"Madam, I'm not being serious. Why don't you ask your parents-in-law if they've ever heard of planting vegetables in a house?"
Madam Li's words were obviously biased. Li Jingmo was immediately dissatisfied. Speaking of which, he could be considered an official now. Why was his status in the family still so low? This was intolerable!
Ye Guozhong saw that Li Jingmo had turned the topic to him. He thought for a moment and said, "It didn't exist in the past, but it doesn't mean it won't exist in the future. Little Xuan has been good at creating miracles in the past year since he returned to Chang 'an. Jingmo, as his father, how can you not believe in your own son?"
It was rare for Ye Guozhong to actually speak up for Li Zexuan.
Old Madam Ye smiled and said, "Old Master is right. Little Xuan doesn't look like someone who would boast casually! Jingmo, if you speak so confidently now, you'll have to starve in the future! "
Old Madam Ye's words immediately made everyone laugh.
Lan 'er clapped and said, "Hehe! Daddy is going to starve! But Daddy, don't worry. Lan 'er will send you food when the time comes! "
Send food ~? Your father, I, am not going to jail. Do I need a little girl like you to send me food ~?
Li Jingmo's old face darkened. Everyone laughed again.
While they were talking, two rows of wooden sticks of the same height were inserted into the ground in the courtyard. The top of the two sticks was supported by a curved bamboo strip. It really looked like the frame of a house.
Li Zexuan didn't have time to chat with his father at this time. He personally went down and ordered the servants to tie the custom-made white tarpaulins one by one to the supports.
There was no plastic in this era. Li Zexuan thought about it and could only use tarpaulins instead. Although it was white tarpaulins, how could they remain white after being soaked in tung oil? It looked dark yellow, but even so, it was much better than black. After all, black tarpaulins absorbed light and didn't transmit light. It was not conducive to the growth of vegetables!
These tarpaulins were specially made by Li Zexuan. There were two lengths of rope attached to them at specific intervals, which were used to tie them to the brackets that were inserted in advance.
The winter in the north was especially cold. To be safe, one layer of tarpaulin was not enough to solve the problem. Li Zexuan made the greenhouse into a structure with two layers of tarpaulin. This way, the greenhouse would be even more insulated.
Of course, in addition to this, Li Zexuan also prepared a thermal insulation plan, which was the "natural" heating method.
The so-called natural heating was not an increase in temperature for no reason, but the effect of a mysterious substance, which was the fermentation agent.
The specific method is: when preparing the ground, making beds, or making seedbeds, the soil is filled with cow dung, pig dung, fresh garbage, manure, and crushed straws and straws, then an appropriate amount of wheat koji or xiaoqu is added to make fermenting agent, and finally the soil of the vegetable garden is filled, so that the microorganisms in the fermenting agent can use the raw materials to work.
These raw materials can slowly release heat, gradually increasing the temperature of the soil and the air to ensure the normal growth of the plants.
Although Li Zexuan had never farmed in this life, don't forget that he was born into a farmer's family in his previous life. At that time, his family had built a greenhouse, and at that time, they used this method of releasing heat through fermentation to ensure the greenhouse's temperature. Reality proved that the effect was quite good.
However, the fermenting agent they used at that time was also an industrial fermenting agent, so the effect might be slightly better than wheat koji or xiaoqu.
More than twenty servants used more than two hours to "build" the greenhouse that was less than half a mu in size.
It was the first time Lan 'er saw such a long "house", and she was extremely excited. The little girl shuttled back and forth in the greenhouse, not knowing the meaning of tiredness. She could not be dragged out, as if she wanted to make this her new home.
However, when San Bao came in with a load of dung, the little girl ran out at her fastest speed without needing anyone to say anything!
"Stinky San Bao! Why did you bring two buckets of dung over for no reason? Ah, it stinks, you're so disgusting! "
Lan 'er covered her nose and scolded as she ran.
"Miss, I … I … Young Master asked me to …"
San Bao looked wronged. Actually, he did not want to pick such smelly things. Wasn't it Li Zexuan's request?
"Alright, San Bao, quickly get someone to evenly fill the fields with horse and cow dung, then sprinkle wheat koji over it. Then, plant the seeds of water spinach, cold melon, leeks, and shepherd's purse!"
Li Zexuan interrupted San Bao and ordered.
Speaking of which, the excrement was not ordinary excrement, but fresh horse and cow excrement. It was not easy to obtain such excrement. Dozens of servants and Pang Feiji's personal guards went out together and took away almost all the cow and horse excrement in the mansions of every household in Chang 'an.
The reason why they used cow and horse dung instead of human dung was mainly because cows and horses were herbivores. Their dung contained undigested residues, which were easier to ferment. Moreover, the fermented products were better for the vegetables!
"Alright! Young Master! "
San Bao responded and led the other servants to work in full swing.
In an instant, the West Courtyard was filled with the stench.
Li Jingmo, Madam Li, Ye Guozhong, and the rest could not stay any longer. They hurried out of the West Courtyard.
Although Li Zexuan could hold his breath and was not afraid of the stench, his wife, Han Yuxi, was afraid! Hence, he also pulled Han Yuxi out.
"Cousin, are you really confident that you can grow vegetables in this house?"
Ye Fashan followed behind and asked Li Zexuan.
Li Zexuan smiled confidently and said, "Of course! If nothing goes wrong, Fashan, you should be able to eat the vegetables here during the New Year! Haha! You won't be able to eat these fresh things during the New Year at Nanyang! "
"It's all thanks to you, Cousin!"
Ye Fashan smiled and said. Then, he continued to ask, "Planting in the spring and harvesting in the autumn is the way of the heavens. Cousin, aren't you going against the heavens by planting vegetables in the winter?"
Li Zexuan looked at the unlucky child and said in a speechless manner, "Fine, fine, fine. There's no need for so many rules. Your cousin just wants to eat some of the vegetables he grew. How is that against the heavens? Fashan, don't be so rigid all the time. It's life. If you want to live a good life, you have to … Ptui! You can't be so calculative! Think about it yourself! "
After that, he patted Ye Fashan's shoulder and turned to Han Yuxi and said, "My wife, I'm going back to Yunshan later. Do you want to come along?"
Han Yuxi thought for a while and nodded, "Mm, I'll go too. Who knows, I might be able to help you!"
Li Zexuan smiled and said, "Alright, I'll get someone to prepare the carriage!"
…
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