Shan Xiongxin was doing things quickly, and the matter of buying cows soon became clear. The servant of the Shan family came over and told Zhang Chao that the cow had been transferred and asked Zhang Chao to prepare to pick up the cows.

“How many are there?”

"According to Saburo, there are a total of one hundred big cows, three big bulls, and one hundred calves. In addition, there are thirty mules that Saburo asked for, and they all bought them."

What surprised Zhang Chao was that the cow bought by the Dan family was actually a buffalo rather than a scalper.

Buffaloes have short legs and large hooves, gentle nature, easy to train, and are known for their tolerance to thick and hard work. Buffaloes are much larger than scalpers, and adult buffaloes can generally grow to more than 1,000 kilograms. Buffaloes are especially suitable for farming in paddy fields, mainly in the south, but there are also many in Hanzhong area in southern Shaanxi.

The Guanzhong area mainly uses scalpers to cultivate, but this time the Shan family transferred a batch of buffaloes from Hanzhong, which was really surprising.

"Can buffalo adapt to it here?" Zhang Chao asked in confusion. Most of the land on Bashang is dry and it is colder in winter.

"Yes, buffaloes are actually better than scalpers, with greater strength and gentle temper. They can adapt to hot weather and winter in Guanzhong."

There is only one Qinling Mountains separated from Hanzhong and Guanzhong, and Zhang Chao thinks what he said seems to make sense.

"The feeding of buffaloes is similar to scalpers, just eat more. In addition, when it is hot in summer, you have to take them to ponds or ditches to soak in water every day."

"It's also more expensive, right?" An adult buffalo can reach a thousand pounds, which is nearly twice as big as a scalper, and it must be more expensive.

“It’s not much more expensive.”

As long as you can farm, you will be good cows.

Zhang Chao didn't care much about what cows he bought. He also knew that after a long war in the north, the ox was indeed sharply reduced, and now the demand in various places is very high. On the contrary, the southeast was relatively stable after the end of the Sui Dynasty.

It is indeed not easy for Shan Xiongxin to mobilize so many buffaloes in such a short time.

If you only cultivate the land, buffaloes are not worse than scalpers, or even better. But buffaloes have some disadvantages. The meat of buffaloes is not as delicious as yellow beef. Of course, in this era when slaughtering oxen privately, most people will not kill oxen to eat meat. A buffalo can be tamed at the age of two. As long as you are not sick, you can normally live to the age of eighteen and cultivate well by the age of fifteen.

One thing that buffaloes are worse than scalpers is that buffaloes are not as good as scalpers. Especially on those gravel roads, buffaloes are not as good as scalpers. The big hooves of buffaloes are more suitable for swamps and paddy fields. No matter how deep the paddy fields are, they can be as easy as usual. Moreover, buffaloes are not as fast as scalpers. Scalpers usually have one child a year, while buffaloes have two childs in three years, and sometimes even three child in five years.

Anyway, Zhang Chao bought these cattle mainly for farming and did not need to transport animals as well, so it doesn’t matter if he thought about it.

This time, in addition to asking Shan Xiongxin to help buy plowing oxen, Zhang Chao also bought a batch of mules. This batch of mules is thirty, but not all of them are needed by the Zhang family.

Twenty of them were bought by the village soldiers.

A few days ago, Bailu Cheqi Mansion issued a notice, asking all the soldiers in the palace, each group of ten, to buy six mules and donkeys. For this reason, the Cheqi Mansion also gave each soldier a subsidy of 5,000 yuan.

It turned out that the Wei Mansion did not have this requirement. They would prepare donkeys and horses if they were in good condition. When they were in war, they would take mules and horses to carry the baggage. There would be allowances for mules and horses to be sent out. But now the court requires all the soldiers in the palace to be purchased, but it is not everyone needs it, but a group of ten people must prepare six mules, and there is no mules and donkeys.

This is also a burden for the soldiers of the palace. Mules are still very expensive nowadays, and even donkeys are not cheap. Fortunately, the soldiers of the palace have always won battles in the past two years, and they have also paid a lot of rewards for spoils. In addition, this year, they have been exempted from the world's money and food for one year. The soldiers of the palace are still a little money. There are more than 30 soldiers of the palace in Zhangjiagou, which can be counted as much as 20 mules.

Everyone asked Zhang Chao to help buy the mule, and he agreed immediately and asked Shan Xiongxin to help.

Zhang Chaoduo bought a few mules for his own use. In the future, he would use them in the mill and could also ride them for transportation.

The next day, the people from the Shan family drove a large herd of cattle and mules over.

More than 200 cows and mules were walking on the road, which was still very eye-catching. Even the people from several nearby villages followed the cows to Zhangjiagou.

Many people have never even seen such a huge buffalo. Looking at the buffalo with gray hair and two curved horns, they are quite curious.

Li Zheng stood at the entrance of the village with a smile, looking at the group of cows with black saplings, constantly stroking his beards, and his mouth was very open and he couldn't take it back. As one of the five Li Zhengs in Bailu Township, the Zhang family bought so many cows at once, which was a good thing for him.

The Zhang family bought cattle to feed the tenants. When the tenants had cattle, the harvest in the fields would be more stable, so the rent would naturally be stable. Even on the court's assessment table, the number of oxen and the population were important indicators. When officials were in office, the increase in the population under their jurisdiction was a contribution. If the oxen also increased a lot, it would be a good performance.

Li Zheng didn't think he could get promoted and make money, but if the assessment was good, it would still be possible to be promoted to a county magistrate in the future.

"Sanlang, you have done a great thing. You have lived your own family and have never forgotten the countryside. With these cattle, it will be much easier for everyone to farm next year."

Zhang Chao just smiled.

Zhang Chao is not doing charity either, buying a cow is a win-win situation.

The villagers rented his land and had stable cattle harvests, so his rent would naturally be reliable. At the same time, Zhang Chao had planned early that raising cattle is a very promising project. With so many people helping him raise cattle for free, what's wrong with Zhang Chao being unhappy?

As long as he does not suffer any losses, Zhang Chao does not mind giving others some help and convenience. He knows that farming in this era is very hard. Many people's plows are made of wood, and there are no cattle and horses, so they can only use people's backs to plows. The plows are shallow, and sometimes they have to plow the ground repeatedly. People who carry plows are harder than pulling fibers. After all, pulling fibers is not all about torrents.

That is the real face facing the loess and the back is facing the sky, and the shoulders are covered with calluses.

It can have a cow, or even a strong labor force, or even more.

The big cows are four or five years old, and they are the strongest when they are the strongest. These buffaloes are from four to twelve years old.

It has a huge body, gray hair, a crescent white under its neck, and two curved and thick horns on its cow's head.

The buffaloes were very gentle and stood there without moving. Some bold villagers stepped forward to caress the big buffalo, with light in their eyes, just like when they were touching their daughter-in-law on wedding night.

"What a strong cow, is this a buffalo?"

"Is this cow strong? Can he pull the plow?"

Everyone couldn't help but have various questions. They were so excited that they would tremble when they thought of having such a huge cow in the future.

"This is a buffalo, weighing thousands of kilograms. Such a big cow is naturally very strong. The buffalo bull can reach 600 kilograms, and the cow can reach 500 kilograms. In the busy farming season, as long as it is fed to feed, it can cultivate for four hours a day."

Everyone was surprised to hear this number. Although many villagers do not have oxen plowing themselves, they will rent cows from landlords when they are too busy. The scalpers they rented in the past were not as powerful as they could.

"Only the big gangster has such great strength."

The big bull is the type of castrated bull. After castration, the bull can grow a lot and become gentle. Some big bulls can grow to more than one thousand pounds and are extremely powerful.

But bullocks are also relatively expensive.

"Is this cow really for us?" A villager couldn't let go when he touched the cow.

Ke Shan said on the side, "This cow was bought by Sanlang. Now it's just put to your house for feeding and care. When the farming is busy, you can borrow the plowing fields, not for you."

The villagers laughed.

"Uncle Fifth, put numbers on these cow horns. We will draw lots later. Whoever draws the cow will adopt the cow."

Because they had signed an adoption agreement with the tenants in advance, everyone adopts these cattle, but in order to avoid everyone being picky, Zhang Chao finally planned to use the method of drawing lots.

I had already written a license plate in advance and one was hung on each cow's horn.

Zhang Chao took out a bamboo tube with many bamboo sticks inside, and there were numbers on his head. One side of the sign head with numbers was placed in the tube and then shook it.

"Everyone comes to draw lots, one for each person."

"Which number is drawn, the cow that corresponds to the number is yours."

A big cow is also paired with a heifer over one year old. After this pairing, each tenant household adopts two cows, one big and one small.

As for the three male buffaloes, they will stay in the farm and raise them themselves. This is also to breed cattle in the future. This is a breeding cattle and must be raised well.

At the beginning of the lottery, everyone lined up, and their faces were filled with excitement.

Especially the tenants of the Zhao family, they didn't expect that they could enjoy such benefits just after farming for the Zhang family. Looking at the strong cows, these people were trembling with excitement.

If you have a cow, you will soon have a cow, and you will have your own cow in the future. Even if you only help the Zhang family raise cattle, this cow will be available for use in the future.

The first draw was Mr. Zhao from Zhaozhuang, who stretched out toward the draw with his hands tremblingly.

Zhang Chao took the sign and took a look.

"Sign No. 13."

Ke Shan smiled and said to Mr. Zhao, "Come with me."

Keshan took Mr. Zhao to find the No. 13 cow. Among the large piles of cows, a gray-haired cow. The horns of this cow are very long and curved. The horns of the buffalo are also the age mark of the cow. Every year they grow, the length of the horns will be one section on the horns.

"Congratulations to the old man, this is a six-year-old cow. Look at how big it is, how big it is."

"Is this cow raised for my home in the future?"

"Yes."

"Oh, what awesome." Mr. Zhao felt that he couldn't see enough.

At this time, a person from the Shan family said, "This cow is pregnant and will give birth next summer."

Buffalo breeds generally have longer intervals than scalpers. Cows can have one child a year, but buffaloes often have two childs in three years, and some have three childs in five years.

"Sanlang is kind and righteous. After everyone takes the cow back, they must feed it well." Ke Shan said as he untied the cow rope and handed it to Mr. Zhao.
Chapter completed!