vrcanaries Chapter 1005: Spring Farming in Nanhe
Chapter 1005: Spring Farming in Nanhe
Zhou Guo looked at the three personal soldiers behind him and said, "Then I'll let them take you there. Da Dao Er Dao, you two escort the gentleman back to the city."
"Yes."
The old man also said: "Why do I need someone to escort me? I'm not a little kid, don't I know the way?"
Zhou Guo said: "Just let them deliver it, or should I deliver it myself?"
The old man choked and reluctantly agreed.
The first place she went to was the largest manor in Nanhe, where Quanzi was currently staying.
When he heard that she was back, he rode out on horseback to greet her. As soon as they met, he laughed and said, "Master, I thought you wouldn't be able to come back in time for the spring plowing."
Zhou Guo looked at the green wheat and the people coming and going and asked, "How is the fertilizer sales going? Have you checked to see if all the people from the neighborhood have come?"
Quanzi said, "Because of the help from the government, we were able to feed quite a few people throughout the autumn of last year. Almost all of the temporary workers who came to work knew about our fertilizer. They came to order it before the spring. There were quite a few people from several nearby counties and villages. Not every household had someone to buy it, but there were about 70% to 80% of people in a village."
Zhou Guo thought that 70% to 80% were good. "Nanhe had just experienced a war, and everyone was scared. Ordinary people didn't have much money, so it was understandable that they were cautious. They didn't buy for a few years, but when they saw the results of other families in the village next year, they would buy it naturally without us telling them."
This phenomenon has been happening constantly in various places in the North in recent years.
Even though she had been selling fertilizer in the north for several years and in the five prefectures, she didn't dare to say that she had really sold fertilizer to every household.
What's more, for Nanhe, this is only the first year, it's normal.
Her dream was to sell the fertilizer all over Nanhe in the first year, but she couldn't sell the fertilizer to every household in Nanhe in the first year. That was impossible.
Quanzi said, "More and more people have come to buy fertilizer these days, and we don't have enough manpower on the farm. Fortunately, we don't need so many people on the farm now, so we can free up these people to ferment and transport fertilizer. For those big families who have the conditions, we can let them do it themselves as you said. If we give them a little profit, they will be very happy."
Zhou Guo smiled and said, "They have plenty of people and horses, so they are naturally happy to do so."
As she looked at this bustling village, most of the fatigue she had felt along the way disappeared. As expected, this was the place she was familiar with, and it felt very familiar just looking at it!
The wheat was planted last fall and will be harvested in a few months.
She picked a few plots of land and looked at them. It was true that the land here was incomparable to the salty and bitter land in the north. The wheat grown here was better than that over there, much better. She thought that by May and June, this place would be full of golden wheat fields.
This year should be another bumper year.
Quan Zi said, "These fields are treated just like at home. We fertilize, weed, and water them. But the soil is fertile and the crops grow better than the salty and bitter soil in the north. It turns out that cultivated land is cultivated land."
He felt a sense of accomplishment seeing the wheat grow like this, after all, he was the one who stayed here all winter last year.
Zhou Guo stood up and looked at the endless wheat field. "You've done a good job. After May or June, we won't have to transfer grain from the north anymore. The grain in the north can just be shipped south."
Such a vast territory cannot be supported by the north alone.
After buying the land last year, she started to cultivate the land and grow crops non-stop. She felt that it was the best thing she had ever done.
Although I was a little tired, busy, and almost went bankrupt, it was all worth it and I got through it.
As they walked forward, she asked, "How is the grain shop? How are the grain seeds selling?"
Her main concern was grain seeds. Although the northern government had transferred some to Nanhe, that amount was not enough. The rest had to be figured out by the people themselves.
Last winter, she used half of the family's output to pay them wages. Life was very tight, and over the past few months, I think some people should have saved the money for buying seeds.
With land and seeds, as well as a few farm tools given by the government and their own tools, they can start farming.
By July and August, we can eat the food we grow ourselves.
Zhou Guo had told them this matter before he went south, asking them to pay special attention to it.
Therefore, although Quanzi stayed at the farm most of the time, he also paid attention to the things going on in the shop.
He replied, "Not many people came to buy seeds, but not too few either. After all, our ability is limited and we can't feed so many people. But 90% of those who have worked on our farm came here, not only to buy wheat, but some also sold a few kilograms of rice seeds when they saw we had rice for sale."
Anyone who came to buy seeds would be asked whether the person had worked on several farms. By comparing the account books, we could find out how many people had bought the seeds.
Zhou Guo was surprised to hear that there were still people buying rice seeds. "There are very few people growing rice in Nanhe. These people who want to buy rice seeds are from the south. They have to prepare the fields themselves, which is much more troublesome than growing wheat."
But this has nothing to do with them. Not all the farms in Nanhe are dry land. Some of them were intended for growing rice. They were left vacant last autumn and now they come in handy.
She came back to breed rice and asked, "Are the rice seeds ready? Is the field plowed?"
Quan Zi said, "Everything you ordered is ready. If you don't come back, we plan to do it ourselves in the next few days."
There were too many seeds, and she couldn't do it alone, so she didn't demand that she soak the seeds herself. She ordered, "Let's go and take a look. We have to start today. After all, this is the first time to plant rice. Let's go and see how the field is prepared."
Everyone got on their horses, and Quanzi said, "Manor is hiring many long-term and short-term workers, all from the south. They have grown rice before and can till the fields. There is no rush to till the fields, and we can still recruit people."
Although every household was allocated land, there was not much land at all.
The crops are planted now but will not be harvested until autumn, so during this period they will always try to find ways to make money and find food.
If someone stays at home to take care of the farm work, someone has to go out to earn food, so it's good to have no shortage of labor.
The fields were divided last autumn, and now the farmers are driving their oxen and whipping them to plow the fields.
Quanzi said, "We need trucks now, especially for transporting fertilizers. Fortunately, the nightshade and ashes we brought back last fall and winter are enough for this year. This saves a lot of manpower and livestock, so we arranged them here. Therefore, although the land is large, it is enough."
The fertilizer fermented last year was only used for their own farm and land, so they didn't need that much.