Chapter 701: Farmers Are Reluctant to Eat Refined Rice
Mrs. Song Wang looked at the tall horse in front of her and couldn't help but clicked her tongue, "Although I don't understand it very well, this horse is smooth and smooth, so it looks good no matter how you look at it.
Listening to Mrs. Song's praise, Song Jie chuckled, "Mom is right, they say that a good horse looks like a piece of skin from a distance and four hooves from a close look. The horse Aunt Bai bought looks energetic and has strong limbs." "Shuo, a good BMW."
Although he has never seen a thousand-mile horse, he has seen such records in books.
"How can I understand this? It's just something that pleases my eyes." Mrs. Song stood in front of Baiyunxi and said with a smile.
A few people said a few words at the door, and the two got on the carriage. Wenyou held the reins and reached out to pat her on the back. Xue Lihong stepped forward and left with a clatter.
Seeing the carriage drive up the official road, the speed immediately picked up. Baiyun Xi looked back and said, "The carriage is faster than the ox cart. Wenyou can be back by herself in the afternoon."
"That's great, our brother Jie'er will also benefit from it."
After watching the carriage disappear for a while, Song Wang followed Bai Yunxi back to the yard and asked about the sale of grain.
"My family's grain has been collected into the granary. The head of the house and I are thinking about selling it all and bringing back some brown rice and coarse grains. Tomorrow the head of the house said that he will go to the town. If there are not many people selling grain, he will send it all at once. ”
Her brother Jie went to school in the county. Although he usually earned some money by copying books, it was only enough to buy some pens, ink, paper and inkstones. However, the accommodation, food and drink at the college were also a big expense.
When they came back from this vacation, Jie Geer told them that he was going to take part in this year's autumn exam. If you pass the exam, everyone will be happy. If you fail, you have to wait three years.
Therefore, they should prepare more money and keep it for Brother Jie.
Listening to the Song Wang family's thoughts, Baiyunxi also felt the same way. It was difficult for farmers to support students. The family was frugal and could only support one student.
To be honest, the conditions of the Song family are already good, but even so, it is still very difficult.
"After the summer harvest, farmers habitually gather together to sell grain, and grain shops are busy when there are many people. The more people selling grain, the harder the price goes up. You can go and have a look. If you have surplus grain in your hands, you can wait a little longer before selling. "
After listening to Bai Yunxi's suggestion, Mrs. Song shook her head and smiled bitterly.
"That's true, but we ordinary people at the bottom don't have much surplus food. If we don't sell it for a while, we will have to use new rice and new wheat to pay for the food rations. Look at our village, every family has six or seven people. A dozen people? If we eat new food every day, I’m afraid it won’t last long.”
It is a common practice to exchange new grain for coarse grain. Keeping new rice for another day is a waste.
"That's true."
Those who are covered with silkworms are not silkworm farmers.
When farmers harvest new rice, they are also willing to eat it.
The biggest reason is that the yield during this period is too low. A yield of 300 kilograms per mu is already a good quality land. However, these fertile fields are generally in the hands of the gentry and powerful people. Most of the good fields in the hands of the common people are medium-sized fields, with a yield of 100 kilograms per mu. Fifty pounds to two hundred and fifty pounds is considered pretty good.
It is for this reason that when farmers receive new rice and pay taxes, they will immediately sell the remaining rice and replace it with brown rice and black flour. If they can keep a pound or two, it is a last resort for patients at home.
"I have to go back and take a look at the situation. If the price is right, I have to sell it. From the spring of this year until now, the weather has been smooth, and I estimate that the price of food will not fluctuate too much."
If the grain store is full, it will drive down the price.
But for now, it's hard to say any of this. She can't make decisions for others. After all, we have a family to support, so we can’t take risks.
Unfortunately, not long after Bai Yunxi said this, he was slapped in the face.
Mrs. Song Wang nodded. In their family, the male is the outsider and the female is the householder. The head of the family has the final say in selling grain. She rarely goes out and cannot give good advice.
"Ahem~, I saw Chen Jiao yesterday. Her eyes were as swollen as walnuts. It looked like she had cried bitterly. Especially the clothes she was wearing were wrinkled. It looked like she hadn't been changed in several days."
Song Wang family sighed,
"Every time I saw her before, she was always smiling and dressed up. Yesterday was the first time I saw her not paying attention to dignity."
Listening to the gossip about the Song Wang family, Baiyun Xi was not surprised.
"It's also sad to lose a daughter."
"It's not like that, it looks like the two of them were at war."
Mrs. Song Wang shook her head. After all, it was still a man's basic nature. It has become stale over time. In addition, the Chen family was having trouble. Bai Yuntang's patience was probably exhausted in advance.
"In the past few years since Chen Jiao got married, your cousin has been protecting her and she has never worked. Now that she has started working, her skirt is covered with stove ashes."
Baiyunxi was not surprised by this. Based on her understanding of Baiyuntang, Chen Jiao's life was only one day earlier and one day later.
"You choose your own path, and you live your own life. Outsiders like us can only see the surface."
Living at home is all about firewood, rice, oil and salt. If you want to be pampered all your life, that is the life of a landlord's family. The second uncle's natal family has not yet reached that level.
"That's the reason. I used to see her walking with a willow waist, and she was very coquettish. Now she looks pitiful, and I can't blame her for being so energetic."
Song Wang said and smiled,
"Look at my temper, it's quite awkward."
The expression on Bai Yunxi's face when she looked at Mrs. Song was that she was just a temperamental person, no one was an exception.
The weather has entered midsummer, and people who are hot are lazy and really want to find a cool place to sleep.
But as a farmer, let alone hiding in the shade, he had to be exposed to the sun to irrigate the fields. If he did not water the crops in time and they dried up, he had to re-sow them, which directly affected the autumn harvest.
Therefore, the hotter it was, the busier the farmers were. Those who were close to the water source could directly divert water for irrigation. The hardest part was the fields far from the water source, which could only be watered with a shoulder pole. Not only was the speed slow, but the water in the front was dry in the back.
The heat lasted for 20 consecutive days, and everyone's faces showed anxiety.
Bai Yunxi took a handkerchief, wiped the sweat, and walked along the ridge of the field.
At this time, she was extremely grateful for the water reservoir reserved on the slope. The mountain spring water was diverted into the pool, which was a yellowish mixed color, but for the farmers, these were like real gold and silver, which made people happy.
Under Bai Anyan's arrangement, two farmhands each guarded a piece of broken land and diverted water for irrigation.
The rest of the dry land is far from the water source and can only be irrigated with oxcarts. At first, it was irrigated once every three days, then once every four or five days, and now it is irrigated once every two days, but the crops are still wilting.
After all, those two plots of land are planted with sweet potatoes, the crops that are least likely to die from drought. Bai Yunxi looked at the second son's sunburned shoulders and made a direct suggestion.
"Water those two acres of sweet potatoes once every five days, and don't worry about the rest. At most, the yield will decrease a little. Just take good care of the sloping land."