The day before the Autumnal Equinox, millet is ripe.
Heyin County, Fugu City.
People were coming and going in a hurry in the government office, and some officials were holding bamboo slips half a person's height and shouting all the way.
"Make way, make way - someone give me a hand..." The clerk felt that the top of the book was about to slide down, and hurriedly asked for help. A colleague passing by gave him a hand and averted a disaster. He breathed a sigh of relief. If this pile of things fell down, he didn't know how long it would take to clean it up. He was about to look up to thank the person, but when he saw the person's face clearly, he hurriedly crossed his hands and saluted, "Greetings, Inspector Gu."
Gu Chi had just returned from a business trip, covered in dust.
He glanced at the pile of bamboo slips.
He asked, "Why is the government office still so busy?"
Wasn't he quite free before he went on his business trip
The clerk wiped the sweat off his face. Although he looked tired, he was mostly happy. He said excitedly: "The local officials reported that the millet is ripe half a month earlier than in previous years. All the counties and towns in the county have started to get busy..." This is the first autumn harvest since Shen Jun took office as the governor of Heyin!
Everyone followed the experience of the autumn harvest in previous years and planned to start the real busy work in half a month. Who knew that the corn would mature early this year and every household was in urgent need of manpower. The government office, which had finally been free, was busy again.
Gu Chi: “…”
He seemed to have guessed the reason why Bluebird had called him urgently.
It turned out that they wanted to capture him and bring him back to work during the busy farming season.
Shen Tang said that this was to follow the principle of "not bothering two people with one thing". After all, Gu Chi was responsible for measuring and counting the fields in Fugu and other parts of Heyin. He knew how many acres of good and bad fields there were and the approximate output of each acre.
If we don’t capture him as a able-bodied man now, when will we capture him
Gu Chi almost laughed out of anger when he heard Shen Tang’s thoughts.
He was given an official position as the Inspector of Heyin County by his lord, doing hard work for little pay, and the conditions of his business trips were hard to describe.
Life was so hard that he wanted to exchange his life with Qishan. He had to inspect counties and villages, supervise officials, investigate criminal cases, check illegal activities, and keep an eye on taxation... He had to carry a heavy load when walking and no blanket when sleeping. When the road conditions were good, he could ride a horse or a bullock or donkey cart. When the road conditions were bad, he could only walk and go wherever he wanted, and make do with his bedding roll...
What's the result
His master did not understand his hardship and complained that he did too little work, so he called him back from a business trip.
She would do anything that a human being could do.
Facing Gu Chi's dark face, Shen Tang just giggled, trying to get away with it, but Gu Chi didn't buy it at all.
Shen Tang curled his lips in his heart, and appealed to his emotions and reason - the autumn harvest is one of the most important events in a county, how could Gu Chi, as his right-hand man, be absent? It would be inappropriate for Gu Chi not to be present at the autumn harvest sacrifice.
Gu Chi's expression finally relaxed.
Shen Tang gave himself a thumbs up in his heart.
The more capable, the more work. Shen Tang raised his hand and threw this pile, this pile, this pile, and that pile... all to Gu Chi to deal with. Gu Chi had no choice but to accept his fate and ask someone to bring a desk to work with him. In fact, Shen Tang was not in a hurry to call him. Gu Chi would also come back in more than half a month - that is, when the corn matures normally, to help Shen Tang preside over the autumn harvest sacrifice.
It's just that this year's early maturity caught him off guard.
All his original plans were messed up.
As the government office fell silent again, the occasional sound of bamboo slips colliding or scrolls being closed could be heard.
Gu Chi was busy until the golden sun set in the west and the weary birds returned to the forest. Only then did he put down his brush and raised his hand to rub his stiff shoulders.
When I turned around, I saw that my lord had fallen asleep on the table.
Gu Chi stood up carefully.
Afraid of making a loud noise and disturbing Shen Tang.
However, no matter how careful he was, Shen Tang was still awakened by the sound of his clothes rubbing against the mat, and he barely stood up, holding his forehead. He stared out the window with his eyes wide open, yawned, stretched, and said, "Ah, at this hour? How could I fall asleep..."
Gu Chi sighed: "It's because the lord is too tired."
Shen Tang: "The autumn harvest is very important and cannot be delayed."
Heyin is a poor and remote place, and there is a shortage of people everywhere. Shen Tang also cut off several local bosses from head to toe, and there are very few candidates who can be qualified for county and township officials. He had no choice but to promote some temporary minor officials and call on the village officials to replace them.
At the same time, we seize the time to provide people with on-the-job training.
Qishan and others all shoulder multiple duties.
The matter was not difficult to handle, but it was too trivial and took up a lot of time. Even the county magistrate Shen Tang had to work part-time as the Shaofushi to manage the private finances. Occasionally, when he wanted to go out for a walk, he would work part-time as a patrol officer to catch thieves.
When Shen Tang first took over He Yin, there were criminal cases of murder, robbery and rape everywhere. It took time to catch the criminals. Shen Tang did not have enough manpower, and sometimes he had to ask Gong Shuwu and others for help. In a word, if he could not kill them, he would do it to the death.
I have been staying up late every day recently.
She yawned and stood up, inviting Gu Chi to go to the canteen of the government office to eat. Well, she had set up a canteen in the government office, where busy officials could have a meal. This not only saved the time of going home to eat, but also saved some money.
For officials, the latter is equivalent to a disguised salary increase, and the meals in the government cafeteria are also provided. For Shen Tang, the former is the most important, which is to increase everyone's working time_(:з)∠?)_
"Well, I'll have to find a way to purify the salt later..."
The chef in the cafeteria is quite skilled.
But the quality of the salt is not good.
The dishes tasted bitter, but salt is an indispensable consumable in life.
Every time this happens, I miss Chu Wuhui's craftsmanship more and more.
Gu Chi followed the rule of not talking while eating and swept away every grain of millet in the ceramic bowl. He then wiped his mouth and said with a smile, "Since the lord wants it, why don't you let Wu Hui make one?"
Chu Yao's identity is more special than others.
Shen Tang drank the last bit of rice soup.
He said, "He has been concentrating on Lingde's concentration on literary mind recently. I don't want him to be distracted by this."
Gu Chi calculated the time.
Knowing the importance of Lin Feng's concentration of literary mind, he said: "Alas, so does this mean that the autumn harvest sacrifice still has to fall on Chitou?"
Shen Tang smiled and said, "Those who are capable should do more work."
Gu Chi: “…”
It is imperative to expand enrollment.
He took the tableware used by his master to the recycling area, and when he came back, he saw a clerk standing beside Shen Tang, whispering something. Shen Tang listened patiently, nodding from time to time.
After a while, the clerk left.
His legs were lame and he walked with a limp.
Gu Chi asked: "This person looks familiar, is he new here?"
He couldn't remember any clerk in the office who had a disabled leg.
Shen Tang: "Well, I just came here a while ago."
Gu Chi didn't ask any more questions.
Firstly, he believed in his master's judgment, and secondly, he also believed in his own way as a scholar. If there was something wrong with this person, he would be able to expose his true colors after getting to know him for a while. Shen Tang knew what he was thinking and smiled, "Don't think too much."
Gu Chi disagreed.
In his opinion, when working in an office, personal ability is secondary, and obedience, loyalty and keeping one's mouth shut are the most important.
If you run into someone who has a lot of ideas but a limited brain, it will be bad. If you are not loyal enough, who knows when you will be bought by other forces? The news that the corn in Heyin is ripe cannot be concealed from the outside world. The only thing to worry about is that someone will cause trouble at this critical time of autumn harvest.
Shen Tang smiled and said, "Don't worry, Wangchao, I have checked this person again and again, and he can be used. A poor refugee who left his hometown took a bag of wheat seeds with him when he left his hometown. He was almost dying of hunger but was reluctant to eat it... It just happened to remind me of something."
"What is it?"
"Corn only grows once a year, and the yield is not high. We might as well find some crops that grow twice a year and rotate them. No one knows what will happen in the future. If ordinary people don't have enough grain stored at home, once a natural disaster or famine occurs, the Heyin we have been running for so long will be ruined."
Shen Tang then set his sights on Xiaomai.
Rice, millet, sorghum, wheat, and beans are the five grains.
Millet is the most important crop in the northwest continent. However, wheat, as one of the five grains, is not taken seriously.
It’s not that we don’t want to plant it on a large scale, but this thing is a little bit incompatible with the local climate and is difficult to plant!
Wheat is best grown in areas with cold and wet winters and hot and dry summers, but the northwest of the mainland where He Yin is located is a little different from other places. Spring planting and germination require rain urgently, but this place is dry and rainless in spring, making irrigation a problem.
As a result, wheat cultivation is not large in scale.
The main crop in Heyin and even in the northwest of the mainland is still corn. Wheat is the younger brother and cannot shake its position at all. If the problem of water supply in spring can be solved, it may be possible to cultivate it on a large scale in targeted areas and replace corn as the main food.
Two kinds a year is a huge temptation.
I'll come back and improve the stone mill.
Speaking of this, Shen Tang felt a little fucked up.
If the regime had not changed frequently, the common people would not have had much time to settle down and recuperate, and perhaps agriculture would have developed faster. The wooden plows used for farming would not have been heavy, difficult to turn, and the farming efficiency would have been extremely low.
Gu Chi said: "Then we have to find good wheat seeds."
There is less wheat planting, but that doesn’t mean there is none.
Shen Tang said: "I have already asked Xu Wenzhu to look for it. Next time he comes, he should be able to bring good news."
In terms of connections and channels, Shen Tang, the governor of Heyin County, is far inferior to Xu Jie, the head of the Xu family. Because Shen Tang has done a favor to Tianhai, and Wu Xian has a change of heart, Tianhai will meet Shen Tang's difficulties as long as they are not excessive.
Of course, it’s not like they work for nothing.
Still have to give friendship price_(:з)∠?)_
Because the workload of the autumn harvest increased suddenly, everyone in the government office had to work overtime for one or two hours at night. Shen Tang ate and drank enough, and continued to work in good spirits. This time she was not going to deal with government affairs, but to visit the workshop, which was the cornerstone of her dream!
Last year, Shen Tang was still talking about starting a side business.
After all, she loves the paintbrush deeply.
But there were too many problems in front of her, such as the crude printing technology, which required copying by hand; the low efficiency of papermaking, the limited amount of paper that could be used for writing and painting, and the difficulty in preservation. Only when Shen Tang completely solved these problems and reduced the cost of production, and the common people could afford it, would they come to appreciate Shen Tang's paintings. Only when people bought them, could Shen Tang's sideline business make money.
However, you can’t become fat in just one bite.
Similarly -
Problems also need to be solved one by one.
Shen Tang first set his sights on "paper".
Wood, bamboo, reeds, and even straw and wheat straw can all be used as raw materials for making paper. This spring, Shen Tang had people cut down and collect young bamboo. He also collected other materials to see which one was more suitable.
The whole process is complicated and tedious, such as soaking to remove the green color, hammering and cleaning, then boiling, washing, steaming twice, removing the dirty water and fermenting with water, pounding the material with a stone mortar, repeatedly washing and pulping, and finally using a bamboo screen to scoop out the paper and dry it in the sun.
The whole process can be summarized in just a few sentences.
Chop the hemp, remove the green, pickle the ash, boil with fire, wash with water, copy with curtains, and brush with green. Shen Tang only knew the general process, and figured out how to make paper pulp and then scoop out the paper to dry. The various processes can only be figured out by the craftsmen themselves and mastered one by one.
Other materials are processed in a similar way to make pulp, and the rest of the process is pretty much the same.
The corner of Gu Chi's mouth twitched slightly.
Said: "My lord, your perseverance is truly commendable."
Last year, those vivid and lively secret drama pictures were drawn by Qi Yuanliang. He didn't know how good the master's painting skills were, but judging from Qi's expression, his singing skills seemed to be similar. Where did the master get the confidence to make a living by painting
"Haha, you don't deserve Wangchao's praise." Shen Tang naturally thought that Gu Chi was praising him, so he said a few polite and humble words, and then said excitedly, "When my album is published, I will give you a set for free!"
Gu Chi had no expression on his face.
What are you going to do with the lord’s paintings
As someone said, is it used to ward off evil spirits
Or is it used to attract evil
Gu Chi swallowed his thoughts silently.
Unable to bear the consequences of attacking her own master, she realized how cruel reality was when her album came out and no one was interested in it.
The second day is the autumnal equinox.
Good harvest and good luck.
With the previous experience of the Spring Ploughing Sacrifice, Shen Tang kept the written note close to his body, fearing that there would be another accident. Su Shang and his nine cubs had Qi Shan as their powerful backer. The cats relied on Qi Shan's power and came and went freely in the government office on weekdays, "running rampant and tyrannical", just like a cat bully evolved into a violent gang of ten cat bullies. Shen Tang did not dare to offend these little ancestors.
If we offend them, who will catch the mice
The stupid dog in Chu Yao's family was probably the most upset one, as he was bullied by the ten of them every day. The cat gang would provoke and bully him whether they were happy or not, and even use the interweaving and coordination tactics that Qi Shan had carefully trained. If the stupid dog called for help from other helpers, they would "surround and attack the reinforcements" and bully the dog so much that he jumped up and down and howled non-stop.
During that period, Chu Yao's face was extremely dark.
Shen Tang felt that even if there were factions within his group, it would probably be the cat faction and the dog faction that were sworn enemies.
_(:з)∠?)_
With experience, Shen Tang was much calmer this time.
Gather everyone before the auspicious time.
Similar to the process of spring plowing and sacrifice, Shen Tang had to first recite a prayer, worship heaven and earth, thank the spring god for the year's blessings, and then go to the field to harvest a bunch of corn. After she did all this, the nearby common people could start the formal autumn harvest.
It usually lasts for half a month.
Taking into account the lack of manpower in each household, Shen Tang also captured Zhao Feng and his group who were out repairing the road and who knew where they were. They were ready-made strong men, so there was no need to waste it.
The good harvest in Ha Yin this year is inseparable from their hard work, and they should come and enjoy the fruits together.
She straightened her appearance and said, "God of Spring, Shen Youli, the governor of Xiaguanhe County, led all the officials under his jurisdiction..."
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