Chapter 33 Autumn

  It has been almost a year since Yang Heng arrived in this world. Now that autumn has arrived, the rice and millet planted by the Yang family are starting to mature.

  Just as the Yang family was preparing for the autumn harvest, a new land allocation order came from the imperial court. According to the order, every able-bodied man and male over 18 years old would receive 80 mu of land for cultivation, while 20 mu of land would be allocated for permanent use. However, the uncle's families did not have enough land to meet this requirement.

  Yang Heng's family had already cultivated more than half of their land, and some of it was even ready for winter wheat planting. The officials who came to allocate the land could not find any fault with this, and Yang Heng's uncle's hopes of punishing his father or uncles were dashed.

  According to the land allocation order, every able-bodied man would receive 80 mu of land for cultivation, while 20 mu of land would be allocated for permanent use. However, the uncle's families did not have enough land to meet this requirement.

  Yang Heng's family had already cultivated more than half of their land, and some of it was even ready for winter wheat planting. The officials who came to allocate the land could not find any fault with this, and Yang Heng's uncle's hopes of punishing his father or uncles were dashed.

  As the autumn harvest approached, Yang Heng realized that while harvesting rice was quick, threshing was a problem. In this era, there were no automatic machines for threshing like in later times.

  Yang Heng suddenly remembered a semi-automatic threshing machine he had seen before. He decided to make one using wood and other materials. After selecting the right materials, cutting, and assembling them, a new threshing machine was created.

  However, Yang Heng did not know how to create a foot-operated system for the machine, so he temporarily made it hand-cranked instead. Although it was more laborious than using a wooden stick to thresh, it was still faster.

  Yang Heng wondered if there were any threshing machines in this world, but he did not see any in the nearby areas where wheat was planted. Instead, people used stone rollers to thresh their wheat.

  "Father, our income is good this year, and we don't have to pay taxes. Shouldn't we add a few more servants to our household? We can't keep working so hard all the time," Yang Heng asked.

  "You think you're tired? This family's business has just started to take off, and you want to enjoy yourself already? Wait a few more years," his father replied.

  "How about buying a few cows instead?" Yang Heng suggested.

  "Do you think cows can work faster than you? You're still young, and you have other things to do. First, focus on plowing the fields for a few years, then I'll find you a wife, and you can start your own family," his father said.

  Yang Heng's father was indeed a stubborn man who wanted to marry off his son as soon as possible. But Yang Heng knew that he still had many things to do before he could settle down.