"Time to work, time to work. Use the river sand we dug out last year to pave the road and fill in the cracks."
While Bi Goo and the others were eating, the rain stopped.
The southwest barbarian captives' days of rest and language learning were over. They pushed the wheelbarrow with picks and shovels to soak in the sand by the river.
The river sand they dug out last winter was cleaned up along the way. The silt was used to fertilize the fields and the river sand was put together.
In winter, the river sand was frozen solid. After the rain, it was still hard and frosty inside.
They needed to use picks to dig out large pieces of sand. They put them on the wheelbarrow and pushed them to the gravel road.
After winter, some parts of the gravel road were swollen and some parts sank when the rain fell.
They had to be flattened with sand and shovels. Otherwise, they would continue to sink and become a depression.
The common people had finished weaving cotton and sorghum stalks. Since they had nothing else to do, they helped to repair the road.
The imperial court provided free soup, black bread, and pickled vegetables.
The common people didn't get paid, but they were willing to repair the road.
The common people of the capital government didn't try to be polite. They felt that they had taken advantage of the situation and quickly reported it to the imperial court.
Of course, the captives couldn't stay idle. Their bodies were better than when they were fighting the Military forces of the Tang Dynasty.
To put it bluntly, the food they ate when they were soldiers was not as good as when they were captives. The Li Family Zhuangzi gave them plenty of food.
The Khitan captives were once again in charge of management. Their families were all here. Now, they were working and didn't feel like captives anymore.
A group of people left and returned to Khitan to help with spring plowing and trade arrangements. They had knowledge, experience, and plans.
The 16 guards sent out a small number of people to watch over them. For every 100 captives, there were basically three people watching over them.
The captives didn't have any other ideas. They worked hard and learned, hoping to become officials when they returned.
Those who didn't want to go back told the Li Family Zhuangzi about the situation at home. The Li Family Zhuangzi went to the southwest to find people and bring their families out.
The latest news showed that more than 2,000 families had arrived in the Tang Dynasty's territory. The soldiers in the southwest were in charge of them.
When the weather got warmer, they would go south along the Yangtze River and walk through the canal to the Yellow River.
When they arrived, they would be given a house to live in. They wouldn't live in their own shacks and tents.
There were also some who were very angry. They had been captured, and their wives and children were with other people.
These people held their breaths and worked hard, hoping that one day they could go back and take it back.
Obviously, they wouldn't rebel even if he asked them to. They had nowhere to run.
Even if there was a chance to steal a horse, how could a horse outrun the three horses of the Winged Knights?
Sprinting to the side of the mountain and taking the land route, they had to cross the mountains and the Qinling Mountains. How many people did they think they could survive in the Qinling Mountains?
Or go all the way west and take the plank road, where the people on the plank road won't stop you?
Therefore, with picks and shovels in hand, they had no other thoughts.
They only hoped that the person in charge of guarding them would give them a good evaluation in the book so that they could accumulate more points and exchange them for more resources.
…
"It's actually not the right time to build roads, but it's too late to catch up."
Li Yi looked at the people on Zhuangzi Highway plowing the soil by the cement road and estimated the situation.
It was just the beginning of spring, and the roads had been smoothed out. When the rain increased and the temperature rose, the roads would continue to be repaired.
If they didn't fix it now, it would take a lot of work in the future. The people would be farming and wouldn't have the time.
Even though they knew that they couldn't do their best, they still did it.
After the repairs were done, it would be easy to repair it again after some time.
There was no need to build roads on Zhuangzi Highway. All roads were made of cement, and there was space on both sides of the road.
Manure was dug in, and after a few days, flower seeds were planted. After summer, flowers could be seen, but there were no shrubs.
Song De and the palace maids and eunuchs stood at the side to listen and learn.
They learned with a purpose. Even though they knew that they shouldn't build roads immediately, they still built roads.
Administrative orders and actual situations might not always be the same. Many seemingly unreasonable administrative orders had special considerations behind them.
Of course, these considerations didn't include forcefully rejecting other people's grain when it was about to be harvested.
Behind these considerations were the bureaucrats, not the people's livelihood.
The real consideration was to actively organize the people to replenish the seedlings or change to other crops when the flood was about to hit them.
Even if they knew it was too late and that the other crops weren't good enough, it was still better than leaving the land idle. If they could increase their income, they would increase their income.
Doing one's best to help the people get 40% of their losses and compensation. This was administrative flexibility.
It was the same at the moment. After they knew it, they still had to fix it. If they didn't take the opportunity to fix it and fix it later, it would cause the people to delay their work.
How could the people not know? It was like they were tidying up the land. Doing something was better than not doing anything at all.
Li Yi told these words to Song De and the palace maids and eunuchs. This was called administrative, this was called the people's livelihood.
"Just like fighting a war, it is difficult to win with a surprise move. In terms of administrative affairs, it is difficult to win with a surprise move. It is better to do things properly and try to help the people a little."
As Li Yi spoke, he went to the riverside to take a look at the situation of the river.
Due to the weather, the upper reaches of the Yellow River weren't open yet. However, there were icicles flowing downstream.
If the upper reaches of the river were open and the upper reaches were still not open, there would be an ice flood.
At the start, they would use artillery. Later on, when their blasting skills were good enough, they would use explosives.
If it really didn't work, they would still use artillery. The kinetic energy of artillery shells was the greatest.
Li Yi didn't use explosive shells to blast the ice surface, but it didn't have much effect.
Thus, if he felt that the ice flood would come, he would try to drill holes and use gunpowder to blast it. It would be more concentrated and loose.
Otherwise, the ice flood would flood the North Protectorate Manor.
There were also small icicles in the Ba River. They were irregularly shaped and collided with each other as they flowed downstream.
"Is there any news from Lantian County?" Li Yi looked at the river and asked.
"No, the icicles downstream have been washed away. The river there is much better. The silt was cleared in autumn."
Song De knew what Dongzhu was asking about. Lantian County was one of the counties that Zhuangzi focused on. It was connected to the Ba River and had many industries.
"Is there any news from Hukou Waterfall?" Li Yi asked about another place.
"Yes, our people have finished building the boats there. Now, the ice at the waterfall has been washed away. The big ice blocks above have not been seen yet. They said that they would have to wait for ten days."
Song De immediately replied. It wasn't easy for him to be in charge.
"Make the necessary arrangements. Don't be like Zhuge Liang in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It's useless even if you tire yourself to death."
Li Yi turned around and looked at Song De. He was satisfied, but also not satisfied.
You have so many assistants by your side. When I ask you a question, you let your assistants answer. Do you think I will look down on you?
Song De smiled, "It's just that other people are in charge. I just happened to take a look and remember it."
"Buzz ~ ~" There was a sudden movement in the sky. A large flock of pigeons flew in circles with whistles.
Some of the pigeons fell behind and flapped their wings to return to the group.
Some of the pigeons realized that they couldn't catch up with the pigeons and took a shortcut.
"Jiang Jiang is quite good. Good carrier pigeons will take the initiative to hide in the bushes when the enemy is near. They will fly close to the ground and after flying for tens of feet, they will return to the bushes.
When they feel that they are safe, they will fly up into the sky and fly towards their nest. The grassland will raise eagles to deal with them. "
Li Yi saw the pigeons and was satisfied. However, he had his own opinions.
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