Qinghe Town has been quieter recently.

After the summer wheat harvest in large areas of farmland on both sides of the Xiaoqing River, only the millet and beans remain, and they are still green and green, and there is at least one month left before they mature. This is the slack season.

Although the purchase of medicinal materials has come to an end, farmers in the village are still busy in the mountains. Because after a while, Mr. Lidian opened another winery to buy some mountain grapes to make wine.

Wine is an absolute luxury for the bitterness of not having enough food for several months in a year. In addition, the Qin Dynasty's laws and regulations also clearly stipulate that farmers are not allowed to brew wine privately, otherwise they will be fined five times the fine. But even so, there is still a market for wine, because those nobles and wealthy businessmen have demands, and people are still making and selling them in big cities for many years, including civil and military officials in the court. No one does not drink alcohol. Of course, the people also know that this kind of thing exists. Some brave ones once secretly brewed some local wine at home to drive away the cold in winter.

Therefore, the people are not unfamiliar with wine.

But this is the first time that everyone has heard of using wild fruits such as mountain grapes. Although the law stipulates that it is not allowed to make wine without permission, it means that it is not allowed to make wine with grain, and the emperor cannot control it by using mountain grapes.

It just so happened that today is the middle of the month, and it happened to be the gathering once every fifteenth a month. The mountain people from eleven villages belonging to Qinghe Town came to the market with baskets and vine baskets. In addition to selling some mountain goods, they carried baskets of green, red, yellow and purple mountain grapes to sell them to the winery for some pocket money.

A large number of mountain people and the villagers of Qinghe Town are thousands of people. Qinghe Town, which is only a few hundred meters short, is very lively today. It can be said to be crowded with noise and noise. In addition, cattle and horses pass by from time to time, and the narrow streets are almost unable to move.

Uncle Ma took a group of villagers from Xiaohe Village to the town carrying baskets and loads, and slowly squeezed to Chen Xu's residence among the crowd.

"Wow, mom, it's so lively. It's much lively than our village, and there are so many people!" Xing'er was caught among a group of people, holding Chen Jiang's hand and looking left and right, her face full of excitement and excitement.

She was over seven years old and it was her first time to come to town, so she felt novel when she saw everything and saw many things for the first time.

"You must be polite when you meet your brother later, don't let people laugh at me!" Chen Jiang repeatedly reminded the little girl, but her heart was also nervous and nervous. His son became a high-ranking official after becoming a Lidian in the town. He was under his control of the town and the nearby villages. How could so many people take care of it? He brought Xing'er to the town to see if he would cause trouble for him?

"Don't be nervous. Although Xiaoxu has become a Lidian, we are always polite. He invited us to eat dumplings a few days ago. I heard that the people in the town respect him very much. Everyone should salute him respectfully when they see him!" Uncle Ma walked beside him and said with a smile.

"That's the case, I'm afraid of causing trouble for him!" Chen Jiang said embarrassedly.

"Xiao Xu would definitely not think so. He just didn't know how he made wine with these mountain grapes?" said a villager next to him.

"I'll know when I see him later. Have you heard that the tax grains in the town were almost ..."

"Simao, you're looking for a blow!" Before a young man could finish his words, Uncle Ma glared back with a fierce look.

Although nearly a month has passed since the robbery of the town's grain tax, Chen Xu did not mention it several times when he went home. He said it might make Chen Jiang worry. Although Uncle Ma and some villagers also knew something, Chen Xu also reminded them not to talk about it when they go back, so most of the women, children, young and old in the village did not know it.

"Uncle, what happened to the tax grain in the town? Could it be that it was missing?" Chen Jiang asked nervously.

"No!" Uncle Ma shook his head repeatedly and said with a smile, "It's just a few unsightly bandits who want to come to rob, but they were captured by You Jiao and the county magistrate, and they had been imprisoned in the county jail long ago!"

"That's good!" Chen Jiang breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's coming soon!" A villager shouted at a house not far ahead, so Chen Jiang quickly tidied up his clothes and helped Xing'er sort out a new set of linden cloths.

"Sir, today's market is so lively. Qinghe Town hasn't been so lively for many years!"

In front of an old wooden house on the street, Chen Xu and Niu Dashi stood at the door watching the bustling farmers coming and going, Niu Quan stood beside him and couldn't help but sigh.

"Haha, as long as the world is stable and the grain harvest is bumper, Qinghe Town will be even more lively in a few years. When you have money next year, double the streets and then lay them well with sand and gravel. Look at the ash, you can't vent your anger!" Chen Xu said with a smile.

"It's easy to lay sand and gravel, but it's a lot of trouble to expand it. A lot of houses on the street must be demolished!" a pavilion chief continued.

"Then let's rebuild a street eastward. Many of the old houses in this town are about to collapse. At that time, all households will collect some of them if they are willing to move. I will subsidize them more, which should not be too difficult!" Chen Xu answered easily.

In this era, farmers had a great burden. In addition to heavy taxes, corvee labor was also a very terrifying thing. They went out to build roads and dig canals for half a year. If they had to fight, it might even take several years. And it would be a big deal to go back. In addition, agricultural production technology was backward, and the food they planted was not enough to fill their stomachs after paying taxes. After working hard for a year, most of them would have to be hungry for a few months. Therefore, in addition to the wider way of making money in the town, the villagers can buy some clothes and other daily necessities.

The mountain people in each village are basically the same as when Chen Xu first came. They were poor and had no decent clothes at home, let alone a family. There was a thatched hut with leaks and rain, which was quite good. Nowadays, there are still many poorer villages than his family at the time. There are also those who live in thatched huts or caves built with branches. There are no complete pottery found in the house. Chen Xu went down to inspect several times, but he couldn't bear to see it. When he came back, he would be so depressed that he couldn't sleep for several days.

This later generations advocated the great Qin Empire, which was extremely powerful, was actually very poor inside.

Prosperity, the people suffer, the people suffer, the people suffer!

But even so, all the farmers still work diligently and hard-workingly, nothing more than just to survive.

It is said that it is better to be a peaceful dog than a person in troubled times.

No matter how poor you are now, as long as you don’t fight and persevere, there will always be hope.

It took only more than a month since Chen Xu became the Li Dian of Qinghe Town.

But he has brought hope to the people in the town.

He distributed tools to make threshers for free, opened pharmacies, mills, wooden ware shops, expanded blacksmith shops, and built primary schools. He also expanded a pottery workshop in the town. All the workshops recruited several apprentices. I heard that poor families who did not have clay pots and rice bowls to cook at home would pay one or two pieces for free. Moreover, some time ago, the medicinal materials were dug, and almost every household in the village had obtained dozens of dollars to more or less. Although the money was not much, it was enough to alleviate the salt cost of a family for a year. It was barely enough to save some money to buy two pieces of burlap or cheaper kudzu to make a few sets of clothes.

This is hope, and hope that arises from extreme poverty, even a little bit, is enough for everyone to see and feel unprecedented warmth.

Because I have never heard of any Lidian like him, who does so many things that are not good for the villagers in the town. Not to mention the old Lidian in the past, I have never seen him do a good thing in my life. Every time I either collect taxes or collect husbands, it is the pain of the poor.

Therefore, Chen Xu has a very high reputation in the town recently. When all the villagers and villagers saw him, they would stop and salute respectfully. This is a respect from the heart, not only respect for this young man who once tried to kill a four-foot-foot-shot snake, but also gratitude for his kindness.

"Xiaoxu~Xiaoxu~" Several excited shouts suddenly came from the crowd. Chen Xu looked over and immediately smiled on his face, waved and shouted: "Uncle, here!"

"Brother~" A villager raised Xing'er high from the crowd. When the little girl saw her brother, she was immediately excited to dance in the air.

"Xing'er!" Chen Xu quickly jumped off the stage and squeezed into the crowd, and then saw the somewhat nervous Chen Jiangshi.

"Mom~ You are here too!" Chen Xu quickly bowed and bowed.

"I've seen my aunt~" Niu Dashi, behind him, was dressed in neat gray linen clothes and saluted quickly, then looked at Xing'er's face and smiled foolishly.

Since Chen Xu woke up, the family's condition has improved day by day, and she has eaten well and is safe to live in a new house. The little girl has gradually grown fat. She no longer has the appearance of being thin and thin, and she can blow down a gust of wind. Her cheeks are full and a natural blush. In addition, she is wearing clean and neat new clothes, her appearance has been completely transformed.

"I've seen my brother~" the little girl respectfully blessed her, then threw herself into Chen Xu's arms, and rolled her eyes at Niu Dashi, "You're so stupid!"

"Haha~" the villagers around, Niu Quan and others burst into laughter.

"Xiaoxu, the town is so lively today. I come to the market several times a year, but I have never seen such a lively situation!" Uncle Ma couldn't help but sigh loudly again.

"This year, the weather is good, the summer grain is bumper, and it seems that the autumn grain will be bumper. It is also worth it for everyone to be happy to join in the fun. By the way, buy and sell some mountain goods. Hey, why have you made so many mountain grapes?" When Chen Xu was speaking, he saw a villager put down his back basket and saw from the raised leaves that were full of purple and green mountain grapes, and he couldn't help but say in surprise.

"I heard that you opened another winery in the town. While you were relatively idle recently, we went up the mountain to work for two days, and there were about 100 kilograms in total, and we got them all for you!" Uncle Ma said with a smile.

"Okay, follow me to carry it to the winery shop, and you will weigh it and pay the bill there!" Chen Xu squatted down and patted his back with a smile. Xing'er crawled onto his back with a cheer, hugging her neck and refused to come down no matter how Chen Jiang scolded her.

"Mom, there are many people in the town, I'm afraid it will be crushed, so I'll keep it safe!"

Chen Xu led the way with Xing'er on his back, and Uncle Ma and others followed behind with their backpacks. The winery was at the west end of the village, which was in the upper reaches of the Xiaoqing River. The water quality was clean and there was no pollution from the villagers in the town. The possibility of successfully making wine was higher when cleaning grapes.

When a group of people came to the winery, it was already crowded.

When the small yard comes in and out, the farmers carrying baskets and loads are carried. They are ragged and rough in their skin. Their faces are dark, both young and old. Many people look skinny and bone-skinned. Although they almost look malnourished, they almost have a smile on their faces. The people who come out are holding more or less yellow copper coins in their hands, which is obviously very satisfied.

When Chen Xu and others came in, several villagers carrying baskets saw it and quickly greeted him. Chen Xu walked in with a smile on his face and smiled and greeted him.

The yard has a pergola and a thatched hut with wood and stone structure.

There were a bunch of people surrounding the pergola and weighing mountain grapes.

Seeing Chen Xu, everyone stopped and turned around to say hello.

"Okay, everyone is fine!" Chen Xu put down Xing'er, then walked over and looked at the mountain grapes picked by these mountain people. Although the ripe ones were not too evenly ripe, many of them had turned purple-black.

Mountain grapes are more common in northern China and less in the south. Henan is in the middle, so they can be considered as neither too much nor too low, and the quality is neither high nor too low. Chen Xu's hometown is called Ulazi, which is a wild berries that he often ate when he was a child.

Moreover, because mountain grapes have not been cultivated with cuttings, the taste is very sour and sour, which means that some are very sour and some are very sweet. Without manual screening, the taste is not easy to predict. You have to eat it in your mouth to know. Sometimes, the sweet tears fill your eyes, and sometimes you want to jump off the cliff and commit suicide after one bite. Anyway, Chen Xu remembers that when he was a child, he always felt like he was ecstatic when he was eating mountain grapes.

The ripening period of mountain grapes is relatively long, from June to September of the lunar calendar, and the ripening time of each vine or even each bunch of grapes is different. The result is that some vine are still blooming, and some are already ripe. Even if the grapes are on them, they are also green, yellow and purple, and look colorful. Therefore, after collecting these mountain grapes, they are cleaned, and then picking the purple-black ones to make wine, and the green and yellow ones can only be discarded. However, Chen Xu saw the appearance of these mountain grapes now, and felt that the green and yellow ones accounted for almost half. If they were all thrown away, it would be a pity. Therefore, after thinking about it, he decided to try to make vinegar.

I remember reading a couplet from a food factory before: the wine-making jar is good, and the vinegar jar is sour.

Then some people deliberately read it as: The wine-making jar is easy to make vinegar, and the jar is sour.
Chapter completed!