Zhang Ran had just sat on the ground and rested for less than four or five minutes, when his mother Zhang Li dropped her hoe and hurried over, asking Zhang Ran with a concerned face: "Ran'er, what's wrong with you?" Is there something uncomfortable? If you're too tired, go home and rest, and Sui'er and I can finish the rest of the field in half a day..."

"Uh" Zhang Ran scratched his head, his mother's "excess" concern made Zhang Ran feel like he had become a "mother's treasure". Although Zhang Ran can understand the anxiety of her mother who suddenly "lost and regained" when she was about to despair, she was afraid of losing it again. But to be honest, this kind of treatment as if he was "watching a child" still made Zhang Ran feel "flattered" and a little unbearable.

"Mother, I'm fine, don't worry!"

Zhang Ran got up and took his mother's hand, and hurriedly comforted: "I just felt a little tired just now, so I planned to sit down and rest, and there was nothing uncomfortable." Besides, haven't you seen it all, my body is basically better, I can run and jump, and I can eat two large bowls of corn in one go..."

"Hehe..., what are you running and jumping, you kid will talk nonsense..."Seeing that Zhang Ran seemed to be really fine, Zhang Li's hanging heart also relaxed, and he couldn't help laughing.

Zhang Ran was "aggrieved" and said: "How can I say nonsense, I obviously ate two big bowls of rice in the morning..."

"Okay, okay, I'm not poor with you, since you're fine, then Grandma will go back to work!"

As he spoke, Zhang Li was about to turn around and go back to the field to continue weeding.

Seeing this, Zhang Ran hurriedly took his mother's hand and persuaded: "Mother, there are less than two acres of land left, we can finish the work this morning, why are you in a hurry!" Let's sit back and get back to work! ”

"That's... Okay then~" Zhang Li hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and agreed.

After the mother and son returned to the ridge and sat down, Zhang Ran looked at the sparse seedlings in the field in front of him, and couldn't help worrying: "Mother, I feel that the crops in our field don't seem to be growing well, do you think our harvest this year will be reduced by this!" ”

"This..."Zhang Li hesitated for a moment, and replied with a somewhat heavy face: "This is not easy to say, but judging from the experience of previous years, it will still be more or less affected!" ”

Zhang Ran nodded thoughtfully, and asked, "Then do you estimate that when we harvest this autumn, how much can we harvest per acre?" ”

Zhang Li thought for a while, and replied in a somewhat depressed tone: "If nothing else, it will probably only be two stones!" ”

"Two stones..."

After hearing this number, Zhang Ran's heart couldn't help but sink. The main reason why he pulled his mother over this time was because he was very worried after seeing the scene in the field.

But because of his scruples, Zhang Ran didn't dare to ask directly about the grain output, so he could only take advantage of the problem of poor growth of the seedlings to ask about the grain yield that he was most concerned about...

Although I had already made some preparations in my heart, I knew that the grain production in my own field now would probably not be as large as that in future generations. But when Zhang Ran learned from his mother that he could only collect two stones per mu of land per year, Zhang Ran was still a little incredulous.

Zhang Ran had secretly asked his sister Zhang Sui'er yesterday and verified it, and the current pound is only about half a pound of the future generations. And one stone of grain is about one hundred and twenty catties (Han catties), which is only equivalent to sixty catties in later generations. The two stones add up, and it's only more than 120 catties.

"One acre of land harvests one hundred and twelve catties of grain a year, if this is placed in the future generations, I am afraid it is equivalent to extinction?"

I thought of the two-season rotation in the north in later generations, with an average yield of more than 1,000 catties of corn and wheat per mu, as well as the rice in the south with two to three seasons a year, more than 1,000 catties per season, and Grandpa Yuan's super hybrid rice with a yield of nearly 2,000 catties per mu. Think about it again, now you can only harvest about 100 catties of grain per mu of land every year...

"This is still a high-quality irrigated field that can be irrigated by water from the Qingshui River... If it is replaced by another 20 acres of dry land or mountain fields, I am afraid that it will not even be one-twentieth of the average grain yield in later generations! ”

After such calculations, Zhang Ran suddenly had a feeling of being loveless.

No wonder the family is as poor as a ghost, this is a year when he meows so much food, and he has to pay so much tax. Not starving to death is great enough. I still want to make a fortune by farming, so let's dream of it!

After two days of field labor, Zhang Ran deeply realized the difficulties of ancient life, and knew better that ancient pastoral life was far from being as simple and beautiful as he imagined, full of poetry. On the contrary, it is full of heartache and pain.

"Spring ploughing, summer ploughing, autumn harvest, winter storage, cutting salaries, magistrates' mansions, giving conscription...

Do not shelter from wind and dust in spring, do not shelter from heat in summer, do not shelter from rain in autumn, do not shelter from cold and freeze in winter, and rest between four o'clock; and privately sent to usher, hanged to ask about the disease, and raised orphans and children in it. Diligence is so, and it is still plagued by floods and droughts, and the government is overpowered, and the endowment is from time to time, and the order is in the twilight..."

When I thought that I would be busy in the fields all year round, I would only be able to collect less than two stones of grain, and I would eat too little food by myself, but I still had to pay field tax... After two years, after becoming an adult, he still has to pay the tax (poll tax) and serve the forced labor, Zhang Ran has an extremely light feeling of pain...

No wonder there are ten acres of irrigated fields at home, and all the crops are millet, but they can only eat bean soup every day... With this annual yield in the field, it is already very good to be able to eat bean soup.

"There is no harm if there is no comparison! It seems that it is impossible to get rich and improve your life by farming in a short period of time! ”

Originally, Zhang Ran thought that his family had more than 30 acres of land, which was a small landlord in ancient times, but after really understanding the current grain production, Zhang Ran sadly found that he was really thinking too much.

With more than 30 acres of land, he can only barely make ends meet.

"Ran'er, what do you think, so fascinated?"

Seeing Zhang Ran staring blankly at the farmland in front of him and not speaking for a long time, Zhang Li couldn't help but stretch out his finger and poke Zhang Ran lightly, and asked.

"Oh, oh, it's okay, it's okay."

Zhang Ran suddenly came back to his senses, and hurriedly said to his mother: "I was just thinking, when I am done with the work in the field, should I make more fish cages and see if I can catch more fish..."

"Oh yes" Zhang Ran suddenly remembered something, turned his head to his mother Zhang Li and said: "Mother, when I went to Sankui's house yesterday, I told Uncle Zhang Meng that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I will teach them my method of fishing in a fishing cage, so that they can also eat some fish or something..."

"Hmm..." Zhang Li was silent for a moment, nodded slightly, and said: "That's okay, it can be regarded as repaying the kindness of the Sankui family to us." ”

As he spoke, Zhang Li stretched out his palm, stroked Zhang Ran's hair, and said dotingly: "My son has the ability now, and he knows how to repay his kindness, and it is not in vain that my mother usually teaches you..."