Riding the wind of rebirth

This joyous gathering continued until after midnight, much like the Han Chinese tradition of staying up all night on New Year's Eve, which wouldn't end until the next day.

This resulted in the cavalry departing two hours later the next day.

Fortunately, everyone is on vacation, and vacation is all about "leisure," so it doesn't matter if it's early or late, as long as you can get there within two or three hours.

"How far can you go in three hours on horseback?" Yan Xiao, feeling quite professional on horseback, began to wonder about the distance between his destination and the two stations.

"Actually, it's not far." Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "If you're not too picky about the distance on the Ancient Tea Horse Road, you can travel 40 to 60 li a day. If you're fast, you can travel 4 or 5 li an hour. In 3 hours, that's 15 li. That's actually the distance from Jiachuan County to Bijia Mountain or Rongshan Town."

“That’s not right,” Yan Xiao said. “It only takes us an hour or so to walk to Bijia Mountain.”

“That’s because the road is good,” Zhou Zhi laughed. “The road we’re on now is similar to the ancient Tea Horse Road, which is different from the flat cement road like the one in Jiachuan.”

“Take the section from Xichang to Lianhe Township for example. Coming from Xichang, you need to stay in Meigu on the first day, and then change horses early the next morning. It takes a whole day to reach the grain station. It takes two days.”

"Later, the main road was built to Meigu, and the driving time from Xichang to Meigu was reduced from ten hours to only six hours. However, the road from Meigu to the grain station was still a very bad gravel road, which was not accessible to cars. Even large trucks could not travel much faster than riding a horse."

"Later, the highway was widened and paved with asphalt, reducing the travel time from Xichang to Meigu to four hours. The gravel road from Meigu to Jiukou was also built, and the place to change horses was moved to Jiukou."

“Back then, you could travel on the rural roads at night. You could ride a horse out of the village at night, catch the early bus in Jiukou in the morning, and reach Xichang City by evening,” Azi added.

“It’s different now,” Wu Renzhong said. “Now the asphalt road extends all the way to the township. It only takes three hours to get from the township to Meigu. If you drive fast, it takes six hours to get from Xichang city to the grain station.”

"So it all depends on the roads. If the roads are good, we can reduce the time spent on the road to one-third or even one-quarter of what it used to be," Zhou Zhi said with a smile. "If the roads are bad, then it will be the same as it is now."

“This is not bad either.” Feng Xueshan and He Shiqing, the two least familiar with horseback riding, were protected in the center of the group: “We can walk slowly and enjoy the scenery. The scenery along the way is really beautiful.”

“Actually, this road is much easier to walk on now,” Zhou Zhi said with a smile. “When we first came here, we had to clear a path because it was blocked by ferns. But we came here often to visit, so the road was naturally preserved.”

The roadsides are now covered with thick vegetation, but it is all of the same species, fern. Ferns are now one of the income-generating projects in Lianhe Township, but they are still everywhere, as if they are inexhaustible.

Yang He also noticed this: "Why is this whole pine forest covered with these? Back in my hometown, it's not easy to find even a little bit of bracken."

“There are too many varieties of ferns back home,” Zhou Zhi said. “Ninety percent of them are inedible. Unlike here, there are only two or three common types of ferns, and they are all edible. That’s what you call local resources.” “Shall we pick some later?” Yan Xiao noticed some fern shoots sprouting on the withered fern field and wanted to play with them.

“This is a dry slope, the ferns aren’t very good here. I’ll take you to pick some when we get to the camp,” Azi said. “Let’s pick cucumber strips, they’re much tastier than these purple ferns.”

“Yes, we can’t afford to waste any more time on this journey.” Zhou Zhi laughed. “It will take three hours to get there, and once we arrive, we’ll need to set up tents, establish a base, and cook. That will take some time.”

"Oh, right, let me emphasize the discipline again. You all saw it, right? The area under the pine trees is full of dry grass this season, so we need to be especially careful with fire. You must not use fire outside the camp area, otherwise it could easily cause a fire."

The problem was obvious at a glance. The road the caravan was traveling through was flanked by tall pine forests, beneath which lay dense fern meadows. These ferns had reached the horses' bellies, and apart from a few rebellious ones that mistook autumn for spring sprouting, most were already withered. Adding to this, it was the dry season, and the withered ferns were extremely dry. If a fire broke out under these conditions, it would engulf more than a dozen hills.

"Huh?" At this point in the conversation, He Shiqing thought of another question: "Zhouzi, didn't you say that the villagers used to practice slash-and-burn agriculture? That is, they would burn the mountains to get arable land and then bury potatoes in the burned land, right? So how did the villagers control the area burned?"

“This requires experience,” Zhou Zhi said with a smile. “Actually, the burned hills were not entirely virgin land. Most of them were fallow land after crop rotation. These lands have been cleared, with stones removed. Some plots are even separated by low stone walls, maintaining relative independence from the rest of the forest, which makes them controllable.”

“If it is a completely undeveloped area, the villagers will know how to create a fire zone, or choose a place with a water source that naturally divides the terrain, and then light the fire according to the wind direction. The fire will naturally stop when it reaches the water.”

"The timing of burning the mountain is also very important, which requires the great Bimo to have the ability to discern the climate," Zhou Zhi said. "The timing of burning the mountain needs to be very well grasped. It is generally done before the rainy season. The rainy season in the Liangshan Mountains is very abundant. A few days after the fire is started, the rainy season begins, and the heavy rain can extinguish the fire. The precious rainwater can also provide sufficient water for the sown seeds, laying a good foundation for germination and root establishment."

"So even though it was slash-and-burn agriculture, after thousands of years of development, there was still a set of techniques, and it was not the 'absolutely primitive' thing that people imagine."

"For example, the potassium fertilizer in wood ash is easily lost, so it needs to be tilled before rain to thoroughly mix the ash with the soil in order to retain as much fertility as possible."

"For example, mixed cultivation, fallowing, and crop rotation;"

"For example, collecting humus from the native forest and carrying it back, or using human and animal manure to improve the soil quality."

"All of these are the crystallization of the wisdom of the working people, and the villagers have mastered them."

“Actually, there was no water source at all,” Azi said. “Now that there is water, the villagers are learning to manage fruit trees with Sister Lulu and the others, planting pasture on the hillside, planting beans and tobacco on the riverbank at the foot of the mountain, and learning new planting techniques such as intercropping corn with buckwheat and potatoes on irrigated land. They are learning very quickly.”

"This definitely deserves praise," Zhou Zhi laughed. "This is what you call a blank canvas—easy to draw on. Compared to agricultural planting, teaching the villagers scientific sheep farming is much more troublesome. Castration and penning are both different from traditional methods, making promotion much more difficult. Especially some of the stubborn ones, they're even more stubborn than black goats! Sometimes I really want to castrate them both!" (End of Chapter)