Chastity Layman

Walking by the Baiqu, Qin Lang finally understood why the people in Guanzhong respected the Jinghe Dragon King alone. All because of counting, the Jing River is the real mother river of the Guanzhong Plain. This river irrigates the Guanzhong Plain and has raised countless children of the Sanqin.

In this era, the Jinghe River Basin covered a wide area, and the ecological environment was surprisingly good. The forest and grassland covered a wide area, and it was suitable for farming and animal husbandry. It is said that in the Han Dynasty, the situation was even better than it is now.

At that time, there were towering dense forests and large expanses of lush grasslands.

Even if the Tang Dynasty has set up a large number of herding supervisors in the Jing River Valley to raise horses and graze, station troops to reclaim the fields, and the flow of the white canals drawn from the Jing River has shrunk, it still continues to irrigate the plains on both sides of the river.

The Baiqu in the Han Dynasty has gone through thousands of years, but it has already changed beyond recognition. The Baiqu in the Han Dynasty has undergone three major repairs and adjustments in the Later Qin and Western Wei Dynasties.

After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, also in the second year of Wude, the imperial court dredged and basically formed the basic route of the Sanbai Canal in Weibei today, which is divided into Taibai Canal, Zhongbai Canal and Nanbai Canal.

"Your land is really good. If you can't sell it, you can exchange it. You can open it on any terms!"

Qin Lang was taking a walk by the canal when Hong Fu Nu came again, wanting to buy Qin Lang's land.

"Whoever sells the land here will not be called a prodigal?" Qin Lang pointed to the large field in front of him. The land of Qin Lang's family is really good. Not only is the Taibai Canal, one of the three Baiqu Canals, to the south of the land, but Zheng Canal is to the north. Pass from west to east. Not to mention that apart from this canal that diverts Jing water, Qinjiazhuang is facing Qingshui River originating from Shimen Mountain in the north to the west, and Qishui River originating from Fenghuang Mountain in the north to the east.

The Qin family's farm is close to Sanyuan County, and there are rivers and canals in the southeast, north and west. This makes the Qin family's land really no need to worry about water in the dry season. For example, this year's severe drought in Guanzhong and Henan, the Qin family's village is only Even if the production is reduced by half, there is still a harvest.

In the years when we mainly depended on the sky for food, it was really invaluable to have such good water to irrigate the land.

The imperial court was very worried about the fertile soil of the Guanzhong Plain. In order to ensure irrigation, the water mills privately set up by the nobles and powerful people on the canals were cleaned up once a year.

In the field, the farmers of the Qin family are preparing the land to plant radishes and rapeseed.

It's easy to grow radish and rapeseed. The ground should be as flat and loose as possible, and then the radish seeds should be sprinkled, and then watered, and it will be fine when it germinates. Just ensure watering as much as possible.

Hong Fu Nu also looked at the land. Over the years, seeing how many owners this land has changed, no one would be willing to sell him, but in the end, many hands were changed.

"Is it true that Madam also grows wheat and radishes?"

"Well, planting radishes, I think I can't go wrong with what you say." Hong Funu smiled cunningly.

"If you believe me, you can raise more chickens, ducks, and pigs now."

"Raise chickens, ducks, and pigs?" Zhang Chuchen looked at Qin Lang suspiciously. "You said that planting radishes can be harvested in advance in winter, which can satisfy hunger and fight disasters. What's the point of raising chickens and ducks? There are no people in winter." Eat, what do pigs eat?"

Qin Lang bent down, grabbed a piece of soil from the soil beside the ditch, rubbed it a few times, and then scattered the soil, leaving something in the palm of his hand.

"Miss, what do you think this is?"

Zhang Chuchen took a closer look, and couldn't help but change his face, "Locust eggs?"

"That's right, locust plagues are often followed by severe droughts. It's not cold yet. Many rivers, canals and ponds were dry and dry before, exposing the riverbed and pond banks, which gave the locusts the best breeding conditions. It seems that this autumn only I'm afraid there will be a plague of locusts!"

Qin Lang also just discovered this problem. The locust plague is very terrible. Once it reaches a large scale, it will eat up all the greenery and leave no vegetation.

"It's almost winter now, will there still be locust plagues?"

Under normal circumstances, locust plagues are more likely to occur in summer, and sometimes in autumn, but they will definitely not happen in winter. Qin Lang pointed to the bare river beach. Because of the drought this summer, many riverbeds that were originally flooded were exposed. The soil in these low-lying areas became firm and the water content was low. The key is that the vegetation on the ground is sparse and bare, which is where locusts lay eggs. Excellent venue is provided.

In low-lying land under such conditions, when there are many, four to five thousand egg masses can be laid in one square meter of soil. On average, one egg mass can have fifty to eighty eggs, and one square meter can produce two to three hundred thousand eggs. .

Under normal circumstances, rainfall will bring about a rise in the water level of the river bed, which will submerge a large number of egg masses and kill these locust eggs, greatly reducing the number of locust eggs hatched. However, the continuous drought and lack of rain will increase these locust eggs hundreds of times. Locust eggs can basically hatch successfully.

"Can raising chickens and ducks kill locusts?"

"Chickens and ducks like to eat bugs the most, and locusts are also bugs."

Of course it is not enough to rely on chickens and ducks to eat locusts to prevent locust disasters, but this can be regarded as a countermeasure in the year of locust plagues. Ancient people have many ways to control locusts, such as digging locust eggs, and driving them into ditch when locusts hatch into jumping gnats and cannot fly. Bury them in pits, or use fire to lure them to burn to death, etc.

There is no insecticide, and there is no aircraft spraying. It is obviously unrealistic to kill these locusts in their cradles. And to rely on digging and sifting eggs, Qin Lang also felt that the project was too big.

It's better to raise more chickens and ducks to eat locusts. Of course, people can eat locusts, although some stupid people in later generations spread rumors that locusts cannot be eaten, and that once locusts gather more than 60, they will automatically evolve. , the body will produce some kind of poisonous stuff like hydrogen, and then their natural enemies, big tits, will be poisoned to death once they eat them.

Isn't this nonsense?

Think about the locust plague that broke out in Tianshan Province in later generations. At that time, people in Zhejiang Province even transported tens of thousands of ducks by air to eat locusts. Didn’t they see these ducks being poisoned to death?

Not to mention, as a flower grower in the country of foodies, wild locusts have long been insufficient to eat, so artificial locust breeding has also been born.

"Where can I find so many chickens and ducks?"

Qin Lang smiled and said, "I'm going to incubate the cubs myself, as long as there are eggs."

"It's not enough just to have an egg, you have to have a mother-in-law, otherwise, if you don't hold an egg, the egg will not become a cub." Hong Funv pointed out the shortcomings of Qin Lang's plan with a tone that came from the past.

A normal hen can only hold a dozen eggs, and it takes 28 days to hatch a brood of chicks. This efficiency is too low, and not every hen is willing to hold a nest. Like livestock turning green, the hen is not willing to hatch until she is in the brooding nest.

Zhang Chuchen thinks that Qin Lang is still too young, how many cocksuckers can you get by tossing and tossing? How many chicks can be hatched in a month?

By that time, the locust plague had already broken out, and it might even be over.

Qin Lang chuckled.

"Miss, I heard from my village head that your village seems to have raised some chickens. There should be eggs. Sell me, and I'll take them all!"

Zhang Chuchen looked at Qin Lang's confident look.

"Look at your age, even strangers don't know how to hatch chickens?"

"Don't worry about whether I know it or not, just sell the eggs to me, and I'll give you a lot of money."

Zhang Chuchen shook his head.

"Not for sale."

"I'm willing to buy your eggs 20% higher than the market price."

"Not for sale, unless you exchange chicken cubs!" Zhang Chuchen is really a shrewd woman.

"That's fine, how about twenty eggs for a chicken?" Qin Lang said.

"Then I'm at a loss."

"How could it be a loss? It takes twenty-eight days for an egg to turn into a chick, and an old hen has to be brought in. If the old hen can't eat eggs in a month, it will have to lose more than 20 eggs. You little chicken When the cubs grow up, the male can eat meat and the female can lay eggs."

"The chicken lays the egg, the egg lays the chicken, you'll be lucky in the future."

Zhang Chuchen still shook his head.

"I don't take advantage of you either, five eggs for a chick."

"Ma'am, how about I exchange eggs for chicken cubs?"

The two came and went, haggling over there for a long time, and finally agreed that ten eggs would be exchanged for one chick.

Although the deal was negotiated, Zhang Chuchen was still curious about how Qin Lang could do it.

"My family has a lot of eggs."

"Ma'am, I want as many eggs as you have, as long as they are fresh. Just don't give me the rotten eggs."

"As long as it's fresh, how much can you change?"

"In exchange, ten fresh eggs will be exchanged for one chick, but the chicken will be paid one month after the egg is handed over. This must be explained in advance."

"Where do you get so many hen nests?"

"Don't ask, it's a secret."

After Qin Lang bid farewell to Zhang Chuchen, he returned to his own Zhuangzi.

This Zhuangzi has changed many owners, but now it has a new owner named Qinjiazhuang. Zhuangzi is actually not big, like a rural elementary school in later generations, with four walls and a gate, and dozens of houses built inside. There are about thirty people, Zhuangtou, Bashi, and Tiannu. Grange.

Seeing Qin Lang come back, the old Wang Zhuangtou, who was in his fifties with gray hair, lean and dark, came to greet him.

He still can't turn the corner when Qin Lang suddenly changed to radish and rapeseed. Although he said that he has obeyed the order, he is dissatisfied with Qin Lang in his heart.

"Old Wang, is there any spare room in the village?"

"How many rooms are there, do Alang want to use them?"

"Ask someone to clean it up. By the way, are there any masons nearby? Please come over two."

When Lao Wang heard this, he immediately asked, "Do you want to build a house?"

"If you don't build a house, build something."

"Then you don't need to hire a master craftsman. I'll ask a few Zhuang Ding to make it myself. If you want to make it, you can order it, Ah Lang."

Qin Lang looked at the old Wang's head, "Old Wang, can you still be a mason?"

"Some small jobs are fine."

"Well, I'm going to make a kang, do you know what a kang is?"

After gesticulating for a long time, seeing that Lao Wang didn't quite understand, Qin Lang had no choice but to say, "In short, you can build it according to my instructions, and I will be useful."

"Build a kang with firewood for heating in the house?" It was the first time Lao Wang had heard of such a thing, "What's the use, Ah Lang, do you still have time to live in the manor in winter?"

"I don't live here. I use it to hatch chickens and ducks."

When Lao Wang heard this, his face turned ugly again. Isn't this nonsense, it's almost winter, you use this thing to lock up the old hen to hatch the chicks?

Are you overeating?