The meal lasted a full four hours.
Zhang Zhong's harvest was not small. He had all the seeds and new farming tools for this year's spring plowing. The seeds and farming tools he brought with him could be used to replenish his own.
As soon as he returned home, Zhang Zhong told his son about the matter. Zhang Xiaobao also did not expect that the opponent he was about to face would be so difficult to deal with. Sometimes, forbearance was better than attacking. There was no one who could not endure to achieve great things.
Zhang Xiaobao was not worried that the other party would play tricks. It was difficult for him to make a reasonable choice between helping his father and not helping his father. He wanted his father to learn more tricks, but he also did not want to see his father being bullied.
In a situation where he could not find a good solution, Zhang Xiaobao asked his father to interact more with the Old Man Pi. Although the Old Man Pi was not willing to talk to his father, he would grind him down every day. In the end, he would be able to grind out knowledge, the knowledge to be an official.
Wang Juan also understood. It was not that the Old Man Pi was prejudiced against Zhang Zhong. It was all because the Old Man Pi felt that the Zhang family had an expert in charge. If he insisted on teaching Zhang Zhong, he would be suspected of showing off.
Zhang Zhong saw that his son and daughter-in-law were not in a hurry, so he was not in a hurry. He ate too much and prepared to eat the Sancha pills and lie down for a while.
After Zhang Zhong left, Zhang Xiaobao began to make toys for his younger brothers and sisters again. He said, "Just a little bit more, just move the card slot back."
"Is it really useful to make this toy? I don't know if the merchants and officials are locals. If our family is not prepared, would they really dare to let the people delay the spring plowing? I always feel that political struggles are political struggles. Do not take the initiative to affect the lives of the people. "
Wang Juan used the grinding wheel to lightly hit the small copper piece in Zhang Xiaobao's hand and said unhappily.
"If people are crazy, they can do anything. Okay, it's about time. Shout." As Zhang Xiaobao spoke, he put the copper piece into the toy and shouted, "Ah!" at the mouth of the toy.
A small figure popped out in front of the toy, and it was still trembling. The first time he used a copper wire to pull a spring, he used it on a toy. It could only be used on toys and accessories. If it was too big, the elasticity would not be good.
The toy that the two of them made was for the younger brother and sister to shout. As long as the younger brother shouted, the little person's card slot would be released through the vibrating spring, and the little person would pop out. In addition to this kind of toy, there was also a bubble blowing toy.
The purpose of the two toys was to let the little guys talk earlier. A very well-behaved baby who rarely cried would definitely talk very late. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan couldn't let their younger siblings cry for no reason. If they wanted them to laugh, they had to have the intention of laughing first.
Using toys to exercise the vocal cords, lung capacity, and breath control.
The idea was good, but the process was difficult. After the two of them took the new toy to find their younger siblings, the four little guys were attracted after the demonstration. Every time the little person popped out, they would let out a giggle, but they just didn't shout at that place. Their small hands vigorously reached for the toy, and when it was sent to their hands, they would put it in their mouth and bite it.
The maidservants guided them over and over again, or slightly fought over the toys. When they fought over the toys, they would follow Zhang Xiaobao's instructions and make 'ah ah' sounds. After two days, they finally succeeded in taking a small step forward. When they needed something, they would point at something and make 'ah ah' sounds.
"Xiao Bao, with the current training method, do you think they will not talk in the future? There will always be 'ah' sounds." Wang Juan was a little worried.
"No, it's just training the vocal cords now. When the time comes, they will be able to adjust themselves. It's like many children who just learn to speak and call someone 'mother'. The maids are tired and always have to repeat the same words over and over again to deepen the children's impression. Fortunately, there are four of them. If there were only two, they would have to find other playmates to play with and introduce a competitive mechanism."
Zhang Xiaobao looked forward to his younger siblings growing up quickly and supporting the family. Or, under unintentional guidance, they would find something they liked to develop.
*****
After the people of Shuzhou got new farming tools and didn't have to worry about seeds, they began to work hard. They didn't care about the schemes of the officials above, as long as they didn't delay the spring plowing.
Li Xun finally had his own place, which overlapped with the land under Zhang Zhong's jurisdiction. In fact, he didn't have much management power. He was more dependent on the rent tax of Shuzhou, which was only a part of it.
He could draw a large piece of land for people to farm, and it was the rent-free kind. He was anxious these days, hoping that the people would finish the spring plowing soon. Then, he would pay for the roads and build scenic spots in the mountains, lakes, and rivers.
This was not just for the sake of making money. Whether or not they could make money was another matter altogether. The main purpose was to increase the local people's sense of pride by building scenic spots. Every scenic spot had to have a legend, so as to foster the cohesion of the people.
When he was in Lu Zhou, he had seen the strength of the people when they worked together to build a home. He wanted to do the same in Shuzhou.
Now, he had already sent people to gather the people and use collective labor to complete the spring plowing. This made the local officials and rich families suffer. They had the most idle people. In the past, they only needed to farm their own land. Now, it was different. They had to farm other lands as well.
In the entire Shuzhou, other than Zhang Zhong, the Provincial Governor, the one with the most authority was Li Xun. He didn't care whether others felt good or not. They had to do according to his requirements. He didn't even care about the meals. He was only responsible for the meals of the ordinary people.
Some of the officials and rich families had bad tempers. Why did they have to send people from their families? Some smart people obediently sent people over, and then secretly incited the anger of others, getting people to impeach and complain.
A month after the spring plowing, the complaints and impeachment reports were finally sent to Luoyang. Looking at the contents, it could be said that it was sad and made people cry. It was as though if Li Xun was not dealt with, the heavens would be angry and people would complain.
The Luoyang Manor could not do anything about it. They could only continue to send the items to the capital.
The officials in the Imperial Court saw it and did not give any instructions. They sent it up layer by layer to Ziwei Province. A few officials looked at it and sent it to Li Longji.
If it were someone else, they would have impeached him. From the letters and memorials, it could be seen that Li Xun had gone overboard. Those who did not know the details would definitely be angry.
The main reason was that the people who wrote the letters and memorials wanted to make themselves feel more wronged. They actually wrote that Li Xun had sent people to their houses to search for money. If they didn't have money, they would search for valuables.
If it were the Crown Prince, everyone could believe it. After all, the manor had a lot of expenses. They could make some money by bullying others. However, no one believed Li Xun. How much money did Li Xun have? Why would someone like that search the houses of officials? That could only mean one thing. The wealth of the officials made Li Xun jealous.
But the problem was, where did the officials get the money? Li Xun had taken out 100,000 strings of cash to build the canal. He had taken it without hesitation. If he really wanted to, it wouldn't have been 100,000 strings of cash. The first person he would investigate was not Li Xun, but the local officials.
Li Longji read the memorials and chuckled. "He's not stable anywhere. Back then, I sent him to Tong'an to spend money. I didn't expect him to offend someone. Don't you think so, Guangping?"
"It's not right to use power to suppress others. Why don't you write a letter to warn him, Your Majesty, to prevent a disaster from happening?" If it were someone else, Song Jing would not have said this. He would definitely have done it. However, it was Li Xun. He found it difficult to deal with him. Li Xun's actions were not reliable, but Li Xun was truly devoted to the people.
With Song Jing's words, the matter was settled. Li Longji really did send out a decree to warn Li Xun. Before the decree arrived, the news had already spread to Shuzhou.
The local officials and rich families who were bullied in Shuzhou did not know what the decree was about. They thought that it would remove Li Xun from the title of Commandery Prince or give him a new place. Therefore, they endured and waited for the decree to arrive in Shuzhou.
But there was no end to this wait. Before they could wait for the decree to arrive, the spring plowing was over.
Li Xun immediately returned their people to their families and immediately organized people to build the road. He paid for it himself. No one could find fault with this matter. After all, this was Li Xun's fief. Why would he need to tell others when he was building his own fief?
He paid for the people to work. The rich families did not want them, nor did the families of the officials. Naturally, they would not be paid. Regarding this matter, Li Xun also wrote a letter and directly sent it to the capital with a pigeon.
The second decree from the capital was also issued. It was very fast. Now that everyone had learned to use pigeons, the capital arrived in Luoyang in less than a day. Luoyang quickly sent the decree over. The first reprimanding decree was still spinning in the heart of the Yangtze River.
The second decree was a reward. It praised Li Xun and asked him to continue.
As such, the local officials and rich families understood that they had been cheated by the uncle and nephew of the Li family. There was no way for them to reason with.
During this time, Zhang Zhong did not encounter any difficulties. Everyone was very cooperative, as if they were really harmonious.
At this rate, the tax paid this year would definitely exceed 150,000 strings of string of coins. Moreover, the honey here was not bad, and the fishing industry along the river was prosperous.
It was too smooth, making Zhang Zhong feel that something was wrong. He could only look for Old Man Pi. His son and daughter-in-law were busy. The four children could speak. Father and Mother could speak as soon as they opened their mouths. The most proficient were the older brother and sister. The son of the Wang family could actually walk a few steps by himself.
Naturally, he could not disturb them. There was still the powerful Old Man Pi, who had crossed more bridges than other people.
When Zhang Zhong arrived at the courtyard where the Old Man Pi's family lived, the Old Man Pi was packing his luggage. When he saw Zhang Zhong arrive, he happily said, "Coincidentally, Yicheng is here.
Lend me two boats. Also, give me a few of your family's doctors. I'm going to pick someone up. Oh, you don't have to worry about this year's tax. I'll give you a portion, and it will be enough for you to complete your task. If you have time, look at how the local area makes money. Everything will naturally become clear. "
Old Man Pi appeared to be very anxious. After throwing down these words, he set off with a few guards. From here to the Yangtze River's pier, there were only two small rivers. One needed to change boats to get onto a large boat. The Zhang family always had four boats docked here in case of emergency.
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