In the autumn of the third year of Wanli, in the forest-covered Daning, the men of Huojiapu and Lijiapu who had completed their first year of reclamation were stunned by the yields of corn and soybeans produced on the black soil.
Because the fertility of the land was beyond their imagination, the men, who had eaten wild vegetables, rabbits, snakes, frogs and other strange meats for several months, became emaciated and emaciated by mosquitoes and leeches, making it difficult to survive.
At that time, I could finally throw myself on the corn cobs and bean pods, cry and laugh, and let my heart out.
Three of the young men in Huojia Village had died at this time, leaving only fifty-three. Fortunately, Old Mrs. Huo, who contracted enteritis in the summer, survived after three days of diarrhea.
When they first arrived in Daning, they were unable to do anything in front of the grassy land. Only four skinny horses could plow the grass.
The men in Huojia Village did a simple calculation. Based on their previous experience in opening up new land in Shandong, the food produced by Ma Xinkai's real estate may not be enough to feed the villagers who will move there next year.
In desperation, they could only use human power instead of animal power. The Huo family men first used their heads and shovels to cut off the grass roots, put tattered clothes on their shoulders, pulled the long rope made of wild hemp fiber, and pulled hard with their bare arms.
The plow came to plow the ground. Fortunately, we brought a carpenter, otherwise it would have been troublesome just to bring a plowshare.
What made Old Madam Huo's eyes tear up was that on the third day, the new Li family arrived, and the Daning Mansion actually gave them two cattle.
Wang Peng went to the house to reason, and Wangfutai, who was tired and sallow-faced, met him in person and said sheepishly: "Don't you have four horses? The Li family came all the way begging for food, carrying farm tools on their backs. If there were no cattle, they could only
Starve to death - there are only these cows in the house, there is nothing we can do."
Wang Peng was annoyed by the government's logic and asked: "Then the government still cares about the Li family's food rations?"
Wang Futai led him to the granary, pointed to the old grain that had become moldy and contained a lot of gravel, and said: "This is the grain stored by the General Military Mansion to support the government. If you want it, I can give it to you. This is enough."
Wang Peng had no choice but to load a cart with grain and bring it back. Unless there was a famine, people would not eat this food at all. It was barely enough to feed livestock. Those animals were not picky about their food. But they also had to make it moldy.
Don't dare to feed them until the food is cooked. After all, these horses are now much more valuable than people.
Less than five days after the land was opened, several villagers in the Huo family began to fall ill. Because time was very tight, they spent all their time clearing the land and simply built two shacks instead of sleeping on the ground.
There was no doctor's medicine when they were sick, so Tong Chun introduced two kinds of herbal medicine, and the patients chewed them in their mouths. It was all about their physical strength. Fortunately, all the patients in the first wave came through.
Seeing the slow progress of the land opening, Mrs. Huo was so anxious that sparks were jumping around. At this time, Tong Chun appeared again like a giant Buddha emitting golden light. He gestured and told Mrs. Huo that Yu'er said that you don't have enough animals.
I have it - but I haven't domesticated it before and I can't cultivate the land. Can you domesticate it?
This was a desperate situation. Wang Peng said that it would be more cost-effective to sharpen the knife before chopping wood, so it would be more cost-effective to tame the animals first. So five men who often handled animals in Huojia Village were selected, including Huo Laoshuan, who was responsible for taming Tong Chun's horses.
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Horses can be used for riding and plowing, but they all need to be domesticated. Any kind of animal that is not domesticated cannot pull a cart or a plow.
The Han people domesticated livestock in a way passed down from generation to generation. Foals, calves, etc. would always follow the horse's father and the cow's mother. They had been exposed to it since childhood. They first learned to be a gang, and when they became a pony, the farmer would let them drive.
Yuan, acting as the main force.
Nowadays, we can't wait for the foals to grow up when we open up wasteland. We can only train the adult horses of Tong Chun's family. For several old livestock handlers, this can be regarded as the old revolution has encountered a new problem.
Adult horses have not been trained to pull plows in childhood and are not cooperative at all. At the beginning, Huo Laoshuan and others put the helper on the back of the horse's neck. These beasts felt that it was different from the saddle, so they started to buck violently.
son.
Huo Laoshuan and others had no choice but to select the tallest and strongest horse from the four horses brought by Huojia Village, and let the Tong family's horse help it by helping it, and taught it by passing on the help and guidance.
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However, a horse that has not been trained cannot push forward hard, and to put it bluntly cannot walk in a straight line at all. It did not turn over much ground in the whole day, and even tripped the driving horse several times.
The turning point came five days later. One day, Yu'er saw that her horse was beaten with blood by the Huo family. She felt reluctant to give up, so she did not take the horse back at night. She slept in the pen with the Huo family's horse.
Stable care.
As a result, after a night of communication between the horses of the two families, it may be that animals have animal language, or it may be enlightened by some passing fairy. When the horse was hitched again the next day, the Tong family's horse actually walked out of a straight line, and this was solved.
Big problem.
Tong Chun's family has six horses, and ten horses plow the fields together, which greatly speeds up the process of clearing the land. Tong Chun sends the family's laborers to observe and learn, and masters many skills.
Later, Mrs. Huo was dissatisfied and after discussing with Tong Chun, the villagers of the Huo family and the Tong family became a supporting pair, and the land given to the Tong family by the Huo family was cleared for planting.
They are making good progress here, but the Li family on the west side of the river is in dire straits. The old grain they eat is not nutritious, and they dare not eat seeds. Half of them need to go hunting every day, otherwise they will starve - and the rest
If half of the people didn't starve to death, how could they have the strength to cultivate wasteland?
Wangfutai sent Xiong Xiaoqi over once to have a look, and later sent two bags of food, which was just a drop in the bucket.
Even this small amount of rations made Mrs. Huo so angry that she even shouted that Wangfutai's ambitions were too far west, "Isn't it illegal for us to bring our own rations?!"
Taigong Huo complained, but he finally listened to Wang Peng and joined forces with the Li family. As a result, the land of the three families was opened and planted with the help of the Huo family. The old Huo family built their own house and built a granary.
It's all been delayed.
The head of the Li family has a grand name, Boss Li. Boss Li did not expect that the Northeast Enclosure would be so poor that he did not give them the rations promised by the court, and almost led the whole family to annihilation.
Fortunately, when I arrived in the Northeast, I met a group of good people from the Huo family and helped me, otherwise everything would have been ruined. Boss Li was very embarrassed and said he would give one of the cattle to the Huo family.
The great-grandfather of the Huo family was also generous and promised to give the Li family a horse, but he could not give it to the Li family at this time - the animals of the three families were all kept together for use.
The cooperative organizations organized voluntarily by simple farmers brought new changes to the reclamation of wasteland in Northeast China. In late June, the court gradually began to provide assistance. Occasionally, they could provide some food. Although it was only enough to survive, plus the wild vegetables collected
and the hunting harvest, the Li family finally woke up.
By late July, when corn, green cobs and beans were ready to eat, Mrs. Huo and Mr. Li were both sure that this large-scale immigration would be successful.
At Boss Li's suggestion, the three families formed the first village cooperative group in Shengjie Land, with Huo Taigong becoming the leader. After forming a blood alliance, they jointly hunted a bear to offer sacrifices to heaven, and then began to build houses.
With more people, there is greater strength. With nearly a hundred people working together, the efficiency is more than twice that of each individual building slowly. Mr. Huo divided the building of houses and warehouses into four working groups and ran the assembly line.
One group is the foundation group, which is responsible for laying the foundation. According to the address selected by each family, fifty men, led by the bricklayers, are responsible for digging trenches and collecting stones to lay the foundation.
The second group of ten people is the clay removal group, which collects yellow mud and mixes it with sun-dried wormwood and wild hemp fiber to make clay clay. The site is leveled by the river beach. These people are responsible for stepping on the mud to make clay clay and drying it in the sun.
The third group of ten is the lumber group, which follows the carpenters to cut wood and make beams and purlins.
The fourth group of fifteen people is the thatched roof group, responsible for going to the reed swamps by the lake to cut reeds, dry them, bundle them, and build thatched houses.
As for windows, doors, etc., the carpenters from the two villages are too busy together, and they plan to replace them all with wooden boards. They will slowly do it after the whole village moves in next year.
In this way, the process is greatly accelerated. The foundation here has been laid, the mud has been dried, and the wall can be started directly. After the wall is completed, the finished beams are put on, and the beams are tied to the purlins, and the thatch can begin. build.
Xiong Xiaoqi came several times when they were building a house. Seeing that their speed was unusual, he reported it to the prefect when he returned. The prefect Wang seemed to be overjoyed, and promoted the experience of the immigration cooperation group throughout Daning and reported it to the court. , and also named it "Daning Experience".
Tong Chun, a Jurchen, also came to help every day. He also learned the Huo family's house-building skills and put forward suggestions for improvements - a layer of mud and yellow mud cracks could not resist the cold wind here. The walls are built with three staggered seams, otherwise in the winter, the house will not be able to withstand the firewood burning.
What a fucking hindsight! Old Mrs. Huo scolded Tong Chun, blaming him for not telling him earlier. He had no choice but to tear down the first house that was almost built and lay a new foundation. Otherwise, the mud slab would be placed directly on the ground, and the rain would wash away it. If you soak it, you have to pour it.
In this way, the laborers of the Huo family, Li family, and Tong family worked hard for more than half a year. With sweat and tears, they withstood the successive attacks of the three legions of black mosquitoes, flower-footed mosquitoes, and leeches. They experienced their companions getting sick and weak, and finally The despair and pain caused by death - finally struggling to the harvest season.
The sickle chopped down the rows of corn, and the heavy corn cobs were pulled out and stored in the granary. They shone with golden light and reflected each other together with the sharp soybeans piled in the granary. This scene, at this time, the empire from the north to the Who can see the farmers in the south?
Such a scene made the men who had only known hard work all their lives unable to hold back their tears. They spread their joy and frightened the birds and beasts in the mountains in the northeast. They rushed to tell each other, saying that there was something happening in this land. new owner.
After that, the creatures on this black soil and all the gods who protect the Chinese nation will know that on this new fertile soil, a great nation has taken root starting from this autumn.