A cloud floated from the sky, covering the sun, and the world seemed to be much cooler. The cicadas on the willow trees also stopped chirping and wanted to take a breath.

Under the shed in the yard, the soldiers placed food and wine.

The main dish was eaten by the servants here for lunch, a large pot of cabbage, tofu, beans, eggplant and pork belly stewed. There was a lot of tofu and only a few big fat slices of meat. There was also a plate of pickles with black vegetables.

Huhu's steamed buns are the most important meal of the day.

When laborers go out to work, they have breakfast at home, lunch provided by the government, and dinner at home. In order to save food at home, many people usually skip meals in the morning, work hungry all morning, and eat more at noon.

Wang Xiaolie looked at the dishes on the table and said to Silang, a construction worker on the side: "Grandpa, are you still used to the food here? Are you eating well?"

Tong Silang said: "We have white-flour steamed buns and meat every day, so it's naturally very good."

Wang Xiaolie picked up a steamed bun, looked at it again and again, and said: "The steamed bun is indeed made of wheat flour, but it is too dark. Do you also eat such black steamed buns at home? As for the meat, there is a large pot of vegetables.

No two liang?"

Tong Silang smiled and said: "Guardian, these steamed buns are not considered black. I see it right. A pound of wheat should produce eight and a half taels of white flour. This is the case in everyone's house. In recent years, the channels have been in disrepair, and many places cannot

If you water it, it'll be good if you can have white flour to eat. As for the meat, it's not cheap, it's just a taste."

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes, if the canals are not repaired, there will be no water in the fields during the drought. Wheat cannot be watered, so we can only plant other things. After a busy year or two, Henan will

The government should make a unified plan to see how many channels need to be built, and just build them year by year."

Tong Silang and several old people said together: "With channels, we can not only grow wheat, but also grow rice. Around Luoyang, rice was grown in the Taiping years."

When people in later generations talk about high-yielding crops, they refer to corn. As a C4 plant, corn is indeed more likely to have a higher yield than C3 plants such as rice and wheat. But in this era, the real high-yielding crop is rice. Generally speaking, the cost is about the same.

With a lot of labor, the yield of rice per acre can be nearly twice that of wheat. As long as paddy fields can be cultivated, people will try their best to plant rice.

Around Luoyang, it was customary to grow rice in places where the Yi and Luo rivers could be irrigated. However, with the arrival of the Jin soldiers from the south, most of the irrigation canals were abandoned and rice could no longer be grown here. Since the water conservancy conditions were good, wheat was grown in many places.

Generally speaking, in this era, rice is grown in places with the best water conservancy conditions, and wheat is grown in places with poorer water conservancy conditions. If watering is really impossible, corn can only be grown.

Wang Xiaolie said: "Whether you are planting rice or wheat, the canal will eventually need to be rebuilt. To build water conservancy, we need people, and we need the efforts of people like you. Do you think fifty workers a year is a lot like now?"

?”

Tong Silang was a little embarrassed and said: "To be fair to the officials, there are still more. There are 3600 days in a year, and there are fifty days of corvee work. How many days do the people have for themselves? However, compared with before,

, not too much."

Wang Xiaolie nodded and asked: "So, how many jobs do you think is appropriate per year?"

Tong Silang said: "In our daily chats, many people think that thirty jobs a year is pretty much neither too much nor too little."

Wang Xiaolie said to Chen Qiudao: "I am afraid that I will lose 20 jobs at once. Now the world is full of waste and people are needed everywhere. I don't dare to reduce the corvee that much at once. One job is 100.

Wen, if you cut twenty wages, the government will spend two more dollars per person. Alas, we are still short of money."

Tong Silang said: "Officials don't need to worry. We ordinary people's gossip should not be taken seriously."

Wang Xiaolie sighed: "Why can't we take it seriously? The thing in the world is to find a compromise between how much the government thinks the people should pay and how much the people think they should pay. If the government has spare capacity, of course the people will pay more.

Less is better. If you think thirty workers is good, then this is a reasonable number. The government should try its best to stick to this number. For the time being, there is no choice but to start with fifty workers. Later, when conditions are better, reduce it to thirty.

A job."

Chen Qiudao said: "If it is reduced to thirty workers, the people think that twenty workers are good. But if it is reduced to twenty workers, they still think it is too much."

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "The counselor is right. The government wants the people to work more, and the people want to work less. That's how it is. Now fifty jobs a year are indeed too many, so we all hope to gradually reduce them. But

At the end of the day, there is always a number. After this number, people will work less and have to pay more in other areas. At this time, the government and the people can reach a consensus on this number."

Chen Qiudao frowned. After thinking for a while, he couldn't figure out what Wang Xiaolie meant, so he could only shake his head.

Wang Xiaolie said: "In theory, we think there is such a number, but in fact, it cannot be found. There is always a range that some people find suitable and some people find uncomfortable. As long as it is within this range,

It’s just reasonable.”

Tong Silang and others did not dare to speak and looked at each other in confusion. Chen Qiudao felt that Wang Xiaolie was talking too much and did not talk to him.

Wang Xiaolie could only sigh helplessly and said nothing more.

The soldier roasted the catfish and brought it over and poured wine for everyone.

Wang Xiaolie said: "Today we are here, grilled some catfish for everyone to try and drink two glasses of wine. Also, after we leave, we will slaughter a few pigs in the evening and make sure that each person has half a catty of meat."

.You guys have worked so hard, I guess it’s the government that invited you.”

Tong Silang and others were overjoyed and hurriedly thanked Wang Xiaolie.

Wang Xiaolie picked up the chopsticks, first picked up a piece of tofu that was being stewed, and then picked up a steamed bun. He said to Chen Qiu: "Counsellor, it's rare for us to go to a place like this. We want to taste what the workers eat.

."

Chen Qiudao nodded and picked up a steamed bun.

The reason why the flour turns black is because the flour extraction rate is high and the flour is mixed with bran. This is not the whole-wheat bread eaten by later generations. If you eat it, it is not delicate and the bran will make your throat irritated. People who don't eat it often will eat this kind of food.

, it is inevitable to frown.

Generally speaking, when the flour extraction rate of wheat flour drops below 70%, the flour becomes very white. The higher it goes, the darker the flour becomes. Steamed buns made from flour with an extraction rate of over 85% do not taste very good.

good.

In Wang Xiaolie's previous life, due to bran being a high-quality feed and people's pursuit of quality of life, the flour extraction rate dropped to less than 60%. The steamed buns made were soft, glutinous and sweet, which was not comparable to this kind of steamed buns. The steamed buns were in your mouth.

There is a sour smell in it that is really hard to describe.

(Originally, I was supposed to make up for it in the morning, but it turned out to be in the afternoon. Forgive me.)
Chapter completed!