The sun hung in the sky and shone on the ground, taking away the remaining cold of spring. The green grass swayed back and forth against the flowers. Xiao Hong drove the big goose, Fluffy, and led a group of ducks and geese into the water to play. Sometimes, they would find a few small fish that they brought into the pond and compete with each other to eat. Every time a flock of geese flew over her head, she would raise her head and call out twice.
The oval-shaped leaves of the locust tree rustled with the wind. The strings of small green beans hanging down from the branches seemed to be about to stretch out and bloom into small white flowers.
The children on Zhuangzi all came outside to cut the grass that they were going to feed the livestock. They eagerly looked at the locust tree flowers that were about to bloom so that they could pick some to eat. The sweet locust tree flowers had a special taste, or they could go home and cook locust tree flowers for their masters to brew wine.
The taste was a little worse than the elm tree flowers, but there were too many insects on the elm tree flowers, so the locust tree flowers couldn't be eaten too much. When they played together, the older children had to look after the younger children and find fun places to play. Under the lead of the older children, the younger children shouted and played, sprinkling the various places of Zhuangzi with laughter.
After lunch, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan drank a little more bone soup. They lay side by side on the chairs in the small courtyard that belonged to the two of them, basking in the sun. The noon sun cast short shadows of the two chairs on the ground. Pomegranate sprayed water on the wood ears, leaving only the two of them to enjoy this leisurely time.
"The toads will come out soon, right?" After lying down for a while with closed eyes, the blanket covering her navel slid down a little. Wang Juan pulled the blanket up and closed her eyes again.
"Yes, it seems that we need to block the bottom of the small river in front of the door and let water in. If the soil is too hard, the hibernating toads won't be able to climb out. This year, let the children not catch toads so early. It's best to let all the toads go into the pond and the paddy field. The pond is always left open to give the toads more places to hibernate. When summer comes, the toads can be the staple food every day."
Zhang Xiaobao put his arms behind his head, raised his legs, and shook them as he made up his mind.
"You still have fish in the paddy field. When the time comes, the toad eggs and small tadpoles will be eaten." Wang Juan was a little worried.
"Yes! There will be fewer toads in the paddy field and more in the pond. Those toads that can survive in the paddy field are either lucky or strong. After hibernation, the next generation will be stronger. "
"That's the only thing we can do. Let's raise a few dogs this year. It's best if we have a litter of them so that they can fight together." Wang Juan thought of the dogs again.
When Zhang Xiaobao heard that she wanted to raise a dog, he shivered and disagreed, "I don't like dogs. I have to take care of them. I have to put more energy into these things and less energy in other aspects. Why don't you raise them yourself? There is a sandstone field next to the vegetable field. You can make a nest there. There are leftovers in the yard that can be fed."
"Don't even think about giving my dogs leftovers. There is salt and other seasonings. I want to choose the dogs myself. When they are young, I will feed them some milk and porridge. When they grow up, I will feed them grain, raw meat, and vegetables. I have so many chickens, I will feed them to the chicken rack.
I will also train them myself. "Wang Juan didn't care whether Zhang Xiaobao was willing to raise them with her or not. He was independent and couldn't be forced. It was fine as long as there was a place and food.
Zhang Xiaobao opened his eyes and turned to look at Wang Juan, "Are you going to raise a native dog like a police dog? Have you learned it? "
"I have seen it and asked the breeder. I just need to copy it. It's just that I don't have enough experience. A dog that can't be raised well is a native dog. A dog that can't be raised well is a police dog. When the things in your family are settled, you can find me a good breed of dog. Can you get a Tibetan Mastiff? If there are a few, then they will do. "
Wang Juan imagined a group of powerful dogs following her and being obedient in the future. She laughed.
Zhang Xiaobao's mouth moved. He didn't know how to organize his words. After waiting for a while, he saw that Wang Juan was still fantasizing. He said, "Is there anyone who uses a Tibetan Mastiff as a police dog? It was a group of Du Bowens who chased after me, but I … "
"What did you do?" Wang Juan didn't fantasize this time and turned to question him.
"I got rid of them, but they still wanted to track me down. I used something stimulating so that they couldn't smell anything. You don't think that I killed them, do you? I fought such a group with my bare hands. There were many people with guns behind them. Do you think I am stupid? "
Zhang Xiaobao felt that Wang Juan, who cared about dogs, shouldn't think too highly of herself. Seeing that Wang Juan was relieved, he said, "Ask someone who has a dog that can breed with wolves. I will buy it for you. Tibetan Mastiffs are not suitable."
"Who told you that Tibetan Mastiffs can't be police dogs? Are you ignorant? You need to find wolf dogs, but you also need to pay attention to Tibetan Mastiffs. Especially in winter, Tibetan Mastiffs can still be used here. "Wang Juan curled her lips.
"Well, they can even get carrots from Tubo. A few dogs are nothing. When you really find them, don't feed them with my beef. Pork. It just so happens that the piglets caught by the farmers have all grown up." Seeing that Wang Juan was so serious, Zhang Xiaobao had to compromise.
"Don't eat pork. If you don't have beef, eat mutton. Cooperate with me during training. For example, when the dogs are tied up and it's feeding time, you can beat the dogs and don't let them eat. I will come over and drive you away so that the dogs will trust me more."
Wang Juan began to arrange things for Zhang Xiaobao. Zhang Xiaobao blinked a few times and said, "If the dogs trust you, then what about me?"
*****
In the yamen of Sanshui County, Erniu had already finished his meal. Most of the beef had been digested by County Magistrate Cheng. After resting for a while, County Magistrate Cheng took a group of people with great fanfare. Together with the money, cloth, and other things from the Zhang family, they all headed towards the Little Luoshui River.
The people here had already received the news and all of them ran over to see what was going on. Some even waited in front of the yamen. As soon as they came out, they followed beside them. They wanted to see which idiot Zhangjia Zhuangzi was. They also wanted to count the money in the carriage to see if there was really 1500 taels of silver.
By the time County Magistrate Cheng and his entourage arrived, there were already quite a number of people surrounding them. In order to create a scene, County Magistrate Cheng prepared to take down the cloth, copper coins, and silver from the carriage in front of the commoners. He let the people count them and found that it was exactly 1500 taels of silver.
He then had people go to the other side of the river to measure. After a busy process, it took more than two hours. This was because there were many people to measure. The land on the other side of the river was 1200 mu. He wrote the document, printed it, and waited for Erniu to take the document back. The owner of the house would write his name and put his fingerprint on it. This land would then belong to Zhangjia Zhuangzi and he would not be able to take the money back.
The people were all watching. If the money was used to buy fertile land, there would be people who would think that County Magistrate Cheng was greedy. After all, the price was too cheap. However, to buy a barren mountain, everyone felt that there was something wrong with the people of Zhangjia Zhuangzi.
Erniu did not care about the people's discussion. He took the document and immediately rushed back. He had the owner of the house put his fingerprint on it. Song Jinggong, who had been accompanying him, also started to move. He started to recruit people on the spot to start building the land on the other side of the river.
"Zijin, are you preparing to plant things over there?" County Magistrate Cheng was puzzled when he saw Song Jinggong move so quickly.
"Sir, how can we plant things over there? This student is following Zhuangzi's instructions to build houses and docks over there. Zhuangzi took out a thousand taels of silver for this student to use. Sir, look, there is a lot of soil and rocks on the mountain. It will save us a lot of money to build the docks and houses.
At this time, there is a drought and the Little Luoshui River has dried up. It will be more convenient for construction. We can find people to dig deeper and widen the river. The extra soil will be used on the river embankment. When the drought is over and the rainy season comes, the river will be wider and the water will be deeper. Some big boats will be able to sail in.
The houses at the docks can be rented out as warehouses. The flat land at the foot of the mountain can be built into restaurants and other shops. We can also build the mountain road and build a few pavilions on the mountain. When the time comes, there will be transportation and there will be another place to drink and have fun. Looking at the boats coming and going from the top to the bottom of the river will give us a special feeling.
Also, when the time comes, Zhuangzi will continue to fork out money to dig a smaller artificial lake over there. We can build rockery and pavilions in it to attract the water from the Little Luoshui River. Boats can be used to travel between the lake and the river. At that time, the people on the mountain can personally come down and paddle the boats. Sir, what do you think of this? "
Song Jinggong did not hide anything at this time. He told County Magistrate Zhuangzi's arrangements.
County Magistrate Cheng listened. At first, there was a smile on his face. When he heard the last part, the smile disappeared and was replaced by shock and annoyance. He was stunned and did not move. Song Jinggong had finished speaking, but he did not say anything.
"Sir, there is one more thing that I need your help with." Song Jinggong saw that County Magistrate Cheng was stunned and had to raise his voice.
"Ah? Something else? What else? Don't tell me you want to buy the land on this side of the river too? That won't do. This side of the river is a grain field. We need to grow crops. There is only half a mu of land between the river and here. We can't make a dock. "
County Magistrate Cheng had the same idea just now. Later, he found that if he wanted to do the same, he would have to occupy the land. Then, someone would accuse him of not doing agriculture but only doing business. Destroying the land to open the trade route was a big sin. He thought that Song Jinggong would be so generous.
"Sir, don't worry. Zhuangzi will not do such a thing. It's just that I see that the small bridge between the two sides of the river has been in disrepair for a long time. I want to spend money to repair it. I want to build a wider and stronger bridge for the convenience of pedestrians," Song Jinggong explained.
"Repair the bridge? For the convenience of pedestrians? Don't tell me you want to transport the goods from the other side of the river here? It's really convenient to repair the bridge. " County Magistrate Cheng immediately understood the key point. If the dock was placed on the other side, the goods would have to be transported over. Zhangjia Zhuangzi really did not want to suffer any losses.
"Sir, you are wise," Song Jinggong said with a smile.
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