Amidst the anticipation and prayers of the people who were preparing for the spring plowing, the warm current from the Pacific Ocean finally broke through the layers of obstacles and toured most of the Great Tang.
"Jiangnan Eastern Circuit's Hangzhou Prefecture calls. The water level in Qiantang Lake has risen but is within control. Jiangnan Eastern Circuit's Suzhou Prefecture calls. The water level in Lake Tai has exceeded the warning line. Requesting for reinforcements. Jiangnan Western Circuit's Poyang Prefecture calls. The water level in Pengxin Lake has risen. The wind is strong and the waves are strong.
Jiangnan Eastern Circuit's Jun Prefecture calls. A section of Zhushan County, a tributary of the Han River, has broken its dam. The people in the county are being evacuated. The cause of the breach has been found to be due to the embezzlement of the County Magistrate of Zhushan County. 200,000 yuan for repairing the dam has been detained and has been sent to the capital. Jingji Prefecture's Ningzhou Prefecture calls … "
In a private room in Savant's Restaurant, Li Longji was tasting the new dishes while listening to Gao Lishi's report.
Since the invention of telegrams, the transmission of information was many times faster than before. It was very convenient. As long as something happened in the country, telegrams could be used to report and issue orders.
Li Longji listened carefully. When he heard that the rivers and lakes were stable, he happily ate a boiled clam. This season was the best time for clams to grow meat but not shells. After spitting out the sand, the clams were fat, fresh, and tender.
When he heard that there was a breach due to improper management or embezzlement, Li Longji put down his chopsticks with a gloomy expression.
After Gao Lishi finished reporting some of the important situations, Li Longji pushed the plate of clams away and stopped eating. He sat there sulking.
"Deal with it strictly. Especially the embezzling officials. I want them to be alive to earn but not to spend it. How's the monitoring of the military equipment going?"
"Your Majesty, all the weapon parts are wrapped in oil paper. There's no need to worry about getting wet. However, the old grain in some places may become moldy. I think it's going to be used to brew wine. There's good news. The construction of the train is almost complete. The tracks are being laid now. It's estimated that it can be tested in the capital in midsummer."
Gao Lishi also hated corrupt officials very much. He remembered the Emperor's order and mentioned something that made people happy.
"Good, good. I heard from Xiao Bao that there's a train. As long as we're willing to spend money to build it, it'll only take half a month to travel from the capital to Lu Zhou. It can carry people and goods. Where are Xiao Bao and the others? "
Li Longji imagined the big picture that Zhang Xiaobao had painted for him. Suddenly, he realized that there had been no news of Zhang Xiaobao in the last few days. At this time, Zhang Xiaobao should have been busy with the disasters in the Great Tang. There had been no news of him sending reinforcements from Zhushan District.
"Your Majesty, last night, Xiao Bao called and said that he would be staying in Sanshui County for a few days. He said that he had a seed that he wanted to personally guide the locals in their cultivation. Also, Mo Jilian and the others will not immediately enter the capital. The two-hundred-thousand-some Turkic people have already been sent to various places. Some are still on the way while others have already arrived."
Gao Lishi hurriedly replied, meaning that Zhang Xiaobao was very busy and had no time to deal with the disaster relief.
Li Longji muttered to himself for a moment before nodding. "In the past, Xiao Bao and the others had a convenient information network, so he was always in charge of disaster relief. Now that we have a telegram, we naturally shouldn't let him continue to be in charge. It just so happens that there are a lot of idle officials in some places, so let them form a temporary disaster relief department. If there are any more disasters, let them handle it. They can't just take my money and not work for me."
*****
Zhang Xiaobao, who Li Longji was thinking about, was currently enjoying life in Zhangjia Zhuangzi. Regardless of whether the weather was still cold or not, he set up a shed by the roadside and sat down to enjoy the scenery. From time to time, he would say a few words to Mo Jilian, who was accompanying him. He would introduce how Zhangjia Zhuangzi was and how Sanshui County was. Back then, the sky was so blue, the clouds were so white, back then …
Mo Jilian yawned and occasionally agreed. These days, he was dragged around by Zhang Xiaobao all day, climbing mountains, diving into the water, and wading through muddy ditches. He was even more tired than when he was on the grassland. As he grew older, he did not recover as quickly as Zhang Xiaobao, so he really did not have the energy to listen to Zhang Xiaobao's nonsense.
Wang Juan was not far away. She wore two more layers of clothes and was embroidering. It took her a while to sew a needle. No one knew what she was thinking about.
Xiao Hai finally stopped studying his mathematics and followed Xiao Zhu to look at the scenery. Sometimes, they would run to the front of a certain house and listen to the old man sitting at the door tell stories of the past.
Xiaobei, on the other hand, dragged Xiaoyuan around. She realized that the farmers in her hometown were really rich. Every house had two stories, and they were all made of good wood. From the looks of it, if it were not for the sake of maintaining the same style, every house would have been built with five stories.
Small bridges over flowing water, winding corridors, lush green grass, and leisurely windmills.
To be able to live in such an environment around the flagship store Between the Clouds and the Water, in Xiao Bei's opinion, was true wealth. The most direct way to make her feel that wealth was reflected in the tradition that Zhuangzi had always maintained.
In every small pavilion along the corridor, there were prepared cooking utensils. No matter how the seasons changed, if one wanted to eat, one did not have to go into the house. There was a dedicated person in charge of watching the charcoal burning area. Once there, one could take out the red charcoal fire and find a pavilion to eat.
The last time she came, she was still young and could not do it herself. Now that she felt that she was older and could do a lot of things, she brought a few members of the Children's Regiment to get charcoal and began to eat.
Sometimes, they would run to one pavilion to cook. Sometimes, they would go to another pavilion to see if the food was ready. Fortunately, the members of the Children's Regiment were children from Zhuangzi. Otherwise, if Xiao Bei ran around like this, she would definitely get lost.
"This is for you." Xiao Bei did not eat much and only wanted to cook. In the end, she found that she had cooked too much and could not bear to throw it away. She put it on a plate and gave it to the Turks one by one. Fortunately, Xiao Bei did not like to eat meat and only cooked vegetables. They would not get old after a long time and could be eaten.
In addition, the Turks were also tired of eating meat. Since Xiao Bei gave it to them, they ate it and did not waste it. At the same time, they were full of interest in this maze-like Zhuangzi.
Que Teqin, the Left Virtuous Prince who was in charge of the army, ate a plate of tofu skin one after another. He yearned for the winding corridors in Zhuangzi, especially when he heard that this Zhuangzi could provide food at any time regardless of whether it was cold or summer. He compared it to his own tribe and was very envious.
As he ate and looked, he habitually regarded this place as a place to attack. The scenery in his eyes gradually turned into a place to attack and defend. He began to think about where to enter when he attacked and how to defend against the defenders.
He did not know if he did not think about it, but when he thought about it, he was shocked. He found that no matter which direction he attacked from in Zhuangzi, he would have to face a fan-shaped defensive fortification. The small buildings that looked scattered and scattered actually took care of all angles.
From the outside, it looked like it was all buildings and fields, but the area surrounded by the small buildings could be used to mobilize manpower and supplies at any time. The platforms used for people to play Between the Clouds and the Water to stand at a high place to watch the scenery were clearly arrow towers.
"Here, try this." Xiao Bei carried another plate of food and put it in front of Que Teqin.
Que Teqin was stunned when he saw the food. It was too big, so he looked at Xiao Bei in confusion. Xiao Bei quickly introduced, "It's a big skewer. The outermost layer is dried tofu, the middle layer is cabbage, and the innermost layer is eggplant. I rolled it myself. I washed my hands. Who doesn't wash their hands after eating like you?"
"It's not cooked yet, right?" Que Teqin did not want to refuse Xiao Bei's enthusiasm, but when he saw that the cabbage was still straight, he could not help but feel puzzled, so he asked.
"This thing can be eaten raw. If it's rolled too big, the outer layer of dried tofu will break. It's not like you haven't eaten raw before. Beef and mutton, don't you all eat raw? If you don't want to eat it, I'll eat it myself. "
Xiao Bei looked like he was treating the thing he rolled as a treasure and reasoned with Que Teqin.
Que Teqin hesitated and felt that he should not have an upset stomach after eating it. He gritted his teeth and took the plate to eat. He was really afraid that Xiao Bei would eat it himself. If he had an upset stomach, Zhang Xiaobao would torture him.
While eating, Que Teqin continued to look at the arrangement of Zhuangzi. Xiao Bei was very happy when he saw that Que Teqin had eaten. He asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"
"I'm looking at whether your family can defend Zhuangzi if it's attacked," Que Teqin said vaguely as he ate.
Xiao Bei understood. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head, "Brother and sister said that unless we use the Tang Empire's cannons to attack from a distance, we will kill as many people as they come. Once someone comes close, they will face a three-dimensional crossfire attack. The people lying in ambush at the various firing points can shoot out the firepower of a machine gun with a single shot.
If too many people come, they will set up cannons. There are no blind spots in Zhuangzi. There are also two kinds of tactics. One is mine warfare, and the other is … why do I have to tell you everything? Do you want to attack our family's Zhuangzi? I'll tell my brother. "
As Xiao Bei spoke, he suddenly realized something and turned around to look for his brother. Que Teqin hurriedly reached out and gently pulled Xiao Bei back. He ate the rest of the food on the plate as fast as he could and said, "It's so delicious. Is there more?"
"Is it delicious? Yes, it's this cabbage and eggplant rolled with dried tofu. I'll make it for you now. Wait for me. "Xiao Bei seemed to have forgotten that he wanted to look for his brother. He turned around and went back to work.
Xiao Yuan followed behind and reminded him, "Aren't you going to tell your brother?"
"What should I say? That he wants to attack our family's Zhuangzi? Where is he? "Xiao Bei asked.
"Then just now you …"
"I saw that there were too many cabbages and couldn't finish them. You don't like them, so I gave them to him. Actually, I know that he doesn't like them either. If I didn't say that I was going to look for my brother, would he stop me? How stupid. "
Xiao Bei spread out a piece of cabbage and placed the eggplant in it. He even stuffed the cabbage foam into it and rolled it slowly.
Xiao Yuan opened his mouth and looked at Xiao Bei carefully, as if he had just met him.
"What are you looking at? Come and help me. Today's cabbages have to be eaten. Otherwise, they will wilt overnight. Even pigs don't like to eat them. "
Xiao Bei urged in a dissatisfied tone.
Zhang Xiaobao didn't know that his sister was scheming against him. He continued to talk to Mo Ji, who wanted to sleep.
"After you are appointed as an official in the capital, I will arrange a place for you. You will be responsible for planting pasture. It's easier than planting rice. You will feed the horses. If there are any leftovers, you will feed the sheep. You can't let the sheep eat it directly. It will dig the roots. You can choose a place yourself. Don't be too far away from the capital."
"Okay." Mo Ji nodded his head slowly. In order to have a good rest and divert Zhang Xiaobao's attention, he asked, "Is the garlic problem solved?"
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