Guan Zongbao got up at five o'clock in the morning, fed Huang's mulberries, and started the day's work. After finishing the housework, he made breakfast. He collected the silkworm droppings that he had left in the early morning instead of feeding the fish. Last year, the local Mr. Zhu's house had a lot of them.
Purchasing silkworm excrement, it is said that some kind of patent medicine workshop was opened to use silkworm excrement to make medicine, and the purchase price was high. Therefore, the surrounding silkworm farmers would rather collect the silkworm excrement and sell it to the Zhu family. Instead, the feed for the fish pond needs to go to the wild.
A lot of grass is harvested to replenish it.
At dawn, Mr. Huang got up and ate pickles after taking a nap to refresh himself. Taking advantage of the cool morning temperature, he and his son took sickles, hoes, mulberry baskets and other farm tools and went to the mulberry garden to weed. The weeds can be used as grass in the fish pond.
But this is far from enough, so he also harvests a large amount of aquatic grass piles from the swamps and water surfaces near the mulberry garden to make green manure to supplement the fish pond feed.
The mulberry leaves in the early morning are covered with dew. Picking them to feed the silkworms can easily make the silkworms sick. After the dew evaporates, it is the best time to collect the mulberry leaves. After finishing the previous farm work, the two began to pick the mulberry leaves.
The mulberry gardens in Jiujiang are different from those in the south of the Yangtze River. The amount of mulberry planted depends on the fatness and thinness of the land. For fat ones, each row is one foot or two inches apart, while for thin ones, each row is one foot, five or six inches apart. The spacing is mostly seven or eight feet, which is about one acre of mulberry.
There are five to six thousand mulberries planted in the ground. However, the planting density of arbor mulberries in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River is only 240 mulberries per mu, and the lake mulberries in Jiangnan are only 200 mulberries per mu, forming a huge contrast. The life span of Guangdong mulberries can generally reach thirty years.
Mulberries planted before the beginning of spring will produce a harvest of mulberry leaves in the third year of the second year. If they are planted in the first and second months of the first month, the harvest will only be harvested in the second year.
The biggest difference from Jiangnan mulberry gardens is that every year around the winter solstice, there is a "cutting" process. Counting from the root of the mulberry plant, leaving an inch of mulberry head, the mulberry planter quickly cuts it across with a sickle, and is not allowed to cut twice in a row.
Prevent damage to the mulberry trees. Pruning usually coincides with the harvest of pond fish. At this time, water is drained out of the pond, and the pond mud is cultivated on the base. The fertility of the pond mud is used to provide mulberry trees for the winter, and it can also prevent the growth of weeds.
But if you need to supply silkworm seeds for overwintering, there is a so-called mulberry plant. The mulberry planters do not cut the branches during the winter solstice, and let some of the horizontal branches grow, which is called "big tree tail". At the end of the year and the beginning of spring, some young leaves will sprout.
, called "mulberry flowers", which requires seed producers to make reservations from mulberry growers. Due to the extremely low yield, this part of the mulberry flowers can be sold at a high price. The branches are cut only after the mulberry flowers are picked, so this part of the mulberry tree cannot supply the first crop.
Silkworm production can only supply the second silkworm normally.
Huang bent over, holding the branch in his left hand, and quickly twirled the mulberry leaves with his right hand. He was very particular about the position and speed of the mulberry tree, so as to prevent damage to the mulberry tree. Because the first mulberry tree is a new branch and leaf that grows after pruning the branches, it has a special shape.
They are short and require a lot of effort to pick them. During the first two or three days of harvesting, the weather was still slightly cold and the young leaves could not be plucked. Five or six leaves must be left on each branch.
The picked mulberry leaves were stacked up and put into the mulberry basket on Huang's back. The mulberry basket was made of woven bamboo and has good air permeability, which can prevent the mulberry leaves from fermenting and deteriorating.
Guan Zongbao wiped the sweat from his forehead and said: "Mom, if we save some money this year, we can hire someone to pick mulberries next year. If we work hard day and night, we will be tired sooner or later, but the gains outweigh the losses."
Huang said: "From the second to seventh mulberry leaves, each kilogram of mulberry leaves costs four cents. The first one is even more expensive, costing six cents. It's not worth it. When we save more money, we can arrange a marriage for you. There will be many people in the family."
A helper would be great.”
After the two finished their work, the sun had already risen. Guan Zongbao transported the hard-harvested weeds back to be made into fertilizer, and then he picked up a load of mulberry leaves on a pole and went to the mulberry market, preparing to sell them at a good price.
"There are so many annoying mosquitoes. Next time I will bring a box of anti-mosquito tablets to kill you all!" Zhao Hening was a little annoyed. She held a local cattail leaf fan to drive away the mosquitoes hovering above her head. She was glad that she listened to Zhang Xiao's advice.
When she left Guangzhou, she wore long-sleeved clothes and long-leg pants, imitating the dress of local rural girls. After living in Lingao for a long time, she almost forgot about the ferocity of mosquitoes in the countryside.
The task assigned to her by Li Yao'er was to investigate the operating mechanism of the local sericulture industry. Zhao Hening took Zhang Jiayu away with him on the grounds that he needed local people as guides. Li Yao'er was a little worried, so he arranged for the police stationed in Jiujiang Police Station to
Le Ziren followed.
Jiujiang Daxu is the market center of Jiujiang, but the mulberry market is not located in Daxu. Instead, it is located in more grassroots villages and sericulture areas. There are countless mulberry markets, including one in a small village. Jiujiang is densely populated, and Zhao Hening and his party
Only two or three miles south from Daxu, we arrived at Nanfang Village. Outside the village was a circular fish pond formed by excavating the earth, which had an obvious defensive function like a moat.
Zhang Jiayu pointed to some thatched "shops" at the waterfront outside the village and said to Zhao Hening: "Hening, this is the so-called mulberry market."
Zhao Hening was obviously a little disappointed and said: "This is also called a market? It's just two or three shabby thatched houses!"
Zhang Jiayu said: "The clans in rural Guangfu often reject foreign merchants. The merchants in the village go home after completing the transaction. There is no need to build permanent shops, so a few thatched houses are enough."
Before they even got closer, I heard the two women spitting and scolding each other. Woman A cursed: "You shameless chicken thief, you like chickens so much, why don't you make chickens?"
Woman B scolded: "You are the chicken, your whole family is chickens, look at whoever raises chickens, they all look like your chickens!"
"Humph, you can still be justified if you stole my chickens!"
"Why do you say this is your chicken? Why is your chicken looking for food in my mulberry garden?"
The number of villagers who watched the excitement gradually increased, and some people tried to dissuade them, but to no avail. A hen in the countryside was a considerable asset, and no one was willing to give up, let alone admit to stealing the chicken.
Zhao Hening saw that Le Ziren was watching it with gusto, so he asked him: "You are a cadre of our Senate after all. Why don't you go to resolve the dispute and instead watch the excitement here?"
Le Ziren said: "Miss Zhao, isn't it just a chicken? Such trivial things are too common in the countryside, and I can't deal with them. Besides, I can't speak bird language, so how do I know who owns this chicken?
of?"
Zhao Hening gave Le Ziren a roll of his eyes, thought for a moment, stepped forward and shouted loudly: "Aunties, stop arguing!"
The two women facing each other who were squirting vigorously were startled by Zhao Hening's sudden shouts. They both looked at her, wondering what was going on.
Neither Zhang Jiayu nor Le Ziren expected that Zhao Hening would take the initiative to interfere, and they had no time to stop them. Zhao Hening saw that the two of them were quiet for a moment, and continued: "Aren't you arguing about whose family this chicken belongs to? But no one can prove it.
This chicken belongs to me. I have a solution."
Woman B rolled her eyes and said, "Hey, whose yellow-haired girl has not yet fully grown her hair and wants to interfere with my affairs?"
When Woman A saw someone helping her, she said, "Hey, little girl, you feel guilty when you see injustice on the road, don't you?"
"Why are you vain? I've never been vain before! She's a foreigner, but she comes to take care of the affairs of the village?"
"It's good for foreigners. It has nothing to do with you or me. This is only fair."
The woman Yi Liqu had no choice but to say: "Then let her talk and I'll see what she can do."
Zhao Hening said: "Okay, where do you two live?"
The two women pointed to their thatched houses respectively. They were both on mulberry trees not far away. The two families were not far apart.
Zhao Hening said: "Give me the chicken."
In order not to appear so guilty, Woman B readily handed the little hen to Zhao Hening. Zhao Hening grabbed the chicken wings and led everyone to the middle of the two thatched houses and said: "There is no name written on this chicken, you guys
There is no conclusive evidence to prove whose chicken this is, but the chicken knows whose chicken it belongs to. This is the middle of two families. If I put the chicken here, which nest it will go to will
It’s from whose family. Do you agree?”
When Woman A heard this, her chickens would definitely return to their nest, and she said hello repeatedly.
Woman B has something in her heart. The chickens that escaped from other people's houses will naturally return to other people's nests. In this way, she will really become a chicken thief. However, she can't show her cowardice now, so she has to bite the bullet and agree.
Seeing that neither of them had any objections, Zhao Hening let go of his hand, and the hen ran back in the direction of Woman A as soon as it hit the ground. Woman B found a step for herself and said, "My chickens are all raised in the mulberry garden, just like some men."
, it’s normal not to go home. Since it doesn’t want to go home, just let it go.”
The dispute was resolved, and there was no excitement anymore. The onlookers quickly went about their own business. After enjoying the thanks from Woman A, Zhao Hening was in a good mood and said to Zhang Jiayu: "How was it? You handled it beautifully, right?"
"Clean and beautiful, I'm ashamed of myself!" Zhang Jiayu was a little ashamed. He used to call himself a chivalrous man, so he naturally wanted to be a chivalrous man and put his family and country first. He would not care about such trivial matters. He didn't expect Zhao Hening to be so clean.
A dispute was resolved neatly.
Le Ziren said flatteringly: "Miss Zhao is indeed a top student in Fangcaodi..."
Zhao Hening imitated Zhang Xiao's tone and said: "The grassroots cadres of the Senate must learn to go deep into the grassroots, become familiar with the people's sentiments, and shine the light of the Senate into every corner."
"Yes, yes, Miss Zhao is right." Le Ziren quickly agreed.
The mulberry market quickly returned to normal. Zhao Hening and his party pretended to be farmers buying mulberry leaves and chatted with the villagers. In places like Jiujiang where the sericulture industry is relatively developed, the mulberry market is generally not open on market days, but every day.
It operates for more than 20 days and supplies mulberry leaves. The land occupied by the mulberry market is either the public property of the village, the public property of a certain ethnic group, the property of a certain ancestral hall, or the temple property of a certain temple, usually every year or every few days.
The annual meeting invites investment and contracting, and the proceeds are used as ground rent.
One of the larger thatched sheds is a place dedicated to storing mulberry leaves, and a small room next to it is a place for buying and selling. Zhao Hening became interested in a young man wearing patched clothes. He looked handsome but was tanned
, there appear to be scars and bruises on his face, it is Guan Zongbao.
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