Ang Lee hadn't been to Fan Chuan for a long time. Many of his old friends lived in the area around Fan Chuan. It was time to visit them and take a look at the farmland there. He wanted to see how the wheat fields were growing, whether they had started harvesting, and whether they were harvested by machines or by hand.
Researching machines didn't affect Ang Lee's trip to investigate. This was also a kind of experience and was of great benefit to improving his inspiration.
Ang Lee led a group of people and set off. He went to the fields in Fan Chuan to see the situation and how the people worked.
A wide road led directly to Fan Chuan. It didn't take long to get there by car. Looking at the golden wheat fields on both sides of the road, Ang Lee felt very comfortable. This color was intoxicating. This was the color of harvest. In the previous Guanzhong, this golden scene could only be seen in autumn. At this moment, in Guanzhong, the color of harvest could also be seen in spring. This naturally made people feel comfortable. And all of this was due to his own efforts. How could Ang Lee not be happy? This was an indescribable sense of accomplishment.
When the wheat turned golden, it meant that it could be harvested. Before harvesting, it needed to be checked to confirm if the wheat was really completely ripe.
After the car stopped, Ang Lee got off and walked to the wheat field. He casually picked a few wheat ears and gently rubbed them with his hands to extract the wheat grains.
"Not bad, not bad. The wheat grains are full. This is very good. It can already be harvested."
Ang Lee said as he put the newly peeled wheat grains into his mouth and chewed.
These wheat grains were completely ripe. When chewed in his mouth, they were quite hard. At a glance, he could tell that they were completely ripe and could be harvested.
At this time, there were indeed many farmers harvesting wheat fields. It was just that it had just begun, so there weren't many people harvesting. In a few days, the number of farmers harvesting wheat fields would greatly increase. At that time, it would definitely be busier.
Li An found a high ground and looked around. There weren't many farmers harvesting wheat in the fields. He couldn't see the faraway ones clearly, but the one closest to him didn't seem to belong to a big family. There were too few people working, and there were men and women of all ages. There were even children. It was obvious that this was a big family. They should be ordinary individual farmers who had their own fields. When they had nothing to do, they would squander a few acres of their own land. They were ordinary farmers who were dutiful.
After walking over, Li An could see more clearly that there were seven or eight people working. There was an old man, two young and strong men, a woman, and four naughty children. Two of them were half-grown and the other two were still young, but they were all able to do the work.
Seeing a group of strangers walk over, this large family was slightly nervous. They looked at Ang Lee's group warily. After discovering that Ang Lee and company weren't bad people, they weren't so nervous.
"Old man, are you working? This year's harvest seems to be good! "
Ang Lee went forward to curry favor with them.
"Good, the harvest is good."
The old man looked quite honest, which was the so-called honest person.
"How many acres of land do you have?"
Ang Lee continued to ask.
"Not much. We have 20 acres of dry land and two acres of vegetable fields."
The old man said.
"22 acres. Not bad. It should be enough for the whole family to eat and drink."
Ang Lee said.
For more than 20 acres of land, Ang Lee felt that it was a lot. Many farmers in the later generations didn't have so much land. Of course, that was an era of high yield. The land yield of the Tang dynasty was not too much. It was difficult to compare with the yield of the later generations. But if they planted two crops, more than 20 acres of land was enough to feed a large family.
In winter, they planted winter wheat. In spring, they planted drought-resistant crops such as sweet potatoes and corn, which greatly increased the yield. In this way, the family's food reserves would be more abundant and they would no longer have to worry about hunger.
"Old man, is your whole family here?"
Ang Lee asked.
"There are four more at home. There are 12 people in the family. We all count on these 20 acres of land. In the past, we had to go hungry. But now, we can eat our fill and save some food. We have something to look forward to."
The old man grinned and said very happily.
"After the wheat harvest, what crops are you going to plant next?"
Ang Lee asked.
The old man replied, "I'm going to plant 10 acres of corn. I haven't thought about the rest yet. I have to go back and discuss it with the neighbors. "
"Haha! It's almost spring plowing. You haven't thought about what to plant? You have to hurry up! If you miss it, it will be a season. "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
The strong man next to him said, "Father hasn't thought about it yet. He doesn't plan to plant all the grain. Now the price of grain is not high, and the surplus grain can't make much money. Father plans to plant more green vegetables that can make money, but he doesn't know the market. He is worried that after planting, it will be better to sell the surplus grain to make more money. He is also worried that someone will steal the vegetables.
Ang Lee understood that this family planned to plant some cash crops so that they could sell more money. Anyway, they couldn't finish all the grain. It was better to plant some valuable cash crops so that they could make more money. It was just that they had never planted cash crops on a large scale, so they were a little uncertain. If they messed up, it would be troublesome. Not only would they not make money, but they might also lose money.
Farmers were more experienced in planting crops that were easy to survive on a large scale, but they were not sure about planting a large number of cash crops. Usually, it was not a big deal to plant some green vegetables, but if they could not sell them in a short time, it would bring a huge loss to them. Grain could be preserved for a long time, but vegetables had a freshness period. When several acres of green vegetables were ripe at the same time, but they could not be sold in time, the loss would be great.
In addition, grain had stronger vitality and was easier to take care of, but green vegetables were relatively delicate and had more pests. A lot of manpower was needed to take care of and harvest them. Two or three acres of green vegetables could be dealt with, but if they were planted on a large scale, it would be a problem whether the labor of the whole family was enough.
In the past, when they were planting grains, they would only be busy for a few days in a year. However, once they started planting cash crops, they would have to spend all their time on it. Even so, they might not be able to handle it. Because of that, the losses would be huge. What if they encountered a natural disaster?
All farmers knew that crops like corn had a strong drought resistance. Even if it didn't rain for a long time, it wouldn't die easily. However, vegetables were different. If it really didn't rain for a long time, these vegetables that were painstakingly taken care of were likely to die. The old man's farmland was dry land that couldn't be directly irrigated. If he wanted to water the vegetables, he could only painstakingly go to the distant river to fetch water. However, a large area of vegetables was short of water, and the demand for water was very large. It was unknown whether he could afford to carry buckets of water, and whether his body could withstand it. The old man's family had previously taken care of two acres of vegetable fields very close to their home, which also consumed a lot of energy. If they were to transform ten acres of dry land into vegetable fields, the pressure was indeed not small. This made the old man's family fall into a dilemma.
They did not come up with the idea of planting cash crops on a large scale in dry land out of thin air. This was inspired by the people in the same village. Last year, there was a farmer in their village who had converted half of his farmland to cash crops. As a result, this family used this cash crop to earn a lot of money, and this made many people envious. They felt that they could do it too! Since others could earn money, why couldn't they? Even the honest old man's family was tempted. They felt that they could give it a try, but they were still weighing how much labor their family could bear.
In addition, in addition to planting cash crops, the old man's two sons originally had another idea, which was to sell all twenty acres of dry land to large families. They would use the money from selling the land to find work in a workshop in the capital. This way, they might earn more money than farming. There were many people in the village who sold land to work, and they all had a good life.
However, when they proposed this suggestion, they were immediately opposed by the old man. This farmer who had been farming all his life stubbornly believed that relying on the land to make a living was the best long-term solution. Although those who sold their land to join the workshop made more money temporarily, they had forgotten their roots. If the workshop didn't want them, they wouldn't even have a way out. Even if they wanted to come back to farm, they wouldn't be able to. They could only be tenant farmers. The life of a tenant farmer was much worse than that of a homesteader. They weren't on the same level at all.
This old man was like the stubborn parents of the later generations. In their eyes, only a stable job with an iron rice bowl was the best. Any other job was not a proper occupation. No matter how much money they earned, they still belonged to the category of not doing a proper occupation. Just think about how terrible this idea was. In the Tang dynasty, many farmers were like this. They just thought that land was the most important thing. Even many capable officials would have the same view. Therefore, when they became successful, the first thing they did was to annex land and buy themselves tens of thousands of acres of land. Then, even if their family declined after their death, they would at least have a good land, which would be enough for their descendants to toss about.
Land was the most important asset of the ancient farming nation. Almost everyone had an unusual obsession with land, so much so that they developed to the stage of blindness. They had a blind pursuit of land and regarded land as the most important asset.
Of course, there were also some people who were more active. They thought that land was not as important as they imagined. Since they could earn more money and have better development by entering the workshop, why should they cling on to the land? It would be good to sell the land to the big families. It would be enough to keep a few acres of vegetable fields and rations land.
Those who were able to take it easy were those who had foresight and were relatively young. The old people still valued land more because their life experience told them that land was more important. They had seen the miserable lives of countless tenant farmers and understood how miserable the lives of those who lost their land were. Therefore, they formed this almost crazy point of view.
People of different times pursued different things. In ancient times, everyone had an almost obsessive pursuit of arable land. In modern society, the common people had long abandoned arable land. Even if they had land at home, they would throw it away directly. There were many people who did not care about it and let weeds grow on the arable land. Because of the continued rise of housing prices in modern times, many people had an unusual obsession with houses. Everyone went all out to buy houses. There were even people who bought hundreds of houses in one go. How was this different from the people of ancient times who were obsessed with land?
The excessive obsession of the old man in front of him with land reminded Ang Lee of the obsession of the people of modern times with houses. Of course, the aristocrats of the capital were also very obsessed with real estate. It was a kind of obsession that made people feel surprised.
"Old man, haven't you thought of selling the land and taking your son to the workshop to make a living? Nowadays, the workshop makes more money than farming. Even if you change to planting vegetables, you won't make as much money in the workshop. "
Ang Lee said.
The old man's face was full of disapproval. He shook his head repeatedly and said, "I can't sell the land. How can the land passed down by our ancestors be sold casually? I can't sell it at all. When I had no food and was about to starve to death, I had no intention of selling the land. The workshop is unreliable, unreliable. "
It could be seen that the old man was determined not to give up farming and work. It was no wonder. In ancient society, social status was important. Scholars, farmers, industrial and commercial workers, agriculture was ranked before industry. It was second only to the ruling class. How could a farmer work in industry, which was ranked third? Their hearts were conflicted, especially those who had serious traditional thoughts. They were very conflicted.
"Unreliable? Why do you think the workshop is unreliable? There are more and more workshops in the Tang dynasty and there will be more in the future. The workshop is developing well. Why do you think it's unreliable? "
Ang Lee asked.
The old man smiled and answered Ang Lee with his own understanding, "The machines made by the workshop will run out sooner or later. When there is no more work, those who work can't live. They can only be tenant farmers for the big families with land. Most of their annual harvest will have to be paid for rent. They can't live, really can't live."
After saying that, he looked at Li An with a serious expression. He was very satisfied with his foresight. He felt that it was reliable for him and his children to be farmers. They would never starve. Those who went to the workshop were taking risks. They were betting on their future survival.
Ang Lee smiled. He naturally felt that the old man's point of view was ridiculous. How could the workshop's work be finished? It would never be finished. For example, the harvester could not be finished in 1,000 years. No matter how well a harvester was maintained, it could not be used for 1,000 years. The workshop's work would never be finished. Moreover, more and more workshops would spring up like bamboo shoots after the rain. There would be more and more machines waiting to be made by the workshops. The Tang dynasty in the future would inevitably be an industrialized society.
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