The noon sun was warm on his body, Xu Ping sat on the chair, listening to Xu Chang next to him report on the situation in the village this month. He is more and more accepting of his current identity, and he really feels that he is a small landowner in this era. However, in terms of management techniques, Xu Ping put himself in the role of the captain of the production team in his previous life, both public and private, which has indescribable benefits.

The calves raised in the farm have grown up, and they can participate in spring ploughing after the New Year. In order to grow rice, he bought eight buffaloes, all of which were in the prime of life, and because of the relationship between the chief secretary and Guo Zhi, the price of each head was less than eight dollars, which was not expensive.

Nearly 1,000 sheep have begun to be sold one after another, because tens of thousands of sheep in the northwest of the New Year Pass were transported to the capital, the price of sheep at this time is not high, a big sheep is only five dollars. Xu Ping felt that it was not cost-effective, so he only asked the village to sell those that were obviously not long, and the rest were raised first, and then sold after the price of sheep rose in the spring, anyway, there was a large amount of silage of sweet sorghum and alfalfa hay as feed.

Cattle cannot be sold, and due to the government's price limit, the price of a cow is about the same as that of a big sheep, and it cannot be paid at all. At this time, most of the cattle in the markets of Kaifeng Mansion and Jingxi Road were sold from Jinghu Road, where they were all semi-free-range on the hillsides and grasslands, and the cost was almost just a road fee, and the price was not high.

The grain planted in the village is only a few hundred acres of land along the river, and the total harvest is less than 200,000 catties, and there are now more than 50 people in the village, even if there is a surplus, it is only 100,000 catties, and it can only get two or three hundred yuan for selling it all. With the current income scale of Xu Pingzhuang, there is no point in selling grain, and all of it is stored in the warehouse. No matter what era, if the land is only used to grow food, it will not have good economic returns, and it is far from the cultivation of cash crops.

In addition to the income of the Zhuangzi, the size of the Zhuangzi has also expanded somewhat. Since Song Laozhuan and Tian Sihai set up a house to settle here, six more villagers have moved their homes one after another and set up a house next to Xu Pingzhuang Courtyard. Xu Ping wanted to recruit the population, and the foundation was given to them for free, and even when building a house, it was the villagers who went to help for free, and the village also subsidized them with some food.

Quietly listening to Xu Chang's report, Xu Ping also had some joy in his heart. A prosperous small village is taking shape in his hands, one industry is prosperous, all industries are prosperous, and after two years of hard work, Xujiazhuang may become a famous and wealthy place in the annex.

After reporting these, Xu Chang said again: "Da Lang, what you ordered before you left, the village took advantage of the slack days to build roads and ditches. In the past two days, the road to the fields in the village has been almost repaired, and the canals where the land is to be planted have also been repaired, and the other wastelands are useless now. The villagers discussed that the road from our village to Baisha Town was not easy to walk, or it would be repaired during the previous year. However, this road is not walked by one of our villages, and I have asked people to talk about other villages, but they are unwilling. If we only repair it ourselves, the villagers have to work, and the village also has to produce food and farm tools, which has become a waste benefit for other Zhuangzi, and some are not cost-effective, so we have to wait for you to come back and decide. ”

Xu Ping opened his eyes and said to Xu Chang: "You first estimate how much labor will be produced in our village if the road is repaired, and how much cash will be converted into food and other sundries in the village, and then report to me." ”

Xu Chang responded.

Coming from his previous life, Xu Ping knew the importance of the road better than anyone else in this era. As soon as the autumn harvest was over, he organized people to repair the roads from the village to the fields, although they were all according to the standards of the rural mechanized roads in the previous life, not roads, let alone hard roads such as cement and asphalt, but they were also smooth and wide, requiring two ox carts to pass side by side. With bearings, although not rubber pneumatic tires, the ox cart and wheelbarrow used in Zhuangli are also much better than before, and there is Xu Ping, a mechanical professional person commanding, the car made in Zhuangli is definitely compact and easy to use, much more labor-saving than the original car.

Ditches are the root of farmland, especially in this era when there are no pumping machinery. However, the surrounding area is sandy, and it is much more troublesome to control the ditch than to build a road. In this era, there is no cement, not to mention, and even the yellow mud is not easy to find, so Xu Ping had to use bricks and pottery shards to prevent seepage, the effect is not good, and the price is expensive. Xu Ping also remembers the method of firing cement, but first, there are too many things and there is no time, and secondly, the natural resources here are not suitable at this time, and the raw materials have to be transported from other places, so it will be suspended.

After explaining these things, Xu Chang said again: "Da Lang came back at just the right time this time, and there is another happy event in the village tomorrow, just in time to catch up." ”

Xu Ping was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked, "Which one is it?" Marry or have children? ”

Xu Chang said: "It's Lu Song in the village, he got along with a widow in Baisha Town, Li Si's sister-in-law, and he will marry to the village tomorrow to live together." ”

Xu Ping nodded: "This is a good thing!" Now the people in the village are thin, and the more people there are, the more lively they are. By the way, did Zhuang Li give him a mansion? Even if it's a dowry, you can also sponsor him. ”

Xu Chang smiled: "Da Lang thinks too much, where are the poor families in the countryside, there are many exquisite." Fourth sister-in-law Li is not the first time to get married, so it would be good to marry in the door tomorrow and set up a banquet to be lively. This is also the meaning of Lu Song's family, they don't want to make a big deal. ”

"Anyway, this is my first happy event after coming to the village, and I can't be too sloppy and show that we are stingy. By the way, tomorrow I will give my horse to Lu Song to ride to greet my relatives, and two more good silks will be sent out in the village to make good clothes for the two of them. ”

The most important thing for a Zhuangzi is to have festive signs and give people a sense of prosperity, so as to be able to attract Zhuangzi to come to take refuge. At this time, the Central Plains area is the most scarce labor, for the grange, recruiting manpower has always been the first priority, and it is also necessary to spend some money.

Xu Chang saw Xu Ping's generosity and said approvingly: "It's good for Da Lang to think like this." The fourth sister-in-law Li is only in her early twenties this year, married at the age of eighteen, and her husband fell ill and died in less than a year. She is shrewd and capable, and she looks a little good, and I don't know how many people want to marry her. Lu Song was able to win her favor, and it was also because she heard that our village was prosperous this year, and Da Lang treated his subordinates well, so he was willing to marry in the village. ”

In fact, there is another point, the last time he caught Ke Wulang and his gang of thieves, Lu Song was very lucky, and he stabbed to death the second brother of one of the leaders with one shot, and received ten rewards from Xu Ping, and he had a lot more money on hand. He is a careful person, so he can get a house and marry a wife.

The life of these ordinary bankers is like this, when they were young, they worked everywhere to earn a living, and when they found a place where they could stabilize, they saved money to marry a wife and start a family. Romantic love is a luxury for them, nor is it a necessity of life, and it is more real that two ordinary people live together, face the ups and downs of life together, and let the next generation of the two grow up healthily.

Before you know it, this small village in Xuping is changing the fate of many people.

After Xu Chang finished reporting the affairs in the village, the two went to see the newly made farm tools together.

In the compound, Gao Daquan and Sun Qilang were already waiting there, and next to them were several newly made cars.

One is a newly made tricycle, much smaller and more compact than the original, and it is inconspicuous compared to the original. This is Xu Ping saw those wealthy families change their cars after the appearance of special production, after all, this is not the era of equality of individuals, not attracting attention is the basic philosophy of survival. The car still had to be driven by three people, but the rear seats were lowered and no longer high.

The two cars next to it are new, and unlike the tricycle, this one uses only two people, one in front of the other to provide power, and the person in front of them works part-time to control the direction. The wheels are all made of iron, which is very large, and there are holes for inserting skid plates. This was designed by Xu Pingxin and was specially designed for transporting seedlings and spreading fertilizer in paddy fields. In Xu Ping's previous life, there was a special boat tractor for this kind of work, which was used to work in the paddy fields. However, power machinery involves too many technologies, which are beyond Xu Ping's ability, so he has to use this kind of substitute.

The mechanized operation of paddy fields was a problem even in Xu Ping's previous life, and it was not easy to replace manual labor with machinery for many jobs, and the efficiency was very problematic, so Xu Ping had to do a little bit of it. The transportation in the paddy fields is difficult again, because the plots are small and the ox carts are very long, so they are not suitable for use, so they have to use manpower.

Seeing Xu Ping, Gao Daquan and Sun Qilang came up and sang a promise: "I've seen a little official!" ”

Xu Ping nodded and said to them, "Did this new car ride smoothly?" Take two laps for me and Duguan to take a look? If it doesn't fit, change it as soon as possible. ”

Gao Daquan and Sun Qilang took the order, and the two got on the newly made paddy field transport truck.

Gao Daquan was in front, a part-time driver, and Sun Qilang was behind him, just concentrating on pedaling.

With Gao Daquan's "up", the paddy field car slowly moved and walked back and forth in the compound twice.

The wheels are too big, the walk is noticeably bumpy, and the handling is not easy. Gao Daquan held the handle tightly in the car, with a serious face, and did not dare to be a little negligent.

There is no way to do this, there are many ditches and ridges in the fields, and only with big wheels can you cross the obstacles. If you want to reduce the wheels, lower the center of gravity, drive smoothly, and have enough obstacle crossing ability, you need to use tracks. As the fundamental technology of agricultural machinery, Xu Ping is naturally familiar with the crawler, and even the new simple triangular crawler he is also clear, but with the technical ability of the current Zhuangli, it is not reached.

The car stopped next to Xu Ping, and Gao Daquan and Sun Qilang got out of the car.

Xu Ping nodded and said, "It's barely usable, but it's still difficult to ride." A few of you find some nimble bankers, let them ride more familiarly, and wait until spring to be useful. ”

Xu Chang and the three agreed together.

At this time, the sun has turned to the west, and the golden sunlight is shining on the snow next to the wall, reflecting the colorful colors.

Xiuxiu and Su'er are by the wall where the sun is shining, telling about what happened in each of them in the past month, and the little sisters naturally have their friendship that is not understood by outsiders.

Xiuxiu ate the playthings she brought back from the city, what kind of candy man, mud tiger, Xu Ping bought her one after another, took it out and put it on the ground in the same way, and while tasting it with Su'er, she shared it with Su'er.

On a winter afternoon, the small village is calm and peaceful.