The wind on the river was not small, and the overturned boats moved back and forth endlessly.
Compared to the north, the wind on the river was not cold.
In the depths of the grassland, there were traces of plows on the snow.
The horses pulled the plows and ran at a leisurely pace. Sacks were placed on the plows.
The horses in front of them ran over, threw down a sack, and left.
The coachman stopped the horses and went over to open the sack. There were cut fodder inside.
On one side, the plows pulled pine nuts, while on the other side, they transported grass and food. This created a spectacular scene that stretched for 1,500 kilometers.
There were more than 150,000 people in the entire pine nut picking operation.
It was estimated that after this one harvest, the production for the next two years would be very low.
In a forest at the end of the line, two steam engines were working, burning firewood.
"The pine towers are wet and hard to hit. Fortunately, two masters came with them to replace the damaged parts."
Jiang Gang was standing beside a steam separator, talking to Fu Diji, the leader of the group.
"Many thanks to the craftsmen of the Li Family Zhuangzi. There are many sheep."
Fu Diji was happy. He was not afraid of the cold.
According to him, 40 kilograms of pine nuts were worth the price of one sheep.
His clansmen were arranged to stay beside the Heavenly Soldiers. There were warm paths and heated kang beds.
All the men in the clan who could work came over, including the older children.
The pine trees were tall, and the children climbed them quickly. A net was set up below, and the children were caught when they fell.
When they first arrived, they could use a long pole to hit the pine nuts. Then, they found an empty space to dry them. They peeled them with their hands, but when they rubbed oil on their hands, they could not wash them clean with soap.
Now that they had gloves, they could not dry them and were directly thrown into the powerful machines.
There were a total of ten steam engines, and they were distributed in several places.
At night, they lived in tents made of tree branches. The outside of the tents was covered by the skins of the wild beasts they hunted.
The skins of the wild beasts were stained with blood and frozen hard. They could be used to block the wind.
When it was cold, they went outside to warm themselves by the fire. There was a large iron pot over the fire, and soup was always boiling.
No matter how cold it was, drinking a mouthful of hot soup would warm them up.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Fu Diji bowed in the direction of Chang 'an.
Suddenly thinking of something, he changed direction and bowed again in the direction of Luoyang. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for giving my clansmen a stable and good life."
"It's more because of your diligence and willingness to work hard," Jiang Gang praised.
"Were we not hardworking in the past? It's for the good of Your Majesty! "Fu Digi corrected Jiang Gang's mistake.
"Did His Majesty not treat you well in the past?" Jiang Gang questioned.
Fu Di was stunned. He looked at Jiang Gang and said at the same time, "It's the Later Turks' fault."
"Next year, we'll think of a way to plant pine trees. Even if it takes many years to produce pine nuts, the trees won't affect other things."
Jiang Gang saw a huge economic income. Now, none of the trees used for firewood were red pines.
It took more than twenty years for the pine pagoda to grow. Pine nuts were produced every year. Pine nuts were so expensive that they couldn't bear to hurt the trees.
The young pinecones should not be touched. Wait until they grow up next year.
The pine nuts from a few pine trees were equivalent to raising a sheep. How tiring was it to raise a sheep? There were so many red pines in the mountains. How many sheep were there?
"Send people to guard it. Whoever dares to set it on fire will be killed."
Fu Difu had taken a liking to the red pine forest. It was all about money!
In the past, his clansmen had chopped down many red pines. The wood was good. Chopping down a tree had many uses, such as burning a fire.
"Of course, send people to guard it. There are also pine mushrooms. Pine mushrooms are also expensive in Chang 'an and Luoyang. Dried pine mushrooms are more expensive than pine nuts."
Jiang Gang knew the market. The people of the Li Family Zhuangzi loved to eat pine mushrooms and blood red rivet mushrooms.
Monkey's head mushrooms were also good, but they could be planted. The Li Dongzhu had the ability to grow them. There were also wood ears.
Pine mushrooms couldn't be grown, but everyone liked to eat them. In the end, the rich learned to eat them.
"My clansmen will arrange it. Send a few people to keep an eye on it."
Fu Difu expressed. He took the initiative to ask others to supervise it.
"It's fine with you guys." Jiang Gang looked relieved. Anyway, the other party wouldn't ask for the pine nuts. He could only sell them to the Li Family Zhuangzi.
If they picked more, the price would decrease. They had to wait until they could pick more. How could they not distribute the benefits well?
"Whoever dares to hide or sell privately will be punished by the clan law."
Fu Difu was touched. He really treated his clansmen as his own people of the Tang dynasty.
He had already given the good arrows to the Tang dynasty. Each arrow was about the same weight and length.
This included other knives and tools. They didn't monitor the place where his clansmen lived.
They could rebel at any time if they wanted to, but … the clansmen didn't have the intention to rebel. They didn't belong to the surrendering family and lived a normal life.
If they could suddenly kill the Military forces of the Tang dynasty when they were unprepared, what would happen after that?
There were so many bags of explosives, sky-piercing monkeys, and guns. Wouldn't their clan be wiped out?
As they were talking, another pile of mature pine trees was dragged out of the forest on a sleigh.
They wore masks on their faces. Their mouths, noses, and eyes were exposed. Everything else was covered.
When they breathed, a layer of frost appeared on their masks and eyelashes. The longer eyelashes had ice particles on them.
In fact, their requirements were very low. As long as their hands, feet, and ears didn't freeze, they could withstand the cold.
A group of people came over and hid in the enclosure. They found their own leather boots, wiped their feet with a hot towel, and put them on. They took off their boots and continued to roast them.
After one round of roasting, they could wear them for four to six hours. They were afraid that they would sweat too much. Once they were cold, their feet would start to freeze unless they exercised vigorously.
When Li Yi was patrolling the border in the north, his material skills were good enough! Their feet would freeze if they stayed in the snow for a long time. They could only withstand it.
They couldn't let the border guards wear spacesuits. It wouldn't be cold, but it would tire them to death.
The group that came back was not responsible for the follow-up matters. They first rested, drank hot soup, and sat together to chat happily.
Fu Diji and Jiang Gang went forward to look at the state of the people. There were people from other clans.
When they were with the Later Turks, they had to do it. They were beaten up. When the Later Turks couldn't fight, they quickly joined the Tang dynasty. Anyway, they would follow whoever was stronger.
Cai Songzi and the others participated. In addition, there were people from the Heavenly Soldiers Army and the Hengye Army.
When the distribution was based on the number of people, the Heavenly Soldiers Army and the Hengye Army received an additional 20%.
The logistics were handled by the Tang dynasty. 20% of the cost was for logistics.
Others agreed. Anyway, they couldn't handle the same logistics. Even if they were given an additional 50%, they wouldn't be able to.
As for eating from the same pot and not putting in effort, only the number of people was counted. The result was obvious.
The number of people! The number of people who put in effort was counted.
It was still the number of people. There was nothing that people couldn't solve.
"Use the moving machine?" Fu Diji asked his clansmen.
"No need. There's still a lot. The children are very hardworking. When we go back, bring them meat porridge."
Fu Diji's clansmen reported that the children climbed up and hit the pine tree.
There was a small house made of leather below. When the children were tired, they went in to rest. Many water bags were filled with hot water to warm the children.
The same tree branch, the children were fine, but the adults broke it.
Many times every day, there would be children falling down. When they lost their balance, they couldn't catch them or step on them firmly. The adults below supported the net.
When the pine tree fell, they shook the net and went up. When the children came down, they had to catch them. Their arms were wrapped around the edges of the net.
So far, none of the children fell. All of them were caught.
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