Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 111 The New Look of the Guardhouse

The carriage moved forward unhurriedly, and the scenery on both sides of the avenue was moving backwards.

The carriage didn't have curtains, so Liu Ziyan, a curious baby, didn't need to look outside, as she could see the scenery outside while sitting inside.She saw by the river in the distance, a large water wheel was constantly turning, bringing the river water up to the bank, and then flowing along the long bamboo canal to the farmland in the distance.Many wells were drilled on some sloping lands, but the wellheads were sealed, and the two suction tube devices were several feet above the well platform. As soon as it goes up and down, streams of clear well water gushes out from the pig's mouth-shaped bamboo tube of the suction tube well, and flows along the bamboo canal to the land that needs water most.The crops that have been irrigated in time are growing green, and the ears of wheat are swaying in the wind, and the growth is gratifying.In the distance, groups of military households and civilians are shoveling off the weeds on the wasteland with hoes, and turning the land over. Behind them, a lot of land has been reclaimed, and the soil has turned gray under the scorching sun. .Some people ignited piles of dried weeds, and thick smoke shot straight into the sky, creating a realistic and wonderful scene of wolf smoke everywhere.In this age without chemical fertilizers, plant ash has become the most common fertilizer, so those shoveled weeds cannot be wasted.Liu Ziyan watched quietly, filled with amazement, and said after a long while: "We came all the way from Nanyang and passed through several counties. What we saw most was the scorched and cracked land of wheat and wheat. It was terrible. When we got here, there were actually some plants that were planted in a paradise. feeling."

Xiao Yufang said proudly: "Thanks to him for allocating money to build a waterwheel, dig deep wells, and build bamboo canals, otherwise you would see that the crops in the military field are worse than the crops anywhere else!"

Liu Ziyan said: "He is really amazing!" Suddenly seeing that the wheat in the tens of thousands of acres of military fields was more or less covered with blue and white powder, she couldn't help asking curiously: "What is that?"

Xiao Yufang said: "That is a kind of medicine he prepared. When it is sprayed on the crops, the crops will no longer be sick and withered, and even insects will not dare to eat those crops. Look, the crops in Juntian Are the leaves intact? Look at the crops in the adjacent farmland, they have been gnawed badly."

Liu Ziyan looked in the direction she was pointing, but no, the leaves of the wheat seedlings in every piece of military field were quite intact, while the crops in the adjacent farmland were gnawed to pieces, it was unbelievable.She became more and more curious: "What kind of medicine did he concoct that actually has such a magical effect?"

Xiao Yufang laughed and said, "I don't know how he came up with it. If he didn't tell me, I didn't ask. Anyway, it works."

Liu Ziyan thought she didn't want to say anything, so she didn't ask any further.These days, people with a bit of skill like to keep their hands. The pesticide has such a miraculous effect, and its formula is naturally a secret. As Yang Menglong's sweetheart, it is reasonable for Xiao Yufang to refuse to reveal it.She pointed to the crowd who were reclaiming the land: "Does Wuyang Guard have so many people?"

Xiao Yufang said: "That's not true. A small half of the staff are military households in the Wuyang Thousand Households Office, but most of them are hungry people who escaped from Shaanxi and Shandong. The big horse monkey said it would reclaim 30 million However, many people in the Qianhu Institute choose to work in blacksmiths, carpenters, bricklayers and other workshops, so we have to recruit those hungry people to help them reclaim wasteland, provide them with three meals a day, and give them a sling of pure copper a month After the land is reclaimed, those who are willing to stay and join the army will be given the land, and those who are not willing to stay will be paid and let them find another job.”

Liu Ziyan frowned and said: "The tax is so heavy now, the waste may outweigh the gain."

Xiao Yufang sighed: "I reminded him, but he didn't care. Those who say that they starve to death while guarding a large area of ​​land are idiots."

Liu Ziyan laughed straight: "The implication is that he is a smart person!"

Xiao Yufang looked helpless: "He has always had his nostrils upturned."

Liu Ziyan said: "I want to see how capable he is. He dares to organize refugees to reclaim wasteland when everyone is abandoning their fields!" Pointing to the gray land in the sun: "These fields have been reclaimed, but It’s too late to plant wheat, it’s too wasteful.”

Xiao Yufang said: "He said that the wheat harvest this season is not good, and we need to grow winter potatoes as much as possible, otherwise everyone will go hungry." Shaking his head, he smiled, "I can't see through him, weird ideas A lot."

The carriage drove into the guardhouse.Liu Ziyan was surprised to find that most of the houses in the entire guard had been renovated, not very luxurious, but at least able to shelter from the wind and rain.The drainage ditch is gone, but you can see a manhole cover every [-] or [-] steps. Needless to say, the drainage ditch has been turned into an underground pipe, and the scene of sewage cross-flow no longer exists. The whole bathroom is very tidy, very clean, even It was cleaner than the county seat, and it was completely different from the beggar's den in her impression.Xiao Yufang explained that this was also done by Yang Menglong. He spent money to repair the underground sewage pipes, and hired a dozen people to clean up the garbage and clean up, so that the whole bathroom became tidy and clean.

"In the first few days, he forced everyone to clean up, and the garbage that was cleared out was piled up into mountains. Then he made a lot of garbage cans and placed them on the side of the road. If you want to throw garbage, you can only throw it in the bucket. At the beginning, everyone was not used to it, and they still littered. He fined them a few times before they changed. Now, everyone likes this neat and clean environment, and they don’t need to be supervised. Anyone who dares to litter will be scolded to shame." Xiao Yufang said with a smile.Liu Ziyan noticed that many passers-by greeted Xiao Yufang proactively, the kind of enthusiasm and love from the heart was really enviable.She also saw several new shops opened in the guard, and it was really a new thing to do business in the guard.

"These shops are all newly opened. They sell rice, oil, salt, vinegar, and cloth. During this time, a lot of military households have been added to the guard. Smelling a business opportunity, I rented a store in the guard and started doing business. If Menglong insisted on them paying taxes and drove away many businessmen in anger, there would definitely be more shops in the guard.”

Liu Ziyan was surprised again: "He still needs to collect business tax?"

Xiao Yufang said: "That's right, he said that it's only natural for merchants to pay taxes. If you want to do business in the guard, you should pay him taxes honestly. The tax is [-] yuan. If you don't pay, you will automatically and consciously leave, and you will be angry. A lot of merchants."

Liu Ziyan shouted: "I collect business tax from very few people. He not only collects it, but also pays [-] per cent of the tax. Who wants to do business in his territory?"

Xiao Yufang said: "There are still some people who are willing to do it, and they are all small businesses that cannot compete with other businesses in the county. They are also unwilling to pay taxes, but later found out that after paying this tax, if someone comes to extort money, Wei The people from the office rushed over to arrest them immediately, and their business would not be affected in any way, and everyone paid willingly, because the money they lost due to extortion every month was much more than the tax they should pay.”

Liu Ziyan hummed: "Businessmen don't do business at a loss."

It was already evening when we returned to Qianhu House.Several old servants rushed out to greet her: "Miss, are you back?"

Xiao Yufang hummed: "I'm back. Move these things into the warehouse, be careful, don't break them... By the way, where is Lord Qianhu? What is he doing?"

An old servant said: "Lord Qianhu, today he asked everyone to pour green vitriol oil and mineral powder into a jar and mix them together and then bury them in the ground. After finishing these tasks, he came back, took a bath, and ran away. Go to the school and say that you are going to teach the children."

Liu Ziyan was surprised again: "He will teach children to read?"

Xiao Yufang looked helpless: "When I'm not free, he will take my place to give lectures to the children, but we don't understand what he said at all."

Liu Ziyan became interested: "Then let's go and see what he told the children, shall we?"

Xiao Yufang picked up An Ning, and led Liu Ziyan to the back hall, opened the back door, and arrived at Baicao Hall, just separated by a wall, so it was very convenient.Generally speaking, it was time for the children to leave school at this time, but the door of the school was still wide open, and bursts of noisy voices kept wafting out from inside, making it very lively.The two beauties quietly walked to the window, and saw a lot of messy things on the podium. Under the watchful eyes of countless pairs of curious eyes, Yang Menglong was dripping something into a cup, each drop one by one, and the inside of the cup There was a light sizzling sound, and a wisp of smoke came out.Many children left their seats and formed a circle to watch him operate.While dripping something, he warned: "I can tell you, this thing is very dangerous. If it splashes into your eyes, you may lose your eyesight, so you must not play it by yourself!" Help the little kid nod like a chicken sucking rice.

Liu Ziyan asked softly: "What is he doing?"

Xiao Yufang said, "I don't know..."

Probably because he had dripped enough things into it, Yang Menglong put down the small bottle that was said to contain very dangerous things, shook the cup slightly, put a small stone in it, took it out after a while, and put it in the tung oil lamp When it was heated, it sizzled, and blisters came out one by one.A bunch of little kids didn't even bat an eye, they were obviously fascinated.After a while, he called: "Give me the bird!" Xiaojun's little boy grabbed a pigeon from the cage and handed it over. Yang Menglong dipped a little from the cup and didn't know what the hell it was made of. The liquid was poured into the pigeon's mouth. The pigeon was still struggling at the beginning, but its strength was getting weaker and weaker. It stopped moving in less than 2 minutes.The children exclaimed in bursts: "Look, the pigeon will really pass out after drinking that stuff, it's amazing!"

Yang Menglong picked up the pigeon so that everyone could see it clearly. There were exclamations one after another, and the children said it was amazing.Yang Menglong said proudly: "Didn't I lie to you? Just one drop can overwhelm the pigeon! Now even if I cut open its stomach and take out the eggs from its stomach, it won't feel any pain!"

The children exclaimed: "It's amazing!"

Yang Menglong put down the pigeon and asked: "Children, do you still remember the name of this thing?"

The children shouted in unison: "Mongolian medicine!"

Yang Menglong puffed up his eyeballs: "Huh?"

The children quickly changed their words: "It's ether!"

Only then did Yang Menglong turn his anger into a smile: "Then do you remember how ether is made?"

The children said in unison: "Ethanol can be obtained by evaporating the water in the wine, and ether can be obtained by adding concentrated sulfuric acid to the alcohol!"

The two beauties outside the window looked at each other, ether?What the hell, but you can tell it's not a good thing at a glance.

Yang Menglong was very satisfied: "Yes, yes, you must firmly remember this process, because ether is a good thing, it can be used as an anesthetic, and with it, patients undergoing surgery don't have to endure the pain that is worse than death! Ether It is still a murderous weapon, whoever dares to hurt you, you can pour a little on him secretly, as long as the purity is enough, the poisonous gas it emits is enough to kill him!"

The children stared round their eyes, opened their mouths wide, and were dumbfounded.Xiao Yufang scolded in a low voice: "You bastard, it's outrageous to say this to the children, isn't that teaching the children bad!"

A girl raised her hand timidly, and said in a crisp voice: "Lord Qianhu, that's wrong! Miss Xiao taught us that every life is precious, and we must never hurt others for no reason. Why did you teach us how Harmful?"

Yang Menglong chuckled: "Because if a person is too kind, he will be bullied and even killed by others! Children, you must remember that you must not have the heart to harm others, and you must be defensive. The law must always be prepared!"

Xiao Yufang and Liu Ziyan are invincible!Those boys felt that these words were very suitable for them, and repeated in unison: "You must not have the heart to harm others, you must have the heart to guard against others, and you must always have the method of harming others!" The more they read, the louder they were, what exactly did Yang Menglong teach them? They may not necessarily remember, anyway, they will definitely remember this sentence firmly.Yang Menglong was very satisfied. He stepped off the podium and stretched out his palms to give each other high fives with the boys. The whole school was filled with the laughter and cheers of these demon kings. How could it be so messy like a school?It's even more chaotic than the vegetable market.

Liu Ziyan laughed: "The things he taught are really special!"

Xiao Yufang wanted to strangle that guy to death: "What kind of nonsense is he doing? He wants to teach bad things to children, right?"

Liu Ziyan said: "I think what he said is quite reasonable... You must not have the heart to harm others, you must have the heart to guard against others, and you must always have the method of harming others..." He repeated it in a low voice, and it seemed that the more he read it, the more fluent it was up.

Xiao Yufang screamed miserably, even Liu Ziyan was poisoned by this guy, what should I do?That bastard is really harmful!
(End of this chapter)