Bang! A gunshot rang out in the forest, echoing in the air.
Zhang Xiaobao put away his gun and walked diagonally forward. As he walked, he said happily, "We have rabbits to eat today again."
"There are rabbits to eat every day. You only know how to shoot rabbits." Wang Juan had obviously eaten too many rabbits and was not very satisfied.
"I want to shoot a tiger, but it seems like we can't finish it with our stomachs. Can you drag a big tiger with you? It's shameful to waste food. If you really want to change things up, you can start shooting tomorrow. Or you can also get some pheasants to eat. "
Zhang Xiaobao spoke honestly. There were many animals nowadays. If he brought a gun when he went out, he did not have to worry about starving himself. The only regret was that there were only two people. If they shot a slightly bigger rabbit, they would not be able to finish it.
Wang Juan was in charge of observing the surrounding situation with binoculars. She stood guard for Zhang Xiaobao. When Zhang Xiaobao came back with a rabbit, she opened her backpack and took out seasoning. She found a place with fewer trees and began to pick up the dry branches on the ground.
"Let's roast it today. Rabbits roasted with pine branches have a pine fragrance." Zhang Xiaobao took out a knife and said as he cleaned up the rabbit.
In fact, it was because there was no river nearby, so he could not clean it. He still had to drink the water he carried.
Wang Juan did not object this time. She used a shovel to dig a hole in the ground. It could block the wind and prevent the fire from jumping out and igniting the entire forest when they were roasting.
While watching Zhang Xiaobao busy there, she asked, "Should we get someone to send a message to Beijing to prevent others from worrying too much? If someone really thinks that the two of us are dead and causes some trouble, we will have to deal with it when we go back. "
"I won't send it. I just want to see who will make a move to deal with our industry and other administrative arrangements. It's not a big deal to spend some effort. When the same thing happens again in the future, people will not dare to act rashly."
Zhang Xiaobao laughed mischievously. He used a knife to cut a slightly thicker branch and scraped away as much pine oil as possible. Then, he lifted the rabbit up and slowly turned it over the fire. At the same time, he said to Wang Juan,
"I reckon that very few people will make a move at this time. After all, the officials who have the ability to know about our family's situation are afraid of our master. That master is not as simple as he says. This is the benefit of pretending to be mysterious. Those who don't have the opportunity to know about this information don't have the ability to shake our business.
A few days ago, didn't the news from the capital say that Zhang Shuo had discussed with Li Longji how to get hold of our forces after learning of our disappearance? Looks like he's done for. Sigh, it's about time. It's been so long, don't you think so? "
"Yes, if it weren't for us, he would have gone down long ago. Moreover, he would have gone down very miserably. However, not only does he not know how to thank us, he also wants to deal with us. It's really too hateful."
Wang Juan also agreed. After thinking for a while, she suddenly asked Zhang Xiaobao, "Do you think we should still deal with Li Linfu? His position now seems to be more stable. If we want to deal with him, we have to do it early. We can't expect him to make mistakes. "
"Deal with him? Who knows if he will become the Prime Minister again? We can't let our guard down. However, I don't think we should kill him. According to what you said, he is still very capable. Then, we should arrange for him to be in a suitable position. "
Zhang Xiaobao used a knife to cut the rabbit's body. Blood kept flowing out from the cut. Drops of blood fell on the fire below, making a sizzling sound.
The night deepened. A bright moon gradually rose, dimming the stars in the sky.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan found a high ground. They took out the small tent they had brought with them and lit three fires outside. They used the radio to send a message to the people in Jili Province that they were safe. Then, they sat outside the tent together and enjoyed the charming scenery.
They made a bowl of juice with the water they had brought and handed it to Wang Juan. Zhang Xiaobao also drank a mouthful and said, "If I had known that the journey would be so difficult, I would have brought some dried vegetables when I came out. Why do I feel that my body is lacking vitamins now?"
"You are so delicate. In just a few days, you know that you lack vitamins. Previously, you said that you would arrange a job for Li Linfu. Have you thought about the details?"
Wang Juan held the bowl and looked into the depths of the forest. The bright moon could not make it bright. She thought of Zhang Xiaobao's words and asked.
"I just thought about it. In the future, I will let him work here. The northeast is a big place with rich resources. The climate doesn't change much in four seasons. It is suitable for him to develop."
"You can't speak against your conscience. When has the northeast not changed much in four seasons? There is no population. Other than Jili Province, you have basically moved everyone away. "
As they were talking, there was a sound from the radio. Wang Juan hurried over to receive it. After a while, Wang Juan said to Zhang Xiaobao with a bad expression, "The Japanese seem to be taking action."
"Japan? Action against our disappearance? They don't seem to have radio technology, right? "Zhang Xiaobao was stunned.
"It's not the Japanese island. It's from Huainan Province. They are in the Four Seas Academy and want to join forces with the students of Xinluo. They want to form an alliance between the two places."
Wang Juan explained.
"That's not slow. It seems that they really care about us. Something just happened, and they reacted. How are the details?"
"I'm still investigating. It hasn't arrived yet. Do you think we should speed up the development of radio? What's going on now? We have to run with the radio on our backs. Every once in a while, our people will follow us. The distance of the signal transmission is too short."
Wang Juan suddenly thought of a key problem. Although she and Zhang Xiaobao came out in name, in fact, many people were arranged to carry the radio on their backs. It was like a transit station. They had to transfer many times in the middle to send and receive a message.
Zhang Xiaobao nodded. "Okay, we'll launch a satellite tomorrow. Let's get one up first and cover the place where we are. What do you think?"
"Okay, you can carry the satellite up."
"Comrade Wang Juan, don't bite off more than you can chew. It's already not bad. This time, we came out just in time to let the team practice the problem of information conversion. The Japanese move quickly. Maybe they were the ones who started the alliance with Xinluo and the Turks.
"I knew that place was a wolf that couldn't be raised well, so I never planned to raise it. After I finish off Xinluo, I'll take the time to deal with them. Where were we just now? Li Linfu came to the northeast to develop, right? "
As Zhang Xiaobao spoke, he threw a few pieces of pine wood into the fire beside him. As he listened to the crackling sound and looked at the red, yellow, and blue colors, he was a little lost in thought.
Wang Juan entered the tent and took out two pieces of clothes. She put one on each of them and said, "Yes, how are we going to develop in the northeast? Without people, we can't do anything. "
"Let Li Linfu come over to protect the resources, especially the places with minerals. Draw out an area and turn it into an animal sanctuary. We can't say that in order to protect the environment, we won't develop the entire northeast region. We have to draw out an ecological area. We have to circle the largest mineral resources, such as oil and metal mines."
"Then we won't develop it?" Wang Juan asked.
"Develop it. Leave it for a few thousand years later. When the resources in other places on Earth are almost used up, we'll develop it. If we use it now, we can go to other places to get it. We're not afraid of the distance.
At that time, we'll leave a rule to tell future generations that it's not that your ancestors can't find the mineral resources, but that your ancestors have the ability to rob others. The mineral resources will be left for you. When you feel that you don't have the ability to rob others, you can take it out and use it. "
The night wind was cold. Zhang Xiaobao tightened his clothes.
Wang Juan leaned on Zhang Xiaobao and said, "You still care about future generations? Just take care of yourself. "
"It's okay to take care of yourself. Let Li Linfu come over to build roads and railways all the way to Russia in our time. From there, we'll transport oil out. At the same time, we'll find all the places in the Tang Empire with oil and natural gas and draw them into protected areas.
When it's easier for the fleet to travel to and from other continents, we'll send them out to mine, smelt locally, and transport the metal back. We'll dig a hole in the Tang Empire and bury it for preservation. Aiya, it's not good to bury the metal directly, right? Then we'll transport the ore back and bury it. "
Zhang Xiaobao started to become enthusiastic about this matter. He really had such a plan. While others weren't developing it, he would snatch back as much as he could.
After saying this, he nudged Wang Juan. "Go to sleep first. I'll wake you up to keep watch when I'm sleepy. We'll be able to reach Xiaobei's place before winter."
"Why don't you say before summer? In a while, if you ask others to transport the ore back, will they really transport it? They can't even smelt it when they transport it back. Are they that patriotic? Or are you planning to pay for it? "
Wang Juan leaned on Zhang Xiaobao and narrowed her eyes.
"Tax deduction. In the future, all goods that are directly transported back from the outside will be heavily taxed. If you don't want to take so much money, transport the ore and oil back to Xinluo and Japan. They can smelt it there and solve the problem of unemployment in the two places. I'm too kind."
"Okay, then you're so kind. I'm going to sleep. You can keep watch until tomorrow morning." Wang Juan stood up and went into the tent.
"Well, when we go back, let's get married. We're not young anymore." Zhang Xiaobao turned his head and shouted.
"Okay, do as you see fit. After the engagement, we'll live separately. I'll wait for you to marry me in my boudoir."
"Then forget it. I'll persevere for a few more years."
*****
August, the harvest season in various places.
The people who had worked for a year began to enjoy the fruits of autumn. The officials, on the other hand, were busy. They needed to allocate all kinds of resources.
The busiest person was Zhang Shuo. It wasn't that the head of the secretariat was busy. He had nothing to do with the head of the secretariat.
Compared to the historical events that Wang Juan and Zhang Xiaobao had told him, Zhang Shuo was undoubtedly much luckier. He was not imprisoned. As he always thought about Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's Jili Province and occasionally mentioned it, Li Longji fulfilled his wish and arranged for him to be in a place not too far away from Jili Province.
Fanyang Jiedushi was an official position with real power. It governed many provinces, and it was the kind of place where Wang Juan's family lived. This position had more power than Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan combined. It was also not far from Shanhai Pass. It could be said that it took care of each other with the place where Zhang Xiaobao dug coal.
He and Zhang Xiaobao were both important figures. It could be said that they allowed Shanhai Pass to sit in the key position of 'the unparalleled lock of the two capitals, the first pass of the Great Wall of China'.
As a result, the court was harmonious. Those who had supported Zhang Shuo also began to do practical things and no longer continued to speak.
Li Longji wanted Minister Zhang from the Ministry of Works to be the Prime Minister, which was also a position under the Hall of Secretaries. However, Minister Zhang refused because he was too inexperienced. Then, Li Longji scolded Minister Zhang, mainly scolding Minister Zhang's son and daughter-in-law. His reason was that why they didn't say anything earlier when they were still breathing. They caused him to not eat or sleep well for a long time.
Zhang Shangshu tactfully explained that he had mentioned it before. Someone had calculated and said that his son and daughter-in-law were fine.
But this did not make Li Longji's anger disappear. In a fit of anger, he removed Zhang Shangshu's son and daughter-in-law from their positions as provincial governor and military officer. He set up a new position of Bohai Jiedushi, making the two of them the head and the deputy head. They had control over more than ten Governor Manors and Protectorate Manors. The two of them had no time to continue playing games as a punishment.
The grain for this year's autumn harvest had not been shipped over, but the taxes had been paid first. Now that it was convenient to pay taxes, there was no need to ship the money to the capital. They could directly deposit it in the Great Tang Bank.
Li Longji looked at the money in the account book, his eyes shining. He was rich, he was really rich. With a wave of his pen and a stamp of his seal, he ordered the Great Tang Bank to issue one billion dollars of national debt this year.
It was an issue, not a repayment. If it was to be repaid, the first five-year period was not up yet.
The main reason was a ship that had set off from Jili Prefecture. The ship was heading toward the capital. It had to stop on the way, and its speed was slower than a sailboat or a ship. However, when this ship was going against the current, it did not use sails or wheels. It did not even need people to row it, and it could not find a boatman.
Although there were always problems along the way and it needed to be fixed, it was still a new thing. Especially when the news came back yesterday that the ship had not broken down for half a month. It was about to enter the capital, and the people of the capital could see something new.
For the stability of the country, Li Longji had no choice but to encourage the development of technology. Thus, he borrowed money from the people to make steel and build railways. According to his thinking, if a ship could work, then so could a carriage.
Thus, Li Longji wanted to build a railway to connect the capital and Luoyang. Oh, there were two. The current technology could not allow a train to cross a river. The bridge could be used by people, but it could not be used by carriages.
The series of changes in the Imperial Court did not have a direct impact on the people. The people did not care about those things that they could not worry about. They only knew that they had earned more money this year, and they wanted to buy some 'luxury goods'. For example, they wanted to buy a small glass wine cup with a reduced price. They wanted to pay the price of a pig to buy a set.
For example, they wanted to buy a beautiful pearl necklace. They sold half a pig to buy a smaller one. For example, the people of the capital took advantage of the warm weather, gritted their teeth, took out a sum of money, and brought their family to the lake to spend some money.
No one bragged about the Tang Dynasty's long-term stability, and no one deliberately gave Li Longji a watch. However, Li Longji, who had secretly sneaked out, was very happy to see the people wearing beautiful clothes on the street.
In the teahouse, accompanied by armed guards, he listened to the storyteller talk about the current situation of the Tang Dynasty. Li Longji drank two pots of tea of unknown grade and gave out a hundred banknotes. He even added a few words to the storyteller, such as the matter of the Black Water Governor's Mansion.
If it were not for the guards stopping him, the founder of the pear garden really wanted to chase the storyteller away and personally sit in that position to say, "Traveling the south and drinking tea, the water in the river, the water in the lake, listen to me, there is black water in the Bohai Prefecture …"
Unfortunately, a wish was a wish after all. It did not come true, let alone get some rewards and fill the treasury.
*****
Compared to the Imperial Court officials and the people of the Tang Dynasty who enjoyed a wealthy life, the members of the Xinluo imperial family and the people were at a critical moment of hard work.
Driven by the dream of making a fortune, the members of the Xinluo imperial family supported the people to quickly build the two rivers. Now, only a few months had passed, and a miracle had really happened.
With an explosion, the river was connected. The bridge that had been built first was also suspended in the air at this moment. It was placed on a wooden board and became the land road that the Tang Dynasty and Xinluo had to take.
"Xiao Bao, the news has come. The river and the bridge have been connected. Can we not wander around anymore and arrive at Jianan earlier? You're not really planning to arrive before the end of next year, are you? "
In the mountains, Wang Juan received a new telegram and said to Zhang Xiaobao, who was mending his clothes beside her.
Zhang Xiaobao stopped. "Ah? It's connected? It's good that it's connected. This is not only convenient for transportation. Once the two rivers are connected, it will become a natural border in the future. Even if we can't directly annex Xinluo, as long as our descendants aren't so stupid, it's impossible for them to give up that position. It's more stable than the 38th parallel. "
"Then when are we going to Jianan? We've only been going around in circles with you in the mountains. You're not planning to let us wear animal skins to meet Xiaobei and the others, are you? "
Wang Juan looked at her clothes that were about to tear up and complained.
Zhang Xiaobao nodded repeatedly. "We're not far from Jianan. We'll definitely arrive in three to five days. Comrade Wang Juan, I'm not criticizing you. Aren't we doing this to inspect the terrain and grasp all kinds of resources so that we can develop them? Especially medicinal herbs and unique plants in the northeast region.
Have you forgotten the spirit of not being afraid of hardship and fatigue? Think about the 25,000 yuan back then. Think about it with your back to the yellow sky and face the earth. Think about it again … "
"Zhang Xiaobao, if you don't know how to talk, then don't talk, okay? What nonsense. If you want to grasp resources, can't you send more people over? How much can we grasp with just the two of us wandering around? If we continue to wander around, we'll really lack vitamins. No wonder you brought so many tea leaves. It turns out that you already had a plan. You knew that you would have to eat meat for a long time. Three days. If we walk for four days, I'll definitely sleep separately from you. "
Wang Juan gritted her teeth to express her dissatisfaction.
"Isn't it just to let you relive the feeling of training in the past? Three days it is. "Zhang Xiaobao continued to patch the clothes.
"No need. I've already graduated. If you want to personally recall the time when you were hunted, I can find Zhang Hu and ask him to let the dogs out. What do you want to do?"
"We're in a hurry. Otherwise, it'll be too late. Actually, I just want to take you out on a trip. In this Tang Dynasty, I've never felt a sense of belonging. Only when I see you do I feel that it's real. Otherwise, I'll always feel like I'm in a dream. People say that only when you become a real man can you have a sense of responsibility. Let's hurry up and get married."
"Can't you think of something else?"
"Something else? Are you saying that even if we don't get married, we can still become a man? "
"Xiao Bao, I'll kill you. No, I'll castrate you."
*****
"Uncle, aunt, grandpa, grandma, brother, sister, brother, sister, we're going to have a meeting now."
In the big yard of the Yamen in Jian 'an County, Xiaobei gathered all the people in the county. There were more than a hundred of them, including two newborns. They said that they were going to have a meeting.
Li Bai sat at the side and took notes of the meeting. Driven by the temptation of being able to enter the imperial court, he became much darker. He mainly worked in the field. Now, he knew how to farm and some breeding techniques. He also wrote a lot of idyllic poems. He had the style of Wang Wei. It was very magical.
He was forced to do so. The people soon quieted down. Even the babies stopped crying. They listened to the cute and sensible little girl speak.
"It's like this. Today, we raised pigs and chickens. We can eat them next year. Did you see the eagle that flew here a few days ago? It's called Shui Yun. It said that my brother and sister are coming. We've also planted the greenhouse. This autumn harvest, we've harvested a lot of food. It's enough for us to eat for three years.
After all, I'm an official. I was appointed by Uncle Emperor. I want to send some rent this year and pay taxes next year. I want to discuss with everyone. Is it okay? After all, it's the land that you planted. There are also tributes such as bear gall, ginseng, and deer antler. "
Xiao Bei discussed with everyone. She seemed very embarrassed. If she didn't come, they naturally wouldn't hand over anything. No one would come here to collect it.
Hearing Xiao Bei's words, the people in the county fell silent.
Xiao Bei felt a lot of pressure. She pursed her lips and her eyes turned red. It seemed that she would cry at any moment.
"This … I'll say a few words." Old man Shi spoke first. The others looked at him.
"I'll say that I don't know much. I only know that Xiao Bei and the others came and helped us do a lot of work. They also taught us a lot of methods. I don't know how to raise animals in a greenhouse. I also don't know how to exchange herbs for a lot of money.
Xiao Bei said that it's okay not to pay rent. If everyone doesn't want to pay, then don't pay. But I have to pay. I have to pay my share. I don't want to think about how high Xiao Bei's position is. I only think that if Xiao Bei and the others didn't help to shoot the wild beasts, someone would have been injured or killed.
I'll just say what I think. Xiao Bei is an official. She was appointed by His Majesty. Therefore, she has to protect the people under her rule. As a citizen, we can't just wait for the imperial court to protect us. Isn't this reasonable? Why should she? "
"Pay, I'll pay too." Someone also expressed his opinion.
When there was one, there was a second. Not long after, the matter of paying rent this year was settled.
Xiao Bei also revealed a happy smile.
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