Li An knew very well that the people around Little Pagoda Hill supported the hunting of hares. This was because hares were a huge threat to the farmland. If they were allowed to breed, then the people's hard work in clearing the terraced fields would be wasted. The hares' reproductive ability was very strong. In a situation where Little Pagoda Hill no longer had any natural predators, if the people did not hunt them, then the hares would explode in numbers and eat up all the crops that the people had worked hard to grow.
Rabbits had a lot of food. All kinds of fruits, vegetables, wheat, and other crops could be eaten by rabbits. In a situation where there were not many rabbits, the harm was still manageable. However, if there were too many rabbits in the hill, then the crops that the people cultivated would suffer. Therefore, no matter how one looked at it, killing rabbits was imperative. Even if it caused the rabbits to go extinct, no one would care. The people cared more about the safety of their own food and would not care about the lives of rabbits.
Little Pagoda Hill was originally a paradise for rabbits and all kinds of wild animals. It was the large-scale activities of humans that invaded their paradise. However, they were only animals and did not have the right to protest. They could only helplessly accept it. Humans had cultivated the hill into terraced fields. These animals could not do anything about it. When they went to eat the crops, it would instead arouse the anger of the people, causing them to be hunted down on a large scale.
Ang Lee and his group walked along the mountain path. They did not find a single rabbit along the way. It could be seen that the number of rabbits here was very low. After all, two-thirds of the habitat here had been turned into terraced fields. The rabbits' living area was even smaller. Too many of them had been hunted down, so it was natural for their numbers to decrease.
However, humans did not give up on suppressing these few remaining hares. Along the way, Li An still saw many traps used to kill hares. These traps were very cleverly designed, and it was very difficult for hares to discover them. Although most of the traps could not catch hares at all, as long as there were a few traps that caught hares, it was enough.
Little Pagoda Hill was not a good place to hunt. The prey here had already been heavily injured by the surrounding villagers. There were very few prey left, and there were only hares and pheasants. However, the scenery here was very good, and it was a good place to enjoy the scenery.
Especially now that it was spring, the crops in the field had begun to grow. Part of the rape field was already full of rape flowers. It was very beautiful. One could smell the unique fragrance of the rape flowers from far away.
The areas with gentle slopes were turned into terraced fields. As for the areas where the slopes were too steep to be turned into terraced fields, some of them were planted with fruit trees. The fruit trees were planted directly on the hillside, and there were flowers blooming everywhere. It was very beautiful.
Some commoners were busy in the orchard. They were busy weeding the ground under the fruit trees. It was already spring, so there were a lot of weeds on the hillside. The existence of these weeds would inevitably compete with the fruit trees for nutrients, which would affect the normal growth of the fruit trees. In order for the fruit trees to grow well, weeding was necessary.
There were also many people working hard in the fields. However, they didn't seem to be weeding. Instead, they were digging wild vegetables in the fields. It was a very delicious shepherd's purse.
Central Sichuan had a lot of shepherd's purse. The population density here was relatively low, so shepherd's purse was abundant. Even the shepherd's purse in Yizhou City was considered cheap. The price of shepherd's purse in the capital was very high. When people ate a lot of fish, they would like the taste of wild vegetables. Eating wild vegetables would give them a different kind of enjoyment.
Ang Lee walked in front of a few commoners who were weeding and asked, "Are you weeding? Is this your family's orchard? "
A person who looked like a farmer said, "No, this is the owner's orchard. We are tenant farmers. We are here to help."
It turned out that this farmer had rented 20 mu of terraced fields from the landlord to plant crops. However, during his free time, he would take time to weed the orchard on the hillside. Moreover, he weeded for free without any pay. Who told him to be a tenant farmer? The tax on the 20 mu of terraced fields he rented was also very high. Basically, more than half of the grain harvest had to be handed over to the landlord.
"Aren't these terraced fields newly reclaimed by farmers like you? Why are they rented? "
Ang Lee asked curiously.
After all, the terraced fields here looked very new and were not very old. Ang Lee felt that they were newly reclaimed. He always thought that the nearby farmers reclaimed the fields themselves. Unexpectedly, there was a landlord.
"The whole mountain here belongs to the owner. These terraced fields were also opened by the owner two years ago. Last year, they opened a lot more terraced fields. These newly opened terraced fields naturally belong to the owner. The owner said that only the hares and pheasants on the mountain didn't belong to them. We can catch them as we wish."
The farmer said.
"Owner? Which owner is it?"
Ang Lee asked.
"Aiyo, our boss's background is really big. She's the family of an imperial concubine in the imperial court. This mountain was also bestowed to our boss by the imperial court. With such a big mountain, just the rent collected every year would be a huge harvest! He doesn't have to do anything and he can eat and drink without worrying about anything! "
The farmer said with a face full of envy.
There was no comparison between people. Some people were born with a golden spoon in their mouths, while others were born with nothing. These farmers were people with nothing. They had to work very hard to barely fill their stomachs. Some landlords did nothing but enjoy the fruits of others' labor. It was really unfair.
When Ang Lee heard that it was the property of the Yang family, he immediately understood. The emperor really doted on the imperial concubine too much. Just to make her happy, he gave the entire mountain to the imperial concubine's family. The emperor probably didn't know how big the mountain was and how important it was to the nearby people when he gave it.
The imperial concubine's family owned such a big property. In Central Sichuan, it could be said that they could get whatever they wanted. Basically, they didn't have to do anything. They just had to lie down and collect rent. The areas that couldn't be developed into terraced fields were also transformed to plant fruit trees. It could be said that it wasn't a waste at all.
It had to be said that the Yang family was quite economic. The emperor's gift of a mountain didn't bring enough income to the family. The benefits provided by the wood and game on the mountain were too little. But they transformed the mountain into terraced fields and rented it out. In this way, the benefits they could obtain were greatly increased. The areas that were difficult to transform into terraced fields were planted with fruit trees and forced the tenants to take care of it for free. This was a good income. In this way, a barren mountain that the emperor casually gave to the Yang family could generate great economic benefits in the hands of the Yang family. It could make the family even richer.
And the land that the emperor gave to the Yang family wasn't limited to this small pagoda mountain. This was only one of the lands that the imperial concubine's family owned. There were other families that were also rewarded. There were also many that were directly given fertile land. In short, their lives were quite good.
Weeding on a slope that was inclined 45 degrees wasn't a good job. If they weren't careful, they might fall down. And if they really fell down and hurt themselves, then it was their own responsibility. The employer wouldn't be responsible for it. In addition, weeding on a slope was more physically taxing. It was easier for people to feel tired. But there was no other way. They were tenant farmers. They didn't have the ability to resist the additional requirements of the landlord. They could only choose to unconditionally obey. It seemed that they were helpless.
The vitality of the weeds was very tenacious. Even if they cleared all the weeds in the orchard, it would take less than half a month for the weeds to grow again. A month later, it would be very dense. And when summer came, the weeds would grow even faster. In half a month, it would be very dense. This required them to weed the fruit trees more frequently. The workload would definitely be heavy and very tiring.
This orchard was about ten acres. There were six farmers in the family who were weeding. Even the two children came to work.
After chatting for a while, Ang Lee went to the terraced fields not far away. There were more than a dozen old and weak people digging shepherd's purse. They seemed to be digging wild vegetables in the fields they rented.
"Are you digging wild vegetables?"
Ang Lee said.
"Shepherd's purse."
A half-grown child said.
"This is the land that your family rents, right? How many acres do you rent? "
Ang Lee asked.
"Yes, there are 30 acres."
The child said.
"Why are only you children digging wild vegetables? Where are the adults in your family?"
Ang Lee continued to ask.
"Oh, they went to work in the city, transporting goods for people."
The young child answered.
It could be seen that they were not rich. It was difficult for them to live a good life only by renting land. Therefore, they would find some sideline jobs to earn some extra money in their leisure time. The children could not do any sideline jobs, so they went to dig shepherd's purse in the terraced fields they rented.
"Do you eat the shepherd's purse by yourself or sell it in the city?"
Ang Lee asked.
"Of course, if you dig a lot, you sell it. If you don't dig a lot, you eat it yourself."
The young child said.
"How much is it? How many coins per kilogram?"
Ang Lee asked.
"It's not expensive. Two coins per kilogram."
The young child said.
Ang Lee nodded and left the terraced fields with the others. They walked slowly along the ridge so as not to guess the crops in the terraced fields. It would be bad if the crops were trampled.
"Assistant Minister Li, there are so many terraced fields along the way! There are more terraced fields in Central Sichuan than in Guanzhong. "
Chen Long said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Of course. There are many mountainous areas in Central Sichuan. There are mountains everywhere. If we don't make terraced fields, there won't be enough food and the people will starve."
The terraced fields in Central Sichuan were the guarantee for the population of Central Sichuan. Without terraced fields, the population of Central Sichuan could not maintain such a large number. Although terraced fields were not as smooth as flat fields and had great difficulties in farming and watering, it was better to have land than to have no land. With terraced fields, more people could be supported. Without these terraced fields, the population of Central Sichuan would be greatly affected.
According to the classification, terraced fields could be divided into four categories, mainly horizontal terraced fields, sloping terraced fields, compound terraced fields, and sloping terraced fields.
Horizontal terraced fields referred to terraced fields that were built along the contour lines. This was the most common type of terraced fields. It was also the type that had a better effect of retaining water, soil, and increasing production. Generally, the slope would not exceed 15 degrees, and it might even be lower.
Sloping terraced fields referred to terraced fields on the hillsides and sloping fields within the fields. They were gradually transformed from sloping fields. In order to reduce the amount of water and soil loss from sloping fields, ridges were built at suitable locations to form the embryonic form of the fields. The ridges were gradually raised and the slope within the fields gradually reduced, thus increasing the amount of surface runoff and reducing the erosion of the ground. In many places, mulberry trees, fruits, and flowers were planted on the ridges. This not only consolidated the ridges, increased income, and improved water and soil conservation. When conditions permitted, sloping terraced fields should be transformed into horizontal terraced fields. This was a type of terraced field that was widely used.
Compound terraced fields referred to terraced fields in various forms, such as horizontal terraced fields, sloping terraced fields, sloping terraced fields, and other terraced fields. Its construction should be planned as a whole. When necessary, it could be combined with horizontal ditches and other water and soil conservation projects to improve the ability of the sloping fields to retain water and resist erosion. Building compound terraced fields could make more rational use of land, save project investment, and improve water and soil conservation benefits.
Horizontal terraced fields were arranged along the same slope as natural sloping fields. That is, there was a certain width between the terraced fields and the terraced fields. The terraced fields could also be used as the catchment area for the horizontal terraced fields. Crops could be grown on the horizontal terraced fields, and grass could be grown on the slope to collect water.
No matter which type of terraced field it was, it was the product of local conditions. Different terraced fields were suitable for different terraced fields. In addition, because of the difficulty of machinery, the terraced fields were mainly completed by manual labor. Using manual labor to build terraced fields could adapt to various complicated terrain conditions. The time to build terraced fields should be during the winter and spring slack seasons. The investment to build terraced fields during this time was the lowest and the quality was the highest.
When building terraced fields, it was inevitable that there would be hard ridges on the terraced fields. The ridges of the terraced fields would take up a certain amount of arable land, which would reduce the arable land. In order to make full use of the land, crops such as pumpkins, yellow flowers, and broad beans could be planted on the ridges to make full use of the land resources and avoid a huge waste of land resources.
The terraced fields were built around the mountain, and there was no water source at the top of a small mountain like Xiao Ta Hill. Therefore, irrigation work was very difficult. In order for the crops to grow well, there must be a water source. Without sufficient water, there was no way to ensure that the crops would grow normally.
How could this be a problem for the smart Central Sichuan people? Although there was no water source at the top of the mountain, there was a small river at the bottom of the mountain. As long as the water from the river was transported to the top of the mountain, it would be enough. Using buckets to carry the water would be too slow and tiring. However, there was a very advanced overturning truck that could transport the water to the top of the mountain step by step. Then, it would water down step by step, allowing all the terraced fields to have sufficient water to ensure that the crops would grow normally.
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