Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

The time of joyful gathering is always short-lived. The next day, everyone left Xizhou and went back their own ways. After sending these people away, Jinghan was in a bad mood. It's a rare visit to my parents' family, but they only stay for one night and then leave. How can I not feel disappointed?

Zixuan also noticed something, so he hugged Jinghan and kept comforting him, saying that he would definitely be able to go home this year. Jinghan is not the kind of person who particularly likes to get into trouble, so she soon let it go and went to coax her son.

Now that Zixuan is the magistrate of the state, official affairs are even busier, and the counties below are all newly divided, so all kinds of things are complicated. In addition to the original magistrate Zhao and Chief Liu, the other four magistrates sent by the imperial court have not yet arrived, so Zixuan still has to worry about them.

It happened that Magistrates Zhao and Liu were about to take office. Before leaving, they came over to thank Zixuan.

"You two, you are promoted to the county magistrate this time because you are both down-to-earth and willing to work hard. Originally, according to the rules of the imperial court, you are not allowed to serve as officials in your hometown. However, our Xizhou is just established, and everything is not yet complete. The emperor is also considerate. That's why we let you two serve in the county under the jurisdiction of Xizhou. When you are in office, you must do a good job to live up to the court's hard work." Zixuan met these two people, and it was natural for them to do so. A warning.

Magistrates Zhao and Liu bowed to Zixuan and said, "Thank you for your support. We will do our best to do something practical for the people. Your hard work will not be in vain."

The three of them exchanged some pleasantries, and then Magistrate Zhao and Magistrate Liu took their leave. They had to go to their posts quickly.

Zixuan walked them to the door and gave them a few more instructions before turning back and continuing to handle official business. This year's floods have reduced grain production in various places. Although Xizhou was not flooded, grain production has also dropped a lot. The imperial court has reduced taxes this year, so the people can finally have enough to eat.

Fortunately, after four years of operation by Zixuan and his wife, every household in Xizhou has some foundation. One year's harvest is not good, but it doesn't mean it's hard to get through. Besides, there are still so many livestock, and any number of them can be exchanged for some money, and then we can just collect some grain from outside.

Fortunately, there are a lot of cattle and sheep raised here, so they generally don't need much food. If there were a lot of pigs, I would probably lose a lot this time.

In early October, it started to snow. This season is originally when people stay at home, but with so many workshops, people go to work in the workshops during this slack time.

Jinghan's winery has been closed for a long time, and this time it has restarted making wine. Although the grain harvest this year is less, the south has not been affected by the disaster. Jinghan has sent people to the south to collect grain. The profits from this brewing are still huge, even if the grain is recovered from outside, there is still a huge profit.

The wine shop was busy with work, and several batches of cloth were shipped out from the weaving shop. Today's weaving workshops are very large, and there are many female workers in them. There are also some women who take the wool home to spin and then send it back when the time comes, so that they can take care of their families without losing money.

The wages of female workers working in weaving mills are very high. They work in the weaving mill every day, and when they return home, their families are really kind to them. You know, there are more than two taels of silver a month, and there are a lot of dividends during the holidays. A female worker can earn more than sixty taels of silver a year. Even a grown man can't compare to him, so how can he not be treated well by his family members?

For those girls who are not married, their families are reluctant to let them get married early. And for those girls who are old enough to marry, many families are vying to marry them. Whoever brings back such a profitable wife would be extremely happy. Therefore, these female workers working in the weaving mills are living a pretty good life. Of course, there are those who are unsatisfactory, but they are in the minority after all.

At this time, those ducks and geese that have been raised should also be killed. Nowadays, ducks are raised in many places, not only those that eat meat, but also those that lay eggs. Jinghan figured out how to make preserved eggs, and also bought the secret recipe for salted duck eggs from an old woman in Yuepao Village. The salted duck eggs pickled with the secret recipe have a skin as clear and moist as jade, and the eggs inside are golden yellow and red, oily, and taste very delicious. Both of these are selling very well in other states and counties.

This time, Mingyu also took a fancy to the preserved eggs and salted duck eggs, thinking that they would sell well in the capital. However, it was obviously impossible to make it from here and then transfer it over there, so Jinghan gave these two recipes to Mingyu and sent two experienced workers over to set up a workshop there to try it out.

Other oil and sugar mills are also busy at this time. Although this year's production has been slightly reduced, slightly worse than in previous years, it can't cope with the larger amount planted at that time, so the total amount is not less than before.

Just like this, busy and busy, the days passed by. This year, she had agreed to go back to Songjiang River for the New Year, so in the winter months, Jinghan asked each village, ranch, workshop, etc. to submit their accounts. Jinghan looked at it one by one and calculated the profits of each place clearly. In addition, she also added 10% to the bonuses that should be paid out as before.

"Everyone has done a good job this year. Although the income is not as good as before, I don't blame you, it is God's fault. When the Chinese New Year comes, I will pay everyone more wages so that everyone can have a good year. "Jinghan said to the various managers.

Those in charge were naturally very happy. Jinghan had always been generous and never treated the people below badly when it came to money. These people know it well, so they are very grateful.

"This year for the Chinese New Year, the adults and I are going back to our hometown, so you have to take better care of these industries here. Don't make any mistakes, understand?" Jinghan warned uneasily.

"Every workshop here stops working on the 14th day of the twelfth lunar month, so they all go home to prepare for the New Year. After the new year, they don't start working until the 25th day of the first lunar month. They have been tired for a year, and it's time to take a good rest. Everyone go home and follow Let’s have a good reunion with our loved ones after going through so many things.”

"Thank you madam, madam, for thinking about everyone, you will definitely work hard in the future and help madam take good care of these properties." The stewards all said.

Jinghan nodded, "How are the conditions at those ranches?" She looked at the steward of the ranch and asked.

"Back to madam, we listened to madam and started repairing the livestock pens the year before last. This year it has been completely completed. The animals are let out to eat hay during the day and all return to the pens at night. This is good. Yes. This winter has been much colder than in previous years. With this enclosure, there have been no cases of freezing to death," said several ranch managers.

"That's good, I've been worried about it. The weather this year is really abnormal. It's not hot in summer, but it's freezing cold in winter. You have to be careful not to freeze the cattle and sheep to death." Jinghan has always been worried about this. .

"No, we all remember what Madam said. At night, the cattle and sheep are all crowded together, so don't worry." Those people replied.

Jinghan nodded, then said something else, and asked the people in charge to go back.

After a rough calculation of all the income this year, there is probably 80,000 taels of silver left. Compared with previous years, it was a little less, but it was pretty good, and Jinghan was quite happy. "Chunliu, hurry up and pack everything. We will go back in a few days."

Chun Xing also got married a while ago, and now Jinghan is served by Chun Liu and Chun Cao. In addition, four little girls were found, all of whom were taken by You Chunliu first. After a while, they all became comfortable and could be put around to serve.

This girl came and went one after another. Jinghan always felt that she was a little reluctant to let go, but she couldn't delay her. Girls had to get married sooner or later. Fortunately, these girls are basically allocated to the housekeepers of the family. Although they will no longer be around to serve them in the future, they can still see each other often, which is a bit of comfort.

Chunliu was also very capable, so she took the two little girls and went to pack things.

Zixuan hasn't been home for four or five years, and Jinghan hasn't been home for more than two years. There are a lot of things to take with her now. Jinghan ordered people to kill four cows and a dozen sheep. In addition, he also got two carts of fish from Yueliangpao. They were all big and looked very rare.

Of course, some local products are also indispensable, such as yellow millet, oily melon seeds with full seeds, emerald green mung beans, crystal clear vermicelli, and golden tobacco leaves. A lot of these are prepared.

It was spread that Zixuan and his wife were going back to their hometown this year. For a while, many people in the city came to give gifts, but Zixuan naturally didn't want them. Those who were in the Chamber of Commerce at the time have now come around, and they also understand that Zixuan is really doing good for the people. So Zixuan had to be invited this time. Later, Zixuan had no choice but to have a meal with them. At the banquet, all those people expressed their full support for the decision made by the state government in the future.

The herdsmen on the grassland have also come. Wuya and Batu are now the leaders of the tribe. They sent white felt blankets and rugs with beautiful colors. This carpet was gradually developed by women on the grassland after being inspired by Jinghan's knitting and other activities. The wool is spun into yarn, then dyed into various gorgeous colors, and finally, through the skillful hands of these women, carpets with gorgeous patterns are woven. Nowadays, women on the grasslands have learned to weave this kind of blankets, and they can earn a lot of money from just these.

Jinghan learned from Wu Ya and others that livestock pens had been built on the grasslands, and Jinghan felt relieved. You must know that the herdsmen originally lived a nomadic life of chasing water and grass. It is very difficult to change their ideas and form the current settlement model. This is what the herdsmen did because they were grateful for the kindness of Zixuan and his wife.