Chapter 285 Commanding the World
Ma Linger came in excitedly and said that she would not go tomorrow and had to take care of the things in her hands. She felt that she had read too little and was a little worried that she would not do well.
Zhao Yulin took her into his arms and encouraged her, saying that they could apply the methods they had used in Hanzhong and Guanzhong to different situations. Yangjin was coming back soon, and she had a lot of tricks in her head. He could talk to her more when he was free.
The woman imitated Fenghuang's method and stamped his face happily. After a crisp sound, Fenghuang exclaimed "Wow" at the door and said she saw it all. It was so sweet.
Zhao Yulin and Ma Ling'er were so frightened by her that they no longer felt any disgust towards her.
The next morning, Zhao Yulin went to the government office to meet Lao Cao. He saw Li Zhongmian also came, and asked Li Gong if he could endure the long journey.
The old man said happily that it was no problem for him to travel from Lin'an to Chengdu.
Lao Cao told them to get in the car quickly and set off as they had quite a ways to go. They quickly arrived at Huanhua Creek and took a boat westward.
Lord Li looked at Zhao Yulin and said with a smile that the people of Shu were blessed under the protection of the Divine Power Army as they had never suffered from war. Unlike the areas of Jiangdong, Jiangbei and Guanzhong, they were either plagued by war or banditry, making their lives miserable.
Lao Cao also said with great emotion that the land here is fertile and that just dropping seeds will produce abundant fruits.
Soon you will see large tracts of river beaches and wet fields. As long as the ditches are well managed, they can become excellent farmland with drainage and irrigation. A large number of people will come to reclaim wasteland and cultivate the land.
He had thought it all out. The temporary housing for the new Yangliu River would be built in accordance with the permanent housing arrangements. After the river channel was managed, it would be distributed to the people who came to open up wasteland and cultivate the land. This was what the brother said: "Killing two birds with one stone."
Haha, Lao Cao picked up Zhao Yulin’s words again.
When they arrived at Wenjiang in the middle of the day, the county magistrate realized that the three important figures from the Administration Office had arrived, and he hurried to the east gate to greet them. Zhao Yulin saw that the hem of the county magistrate's clothes and shoes were covered in mud, and he couldn't help turning aside and laughing.
However, Lao Cao yelled at the county magistrate in a careless manner and asked him to lead the way and go directly to the river repair site.
A large group of officials came to the river repair site outside the south gate of Wenjiang River, surrounded by common people working hard. Hearing that a high-ranking official from the court had come, they stretched their necks and squeezed over to watch the fun, which made Zhao Yulin and Lao Cao's guards very nervous.
The county magistrate took out a tin loudspeaker and shouted: Lord Cao, Lord Li and Commander are here in Wenjiang, welcome, welcome.
The common people had never been trained on how to express welcome. Some shouted loudly: "The judge is here!" Some picked up hoes and shovels and slammed them on the stones; some put down their carrying poles and learned to applaud and welcome from the county magistrate. The scene was very lively.
The county magistrate asked them to give him a lecture, but none of them said anything.
Zhao Yulin felt that something should be done, so he asked Lao Cao to represent the Production and Construction Department to go down and dig two hoes to indicate that the river repair work had started.
After Lao Cao picked up the iron trumpet and praised the river workers, he actually went down to the bottom of the river and dug two full baskets of silt, then stepped onto the springboard and carried them ashore.
All the people and officials were applauding and cheering for him.
It was already evening when we returned to the county government office. The county magistrate was preparing wine and food in the government office. Zhao Yulin said with a smile, "I wonder how much of the migrant workers' wages we will spend on this trip?"
Old Cao laughed and said that there was a budget for everything. Mrs. Ma had already allocated funds for the river work and the food and drinks for our inspection, right?
The county magistrate was already sweating profusely, but when he heard Cao Youwen's question, he immediately said yes, and Chengdu had already transferred the funds for the repair of the Yangliu River. It was clearly written in the official document, and there was also a sum of money for reception and entertainment.
After dinner, Li Zhongmian suggested visiting the nearby Confucius Temple.
It was early winter, and the leaves of several large ginkgo trees were falling in the wind, leaving the ground covered in golden yellow.
Lao Cao said happily that this time the Yangliu River was dredged, close to Qingcheng County above and deep into Shuangliu County below. Once completed, the agricultural and sericulture deacon told him that he would be able to obtain 50,000 acres of fertile land. 50,000 acres, that would produce a lot of grain.
Mr. Li was overjoyed when he heard about such a large-scale farmland construction. However, Zhao Yulin felt that the river management was not thorough enough and was far inferior to the rows of neat and square fields he saw in later generations.
In later life, he had seen the Yangliu River. The hardworking people of Wenjiang had straightened the river by carrying materials on their shoulders and backs, and now there were large tracts of fertile farmland on both sides of the river that could be used for floods and droughts.
What he saw today was just the dredging of rivers to straighten bends, which was far from completely controlling the rivers and improving the farmland, but it was also a great progress.
This was a tough battle led by Lao Cao in the land redemption. He wanted to use the fields created by dredging the Yangliu River to suppress the land prices in the hands of the landlords.
Just think about it, once these 50,000 acres of land are released, and the rent is waived and given to the landless people, they have to cultivate it for five years before the rent is collected when it matures. How many people will rush to come and farm the land?
Lao Cao also ordered the renovation of the houses used by river workers and allocated to the people to settle down, which was equivalent to giving houses for free. It can be seen that he was going all out in his efforts to overthrow the landlords who owned vast amounts of land.
Mr. Li praised Chengdu's decision to take action on land and resolve the issue of land to the tiller. He said that the people in Jiangdong were suffering because their land was occupied by the rich and powerful.
In order to grow crops for food, the poor people had to build sheds in the depressions with picked up wooden boards, and then dig up the silt and pile it on the roof to create land to grow crops and make food.
This is the raised field invented by the people of Jiangdong. It is to raise the silt on the deep water tidal flats to grow crops. Zhao Yulin thought it was incredible. How much manpower would it take? How big a piece of land could be created?
He felt that the people of Jiangdong were really suffering.
He was just looking at the fallen leaves and thinking, when Lord Li suddenly asked, "When will you marry Princess Feiyan?"
Zhao Yulin was stunned for a moment, looking at Mr. Li stupidly, at a loss as to what to do.
Li Zhongmian sighed and said that Princess Feiyan had a miserable life. She had seen the emperor but never called him, and the emperor had never even hugged the little princess once.
Lin'an was in danger and the emperor was worried about her life, so he issued an edict in a hurry. This shows how important the little princess was to the emperor.
Now that the emperor is imprisoned and the Zhao dynasty's rule is no longer in sight, when are you going to marry the little princess?
Zhao Yulin looked at Li Zhongmian with concern in a daze. He sorted out his thoughts and said that he had discussed it with Feiyan and it would be done in a few days.
Mr. Li said solemnly that Madam Danfeng was very worried, fearing that her brother would break off the engagement and ruin Feiyan's lifelong happiness.
Damn, is this a bit serious?
Zhao Yulin said that he had just moved into Chengdu and there was a lot of work to be done, so how could he have the time to think about this matter?
He planned to establish a republican court as soon as possible, raise the banner of anti-Mongol resistance, and call on heroes all over the world to work hard to defeat the hungry wolf of the Mongolian army and rescue the abducted officials and all the Han sisters.
When Lord Li heard that he wanted to build a small court and issue orders to the whole world, he was shocked at first. But then he foolishly heard that he wanted to rescue the officials and everyone, and he became happy again.
The old man said happily that marrying the little princess would not hinder saving the official, so brother, give me a definite answer, when will you marry the little princess?
Zhao Yulin said with some embarrassment: "Let's hurry up and set up the court. It will take three years, at least two years." When he returned , he proposed to completely relocate the workshops in Jinguan City and use our new court as office space.
Lord Li nodded repeatedly and said that it could be done faster. Wouldn't it be better if we set up the court's institutions first and then move in when the new city is completed?
Oh, it's really true that the princess is not anxious, but the ministers are. Why is Li Zhongmian so concerned about Zhao Feiyan's marriage?
Zhao Yulin said that he was not worried that if things were pushed too fast, some people would be unhappy and do something rash.
Mr. Li looked at Lao Cao and said that things had come to this point, like an arrow on a string that had to be shot. It would be better to do it as soon as possible, whether it was done early or late.
Lao Cao also nodded heavily and said, "Brother, since you have chosen to establish a republic, then you should move forward firmly. I believe that the people have seen through all the good things we have done during this period."
Seeing that the two of them had highly consistent opinions, Zhao Yulin felt a lot less pressure. He said it was late at night, so they should go back to their room and rest.
The next morning, the county magistrate asked them to check their high-yield rice and wheat fields. Zhao Yulin asked with a smile, "Could it be that the yield was increased by moving crops from five acres of land to one acre of land?"
The county magistrate listened with anxiety and sweat on his face. He trembled and said that he would never dare to fool his superiors. These were all high-yield varieties selected by the experienced farmers.
He looked at the embarrassed county magistrate and said that he was just joking and not to take it seriously. But farming cannot be sloppy. Falsely reporting the yield can kill people. In his case, it is a matter of losing one's head.
Especially seeds, they may work well in one place, but may not adapt to the local climate and soil when moved to another place, so you must not take it lightly.
The county magistrate then calmed himself down and took the two farmers away, asking the farmers to report the situation truthfully.
Lao Cao was very satisfied when he heard that the rice yield had reached 500 kilograms. You know, the average yield of a good rice plantation is only about 300 kilograms.
Wenjiang can produce 500 kilograms, which is amazing.
Zhao Yulin asked Feihu to take out 100 strings of silver coins as a reward to the old farmer, encouraging him to continue cultivating new high-yield varieties. The old farmer was very happy holding the new silver coins.
Lao Cao smiled and said that the money he spent on repairing Yangliu River was not wasted, and asked the county magistrate to work hard and plant all the good rice seeds next year to increase the grain production.
After lunch, everyone returned to Chengdu.
As soon as Zhao Yulin arrived home, someone from the government office came to inform him that Mr. Ding wanted to discuss matters tomorrow. He began to admire the old man's diligence.
In the Danfeng Garden of Baihuatan, the maid reported to Kuang Sisi: Madam, Lord Li is here.
Kuang Sisi hurried out to greet them. Li Zhongmian took two quick steps forward and said, "Why bother Madam Danfeng to come out? I will go in by myself."
After Kuang Sisi came to Chengdu, the prefect Ding Gong thought that she would always have to face the people of Chengdu, so after discussing with the officials, he gave Kuang Sisi a nickname "Danfeng". From then on, the officials called her Madam Danfeng.
