Chapter 487: Frogs croaking
Wei Rensheng immediately asked him to look at the huge map on the wall and told him that the roads and canals in Huaxi Village had been measured and drawn.
Huaxi Village is two miles away from the Chengwen official road. Roads are opened on both sides in front of the Zhang family courtyard gate and lead to the slopes on both sides. They all go north along the slopes and connect to form a loop at the foot of Nanbao Mountain. The canal is built along the road. This is the easiest way to plan.
Zhao Yulin nodded in satisfaction, and asked the deacon of the Water Department: Can building roads and ditches in this way meet the irrigation water needs of Huaxi?
The deacon reported that it was feasible. They still needed to build a canal about one and a half miles north of Nanbao Mountain to raise the water level, and open branch canals on both sides to divert water to meet the water needs of the entire village.
He looked at Hu Lan and A Qian again. Both women said that they had walked along this route before, and this route was indeed the most convenient way.
Hu Lan said that the fields should be adjusted as much as possible, and the five families living scattered on the flat land behind the Zhang family's yard needed to be relocated.
The deacon of the Water Department reported: These five families live in the center of the plain, which is low-lying and often flooded . However, considering the distance of the newly built residential area, we can let them all move to the slopes for the convenience of farming. When we adjust the fields, we can also easily straighten the plots and form rows of well fields.
Zhao Yulin was very happy. These young men were all willing to use their brains, so it was not a wasted trip.
The deacon of the Agricultural Affairs Department followed up with a report: There were some low-lying areas on both sides of the slope, which were suitable for growing lotus roots and raising fish. It would be time-consuming and labor-intensive to create fields there, so he suggested preserving them and digging them into lotus ponds.
Zhao Yulin said that was right, and that it was better to plan like this, and use the land for forestry if it was suitable for forestry, and for fishing if it was suitable for fishing. He reminded the agricultural stewards to bring in the best seeds from nearby to replace the seeds, and make full use of dry land and low-lying land for planting and breeding.
Zhao Yulin asked everyone to imagine: Huaxi is so close to our capital, if it was built like a garden, with fields neatly arranged, rose racks and grape corridors built on the roads, in spring there would be rape flowers everywhere, and the air would be full of the fragrance of rape flowers; in summer there would be lotus flowers in full bloom, and in autumn the rice would be golden, and there would be beautiful scenery all year round.
There is such a beautiful village right on the edge of the city. I'm sure all the city people will rush to Huaxi and stay here to enjoy the lotus and the scenery.
Everyone followed his thoughts and thought that the third young master's idea was a good one.
But many people also think that there are wheat fields, rice fields and rapeseed fields everywhere, and everyone is used to seeing them. It is dull and there is nothing attractive about it.
Zhao Yulin said there was no rush, let's take it step by step and finish the things at hand first, so that at least the people will have a clean and comfortable place to live.
Everyone agreed to wait until the rooster crowed twice before going to rest.
Hu Lan waited on her to go to bed, and the two of them chatted at night. I told him: Madam Qian is very careful. She copied all the accounts in triplicate.
He said that this is how accounting should be done. Strictly speaking, to do everything well, one must be careful. Tomorrow, we will start building ditches and roads. There are more things to do, so we must be careful. We have money, but we can't spend it carelessly. This is to pave the way for the court. How to reform the villages in the future depends on us to find a solution. There are thousands of villages across the country, and this is not a trivial matter.
Hu Lan pressed half of her body on him, her hands still exploring his secrets, and the couple soon closed their mouths and began to explore each other.
After daybreak, the village head, Zhang, came with ten old men. As soon as they met, they knelt on the ground and kowtowed to them. Hulan and Aqian quickly helped the old men up and asked them to sit in the living room.
Hulan installed tables and chairs in the living room of the Zhang family compound and transformed it into a trendy meeting room. When have these people ever enjoyed the opportunity to sit face to face and talk with the officials of the imperial court?
This is called being on an equal footing. How can common people in this era be on an equal footing with high-ranking officials of the imperial court?
What’s more, he is the third young master, second only to the king.
Everyone was trembling with fear. An old man who was holding a tea bowl had his hands shaking, as if he was holding a hot sweet potato and felt very uncomfortable.
Hu Lan asked with a smile: "What do you want to ask, elders and relatives? Feel free to ask."
Old Zhang said: Huaxi's council has been elected, and it's just them. Everyone came to thank the Third Young Master for building a road to wealth for them. Huaxi Village didn't have anything valuable, so everyone decided to give the Zhang family compound's house, land, and the flowers, plants, and trees on the land to the Third Young Master.
Zhao Yulin was happy. He didn't come here to really take this yard for himself, but since they were so kind to him, how could he lose their face?
He smiled and asked Hu Lan to take the contract handed over by Old Zhang, thanked him, and told them that the land in Huaxi Village was limited and they were not allowed to give it away casually in the future.
Now that spring irrigation is imminent, we must quickly start the battle of repairing ditches and roads. All those who have labor at home should come out to work, and he will pay them. The council fairly divides the labor into three categories for registration: the first category is capable and skilled masters; the second category is strong and healthy laborers; the third category is young people and the elderly who are weak but can still work, and he will pay them according to the daily labor.
Secondly, we need to carry out publicity to every household and register the land occupied by ditch and road construction. We will compensate one year's income based on the best harvest of wheat and rice. After the land adjustment is completed, we will redistribute the land to make up for the land occupied by ditch and road construction.
He was afraid that the old men would not be able to remember, so he did not dare to say more. He asked a few deacons to write them down one by one and then go to the farmers to spread the information. The first step was to dig and lay out the ditches.
Zhao Yulin was building water conservancy projects in a small village in Chengdu, while Chen Chen, who was far away in Kaifeng, was also encouraging the generals and workers at Cunjin Dike.
Li Dagui, the commander of the garrison, was worried about hurting Mrs. Chen Chen, so he didn't let her go to the front line to entertain the troops. I even brought up Zhao Yulin to teach him a lesson, telling him that the Third Young Master attached great importance to water conservancy, and repairing the Cunjin Dike was equivalent to winning a great war, so he had to go to the river engineering site to entertain the troops.
Da Kui was unable to stop Chen Chen, and personally protected her on both sides. The river workers and military generals were delighted to see Mrs. Chen Chen coming, and they worked hard with all their might. The scene was filled with joy.
Chen Chen picked up the iron loudspeaker and shouted: Brothers, work hard, the sooner we repair the Cunjin Dike, the sooner we can take back Shandong, and we will not let the northern barbarians bully our Shandong brothers and sisters anymore.
A deafening response broke out from the construction site: Work hard and complete the repair of the Cunjin Dike as soon as possible.
I was checking the way and giving out homemade cakes and noodles when suddenly the opposite side opened fire. Three consecutive shells landed in the river less than five feet away from the bank, causing ice and dirt to fly.
Da Kui immediately shouted and hid.
The river workers quickly hid in the anti-gun holes prepared nearby.
Da Kui told Chen Chen that the Northern Barbarians' Huihui cannon had been improved again and could actually fire at such a close distance, making our task of defense even more difficult.
Behind them, the large catapults of the Shenwei Army had already started working. The Shenwei Army had a hot air balloon fixed with thick ropes in the sky for observation. They soon discovered the position of the Mongolian Huihui cannon and immediately ordered the catapults to fight back. They did not sound the all-clear until the artillery shells on the opposite bank exploded and the Huihui cannon disintegrated.
The soldiers and civilian workers came out immediately, and the river repair site was busy again.
Chen Chen said to Da Kui that repairing the river was difficult. Yulin Ge'er didn't see it, so she wanted to report the situation here to the Chengdu Central Court in detail.
However, Da Kui said honestly that our suffering was nothing compared to the bloody fighting on the battlefield.
Hubili saw that the Cunjin Dike was getting higher day by day, and it was inevitable that it would block the Yellow River water from returning to its original course. He was very unwilling to let it go and asked the craftsmen to make bigger Huihui cannons, but it was of no avail.
As long as his Huihui cannon fired, the Shenwei Army would always find a way to find it, and after a round of shooting between the two sides, his efforts would always be in vain.
Because the Shenwei Army was also rushing to make larger catapults, only a few of the super-large catapults equipped with spring assist were needed to be deployed along the line to effectively control the river bank.
The Mongolian army’s artillery shells needed to be large enough to damage the river embankment, but the Shenwei Army’s artillery shells did not need to be large. They only needed to destroy their artillery positions, which gave the Shenwei Army an advantage.
Hubili saw that his Huihui cannon was destroyed again, and he sighed as he looked at the river from the other side. He helplessly ordered all prefectures and counties along the river to inform them and urge the people still living in the river to move out, as the river was about to boil.
Li Dagui was delighted to see the river water flowing down from the upstream with icicles on it. Although the water was still small, it seeped into the riverbed intermittently while flowing, and it was still the ice flood period.
The Yellow River is diverted from Cunjin Dike to the northeast. The temperature will be lower as it goes downstream, and the water flowing downstream will refreeze. The ice will freeze more and more, and the ice will become thicker and thicker, eventually breaking the dike downstream and forming a new flood area.
This depends on whether Hubili cares about it or not. If he doesn't care about the lives of the people, it will inevitably cause the people to flee everywhere, and let the people see clearly that the grassland empire does not care about people's livelihood and is unreliable.
If he were in charge, such a large-scale project would be enough to get him into trouble.
In Hangzhou Prefecture, the leader's daughter arrived. The female leader was surprised to see her fairy-like daughter still young as if she was frozen. She asked her repeatedly what martial arts skills she had learned that allowed her to become a fairy.
The little girl was delighted and said with a blushing face: Mother, you are just joking. There is no new or strange skill here. It's just the same meditation and exercise as our mother.
The female gang leader didn't believe it and asked if he had inherited the essence of Zhao Yulin's Tai Chi swordsmanship, and if Zhao Yulin was also eternally youthful.
The head woman's pretty face turned red, and she whispered that her mother was teasing her daughter again.
After dinner, the female gang leader wanted to test the leader's female kung fu, so she asked her to take her mother to the roof of Wende Hall to view the city of Hangzhou. She really wanted to overlook the night view of the city from above.
The head girl smiled and said that it was not difficult, because her mother was not old in body and heart, and then she took her mother's hand and climbed up to the roof of Wende Hall with her light kung fu. The head girl secretly admired her daughter's great progress in martial arts, and she was already better than her father.
