"One, two, one, two …"
On the bank of a river in Lantian County, a group of people shouted and pulled baskets up.
Bamboo crowns were placed under the baskets, and ropes were tied to the crowns. More than half of the baskets were filled with mud.
Zuo Xiaowei's men were guarding at the side, and the people working were slaves from the southwest barbarians.
Li Yi finally thought of what work could be done. Each county was assigned more than a thousand people to clean up the mud in the river.
In winter, there was less water to clean up the mud. It was convenient, but it was cold.
Out of the twenty counties, six counties would be cleaned first. After six counties were cleaned up, six counties would be changed.
In the other two counties, slaves who dug coal would be transferred to do it.
The left and right guards and left and right valiant guards would take turns to guard, and their 'wages' would be handed over to the Ministry of War.
Li Yi was in charge of their meals, and the slaves did not receive money from the county for their work.
In fact, they should ask for money from the Ministry of Works, which was considered as helping the Ministry of Works.
Li Yi knew that if he did not get the money, Wei Zhigu would not give him money, nor would he give him money.
He would just treat it as doing a good deed. What right did he have to raise nearly twelve thousand slaves next to Chang 'an?
What if other rich families raised a thousand guards? Did they want to rebel?
The key was that Li Yi knew that many people would erect a long life memorial tablet for him. This was the will of the people.
The people could not give him much money, so he simply did not ask for money. The slaves were idle anyway.
Lantian County was close, and the team arrived first. They brought baskets, crowns, ropes, and backpacks with daily necessities.
When they arrived, they jumped down to work in their boxers. Li Yi did not care if they would get sick after a few decades.
When the Tang dynasty asked the people to transfer slaves, the people did the same. Some even went down naked.
Li Yi was distressed that the villagers could not do it. The people of the Tang dynasty could do it, but the slaves were nobler than them?
When they were working, some people were beaten from time to time.
The captives who came later were not fully integrated into the big families, so they were lazy when they were working.
Zuo Xiaowei watched and recorded the scores.
When the other captives saw this, how could they let it go? If you are lazy, we will be unlucky and beat you.
After being beaten, they suddenly became diligent when they were working again.
The local people stood on the shore and watched. As they watched, they realized the situation.
"Everyone, help me weave baskets. Wicker, youtiao, and bamboo baskets are easy to break."
Someone shouted that the broken basket would delay their work.
In Lantian County, there would be droughts and floods. If the river was cleaned, there would be fewer floods.
There was no need to worry about the drought as there were newly dug wells.
"That's right. Each family will contribute one basket. This is for us to work on ourselves. The person who sells the baskets offers two baskets, but you guys are faster. "
Another person followed suit and shouted. After shouting, he went back home to get a basket of youtiao. It would take half a day to weave a basket of youtiao.
The people who specialized in making baskets and selling them were very fast. They had wooden shelves, so it was very easy to make baskets on the shelves.
Some of the people in the county town even went to buy baskets. It was not worth it to make one by themselves. If they had time to work, they could earn a few baskets of money.
In a village that was not a county town, the village chief organized people to weave baskets.
Especially those who were not in good health and could not do heavy work, the village provided for them.
No one would be at a disadvantage if they helped out at the side basket.
Otherwise, if the Ministry of Works found someone to clear up the silt, he would have to jump in himself to dig.
Now that there were people working for free, why couldn't they contribute a basket?
"Dongzhu, the team of Khitan envoys in Chang 'an is here. There are only four of them. They said that they can come over at any time."
Song De found Li Yi, who was passing bamboo shoots to the pandas and communicating with them.
"Come in. I'll meet them here." Li Yi passed a bamboo shoot to the pandas.
The pandas who were taking care of the children reached out and took it. They hugged it and started chewing.
They did not want the outer layer and only ate the inner layer. They were taking care of their children and needed to eat good food.
"You still have to eat bamboo. It's not that I can't afford to feed you guys. It's your gastrointestinal needs.
I know you like to eat meat more, but eating too much meat is not good for your health. Look at me … sometimes I eat vegetables.
At night, I want to exchange a baby with you. If you keep drinking milk powder, the baby's body is not healthy enough … "
Li Yi sat there and looked at the road and talked to the pandas.
Pandas could not bathe, so the smell was not good. Li Yi sat in the limelight.
Bang! Bang! The pandas slammed the cage. They had finished eating and were waiting for Li Yi to send the next one. Li Yi was talking, so the pandas reminded him.
"Here. Do you know how much a big bamboo shoot like this costs now?
This is stored in the ice cellar. The others are soaked in salt water. I didn't bring them for you.
Those that have been soaked in salt water have to be soaked in salt water. They are all skinless and can be eaten by people.
In the ice cellar, you need to light a kerosene lamp first. Use the kerosene lamp to reduce the oxygen in the air and increase the carbon dioxide … "
Li Yi started to explain to the pandas how to store the bamboo shoots they ate.
After the amount of ice in the ice cellar was set, a few kerosene lamps were put in to light, and the cellar was sealed.
When the kerosene lamp burned to a certain extent and there was no more oxygen, it would be extinguished and sealed in the cellar.
The kerosene lamp burned in the cellar and consumed oxygen. The carbon dioxide increased and the metabolism of the bamboo shoots slowed down.
It was equivalent to Li Yi's air storage at that time. It was better than a cold storage.
The pandas ate and listened. Anyway, they did not understand. They only knew that they were happy to be able to eat fresh bamboo shoots in winter.
"You gave birth late. Other pandas' babies are already old enough to eat soy sauce. Look at yours … Someone is here."
When Li Yi and the pandas were talking, four people came over.
There were three officials from the Honglu Temple. They were responsible for recording what they heard and saw.
"Li Dongzhu, no, Doctor Li. My name is Tian Qingyuan, the Vice-Minister of the Honglu Temple. These two are the Vice-Minister of the Honglu Temple, Liu Tong, and the Registrar, Changsun Wanyun. "
Tian Qingyuan introduced himself and the other two officials. He was a Secondary Class Rank Four, the Vice-Minister was a Secondary Class Rank Six, and the Registrar was a Secondary Class Rank Nine.
Li Yi stood up and returned the greeting.
Tian Qingyuan continued to introduce the four Khitans. The Khitans did not have surnames. They just gave themselves names.
"They are Brother Bo, Syer, Na Duo, and Qi Canhan." He finished the introductions in one sentence.
The four of them bowed. Li Yi returned the greeting again. "The four of you are here in Zhuangzi to witness the friendship between the Tang dynasty and the Khitans. Song De, invite Bacharcha and his brothers over."
Song De left. Eight maids and eunuchs placed a small table and chairs, as well as a plate of fruit and tea.
"It's not cold here. We have pandas, so there's a heating system underground. The room is stuffy and can't hold many people."
Li Yi explained why he did not invite them into the room.
Bang, bang. The pandas smacked the wood. There was no more. There was more.
Li Yi picked up a bamboo shoot and handed it to the pandas. The pandas took it and sat at the edge of the cage, watching the group of people eat as they ate.
It meant that they could talk among themselves. I won't talk to you. Remember to pass me food.
Not long after, three hundred and ninety people arrived.
They were reading the Hanyu pinyin page of the newspaper. They were talking to each other as they walked over.
When they arrived, they bowed to Li Yi almost simultaneously. "Li Dongzhu."
Li Yi returned the greeting with a fist salute.
The three hundred and ninety people looked at their own envoys in Chang 'an and nodded slightly as a greeting.
The four envoys were speechless.
They felt stifled. Whose side are you on? We should be your superiors. Shouldn't you be closer to us?
"Go and get some stools. I can't take care of you all by myself," Li Yi said casually to the Khitan captives.
The three hundred and ninety people dispersed. They knew where the stools were.
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