Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 560: Greedy Minister Zhang

Although, after a while, the land might be frozen solid and it would be impossible to turn the soil over or dig up loaches, but as long as the people and prisoners are willing, Hualei will always come up with new ways to do this business.

Now, Hualei carefully collected all the green and red foxtail grass that he had replaced and dried them in his own yard.

This period is the best and most vigorous season for foxtail grass to grow, and many of its seeds are already very full.

Because there is foxtail grass all over the wasteland and it is easy to pull up, the land reclamation workers have brought in a lot of foxtail grass during this period.

Hualei had read in a book that the seeds of foxtail grass are actually similar to the dryland grain millet. Strictly speaking, millet is domesticated from the wild plant of foxtail grass.

If you use these grass seeds to make porridge, it actually tastes good, similar to millet porridge. And if you use grass seeds to boil water and drink it, it is also medicinal, it can clear heat and improve eyesight, and it is also effective in treating floaters.

Moreover, the stems of dogtail grass can be used as feed for cattle, sheep and horses. After boiling dogtail grass with water, it can also be used as an insecticide, and the effect is also good. Hualei learned all these from books.

Therefore, the green, red and green seeds of the foxtail grass were specially beaten with a flail, all of them were beaten out, dried and put into bags.

However, Hualei did not treat herself badly and asked Qinghong and Qinglv to use the dried grass seeds to make two grass seed pillow cores for her.

And I also made a lot of cushions and seat cushions with these grass seeds, which I put in the study and on the kang. Compared with cotton, Hualei prefers this grass seed pillow core that can be adjusted at will.

Rong Jin also likes to lean on the grass seed cushion, which has better support and is more cost-effective than cotton.

The replacement and processing business is going smoothly, and the government affairs are also very busy. Recently, Lord Zhang has been asking people to help with composting.

Originally it was a wasteland with no fertilizer, and now that wheat was planted, it needed fertilizer even more. So, Mr. Zhang assigned several more people to start preparing compost.

A group of people went to the river to dig mud. The tool used to dig mud was made of thin bamboo strips woven into the shape of a clam shell, and then there were two bamboo poles on it to control the opening and closing of the two clam shells. It was commonly known as a "mud bucket".

The person stands on the side of the boat, puts the mud basket into the water, opens the basket, and inserts it forcefully into the mud at the bottom of the river. Then, when he feels it is very heavy under his hand, he closes the basket tightly and lifts it up.

The river mud basket was filled with silt and when the water came out, the river water flowed out naturally, then was lifted onto the boat and poured into the cabin.

Repeating this process, the silt in the cabin will increase. To do this, the most important thing is strength and skill. Both are indispensable. So you need people who are strong and skillful.

When the cabin is full of silt, it needs to be manually carried to the fields to start composting.

Another group of people went to the surrounding mountains and brought back various rotten soil and fallen leaves in baskets.

It has been laid layer by layer, and some of the fallen leaves underneath have rotted into mud, so this kind of soil is very suitable for composting.

Of course, some people went to the town to collect nightshades. They also collected the droppings of chickens, ducks and sheep. Some people also went to the wasteland to cut weeds.

When all the raw materials are collected, composting begins. At the edge of the field, dig a large pit two meters deep and ten feet square.

First, a layer of silt dug from the river and pond is spread on the bottom of the pit, then the pulled grass is thrown in, and then a layer of silt is put in, and then some chopped wheat straw and fine soil are put in in turn, and then some livestock manure is put in.

Finally, when it is one and a half feet higher than the big pit, cover it with silt. After it dries, a small mound of earth is formed, and fermentation slowly takes place inside.

After a period of time, the contents inside will rot and ferment, and become the best farmyard manure. It is best to mix it with clean water to a certain concentration and water the wheat field.

There was a small mound like this at a certain distance, and the greedy Zhang Shilang piled up one after another, always feeling that there was one missing, just like a woman who always felt that there was a piece of clothing missing in her closet.

Recently, Rong Yu led the three teams of Gao Tiedan, Xiao Yuanzi and others to the barren mountains to pick up fallen leaves.

That day, after Gao Tiedan and the others finished their shift, they did not go back to their residence immediately. Instead, they waited for Hua Lei to finish her shift and told her something.

When they and their team members were picking up fallen leaves on the mountain, they found a lot of winter bamboo shoots on a mountain northwest of the town.

If the buds need to be, someone can dig them up.

They were on duty, so they didn't dare to dig on their own, lest they be charged with dereliction of duty. Hualei was overjoyed when he heard this. Wow, winter bamboo shoots, this is delicious! He couldn't let it go.

So, the next day, Uncle Zhao took a group of people to the mountain to dig winter bamboo shoots.

There are many mountains in Mobei Town. Some of them are relatively high and have many trees. Not many people go there. It is said that there are huge monsters there. Usually, Pei Jingyang's soldiers will go into the mountains for regular inspections.

Gao Tiedan and Xiao Yuanzi went to a relatively low mountain with many bamboos, and now is the growing season for winter bamboo shoots.

When Uncle Zhao came back in the afternoon, he was carrying a bulging bag full of winter bamboo shoots, and each of the people following him had a bag of similar size on their backs.

Hualei opened the bag and found that the winter bamboo shoots were already very big, some of them were longer than his palm. They were round and pointed, very cute. Of course, this also had a lot to do with Bai Hao.

Uncle Zhao told Hualei that because there were many bamboos on the mountain, there were a lot of winter bamboo shoots. They only picked the big ones to dig up, and left the small ones to grow for a while before digging them up again.

Hualei nodded repeatedly, and immediately took out a pickled cabbage from the jar, washed and chopped it, added a small pepper, and paired it with winter bamboo shoots to make a stir-fried snow winter vegetable. The taste was really delicious.

He kept some for himself, sent some to Pei Jingyang's house, and sent the rest to the restaurant. In the next few days, Uncle Zhao went to the mountains to dig winter bamboo shoots.

Hua Lei originally wanted him to go after some time, but Uncle Zhao said that during these days, when he was digging winter bamboo shoots in the mountains, he also saw other people digging winter bamboo shoots.

This mountain is ownerless, and the bamboos are of course ownerless, so anyone can dig them. In order to dig more, Uncle Zhao was reluctant to stop.