Chapter 10 Chapter nine

In the ninth month of the lunar calendar, the weather is getting cooler, and people can breathe out white mist when they breathe out.The wild geese greeted each other and flew over people's heads in groups to the warm south.The Guanzhong Plain has entered the busy season of the year at this time. The field is full of people, cattle and horses are merry, and the hot popularity offsets the coldness of late autumn and early winter. This is the season for growing big smoke.This kind of expensive plant has a long growth period. It is planted in September and harvested in May of the next year. It will be a full nine months in the boudoir. It seems that it is not enough to show its worth.This kind of plant is also the most labor-intensive, and it must be well watered and fertilized. It is like a graceful and luxurious woman. Whoever wants to enjoy her must first serve her with good food and food.Due to too much land consumption, any land that has been planted with a crop of opium can no longer be planted with other crops, and must be allowed to rest for half a year. This is called "rest stubble".

All the land where opium is planted must be fully fertilized before plowing.The work of transporting fertilizer began as soon as September entered.Those who drove carts, those who harnessed ox carts, those who lifted carts, those who carried burdens, and all the means of transportation that could be dispatched came in handy at this time.The fertilizer is particular, the best is oil residue, the second is chicken manure, the third is pig, horse, cattle and sheep manure, and the last is the demolished and smashed stove wall kang and the old cliff and old wall soil dug.Different families have different fertilizers on the ground, and of course the final harvest is different.

Zhou Kewen is the only one who can afford oil residue in the Zhou family village. This is not only because of his rich family background, but also because he owns a burning workshop. The Zhou family burning workshop not only makes wine, but also extracts oil.He has enough oil residue and distiller's grains as fertilizer, so Zhou Kewen's family has the best harvest every year. Although Zhou Kewen didn't grow opium this year, he still covered the fields with oil residue. He wanted to raise the land so that it would be fat enough to plant cotton in the spring next year.Cotton is also a delicate field crop. There is a saying in the old generation that crops are most afraid of the three tigers, and if they are not well served, they will make you cry.These three tigers are opium, cotton and watermelon. They have great profits but also great risks.Zhou Kewen firmly believes in one sentence: people do not deceive the land, and the land does not deceive others.Growing crops is the job of honest people. Only land is the most fair thing in this world, and honest people are never bullied.

The news that Zhou Kewen was going to plant cotton had already spread throughout the Zhou family village, so when they saw Zhou Kewen working in the fields with the long-term workers, someone joked that the cotton would be planted in February and March next year, and you should be in a hurry to fertilize now. You can't see the buddy at leisure, right? Zhou Kewen said with a smile, if you want to have a fat baby, you have to fatten up your wife first! Although others were joking, Zhou Kewen knew they were telling the truth.What he keeps saying is that there is no shortage of food, clothing, and poor planning. Of course, the planning here also includes the use of long-term workers.How many guys to hire and what kind of guys to hire, Zhou Kewen has to carefully calculate and select.When he hired a buddy, he had to inquire in advance, he only wanted acquaintances with a good reputation.Even if you get home, it is not a final decision, and you will have to try it out for one to two months.The buddy he wants must be someone who can take the initiative to do his job, for example, he can pick out the stones and tiles in the field when hoeing the ground, shake out the wheat grains wrapped in the straw when cutting the grass, and give the pigs a hand when feeding the grass. Catch lice.He called this kind of long-term work a man with a living eye.He often said to his buddies that the work is not assigned to you by the master, but that you see it yourself.

Once hired long-term workers, then he will squeeze enough to use up the guys, not to give them a moment of leisure.For example, they work during the day and cannot go to sleep immediately after eating at night. During this free time, they have to cut hay for the animals.From harvesting opium in May to planting in September, the land rested for four months, but the staff could not rest stubble. They had to fertilize the flat land to prepare for sowing later.After these tasks are done, they will carry water and water all the big and small trees in front of and behind the house.After watering, go to the ground to irrigate ground squirrels and dig mouse nests... In short, I paid you to work, not to let you enjoy life.Some people in the village love to gossip and talk about Zhou Kewen in private, saying that this person talks about benevolence all day long, but his heart is dark.When this word reached Zhou Kewen's ears, he only snorted to express his contempt, without making any distinctions.How can he exploit long-term workers? This is clearly teaching them how to behave.Han Xin once said: Those who ride on people's cars carry people's troubles, those who wear people's clothes carry people's worries, and those who eat people eat people's affairs! Still working as a long-term worker!Others didn't understand his intentions, and if he tried to explain it himself, it would only get worse and worse, so he simply ignored it.

But the strange thing is that even though Zhou Kewen uses long-term workers in this way, others still rush to work as a man in his house.This is because Zhou Kewen does not regard Chang Gong as an outsider.He paid the long-term workers high remuneration. Others gave the long-term workers two shi of wheat a year, and he gave three shi. This did not include that if the long-term workers were short of food for weddings and funerals, they could openly borrow from him.During the holidays, relatives prepare a lot of gifts, and so do long-term workers.Throughout the year, the long-term worker eats at the same table with him, and he eats whatever the long-term worker eats. During the busy farming season, he adds an egg in the morning and boils a can of strong tea when he comes back at night.All the clothes to wear are provided by the host family, straw hats, straw sandals, sweat towels in summer, cotton hats and warm shoes around the neck in winter, and labor insurance supplies are provided on time.In a word, Zhou Kewen often said that, we are a family, you came here to work for me, you came here to find relatives, are we lost brothers!

For the long-term worker, he may not believe Zhou Kewen's words, but he thinks it is worthwhile to be a buddy in this company.Anyway, if you are selling your strength to others, you have to sell yourself for a good price.Although the main family uses it ruthlessly, the rewards are also high. It is only natural to bite people's pot helmets and contribute to others.Besides, the master himself is not idle. Whatever the buddies do, the master does it together, and it is more enjoyable than the buddies. In this regard, there is a comparison with the guy from Kewen's family last week. He is also a long-term worker, and the guy from Zhou Shuancheng's family next door is far behind.Not to mention the low salary, even the labor insurance provided by the host family is sometimes exempted.During the wheat harvest that summer, Zhou Shuan’s family members came to the stall wearing rain hats and sandals, deliberately embarrassing the owner’s family, and causing the whole village to watch.

Zhou Kewen hummed the opera, scooped up a full shovel and sprinkled it out evenly. The fine yellow particles covered the ground like gold powder, and a strong oily fragrance permeated the air, making people dizzy.After Zhou Kewen finished sowing a ridge of land, Gecui smoked dry tobacco on the ground. He looked at the land in the adjacent ridge and wondered: Why is there no dung in this field?Does he have no fertilizer this year? It is impossible for Zhou Shuancheng to have no fertilizer.He may not have oil residue, but there must be livestock dung.Needless to say, the animals he feeds must be excreted at home. If you are working in your own field, then of course there is no problem. If you are going out to pull goods, the animal will wear a bamboo dung bag under the rump. , as long as the animals defecate, all the particles will return to the pocket.If the dung bag was empty, the guy who hailed the cab would definitely be scolded when he came back, saying that he must have dumped the dung out because of the smell.

In addition to collecting manure for his own livestock, Zhou Shuancheng has to go out to collect manure by himself.Zhou Shuancheng was the first person to get up every day in Zhoujiazhai. As soon as the rooster crowed, he would go out with a shovel in the chain cage and pick up wild dung at the front of the village and behind the village.When Zhou Shuancheng came back from picking up dung, the dogs in Zhoujiazhai came out of their dens. They hurried out to find dung to eat, but they often found nothing, so they hated Zhou Shuancheng the most.Zhou Shuancheng was walking on the street in the dim morning light, surrounded by angry dogs in front of him and behind him, and they sent Zhou Shuancheng home with the loudest curses.

Once Zhou Shuancheng was away with relatives, and was delayed in staying at relatives' homes due to work.Thinking about picking up manure, he got up early the next morning and rushed back, but unexpectedly encountered three piles of fresh human excrement on the way.He is both happy and troubled. The happy thing is that human excrement is a good fertilizer, and other people cherish it like gold. If it is not urgent, he will not go outside. The trouble is that he has no tools now, how can he get this treasure back.Zhou Shuancheng wanted to go home to get the guy, but he was afraid that someone else would pick it up, not to mention there were wild dogs wandering around.After hesitating for a long time, Zhou Shuancheng gritted his teeth, took off his two shoes, put a puddle of dung in one shoe shell, took off his hat, and put the last puddle into the hat shell. He held the two shoes with both hands, mouth With the cap in his mouth, he trot home all the way.It was the winter when dripping water turned into ice. Zhou Shuancheng was barefoot and bald, and he forgot the cold!

When I got home, my wife almost lost her temper when she saw her.She said, you just don't think it's cold or smelly?With the dung covering your mouth, you are not afraid of being smothered to death! Zhou Shuancheng said, it doesn't stink, it's frozen, if you don't believe me, smell it! The wife scolded, ah bah, Da Shi is closer than your father! Zhou Shuancheng replied, you are right, a crop is a flower, and it depends on dung to manage the house.Is my father dead? I can't count on him anymore. Now I can only count on the big shit. You say my dad is still the big shit! With this energy, the dung pile in front of Zhou Shuancheng's house grows as high as a mountain every year.He may be short of other things, but not fertilizer. Zhou Shuancheng has other plans for not fertilizing the land now, and he wants to sell the land. If you want to ask Zhou Shuancheng why he wants to sell the land, the reason is actually Zhou Kewen, who set an example for him.Zhou Shuancheng has always been hardworking, hardworking and frugal, hoping to make a fortune with this.But after working hard for half his life, he found that the gap between him and the person he secretly competed with was not getting smaller but getting bigger.This person is Zhou Kewen.His brother's situation is getting better and better than his, but he has not been convinced.In terms of effort, his brother has been studying since he was a child, and when he returned home to be a shopkeeper, he also spent more time directing people and less time doing it himself.But he has worked hard since he was a child. Although he is also a rich man now, the work he does every day is no less than that of the long-term workers hired by his family.In terms of frugality, he can be said to be stingy, and the villagers describe him as the grains of wheat that come out.Guys often get into trouble with him, thinking that he treats him poorly.He said, I am worse than you. The shopkeeper and the waiter eat at the same table, but I dare not eat with you, for fear that you will make fun of me.If you eat thick ones, I will eat thin ones, and if you eat white ones, I will eat black ones. If you think it’s not worth it, then leave. Am I afraid that I won’t be able to hire someone? Even though it was hard enough, it was hard enough, but the situation just couldn't compare to Zhou Kewen.After careful comparison, he found that he had less way to do business than his brother.He has always thought that doing business is not a proper job. Farmers have to grow crops to make a living no matter what. How can one do two things?What's more, your second-use heart is still in your business with black eyes!At first, he was going to watch his brother's jokes, but he didn't expect his brother's business to grow better and bigger, and later supported half of the family business. reason. Zhou Shuancheng also wants to open a shop, and he wants to open a shop that is more profitable than Shaofang: the Great Smoke House.It is not worthwhile to sell the opium smoke that is grown by oneself directly, and it is much more valuable to burn the smoke bubbles in the smoke house.But opening a smokehouse requires a lot of money, Zhou Shuancheng doesn't have that much money on hand, so he can only sell the land.Anyway, his family has a lot of land, and he can afford to sell some, but he can't bear the fact that the baby can't catch the wolf, and the sugar cane won't be sweet at both ends.