Ang Lee hadn't cooked in person for a long time. After all, with Ang Lee's current status, he didn't need to do any chores himself. He could just hand it over to his subordinates. However, for Ang Lee, sometimes cooking in person was also a kind of enjoyment, especially cooking with the person he liked. This feeling was even more wonderful.
Zhao Yefu obviously didn't know how to cook. Her movements were very clumsy. When she washed and cut the vegetables, she was very careful to avoid cutting her little hand.
"Yefu, let me do it! You just have to watch. "
Ang Lee said and picked up the kitchen knife. He cut all the dishes at the foot of the mountain. His movements were so swift that Zhao Yefu was surprised. After all, people with high status generally didn't cook in person. Since there were servants to do it for them, there was no need to do it personally. However, Ang Lee was obviously an exception. For Ang Lee, cooking by himself could adjust his mood. It was a very happy thing. He didn't feel that cooking by himself was shameful. Especially when he cooked for the person he liked, this sense of achievement was even stronger.
"Am I stupid?!"
Zhao Yefu frowned slightly and said faintly.
She saw that Ang Lee was so smooth in cutting vegetables and cooking, but she was so clumsy. Naturally, she had some doubts about herself.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "Yefu, you think too much. Cooking can only be smooth with more practice. Anyone will be very clumsy when cutting vegetables for the first time. After more practice, it will naturally be effective. Let me teach you."
After that, he demonstrated in person and taught Zhao Yefu to cut vegetables little by little. He taught very seriously. Zhao Yefu also learned very seriously. She really looked like a good student.
"This dish looks like there are only a few dishes. I didn't expect it to be so simple when cooking. It's really hard to cook!"
Zhao Yefu personally accompanied Ang Lee to cook a dish and sighed.
This dish was a very simple mushroom stir-fried vegetables. Although the ingredients were very simple, it looked like there were only vegetables and mushrooms, but there were a lot of ingredients in it. This was also for the sake of the taste of the dish. If there were only vegetables and mushrooms, the taste would definitely not be good, but after adding these delicious ingredients, the taste was very different.
There were more than ten kinds of ingredients, including minced garlic, scallions, chili powder, seasoning oil, and so on. Finally, there was some sauce on top. Needless to say, the taste was very delicious.
Due to the severe shortage of food in Dongnu Province, Ang Lee and Zhao Yefu didn't waste too much food. They only prepared five to six dishes for a meal. Besides, other than a portion of rabbit meat, the rest of the side dishes were all vegetarian. Each dish was personally made by Ang Lee and Zhao Yefu.
"Come, Yofu, have a taste of my dishes. See if they taste good."
Li An said in a very gentle voice.
Zhao Yefu smiled. He gently picked up a piece of vegetable and put it into his mouth. Suddenly, the fragrance lingered in his mouth and teeth. He looked very satisfied.
"Delicious, really delicious."
Zhao Yefu said happily.
"As long as Yofu thinks it's delicious. Since it's delicious, eat more."
Ang Lee said gently.
Not long after the meal, all the dishes were finished. There was no waste. At this time, diligence and frugality were virtues. It was very worthy of affirmation.
Just as they finished eating, news came from the south. Zhao Wufu took back all the lost cities and killed all the bandit leaders. Of course, Zhao Wufu wouldn't report it directly. Instead, he said it was an accident, a purely accidental event.
"The bandit leaders who surrendered were all burned to death. Is this really just an accident?"
Zhao Yefu looked at the report sent from the front. He was a little surprised. He felt that there was something strange about it, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "Yofu, you're overthinking. What can be strange about it? These bandit leaders have done too many evil things. Even God can't stand it anymore. It's God who wants to punish them."
This vicious plan was made by Ang Lee. However, Ang Lee would never admit it. In front of Zhao Yefu, he still had to pretend to be a warm man. It was better not to let Zhao Yefu know about such a vicious plan. In addition, since this plan was discussed by Ang Lee and Zhao Wufu, they naturally had to hide it as much as possible. The fewer people who knew, the better. The more people who knew, the more disadvantageous it would be.
"That's right. This fire burned away the sins of these bandit leaders. They can start anew in their next life."
Zhao Yefu couldn't bear it and said.
Ang Lee smiled faintly and quickly turned over this heavy topic. He talked about a lighter topic with Zhao Yefu.
Now, outside Wangcheng, many people were mobilized. They saw that the transformed terraced fields could withstand natural disasters. They all came out to help. They wanted to complete all the transformation in advance in the shortest time possible. As long as the transformation was completed, they could plant crops again. As long as their crops were harvested, the food shortage crisis here could be solved.
As long as the people saw that the transformed experimental fields could indeed withstand natural disasters, these people would believe in these experimental fields and be willing to join the work of transforming the terraced fields.
Zhao Daiwen, who was in charge of this matter, was very happy that the people could have such awareness. He had always been worried about the lack of manpower. Now, so many people took the initiative to ask to join. This made Zhao Daiwen very happy. As long as there was enough manpower, then many things would be easier to solve.
The transformed terraced fields had been providing vegetables and other ingredients in advance. This was more or less helpful in alleviating the food shortage crisis in Wangcheng. As long as more terraced fields were transformed, then solving the food shortage problem would be more assured.
Of course, at present, there were too many terraced fields in Dongnu Province that needed to be transformed, and the manpower was far from enough. The people in many areas still didn't know about the transformation of terraced fields. They were still bandits in the mountains, living a day of collecting and robbing. If they could rob food, they could eat their fill. If they couldn't rob food, they could only dig grass roots and peel bark to satisfy their hunger. If this labor force could be liberated, the transformation of terraced fields would naturally be greatly accelerated.
Now that the big trouble in the south had been solved, the next thing to deal with should naturally be the small groups of bandits in the mountains in the north. Rescuing them and turning them into ordinary people was what Ang Lee urgently needed to do in the next stage.
After dealing with the matters in the south, Zhao Wufu led a thousand elite troops and quickly returned to Wangcheng. He left two thousand trusted troops to guard the core city and be responsible for educating and managing the newly recruited soldiers. With these soldiers as the backbone, he could return to Wangcheng with peace of mind. After all, the twenty thousand new soldiers were all bandits who had surrendered. They didn't have much experience as soldiers. If no one led them, it would be easy for problems to arise.
"Fifth Minister, you're back so soon! I've seen the good news. Not a single fish escaped the net. It's really worth celebrating! "
Ang Lee said.
Zhao Wufu smiled and said, "This is all Assistant Minister Li's good plan! Burn everything down and end all troubles. Those ordinary bandits won't be able to figure out the situation at all. These old bandits are a big problem for me. Getting rid of them all at once makes me feel much more at ease! If I really bring them back to Wangcheng, I don't know what to do with them. None of them are easy to deal with. Keeping them alive will cause trouble sooner or later. "
Ang Lee nodded in agreement. These bandits had accumulated deep habits. Many of their problems and habits couldn't be changed through education. Their bad habits were imprinted in their bones. It was nonsense to say that they could change their bad habits. It would be impossible for them to change their bad habits. Of course, a few of them might be able to change their bad habits, but most of them definitely couldn't. It was obviously a risky thing to let go of most of the bandits who would definitely do evil in the future for the sake of a few who could change their bad habits. Ang Lee and Zhao Wufu were unwilling to take the risk. They would rather kill a few by mistake to eliminate all these threats in the bud.
Of course, the bandits weren't the only ones who were burned to death. The generals and colonels of the rebel army who were above the rank of centurion were also burned to death. Since they could rebel once, there was a possibility that they could rebel a second time. It was too dangerous to keep them around. It was better to eliminate them.
"Most of the rebel army and bandits have been eliminated, but there are still many scattered bandits scattered across the mountains. It's quite troublesome!"
Zhao Wufu said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Fifth Prime Minister is right. This is indeed troublesome. However, we don't have to worry. We can take it slowly. After a few days of rest, I'm going to lead three hundred soldiers to the mountains to persuade the bandits to surrender. After all, most of the bandits are ordinary people. As long as we can reason with them and move them with emotion, I believe we can still persuade them. If they don't appreciate our kindness, then we can only eliminate them."
When it came to eliminating them, Ang Lee seemed very cold. It was as if he wasn't talking about a human life, but a chicken. Ang Lee couldn't be blamed for being cold. If he was too merciful, there would be no way to govern the country well. Governing a country was to be strict. If the people were lawless and did whatever they wanted, then the empire would be destroyed.
When it came to governing a country, Li An had always had his own unique views. He believed that there must be rules in governing a country. One must know how to reward and punish appropriately. One must not be easily swayed by one's emotions. Everything must be done in consideration of the overall situation. For example, dealing with the matter of commoners turning into bandits was a test of one's wisdom.
First of all, many ordinary people became bandits purely to survive. Therefore, when dealing with these bandits, one must give them a chance to turn over a new leaf. As long as they were willing to turn over a new leaf, it would be fine. Of course, they must also be given food to survive. If these people were starved and were not allowed to become bandits, then this request was a bit too much. These people would definitely not agree.
Now, the most powerful weapon to persuade the bandits to surrender was food crops. As long as there was food, it would be easy to persuade these new bandits to surrender. If there was no food, the work of persuading the bandits to surrender would be very difficult. Ang Lee had to bring some food to persuade the bandits to surrender in the mountains. At the same time, he had to give them a way to continue living. He had to make them believe that they could still live after they stopped being bandits. In this way, all kinds of difficulties could be easily solved.
After talking with Zhao Wufu for a while, Ang Lee went back to rest. A few days later, Ang Lee brought his own three hundred soldiers and some food and vegetables to the nearby mountains to persuade the bandits to surrender. Although the number of people in the team was not large, the battle formation was still very strong. With this deterrent force, Ang Lee believed that it would not be difficult to eliminate all the bandits.
Only Ang Lee could bring food and vegetables to eliminate the bandits. In many times when there was a shortage of food, many soldiers would eliminate the bandits. They would not consider whether these bandits became bandits because they could not survive. They only wanted military merit. As long as they could achieve military merit, they would do anything. They would even want more bandits. The more bandits there were, the more military merit they could achieve. That military merit was accumulated by the number of people.
In many times, the generals at the border liked to use the number of people to accumulate military merit. When the civilians became bandits, they could collect the heads and turn it into their own military merit. As for the lives of the civilians, they could not be bothered to care. What they wanted was military merit, not the lives of the starving civilians. This military merit was often very easy to obtain. After all, many starving civilians were weak. They did not have the strength to resist and were easier to eliminate. Then, there would be a large pile of military merit.
Sometimes, even if the rulers knew about this, they would be indifferent. In the eyes of some rulers, it did not matter if there were more or less civilians. As long as their country was stable, it was enough. Since some civilians did not have food to eat, they would let them disappear. This way, the remaining civilians would have enough food to enjoy.
This cruel method of abandoning some civilians was obviously not appropriate. After all, every civilian was a manpower. The more manpower there was, the faster the development. A civilization with a small population could never be compared to a civilization with a large population. A civilization with a few thousand people could at most give birth to a stone age civilization. A tribe with a few million people could give birth to a very brilliant civilization. The more people there were, the better the development of the civilization.
Outside Royal City was Mount Guichang, which stretched for hundreds of miles. The places with gentle slopes had been developed into terraced fields, while the places with steep slopes or rugged terrain were frequented by many bandits. Although these bandits were only dozens of miles away from Royal City, due to the complicated terrain in the mountains, the soldiers of Royal City had not encircled and exterminated them. They were considered poor people, and it would be too cruel to kill them. After they surrendered, they would have to take care of their food and drink. Therefore, they could only let them look for grass and tree bark in the mountains, and did not interfere with their occasional robberies.
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