Chapter 187 188 Repairing the City Wall
Tu Dianshi sat on the carriage, rang the gong, and shouted along the street: "Folks, hurry up and gather at the gate of the county government office. Starting today, we will start repairing the city wall."
An old man with gray hair and wrinkles on his face opened the door and said to Tu Dianshi: "Tu Xiucai, where do you get the money to repair the city wall? Even if everyone goes to work for free, where does the money for buying materials come from?"
Tu Dianshi looked at the old man and couldn't hide his joyful smile, "Chief Tong, Mr. Zhou has taken out all the money his wife saved, and there is also gold rewarded by His Majesty!"
"Bah," Chief Tong spat at Tu Dianshi, "Your Majesty gave this to your wife. Don't coax this bad old man like me. If a wife of the seventh-rank Sesame Officer can meet your Majesty, why should your Majesty reward her with money!"
Tu Dianshi squinted his eyes and said with a proud face, "You didn't know this, right? Master Zhou's wife is a first-class national protector wife, have you never heard of a first-class lady?"
Patriarch Tong grabbed Tu Dianshi's hand excitedly, "Sour scholar, is it true? You didn't lie to me?"
Tu Dianshi raised his hands and said: "I swear!"
Chief Tong said happily: "Okay, in that case, let's go build the city wall and do it for free!"
When Li Yu woke up, he found that Zhou Jia had already gotten up. He heard Xiaoyu and Mrs. Liu whispering something in the yard outside.
Li Yu put on his clothes and walked out of the room. Xiaoyu looked at Li Yu and winked and smiled: "Madam, why don't you sleep a little longer? The young master told us not to wake you up when he left."
Li Yu poked Xiaoyu, blushed and said with a warm smile: "Damn girl, you were chirping like a sparrow outside, you have woken up people a long time ago."
Xiaoyu hugged Li Yu's hand and smiled playfully, "Please forgive me, madam. I will serve you a meal right now."
Mrs. Liu steamed steamed buns, cooked multigrain porridge, and cooked two side dishes for breakfast. After Li Yu had eaten, Yang Wei came back with the land deed and handed it to Li Yu, "Madam, the young master bought the wasteland outside Dongcheng. Madam, Today, the Yamen was crowded with people who signed up to repair the city wall."
Li Yu took the land deed and said, "How much wages do you have to pay per day, Master, to hire someone to repair the city wall?"
Yang Wei said distressedly: "Ten coins a day, not including food. More than a hundred people have signed up in the county alone. I'm afraid the construction has already started. There are more than a hundred people! The daily wages are also quite high. Alas. ! I’m afraid the family’s money will be used to supplement it.”
Seeing Yang Wei's distressed look, Li Yu smiled and said: "Little money fan, there is also the money you found from the bandit's pocket. Alas! The young master has used up all the money at home. We have to make money quickly. Let's go first. Look at the wasteland, we must try to open it up as soon as possible and plant winter wheat."
"Yes, I'm going to set up the car right away."
Li Yu and Yang Wei drove out of the house, and when they arrived at the East City Gate, they saw that construction on the East City wall had begun, and there was a lively scene on the wall.
Li Yu drove the car and walked out of the city for half an hour. He arrived at the wasteland at the foot of the mountain. He picked up a hoe and dug a few times in the wasteland. Li Yu found that the soil in that land was a bit hard and he raised it. He picked up a hoe and walked around the wasteland, but found no water source.
I thought: It turns out that irrigation here is inconvenient, no wonder there is such a large wasteland near the county seat.
Li Yu looked up at the mountain and thought: The only way is to go up there and see if there is any water source. If there is no water source on the mountain, it will be really troublesome.
Ruyi and Ouyang, in charge, followed the bandits who came to pick them up from Hutou Village towards Dalu Mountain.
After going up the mountain, Ruyi felt that the mountain was not too steep, so they walked for a day and rested on the road for a night. On the second day, they walked through a pass when the sun went down and finally arrived at Hutou Village.
Hutou Village is built on a flat land on a mountain. From this point of view, the terrain of Hutou Village is much better than that of Qinglong Village.
Ruyi felt that the key to Hutou Village was the pass. As long as people were sent to guard the pass, it would be difficult for outsiders to break in.
Entering the village, you can see Guan Hu, the head of Hutou Village, who is tall and has a loud voice like a bell. You can tell at a glance that this person has huge manpower.
Ouyang Guanshi and Guan Hu agreed on a day to deliver food, and then went down the mountain with Ruyi.
After Li Yu saw the wasteland, he asked Yang Wei to take the car home and walked towards the foot of the mountain. He planned to go up the mountain to see if there was any water source on the mountain. Also, at this time of year, the wild animals on the mountain were plump, so he could take some game home. .
Li Yu cut a long wooden stick at the foot of the mountain and beat it on the grass as he walked to prevent snakes and insects from coming out. Although Li Yu was not afraid of such soft and cold things, he was very disgusted.
Walking up the path, I didn't even see a pheasant, let alone any other wild animals. On the way, I met several half-year-old children picking wild fruits on the mountain, carrying August melons and peach blossoms in their backs. Mom, there are some wild fruits that Li Yu has never seen before.
Several children looked at Li Yu curiously, and Li Yu asked them with a smile: "Children, do you know where there is a ditch near here?"
The younger ones huddled behind the older children. A boy with a round face boldly pointed to the path on the left and said, "Go from there, there is a cave not far away, and there is water in the cave."
Li Yu saw that the clothes and pants of several children were all patched. They seemed to be children from poor families. He thanked the boy with a smile and walked towards the trail pointed out by the boy.
After walking for half an hour, I saw a small cave that was only the size of a small square table. A thin stream of water flowed out from a crack in the cliff and flowed into a hole as big as a bowl. Li Yu thought: No wonder there is no water at the bottom of the mountain. There is a funnel here. Go down the mountain first, hire someone to dig a pond, and then take the water down the mountain. Thinking that autumn planting was coming soon, Li Yu had no intention of hunting in higher mountains.
Li Yu stood on the mountain and saw a village at the foot of the mountain on the left. He wanted to go to the village and hire some villagers to help open up wasteland. After thinking about it, he quickly walked down the mountain.
When I walked into the village, I saw a mule cart parked on the roadside. There were several little girls huddled in the mule cart with tears on their faces. The mule cart was surrounded by villagers in shabby clothes, and there were also women who were crying looking at the mule cart. .
Not far away, a man in rags with red eyes was walking toward the mule cart holding a seven or eight-year-old girl in one hand. Behind him, a woman led a crying little girl and stumbled after the man.
The woman was panting after the chase, with a look of panic on her face. She rushed over and took the man's hand, pleading, "Her father, please don't sell the child. We have survived the famine, and now we are seeing Things will get better now, and Daya and Erya will be able to help with the work at home, her father, I beg you."
When he was almost in front of the mule cart, he didn't know whether it was the woman's wailing that made the man relent, or the two silently crying children that made the man reluctant to leave. The man stopped and the woman rushed over and hugged the two little girls one by one. In his arms, the little girl behind also rushed over and hugged the woman. The mother and daughter burst into tears. The helplessness and despair in their voices broke the hearts of the onlookers!