Spring comes to the desperate place

Gu Fengyun looked at the silent Song family members and suddenly a question arose in his mind.

"Speaking of food, I remember that in the first year of the drought, His Majesty not only issued an edict to exempt the people from taxes for three years, but also transported a lot of relief food to the disaster area. Why, old man, didn't your family receive any food?"

The Song family members were all confused by the question, even Song Chunlin had a face full of question marks. When he traveled through time, they were already on the road fleeing famine. If the Song family could get disaster relief food, then why would they flee?

Old Master Song nodded slowly. They were not stupid people and they could guess the key with a little thought.

Gu Fengyun's voice turned cold: "Who is the governor of Jizhou? Do you know?"

Song Dazhuang: "How would we ordinary people know the name of the prefect? We only know that his surname is Sun. The previous prefect's surname was Qian. Last year, another prefect came, and it seems that his surname was also Sun."

"Yes, yes, yes, his last name is Sun. I still remember when we were on the street, people said that the new prefect and the governor were from the same family."

"A family? What a family you are." Gu Fengyun's face turned completely cold now. He stopped talking and immediately returned to the capital with Gu Fengyue. Now he had things to do.

When Gu Fengyun left, he took a few potatoes and sweet potatoes with him. He planned to take them back and open up a vegetable plot in the mansion to grow these potatoes.

After seeing the two brothers off, the Song family closed the door to discuss how many acres of grain and how many acres of potatoes and sweet potatoes to plant on the 20 acres of land.

"Grandpa, Dad, potatoes and sweet potatoes are not very picky about the soil. The large piece of wasteland at the foot of our mountain is not suitable for growing crops. Why don't we plant some here as well? When the harvest comes, we can convince Lord Gu of the benefits of these two crops."

"Lin'er is right. Let's try planting one area, but not too much. I think one acre on each side is enough. If there are more, people will start to suspect the source of our seeds." Grandpa Song was right. How many potatoes and sweet potatoes could they dig along the way? Planting two acres of land is the maximum. If there are more, it will be hard to explain.

However, thinking of the sweet potato leaves he had eaten at that time, Song Dazhuang still remembered that Song Chunlin said that sweet potato vines are not only edible by humans, but also by pigs. So, is it possible to raise one or two pigs?

This proposal was unanimously agreed by everyone. Farmers with better financial conditions would raise one or two pigs. At the end of the year, they could not only sell them for money, but also slaughter them and eat meat during the New Year.

When Song Dazhuang built the stable, he also had someone build a pigpen next to it. It was quite spacious and Song Chunlin felt that it could accommodate seven or eight pigs.

It is winter now, and their family has just arrived. Grandpa Song plans to wait until after the Chinese New Year and the beginning of spring to buy piglets.

"After you buy the piglets, you still have to cut grass and feed them. Chunsheng, Chunlin, this job will be handed over to you when the time comes."

The two brothers immediately patted their chests and promised that the piglet would not be left hungry. Song Xiaobao next to them followed suit and patted his chest vigorously, then uttered a string of baby talk in slurred voice, which made everyone present laugh.

Time passed quickly and it was already midwinter. The weather in Beijing was not as cold as in my hometown, but it was still so cold that everyone was hesitant.

Song Chunlin has been busy lately urging his father and brother to practice calligraphy together. He also occasionally teaches Song Amao and Song Qinshi. Since they don't have to take academic exams anyway, the two of them are just learning for fun.

In the whole family, only Song Dazhuang and Song Chunsheng are desperate for life in their studies. God knows they are both real poor students. It is considered hardworking for them to sit at the desk for a quarter of an hour.

Old Man Song, on the other hand, was very interested in the agricultural book that Song Chunlin brought out. He had almost finished reading half of "Qimin Yaoshu". He even took notes with pen and ink when he had free time. Anyone who saw his serious attitude would give him a thumbs up.

While Mr. Song was studying himself, he also did not forget to teach those two stubborn people, causing the father and son to be in dire straits every day recently.

Gu Fengyue came over every now and then to eat. According to him, the food at the Song family was more delicious than that at the Marquis' Mansion, and he would eat a lot every time he came. Gu Fengyun had not come since the last housewarming party. Gu Fengyue said that he had recently received official duties and had to thoroughly investigate some old cases, and he was so busy that he didn't even have time to eat or sleep.

Gu Fengyue came to eat again today, but he never comes empty-handed. Today he brought a few lanterns, which were very cute in appearance. Song Xiaobao fell in love with the rabbit lantern at first sight and refused to let go of it.

What Song Chunlin held in his hand was an auspicious cloud lantern. It was also the first time he had seen such an exquisite handmade lantern. It was more flexible than the modern industrial mass-produced ones. The key point was that no matter how the wick inside shook, it could maintain balance and the lamp oil would not spill out.

"This lamp is amazing, Mom, I want to hang it in front of my window!"

Song Qin took the lantern reluctantly and handed it to Song Dazhuang: "Here, your son asked you to hang the lantern."

Song Dazhuang worked tirelessly to hang up the lanterns. After they were done, the yard was filled with a New Year atmosphere.

"Brother Gu, we are going to kill the New Year pig tomorrow. Don't leave tonight. Just squeeze in with Chunsheng."

When he heard that there was something delicious to eat, how could Gu Fengyue refuse? Song Chunsheng's bed was very comfortable anyway, so he was getting the better deal in the end.

The next morning, the Song family got up early. Song Qin quickly boiled a large pot of hot water, while Song Amao rolled noodles on the side. They put the noodles into the pot only after everyone got up. Song Chunlin had just finished washing up, so he squatted in the yard with a bowl of hot tomato and egg noodles to eat.

Gu Fengyue had eaten tomatoes before, so he took the bowl of noodles and started eating.

After they finished breakfast, the people who came to slaughter the pigs arrived. Song Dazhuang bought two pigs, each weighing two hundred pounds. After everyone arrived, they started to get busy and cooperated with the butcher to tie up the pigs. The butcher raised his knife and blood flowed out of the pigs. Song Qinshi collected it in a large basin.

The two pigs were filled with a large basin of pig blood, and boiling water was poured on the pigs after bleeding, and the processing of the pig hair began. Song Dazhuang invited a lot of people, and almost all the young and middle-aged people in the village came. The yard was full of people, and many children also squeezed in to watch the fun.

There is strength in numbers, and the two fat pigs were quickly slaughtered. Song Dazhuang had said in advance that he would not sell pork, but would invite everyone to a pig-killing meal. When the children heard that there would be free meat, they shouted excitedly.

The pig's large intestine was placed in a separate bucket. Song Chunlin specifically asked for it as he wanted to make sausages. The ribs, which were the parts with little meat that farmers disliked the most, were also what Song Chunlin specifically asked for. Although Song Dazhuang didn't know what he wanted the unpalatable meat for, he still chose to respect it. Song Chunlin contentedly let Song Qinshi put the ribs and pig's large intestine into the kitchen separately.