Chang 'an City had a circle of gates. In addition to the gates in the north that connected to the Forbidden Garden, there were 13 gates in the east, west, and south.
Yanxing Gate, Chunming Gate, and Tonghua Gate were in the east of the city, close to Zhuangzi.
The other gates were far away, so the captives were not allowed to enter the city. They had to go around the city.
They split into three teams and ran forward.
Their tools were snowshovels and shovels made of bamboo, with a waxwood pole attached to the back.
The Winged Knights were responsible for guarding the city. The other 16 guards of Chang 'an came out to help with the snow removal work.
In the past, the 16 guards did not work. There were special cleaners on the streets of Chang 'an. They swept slowly and then piled the snow in the corners of the streets.
This year, the 16 guards were more diligent. The Winged Knights were closer to the people. They were responsible for security and honor, so they found there was nothing to do.
The Winged Knights were behind the palace, ready to attack at any time. It was not their turn.
So they volunteered to work. If they did not work hard, they would be eliminated.
Yao Chong agreed. The main reason was that Li Longji wanted the army to work.
The army was now training. They took turns to protect the Li Family Zhuangzi. There was no war.
Was clearing the snow not part of the training? Go.
With the addition of the 16 guards, the snow in Chang 'an began to be transported out.
It turned out that the cleaners were only responsible for driving the carts. The carts of snow were sent a few miles outside the city.
The Li Family Zhuangzi contributed a lot of ox carts and horse carriages.
After a heavy snowfall, the snow removal activities began.
There were captives and 16 guards. The people watched the fun and swept the snow off their houses with long bamboo poles.
"The 16 guards are working for the people. It's not easy. Go, kill 500 sheep. Ask the people in Zhang Village and the riverside settlement to cook mutton soup."
Before class, Li Yi thought that the work was hard, so he wanted to help them.
By the time he finished his class, it was already noon. Buckets of mutton soup and piles of bamboo tubes were being delivered to various places.
The 16 guards were listed as having 200,000 people. In fact, there were only 140,000 people. Where did the 60,000 people go?
Five hundred sheep meant that on average, two hundred and eighty people drank the soup from one sheep. It was definitely not enough to eat the mutton, but it was still possible to drink the soup.
In the end, more than three hundred people drank the soup made from a single mutton. The offal and mutton were all cooked in the soup.
Bucket after bucket, they kept bringing it in.
Seeing that there was soup ready to drink, everyone prepared their own meals.
"Did you see that? Li Yi is showing off his wealth. He killed 500 sheep just like that."
Bi Goo ran to the Political Affairs Hall to eat with the three prime ministers.
"What he showed was his logistical ability. Five hundred sheep is enough as long as he has the money. Turning five hundred sheep into soup in one morning and sending it to the place requires more than just money."
Lu Huaishen did not agree with Bi Goo. What he saw was the scale of the Li Family Zhuangzi's influence.
Obviously, the Li Family Zhuangzi did not use his full strength. Otherwise, he would have been able to prepare a meal for all the officers and soldiers of Chang 'an's sixteen guards.
Yao Chong drank a mouthful of the mutton soup that he had specially brought from outside. The mutton and offal inside had been minced and boiled.
Half of the large pot of mutton soup was scooped out first. Hot water was boiled on the side, and the soup continued to boil.
The half pot was brought out in buckets, along with some minced meat.
He smacked his lips. The taste was not bad. The vinegar and salt were added, but there was no pepper. He probably thought it was too expensive.
Yao Chong drank two more mouthfuls. "In autumn, the Li Family Zhuangzi took over the transport ships from the south. He specially bought grain and supplied it to the sixteen guards. It was enough to last them a month."
"That's why he's rich. He's showing off." Bi Goo's eyes were filled with money, and so was his brain.
At this time, Zhang Shuo said, "He's showing the captives Zhuangzi's strength. If they work for him, they'll have good days."
Lu Huaishen also drank two mouthfuls of soup. "I think he's showing us Zhuangzi's ability to mobilize people. Otherwise, he could just find a random place and see who can do what he's doing now."
The people in the government hall were discussing Li Yi. Li Yi was drinking mutton soup and eating pancakes in the Zhuangzi.
The soup he was drinking was the same as the others. There were only minced meat and no large pieces.
Song De was sweating a lot as he worked. He accompanied Li Yi to eat and drank a bowl of soup to replenish his water and salt.
"Dongzhu, the people at the stall said that Dongzhu was showing them the strength of the Li Family Zhuangzi. Otherwise, he wouldn't have killed five hundred mutton to make mutton soup."
Song De was very proud. He now had a lot of power.
"How can there be so many thoughts? I saw the sixteen guards move. What about eating? It's cold and sweaty working. Let's kill them and give them soup. "
Li Yi was just as he said. He didn't have any other thoughts.
The sixteen guards were sweeping the snow. The people were happy to see them and felt safe. They drank some hot soup to warm themselves up.
If it weren't for the fact that pork wasn't suitable for making soup, he would have killed a batch of pigs. The best pork soup was bone broth, unlike mutton soup.
Song De was stunned. So simple?
He talked about another matter. "Dongzhu, the captives who didn't work are anxious. They want to help clear the snow in the surrounding area."
"It's good that they're anxious. Tomorrow, let them clear the road from Zhuangzi to Lantian County. Those who work today can rest." Li Yi had a smile on his face.
Play tricks and balance. No matter how many subordinates they had, they had to make them feel threatened.
In January, a team leader and a squad leader from each team would go down to work. They would work hard.
After a long time, they would focus on competing with others and forget that they were captured to do manual labor.
They spent all day thinking about how to increase their points instead of when to join forces with others to attack Zhuangzi and escape.
The captives who were mentioned by Song De and didn't work continued to eat rice with bran and some salted vegetables.
Those who worked drank mutton soup and ate the biscuits sent by Zhuangzi. The salted vegetables were replaced with shrimp oil. There were a few types of salted vegetables and it was delicious to eat.
The Winged Knights recorded everyone's performance and gave them marks.
Those who worked fast and mastered the skills well were given five points. Those who were worse were given four points.
Those who didn't know how to do it were given three points for those who looked clumsy.
As for those who were lazy, they didn't. The captives were afraid of being given low marks and implicating themselves. They would be punished when they returned.
They didn't have names, only numbers. The numbers were embroidered on their clothes.
The squad leaders and team leaders looked at the Winged Knights nervously. They wished they could stand at the side and see how many marks they gave, even if they couldn't read.
While everyone was busy sweeping the snow, a group of experienced hunters walked through the forest with difficulty.
Each team had two binoculars. There were more than 50 people in a team. There were also some who brought their apprentices to broaden their horizons.
There were less than a dozen people who worked hard for a thousand stallions.
Hu Feng's team had 14 people. Guan Shan's apprentices followed along with 34 dogs.
Ten of the 34 dogs followed beside Hu Feng's team while the rest ran out to look for prey.
They didn't know about pandas. Anyway, they came back to report when they found prey. If there was danger, such as a bear or tiger, they would bark to remind them.
If it was a wolf pack, they would bark even more. Moreover, the sound of their barking was different.
Hu Feng could judge the situation by the barking of the dogs and prepare in advance.
He had four mountain guard dogs. His 12 apprentices hadn't found a real mountain guard dog yet. They only had hunting dogs.
Everyone was not nervous. With 34 dogs and 14 people, they could handle any animal.
Even if it was a wolf pack, it was impossible to meet more than 20 wolves on this mountain. It wasn't a grassland.
A pack of less than 20 wolves could be easily dealt with by the dogs.
"Master, there are people over there." The apprentice held the binoculars and reminded him.
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