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Chapter 25: Suitable for Winter Paddy Fields
County Magistrate Li went on to say, "Although it doesn't rain during the spring ploughing season, the ground is still moist, so it's OK to grow dryland crops. But the rice fields are not so wet, and there's no water to grow them. If we want to switch to dryland crops, it won't work because the water is not good, so we can only wait for the rain.

After finally planting the crops, the weather started to become dry, and it didn't rain until the autumn harvest, which lasted for more than a month. The autumn harvest was affected, but it could be overcome because the dry weather in the early stage affected the yield, and the rain in the later stage of autumn harvest also affected the harvest. In a word, the harvest was half of that in a good year.

Seeing that the yield was not good, the people wanted to make up for it by doing the autumn sowing, because it had rained for about a month and the ground was not water permeable, so the seedlings remained yellow. This was because the water level had risen, and when the water finally flowed in, it was almost time to harvest.

The yield is still not ideal. Or it rains a lot in the front and the ground is dry in the back. The harvest is poor every year, and the taxes have to be paid every year. Many families have no surplus food after paying the taxes. "

Mr. Jiang said, "Didn't you report this to the higher-ups?"

County Magistrate Li said, "Why is there no response? The higher-ups said that your drought is not a drought, the flood is not a flood, and it is not a disaster. Even disaster relief is not included. It is at most a reduction in production. So life is not easy for people across the county."

Mr. Jiang said: "Although it is difficult, we can still survive."

"Yes! Although there is not much left after paying taxes, the common people can still survive by digging wild vegetables to fill their stomachs. I, the county magistrate, have no ability, and the common people have no clothes to wear. Some families only have one or two pieces of clothes, and who will wear them when going out for something?" As he spoke, County Magistrate Li wiped his tears.

"What's going on?" asked Mr. Jiang.

"Those aristocratic families controlled the textile technology, and the common people only had the most ancient looms, which wove cloth that was only a foot wide, so cloth on the market was very expensive. Before the climate changed, ordinary people could barely afford clothes, but in recent years it has been very difficult, and many people simply have nothing to wear."

As he spoke, Magistrate Li's eyes turned red again.

Mr. Jiang said: "Your problems are not a problem here, but it is more difficult to deal with them in your place."

County Magistrate Li asked, "What would you do if it happened here?"

Mr. Jiang said: "We basically don't wait for rain to plant rice here. We release water from the reservoir when the season comes. As for the autumn harvest, it rains heavily for us basically five out of ten years. In fact, the climate problem you mentioned is a normal thing here.

For example, we use harvesters for autumn harvest. One machine can harvest hundreds of acres of crops a day. If the machine is bigger, it can harvest more crops. After harvesting, the crops are sent to the processing plant for drying. So these problems are not a problem for us. "

Magistrate Li asked, "What should we do then? Is there any solution?"

Mr. Jiang said: "Then we can build a reservoir upstream, then build a canal, and then release water from the reservoir when we plant rice."

County Magistrate Li said: "It sounds like a good idea, but our county does not have the ability to build a reservoir!" He was so poor that he didn't even have clothes to wear, so how could he have the ability to build a reservoir.

Liu Xuehua said: "We have built reservoirs before."

Wang Yue said: "Don't mention it. Our village has repaired it before. I have seen it abandoned. The elderly in the village said that it was not used at all."

Wang Yue thought for a moment and said, "How about keeping winter paddy fields? My grandmother's family still has winter paddy fields, which requires the least investment."

Old Jiang asked Magistrate Li: "Is the soil there more muddy or sandy?"

Magistrate Li said, "It's more muddy, with very little sand."

"The ground mud can retain water, which is suitable for winter paddy fields." said Wang Yue.

Mr. Jiang said, "Why didn't you think of preserving winter paddy fields before?"

“How to preserve winter paddy fields?”

"Don't drain the water from the fields during the autumn harvest. If possible, keep more water in the fields and stop planting after the autumn harvest. Then you can plant rice in the spring. The fields will have enough fertility after a season of rest, which will increase the yield of the autumn harvest in the second year." "That means planting one less season, and the people will definitely not agree. The autumn harvest yield is already low, and they want to plant another season to make up for it. It will not work if they are not allowed to plant this time."

Wang Yue had seen winter paddy fields before: "Actually, you can grow crops there, but not like we normally grow crops. From what you said, the annual rainfall in your area is still very high, right?"

Magistrate Li said: "It's not a lot, otherwise it wouldn't affect the autumn planting. The rain doesn't fall when it should, but keeps falling when it's time to harvest the crops."

Wang Yue said: "There is no such thing as good weather and good harvests in this world, so humans have always been fighting against nature."

"I suggest that those low-lying, muddy paddy fields be used for wintering. Crops should not be grown in winter, but fish, ducks and geese can be raised. For example, there are small fish and shrimps in your fields, which can be used as feed."

"If conditions permit, you can grow lotus roots. Do you have any there?"

County Magistrate Li asked hurriedly, "Excuse me, what is lotus root?"

Wang Yue brought a piece of lotus root to Magistrate Li and showed him pictures of lotus leaves and lotus flowers.

“Have you ever seen this kind of plant?”

Magistrate Li said, "My family is originally from Jiangnan. Before I passed the imperial examination, I saw lotus in the ponds of wealthy families in Jiangnan. It was called lotus. But I never heard that it was edible, and the flowers and leaves were not so plump and delicious."

Wang Yue said: "We mainly grow vegetables here, and we can sell you seeds when the time comes. In short, keeping the winter paddy fields does not mean one less season of planting, but it does mean that we can grow other things and our income will not be reduced."

"Thank you, listening to your words is worth more than reading ten years of books, I have benefited a lot." It is worthy of such a wealthy place, these people have different insights.

Wang Yue asked: "Can you grow hemp there?"

"It can be grown, but we lack large looms. Whoever makes a large loom will be recruited by the big families, so ordinary people can only buy small ones. Even so, there are still people who grow hemp and weave cloth, but they are relatively few." said County Magistrate Li.

Wang Yue said: "You can buy large looms in our supermarket, and also the blueprints, which are definitely better than those you have there. We also have cotton and linen seeds, which are also excellent seeds. We have all of these."

"Then take a look at what else we need. I can still provide something," said County Magistrate Li.

Liu Xuehua said, "Mr. Li, do the people in your area mind wearing old clothes?"

"I don't mind, I don't mind. It's okay if it's just a foot cloth. To put it bluntly, as long as there is a piece of cloth to cover your shame, who cares about these things?" County Magistrate Li quickly expressed his opinion.

"How many unworn clothes do you have?" County Magistrate Li wanted to know how many there were and how many families they could be distributed to.

Liu Xuehua said: "How much do you want?"

"Of course the more the better."

Liu Xuehua gestured and said, "I have two woven bags of old clothes this big. I want to throw them away, but my mother won't let me. How many clothes are there? It's just that the styles are different from yours, so I need to alter them when the time comes."

"It doesn't matter. As long as the cloth is unused, it doesn't matter what it was made of before. It can be tablecloths, curtains, or cloth pockets." County Magistrate Li is really not picky.

(End of this chapter)