Under the scorching sun, they sweated profusely as they worked with shovels and picks. Shallow water couldn't cool down the heat, but deep wells could cool down easily. Cold melons quenched thirst, and green beans were added to the porridge. Moving mountains and building bridges were hard work, and the roads extended in all directions to build a hometown.
Li Xun's road construction project had always been in progress, and he was the one who paid for it. The imperial court would never give him money for his fief. This year, he had not even received the rent he was supposed to receive, but he had already spent 30,000 strings of coins.
Looking at the people who didn't slack off when they were working, Li Xun was happy to spend money. He learned from the Zhang family and gave the people who worked on the roads a salary and food.
The people weren't slaves. They consumed a lot of energy from their work, so they had to be well nourished. The first meal in the morning was salted beans and sorghum rice. The people usually ate this kind of food, as well as highland barley. However, they couldn't eat salted beans, and they didn't dare to eat sorghum rice. That would consume too much food.
Li Xun paid for the road construction. As long as they didn't eat exotic delicacies, he didn't care. They could eat. The more they ate, the more energy they had.
At noon, they changed the dishes. According to nutrition, there was one meat dish and one vegetable dish. The vegetables were all kinds of local vegetables. For meat, there were only three choices: pork, fish, and chicken. Except for the fish that was caught locally, the pork and chicken were all provided by Sanshui County or Yaozhou.
Relying on his fleet, Li Xun did things from the north to the south. Not including the transportation fee, when a pig was sent to Shuzhou, it was the price of two pigs, ice money.
Such wealth made the people feel relieved. Provincial Governor Zhang's family was rich, and the county king was also rich. They didn't have to worry about collecting taxes.
Following the care of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family, besides eating, the rest was green beans and sorghum water. In the beginning, Li Xun forgot about this matter. The people didn't know how they could enjoy such treatment when they were paid to work on the roads.
They never thought about it. When they started to work on the roads, the people thought that even if the county king wanted them to work for free, they had to do it. They only hoped that they could do 20 days of work a year.
In the end, when they found out that they were getting paid, they felt relieved. When they were given food on the first day, they all felt like they were in a dream. With such benefits, who would dare to think of anything else?
When Li Xun had nothing to do, he finally discovered a problem. The weather was hot, and the people brought their own water bags. If the road was built close to the river, it would be convenient. They could drink water directly from the river.
For others, this was a very normal thing, but for Li Xun, it was not normal. He had already paid for the meal, so why would he care about the money for the mung bean water?
From that day onwards, the green bean water with rock sugar was continuously supplied. These days, the watermelons in the sand by the river were harvested. Li Xun began to ask people to throw the watermelons into Jingli Town to quench the thirst of the workers. He also gave one to each person to take back home for their family to eat. He asked them to bring back the skin and seeds so that they could make food.
In addition to various benefits, Li Xun also asked people to write slogans and shout slogans. This kind of thing did not have a big impact on the knowledgeable people, but it had a different effect on the ordinary people. Even if the people did not know what was written, they were still willing to listen to others say it before they told others.
The general meaning was to build their own hometown and make it more beautiful.
After Li Xun was done with this matter, he turned around and started to make money. If he did not make money, why would he plant so many watermelons?
Because Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan had asked the doctors of the Medical College to research various uses of watermelons, when they arrived, everyone prepared a variety of watermelons and then mixed them with other medicines and tonics to sell to the rich. The restaurant Between the Clouds and the Water also followed suit and launched a winter melon banquet.
They could only make money for one year. By the next year, more people would plant watermelons and they would not be valuable anymore. They were easy to plant and could be planted in the sand. Of course, they could not keep it a secret. After all, it was not an industrial thing. Once they made money, they would let the people benefit.
Zhang Xiaobao, Wang Juan, and Li Xun were ready to take advantage of this one and only opportunity to earn back the money they had invested in the local construction.
While Li Xun was busy with the watermelons, Zhang Zhong had already organized the bailiffs in the manor. He also transferred 500 soldiers from the Military Registrar. Under the cover of the night, they ran all the way to Taihu County.
Along with them were Old Man Chang, Old Man Pi, and Old Man Yao. The Military Registrar also brought along a few related officials. In his hands was a document written by Zhang Zhong regarding the deployment of soldiers to investigate the copper mine. He followed behind the group with a cold smile on his face.
Zhang Zhong rode on the horse and told the three old men about the situation in Taihu County. The three old men also expressed their support. After capturing the people, Old Man Pi and Old Man Yao prepared to write a letter of impeachment.
Zhang Zhong also brought along the three dogs raised by Wang Juan to help find the people who wanted to escape. It could be said that he was determined.
The whole group ran forward as fast as they could. According to the information they received, a group of people came out of Taihu County a few days ago. There were also many carriages. On the carriages were copper ores and marble that were secretly mined from who knows where. They wanted to first reach the Wanshui River, then enter the Yangtze River to transport the goods.
Zhang Zhong gave the group the order to stop at the Wanshui River and capture the people. If one of them came, they would be caught red-handed.
The group left when the sky had just turned dark. They ran until a quarter past five in the morning before they arrived at the location. As expected, when they arrived, they saw people moving things from the docked boats to the shore. Hearing the urging sounds coming from there, they knew that the other party was very anxious.
"Sir, what should we do next?" The Military Registrar came from behind and asked Zhang Zhong.
"Capture them. Regardless of whether they are on the boats or on the shore, capture them all." Zhang Zhong said with a sullen face.
"Sir, what about the charges?" The Military Registrar asked again.
"Didn't I already write the charges for you? As for whether they are secretly mining copper ores to make weapons or privately minting coins, won't it be clear after you capture them and ask them? Why aren't you moving? "
When Zhang Zhong saw that the Military Registrar was not moving, he was slightly dissatisfied. He pointed at the front and said, "If you let one of them escape, you can expect to be impeached by me."
The Military Registrar seemed to be frightened. He shouted, "Guards! The Provincial Governor has ordered that the people in front are secretly mining copper ores to make coins. Capture them all. If anyone resists, kill them!"
The 500 soldiers unsheathed their swords and nocked their arrows. They charged forward while yelling. It was quite a scene, but no matter how one looked at it, they lacked a murderous aura. Zhang Zhong shook his head. He did not care about the local soldiers. After all, he was not the one in charge. There was a Military Registrar here. The military and political affairs were separated. Unlike Lu Zhou, it was more convenient to use him.
After a moment of chaos, two men ran back to report that everyone had been captured.
Before Zhang Zhong could say anything, Old Man Pi and the other two men came out of the chariot. Under the protection of the guards, they walked forward to see who was so bold.
The Military Registrar adjusted his armor and said to Zhang Zhong, "Lord Zhang, please."
Zhang Zhong responded. He dismounted from his horse and strode forward. The Military Registrar followed behind him. He looked at the sky and then looked in another direction. A smug smile appeared on his face.
Old Man Pi and the other two men arrived first. With the help of the light from the newly lit torches, they saw the 40 or so people being captured. They snorted coldly. Just as they were about to say something, they suddenly realized that they could not interfere in this matter. They had to wait for Zhang Zhong to arrive first.
Zhang Zhong was not in a hurry. He walked over slowly and glanced at the people being captured. He asked, "Do you know why you're being captured?"
"My lord, we don't know. You can't capture people for no reason. My lord, you have to investigate thoroughly." One of the people being captured struggled forward, but he was held down tightly by the people being captured. He opened his mouth to complain.
The Military Registrar took a few steps forward and said loudly, "How dare you quibble? The Provincial Governor is here. He said that you secretly mined the copper mine. Fortunately, the Provincial Governor is smart and knows what you did in advance. If you don't confess quickly, you won't have to suffer."
After the Military Registrar shouted at this person, he turned to Zhang Zhong and said, "My lord, it seems that they won't tell if they don't suffer a little. How about …?"
"No, they will tell when the time comes. Tie them up and take them back." Zhang Zhong refused the Military Registrar's suggestion and ordered.
That person struggled even harder. He shouted as he struggled, "My lord, I'm innocent. We didn't mine the copper mine. We just chopped wood and wanted to transport it back to make charcoal. My lord, I'm innocent."
"He's quibbling again. Take him away." This time it was Zhang Zhong who spoke. He turned around and prepared to go back.
The Military Registrar stepped forward and blocked Zhang Zhong. He said, "My lord, it's late at night. I will listen to you. Why don't you take a look at the ship and the goods that haven't been loaded? Otherwise, if you catch the wrong person, it will be difficult for me. Please make the decision."
The Military Registrar said that he wanted Zhang Zhong to think about it, but he didn't give Zhang Zhong a chance to speak. As soon as the Military Registrar finished speaking, he immediately ordered, "Come, take down the things on the ship. Bring the things that haven't been loaded on the ship here. The Provincial Governor will make the decision."
All the soldiers answered in unison. Some rushed to the ship to take the things, and some unloaded the goods from the carts on the shore.
The rest of the people were waiting here. The sound coming from the other side made them feel that something was wrong.
Old Man Pi looked at Old Man Yao in confusion and said, "It does sound like wood. Did Zhang Zhong come to the wrong place? Did he catch the wrong person? It's over. If he didn't transfer the soldiers, it would be fine. At most, he would release the people. Now that the soldiers have been transferred, there is no one to catch. If the copper mine and the marble can't be found, then … "
"Then we will have to help from behind. We just arrived and encountered this. Well, we can't just stand by and watch. Didn't they say that there are two masters in the Zhang family? How could he have made such a mistake when he had thought of every conceivable possibility? Could it be that Zhang Zhong didn't listen to the masters and did something in private? "
Old Man Yao understood Old Man Pi's meaning. Even if Zhang Zhong made a mistake, he had to protect him. In fact, he knew that even if someone really reported this to the imperial court, nothing would happen to Zhang Zhong. However, the prestige that he had accumulated would be greatly reduced.
At this time, the soldiers who were sent out to check reported to the Military Registrar, "My lord, there is no marble or copper mine. It's all wood. Please make the decision."
"Oh? Is it true? That's not right. The Provincial Governor asked me to send the soldiers because the evidence is conclusive. The Provincial Governor wouldn't treat such a big matter as child's play, right? Check again and watch carefully. "
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
