The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 342 Grass Rice
This is a plan that Gan Minglan made for her personal guards and their families half a month ago.

After taking over the garrison duties in Ganluchuan, they had to make adjustments again.

Anxiety doesn't disappear; it only shifts.

With a single troop redeployment, General Xiong relieved himself of the burden of 20,000 men!

While it could be called a burden, strictly speaking, it isn't.

The families of the vanguard battalion soldiers are certainly not short of gold and silver.

After acquiring livestock such as cattle, sheep, and horses, every household was relatively well-off.

There's only one difficulty.

Almost every household had not enough food to last a month.

Unfortunately, grain was the most sought-after commodity in the entire Kansai Nine Guards market.

There is a lack of various beans, grains, and dried fruits.

What can Gan Minglan do?
Driven to desperation, she went to the Barkol Basin alone in the middle of the night and frantically planted grass.

Dog rice grass seeds are something no animal can resist, and they are also a favorite of King Atu.

After threshing, it appears as a light green and transparent substance.

The grass seeds are similar in size and shape to millet.

Gan Minglan tried it for the first time and cooked a pot of very thick grass rice porridge in a pressure cooker. After it sat for a while, a layer of rice oil appeared on top.

Upon lifting the lid, a distinct herbal fragrance wafted out.

It's in my mouth.

Thick and smooth, with a refreshing aroma and sweet aftertaste.

It also provides a feeling of fullness.

Even the baby golden eagle ate half a bowl.

Using grass seeds as a staple food is not without its drawbacks.

Firstly, the ears of doggrass are not as long as those of millet, only about twice the length of the tail of foxtail grass, so the yield is not high.

Furthermore, grass seeds have a tightly wrapped outer layer of bran, making threshing them more troublesome compared to millet.

Trouble is something that varies from person to person.

Sure enough, several women stared wide-eyed, mouths agape, and tightly gripped the old woman in the kitchen of the general's mansion, asking:
"What did you say, Granny Wang? You think we can pick these grass seeds off the ground and eat them like millet?"

Granny Wang answered in a gentle voice:
"Yes! The host said that there is this dog rice grass in the pasture on the western foothills of the border town. This thing is probably the ancestor of millet. It is edible! It's just that the yield is not as high as that of millet."

The other person slapped their thigh in delight and said, "How can there be so many requirements for wild, untamed things? As long as it's edible, what's the trouble? To be honest, the Ang family's wheat is only enough for half a month, which is really worrying us to death."

A woman in the crowd said, "Come on, come on, let's grab a whole bunch and go back to have some."

Yeah.

What's there to be afraid of if you give it a try?
As long as it doesn't kill anyone, it's fine!

Besides, when did General Gan ever get past someone?
While the men were busy digging their dugouts, the women were busy with their children on the grassland.

The quick-handed woman had pounded about two or three pounds in one morning.

Tired?

Working with your back bent the whole time is incredibly tiring!
Many people have developed cuts and sores on their palms from rubbing themselves so much.

All the fatigue vanished after a long day of fussing and a bowl of sticky rice porridge for lunch.

Everyone kept sighing with emotion:
"Ganluchuan is truly a blessed land! Even if the wheat yield in the military fields is not high in the future, the grass and rice on this hundred or eighty miles of grassland will be enough to feed us all."

"Look, the cattle, sheep, and horses all seem to really enjoy eating this grass! I heard that General Gan plans to build a large ranch next year."

"There must be a reason why the Tang army has chosen to build military settlements! Look, just because of the streams of this great river, we live a better life than our brothers in other garrisons."

This is true.

Whether it's the desert or the Gobi Desert, daily water supply is basically only available through wells.

Every household was struggling to get enough water.

Some elderly people with rich life experience chat with their children and grandchildren after meals:
"There are many benefits to having such a big river. In addition to having enough water for food and drink and being able to irrigate crops, there should be clay deep in the riverbed."

The boy, puzzled, asked, "Grandpa, what's the use of clay?" "You silly boy! Clay is a wonderful thing. You can use it to make bricks, tiles, and porcelain—it can do everything!"

"Ah! This! Grandpa means that we will be able to live in brick houses in the future?"

"What's so difficult about that? Your grandpa only knows how to build brothels!"

"Great! Next year we'll be living in a big brick house!"

Gan Minglan never expected that there would be such a talented person among these military dependents.

Indeed, having an elder in the family is like having a treasure.

Now, who would still say that there's anything wrong with being stationed at Ganluchuan?

If everyone says it's good, then it really is good!

in the afternoon.

The women continued to gather grass and rice.

The old man led about a hundred people off to search for clay.

The rest of the men continued to work on building the dugouts.

There are many trees on Dongxue Mountain.

Building the roof was really not difficult at all.

In just one day, more than 800 dugouts were built on the site of the Tang army garrison.

During the digging process, they also unearthed a number of horse bones and pottery jars.

Gan Minglan was assigned the biggest and most luxurious one.

The meticulous team members not only helped her dig out a two-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, and one-bathroom apartment, but also laid a thick layer of wooden planks on all the floors.

Even the earthen walls and rooftops were reinforced with wooden planks.

The main feature is that it doesn't fall off the soil.

The wooden floorboards inside were so clean you could walk barefoot on them.

The two heated brick beds are quite spacious.

The only drawback is that the windows on the left and right sides of the room are not very large.

The lighting is so-so.

But that didn't dampen Fatty's excitement about moving into this kind of house.

What child this age doesn't love playing hide-and-seek?
This type of semi-basement with a roof covered with a layer of withered grass is the Tiansheng Bunker!
I absolutely adore Fatty!

He urged Shunzi and Lebao to help him spread the blanket on the kang (a heated brick bed) that had just been lit, because he wanted to roll around on it.

Poor little Yuanyuan isn't quite used to this dimly lit room yet.

She hugged Gan Minglan's neck, her small lips pursed tightly, her chubby fingers pointing to the door, her big eyes filled with anxiety.

Gan Minglan deliberately changed her perspective, pointing to her brother who was happily sitting on the kang (heated brick bed), and asked her:
"Do you want to come play with your brother? How about we live here from now on?"

Seeing that her mother didn't get her point, Yuanyuan hurriedly patted Gan Minglan's shoulder with her chubby hands.

Those chubby little hands were unusually strong.

Gan Minglan continued to play dumb:
"What's wrong? Don't you want Mommy to carry you? Then Mommy will put you down. You can walk now, right? Come on, walk a few steps for Mommy to see."

The child clearly loves being held by their mother, but why is this mother so dense?
She was so anxious that her face turned bright red.

After a long while, just as Gan Minglan was about to give up teasing her, Yuanyuan finally uttered a clear word:
"go!"

As soon as the milkshake's voice rang out, Fatty forgot all about playing and clapped his hands, laughing loudly: "My little sister can talk now!"

Yes.

Yuanyuan, a baby who is almost ten months old, uttered her first word.

She strongly expressed her desire to leave.

She doesn't like this dark little house.

She wants to live in a spacious and bright house.

Dear Mother, Gan Minglan: What a blunder! What a blunder!
(End of this chapter)