After breakfast, Chen Jingke took the initiative to find Zhang Ping, and the two came to his small courtyard together.
Take out the rice seeds soaked yesterday and plant them in three pots.
After finishing her work, she warned: "When it's hot at noon, take the pot out to bask in the sun. At other times, you can put it inside the house. If the weather turns cold and it rains for days, you have to light a brazier in the house..."
At this point, she paused and said: "Your room has a fire wall and a fire kang, which is more convenient for keeping warm."
Chen Jingke nodded and said, "I understand."
Zhang Ping took out a few more pages from his sleeve and said: "These are some tips for growing rice that I wrote. You can take a look. I hope it will be helpful."
Chen Jingke said gratefully: "Thank you. If these rice seeds are successfully cultivated, I will definitely write your name on them."
Zhang Ping stared at him with big eyes. Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, her heart felt warm, but she shook her head and said, "I didn't do anything, so I don't dare to take credit."
Chen Jingke said a little domineeringly: "Why didn't you do it? If it weren't for you, I don't know whether these rice seeds would be viable. Don't refuse, it's such a happy decision."
Zhang Ping glanced at him again, then lowered his head without knowing what he was thinking, and did not refute again.
Then the two went to the garden in the courtyard, trimmed the plot of land she had selected, and even watered it themselves.
Yi Nu and Yuzhu naturally came to help, but they knew nothing about farming and could only help with some physical work.
"The grass must be removed to prevent it from competing with the seedlings for fertilizer. White land is the best time to remove weeds. Where there are no crops, just plow the grass deeply and dig out the roots."
Zhang Ping explained to them: "You can also apply fertilizer in advance. Ordinary fertilizer will easily burn the crops to death. Just leave it in the ground to rot for a few days and it will be fine."
Yuzhu asked curiously: "Why does the fertilizer burn the crops to death when it is obviously not hot? Why doesn't it burn to death after it decays?"
Zhang Ping shook his head and said: "I don't know either, but this is the experience passed down from generation to generation. I have tried it and it is true."
At this time, Chen Jingke explained: "Most objects contain heat, but usually this heat is hidden, or our eyes cannot see it."
"This heat can be released through some special methods. For example, if the grain is covered for too long, it will become hot, moldy and rotten. This is the result of the release of the heat contained inside the grain."
"Fertilizer also contains heat. If you apply fertilizer directly to crops, it will be burned to death. After the fertilizer decays, the heat is released, and the remaining part is fertilizer, which is harmless to the crops."
Zhang Ping was stunned for a moment, then showed a thoughtful expression.
Yi Nu and Yuzhu both looked at a loss, but precisely because they didn’t understand them, they felt more profound and said with admiration: “I see, real people know so much.”
Of course Chen Jingke could tell that they didn't understand, but this kind of thing couldn't be explained clearly in a few words, so he didn't explain too much.
He just said: "You just need to know that the excess heat in the fertilizer can be released through decay. Putting the fertilizer in the ground will decay too slowly. The method of retting was invented during the Qin and Han Dynasties to make it faster."
"Just dig a hole in the ground, put the fertilizer in it, and then cover it with a layer of soil to keep it warm. This way the fertilizer will decay faster."
"The high temperature generated by retting can also kill insect eggs in the fertilizer to prevent them from harming crops and reducing yields. The juice produced is a pesticide and can be sprayed on crops to kill pests."
The ancients discovered the existence of fertilizer long ago. The earliest slash-and-burn cultivation found that plant ashes could fertilize fields, so they took the initiative to burn dead branches and leaves into ashes as fertilizer.
From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, retting and composting methods were summarized, which not only solved the problem of root burning of farmyard manure but also utilized waste, so farmyard manure began to be widely used.
After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was discovered that some plants could also fertilize the fields, mainly beans. Planting beans could not only harvest grain, but also fertilize the fields with straw.
Of course, these things are too unfamiliar to Yi Nu and Yuzhu, and they listen to them completely as stories.
Zhang Ping is different. She has read agricultural books and knows about slash-and-burn cultivation, retting and composting, planting beans to fertilize fields, etc., but she does not know about this development process.
I don’t know why retting doesn’t burn the roots, I don’t know that retting juice can kill insects, and I don’t know that soybean fertilization is because rhizobia fix nitrogen.
Listening to Chen Jingke’s explanation was an enlightenment, and all the questions that I couldn’t figure out before were answered one by one.
At the same time, she once again felt his erudition and knowledge. Not only was he good at writing poems, but he also had such in-depth research on agriculture.
These things were very common in previous lives, just pay attention and are everywhere on the Internet.
There are also many experts who have organized and connected ancient agricultural books into a series to facilitate people to better understand the development process of agriculture.
However, in this era, books are precious, and knowledge is even more precious. Being able to sort out these things and string them together is a very remarkable thing.
So after listening, Zhang Ping's beautiful eyes sparkled and she stared at him and said, "I can't believe that a real person has such in-depth research on agriculture. I don't know how many times this little girl has made a fool of herself before. I hope you won't be surprised."
Chen Jingke was a little embarrassed by her look and said modestly: "Mrs. Zhang, please don't say that. I have only read a few books to understand some theoretical knowledge. In terms of farming, any old farmer is better than me."
"What surprises me is you. I really didn't expect that you know how to farm and are willing to work in the fields yourself."
Zhang Ping seemed to have found a confidant, and opened her heart and said: "My second brother likes farming, and there are many agricultural books at home. When I was young, I was curious about how food grows in the fields, so I often went to him."
"The two men devoted themselves to serving the Heavenly Lord and never married. They treated me as their own child. They taught me how to read and write and farmed. But..."
Speaking of this, she felt a little depressed and said, "But other people don't understand him and think farming is beneath his status, so they don't allow me to farm with him."
Chen Jingke sighed: "The world is like this. They say they emphasize agriculture, but in fact they regard farmers as despicable people... What happened next?"
Zhang Ping seemed to have thought of something interesting. A smile appeared on his lips and he said: "The second brother doesn't listen to them. He scolds them every time they pick up the bowl to eat and put it down to scold their mother. They are not good people."
"He not only took me to farm, but also took me to the water to catch fish and shrimps, and to play in the market."
It can be seen that she likes the second grandfather very much. When she talks about him, his face is filled with a happy smile, and Chen Jingke is also sincerely happy for her.
"You have a good man."
"Well, yes." Zhang Ping nodded heavily.
But in today’s world, is this really a good thing?
She couldn't help but recall what Er Weng told her: a girl will eventually get married, and her husband's family will never allow her to do these things.
So after playing, she must learn how to be a lady, how to support her husband and raise children. Otherwise, no matter how happy she is now, she will be miserable in the future.
At that time, she asked innocently, why couldn't she find a husband who also liked farming?
Erweng told her that because of etiquette and dignity, she could not marry a farmer, and no wealthy family would allow their housewives to plow the fields.
She has lived in a wealthy family since she was a child, so she naturally understands this truth. Therefore, she has not forgotten to read and learn ethics, and strive to become a person who meets the expectations of the public.
But now...she glanced at Chen Jingke and thought to herself: Erweng, there may be men in the world who really don't care about women farming.
