Fields of Gold

Chapter 331: spring plowing

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Yu Xiaocao thought to herself, this house is bought, and it cannot be used just for the ten days and half a month of the exam, it must be used to its maximum value. Originally, I thought that I could rent it out to students rushing for the exam every year, but in this way, the house would still be idle for more than ten months! What a waste of resources!

She really wants to get back to her old business and start a stewed vegetable shop. But now it's not picking up, and the food business is not easy to do. Especially meat, now that spring is just beginning, even the piglets that have just been caught will have to wait for more than half a year before they can be slaughtered. Chickens, ducks, geese, etc., have to wait for half a year... Forget it, let's not think about so much, and the family will add up after returning home!

The government test is coming soon, and with the experience of the county test, both Xiao Shitou and Qian Wen seem much calmer. At a quarter of an hour, the government examination institute opened its doors. Because the prefectural examination institute is opposite, the two of them left after breakfast. After passing the inspection by the sergeant, find your seat according to the reference. Everyone's seat in the government examination institute is a small cubicle, which can prevent cheating even more.

There are three examinations in the government examination: post scriptures, essays, and policy theory, which test memorization, rhetoric, and political opinions and current affairs respectively. There is no problem at all in memorizing small stones. Before the government examination, Dean Yuan personally gave him a small lesson, tutoring rhetoric and political opinions, so the next two examinations were not satisfactory.

A total of 50 people were admitted in the government examination, divided into two grades, grade A and grade B, and the top ten were awarded grade A. When the list was released, a small stone was hanging on the tail of the first class, ranking ninth. During the exam, the magistrate and many examiners noticed the youngest candidate and remembered his name. At the end of the marking, it was discovered that this cute and handsome young examinee had such a good grade.

Looking at the application materials again, it turned out that it was from Rongxuan Academy, so it is not surprising. There are so many monsters in Rongxuan Academy, let alone an eight-year-old scholar, even a ten-year-old champion is still possible.

When looking at the results, Yu Bo waited there impatiently. His name was also on the list, but compared to Xiao Shitou's first grade, he only got a second grade, which is still in his forties. If you pass the government examination, you are already a child, and you can only be qualified as a scholar after passing the hospital examination.

Originally, Yu Bo was still full of confidence in himself, but seeing his little nephew's results, and looking at himself, I have to say that people are more annoying than others. He has been studying for more than ten years, but he only got a low score in the test, and the little nephew has only been in school for more than two years, and he was able to get into the top ten!

He didn't think that his intelligence and hard work were inferior to his nephew's, but he attributed all the reasons to the fact that Xiao Shitou went to a prestigious school, but he didn't. Yu Bo even thought: If he could successfully enter Rongxuan Academy last year, he would definitely do better than Xiao Shitou in the exam, at least in the top three! I don't know where his confidence comes from!

However, the top three on the government examination list were indeed awarded to Rongxuan Academy. Among the first class, Rongxuan Academy's candidates accounted for seven, so is there any way for them to survive? No wonder there are so many people who want to get into Rongxuan Academy even if they sharpen their heads!

Yu Bo suppressed the sourness in his heart and congratulated Xiao Shitou. The Yu family siblings also congratulated him for being on the list. After agreeing on a time to go back, they said their goodbyes. About where the Yu family's siblings live, Yu Bo didn't ask a word of concern.

The next day after the list was released, the siblings packed up and went back. There is still a lot of work to do when we go back, the most important thing is to plant the corn. Although the hospital examination is also taking place in Fucheng, it will have to wait until autumn! The college exam is held twice in three years, this year coincides with the college exam, otherwise it will have to wait until next autumn.

Back home, the yard is lush and green, and it feels comfortable to look at! The green leafy vegetables in the front yard have been picked and sold one after another. Because of the relationship with Zhenxiulou, the vegetables are first supplied by Zhenxiulou in Tanggu and Fucheng, and the rest can be sold to several regular customers of Tanggu. Many buyers who come here especially for the name can only come here in good spirits and return in disappointment. If it wasn't for cultivating corn, Yu Xiaocao would have wanted to plant a large area of early-maturing vegetables on Zhuangzi. What a lot of money!

In the evening, there were only Liu Shi, Yu Caifeng, Liu Yan'er and Xiao Fangping in the yard. After inquiring, I learned that my father and uncle took Liu Junping to the Zhuangzi bought by Yu's family. They have turned over more than 100 acres of land and fertilized them. They will wait for Yu Xiaocao to come back and breed.

Farming time waits for no one, the next morning, Yu Xiaocao rode her little red horse, accompanied by the king of the small county, to her own village. The corn seeds have also been transported to Zhuangzi's warehouse, and they are guarded by special personnel every day.

The tenants in the village are all grateful to the current owner. Last year's severe drought, coupled with locust plagues, caused no crops to be harvested in the fields. Not to mention the rent of the fields, even food became a problem. Just when they were facing despair, the boss waived their rent and gave them a way out.

After finally surviving the cold winter, when many people had run out of ammunition and food and were facing desperation, the boss appeared again. At first, the owner said that the land would not be rented to them. This sentence was like a bolt from the blue, and some people burst into tears on the spot. Everyone knelt down and begged the owner. The tenants were all from poor peasants and their families were poor. I don’t know how they survived last autumn and winter.

When the owner persuaded everyone to wake up, he explained that if they were hired to help with the farming, they would get more for their work, and they would be rewarded for their good service. It's a bit like hiring long-term workers, but the wages are relatively high and fair.

When plowing and fertilizing, everyone worked hard, even the women and older children in the family went to the field to help. There are more than 170 mu of land and 16 households, all of whom have been farmers for generations. A family with a large labor force can cultivate fifteen to six mu of land; a family with a small labor force can cultivate three to four mu of land.

Because most of the households in Zhuangzi are already facing the crisis of food shortage, these days, Yu Hai settles the settlement every day. If the land is cultivated more and more carefully, the money will be paid more. Those who cultivated less, or whose quality was not up to standard, received less money or no money. Therefore, on the first day, some people received a salary of more than 100 Wen, while others only received 20 or 30 Wen.

Even if you only get 20 or 30 Wen, you are still very satisfied. The cheap grain on the market now is 80 to 90 cents a catty of coarse grain, and one day's wages can buy three catties of grain! Coupled with the wild vegetables dug by the children at home, it can also be half full.

However, those who only seek speed but not quality on the first day learn lessons and work intensively on the second day. The money I got on the second day was indeed more than the first day. In this way, those who want to be opportunistic have given up their minds early and earn money honestly with their labor.

In more than ten days, more than 170 acres of fields were carefully turned over, weeds and grass roots were picked up, and fertilizer was sprinkled. The current fertilizers are all farmyard manure, which is accumulated by every household. Yu Hai bought it from tenants at the price of five cents a cart. The tenants did not expect that their own manure could be sold for money, and they were even more devoted and grateful to the owner.

Yu Xiaocao came to Zhuangzi and met her father. After chatting for a while, they divided up their work. Yu Xiaocao went to the warehouse to select seeds, and Yu Hai went to gather the tenants. With the head of the village, Yu Hai, the owner, did not need to do the errands in person.

Zhu Junyang followed behind Yu Xiaocao, watching her first go to the well in Zhuangzi and get a bucket of water. In fact, Yu Xiaocao asked Xiaobutianshi to transform the well water into Lingshi water with a very low concentration by taking advantage of the gap of fetching water.

Seeing Yu Xiaocao struggling to move while carrying the water, Zhu Junyang snatched the bucket over with a look of disgust, and said, "You have small arms and legs, and you are not afraid that the bucket will break your arm!"

Manager Liu looked terrified: Master, help Miss Yu carry water? When did the master do such rough work

"Master, leave it alone and let the servants come!" Director Liu hurriedly went to pick up the bucket from King Yang's hand.

Yu Xiaocao saw that Mr. Liu was a young man, so he was ashamed to ask him to help carry water, and hurriedly said: "Forget it, let me do it! Exercise and exercise will increase your strength!"

"Okay, okay! Let's go, where are you carrying it?" Zhu Junyang walked like flying with a bucket of water in his hand, and Yu Xiaocao trotted behind to keep up with his footsteps. Manager Liu wrinkled his bitter face and followed behind his master.

After arriving at the barn, Yu Xiaocao took out the "potion" she had prepared, poured it into a bucket, mixed it, and sprayed it on the corn seeds.

Zhu Junyang was a little puzzled, and asked, "Does spraying this water have any effect?"

"Prevent pests and diseases!! You see, in autumn, there must be bugs laying eggs in the soil. In spring, when the temperature gets warmer, the bugs hatch and easily eat the seeds and roots of crops. Spraying these potions can avoid these lost!"

Yu Xiaocao spoke seriously. In fact, the aura in the potion can improve the germination and survival rate of seeds. These are not easy to explain to the little county king. If the Xiaojun Wang didn't follow, she would just spray the spirit stone liquid on it, and what kind of potion would she use as an excuse

The seeds sprayed with "potion" were sent to the field. After the tenants received the seeds, the owner demonstrated the depth and size of the pits and the distance between the plants, and then began to work in full swing.

Yu Hai, Liu Hu and his son are relatively experienced, and they are responsible for patrolling each field, carefully recording the progress and quality of each household's work. It was the first time for the tenants to experience corn planting, and some of them didn't understand the planting method well. Yu Hai and the others would point it out in time when they saw it, and patiently taught them.

On the first day, the efficiency was relatively slow. The family with the most planted more than two acres and received a wage of 80 Wen. The fewest are widow Li, mother and son, orphan and widow mother, and the son is only about ten years old. Although the two were slow, they planted extremely meticulously. Widow Li was afraid that the distance between the plants would not be correct, so she even used a branch to break the distance according to the owner's request, and dug the hole bit by bit. Yu Hai saw all of this, and when paying the wages, he gave the mother and son forty cash.

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The holidays are coming to an end and days of misery are approaching…