Baozhou is located in the front line of the Song and Liao Dynasties, but it is still tens of kilometers away from the real front line. Even though it is the Grass Valley of Liao people, it is rarely here. It can be regarded as a paradise in the front line.
I just glanced at it at once, but the peace and quiet here made Zhao Xin feel comfortable. It was the golden autumn, and both sides of the land were just reclaimed or planted with wheat, which looked very lively.
Since the Han Dynasty, wheat has been planted in northern China on a large scale. However, the real development was after the Tang and Song Dynasties. Compared with rice, wheat has lower water consumption, and is more suitable for the north where water is gradually scarce. In addition, wheat has higher calories than rice. The same unit of wheat can feed more people.
After the Song Dynasty, Chinese farmers had basically mastered the cultivation of winter wheat. In many areas in the north, they could plant two kinds of winter wheat a year, mainly winter wheat. In the other season, they could plant soybeans to increase soil fertility, or sorghum to increase output.
It was getting dark slowly, which was different from that in the 21st century. After dark, the whole field was empty. Bianliang in the Northern Song Dynasty was extremely developed, and it was called the city that never sleeps, but it was supported by candles. In most villages except cities, night was a time for rest.
Sun Ji was very familiar with the road here, and soon led the people to find the right road. Miaojia Village is about 35 miles away from Baozhou, a fertile land where two rivers meet.
The dark night could not block Zhao Xin's consciousness. On the land where they were marching, a large area of dark Chuang Tzu soon appeared, a not small stockade wall, the earth embryo wall, was large enough, and even Zhao Xin felt that the Chuang Tzu would be larger than the Nanle County town that they had entered.
Yes, the counties in the feudal era were all comprehensive buildings with huge walls and various protective devices. The larger the area, the more sites needed to be guarded, and the cost was amazing. Most of the city walls were local burdens. There were few cities that could build huge walls, and most of them would not exceed the perimeter of 3 kilometers, even Daming Mansion, let alone others.
On the contrary, some villages, especially those in the north, are far away from the city and form a fixed defense system. The area of the village is generally large, which not only includes all villagers, but also includes some public buildings, such as threshing grounds, some vegetable fields, schools, etc., in the village.
Miaojiazhuang is the land granted by Renzong to the Miao family, with 8000 mu actually granted, which is the core of Miaojiazhuang. However, after more than 10 years of development, annexation and reclamation, Miaojiazhuang has become a large village instead of a small village with 8000 mu.
At present, there are 400 households in Miaojia Village, with more than 2400 people. The whole village has 48000 mu of arable land, with an average of about 20 mu per person. It also has barren mountains, two ponds and some unsuitable land, with a total area of more than 120000 mu.
The area of farmland in the Song Dynasty is about 97.4% of that in the 21st century, which means 120000 mu, about 8000 hectares, about 80 square kilometers.
It sounds very big. A county seat in the Northern Song Dynasty is only a little over zero square kilometers, and a small village is so large. In fact, 80 square kilometers, that is, the area of a 9 kilometer square, except for the one between two rivers, which is a real fertile land, the rest are barren mountains, It occupies more than half of the whole area.
Miaojiazhuang is not a regular square, it is almost equivalent to an 8 km and 10 km rectangular area. The barren mountain is not small, the largest one is about 300 meters high, covering more than 36 square kilometers, accounting for about half of the wasteland. Most of the fields are concentrated in the middle of Miaojiazhuang, and a small part is separated by barren mountains.
The best paddy fields are distributed beside ponds and rivers. The two rivers come down from the mountains and meet at Miaojiazhuang, which can be regarded as the breeding place of Miaojiazhuang. Miaojiazhuang is a very rich village and the core of a large area around.
Miaojiazhuang, even the surrounding fairs, are far away from Baozhou City. The rich Miaojiazhuang has become a natural place for fairs. Basically, one fair is held on the 5th and one market is held on the 10th, which is also the fixed income source of Miaojiazhuang.
Compared with Baozhou, it is charged by the Yamen Runner himself. Here, more goods are taken, usually one out of twenty. It is acceptable for ordinary villagers who bring some vegetable garden, or wild animals and herbs from the mountains to sell.
Miaojiazhuang is the farthest place, not more than 20 miles away from Baozhou. However, Miaojiazhuang is still located in the most fertile area of the whole plot, near the 4500 mu paddy fields along the two rivers. This is the core of the land granted by Emperor Ren. With the help of mountain spring water, which is not too small in water volume, it irrigates thousands of acres of land around, and has built relatively perfect farmland water conservancy, Miao Family Village is getting richer recently.
The Miao family, born in the capital, has always been attached to the royal family. Zhao Xin's grandmother, also known as Ren Zong's nanny, was married to the Miao family after leaving the palace. Later, Concubine Miao Shu entered the palace, which was also the relationship of her mother. After Baozhou obtained a large area of stable land, most of the Miao family's industries outside Beijing moved to Baozhou.
The location of Miaojia Village is excellent. When Renzong granted it, the paddy field was only about 4500 mu. After more than 10 years of cultivation and water conservancy, the number of paddy fields has increased to 7500 mu. Other fields are not barren. With the efforts of many servants, the Miaojia Village accounts for almost half of the income of Miao's industries outside Beijing. At least three heads of the village have been transferred to Beijing, In addition, Miaojiazhuang has also become an important part of the Miao family system.
At nightfall, all the villagers went to bed early. The walls of the Miao village were closed early after nightfall, but today is an exception. A few hours ago, I was informed that the fourth young master had arrived in Baozhou. It is estimated that he will arrive after nightfall. All the high-rise buildings of the Miao village are gathered beside the wall, and the torch is burning, The position of the stockade wall shines brightly.
In addition to having been informed long ago, there was also a Miao's foreign affairs steward who called the front station in advance, and the Miao Family Village was ready to meet him. For Miao Yuan, the head of the Miao Family Village, he was a little depressed, but he was just a concubine. Is it necessary to do this? His father, the steward who came to call the front station, Miao Qi, the Miao's foreign affairs steward, gave him a lot of advice, Don't offend the fourth young master.
The identity of Zhao Xin is only known by the Miao couple. Others have secretly blocked the news, but it is simple to become a celebrity in the Miao family. Seeing how many young masters there are in the Miao family, Miao Qi knows that these four young masters are obviously not the young masters of the Miao family, but they are so serious and must be noble people. He did not think about the prince, He also solemnly told Miao Yuan that he must obey unconditionally, or he would break his leg.
The arrival of a large group of cavalry made the Miao family a little worried. This is Baozhou, near the border, where there are dozens of horses at leisure. Such a large group of cavalry, not some Khitans come to the Grass Valley.
Miao Yuan was worried for a while. He was about to let the able-bodied men come forward, but he was stopped by Miao Qi. This is the wall of the Miao family's stockade. Even if it is made of earth, it is still 3 meters high, which is enough to resist small bandits. Besides, there is no trace of Khitans' grass valley in Baozhou for at least 15 years. The increasingly dense protective net in the north of the river makes it very difficult for small groups of cavalry to cross.
The knights quickly entered the torch area from a distance in a short time. Miao Qi carefully recognized Wang Song, one of the cavalry, as the target of the handover, who had seen Wang Song and was protected by a big man, should be the Lord. The fourth young master they had been waiting for finally arrived.