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

Chapter 90

Qi Hu's unintentional words made Yang Menglong, who had already got into the corner of his head, suddenly realize that, yes, the most important thing now is not to mine salt mines and make steel, but to find a way to keep the harvest!The projects of salt mining and steel making can certainly bring him huge profits, but this year's grain loss is almost inevitable. Without food, the whole Wuyang will be in chaos. He also picks woolen salt and refines egg steel. ?Yes, let's find a way to keep this year's harvest first!

Farmers in ancient times had no pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and relied on the sky for food, even in China, the most successful agricultural country.Insects, hail, floods, droughts, typhoons... These terrible disasters threaten the crops in the field all the time, and farmers are almost helpless about it. The weather is good, but if they encounter natural disasters, they will be dumbfounded. Unfortunately, the collapse of every dynasty is accompanied by a series of terrible natural disasters, which cannot be countered by manpower, such as the current Little Ice Age.Although Yang Menglong had never farmed a field before, but seeing the crops that were gnawed to death by pests, he also knew that if he did not try to cure the pests, this season's crops would be ruined!There is also the problem of irrigation. The irrigation system of the military fields in the Weisuo is basically ruined. Many fields cannot be irrigated.

Everyone can't help it, but he has it. If there is no way, he won't be called Yang Menglong.

The next day, Yang Menglong got up early in the morning and ran to the fields again, this time specifically to check the canals.Unsurprisingly, large sections of the canal were clogged with dirt, gravel, and weeds, and riddled with rat holes.Qi Hu, who came with him, sighed: "It is useless without repairs, but even if it is repaired, it is useless. Now the drought is so severe, and the water in the river is getting less and less. I am afraid it has not flowed to the fields. The drains have been sucked dry!"

Yang Menglong said: "It is not easy to repair such a long canal. I am afraid that the crops will die before the canal is repaired, and there will be such nasty pests..." Shaking his head, he walked to the river past.

When he came to the river, he saw that the water level in the river had dropped so much that it was almost level with the water intake of the canal, and very little could flow out.There is still water, but there is no way to lead it to the field, so I can only watch it rush away.Early in the morning, many farmers and military households came to the river to water their fields. A few healthy young men stood in the river and poured buckets of water into the canal more than one meter above the river. One is tired and another is replaced. These taciturn farmers are engaging in a desperate tug-of-war with God with amazing perseverance. The prize of the game is the crops in the field.Yang Menglong wondered: "Why not build a waterwheel? With a waterwheel, can't the water in the river be lifted into the canal?"

The farmer who was asked said helplessly: "Where is this spare money!"

That's right, the cost of a waterwheel is not low, they can't even eat enough, how can they afford it?
Yang Menglong scratched his head, said nothing, and went back.

In Qianhusuo, plumes of cooking smoke rose from dilapidated houses. Presumably those people were mixing grains and wild vegetables and cooking them in a pot?They could only eat two meals a day, and wild vegetables took up most of them. Although Yang Menglong gave them some food, no one dared to let go of their stomachs.Yang Menglong approached Chen Baihu: "Go and inform everyone that we will gather at the playground after dinner. I have something to discuss with them."

Chen Baihu said, "Sir, what do you want to discuss with them? I'll call them over right away!"

Yang Menglong said: "There's no rush, let them eat their fill first."

Chen Baihu smiled, forget it.

Yang Menglong asked again: "Is there any lime in the warehouse?"

Chen Baihu said: "Yes, there are thousands of catties. Zhang Qianhu bought it a few months ago, and no one wants it. What's the matter, do you need to paint the walls?"

Yang Menglong said: "I'll paint the wall! Thousands of catties are not enough, you arrange people to buy them, and get me ten thousand catties back, it will be of great use!"

Chen Baihu was taken aback: "Why do you need so much lime?"

Yang Menglong roared: "Believe it or not, I'll get a copy of "One Hundred Thousand Whys" and stuff it down your throat!"

The curious baby was taken aback, and didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he hurried to Zhang Luo.

Yang Menglong returned to the Qianhu House, breakfast was ready, wheat porridge, flatbread, pickles, and of course, an egg, waiting for him to eat when he came back.Without saying a word, he wiped out the food on the table at an alarming speed, running around early in the morning, he was also hungry, and ate a lot.Xiao Yufang rested her chin on her hand and admired his eating like a piggy, she smiled without saying a word.Yang Menglong suddenly felt a little sorry for her. He had been running outside for the past two days, and he hadn't been with her well. It was another girl who suffered such neglect. I'm afraid a good person card is indispensable!

"Uh... full!" He yelled after drinking the last bit of porridge in the bowl.

Xiao Yufang smiled and handed over a wet towel, which meant it was time to wipe her mouth.He didn't wipe it, but squeezed Xiao Yufang's hand tightly, and said, "I'm sorry, I've been running outside for the past two days and left you cold..."

Xiao Yufang said: "I've heard all about it. You've been wandering around the fields for the past two days. I can understand you." She frowned, her expression worried, "I also went to the fields yesterday, and the crops were not growing. It looks like this, if you don’t try to save it, there will be no harvest this year!”

Yang Menglong patted his chest: "I'll take care of this. You can just teach Xiaojun to read and write at home. By the way, I plan to set up a school so that all the children in the health center can go to the school to read and write. What do you think? Sample?"

Xiao Yufang's eyes lit up: "Are you really planning to open such a school? That would be great. Even if children don't take the scientific examination, it's always good to know some words! But I'm afraid they won't be able to pay the tuition..."

Yang Menglong said: "I never thought about charging their tuition fees! There are so many empty houses in Qianhuzhai, which is too wasteful. It can be remodeled and put on a desk to become a school, but the husband is hard to find...or else Are you going to teach them first?"

Xiao Yufang was stunned for a moment: "Me? Isn't that good? How can anyone ask a woman to be a gentleman?"

Yang Menglong said: "Anyway, you are idle if you are idle, why don't you teach them first."

Xiao Yufang thought about it, and agreed: "Okay, I'll teach for a few days first, and when you hire a gentleman, let him teach."

Yang Menglong said in his heart: "Even if I can invite a teacher, I won't invite him, I will let you teach... I have to find something for you to do, so as not to let you think about it!"

Just as he was muttering, Chen Baihu's characteristic broken gong voice came from outside, vigorously: "Everyone, listen up! Gather at the sun-drying field immediately! Master Qianhu has something important to tell everyone!!!"

Yang Menglong scolded: "That pig's head, I've told him a thousand times that it's the playground, it's the playground, and he still calls it the sun-drying field! I'm so pissed off!"

Xiao Yufang pursed her lips and smiled: "I went to see it. It is indeed a grain drying field. It has no other purpose except drying firewood and drying millet and drying cow dung."

Yang Menglong said angrily: "I'm going to turn it back into the playground sooner or later, just wait for me!" Standing up and pulling Xiao Yufang outside, Xiao Yufang called out in surprise: "Why?"

"Go to a meeting!"

"You can just go, why do you want to drag me?"

"You are my future wife, how can such an occasion be without you!"

"..."

Ordinarily, it is not suitable for Xiao Yufang to show her face in this kind of occasion, but that bastard completely regards the golden rules set by the scholar-officials as "a woman who has no talent is virtue", "the door does not go out, and the second door does not step forward" and other golden rules in the toilet. Shit, he ignored it at all, forcefully pulled Xiao Yufang out, and went straight to the grain drying yard.

It has to be said that after the wonderful experience of excessively dividing food and meat, Chen Baihu's terrible voice was simply the sound of nature to the military households. In my dreams, I hoped that it would sound again and call everyone together , and then divide things.When Chen Baihu called out, everyone ran out with a whoosh, and went straight to the grain drying field. The huge grain drying field was suddenly overcrowded!All eyes were on Yang Menglong, he had better recognize him, with his unique cut cut and that baby face that looks like a smile even when he is not smiling, it is difficult to recognize the wrong person.No one spoke, but every pair of eyes seemed to be able to speak: "Boss, give us some benefits?"

Yang Menglong is under great pressure...

When everyone was present, Yang Menglong rubbed his hands, jumped onto the rotten military parade, and shouted: "Everyone be quiet, I have something to say!"

Everyone was very embarrassed and didn't calm down immediately. A bachelor called: "Master Qianhu, can you give us some more food?" A chance to rip off.

Yang Menglong said: "I'll post it when I turn back. It's counted by the head, one catty per person!"

Immediately someone shouted again: "One catty is too little, send more!"

Yang Menglong said: "If you argue any more, you won't even get this pound!"

Now everyone is quiet.It is hard to say that it is difficult to keep so many people quiet, and it is not easy to say that it is easy. It is almost enough to give some benefits and threaten them. Yang Menglong is quite satisfied with the effect.He cleared his throat and said, "Everyone has heard of my name, right? My name is Yang Menglong, Yang who walks through Yang with a hundred steps, Dream of the Spring and Autumn Dream, the dragon that sings and roars, your boss, the head of the Wuyang Qianhu Institute , is also the highest officer of Wuyang Guard, and the three counties of Wuyang, Biyang, and Tongbai are under my control, but right now I can only take care of Wuyang.”

Everyone chuckled, such an accommodating officer is really rare.

Yang Menglong glanced around, and exclaimed in surprise: "Where are those people who are Deputy Qianhu, Baihu, and Zhenfu? Where did they die?"

Chen Baihu smiled wryly and said, "I'm the only one left. The others either fled when they heard the news that they were going to be king of Jingqin last year, or they died in Wuyang."

Dare to let Jianu catch them all?Yang Menglong was quite surprised by such efficiency. In this way, wouldn't he become a polished commander?Some officers must be promoted quickly, otherwise he will definitely be exhausted.But now is not the time to talk about this, the bare commander can only bite the bullet and hold on.He turned to the main topic: "Everyone is rushing to serve the crops, so I'll make a long story short. I called everyone here to announce a few things."

Everyone is all ears.

"First, I want to set up a university hall in the health center, so that all children can go to the school to study, boys and girls must come to study, and the school will provide free lunch!"

When they heard that there was going to be a university, all children could study, and there was free lunch, the military households couldn't believe their ears, there was such a good thing?Someone tentatively asked, "My lord, is the tuition in this school expensive?"

Yang Menglong said: "We don't charge tuition fees for the time being. Even if you do, you can't afford it. Why should I bother? Everyone has a share. Of course, if you really don't want your children to study, there is nothing I can do."

The military households who reacted excitedly whispered, who doesn't want their children to study?It’s just that studying costs a lot of money, paper, pen and ink, going out to study, buying books, and the salary for the husband are not small sums. In addition, there are very few schools. They are either government schools or private schools run by landlords and gentry, which only recruit clan children. The poor have no luck. It can be said that the right to read and write has been monopolized by the rich, and the poor can only drool.Now there is also a school in the health center, and it is free, and free lunch is provided. Where can I find such a good thing!Not to mention anything else, just for this free lunch, children should also be allowed to study in school!

Yang Menglong went on to say: "Also, I wandered around the whole Qianhu Office several times in the past few days, and found that everyone was sloppy. Is this plausible? Are you military households or beggars? I really don't know what you are doing. Yes, it’s a good guard house, and it turned you into the headquarters of the beggar gang! In order to clean up you, I decided to buy a batch of fabrics from other places and make a new set of clothes for everyone! In addition, I will let you The craftsmen built several bathhouses to provide hot water for everyone to take a bath. Everyone can enjoy it. When the bathhouses are built, everyone must form the habit of bathing every day, or get out of here, I don’t want to be with the sloppy Ghosts live together!"

With a sound of wow, many people screamed in surprise.Yang Menglong can give them some food and is already the reincarnation of a Bodhisattva. Now he still wants to run free schools and public bathhouses?This guy is really seriously ill!You must know that schools and public bathhouses cost a lot of money, especially public bathhouses. They have to boil so much hot water every day, and the money for firewood is exhausted. How are adults from thousands of households willing to spend so much money for everyone to enjoy?Well, if this is just a symptom of water in his brain, then everyone sincerely hopes that he will be sicker and sicker for a longer time...

(End of this chapter)