tributary will directly flow through.
If it is exhausted, no village will be able to get water to irrigate the fields.
Just relying on buckets of water from the well to irrigate, who can live with it?
As time went on, the villagers of the two villages often had quarrels over the issue of water supply, and finally they got into a fight. Those from each family who had a hoe carried the hoe, and those who had a shovel dragged the shovel, and they fought fiercely.
In the end, Nanpo Village won and cut off the tributary, leaving Beipo Village in decline.
Listening to Grandpa Liu's words about the past, Zhuang Keqing finally understood why there were so few people in Beipo Village, and everyone looked at them withered heads.
"Two villages are fighting, but the county magistrate doesn't care about it?"
She didn't quite understand.
"How can the county magistrate control this? There is only one water source. If your village has it, other villages don't have it. No one can be sentenced. It's unfair."
The old man puffed out smoke and said, "Fortunately, no one was killed in that incident, otherwise it would have been difficult to end."
"So this kind of land didn't work, so I thought about other ways to earn some money. After all these years, it still worked."
The other methods he mentioned are presumably breeding.
While Zhuang Keqing understood, he also had other questions.
"Then why do you only raise mules and not pigs? A pig can grow very big in just one year. It can earn at least two taels of silver, which is no worse than a mule."
"You think I don't think so. It's just that this pig is too troublesome to eat. I'm just a lonely old man. How can I have so much energy to take care of it?"
The old man turned the mouth of his cigarette upside down and knocked it on the cart to get out the cigarette ashes. Then he put the pipe on his belt.
"I simply sold it, got a donkey and a horse and gave birth to a mule to raise. Except for the hard work in winter, I can just let it go to the mountains at other times. It doesn't take much trouble."
Zhuang Keqing nodded thoughtfully.
No wonder Grandpa Liu was so excited when he saw her potato dregs.
With potato residue powder, you can prepare less winter fodder and bean feed, which saves a lot of effort.
And it's really cheap.
A kilogram of dry ingredients and potato dregs powder only costs two cents, which is equivalent to giving it away for free.
When the mule cart arrived, Zhang Da and Gouzi unloaded the goods together. There were only six bags in total. It took less than a stick of incense to unload them, and they were carefully coded.
"These six bags, combined with the fodder, will probably last for a while. Girl, wait a moment, I'll get the money."
The old man said something, left a few people behind and went into the broken house behind the mule shed.
In less than a moment, he brought a bag of copper coins and stuffed them into Zhuang Keqing's hand.
"Count."
"No, Grandpa, it's not early, we rushed back."
Zhuang Keqing smiled and accepted it, then turned around and went to hold Dahei. Zhang Da and his son followed behind and had nothing to say. They just threw the hemp rope back into the car and waited to go with her.
"Hey, wait a minute."
The old man stopped him and said, "If I want your potato dregs powder later, where should I buy it? I see you guys don't always come to that area in the north of the town."
"Grandpa, we are in Erli Village. When you arrive, just go to the back of the village and ask about the sweet potato workshop. The villagers will guide you."
The explanation was clear in one sentence, and Old Man Liu felt relieved.
We have four or five mules, as well as donkeys and horses, which consume food. Moreover, it is already past the autumn harvest season, so there is no need for animal power, and there are few people buying livestock. With these few at home, I estimate that I will be able to keep them until next year.
It can only be started after spring plowing.
If those who lack food in winter become hungry, thin, or suffer from frostbite, it will be a total loss.
Fortunately, he was lucky and came across this potato dregs powder. He tasted it carefully just now. Although it looked dry and thick, it actually smelled like sweet potato, and it was very sweet after chewing it carefully. Judging from his years
Judging from the experience of raising mules, this is equivalent to a refined feed, not much worse than beans or the like.
"Okay, okay, I will definitely go there again before the end of the year."
The old man nodded, "Then that's it for today. You guys should go back quickly. I don't think it's too early."
As he spoke, he took out his dry tobacco bag again, pinched a handful of tobacco and stuffed it into it. He pulled out a fire sickle from somewhere, lit it and took a puff.
Zhuang Keqing smiled and waved his hand, turned around and was about to leave. Suddenly he remembered something and turned around and asked: "Master Liu, Beipo Village cannot draw river water for irrigation. Is it because there is too much dry land in the village?"
"So what are you growing on dry land now?"
Old Man Liu didn't understand why the girl suddenly became interested in the crops in his village, but he didn't think much about it and just told the truth.
"Most of them grow soybeans and sweet potatoes, but these are cheap and not as valuable as rice and wheat. They can only be used as food rations to fill the stomach."
"Besides, our village has many mountains and little land. If you look around, everything is deserted."
Sighing, Old Man Liu also felt that Beipo Village was hopeless. No wonder everyone who could move had been moved away in recent years, leaving only the old and weak like him, and the whole village was in a state of despair.
Zhuang Keqing nodded thoughtfully and did not ask any more questions. He only said goodbye to the old man and set off on his way home.
In fact, it stands to reason that Beipo Village is much closer to Songling Town than Erli Village. However, the geographical conditions of more slopes and less land are indeed a bit awkward. Coupled with the water source problem, the development difference is also expected.
When he left the village, Gouzi was no longer as excited as when he came. He even frowned and couldn't figure out why there was such a big difference when they were both villages near Songling Town.
"Dad, I didn't expect this Beipo Village to be so poor."
"There's nothing we can do about that."
Zhang Da also sighed, "Do you realize now how good your life is? You just run around all day long. When you have free time in the future, we can talk to your father and me more often!"
As soon as the dog heard that he was working in the fields, he immediately frowned.
"I just don't like the work of digging in the fields. I would rather work in a workshop."
"Not to mention the workshops and shops in the town, the sweet potato workshop in our village can make a lot of money in a day, which is no worse than farming in the fields."
Of course Zhang Da knows that his Murakami workshop is good, but no matter how good the workshop is, how can it be practical to farm the land in a down-to-earth manner?
If something unexpected happens, or someone is jealous of their workshop and wants to snatch the recipe, then some short-sighted person in the workshop will sell the fan recipe, then can the Chenguang workshop be opened?
Going down is still a problem!
Children are children, and they always only look at what is in front of them when considering things.
Zhuang Keqing watched the father and son talking and arguing all the way, and felt justified in his heart.
Indeed, the sweet potato workshop was originally built by everyone in the village, and there is still no clear person in charge. In other words, the villagers are simple and do not care about working more or less, so they are very happy to have some extra money.
But as time goes by, this may not be the case.
You know, don't every village have to have a few of them like Aunt Wang, so they count as standard?
