newbobooks Chapter 209 The secret recipe worked
Chapter 209 The secret recipe worked
An Luhai has been an official for many years. He is shrewd and smooth as a rock. He always leaves room for maneuver in everything he does, and this time is no exception.
"A fixed amount of lime from the Chui Mine is handed over to the imperial court every day, the rest is sent to the army, and the rest is sent to the lime shops in various prefectures and counties.
The amount of lime used to build the official road from Yizhou to Fuyuan was no less than that used to build a large city wall. The amount was so huge that the lime shops in Fuyuan County alone were simply not enough to provide it.
The imperial court's share of lime cannot be touched, and the army's share of lime cannot be touched even more, so I let the people of Hexi and Hedong villages go to the Chui Mine to burn lime on their own."
What An Luhai said was right. In Daliang, lime, like salt, was a commodity controlled by the government, and all transactions had to be conducted in shops set up by the government.
A shop that trades salt is called a salt shop, and a shop that allows lime trading is called a lime shop.
Daliang's construction industry is prosperous, and lime is the main material for building houses, building bridges, repairing walls and leveling roads, so its importance is evident.
In the north, in addition to building houses, the biggest use of lime is in building city walls to resist the occasional harassment from the northern barbarians.
After the lime produced by the Chui Mine is handed over to the imperial court, it will be supplied to the army first.
An Luhai did not use lime for this corvée because he did not want to delay the construction of the city wall on the front line.
Every word he said showed that he was thinking about the overall situation. He even put the eldest princess's order to build roads behind Prince Yan's need for lime. He was truly loyal to Prince Yan!
Wei Lin naturally understood the implication of An Luhai's words. The order he received was to reprimand An Luhai, not to punish him.
After all, An Luhai still has value for Your Highness.
Therefore, after An Luhai explained his so-called reasons, Wei Lin did not want to continue to pester him. His arrival was another warning to An Luhai, and his purpose had been achieved.
After Wei Lin took his men away, An Luhai's smiling face immediately turned gloomy, and his narrow eyes were filled with anger.
How did the King of Yan know about corvee labor?
It must be Luo Xiaoran and Du Kongqing who reported the incident again. The Yun Hu who came last time was in charge of Prince Yan's Dongfeng Caravan, and the one who came this time was simply Prince Yan's personal attendant.
What on earth could possibly catch the eye of King Yan about these two little bitches?
"Congratulations to the adults!"
A shout came from far away. It was the voice of the housekeeper in the backyard. Her round face was full of smiles and her mouth kept opening and closing.
An Luhai, who was already angry, became even more angry when he heard the servants' indecent noise. "This is a very important place in the county government. How can you make such a loud noise?"
"Snapped--"
The housekeeper immediately stopped smiling, knelt heavily on the ground, and kowtowed several times:
"Please forgive me, sir! I congratulate you!"
"What's the matter?" An Luhai asked.
He looked at the door of the county government office that allowed Wei Lin to enter and exit freely, and couldn't help but sneer. What good news could he have now?
"Ms. Yingchun and Miss Qiuxiang both have morning sickness!"
"What?" An Luhai asked with his eyes wide open, somewhat incredulous.
Although the housekeeper was kneeling, her expression was no longer as frightened as when she was scolded by An Luhai. Her eyebrows flew up and her voice was loud:
"Sir, it is absolutely true. I have asked several doctors to check my pulse. There is no mistake."
"Good! Good! Good!" An Luhai sighed three times and was about to walk towards the backyard.
"Sir," Tu Ye's voice sounded hesitantly, "this corvée labor..."
An Luhai paused. After experiencing both anger and joy in such a short period of time, his thoughts were a little confused.
After thinking for a while, An Luhai waved his hand heavily, with a look of contempt in his eyes:
"Forget it, I'll just consider it as accumulating merit for my unborn son, and won't bother with these untouchables for now!"
……
Without An Luhai's concern, there was enough lime, and the people from Hexi and Hedong villages quickly repaired the official road.
At this point, the flattest road in the northern territory appeared. Everyone who has traveled along the official road from Yizhou to Fuyuan will witness the flatness of this road.
The term of corvée labor had expired, and the people of the two villages returned home, exhausted and feeling resigned to having survived a disaster.
Luo Xiaoran stood still with the support of two crutches. Just as she was about to reach out and knock on her door, she found that the copper rings on the two doors were strung with an iron chain and a big lock.
"Did they go out?" Luo Xiaoran murmured to herself, then turned to look at Qiu Niang and Du Kongqing: "Where do you think they will go?"
Qiu Niang had only been in Hexi Village for a short time, so she had no idea about things that Luo Xiaoran could not even imagine.
At this time, Du Kongqing, who was born and raised in the village, expressed her opinion, "Maybe Uncle Xiang and his friends went to the fields to harvest wheat."
After hearing this, Luo Xiaoran suddenly felt that it made a lot of sense.
As they drove their carriage home, they couldn't help but be attracted by the wheat in the fields.
Under the sunlight, everything is golden, and the ripe ears of wheat stand upright in the ground, waiting to be picked.
A gust of wind blew, the wheat waves rolled, and the air seemed to be filled with a sweet scent. The beauty of colors and the beauty of the harvest were enough to wash away everyone's mental fatigue over the past two months.
Because a large number of people were conscripted for this corvée labor, most of those who stayed behind were women and children, so they were the ones who were harvesting wheat in the fields at this time.
But now everything is good, all those who were doing corvee labor in the village have returned.
For the farmers, food is of utmost importance. Although they were exhausted after two months of corvee labor, they still put down their luggage, grabbed a sickle and headed to their fields.
Luo Xiaoran's land was originally taken care of by hired farmers, but this time the corvée labor service included all her hired farmers, so her farmland is now left unattended.
Perhaps it was for this reason that Uncle Xiang and the others went to the fields.
Along the way, we met many villagers who were doing corvee labor with us. Their faces were filled with joy. Even if they met acquaintances, they would just say a few words of greeting and never stop walking, because they were rushing to pick up the fruits of a year's hard work.
Before reaching the farmland, Luo Xiaoran saw from afar Uncle Xiang's family, all bent over and working with their buttocks sticking out, each holding a sickle.
They held the sickle in their right hand and the wheat in their left hand, and cut the wheat close to the ground.
When the amount of wheat harvested is almost enough, they use the wheat straw to make ropes, tie them together and put them aside.
Uncle Xiang had the most wheat bundles in front of him, and his movements were the most agile. Although Aunt Ji's speed was not as fast as Uncle Xiang's, it was much faster.
Chen'er and Niudan were mainly responsible for piling up the harvested wheat to make it easier for Uncle Xiang and others to tie it into bundles.
They were short in stature, and a piece of slightly taller straw could poke their chests. The two of them were like two small gas tanks, running around behind Uncle Xiang's family.
Especially Luo Xingchen, who is not even five years old. He may have never been involved in farm work, and Uncle Xiang would never let him do any heavy work, so he is "busy up and down", but he does not feel tired, and therefore enjoys it.