They collected a lot of fruits and shipped them out in batches while they were fermenting. They were sent to the outside and sent to the capital by ship to continue fermenting there.
When Zhang Zhong saw that most of the fruits had been picked and the local people had exchanged for the necessities they needed, he gathered the chiefs of the strongholds to drink and have fun with them.
The chiefs of the strongholds were quite satisfied with Zhang Zhong, the new official. He didn't use his official status to pressure them like the other officials. Of course, they weren't afraid of him.
During the days when Zhang Zhong was here, he was like a brother to the locals. He did things from the perspective of a brother, which made the chiefs feel very comfortable.
Because some of the people were near and some were far away, Zhang Zhong had no choice but to first prepare the things and settle the people who came first. After all, the matters to be discussed later required the participation of all the patriarchs. If he told a portion of the people in advance, the people who came later would not be willing.
"Fang Sima, how many people are missing?" Zhang Zhong sat in the yamen and asked Fang Sima, who came with a list.
"Sir, we are missing two people. It is estimated that they will arrive in less than two days. Sir, do you want to summon all of them here now?"
Fang Sima replied respectfully. He now not only admired Zhang Zhong, but also feared him. He had been the Sima of Wing Prefecture for six years. In the past, it was very troublesome to do things every year. The local people didn't cooperate at all. He didn't dare to scare them. If he didn't scare them, it would be easy for them to rebel.
When Zhang Zhong came, he thought that Zhang Zhong would do the same thing as him. When it came to collecting tribute, he would go to each stronghold to discuss it.
Who knew that this was not the case at all? Zhang Zhong came here to have fun, and he even built a good relationship with the local people while he was having fun. Now, it was needless to say that all the strongholds recognized Zhang Zhong as the new official.
From this, it could be seen that the Zhang family was not only good at business but also as officials. His son had indeed found a good place in the Academy.
He could not afford to offend him. Even if this Zhang Zhong was much younger than him, he still had to look up to him. Otherwise, he would lose his chance.
Fang Sima had been warning himself like this for the past few days to avoid making a mistake and provoking Zhang Zhong's displeasure.
Zhang Zhong also wrote a letter back because of his relationship with Fang Sima. He asked the people there to take care of Fang Sima's son. It would be best if he could become a Jinshi and get a high position.
Zhang Zhong shook his head and said, "No, even if it's just one person, we have to wait for him. If something happens to him on the way, I'll have to go and ask him personally. Then, we'll have to wait for another person from the stronghold to come here and discuss this matter.
What about the limestone that I asked you to purchase under the name of the government? That's the key to the success or failure of this matter. We can't be careless. "
"Sir, it's all ready. The people who took the job are burning it. If we don't give them the money now, they'll be worried. This is not the first time they've asked someone to tell me. Should we give them some benefits first?"
Fang Sima didn't understand why Zhang Zhong wanted to buy so much limestone. He asked people to burn it, and he also asked people to pick it. He even used the government's name to buy it. Even now, he still owed money. If it was a normal business, he would have stopped doing it long ago.
Zhang Zhong was not worried at all. He said to Fang Sima: "Don't worry. If anyone wants to quit, tell them to send the finished goods over and pay immediately. But they won't use their goods in the future. Let's see how many people can stay in the end."
"Sir, where do we get the money from?" Fang Sima did not think that the manor could take out the money.
"Of course, it's from my family. There's no need for the rest. It's better to use the government's means to solve the problem. Now I understand that as long as it's not necessary to use my family's money, I won't use it."
Zhang Zhong was going to experiment with his idea in Wing Prefecture. That was, his family would not easily invest money in it unless they had no other choice.
After everything was arranged properly, the two human leaders who had arrived late had finally arrived. The meeting could begin.
Old Man Pi and the other two also came to join in the fun. They wanted to see what other tricks the Zhang family had. At the same time, they wanted to verify their own guesses. Sometimes, this kind of game was really interesting, even if they guessed wrong.
One by one, the patriarchs sat in the hall, waiting for Zhang Zhong's arrival. At this time, they did not have the usual idea of calling each other brothers. After all, Zhang Zhong invited them in the name of the government. Of course, it was different.
In the past, if anyone dared to invite them in the name of the government, they would not come. They would be lucky if they did not fall out with him. But now, they did not feel disgusted with Zhang Zhong at all. Zhang Zhong had brought them a lot of benefits, especially the hospitals in the city. Many people had been treated after they came here.
In addition, they collected fruits and exchanged goods with the shops. The lives of the four thousand or so people in Wing Prefecture were much better. Not to mention other things, they could eat salt every day for every meal. Compared to the past, it was really unbearable to look back on.
Zhang Zhong did not make any long-winded speech. He directly told them his plan, which was a part of the plan left by his son. Yes, a part. After this, there would be more. It was the kind of plan that was closely linked. He had not seen it for a long time. This time, it finally appeared again.
Old Man Pi and the other two also listened carefully. There was not much content. It was very simple. It was to build a dam in a place that was suitable for each village. It did not need to be big, just small ones. They would store the snow water on the mountain. The materials for building the dam had been prepared. As long as the patriarchs agreed, it could be implemented in a few days.
"This should be to burn the cement locally. It is estimated that after it is burned, the place will be flattened immediately. This secret cannot be leaked out."
Old Man Zhang held a glass of wine in his hand and took small sips as he spoke. His wine was not for him to drink casually. Old Man Bi and Old Man Yao did not have the medicinal wine that was specially prepared for him. The main reason was that he had always practiced hard skills in the past and did not take care of his body. When he was older and in such an environment, his joints could not take it anymore. The pain could no longer be alleviated according to the treatment methods in the past.
Fortunately, there was a good person in the medical team of the Zhang family, who wrote a new prescription. That was to drink half a liter of Ant Wine a day. The alcohol content was not high, but it was pure grain wine. With hot water packs and massage, the pain was not so bad yesterday. He continued to drink today.
Old Man Pi also wanted to drink, but was stopped. He could only stare. When he heard Old Man Chang's words, he said, "We all know that we need to use cement, but the question is what to do next. What is the purpose of building a dam? Storing water and then irrigating it. This is something that everyone can understand. It is definitely not the Zhang family's way of doing things.
I understand now. If you want to know what the Zhang family is going to do, you have to think about it in an abnormal way. The more you think about it, the closer you are to the truth. In my opinion, the Zhang family is building a dam here. First, it is not entirely for irrigation, and second, it is not entirely for the purpose of raising fish and shrimp.
This is the most correct consideration in the eyes of others, but it is not suitable for the Zhang family. Think about it, other than these two, what else can the dam be used for? "
"What else can it be used for? It is convenient to wash clothes, they don't have to find a river, and they don't have to dig a well to draw water. Does that count? " Old Man Yao also agreed with Old Man Pi. If the Zhang family's plan was so easy to guess, then the Zhang family was not the Zhang family. That would be disappointing.
"That counts as one, but I don't think it is possible. The Zhang family is not stupid. They would spend a lot of money to build a dam to make it convenient for others to wash clothes. I think they will put a boat on it and wait for tourists to come," Old Man Chang added.
Old Man Pi was now confident. He said to the two of them, "After listening to you, I know that the Zhang family will not build a dam specifically for irrigation. They will not raise fish, wash clothes, or boat. I have concluded that whatever other people can think of is not the Zhang family's main purpose."
"Then why not …?" Old Man Chang asked.
"For example, we know that charcoal is used to filter sugar. That is definitely not the most important step. Otherwise, why would the Zhang family only use a part of the charcoal they bought? They even bought it in advance. Could it be that they did not think that the wood here can also be used to burn charcoal? It is not possible that they prepared it for skiing. "
Old Man Pi believed in his intuition and said with certainty.
Just as the three old men kept guessing and denying, Zhang Zhong had finished the arrangements. All the chiefs of the strongholds agreed with Zhang Zhong's idea. It was not that they thought it was a good idea, nor was it because of Zhang Zhong's official position. It was because they felt that since their brother had brought up this matter, they had to give him face no matter what.
Anyway, they did not have to pay for it. They just had to put in some effort. When the time came, they would benefit. If they did not do it well, they would help their brother. They could not be laughed at by outsiders. Since their brother was an official here, they had to support him. They had to let the people who wanted to see a joke know that their brother's words represented the people of Yizhou.
It was a very simple way of thinking. Regardless of the result, whether it was right or wrong, once Zhang Zhong brought up the matter, they would do it. This was because they all regarded Zhang Zhong as a brother.
Zhang Zhong also understood their thinking. His son's plan was based on this. He said that the local people were actually the best people. If the official did not do well, it was the official's problem. The local people could be summarized in the simplest words, "If the king treats me like a country scholar, I will repay him like a country scholar."
When you treated them as brothers and sisters, they also treated you as a brother. When you wanted to use the identity of an official to suppress them, then you just had to wait. In the face of such a situation, if you wanted to use the army to solve it, you would know that the people were not afraid of death. You could only use death to scare them.
Zhang Zhong succeeded. He was the first person, other than Zhuge Liang, to be recognized by people as a non-ethnic person. This was because he had the people in his heart.
After arranging everything, the details and follow-up matters would be slowly told to each clan leader in the future. Zhang Zhong took this opportunity to have a good time with everyone. Therefore, wine and meat were prepared. In the inner courtyard of the Zhang family, Xiao Hongchen, who was singing and dancing, and the night was long without dawn. Everyone spent a night that they had never had before. Everyone was present. It was worth remembering.
*****
While the people of Yizhou were busy building the dam before the autumn harvest, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan also finished the tenth day of lessons.
Just as the two of them were preparing to continue the training, Peng Zhou suddenly sent someone to deliver a message.
When Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan saw the message, they really couldn't believe that Guo Tu was stupid enough to directly use all the troops in one place. He didn't even feint or restrain them.
"Does he think that his army is 150,000? That's only 15,000 people. The most infuriating thing is that he didn't capture or kill the people along the way. Isn't that stupid? He's too soft-hearted. Since it's a war, it's either you die or I die. Look at what happened now. We were discovered in advance, and the logistics provisions were burned. "
Wang Juan complained with a gloomy face. She didn't know what Guo Tu was thinking. He led such a small number of people, but he still let the local people do what they were supposed to do in the past.
At this time, if you can't do it, you can only wait for others to do it. As a general, would he be afraid of carrying too many wronged souls? How good would it be to go home and be a farmer?
Zhang Xiaobao also didn't expect Guo Tu to do such a thing. Did he think that he was an international peace organization or a member of the peacekeeping force?
This was an invasion. What was there to say about invasion? Those who should be killed would be killed, and those who should be burned would be burned. When the time came, he would take all the blame. So what if he killed more people? The people of the motherland would remember his kindness. The Japanese killed a lot of people, but didn't they still have a shrine?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. After carefully reading the message twice, Zhang Xiaobao said gloomily, "Who the f * ck made the imperial court's decree? Why didn't they come earlier or later? Why did they have to come at this time? They said that they wanted us to follow the vanguard to victory.
Damn it, from the imperial court to here, the news would take a long time to spread, right? Did they really trust Guo Tu that much? They even let us follow behind him. I'm so angry. This is good. The officials of Pengzhou don't have to worry about dereliction of duty. "
Wang Juan was also very helpless. She knew that this was the imperial court's compensation for her and Xiao Bao's family. They thought that Guo Tu could fight to the end and achieve a perfect victory, so letting them follow him was an advantage. When the time came, they would continue to receive benefits when they contributed.
"It should be Li Longji. He felt that it was wrong to directly transfer my father from Shuzhou to Yingzhou and hide the situation. He used this war to gain benefits for my family. But why didn't he think about it? Guo Tu isn't like other generals. He was stunned when he went up.
I admit defeat. Could it be that Li Longji's luck is so good that he knew that I made preparations? Alright, let's go back. Let's go back to Pengzhou and continue to reinforce Great General Guo Tu. Damn it, I should have done what I should have done. If I didn't use the resources on him, I could have done something else. Great, now I didn't earn the money I should have earned. "
Zhang Xiaobao was really helpless at this time. He couldn't blame Li Longji. He had good intentions. If possible, he really wanted to strangle Guo Tu and let Wang Juan command the army. At least, he couldn't make such a stupid mistake. Fortunately, Wang Juan was also a talented student. She couldn't attack, but she didn't know how to defend.
Wang Juan was also very depressed. She called out to the people who were still training and rushed back with the team. Li Longji's order had been issued. They couldn't just leave him in the lurch. This was the place where the logistics were tested.
"Xiao Bao, don't be afraid. When we resisted the United States and aided Korea, we received the most classic strangulation tactic used by the United States Air Force. We survived, so why should we be afraid of the current Tubo?"
Wang Juan comforted Zhang Xiaobao.
Zhang Xiaobao wasn't someone who didn't know anything. He immediately retorted, "What does that have to do with us? At that time, their planes were flying everywhere. If the Soviet Union didn't join the war and sent so many outstanding pilots and planes, do you really think that the anti-aircraft guns hidden in the mountains and the trains would be useful?"
"Then what should we do? We can't do anything even if we tell them. Should we just let them wait for their deaths? "Wang Juan asked.
Zhang Xiaobao took two deep breaths and said to Wang Juan, "Cuckoo, actually, in my heart, I've always felt or hoped that Guo Tu would lose the war and give you a chance. This is also the reason why I borrowed Li Xun's 200 people. I've already prepared everything else. I hope that you can do something at this time to show your value. You've never been a subordinate in my heart. Let's go, I'll show you the workings of an international scam."
As Zhang Xiaobao spoke, he pulled Wang Juan onto a horse. The two of them rode together and led the 300 people in the direction of Pengzhou Prefecture.
It took them more than two hours to reach their destination. The people in the inner courtyard had already prepared everything according to Zhang Xiaobao's instructions.
Wang Juan looked at the things Zhang Xiaobao prepared behind her back and couldn't say a word. Everything in front of her was prepared for her by Zhang Xiaobao to show her value. If he didn't need it, he would immediately go into hiding. But now that he needed it, she didn't need to worry about the equipment. As long as she prepared the battle strategy well, everything would be fine.
"Xiao Bao, these things …?"
"These things are prepared for the female general in my heart. Right now, you're no longer a member of the Special Second Division, nor are you China's Overlord Flower. You're a general who commands thousands of soldiers and horses. Take out everything you've learned before and the battle strategy you've slowly figured out after coming here. Let me see the battle strategy that gathered the wisdom of generations of people."
At this moment, Zhang Xiaobao felt that this was the most successful moment of his life. He prepared everything for Wang Juan so that Wang Juan could achieve her dreams, instead of standing behind him as an obedient woman.
Wang Juan planted a big kiss on Zhang Xiaobao's face and changed into the armor that Zhang Xiaobao prepared for her. She waved her spear and shouted at the 300 people who were equally shocked, "Let's go and reinforce the frontlines. Logistics Camp, follow me."
The 300 people now knew what they had to do. They also flipped onto the backs of the prepared horses, picked up their weapons, and led the supply and medical teams behind them to follow Wang Juan and Zhang Xiaobao. While the Pengzhou officials were still in a daze, they rushed out of the pass and headed for Guo Tu's troops who were blocked on the mountain.
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