While Zhang Xiaobao was explaining how to contact the capital, Wang Juan began to look at the animals. There were footprints of wolves, monkeys, and bears. She didn't see any bears, so she guessed that they were hibernating.
After looking through it a few times and flipping through the records book, Wang Juan shook her head, "Your Majesty, there are too few animals. Most of them can be seen. It's either a five-legged sheep or a two-headed turtle. There isn't even a giant panda. When the zoo is built in the future, we need to find more animals that can represent the zoo.
This is the Great Tang Zoo, so we have to collect all the animals that represent the country. I, oh, Xiao Bao and I are quite familiar with some of the animals. After we catch them, we will have a general outline and write a detailed introduction. As for the animals that we don't recognize, we will need others to figure it out.
For the animals that like heat, we need to create a hot environment for them. For the animals that like cold, we need to use ice to help. For the animals that like cold, we need to first transport the food from the local area. That way, we will spend a lot of money. Next year, I, Xiao Bao, and I will think of a way to solve this problem.
Li Longji didn't care about Wang Juan changing the way she addressed him. He listened carefully to Wang Juan. When Wang Juan said that she and Xiao Bao could recognize many animals, he was surprised. Then, he asked curiously, "What is a panda?"
"It's a round head, usually white, with dark circles under its eyes. Its four limbs are black, and its belly is white. There are also some with black bellies. It has a chubby appearance and the expression on its face is like that of a human. It likes to eat bamboo, no, it likes to eat meat. But it can be fed bamboo. The bamboo in Jiannan Circuit is not bad. Xiao Zhu has a doll that is a panda."
Wang Juan explained as she gestured. She had a wish to raise two pandas since they were young and obedient.
Li Longji suddenly understood. "Oh! I know, it's an iron-eating beast. I raised two of them before, but they died this summer. They weren't chubby, they were skinny. "
"Died? Ai! You won't lose weight once you're full. When you're free, you should take your temperature. My family will send a batch of thermometers over. It's a pity. The zoo has invested a lot in the early stages, but once it starts to attract customers, it will make a lot of money in a short period of time. Once people who can afford to spend it are sick of it, it will gradually decrease. The solution … is Xiao Bao. "
When Wang Juan started to introduce the problem of income, she said that it was going to be soon. She couldn't think of a solution at that moment, so she bumped into Zhang Xiaobao.
"The solution is not to wait for all the animals in the country to arrive at the same time. Just open a place for each animal. There will always be new animals joining, and it will always attract people. After the Tang Empire's animals are found, they will go out to look for them. I estimate that it will take a hundred years to find all of them."
Zhang Xiaobao immediately took over and explained his method.
After hearing it, Li Longji felt that it was feasible. He really didn't care that the zoo could make a lot of money. This year, the imperial court wasn't short of money. Tubo didn't give out a lot of pensions, and the money for the war was paid by the Zhang Family and Wang Family. The Zhang Family's business was opened in Jiannan Circuit. In the future, they wouldn't have to spend money every year except for Yizhou. If they managed it well, they could even collect rent and taxes.
"Xiao Bao, Cuckoo, why do you insist on occupying Tubo's desert?" When Li Longji thought about how Zhang Family and Wang Family developed that productive force every time they went to a place, he thought of the Tubo desert that the imperial court had to give him and asked the two of them.
"Desert? Ah, right, there is such a thing. Your Majesty, that desert is different from other places. If you manage it well, you can make a lot of money. Among the dishes we ate today, there is a dish with Desert Cistanche that was brought back from there. There are also many other medicinal herbs and the products of the lake. This subject is preparing to contact the merchants of Jiannan Circuit to manage it together.
That place is good. We can plant some grapes and various kinds of jujubes by the lake. They are sweet and can be made into fruits. In the future, we can send some to Your Majesty and Uncle Gao every year. The most important thing is that we don't have to worry about bandits. The friendly Tubo will help to look after it. Otherwise, we will have to trouble Cuckoo to lead an army to eliminate them. "
Zhang Xiaobao wasn't afraid that Li Longji would snatch Tubo's desert. He told him the benefits, but he didn't mention anything about his future plans.
The corners of Li Longji's mouth also curled up. When he thought about Tubo sending troops to help look after his territory that belonged to someone else, his mood became better.
At this time, Gao Lishi anxiously said, "Your Majesty, tomorrow is the thirtieth day of the month. This subject still has some matters to attend to. Why don't we let Xiao Bao and Cuckoo help? After the New Year, they will go to that place."
"Good, I approve. After the thirtieth day of the month, I will also take care of your matters." Li Longji understood Gao Lishi's meaning. He had to hurry up and recognize his adopted son. He didn't want to wait until the fiftieth day of the first lunar month.
*****
Li Longji went to another place. Gao Lishi happily led Zhang Xiaobao and Cuckoo to play. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan also found Gao Lishi very pleasing to the eye. The two of them didn't understand why in so many unofficial histories, Gao Lishi was described very poorly. Could it be that it was because he was a eunuch? Or could it be that the eunuch's authority started from him?
The two of them accompanied Gao Lishi on a stroll and told him about all kinds of local customs and customs. They selectively talked about things in the sky and on the ground, how big the fish in the sea was, why they sprayed water, why bears didn't hibernate, why fruits were sour and sweet, why the side of an apple that was illuminated by the sun was red, how glass could be used to grow a square cold melon, how apples that had been pasted with paper could have the character for fortune, how to eat chives, how to not let the sun shine on them, and so on.
Gao Lishi originally thought that he knew a lot of things. He didn't expect that there were even more things that he didn't know. While enjoying this hard-earned warmth, he also sighed at Xiao Bao and Cuckoo's erudition. He understood that it was definitely not a coincidence that the two of them were able to win two separate wars.
How could they learn so much knowledge? They were probably exhausted. While other children were playing, these two children had to learn. Furthermore, they had to be very intelligent. It was hard on the children. These two experts were really too much. Were they going to die? Why did they have to force the children to learn so desperately?
"Uncle Gao, next summer, Cuckoo and I will plant square watermelons and apples and send them to you. In fact, it's not bad to plant Baidizi there. However, I'm afraid that it will delay the normal grain yield. I have to urge the people in the Agriculture Temple to figure out a good rice seed as soon as possible."
Zhang Xiaobao felt that too much land was wasted. Basically, it was used to plant grains, and the yield was low. They had searched everywhere for rice, but they couldn't see what hybrid rice looked like.
Gao Lishi felt that he had never been as happy as he was today. He nodded with a smile and agreed. "Okay, it's okay if you can't plant it. It's good that you have the intention. After the new year, I'll urge the Agriculture Temple to plant Baidizi in the places around Lu Zhou. But Boxin County definitely can't do it. Many eyes are watching there.
Baidizi is good stuff. Look, I'm wearing this waistcoat that your family sent over. It's warm, and there's also the bedding for sleeping at night. Although it's not as good as duck down or cashmere, it's better in terms of weight. It's comfortable to press on my body.
Remember, if you have any good weapons at home, tell me first. I'll mention it to His Majesty. You won't have to worry about being impeached if you use it in the future. I won't harm you. "
As Gao Lishi spoke, he mentioned that the Zhang Family and Wang Family always came up with frightening things. He promised.
Zhang Xiaobao, of course, understood. He was going to be a godfather soon, so he wouldn't harm his godson for no reason. He nodded and said, "Actually, I'm researching it. The effect of the weapons in the war this time wasn't ideal. When the guns hit the body, they were blocked by the leather armor, so they couldn't kill. The byproduct of the research is the falling cannons. I'll ask someone to send some to Uncle Gao to play with."
"Okay, okay. The things that Xiao Bao and Cuckoo sent over are all good." Gao Lishi didn't care what Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan said now. He was fine with whatever they said.
It was almost evening when Gao Lishi reluctantly sent someone to send Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan back to Savant's Restaurant.
The two of them went to sleep as soon as they came back. They slept until the morning of the thirtieth, and their fatigue finally disappeared.
Then it was the New Year. A new year had arrived amidst the sounds of firecrackers all over the city.
Early in the morning of the first day of the New Year, people came over to give New Year's greetings. The Zhang Family and Wang Family, as well as the Old Man Pi and the others, were busy receiving guests and receiving gifts. At the same time, they also sent people to return gifts.
They were busy all the way until the fifth day of the New Year. Finally, Gao Lishi found some time to visit the Zhang family. Then, he returned to his own home. The Zhang family brought Zhang Xiaobao over. After a set of cumbersome procedures, Zhang Xiaobao changed to calling him Adoptive Father. Only then was it considered over.
Many people came to congratulate him. Li Longji also came over. He came quickly and left quickly, but it didn't affect other people's new views of Zhang Xiaobao or the Zhang family.
Gao Lishi gave Zhang Xiaobao a big 'red packet' and a token that allowed him to enter the palace. Actually, it was given by Li Longji. Zhang Xiaobao also gave Gao Lishi a big fish tank with 18 beautiful fish inside.
Even if Gao Lishi didn't want to care, he couldn't. The fish tank had a backup thermometer, a heater, and an oxygen pump. It was a set of big and small things, from top to bottom, like a mountain and flowing water.
Most importantly, the fish tank wasn't square or round. Instead, it was shaped like a mountain. There were real mountain rocks and small trees inside.
It was a huge bonsai with three different colors of fish swimming inside. Usually, manual equipment wasn't needed, but when there was no wind, the water circulation had to be done manually.
Disregarding the price of the items, the main thing was that no one else had them.
What's more, now that they had adopted a son, the Zhang and Wang families would send anything good they had to the capital.
Some people envied the Zhang Xiaobao and Zhang Wang Families, while others envied Gao Lishi. After all, the Zhang Family and Wang Family didn't take out many good things and only used them in their own home. Those were things that people couldn't buy even with money.
After the adoption ceremony, Zhang Zhong was finally going to leave the capital and take up his post in the Eastern Capital of Luoyang. He was going to be the Left Servant of Minister Xie. Even Wang Juan's father also had a specific position, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War.
They weren't minor officials, and they were considered actual positions. An actual position in Luoyang was still a required position in the Great Tang, but it wasn't a trivial position.
After the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, those who were supposed to go to work had already gone to work. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan still had to stay with Gao Lishi for two days. They also received a secret order that if there were any riots or revolts, the two of them could mobilize the prefectural army. Compared to the local generals, Li Longji was more willing to trust Wang Juan.
Zhang Family and Wang Family delayed until the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year before they left in a grandiose manner.
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.
