The wind picked up and made the woods rustle.
Withered yellow leaves fluttered and fell on the long embankment by the lake.
There was a child running under the embankment, holding a ripe melon in his arms, his face full of joy.
The old man stood barefoot in the shallow water by the lake, picking water plants and duckweed, planning to go back and feed the pigs.
A small boat floated on the lake and greeted the old man with a smile.
There were several wooden barrels placed on the boat, and several unwilling fish were struggling in them.
On this side of the long embankment, the neat farmland can be seen as far as the eye can see. It is now covered with golden color and a good harvest is imminent.
Rows of mulberry trees stand between each piece of farmland, like a natural dividing line, which is very eye-catching.
Under the mulberry tree, children clamored and climbed up.
It's August, and there are not many mulberries left. The ones in the low places have been picked and eaten, and only a few are left in the high places.
One young man was very agile and climbed to the highest point. He ate more than ten mulberries and refused to come down. His companions were so anxious that they scratched their heads and urged them.
The young man stared into the distance.
The sky is blue, the clouds are light, and golden has become the theme color of the earth.
A group of knights in bright clothes and angry horses walked slowly along the path, pointing from time to time.
Their interest was very high and their voices were loud.
The leader was wearing a blue robe, surrounded by stars like a moon. He said something happy, and his hearty laughter even carried along with the autumn wind.
Wherever he passed, all the farmers in the fields bowed down.
He seemed to be very kind. After getting off his horse, he chatted with the farmer for a long time. Before leaving, he personally gave the farmer a piece of cloth.
The boy suddenly felt that picking mulberries to eat was quite boring.
He got off the tree and gave up his position to others, his brows and eyes full of thoughts.
The group of knights had slowly walked to the other side of the lake.
"When we were opening up wasteland, the grain harvest was so impressive that it made people frown." The leader dismounted his horse again, squatted on the edge of the field, and watched carefully.
The ears of millet are plump, golden, hanging down to the ground, and they look really good.
"Can one acre of land yield three bushels and five bushels of dendrobium?" he asked.
"Ming Gong, we should be able to handle three dendrobiums and five buckets of dendrobium in the north and south two villages of Caiguan, and we will have enough fertilizer," said Pei Jin, who was in charge of managing the manor.
"Meng Sun, you just came from Bianliang, how is the situation there?" Shao Xun stood up, looked at Zhang Bin, and asked.
"It's generally the same." Zhang Bin said: "This year's crops are abundant, and the harvest should be very good."
"Let me tell you, how can we suffer disaster every year?" Shao Xun said with a smile.
He has been numbed by the climate of this Little Ice Age.
Since the severe drought nine years ago, Henan has experienced two major disasters and one moderate disaster. The minor disasters are localized, so I won’t talk about that.
It’s really hard to cope with so many disasters.
It is said that after three years of farming, there will be a year's surplus of grain. The frequency of disasters is enough to drain the people's surplus grain. In fact, it is even more serious, because the distribution of grain is uneven. It is destined that some areas can barely survive, while some counties and counties have only a few people.
Eat each other.
There are also the effects of war.
If it had not been for the implementation of the two-year and three-crop system, Henan would have collapsed more severely, fewer people would have survived, and Guangchengze would have been greatly affected. How could it be possible to have this peaceful and rural scene like today?
"The autumn harvest is about to be carefully gathered, dried, and returned to the warehouse." Shao Xun got on the horse again, looked at the endless fields, and said: "We will use troops next year."
Zhang Bin silently looked at the autumn wilderness.
In the past, I had only heard people mention Guangchengze, which is almost half the size of a county. There were almost no households here at the beginning, and all the able-bodied prisoners were used to open up wasteland and farm the land. Even in the year of severe drought, a winter wheat harvest was still harvested in May.
Without that season of food, it would probably be very difficult for Mr. Liang.
This area has been cultivated for more than ten years. There are thousands of hectares of fertile land, criss-crossing water ponds, mulberry orchards and fruit groves everywhere, and large pastures among the hills and valleys. Even though Liang Gong now has more than half of the north, Guangchengze and Liang County have a lot of grain.
The harvest of fruits, vegetables, meat and milk should not be underestimated.
After digging a channel leading to Ru River, grain can be transported eastward by ship to Xiangcheng, and then connected to Ying River to reach Xuchang.
After arriving in Xuchang, you can also transport it by water to Suiyang Canal, and then go north to Bianliang.
If you go directly north from Guangchengze, you can get to the vicinity of Yique, and then walk dozens of miles by land to Luoyang.
To the south, you can reach the northern end of Wanye. You can transfer it by land for a short distance, and then you can transport it to Fangcheng via the Shahe River. Of course, Nanyang does not need Guangchengze's grain.
Shi Le's defeat may also be due to his inability to farm.
****
"Sit on the ground." Shao Xun put down his fishing rod and said.
Hui Wan shook her head and refused.
"If it were a talisman, it would have been sitting on the ground." Shao Xun said regretfully.
Hui Wan was a little curious about this sister. Wouldn't she be scolded if she did this?
The dull sound of horse hooves sounded in the distance.
Shao Xun had two futons brought over, and he sat side by side with his daughter, looking across the lake.
Not long after, in the shallow swamp, water splashed everywhere, and countless galloping horses came out from behind the sparse forest, moving forward inexorably.
A few hundred steps away, there was another group of horses grazing. Seeing this, a majestic stallion jumped out of the group and rushed out.
"Ah!" Hui Wan was stunned, and inadvertently, all the wild flowers in her hand fell.
"The horses are about to fight." Shao Xun laughed.
"Horses can still fight?" Hui Wan asked in surprise.
"You have lived in Suyu Palace for so long and you have never seen horses fighting?" Shao Xun asked in disbelief.
Hui Wan shook her head.
Shao Xun understood a little. It was normal for him to have such a strict mother. The generals of the Princess Mansion must have received strict orders not to allow Hui Wan to stray too far from Suyu Palace.
"I didn't know horses could fight." Pei Lingyan walked over and asked curiously, "Why are they fighting?"
"Fighting for women." Shao Xun looked at Pei Lingyan and Sima Maohuo who were walking this way with evil intentions.
Sima Maobao looked at him with a frosty face, and still doesn't want to talk to him.
She was already in her forties, and her appearance was gradually declining. But Shao Xun suddenly became interested and insisted on reliving his old dream last night. After being kicked several times, he finally climbed up.
Simimao didn't dare to get pregnant again. Naturally, other things took over at the last moment.
After she came to her senses, she felt that this was a great shame and humiliation.
The daughter of the majestic Emperor Wu, the most noble princess of the Jin Dynasty, her face was abused like this by you?
"A horse is like a human." Pei Lingyan chuckled lightly, looked at Shao Xun and said, "A human is like a horse."
Shao Xun was a little unable to hold back and awkwardly changed the subject: "Guangchengze Ranch currently has dozens of large horses and countless small horses, totaling more than 20,000 horses. It seems that they are still not divided carefully enough, and they often get into fights."
"I've laughed a lot these days." After saying that, Shao Xun looked at Pei Lingyan and said happily.
"All your skills are devoted to coaxing women." Pei Lingyan rolled her eyes at him, stood beside him, and asked, "Didn't you want to breed new horses before? Did you get any results?"
"Do you remember this?" Shao Xun was a little surprised: "How can it be so simple to breed new horses? It depends on luck. Maybe it will take decades without any results."
He pointed to the horses on the other side of the pond and said, "Have you seen those strong stallions? They have been carefully selected for more than ten years and slowly raised. They are tall and strong, can run fast, and can carry heavy loads." The mares around the stallions are also unusual and have been selected over many years. In short, a stallion cannot just find a female to breed with, everything has rules."
One of the key points of horse politics is that horses cannot be allowed to mate at will, otherwise it will be over.
Excellent genes, such as shoulder height, weight, speed, endurance, temperament, etc., must be purified in some way. Random mating cannot achieve this.
Guangchengze only maintains a small number of stallions all year round.
Stallions that were not good enough were directly gelded and sent to the battlefield in batches to be used as consumables.
The remaining stallions all have a huge harem, which is great, but they cannot arbitrarily choose mares to mate. The mating partners are all provided by the pasture to further breed better horses.
But in matters like breeding, luck is too important.
Sometimes they even take a detour and directly go backwards. For example, if a certain stallion that was previously thought to be excellent is found to be defective, then it needs to be eliminated. However, its defective gene may have been widely circulated and is unacceptable.
But this is how horse breeds are cultivated all over the world. It is hard work, with a lot of investment, and it may not necessarily produce results, but it must be done. Because it is impossible for excellent horse breeds to appear in nature, and a large number of them will be used in wars in later generations. Excellent horse breeds are all artificially bred and purified, and are more than one grade higher than naturally mated horse breeds.
"It's only you who have spent more than ten years doing this." Pei Lingyan sighed: "Actually, there is no shortage of horses now, right?"
"There is no shortage of horses, but there is a shortage of good horses." Shao Xun said: "But you are right, Hua Nu. You don't need good horses to fight the Huns, and their horses are not good either. This is the gift I left for my descendants. , I hope there will be results."
After saying that, he stood up, swung the fishing rod, and said: "If I don't want to fish anymore, I might as well shoot fish with a walking bow."
Pei Lingyan covered his mouth and smiled, straightened Shao Xun's robe, and said: "This year's grain harvest is abundant, the horses are so strong, and there are many equipment and reserves. You should feel relieved, right?"
"Don't worry." Shao Xun said: "Next year we will enter Pingyang and snatch Liu Cong's queen back."
Pei Lingyan looked at him with reproachful eyes.
This man recently accompanied her everywhere to relax, which moved her deeply. She felt that her impulse back then was right, but now he was deliberately talking about it. She really didn't know how to express it.
"Actually, that's not what I'm most relieved about." Shao Xun took her hand, climbed a high slope, pointed to the endless wilderness and villages below, and said, "Since we entered Xiangcheng and Luonan, we have seen
Something that makes me very happy."
"What's the matter?"
"Children are running all over the ground." Shao Xun said: "Every time we go to a village, there are children everywhere, many of them are three or four years old, and the most are five or six years old. When peasant women are hoeing, they often carry babies on their backs. There are too many children.
, it shows that people can live their lives well, how can I not be happy about it?"
See the subtleties and know the work.
There is a brewing industry in the countryside and there are many children. You can see a lot from these details.
Officials' reports can be deceiving, but these details cannot.
"Now you look a bit like a hero." Pei Lingyan hugged him lightly and said.
Suddenly there was a loud shouting from the bottom of the mountain.
The two went out in search of fame, but saw many dealers coming out, excited and running around telling each other.
"What happened to them?"
Shao Xun laughed loudly, hugged Pei Lingyan with all his strength, and said: "I am now rich and powerful, with great power and beauty in my arms. How can I forget my old friends? All the land in the north and south villages of Caiguan will be distributed to the customers of the village, and the people will be organized into households.
From now on, they will have a family legacy that can be passed down to future generations."
The cheers from the bottom of the mountain became more and more enthusiastic.
Pei Lingyan stared at it blankly, and even Sima Mao's eyes were attracted.
In August of the second year of Shengui (318), Damin, Henan.
The people rejoiced, harvested and dried the crops quickly.
In September, Yongjia Cangcheng, located in the middle of Guangchengze, could hardly store any grain. So 500,000 husks of dendrobium and wheat were allocated and shipped to Dongyangmen Taicang in Luoyang for storage.
On September 15th, Shao Xun ended his inspection here and headed to his last destination: Yiyang.
Huwei General Shao Shen personally led the Zhongwu Army to Gancheng to greet him.
Chapter completed!