Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1858, The New Year of the Immigrants

In Heitu Province, when the city of Meaux was killing endlessly, the small town where the immigrants from the Ming Dynasty lived was full of joy and laughter, and people gathered to celebrate the New Year.

At Li Er's home in Xiaofeng Town, taking advantage of the new year, Li Er also called his eldest brother Li Da's family and his uncle Lu Da's family to his place, and everyone gathered together to celebrate.

A large table is full of dishes, such as stewed lamb chops, fried beef with chili, cold pig ears, roasted duck, roasted chicken, steamed sea fish, fried bacon with radish, fried large intestine with onions. Very happy.

As for Li Da, Li Er and Lu Da, they were discussing while drinking some wine.

"I really regret that I didn't listen to you. If I bought a cultivator along with you at the beginning, it would have been issued last year."

Lu Da was very regretful. When Li Er asked him to buy a cultivator together, he just kept going. He felt that the cultivator was too expensive and he still owed money to the bank, so no matter what Li Er said, he just refused to buy it, and even paid for it. Persuading Li Er not to buy it, the risk is too great.

The result is out.

Because Li Er's family has a tiller, they also cultivated more than a thousand acres of land, and the grain harvest was bumper. They harvested hundreds of thousands of catties of grain at once and sold it for hundreds of taels of silver.

Not only did he return all the money he paid for the machine, but he also made hundreds of taels of silver by plowing land and harvesting wheat for others.

In contrast to myself, although the two husband and wife have worked tirelessly for a year, they only planted dozens of acres of land, and the harvest is a lot of food, but there is no way like Li Er. Compare.

"It's all over, and there's still time to buy it this year. If you buy it this year, it will be spring, and more land will be planted to plant grain. This winter, you can have a bumper harvest."

Li Er said with a smile.

I am also thankful that I listened to Li Da's words, otherwise, like other immigrants, I was afraid of this, I was not willing to give up this one, I was not willing to give up that one, I guess last year I could only harvest enough food for a year, how could it be like this? Also pockets bulging.

The money for the cultivator and harvester has been paid off, there are still hundreds of taels of silver lying in the pocket, and there are tens of thousands of catties of grain in the house. This is a decent life.

Look at the dishes on the big table in front of you, eat whatever you want, and eat with your belly open.

Unlike my hometown in the mountains before, it is very difficult for my parents to let everyone open their bellies to eat a full meal during the Chinese New Year. There is no way, the land in the house is small, the food is small, the population is large, and they are all half-sized Son, the kind that eats me to death.

If you really open your belly to eat, it is normal for one person to eat a catty or two of rice after a meal.

Now my family eats three meals a day with an open belly, and can't eat much food. Li Er also finds that his appetite is much smaller than before.

When I first came here, I could eat several large bowls of rice for one meal, but now I can only eat two large bowls, and there must be meat when eating.

Every now and then, I have to cut some meat back. Pork, mutton, and beef are all very common here, and people have gained a lot of weight.

Originally, people were thinner and smaller, but now they have grown flesh, and they look much stronger.

Looking at his elder brother again, Li Da is now even stronger, with a full body and a belly, obviously living a very comfortable life in this small life.

"I've already bought a tractor. It's more than 100 taels of silver. The feeling of owing money to the bank is really uncomfortable. I can't even sleep."

Lu laughed and said.

It is still the continuation of the thinking of the older generation, thinking that being in debt is troublesome, and being in debt is a bad thing for people to eat and sleep well. After all, there are too many stories about usury and compound interest since ancient times.

Why do you owe 3 taels of silver to a certain landlord, it’s just that you haven’t paid it back for a few months, and it turned out to be dozens of taels of silver under the revolving interest, and then you have to pull your daughter to sell it.

Things like this have existed since ancient times, and they are constantly being spread, which also makes the common people fearful of borrowing money. No matter how good the words are, they are still interest-free.

But a debt is a debt, regardless of whether the debt is from a bank or a usury, in a word, it is better to find a way to pay it off as soon as possible, so that people can feel more at ease.

"Just relax."

"What's the money owed? When the land is reclaimed, if you have a cultivator, work hard, and you can cultivate one or two thousand acres of land casually. When the grain is sold, the money owed will be repaid."

"If it really doesn't work, then I'll borrow it here and use it."

"It's time to eat, drink, and live a small life."

Li Er said to Lu Da with a smile.

At the beginning, I was also worried about the lack of money, and it was Li Da who reassured me that the world had been turned upside down in just one year.

Now Li Er is full of hope and longing for the future life.

"Actually, it's a good thing to reclaim more land."

"Now the Black Earth Province is sparsely populated, and there is a lot of land. If you reclaim it casually, if you reclaim some more land, it is tantamount to occupying the land first."

"After the land has passed, it is possible to carry out various planting and breeding. Don't just grow food. The price of food is too low, which is not worth it."

"You can engage in farming and raise some cattle, sheep and pigs, so that you can increase your income."

Li Da took a sip of his wine and spoke slowly.

"Brother, what are your plans for this year?"

As soon as Li Er heard this, he immediately regained his energy. He quickly poured wine for his elder brother, and then asked humbly. Lu Da also looked over eagerly.

Li Da immigrated here earlier than everyone else, and his vision and knowledge are much better than everyone's. His suggestions must be listened to carefully.

"I plan to continue to reclaim some land this year, but the newly opened land will not grow grain, and I will plant some pasture for cattle and sheep."

Li Da looked at the two of them and said.

"Grow grass?"

When the two heard it, they also hurriedly said in unison.

"Yes, plant grass."

"Central Asia has a large ranch economy. People there specialize in planting pastures on a large area, and then use the pastures to feed cattle and sheep. The output of cattle and sheep is very high, and the benefits are very good."

"In addition, in the Hezhong area, most of the families are a combination of large-scale ranch economy and large-scale farm economy. On the one hand, they plant land on a large scale, and on the other hand, they engage in large-scale farming. The two models go together, so the entire Hezhong area The region is also one of the wealthiest places in our Ming Dynasty."

"My neighbor Wang Kaiwen, whose family is in Hezhong Province, has been doing this since last year, and now the number of cattle, sheep and pigs has reached several hundred."

"For them, growing food is often just for feeding cattle, sheep and pigs."

Li Da nodded and said, also mentioning the economic model of Hezhong and Central Asia provinces.

"He told me that the black soil province has great advantages. He said that the land in our black soil province is very fertile. It's all black soil. What you grow will grow."

"The other thing is that the black soil province has a large area and a small population. Such a huge black soil province has a population of only a few million, and the number of immigrants from our Ming Dynasty is even less. This means that we have enough land to engage in large-scale farm economy and large-scale ranch economy."

"Farming the land can't just simply grow food. In fact, you can also grow soybeans, peanuts, sunflowers, etc. The benefits of growing these are much better than growing food."

"Of course, the best thing is to engage in breeding. The price of cattle, sheep and pigs is relatively good, and the sales are also relatively good. When the railway passage comes to our black soil province, our cattle, sheep and pigs can be continuously sold in Daming. .”

"What the newspaper said is good. We Daming people don't have any problems eating enough now. The grain output is large, and we can eat enough to eat casually."

"Right now we Daming people are trying to eat well."

"Eat more meat, and the child will grow stronger, taller, and have a better body."

"In the future, our Daming's demand for meat will continue to rise, and the market has great prospects."

Li Da also described a larger level of things to the two of them.

It’s not that it’s as simple as being limited to farming, but it’s also related to Da Ming’s situation. Whatever Da Ming needs, everyone will do it.

If you need food, you will grow food, if you need meat, you will raise pigs, cattle and sheep, and make continuous adjustments to keep up with the changes of the times.

"So that's how it is. According to you, brother, I will also raise some cattle, sheep and pigs this year."

After listening to Li Er, he also nodded and said.

"I'll focus on this year, and pay back the money owed to the bank."

Lu Da said weakly.

Now I feel like I am one step behind, unable to keep up with Li Da and Li Er. They have already considered starting farming, but I am still thinking about cultivating more land to pay off the bank's debts. .

"I don't know what's going on at home now?"

Chatting, chatting, Li Da suddenly became homesick and missed his parents.

I am eating big fish and meat here, and I don't know how the food is at home during the Chinese New Year. The remaining three younger brothers don't know if they can have a prosperous New Year.

"Da Lu, did you write a letter back?"

"Yes, I asked my family to immigrate my second child out. The life in the mountains is not a human life. There is nothing to eat, and it is not convenient to go anywhere. A few acres of rotten fields are exhausted for a year. It can produce a few more grains inside, it’s better to come out, just to say that you can open your belly to eat.”

"Well, yes, it's better to come out. I also plan to let my younger brothers in my family immigrate out at that time. Even we will immigrate out together. The life in the mountains is really bad."

(End of this chapter)