Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 640 Management

The days passed slowly. Every day seemed the same, but also different. The planting for the first half of the year was completed several months ago.

Recently, it is the follow-up management. The soil turning and land preparation work for rice is somewhat similar to that for wheat fields. However, after sowing, wheat fields only need to weed, while rice fields need to be weeded and threshed many times, so there are still many things to do.

It is now August, and the rice planted in Hubu has begun to enter the heading and flowering stage, which is the most critical stage in the rice growth cycle.

At this time, the height of the rice plant is about one and a half arms long, the stems begin to become strong, the leaves are dark green and broad, and the ears are gradually full, heralding the upcoming harvest.

Therefore, management at this stage is very important, especially water and fertilizer management. Whether it is lack of water or lack of fertilizer, it will affect the growth of rice.

Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the irrigation plan according to weather and soil conditions to keep the soil moderately moist, and apply key fertilizers in a timely manner to enhance soil fertility and meet the vigorous growth needs of rice.

Recently, the weather has been hot and the river water level is low, making the irrigation task more difficult. In addition, the Ministry of Industry is short of manpower, and the water wheels produced are not sufficient.

Therefore, except for the high temperature at noon when the water wheels stopped running, all other times, all the water wheels were running non-stop. Even at night, Minister Zhang arranged people to operate them continuously.

However, even so, there are still many rice fields that cannot be irrigated, and many places need manual assistance in irrigation. Fortunately, Minister Zhang had thought carefully before, and all the rice ditches had been cleared and dredged.

Therefore, Minister Zhang mobilized a large number of people to stand at the mouth of the canal by the river and use long-handled water ladles to send water into the canal one scoop at a time to manually irrigate the rice fields.

Although not as efficient as a waterwheel, there is strength in numbers. Across the vast fields, long canals run between the ridges, nourishing the rice fields inch by inch.

The end of August is also the peak period for rice diseases and insect pests. Therefore, during this period, Hua Lei and a group of officials have been patrolling the fields and strengthening field control.

Once signs of pests and diseases are found, effective measures are taken immediately to prevent and control them. Fortunately, although there are pests and diseases, they are only confined to a small area. With the timely intervention of professional personnel from the Ministry of Household Affairs, they have not had any major impact on the rice.

The irrigation and fertilization of rice is still going on. Before we know it, it is autumn, which is also the season for harvesting Ula grass in Mobei. There are many wild Ula grass growing in Mobei.

Ula grass has many functions. It can not only eliminate fatigue and remove odor, but also keep warm and prevent cold, and prevent athlete's foot.

Therefore, in Mobei, many people use Ula grass to make insoles. People go to the mountains to cut Ula grass, dry it and store it.

Putting it in shoes in winter can effectively prevent frostbite on the feet. In addition, the leaves of Ula grass are slender and soft, and the fibers are tough and not easy to break, making it an ideal material for making straw sandals.

Make the straw sandals a little bigger and put them over the cotton shoes. They can not only keep out moisture but also keep you warm.

Many people who cannot afford cotton would use Ula grass to weave mattresses and straw quilts, which they used as bedding in winter and were very effective in keeping out the cold.

Hua Lei also asked the people below to collect some Ula grass. Although there was enough cotton at home, there was no need to use it as mattress.

However, I have been in Mobei for the past two years, and sometimes my feet get frostbite, so I made a lot of insoles with Ula grass. When the time comes, the people below can also use them.

We don't have enough manpower now, otherwise Hua Lei would like to make more of these insoles that can keep warm and kill bacteria, and send them to Shangjing City and other provinces for sale.

In addition, Hualei also learned from Cao Yasao's method and made a few pairs of small insoles made of Ula grass for Jinnian as a backup. When winter comes, Jinnian will have to learn to walk.

Before I knew it, it was Jinnian's first birthday. In the capital, the first birthday party was very important, and relatives and friends would definitely be invited to a party to get together. But in Mobei, there were not many relatives and friends, so Hualei did not organize it. The family just got together and had a simple meal.

However, for Jinnian's one-year-old birthday ceremony, Pei Jingyang asked Madam Han to prepare various things for Jinnian to try.

However, Jinnian seemed to be very interested in the writing brush, inkstone, wooden sword, golden abacus, and gold ingots on the table.

After looking around with his dark eyes, he took everything he should and shouldn't take and put it in front of him. His greedy look made Hualei unable to bear to look directly at him.

However, Pei Jingyang interpreted that Jinnian was an all-round baby, which made Hualei laugh and cry. The seriousness of the filter was once again vividly demonstrated.

With the addition of new agricultural tools, the Ministry of Revenue was able to open up wasteland and plant crops much faster. Therefore, Minister Zhang decided to start building official roads.

Originally, this was something the Ministry of Works needed to do. However, due to the construction of the provincial capital, the Ministry of Works could not spare many manpower, so Minister Li and Minister Zhang discussed and decided.

The Ministry of Works selected several professionals in this field to take charge of technical matters, and the Ministry of Households provided some land reclamation personnel, and they worked together to build the road.

It takes about seven or eight days to get from Mobei to Xinzhou Prefecture, and there is no official road yet. Therefore, a decent official road needs to be built.

In addition, several decent gravel roads will be built in the new state capital and several newly established villages. The roads between villages also need to be built, so the workload is still very large.

Now, there is only one dirt road from Mobei to Xinzhou Prefecture, which is heavily traveled. It is still good on sunny days.

Although it was a bit dusty, it was still passable. But if it rained, especially if it rained for ten days or half a month, the muddy road would be difficult to walk on.

The road was uneven and very slippery, and pedestrians and carriages could easily slip and fall on it. So the official road had to be built.

Moreover, the official road is also one of the standard features of the state capital, and its specifications also have certain standards. In addition, the new state capital also needs to build a city wall, but the construction of the city wall will have to wait until the end.

Of course, the road construction today is incomparable to that in the past. In the past, cement, concrete, asphalt and other raw materials were readily available, and all kinds of large mixers and rollers were available, so road construction was relatively fast.

But, these raw materials are not available here.