Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 656: Generosity towards the Imperial Court

Therefore, under the suggestion of Section Chief Qian, the captives in Qianhu Village moved the planting of windbreaks to autumn. However, they could reclaim the hillsides while they had time. So, all the people started to reclaim the land again.

All the weeds cut from the land reclamation were exchanged for fertilizer with Hualei's rabbit farm. Moreover, following the method of Zhang Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue, compost fermentation began.

In early July, the buckwheat in the flowering and filling stages was watered and fertilized again. This period is the growing season when buckwheat needs water and fertilizer the most. For the sake of food, the captives in Qianhu Village did not dare to take it lightly.

As for the weeds in the buckwheat field, they were removed in time to avoid affecting the growth and seeding of the buckwheat. Because the weather was suitable, the buckwheat grew very fast and had already started to produce seeds without us noticing.

Hualei went to the buckwheat field and carefully checked whether the buckwheat grains were ripe. He gently pinched the buckwheat ear and if the grains were loose, it meant they were ripe.

At this time, the buckwheat should be harvested in time to prevent the buckwheat grains from falling. However, Hualei pinched the buckwheat ears and the grains were not loose yet. So, he calmed down the anxious villagers and waited patiently for a few more days before harvesting.

So, after waiting for another seven or eight days, until the grains of the buckwheat ears had loosened, the buds gave the order to start harvesting.

When harvesting, use a sickle to cut along the root of buckwheat, tie it into small bundles, and place the buckwheat in a ventilated and dry place to dry. After drying, it can be threshed.

In the Great Sheng Dynasty, there were two ways to thresh the wheat. One was manual, whereby the wheat was threshed by holding a handful of straw and hitting it hard on a stone slab to obtain the grains.

Another method is to use oxen to pull a stone roller to crush the buckwheat stalks in the open field, so that the wheat grains fall off the stalks. Because there are not enough oxen in Mobei now, the buckwheat can only be threshed by hand.

After threshing the buckwheat, the barren grains must be removed. In the past, there were no windmills in Mobei, so the windmills were usually artificially winnowed. However, after the Ministry of Revenue arrived in Mobei in recent years, the windmills used in Shangjing City were introduced to Mobei, and in the past two years, windmills have also been used in Mobei to winnow the grains.

During this period, the Ministry of Households' windmills were still idle in the warehouse, so after Hua Lei's signature and approval, each village with a thousand households borrowed a useful windmill.

Compared to manually winnowing the chaff, which requires waiting for wind to blow, winnowing wheat with a windmill is much faster and more convenient.

Soon, the buckwheat grains became clean. So Hualei started collecting grain and paying taxes in every village again. The yield of buckwheat per mu was still relatively low.

After weighing the flower buds, the yield per mu was only about 130 kilograms, which was much lower than that of rice and wheat.

Because the prisoner village had to pay 40% tax, each mu of land had to pay about 52 catties. According to the 1.2 mu of land allocated to each prisoner, the tax required was 62 catties and 4 ounces.

Originally, Hualei thought that she would just ask each household to pay 60 kilograms of buckwheat, but after consulting Minister Zhang, Minister Zhang disagreed. He said that the country has its own laws and the family has its own rules. Tax grain is related to people's livelihood and must be strictly observed.

If we only look at one household, two catties and four ounces is indeed not a lot, but there are so many people in the Great Sheng Dynasty. If every household has a few catties less, then for the court, the amount of tax grain that is saved will be very considerable.

As an official appointed by the imperial court, strictly abiding by the imperial court system is the most basic requirement. Therefore, no matter how much, you must follow the imperial court's regulations and cannot act on your own accord and waste the imperial court's money.

Otherwise, he could lose his job or his life. Hua Lei was deeply shocked after hearing this, so he followed the court's rules and regulations.

However, Hua Lei still disdains the "Lin Jian Ki Hu" trick that some local tax officials in the Great Sheng Dynasty came up with in order to embezzle some grain for their own savings.

The so-called "Lin Jian Ti Hu" means that when the people paid grain, the government used Hu to transport it. The people put the grain into the Hu, and then weighed it to calculate the amount of grain.

The grain should be piled up in a pointed shape, so that some of the grain will exceed the wall of the hu. When the people think that the grain is ready, the officials on the side will kick the hu with lightning speed.

At this time, the grains that exceed the wall of the hu will fall to the ground. When the people bend down to pick them up, the officials will loudly stop them, saying that this is a loss and cannot be picked up.

This trick is called "leaving the tip of the stick and kicking the stick", which creates "loss" during transportation by kicking the stick. This deliberate loss becomes the legal income of these corrupt officials.

In fact, Hualei encountered this situation when she paid taxes to Baihua Village in her first year in Shangjing City. Although Uncle Fu was very dissatisfied at that time, Hualei knew the trick.

However, although I was staying in the Marquis' Mansion at that time, I chose to remain silent based on the principle of less trouble is worse than more, and I did not tell Madam Pei about this matter afterwards.

Now that it is her turn to do this, Hua Lei will never allow such a thing to happen. Even if following behind her are a few old foxes from the county government, Hua Lei will not allow them to step out.

In addition to paying 40% tax, these captives also had to return the buckwheat seeds they had rented from the county government. Each acre of land was 15 jin, and one acre and two mu of land meant 18 jin of buckwheat. The remaining buckwheat was probably only about 80 jin.

Moreover, they had to reserve at least 18 kilograms of buckwheat seeds to sow for the next season, which would leave less than 70 kilograms for food.

These more than 70 kilograms of buckwheat are their food for the next three months. They have to wait until the next season's buckwheat harvest to get more, so they are not enough.

The captives, who had been mentally prepared and thought they would lose four to five kilograms, or seven to eight kilograms of buckwheat, stood there motionless when they saw the flower buds from beginning to end.

Not only did he not stretch his legs, but he also did not allow the clerk behind him to stretch his legs. He was genuinely surprised. He thought to himself, it turns out that the officials of the Great Sheng Dynasty are really kind and loving to the people.

It is exactly the same as what was preached before. Invisibly, I have some hope for my future life and a little expectation for the Great Sheng Dynasty.

If the years could be peaceful, who would be willing to live with their head on the line? At that time, I robbed the people's food because the Xiaowan tribe had no fixed land and due to the severe cold, they could not grow rice, so I had no choice but to do so.

Now that we have land, we can harvest as long as we work hard. Although there is not much buckwheat left this time, there will be more left after the next season's buckwheat harvest.

When there is enough buckwheat, I can grow rice and eat white rice, and I can also grow rapeseed and eat rapeseed oil.

Or you can plant some corn, and then you can eat tender corn. Although there is not much buckwheat left, you can eat it in many ways.

It can be cooked like rice and eaten as a meal, or used to make porridge. It can also be ground into flour to make pancakes, depending on your preference.