To Rule in a Turbulent World

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the canal had been dug, and we were just waiting for the water truck to go up.You Miao wanted to plant trees in the north of the river, so he had to cut down a lot of basswood that had grown. These woods were planted by the owner of the villa hundreds of years ago. People in Guozhuang would come to Beishan to cut trees from time to time to make furniture.

You Miao went to borrow dozens of axes, and asked the soldiers to cut down the trees for him, and then threw them into the river. Li Zhifeng on the opposite side tied them with ropes and pulled them to the bank of the river.Right now, there is no need to worry about the money for building waterwheels, but You Miao also wants to save as much as possible, at least on the plate, as long as it can be used in the villa.

You Miao in Jiangbei doesn't plan to reclaim arable land. The terrain is undulating, which is not as easy to reclaim as Jiangnan. To make arable land, terraced fields must be cultivated, and irrigation will also be a problem.

Secondly, the big river is in the middle, and it is troublesome to go back and forth to farm every day. It is inconvenient to take care of it. It is better to grow tea and mulberry, and cultivate them into forest land, which is both windproof and mud-proof. More than 2000 mu of land, [-] mu of tea, [-] mu of mulberry, and the rest of the place are planted with plums.

The soldiers of the Yangzhou Army roughly opened up the wasteland in the south of the Yangtze River for You Miao, and set fire to the weeds again. The whole villa was full of smoke in spring, which was really spectacular. Until the seventh day of the new year, everything was done.You Miao held a big banquet again, invited people to have a full meal, took five slings of money and distributed them to the soldiers, and sent them away.

Everyone left, and Shen Yuanzhong returned to its deserted appearance, leaving You Miao and Li Zhifeng.

Zhang Er, as usual, came up to read books every day, and helped with cleaning by the way.

"Is the money enough?" Li Zhifeng asked rarely.

"Enough is enough." You Miao and Li Zhifeng sat by the river, guarding the large pile of basswood. There was a huge open space downstream of the river beach, and ten chops of basswood were neatly piled up.At night, several tenants took turns to stay on duty with their dogs. During the day, You Miao walked along the riverside in a daze, read books, touched stones, and grilled fish with Li Zhifeng.

The past in the capital was like a world away. Here in the south of the Yangtze River, I guarded my own villa, and lived every day in a normal way. I worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. You Miao felt that she was becoming more and more like a farmer.

"Uncle said he can lend me his money." You Miao explained: "Wait for the old man to come over in a few days, and it won't be too late to find him after adding up the money."

Money, money, everything needs money, and the tenants have not yet been recruited, and the money in my hand has been spent like water.We have to wait for the canal to be completed before recruiting workers. I don't know how many people we can recruit, but I hope more people will come.

The plan for a year lies in spring, and the time for plowing the land is coming soon.

Both Guozhuang and Anlu counties are opened, and Yangzhou city is even more lively. You Miao really wants to go to play, but can't leave.I had no choice but to watch at home, and when I was getting impatient, someone finally shouted from above.

Zhu Tang lay on the cliff, and shouted down: "Master—!"

"What?!" You Miao looked up.

Zhu Tang yelled a few times, but You Miao couldn't hear clearly, but Li Zhifeng's hearing was very good, and he said, "Old man Huang is here, and he brought a lot of people with him."

You Miao was overjoyed and said, "Quick, let's go up."

Li Zhifeng said: "It's not busy, they are now coming down along the road by the river."

You Miao was very disturbed. Less than half an hour later, Daliang came down along the river with Old Craftsman Huang on his back, and there were more than [-] workers behind him. You Miao was startled, so many people? !

These workers are all skilled craftsmen, no more than soldiers. If you really want to hire them, you don't know how much it will cost.But the people had already arrived, so You Miao had no choice but to go up to say hello. Old craftsman Huang said, "Why didn't you go home for the New Year? Didn't you go to the market?"

"I can't go away." You Miao said with a smile: "If things are not done well, I feel uneasy."

"Hmm." Old Carpenter Huang sat down on a big rock by the river, leaning on a cane with both hands, and said, "In a few days, this big guy will start work, and you can go out for a walk."

You Miao was a little nervous and said, "Has the teacher finished reading the drawings?"

Old Carpenter Huang said: "Come here and see how many places I added for you. There are quite a few places that cost money, so you should know it."

"Okay, okay." You Miao squeezed sweat, his face was a little uncomfortable, several craftsmen were looking at the wood, talking and laughing, You Miao knew that this time it was inevitable that they would have to cut their flesh, not a few hundred taels of silver, old craftsman Huang Most likely won't let him go.

"Think about it carefully." Huang Laojiang said: "Once this waterwheel is built, it will be a blessing for a hundred years and a thousand years. I don't care about money. If you don't want to, tell me as soon as possible so that I can take people back. These children and grandchildren , you can’t find them all in Anlu alone, but I recruited them from all over Yangzhou, so don’t go back on your word when the time comes.”

You Miao stood obediently like an apprentice, and said respectfully, "Your junior definitely doesn't mean that."

Old craftsman Huang said again: "They came to help you with this work, not all for money, I have to tell you about this, ordinary craftsmen can't come across such a big waterwheel, The work of repairing beams, building pillars and building houses is different from working as an organ.”

The group of craftsmen nodded and said yes, and Old Craftsman Huang said: "You have to do your best, both as helpers and as apprentices, so you must not fool the young master."

An older craftsman said: "What the old man said, who doesn't know our craftsmen in Anping, as long as they are good at it, there is no reason to grind it down, you say, right?"

Old craftsman Huang nodded, and said, "You Miao's family belongs to Biyu Mountain Villa, and you won't be short of a penny of your wages. Everyone will do their best."

Only then did the craftsmen know about You Miao's life experience, and You Miao was so upset by Huang's words that he guessed that if Huang was not an old liar, he would really be a respected patriarch.

Seeing how his apprentice Xiao Liang devoted himself to repairing the Shen Garden for him, and the level of restoration, he doesn't look like a liar.

Then Old Craftsman Huang probably rarely went out to pick up jobs, and he was only allowed to take over the projects by relying on water trucks.If what is said is true, these craftsmen must have come here for the waterwheel, repairing the waterwheel on the cliff, not to mention Yangzhou, even the entire Central Plains, there are very few people who can do this job, participate in the erection of this giant mechanism, and learn far more than wages.

The old craftsman Huang introduced to You Miao his big apprentice, who was about [-] years old but very strong. His name was Wu Zhuang. You Miao greeted them and said, "Go back to the villa first, Would you like some tea?"

Old craftsman Huang said: "Let's talk about the money first. I've listed the materials for you. You pay for the money yourself. You can find someone to buy it yourself. I won't take half of your money. Those who work here for you can work for twenty. , five renminbi per person per day. What do you think?"

You Miao said in her heart that it's okay, it's not too much, and said, "Okay, just listen to the teacher."

Old craftsman Huang said slowly again: "Ten helpers, each with [-] Wen per day."

You Miao said: "Yes."

Old craftsman Huang said again: "You take care of two meals, one before the start of work, one after the end of work, one pig and one jar of good wine. The rest of the time, you go to Guozhuang Anlu to eat separately, don't waste time with Young Master You's meal, I don't think there are many people in his villa, so it's hard to tell everyone."

You Miao smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, it's not difficult to take care of the brothers' meals."

Old Carpenter Huang waved his crutches and said, "Their mouths are kept in their mouths. If you have nothing else to say, it's settled."

You Miao nodded quickly, and Old Carpenter Huang squinted at the basswood by the river, and said, "I wanted you to buy some wood, but you have everything ready."

You Miao took Old Craftsman Huang to see the wood, and asked, "Can this wood be used?"

Old craftsman Huang nodded, tapped it with his cane, and said, "The 120-year-old basswood is a good material. Disciples, just remove the board."

The craftsmen had already dispersed, but when they heard Mr. Huang's words, they each took off their belongings, assembled the planer, flicked the ink thread, and wiped the saw.You Miao wanted to go over to help, but Old Craftsman Huang said, "Not busy, the person who follows you, what's the name of this kid?"

Li Zhifeng reported his name, and Old Craftsman Huang said, "You boy, leave him here. If you need something temporarily, give him the list and let him buy it."

You Miao hummed, and old craftsman Huang went back to the stone and sat down, beckoning, "Come and have a look, I have changed some places."