Female-to-male: I live on farming

"Village Chief, are you serious? As long as we build the terraced fields, they will belong to us?"

The chief of Miao Village was summoned to the county government office early in the morning. He was feeling very nervous, but he did not expect that something great would happen. When he walked out of the government office together with the village chiefs from the surrounding villages, he was still a little bit unbelievable. He stretched out his hand and pinched his thigh, feeling real pain, but he still believed it was true.

The county magistrate urged that this matter needed to be implemented as soon as possible to ensure that this year's spring ploughing would not be missed, so he returned to the village and summoned all the villagers without even having time to drink a sip of water.

"Of course, the county magistrate himself would never lie to us." The village chief stood on a huge rock, making sure that his voice could be heard by all the villagers.

However, in recent years, the villagers have been frightened by the endless and endless taxation of the imperial court, and they are still somewhat hesitant. These taxes are numerous and overwhelming, and it seems that there will never be an end. The meager income earned by the villagers' hard work is exploited by various exorbitant taxes, and life is becoming increasingly difficult.

"During the autumn harvest, are those taxes really the only ones collected? Will they add some more names and make us work in vain?"

"Can we really grow crops on terraced fields? What if we work so hard for a long time and end up with nothing?"

"That's right. Even if the land is prepared, my family doesn't have the money to buy rice seeds."

Facing the villagers' doubts, the village chief raised his hand to signal them to be quiet, and explained in a loud voice: "Be quiet and listen to my explanation. First of all, this terraced field was planned for us by Qin Sinong of Liangzhou after he personally inspected the terrain. Yes, it was the adult who came to our village two days ago. You must have heard of the curved plow. This curved plow was designed and made by Qin Sinong."

The villagers may not be familiar with those high-ranking and out-of-reach officials, but as soon as the curved plow is mentioned, the people immediately become excited.

"I've heard of that curved plow. It was on display at the county government office a few days ago, and I went to join in the fun. I heard it's very useful."

"Anyone who can invent something like this must be a skilled craftsman, so terraced fields must be possible as well."

Seeing that the villagers were interested, the village chief continued to explain: "Taxes will mainly be collected from land rent this year, so you can rest assured. Moreover, the taxation in Taiyuan County is supervised by Her Royal Highness the Princess herself, so there will definitely not be the messy excuses as in the past. Finally, regarding rice seeds, I know that most of us have a hard time, but the county said that people who can't afford to buy rice seeds can borrow them from the county government, and they just need to return them on time after the autumn harvest."

The people's questions and concerns were answered one by one. Now, the people of Miaojia Village couldn't wait to go home and pick up hoes to start reclaiming the wasteland.

This situation is happening simultaneously in every village in Taiyuan County.

……

Qin Ke carefully selected some people who were very proficient in farming. He did not have the ability to handle all matters, so after careful consideration, he decided to choose one of the villages as a pilot and teach them the design drawings and construction process in detail. After they have fully mastered it, they can go to other villages to provide guidance. This will not only improve efficiency, but also ensure that each village can get professional guidance and better complete the task.

The pilot village Qin Ke chose was the first village he visited - Miaojia Village.

To build terraces, the first step is to level the ground, remove weeds and shrubs, and ensure that the terraces have clear layers. This work does not require any technical skills. He only needs to give the orders and the villagers will do it naturally.

The villagers seemed to have discussed it privately. Most of them were organized into family units and were mainly responsible for the areas they had designated. As for who participated in the construction, how much labor they put in, and how much land they finally got, the village chief naturally kept records and took care of it.

After the clearing is completed, the next step is to build canals. This requires digging appropriate canals according to the terrain and distribution of terraces to ensure that water can flow smoothly.

Qin Ke could see that when he asked the villagers to dig a canal according to his plan, the people around him wanted to talk but hesitated, but they were afraid of his position and did not dare to ask questions.

Qin Ke naturally knew what they were questioning. There was no water in the high places, and without dams, even if the canals were built, irrigation would still be impossible. However, Qin Ke had naturally considered this issue a long time ago. At this time, a waterwheel was needed. The Ministry of Industry was working overtime to make it. When it was installed, they would naturally know.

The next step is the core step of building terraces. Building terrace walls requires building materials such as stones, earth blocks or wood. According to the number of terraces, the terrace walls are built layer by layer. This work is time-consuming and labor-intensive.

But never underestimate the desire of the lower-class people for land. Although Qin Ke supervises here every day or patrols nearby villages, he goes out early and comes back late. But I heard that the villagers come here before dawn every day to build terraces, and they will not go home until it is dark and they can no longer see.

Everyone in the family, young and old, both men and women, joined in the effort. Even the youngest children would come running to help, either by moving some wood or pulling up some weeds.

After working hard under the scorching sun for only a few days, everyone was tanned like charcoal. They went out early and came back late every day, and their hard work was extremely hard. Moreover, they could only drink some thin soup all day long, which had no nutrition at all. Everyone was so hungry that their faces were pale and their bodies were thin, and they looked like skin and bones.

However, unlike in the past, each of their faces is filled with hope for the future and their eyes are shining, because they know that as long as they can get through the hard work of spring plowing, life will get better.

Therefore, no matter how hard or tiring it is now, it is worth it.

Even if Qin Ke wanted to help, she was unable to do so. Even the eldest princess could only do so much. Liangzhou was poor, and fortunately, with Gu Lanxi's continuous financial support, she was able to feed her army and intimidate officials from all over Liangzhou. Otherwise, she would only be a mascot with no real power.

However, she also allocated part of the funds to the Ministry of Industry to equip each village with a curved plow and a waterwheel. The curved plow was most suitable for the newly built terraces.

Thanks to Qin Ke's "care", the Ministry of Industry was successfully promoted to the busiest department in Liangzhou. Not only did it expand its staff many times, but it also had to work overtime.

The Ministry of Works built the first waterwheel on the second day after arriving in Taiyuan County with the princess. Qin Ke immediately took people to install it in the river channel of Miaojia Village. Craftsman Zhang also came, as he always wanted to witness this great invention.