In an inn near the dock, a chicken, a plate of mutton, a fish, and two bottles of wine were placed on the table, and Chang Wei and Qiu Shilong drank together. was released by Du Zhongxiao, and the three of them recuperated in the inn for three days under the pretext of recuperating from their injuries. Today, Du Zhongxiao came to urge, the millet in the nearby village is about to be harvested, and if Chang Wei doesn't go again, he won't wait for them. Seeing that they couldn't drag it on, the three of them got together to discuss.

After taking a big sip of wine, Chang Wei said: "I hate this Du Zhixian, who didn't care about the face of the prime minister, came out of prison and didn't come to see us once." It is unheard of for him, a county magistrate, a petty official like a sesame seed, to dare to despise Xianggong so much! This time, let us go to see the harvest, and if we go here, we will never be able to hold our heads up in front of him again. Even if you do a good job of waiting for the bus, you will be laughed at by your family. ”

Qiu Shilong said: "Director, I think this matter is over. Originally, we beat people first and offended the villagers, so we were arrested by the magistrate and beaten on the board. You can see that the minister's reply did not mention anything about this matter, which shows that we are really wrong. ”

Hearing this, Chang Wei looked at Qiu Shilong, and said with dissatisfaction: "You fought with that Thirteen Lang, and you were beaten by him and had no power to fight back, so you were scared!" Now there is a letter written by the father-in-law, who in this county dares to offend us! If you hate us, even if it is the magistrate, a few words in front of the prime minister will cut off his future! That man grew up like this, and it doesn't matter if you lose to him. ”

Qiu Shilong said: "I have been in the army since I was a child, and I am a straightforward man. This time, it is really our fault in the first place, how can we make a mistake. ”

Chang Wei sneered: "Since you say so, you don't have to make a move in the future, just follow us and listen to your orders!" ”

Hearing this, Qiu Shilong lowered his head and drank, and did not speak again. He was born in a regular soldier, and because he committed a capital crime, he was saved by Xia Zhu, and since then he has been by Xia Zhu's side, and Chang Wei and these people are not all the way.

Seeing that Qiu Shilong and himself did not have the same heart, Chang Wei was happy in his heart, and he also drank with his head bored. As for the other person, he is just a small follower, and everything is always the first to look forward. This time I came to Yongcheng, which was mainly based on Changwei.

After drinking a breath of wine, the shopkeeper came to the room and said, "A few guest officers, Chai Jiejie level and others are outside the door, let the little one come and urge, and go to cut the grain with a few guest officers." ”

Chang Wei slapped the table: "This birdman next to Du Zhixian is really hateful, drink two bowls of wine, he urges again and again!" ”

Qiu Shilong said: "It's better to collect the wine and meat, and we will take it with us to eat on the road." Du Zhixian urged him several times, if he didn't go, he would write another letter to Xianggong, and we would not be able to explain it when we went back. ”

Chang Wei stood up and said hatefully: "And so." Xiao Er, wrap the wine and meat for us! ”

The three of them carried the wrapped wine and meat, and when they left the inn, they saw Chai Xin with a platoon and standing under the eaves.

Seeing the three of them coming out, Chai Xin forked his hands and said, "The magistrate ordered me to come and go to harvest the grain with the three of them." The weather has been fine these days, and the grain in the field has been ripe, if you don't harvest it in time, you are afraid of rain. ”

Chang Wei said: "It's all rotten in the ground, what are you doing with me!" I'm here to see how to do things in the fields, and it depends on a group of untouchables working in the fields! This magistrate is also from Jinshi, so he doesn't know anything! ”

As soon as Chai Xin heard Chang Wei's words, his face immediately became gloomy, he closed his mouth and didn't say a word. Turned over and got on the horse and went first.

Chang Wei beckoned the three of them, got on the horse and followed behind Chai Xin.

In the north of Daliushu Village, nearly 100 people gathered on the ground, looking forward to the direction of the wharf. Today is the day when the village is set to open the sickle, and Du Zhongxiao, the magistrate of the county, arrived at the field early to personally go to the field to harvest the first handful of autumn grain for the camp and field work. But the people sent by Xia Zhu to inspect the autumn grain were delayed, and everyone was waiting here, and they couldn't help but feel anxious.

Millet should be harvested in a timely manner, early is not full will affect the yield and storage, and hurt the sickle, and late will fall more grains. This season, time is extremely precious for farmers, and there is no time to delay. Chang Wei and the others did not come for a long time, which made the villagers extremely angry.

Du Zhongxiao stood on the ground, looking at the golden waves in front of him, his heart stirred. Last year, it was a white-flowered reed, but it only took a year for it to become a grain field, and a sense of accomplishment arose.

Millet is the most important grain in the north at this time, with wide adaptability, easy harvest and storage, and can replace money as a hard currency. Wheat is not the staple food of the north at this time, for many reasons, related to planting habits, related to the growing season, and related to processing methods. The grain is threshed into millet, which can be cooked directly, and the wheat needs to be ground to flour, otherwise the taste is far inferior to that of millet. In those days, it was not easy to grind wheat into flour, and the average rural area did not have this processing capacity. Pasta is abundant in cities and towns, while millet is the staple food in rural areas.

Du Zhongxiao is not surprised by this, in his previous life, he used white noodles as a staple food on a large scale, but in fact, it has not been many years. This is a defect caused by the insufficient industrial base, and it cannot be solved in a short time.

It wasn't until the third pole of the sun that Chang Wei and the three of them followed Chai Xin and staggered to the ground.

Chai Xin dismounted, sang a promise to Du Zhongxiao, and said: "The little one invites three officials to come here to see the grain cutting, it's too late, forgive your sins!" ”

Du Zhongxiao waved his hand, looked at Chang Wei and the three people who came over, and said in a deep voice: "The autumn harvest of farmers is like a march to war, and it cannot be delayed for a moment. There is a Zhizhou Jun will, I must wait for the three of you to come today, I missed the hour. Don't delay any longer! ”

After speaking, he ignored Chang Wei, lifted the hem of his official robe, tucked it into his belt, and lifted the prepared sickle.

Baozheng Guan Chaoyin, who was standing on the side, was startled, and hurriedly stepped forward to stop Du Zhongxiao: "Official, opening the sickle and cutting the valley is just for a show, how can you really go to the ground?" As long as you go to the field and pinch a few ears of grain, you can knead them into rice and cook them at noon to worship the gods. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "The gods have spirits, knowing that I am so perfunctory, how can I ensure that the wind and rain here are smooth?" Keep me at ease, I plough and study at home, and I have been used to doing farm work since I was a child, so what is it to cut a few acres of grain. ”

As he spoke, he went down to the ground with a scythe in his hand.

There are two ways to harvest millet, one is to harvest only the ears, and the straw in the field is harvested separately, which can be done when the land is small. The other is to cut the whole tree and transport it back to the village, and then cut the ears of grain, which Datian does. Du Zhongxiao knew what to expect, bent down, raised the sickle, and cut a piece in a moment.

Chang Wei at the head of the land saw it and said disdainfully: "Isn't this county magistrate stupid!" He is an official, and he is good at managing political affairs, but he really goes down to cut the grain. Regardless of whether the imperial court or the state and county pro-cultivated the farmland, I haven't heard of doing this. ”

Chai Xin followed behind Du Zhongxiao and bundled the cut grain into bundles. After tying three bundles in a row, Du Zhongxiao stopped, returned to the ground with a sickle, and said to Bao Zheng: "These grains I cut, after a while, my subordinates will rub out the corn, and I will cook it at noon today, not only to sacrifice to the gods, but also to let you taste the new rice." After a year of hard work, there is finally a harvest today, which is gratifying. ”

As soon as the words fell, Chai Xin commanded his entourage, picked up a firecracker and put it down. In the crackling sound, the camp field work officially began this year's autumn harvest.