sbdcsierra Chapter 368 Wheat Harvest
Chapter 368 Wheat Harvest
After Dongfang Jin finished speaking, she left the space with those things.
……
Cang Nanxi and Lin Lizheng stood aside, their eyes fixed on the threshing machine that mimicked the working principle of a bicycle, their faces full of curiosity and amazement.
Cang Nanxi broke the silence first, his tone full of disbelief: "Is this really the same principle as a bicycle? Looking at these gears and chains, it really does look a bit like one!"
Song Qing stood humbly to the side, nodded slightly, and added, "Indeed, the entire device is driven by a foot pedal, cleverly using the rotational power for threshing."
He thought to himself: This is something they worked on day and night for three months to complete.
They initially ordered hand-cranked bicycles, but after he saw Lu Yunqing's bicycle chain fall off that time...
My mind suddenly clicked, and I immediately came up with this method.
Lin Li stepped closer, carefully examining the transmission components, and couldn't help but exclaim, "I always thought bicycles were just for transportation, I never imagined they could be modified like this, this idea is brilliant."
Cang Nanxi then asked Song Qing, "Is it difficult to operate? Can the average person learn it?"
Song Qing frowned and pondered for a moment, then analyzed, "As long as you are familiar with the structure, master the foot pedal rhythm, and understand the machine's operating rules, it shouldn't be difficult."
However, it will definitely take some getting used to at first; the chain on this threshing machine is quite long.
Lin Lizheng stroked his chin and said with a smile, "Anyway, this is much faster than threshing by hand." As he spoke, he pointed to the other side of the threshing ground.
Chief Sun exclaimed in astonishment, "If this threshing machine could be widely adopted, how much manpower would be saved for our people?"
The group chatted amongst themselves, their eyes never leaving the threshing machine, their hearts filled with admiration for this novel agricultural tool and anticipation for the future.
Behind the threshing machine, two servants stood guard over a large bamboo mat, intently catching the flying wheat grains with winnowing baskets.
The wheat grains fell softly, raising a light mist of dust.
Sweat glistened on their faces in the sunlight, but they didn't bother to wipe it away, their minds solely focused on collecting the wheat grains.
A gentle breeze carried the scent of wheat mixed with the smell of sweat, and everyone was immersed in the joy of the harvest.
The roar of the threshing machine, the shouts of the servants, and the sound of wheat grains colliding intertwined, creating a busy yet joyful harvest symphony.
After the threshing is finished, it's time for winnowing.
Taking advantage of the wind, some villagers and Gu's servants used wooden shovels to shovel up the wheat grains and toss them high into the air.
Wheat grains are separated from chaff and straw by the wind.
The plump wheat grains fell straight down, forming a small golden hill;
The chaff and straw were blown aside, as if a thin blanket had been laid on the ground.
The threshing of the last acre was completed quickly, and the final result was that Song Qing's threshing machine was the fastest.
Cang Nanxi kept praising Song Qing and the others for making such a good threshing machine, saying that not a single grain of wheat was damaged.
On the contrary, those that were smashed with wooden paddles not only had many wheat grains flattened, but also had many damaged grains.
After praising it highly, he urged Song Qing to make more units and said that he should arrange for someone to continue making them and to promote them vigorously.
When it came to the last weighing, Lin Li was holding the weight, his eyes fixed on the scale beam.
As the weight slowly moved, his mouth opened wider and wider, his face filled with disbelief.
"This...this must be a problem with the scale?"
His voice trembled slightly as he turned to look at Chief Sun and Chief Xu, who were recording the quantities in a notebook, as if seeking confirmation.
Chief Sun stared at the scale beam, his face filled with excitement: "This...this..." A thousand catties, over a thousand catties!
Ruyi, [Jin-jie, the results are in.]
Dongfang Jin directed Xueju and Dongju to move things out. Hearing Ruyi's words, she asked somewhat anxiously, "How much?"
[It's not bad, just threshed, about 1300 jin (650 kg).]
[Once dried, it will weigh around 1,000 jin (500 kg), which is not bad.]
【really. 】
……
Chief Xu's face flushed with excitement, his hands gripping the hem of his clothes tightly, his voice rising with excitement: "The village head is absolutely right!"
It weighs 1,300 jin, and after removing the moisture, it weighs approximately 1,100 jin.
In the past, we worked ourselves to the bone and only harvested about 200 jin per mu, or at most 300 jin.
But this year, that number has already exceeded a thousand jin!
After saying that, he squatted down, scooped up a handful of wheat grains with both hands, and his eyes glistened with tears. "Village head, look at these plump wheat grains, it's all thanks to the new method!"
Cang Nanxi suppressed his shock, his eyes widened, and his face was full of disbelief.
He took two quick steps forward, squatted down, picked up a few grains of wheat from Chief Xu's hand, and examined them repeatedly in his palm.
He murmured, "Good heavens, this...this really is wheat grown in our field?"
In all my years, I have never seen such plump grains of wheat.
Chief Xu, please tell me in detail what this new method is all about.
Chief Xu stood up, dusted off his hands, and beamed with a proud smile.
Her eyes were filled with excitement as she recounted the scene of Gu Chenglin's family planting wheat: "This new method was devised by your son-in-law Chenglin; it's quite ingenious."
In terms of seed selection, we only select wheat varieties with large grains and good appearance.
Before sowing, some special methods were used to treat the wheat seeds, supposedly to prevent insects and diseases.
Then there's fertilizing the land...
Another aspect is field management. There's a precise time for watering and fertilizing, unlike the aimless busy work of the past.
"A thousand pounds! That's a real, substantial amount!"
As he spoke, a hint of regret crossed his face; he shouldn't have disbelieved Cheng Lin.
If he had followed this new method of wheat cultivation last fall, then this year…
Three-tenths of an acre? That's too little!
Cang Nanxi listened intently, nodding repeatedly. Suddenly, he frowned and asked, "Is this new method difficult to learn? Will all the men and women in our village be able to use it?"
When he arrived, the wheat in the field had already sprouted ears.
The idea of planting came from the son-in-law's study.
If this method were to be widely adopted, the people of the Eastern Kingdom would…
Lin Lizheng stepped forward and quickly waved his hand, saying, "Don't worry about that. At first, I was also worried that everyone wouldn't be able to learn it."
They even thought Cheng Lin's method of growing wheat was somewhat absurd.
Think about it, our ancestors have always sown seeds in the ground and then covered them with a layer of soil.
But Chenglin told us to make furrows in the field, scatter seeds in the furrows, then cover them up and tamp them down...
I was there when Chenglin was working in the fields with the tenants from Xiaowan Village and his brothers.
To be honest, none of us believe it, otherwise my family wouldn't have only planted such a small amount.
Another thing is that the method of planting wheat is very simple for us farmers; we can learn it in no time.
In the days that followed, I had several young men from the Lin clan learn from me, and they all learned quite well.
After we finish with the wheat, we'll plant corn in the wheat field according to Chenglin's method.
I guarantee every household will have a bumper harvest this year!
Upon hearing this, Cang Nanxi finally felt relieved, and a relieved smile appeared on his face.
He patted Lin Lizheng heavily on the shoulder and said, "Good job, Lin Lizheng, this time we really owe you all for trusting Cheng Lin."
If this new method can be promoted starting from Lingwu Village and more people learn about it, then the people of our country will have a much better life in the future!
I wonder if the wheat in Huangzhuang has been harvested yet, and whether it also yielded a thousand catties per mu.
Chief Xu looked at the village head, his eyes slightly red, and said excitedly, "Village head, this is a blessing for everyone."
I just hope that our village will get better and better, that every household will be able to eat their fill and stay warm, and that we will no longer have to worry about those few acres of land.
The yield is over a thousand catties per mu! The land here in Chenglin is all fertile farmland, while our land is a bit inferior.
But surely the yield per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.165 acres) can be several hundred jin (a Chinese