Great Tang Idyll

Birds were chirping on the tree branches, dogs were barking in the farmland and the calling of chickens resonated throughout.

It was another day with a bright morning. Er'niu brought Zhang Xiao'wu and Zhang Xiao'liu along to smash the large rocks into small stones that were the size of a fingernails; only then did the stones fulfill the set requirement.

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan got off the heated brick bed¹. After they tidied up their appearance, they sat down at the table and ate there. The two them only had a few teeth, but since they would normally train their jaw's chewing muscles, they were able to eater harder textured foods now.

They ordered people to deep fry some "big bones" which were actually Chinese fried dough sticks. In front of them was also a bowl of soy milk, a small plate with fermented bean curd on it and quite a few pieces of red braised pork that were presented on the biggest plate on the table.

Currently, there were no people by their side to serve them. Xiao'hong saw that the day was warm, so in the morning after eating a bit of food, she rushed to drive the ducks and geese to the pond to test the water. She hasn't returned yet so its seems like the test was successful. Ying'tao was caring for those 6000 chickens so she wasn't able to come over. Shi'liu was busy with handling the wood fungus and in the morning, he went to check on it while biting onto a big steam bun.

Originally, MadamZhang-Wang²wanted to send a person to the two children, but Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan refused. Everyone was busy; there was no need to waste manpower on the two of them.

This morning, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were not the only ones that ate the fried dough sticks; other people had them too. Those that were willing to eat fried dough sticks, ate fried dough sticks. There were also plain steam buns and a few dishes of fermented veggies that they could freely eat. The fried doughnut and the red braised pork were considered to be their invention.

Normally, light food was eaten in the morning; at least, this was the habits of other people. As for Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan, they ordered people to serve them that big plate of pork because they intended to help out in the fields today. They were in the growing stage so they cannot be nutritionally deprived. Eating carbohydrates alone was not enough so satisfy the nutritional requirements of their two tiny bodies.

"Xiao'bao, in a moment, shall we two push the cart over there or carry a sack to pack rocks into?" Wang Juan picked up a braised pork with a large proportion of fat and threw it into her mouth. She tried her best to chew it while she spoke to Zhang Xiao'bao.

"I don't want to choose either. I don't want to be exhausted. The two of us will go over there to wait, and in the meantime, we can help watch the chickens." Zhang Xiao'bao also picked up a piece of fatty meat with his chopsticks.

"Okay. Actually, it's better for us to go to the river and see if we can catch a few fishes. I think with our current physical condition, if we use tools, we still have a chance against battling the fishes. Don't always eat the fatty ones, who would eat the lean ones that are left behind."Wang Juan said that as she picked up lean piece of braised pork and gave it to Zhang Xiao'bao. Everyone here likes to eat fatty and oily foods. She and Zhang Xiao'bao both loved to eat the fatty pieces but everyone else was unwilling to eat the lean pieces that were left behind.

"Okay, then I'll treat it as a protein supplement. Don't have hopes about the small river; if we were to go there, we would have to find a person to accompany us. Once Er'niu and them finish picking out the maifan stones, we will be able to use them. It can used in the drinking water, when cooking food and when taking a bath."

"That's correct, we can't let Er'niu and the others smash all of the rocks. We need to leave behind a few large ones and then instruct people to hollow the center out to make cups. Then, the two of our families can use these two cups to steep tea in and the result will be even better."

While thinking carefully, Zhang Xiao'bao picked up a toothpick and picked at the teeth that had meat stuck between them after eating that piece of lean meat. His two front teeth were relatively neat, and the meat was jammed in the middle of them.

"Okay, don't be like that. You can eat fat too. Just eating a piece of lean meat and you got it jammed between your teeth, dummy. Watching the chicken will be easy; let's get a craftsman on the farm to make two slingshots. It would be perfect for practicing strength and accuracy. It would be great if I had a gun--- do you know how to shoot a gun?" Wang Juan looked at Zhang Xiao'bao and his eyes slightly expressed the look of protest against eating lean meat. She refuted back irrationally for a bit and then changed the topic.

"What do you think? I was in a foreign country at the time; all I had to do was spend a bit of money and there was a place for me to practice. I don't have the ability to make a gun so I'll hand over this difficult and glorious task to you." Zhang Xiao'bao took a big sip of soy milk and said that to Wang Juan.

"I don't know too, I studied leadership. Okay, I'm full now. When we depart later, bring some pork floss and some carrot and rock sugar juice." Wang Juan set down her chopsticks and dropped this sentence off before she got up to go rinse her mouth.

Zhang Xiao'bao ate a few more mouthfuls and followed after her.

By the time the two of them arrived at the fields, Er'niu had already sent over a trolley that was half filled with smash rocks. Each pieces of rocks were not large. Immediately, Zhang Xiao'bao instructed people to mix the small rocks with fertilizer and then incorporate it into the soil.

"Young Master, what are these stones used for?" A farmer asked while following Zhang Xiao'bao's instruction.

"I don't know, my mother ordered me to do so. I will go back tonight and ask my mother, then I will tell you the answer tomorrow." Naturally, Zhang Xiao'bao wouldn't say that this thing was used to increase crop yield.

"Since it was ordered by the Master family's Madam, then it is fine. Young Master does not need to bother the Madam." Even though he feared that when the time came to transplanting the rice seedlings, his feet would be slashed by the small stones that were mixed into the soil, the farmer didn't want to inquire too much about this tiny matter.

"My mother told me that this year, we don't need to transplant rice seedlings; all we have to do is throw the rice seeds in. When that time comes, we will hand out a pair of shoes to everyone so that they don't have walk in the water with bare feet." Zhang Xiao'bao of course knew what the farmer was worried about; it was easy to figure it out from his gaze because they did not conceal any of his thoughts.

When the farmer heard that they didn't have to transplant the seedlings, but instead only needed to throw in the seeds at random, he immediately became anxious. "Young Master, that won't work. You must go back and persuade the Madam. Even when the seedlings were transplanted, some of them still won't grow properly. If we don't transplant them, then what will we harvest when autumn comes?"

"Just do what my mother has said. I heard that this is a secret technique that my mother received. It's very effective; if not, why would my mother disregard her lands like this?" Zhang Xiao'bao explained, but seeing that farmer was still skeptical, he didn't say much more and went to watch the chickens with Wang Juan.

If it weren't for the fact that he was worried that the higher ups would come to investigate, he would have stopped them from turning over the plant stubble after the last year's harvest in autumn. The effect would have been, but if he really did that, he will definitely be arrested and interrogated. Even if the land belonged to his family, if the crops were bad, he could still be convicted.

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan each had a small slingshot that were able to launch small pebbles the size of soybeans. One by one, they aimed at the chickens that were pecking at fodder. They weren't able to hit a single chicken even after firing a dozen or so times. Even if they did hit one, there wasn't much strength to the blow. The chicken that was hit would coo twice and then shuffle a bit to the side and continue their search for food.

When it was noon, all the farmers stopped working and started to prepare to eat. The Zhang and Wang family use to only provide a meal in the evening but not for lunch. Later, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan felt that such a large amount of manpower was wasted making a round trip back and forth during the lunch break. Now that the ploughs were easy to use, even females can help with ploughing. In the end, it was decided that they would provide lunch too.

Finishing up the spring tillage more quickly will free up some people, and those people can go to the mountain and pick mushrooms and wild veggies. The sloped terrain behind the two families was still empty, so when the time comes, different types of trees can be planted. The soil on that land wasn't that good so they need to bring in the trees from elsewhere, and plant fruit trees. All of these jobs required manpower to complete.

When they were eating, Magistrate Cheng ordered a person to deliver a message by horse from the administrative office. The housekeeper was told that the Ge Ying'xi had contacted Junior Officer Qi and Elder Feng and that those two had reported the matter to the Magistrate.

While waiting for a person to come to arrange a meal, Zhang Xiao'bao learned of this news from the mouth of the housekeeper. Then, he went with Wang Juan to find the Wang family's housekeeper and told him, "Housekeeper Wang, after having your meal, go and call the person in charge of the Ge Farm. Give him a curved plough and let them make copies of it."

"Young Master, why is this? Why should we let others know about our good equipment?" Housekeeper Wang didn't know that the curved plough had already been sent to the Magistrate and that a large number of ploughs have been crafted already.

"Keep the patent or keep our heads? Magistrate Cheng has already arranged for people to start buying the ploughs." Wang Juan felt that the housekeeper's head was a little bit dense since he couldn't even comprehend the reason that was as simple as this.

After Wang Juan said this, the housekeeper pondered for a while, and finally nodded, "I understand, then I will leave in a bit."

When Housekeeper Wang left, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan found a tree stump that was surrounded with new sprouts and sat down on it to rest. They were also tired. After shooting with a slingshot all morning, they arms were sore.

"This Ge Ying'xi was really anxious." Wang Juan took a sip of carrot juice and spoke while looking in the direction of the Ge Farm.

"Yeah. In fact, it wasn't easy for him too since he was entrapped by our two families. The farmers there don't even have the spirit to work. The small river between his land and ours is not bad; we can take advantage of it later. In particular, that wide and spacious land that is downstream to there; we could ask him if he wants to cooperate, if he's willing, then we can work on it together."

Zhang Xiao'bao found it entertaining when he thought of Ge Ying'xi fretting all day long. He then felt a bit more sympathetic towards Ge Ying'xi. No matter who it was, their response would be the same. People always feared making comparisons with others.

Wang Juan turned her head. She saw that Zhang Xiao'bao's hand was tapping his leg again and, thus she knew that he was thinking of an idea again. When his hand stopped, she asked "Did you come up with any good ideas to make big money quickly? And the idea involves the Ge Farm?"

"It's not up to us to get his farm involved or not. It depends on whether he falls for the trap or not. Last time we planned to help him and his people at the market, but he refused. This time will be his second chance, if he missed out on it again, he can't blame it on others."

If it weren't because Zhang Xiao'bao saw that the three farms were so close to each other and wanted to harmonize the neighborhood, he wouldn't have even cared whether or not Ge ying'xi would die from anxiety and worry.

"That's right, the opportunity is going to be placed in front of him. If he didn't know how to seize it, then he is not worth pitying. Talk about your plan." Wang Juan chased with her question.

"Well, the idea is to build a dam in that area, then, when the water level has increased, fish---big fishes can be raised in it. What kind of big fish? Marine fish. It is decided. In due time, we can bring in a whale. When we're bored, we can watch the whale blow water and such."

Zhang Xiao'bao used his hand to point over to that land and it looked like he was making commands to run the country.

Wang Juan listened and listened, then placed her little hand against Zhang Xiao'bao's forehead, "You're sick?"

"No, I know that marine fishes are not easy to raise, but can't we just sprinkle salt into it?" Zhang Xiao'bao added confidently.

"Gravely ill?" Wang Juan put her other hand on Zhang Xiao'bao's forehead.

Translator's notes:

1. Heated brick bed 炕

As the name implies, it a type of bed that can be heated up by redirecting hot air heated by a fire source to the empty space underneath the brick structure. This type of bed is more commonly found in the eastern parts of China where the winters are longer and colder.

2. Madam Zhang-Wang

Her title implies that she was from the Wang family and married into the Zhang family.