The village chief Zhai welcomed Zhou Nan and others into the village, where the village is located, like a round mound, the more the center of the village, the higher the terrain, so what Zhou Nan saw in the distance was the house on the high part of the village.

Most of the villages are thatched huts and mud houses, and from the low fence wall you can see the yard at a glance, and the yard is also bare, with a few chickens and geese in a loose range, and some are in a slightly better condition, raising a few sheep. The children who were running and playing in the village were all dressed in tatters, and some of them were poorly dressed, but they still ran very happily, and followed Zhou Nan and these people from a distance.

Village Chief Zhai knew from Li Feixing and others that the young man in front of him was the famous horse today, and the horse brought people here to plant rice in the Wuqing area, which made Village Chief Zhai even more happy. Zhou Nan's camp was next to the Zhai ancestral hall at the top of the village, and because it was where the ancestral hall was located, no one dared to build a house next to the ancestral hall.

Zhou Nan and they were different, and the village chief Zhai not only was not unhappy, but thought that the current king of the horse could live next to the ancestral hall of the Zhai family, which was the glory of their Zhai family, so he also took some people to help Zhou Nan level the land and set up tents.

Since Zhou Nan's tent had not yet been set up, Village Chief Zhai warmly invited Zhou Nan and others to his home to rest. Zhou Nan also wanted to learn something from the village chief, so he happily followed.

The village chief's house is built with some stones, and the front and back courtyards are already equivalent to the imperial palace in Sanshui Village. The guest and the host sat down in the guest hall in the front yard, and the village chief Zhai asked the family to boil water to make tea to drink, and specially told the family to say: "After the water in the pot is boiled, first put a small piece of tea to boil, let it cool, leave the upper half of the pot of tea, and pour out the rest of the tea and water, and then put the tea in this tea, and boil it again before it is served." ”

Yu Shen stood behind Zhou Nan and said with a smile: "My family is also a wealthy family in Yanjing City, and there is no good tea like the village chief, so I have to pour it out first." ”

Village Chief Zhai said helplessly: "Today, the noble people came to our Sanshui Village, the well water is bitter and can't be used to give it to the nobles to drink, so we have to use tea to remove the bitter taste in the water first, so we can make tea and drink it again." If it is usual, don't say that it is poured out, it is reluctant to make tea. ”

"Why is that?" Yu Shen asked strangely.

The little old man didn't understand the reason, but he drank this bitter water since he was a child, and the water from the well could never be swallowed, and could only be quoted after boiling. Even if you drink it, it's still bitter. Putting caramel in the water can't hide the bitter taste. Only by putting some tea in the water or putting some reed stalks can it be lighter. ”

Yu Shen now regarded Zhou Nan as his teacher, and when he heard what Village Chief Zhai said, he turned his head to Zhou Nan and asked, "Donkey, why can tea and reed poles remove the bitter taste in the water?" ”

It is certainly not acid-base neutralization, but the reed pole inspired Zhou Nan, he said: "I think it is this reed, tea and other things, which can absorb the bitter things in the water and make the water light." In addition to this reed and tea, everything that is soft with pores should be able to go out bitter and bitter when boiled in this bitter water. ”

"What the noble man said is exactly right!" Village Chief Zhai said again and again, "After the water here comes up from the well, don't say drink it, just wash your hair, and after washing, the hair can be like a stone slab." ”

"Then you didn't think about moving somewhere else? Has the field here been healed by you, and is it better than the harvest elsewhere? Yu cautiously asked, if the village chief in front of him had a way to solve the matter of governing the field, then they would save trouble this time.

"Where to move in?! This radius of hundreds of miles, where is not this kind of salty and wet land?! Village Chief Zhai sighed and said, "Our Zhai family has lived here for nearly a hundred years, but we barely survive by relying on a little harvest in the field and catching some fish and shrimp from the river." If it is really as the little brother said, the field is cured, it is really an eye-opener! ”

"So you can't help living here for 100 years!" Yu Shen said disappointedly.

"It's not that there is no way, it's more or less better than before, but it has little effect, and it's really not a good way to renovate the fields every year." Village Chief Zhai shook his head and said.

"How? Say it and listen to it, but it's the same as what the farmers think? Yu Shen hurriedly took out a pen and paper and said urgically.

Village Chief Zhai looked at Zhou Nan, worried that he would snub the current king of horses, Zhou Nan said with a smile: "I came here to plant rice for the purpose of governing the fields, if Village Chief Zhai has a good method, I will reward you, and I will promote it elsewhere to benefit everyone." ”

Seeing the sincerity of Zhou Nan's words, Village Chief Zhai hurriedly said: "The noble man is here for us, how can the little old man dare to covet the nobleman's reward?!" That's it! My Zhai clan can survive in this salty land for more than 100 years, and they have their own farming methods handed down by their ancestors. The little old man will tell the nobleman whether it is available or not. ”

Village Chief Zhai cleared his throat and said, "The ancestor originally crossed the boundary river from the Southern Dynasty and fled here. The people of the Southern Dynasty surrounded the fields by the boundary river to plant rice, and the ancestors of the little old children probably knew the planting method, and later fled here, still enclosing the fields and cultivating rice. It's just that the land here is salty and wet, and the ancestors thought that this place was near the sea, and the tide was salty and wet, so the land suffered from it, so they came up with the method of washing the fields. ”

"Didn't the Southern Dynasty have a way to wash the fields a long time ago?" Yu Shen glanced at the methods mentioned by the farmers on his paper, and said to Village Chief Zhai and Zhou Nan.

"Haha, this little brother has a heart. It seems that the noble man has come prepared. Yes, the Southern Dynasty has long had a method of washing the fields, but the washing of the fields in the Southern Dynasty is a flood irrigation, only to fill the fields with water and flood them, but I don't know that the fields should be washed inside and outside together. ”

"Wash inside and out?" Yu Shen asked curiously.

"Not bad!" Zhai Cunchang's wrinkled face showed a hint of pride, and said: "In winter, the fields should be turned deeply, embankments should be built around the fields, the river water should be poured in, soaked for a winter, and when the spring of the next year begins, the water will be discharged into the drainage ditch outside the field and go down the river." Then wash it with river water once or twice, so that the field can be planted with rice a little, and one acre of land and half a stone are harvested! ”

"Half a stone?! So much?! Yu Shen exclaimed.

Although Yu Shen was born in a wealthy family, he also traveled south and north and saw the world. In this era, the rice planted in the south of the south was only nearly two stones per mu, and it was still a good paddy field. Yanjing used to grow rice, but it generally yielded more than one stone per mu. It would be nice to have a half-stone harvest in this salty and wet field.

But Zhou Nan shook his head, as if he was not satisfied with such a result.

(End of chapter)