Before winter, the weir pond halfway up the mountain had already been dug, and all that was left was to continuously consolidate the bottom and walls of the pond.
Most of the workers were transferred down the mountain. Some were laying foundations for the high-roller trucks, while others were digging aqueducts at the foot of the mountain.
Especially the water diversion canal needs to pass through the fields of many villagers along the way. If it is placed elsewhere, this is a difficulty in water conservancy projects, and many water canals are abandoned halfway because of this - land acquisition is required!
Instead of forcibly expropriating the land, Ju Ming adjusted the land ownership and allocated a piece of wasteland elsewhere to fill it up for them.
As long as this canal is dug and combined with high-rotation trucks, half of the paddy fields in the village can be irrigated.
This winter was extremely cold, and the temperature dropped sharply at the end of September on the lunar calendar.
In order to finish the work before it snowed, Ju Ming hired more young men. The wages could only be owed for now and would be deducted from taxes or land rent next year.
The villagers were dubious about this, but they still came with their hoes. As long as Zhu Ming fulfills his promise and really repays their wages in the future, he will definitely gain a high degree of trust from the villagers.
In mid-October, when the ditch was still dug, it suddenly started to rain with sleet.
We can no longer continue the construction, but fortunately more than half of the excavation has been completed, and the high-rotating drum truck has been completed.
"Test the car!"
Following Zhu Guoxiang's order, the two cattle began to work, using gears to drive the tall barrel cart. At the same time, the river, which was not turbulent, was also exerting a little momentum on the barrel cart.
There are two modes of high-turning waterwheels. One is driven entirely by water power and does not require gears. It is only suitable for places with rapid water flow. The other requires animal power. The large-tube waterwheel depicted in the "Agricultural Book" of the Yuan Dynasty,
It clearly has wooden gears.
Under the watchful eyes of many villagers, a ten-meter-high large-tube truck took the river water into the diversion channel.
Those diversion channels are all in the air, made of wood, and supported by many brackets below.
The reason why the drum truck and diversion channel are built so high is purely due to the poor terrain. The high-rotation drum truck was invented to irrigate the upper acres. As for the lower acres, when water is needed, the gaps in the field ridges can be opened, and the water will flow naturally.
It just flowed down.
From now on, it will be maintained every year, and the drum car and water diversion channel will be brushed with tung oil, and seriously decayed wood will be replaced directly.
At this moment, the river water passed through the paddy fields from high altitude and fell into the canal at the foot of the mountain.
Huge and ingenious!
Even the villagers who did not have paddy fields also cheered.
Not to mention seeing it before, they had never even dreamed that there was such a magical machine in the world.
The faces of the villagers who own paddy fields are full of excitement. Next year, they will finally no longer have to work hard to carry water. With the help of large trucks, they can irrigate by paying some water money.
The new village chief Zhu is indeed more effective than the bandit leader!
Ju Ming smiled and said to his father: "If this is a strategy game, there will probably be a message: Di, your village has built a large cart, agriculture +3, free labor +3, village chief prestige +10."
"It's easy for you. This big cart makes me very tired." Zhu Guoxiang said angrily.
Dean Zhu used to play video games in his spare time.
At first it was Red Alert and World of Warcraft, but later his wife took him to steal food, and he could understand what his son said.
The weather is getting colder and the canal work has been completely stopped, and the remaining work will continue to be dug next year.
More than ten days later, a few light snowfalls followed by heavy snowfall.
"This damn weather is worthy of the Little Ice Age!"
Ju Ming sat in the main room, throwing pieces of wood into the brazier from time to time, looking at the snowflakes floating outside with emotion.
Zhu Guoxiang rubbed his hands and turned to the fire: "There is no air conditioning or heating, so it is very difficult. The villagers in the mountainous area are okay, there are trees everywhere, and there is enough wood to keep the fire for the winter. It is difficult for the residents in the city. It has been snowing for so long, and there must be no woodcutter."
When my husband went to sell firewood, the stored firewood was burned out and he had to carry it."
Ju Ming kept stamping his feet: "It has to be ten degrees below zero, and it's still cold even if it's roasting on the fire."
"That's because you didn't close the door!" Zhu Guoxiang went over and closed the door, and it felt much warmer instantly.
Zhu Ming dragged a bench and lay down on it: "The doors and windows are closed, so we can't enjoy the snow. Dean Zhu, do you still have a cigarette?"
"Where's yours?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.
"It's over." Zhu Ming said.
Zhu Guoxiang took out a pack of Huazi from his arms and carefully counted the last five and a half cigarettes. He handed the half cigarette to his son and lit a complete cigarette himself: "Did tobacco come from America?"
"Yes." Zhu Ming didn't mind it either, he picked up half a stick of Huazi and smoked it.
Zhu Guoxiang stuffed the four remaining cigarettes back and said whimsically: "If our rebellion succeeds, is it possible to send troops across the Pacific to get some tobacco from the Americas and plant it?"
Ju Ming was amused: "Then the history books from now on will probably write like this: The founding emperor and his father were addicted to smoking and couldn't stop it, so they recruited sergeants, built huge ships, crossed the ocean, and went on an expedition to barbarians to obtain tobacco and return it."
Zhu Guoxiang also laughed and bent down to fiddle with the firewood in the brazier.
In the next room, several women were joking and talking about interesting things while collecting shoe soles for their family members.
The children were at Meng Zhao's house. Meng Xiucai taught the children in person, teaching them new words and Arabic numerals.
The name has also been changed accordingly: "一" is a positive number, "一" is a complex number, and "1" is a simple number.
Deng Chun, who was already married and had children, heard that Meng Xiucai was teaching children, so he sneaked in and studied with him. He knew more than 80 common words, and he also knew that "kao" means dead father and "妣" means dead mother, and he was familiar with them.
The size ratio of regular script and official script.
"Puff puff puff!"
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Bai Sheng's voice came from outside: "Ms. Zhu, Brother Zhu, there is something good!"
Ju Ming stood up and opened the door, but was suddenly hit by a blast of cold wind.
Bai Sheng carried a goat and said with a smile on his face: "I went down the mountain and bought a goat. I will treat all my brothers to a good meal today."
This guy is also a cheerful person, he likes to make friends when he is a naughty guy, and he likes to be generous even if he doesn't have much money.
It has been snowing in the past few days, which made Bai Sheng feel exhausted. He simply ran to buy a goat and brought it back for a dinner party.
Ju Ming turned to look at his father: "Eating mutton hot pot?"
"good idea!"
Zhu Guoxiang was also overwhelmed by the heavy snow, and arranged: "You kill the sheep and skin them, and I will get the vegetables and dipping sauce."
When the women in the neighboring house heard about the cooking, they all put down their sewing and came over to help.
Zhu Guoxiang braved the light snow and went to the field to cut white cabbage.
White cabbage is an evolved species of cabbage and is the ancestor of Chinese cabbage.
The evolution of Chinese cabbage into the form of cabbage was first recorded in the "Qing Yi Lu" in the early Northern Song Dynasty. It was not until the Ningzong period of the Southern Song Dynasty that there was finally a clearer record: the big one is called Chinese cabbage, and the small one is called Chinese cabbage.
At this moment, the white cabbage that Zhu Guoxiang cut back was only covered with two or three leaves in the middle, and the surrounding leaves were all growing outward. Moreover, the stems were narrow and the leaves were wide, and the color was green and white, and the appearance was between pak choi and Chinese cabbage.
In the middle of winter, these are the only vegetables left.
Director Zhu went to pick vegetables, while Village Chief Zhu was sharpening his knife to the goats.
Holding the butcher's knife, Ju Ming stood for a long time without making a move. He had already learned how to kill people, but he had no experience in killing sheep.
"Let me come!"
Zhang Guangdao pinned the goat down in the snow, bent his knees to press the goat's body, pulled the goat's horns with his left hand, and stabbed it with the knife in his right hand.
Bai Sheng handed over a wooden basin. The sheep's blood could not be wasted.
Everyone was busy in full swing, and even the children came out to have a snowball fight, sweeping away the depression that had been pent up in the house for the past half month.
It's snowing lightly today, so I can finally move around. The heavy snowfall a few days ago was so helpless.
There is snow on the ground, reaching up to the knees!
We moved the clay stove into the main room, set up an iron pot and started to cook the soup base. There were not many condiments, and there was no chili, so we had to make do with it.
Meng Zhao rolled up his sleeves and watched from the side: "Sir, are you going to make shabu-shabu?"
"right."
When Zhu Guoxiang heard the name, he knew it was the ancient name for hot pot.
The other name of rabbit meat hot pot in the Song Dynasty is elegant: Baxiagong.
It comes from two poems, "The snow surges over the clear river, the wind blows and the clouds shine at night - the rolling white soup is like the snow surging over the river on a clear day." Holding the white rabbit meat between the chopsticks, and rinsing it into the soup pot, it immediately turned into
The red color seems to be reflected in the sunset on Fengzhaozi.
The sheepskin was peeled off, and several grown men cut the bones and meat, cutting the goat into eight pieces in minutes.
Remove the big bones and throw them into the pot to make soup.
Ju Ming cut a large piece of fat and thin meat, put it in a wooden basin and froze it in the snow. After a while, when it became a little hard, he took it back to the house and sliced the mutton.
In the middle of the afternoon, everyone sat around three tables, including the village leaders and their families.
"Dad, please say a few words." In front of outsiders, Ju Ming was very respectful to his father.
Zhu Guoxiang raised the wine cup and said: "Thank you for your hard work this year. There are still two days of winter solstice, so let's celebrate in advance. When new tea is sold next year, corn and sweet potatoes are planted, and the water canals are completely dug, Daming Village will definitely be even more prosperous.
Drink this bowl full!"
"Done!"
Ju Ming shouted with a smile.
"Dry!"
Not only the men were shouting, but the women were also shouting, but they didn't cheer directly.
Three small stoves were placed on the table, and earthenware pots were placed on the stoves.
No one needs to teach this stuff, everyone knows how to cook it. It only has mutton, offal, blood and cabbage, seasoned with ginger, garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper, and it tastes extremely delicious now.
The big bones that have not been shaved are taken out of the soup and thrown to the children to chew slowly.
Shi Biao had a great time eating mutton. It was so fun here. The village chief not only took care of him, but also made many friends. He could even eat meat and drink wine occasionally.
Zhu Ming rinsed the mutton and said: "Deng Chun, Deng Xia, Shi Biao, when spring comes, you should come over more often and practice martial arts with everyone. You can share some of the fields allocated to you with the villagers, so you don't have to work so hard."
"I listen to the village chief!" the three people agreed quickly.
After the Zhu family and his son finished speaking, Zhang Guangdao raised his glass again: "What I enjoy most is making friends with many good men. As long as brothers work together, we can go anywhere in the world from now on. I drank this bowl of wine, and I respect all brothers!"
"Drink!" Bai Sheng responded with a toast.
At the main table, people kept urging people to drink and toast, but Shi Biao and Meng Zhao just sat there stupidly.
Yu Shanwei was sitting at the next table, pretending to stand up to add firewood to the small stove, and took the opportunity to secretly pat her husband on the back.
Meng Zhao is not stupid, of course he knows how to make a toast. But most of the people here are reckless men and have nothing in common with him. Since they can't get in the conversation, they just bury their heads in the meat.
After being reminded by his wife, Meng Zhao finally stood up: "Thanks to Mr. and Dalang for taking them in, I offer you a bowl. I wish Daming Village will prosper!"
"Okay, done!" Zhu Ming smiled.
Zhu Guoxiang also raised his wine bowl.
Yu Shanwei heard some noise again and felt a little speechless. After her husband paid respects to the village chief and his son, he went back to eating meat in silence without communicating with other people at all.
There is a lot of wine in the village, most of which were left behind by the bandit leaders.
There were also some who came from Xiaobai's aunt's family. Zhu Ming didn't take any money at that time, but he emptied the wine stash.
You have a bowl, I have a bowl, the wine is full of wine, and the atmosphere is more harmonious.
Bai Sheng drank too much and had to urinate urgently, so he walked out crookedly.
Zhu Ming also followed him, holding hands and supporting each other, and when we got to the hut, we put water together: "After the Chinese New Year, you come down the mountain with me. First, go to Shangbai Village to find Bai Sanlang, and then go with him to Yangzhou City and Xingyuan Mansion. I will
Take Shi Biao with you too, you have a good brain, keep an eye on him all the way."
Bai Sheng shook his head and became a little more awake: "I remember."
I went to Yangzhou City to find Fatty Zheng and Li Hanzhang.
When I went to Xingyuan Mansion, I sent corn and sweet potatoes to Lu Tixue.
By the way, bring back the custom-made weapons for free!
Lifting up his pants and tightening his belt, Zhu Ming looked outside and saw that the snow seemed to be getting heavier again.
He didn't know yet that just these days, the Central Plains region was experiencing severe white disasters.
Heavy snow fell for more than ten consecutive days inside and outside Kaifeng City, with more than eight feet of snow on the ground. The doors of houses and shops in the city were all blocked by snow. The government mobilized people to clear the snow every day. The ground was frozen, and horses could not move. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty
Order all officials to enter the court in sedan chairs.
A large number of beggars froze to death, and there are dedicated personnel collecting the bodies every day!
This was the largest snowfall ever recorded in the entire Huizong Dynasty.
Lu Tixue's letter of recommendation and personal letters were delayed due to some matters and were not delivered to Kaifeng until the road was blocked by heavy snow.
(I recommend "Kangxi, Your Qing Dynasty is Fallen" by Da Luoluo. Just by listening to the name, you will know what it is about. This book has already ranked first on the new book list in history. If you like it, you can read it.)