Dahan first prince

Chapter 121 Bring food and go home

Time passed day by day, and soon, it was the autumn and November of the 11th year of the Han Dynasty.

The breath of the 11th year of the Han Dynasty, along with the first heavy snowfall in Guanzhong, quietly descended on the land of Weibei.

The first snow has arrived, and it is halfway through November. Zheng Guoqu, which was still covered with traces of time more than two months ago, has changed a lot at this time.

The original depth ranging from two feet to six feet has been dug to a full depth of more than three feet!

The top of the canal, which was nearly [-] feet wide, and the bottom of the canal, which was [-] or [-] feet wide, have changed back to the width of the Zhengguo Canal decades ago when the Qin court built the Zhengguo Canal. It looks like nine feet wide.

In the past few years, the two sides of the canal, which were excavated and widened by the local government and the people themselves, have been somewhat messy and dilapidated, and have been slightly solidified, forming a neat slope of nearly [-] degrees.

So far, the general content of Zhengguoqu's renovation work has been announced to be completed.

After the harsh winter and before the spring plowing, lay stone bricks and scorpions on the bottom and side of the upstream canal section, and then open the canal head to release water. The renovation work of Zhengguo Canal will be completely declared over!
But this time, Liu Ying also gave a perfect answer to the big test called "Water Conservancy Improvement" that the emperor Liu Bang personally decided.

The rest is some finishing work and preparations for the water and soil fixation of the upper reaches of the Zhengguo Canal before and after the beginning of spring.

The dredging of the silt in the downstream section of the canal and the widening of the canal are coming to an end. The Weibei people who came spontaneously to help repair the Zhengguo Canal were also recalled by Liu Ying on Guimao Day (the tenth day of the lunar month) in the autumn of November.

——The main work has been completed, and the remaining part can be finished by the tens of thousands of official slaves in the Shaofu.

As for the Weibei people who came here spontaneously, Liu Ying still felt that it would be better to send them home early so that they could feel at ease at home and weave some willow mats out of wicker.

No, just after dawn, Lu Shizhi, the 'supervisor' of Zhengguo Canal's renovation work, was summoned by Liu Ying into the county government office.

It was snowing heavily outside the county government office, and Lianshao County could be said to have turned into ice, but from Lu Shizhi's face, Liu Ying did not see any listless expression.

Seeing Lu Shizhi walk into the hall, bowed to Liu Ying for a while, then hissed and blew hot air between his hands, and sat down on the side of the hall with a happy face.

Seeing the joy in Lu Shizhi's expression, Liu Ying couldn't help turning her head away with a warm smile.

"Why is it built and Hou is today, what seems to be a great joy?"

Hearing Liu Ying uttered this question with a light smile, Lu Shizhi's face froze a bit, and the joy on his face couldn't help but deepened.

"Is there anyone in the family who knows what to ask?"

"The renovation of the Zhengguo Canal has been completed for more than two months, and it has almost gone smoothly!"

"The imperial court celebrates the next year, and the agricultural tax in Weibei will be abundant; the people of Weibei also celebrate the next year, and the agricultural production will be doubled!"

"As for the Weibei people who came here to build canals, they even said that the family is benevolent and loves the people, and they don't force labor. Even if they come here, they will also eat food."

As he said that, Lu Shizhi actually became a little bit excited.

"In this way, when Chen Xi's chaos is over, your majesty will return to the court, and the family will have the aspirations of the people in Weibei, and the court will return with the hope of everyone."

"At that time, His Majesty still has the idea of ​​easy storage, so I'm afraid he should die!"

"How can I not be happy with such a happy event?"

Listening to Lu Shizhi's expressive words, Liu Ying was also infected by Lu Shizhi's sincere joy, and the smile at the corner of her mouth finally deepened.

But in her heart, Liu Ying was not overjoyed, she still did not forget to remind Lu Shizhi.

"Although the renovation of the Zhengguo Canal has been largely completed, it should still be spread upstream in the spring."

"At that time, the work of repairing the canal will be finished, so it's not too late for uncle to talk about the joy here?"

Hearing Liu Ying's words, Lu Shizhi couldn't help but smiled coyly, and cupped his hands at Liu Ying with a chuckle.

"What the family says is, what they say is..."

Seeing that Lu Shizhi agreed on his lips, but recognized the overjoyed expression on his face, Liu Ying could only smile wryly and shook her head, then brought the topic back to the topic.

"How did my uncle check what my nephew told me yesterday?"

"Now that I have come here spontaneously, how strong are the people in Weibei who built the Zhengguo Canal? How much is left of the grain that my uncle supervised?"

Hearing Liu Ying talk about serious matters, Lu Shizhi finally turned his face back a little with joy, and straightened his body a little.

"At home."

"Yesterday, my ministers went to ask about this matter, and the young mansion replied: the Weibei people who came to build the canal, now have 740 people."

"The food that the officials supervised under the order of the family has been distributed for more than two months to the strong food of Weibei people who have come to build canals. Nearly [-] shi."

"At the beginning of another year, the minister followed the order of the family to transfer [-] shi of grain to the Shaofu to use the [-] yuan of the officials and slaves of the Shaofu."

"So far, there are only [-] shi left of the grain and rice brought by the family from Chang'an..."

As he said that, Lu Shizhi couldn't help feeling a little heartache again on his face.

Liu Ying seemed to turn a blind eye to this, nodded slightly, and got up from the soft couch with a thoughtful face.

"The Weibei people who came to build the canal have all recalled Lian Shao?"

Seeing Lu Shizhi nodded heavily: "The recall has been completed."

"Since yesterday, all the people on the south bank of the Zhengguo Canal have been ordered to go beyond the north wall of the Lian Shao, and until now, they have all arrived."

When Liu Ying heard the words, she nodded with a light smile, and then let out a breath of relief.

"Since that's the case, uncle and nephew will go to the north wall of the lotus spoon together, and see the face of a loyal minister and righteous man."

"More than two months ago, the renovation of the Zhengguo Canal all depended on the strength of these loyal ministers and righteous men!"

"Before the beginning of spring, weaving willow mats out of soft willows should also be treated as lonely relatives. I implore these tens of thousands of loyal ministers and righteous men to come face to face!"

Hearing Liu Ying's words, even if he had a different opinion in his heart, Lu Shizhi finally had no choice but to bow his head and bow his hands.

"only······"

·
When Liu Ying's figure walked out of the county government office and climbed on the city wall that was only more than one foot thick and less than two feet high, both inside and outside the city wall were already crowded with bustling people.

Outside the city wall, over the past two months, the Zhengguo Canal has been hard-working along the banks, recreating the Zhengguo Canal into a brand-new water conservancy project that looks like Weibei Minzhuang.

But inside the city walls, they want to see the real face of the crown prince and prince, and take a look at the lively local people in Lian Shao.

It was under the attention of all the people that Liu Ying, accompanied by several Southern Army soldiers, climbed up the city wall and came to the wall stack near the outside of the city.

Then, Liu Ying saw Weibei Minzhuang with flushed cheeks, hands folded and hidden in their sleeves, and their necks tightened, gathering outside the city wall tremblingly.

Seeing this situation, Liu Ying could only smile wryly and shook her head.

——In order to prevent these people from coming spontaneously, the Weibei youths who were willing to be "prostituted" by Liu Ying were starved and frozen, and the queen Lu Pheasant was heartbroken.

First, at the beginning of September, before the construction of the Zhengguo Canal started, Lu Zhi transferred from Xinfeng, east of Chang'an, the rent and tax of Li Hou Lutai for the whole year last year, and handed it all over to Liu Ying, telling Liu Ying that he must not let People work hungry'.

Afterwards, Lu Zhi even used his privilege as the founding queen to transfer more than 4 pieces of cloth and more than [-] catties of catkins from the Shaofu, and distributed them to the homes of these strong people in Weibei, urging their wives and family members to sew winter clothes as soon as possible. .

At the beginning of October, this batch of winter clothes was sewn, and Lu Zhi mobilized the soldiers of the lieutenant's yamen to come to the door in person, escorting these female relatives to Zhengguoqu, and handing over the winter clothes to his brothers, nephews, and lords.

But man's calculation is not as good as heaven's calculation...
Originally given by Queen Lu Pheasant, the winter clothes intended to be used to protect these people from the cold, but because of the crime of being 'too brand new', these simple peasant children were soft-hearted, and the female family members brought them back!
As for the food that Liu Ying distributed as rations, as far as Liu Ying knew, it was not all eaten by these people.

——A few days ago, Lu Shizhi, who was in charge of taking care of the food, came to report that a young man had hidden part of the distributed food, and asked Liu Ying if he wanted to reduce the distribution of rations!
If Liu Ying's guess is correct, this kind of situation of "eat half and keep half, and take the leftover food home" is probably not an isolated case...

"Ugh······"

"It's all hard-fated people..."

She secretly let out a sigh, and a sincere and warm smile appeared on Liu Ying's face.

For these simple, kind, and somewhat honest and lovely people, even Liu Ying, who is the prince, can hardly express any malice...

"In the past few months, you have worked hard, loyal ministers and righteous men!"

There is no rhetoric, and there are no gorgeous rhetorical techniques.

Just saying "hard work" is enough to express the most sincere and heartfelt gratitude in Liu Ying's heart.

Hearing this loud horn, Weibei Minzhuang, who was squinting outside the city wall, opened his eyes in order.

When he saw Liu Ying's thin figure standing alone on the city wall, there were friendly smiles on all the tens of thousands of faces.

"Min, I have met His Royal Highness~"

A long and heavy chants, unexpectedly caused the jackdaws to fly away in fright on the dead wood outside Lian Shao City.

But on the open space outside the city, the tens of thousands of Weibei people did not kneel and kowtow, but slightly raised their folded hands hidden in their sleeves, and bowed heavily to Liu Ying who was standing on the wall.

On the contrary, within the city wall, the local people of Lian Shao, who had gathered in the distance to watch the excitement, knelt down on the cold mud in order, and kowtowed to Liu Ying on the city wall as a salute.

If it was a few months ago, and he knew that the person in front of him was the crown prince, then no matter whether it was the people outside the wall, or the lotus people inside the wall, they would all have to kneel and kowtow.

However, in the past two months or so, I met Prince Liu Ying from time to time on the south bank of the Zhengguo Canal, and occasionally saw Liu Ying go down the canal in person and dig the soil for a while with a hoe. No longer a mystical, divine entity.

Aside from etiquette and dignity, in the hearts of Weibei Minzhuang at this time, Prince Liu Ying is more like a man with a little clumsy hands and feet and a little weak body, but he is very kind and lenient to others. Younger nephew.

Feeling this kind of intimacy that seems vague and not easy to talk about, but can only be understood, Liu Ying only felt warm in her heart.

"These two months, it's not in vain..."

With a ventriloquist inwardly, Liu Ying stepped forward with a smile and bowed slightly to Weibei Minzhuang outside the city.

"It's the first snow in Guanzhong today, and it's frozen for thousands of miles. Fortunately, the Zhengguoqu canal has been repaired."

"In this way, all loyal ministers and righteous men should also go home, and gather with their relatives, wives and children at home."

"Gu, hereby I would like to thank all the loyal ministers and righteous men who came here spontaneously in the past few months to help build the Zhengguo Canal!"

As she said that, Liu Ying did not forget to arrange her clothes solemnly, and immediately bowed her hands to Weibei Minzhuang outside the city wall.

Seeing Liu Ying's behavior, the crowd composed of Weibei Minzhuang outside the city couldn't help but panicked a little, and immediately clasped their hands together.

"Your Highness is serious."

"Zheng Guoqu, that is for our farmers. It is already a great kindness for His Highness to repair our farmers."

"It's too late for us to thank His Highness, how dare we accept His Highness's thanks?"

Listening to these extremely simple and sincere words, Liu Ying couldn't help but feel even more warm on her face.

Seeing Liu Ying straighten up "as good as a stream", she stepped forward with a smile on her face, and put her hands on the wall.

"Before I leave, I still have two things I want to say to all loyal ministers and righteous men."

Hearing Liu Ying's words, the crowd outside the city wall became quiet like a wave of people starting from the position close to the city wall.

Seeing this, Liu Ying couldn't help correcting her face a little.

"The blockage of the Zhengguo Canal is the long-standing malpractice that has not been repaired for many years."

"Now that I have obtained the order of my father, and the princes of the court, as well as loyal ministers and righteous men, have not hesitated to help, so that the Zhengguo Canal can be less blocked."

"However, if repairs are not carried out, after a few years, the Zhengguo Canal may become silted up again; the court will conscript labor in Guanzhong, and then repair the Zhengguo Canal."

After a little explanation, Liu Ying changed the subject.

"In order to prevent the Zhengguo Canal from being blocked, the Shaofu has proposed a good strategy; with this good strategy, the Zhengguo Canal will not be blocked for decades!"

"If you want to apply this strategy to the Zhengguo Canal, you need to weave a mat out of willow, wrap it with gravel, and spread it upstream of the Zhengguo Canal."

As she spoke, Liu Ying turned her face slightly serious, and put on her previous kind smile again.

"One of the lonely people who want to ask for you is this winter, when there will be willow branches sent by the slaves of the Shaofu officials to the door, I need you to weave them as seats."

"Secondly, it will be the beginning of spring. I am afraid that you will need to bring your self-made willow mats to Sanyuan to try the best ideas offered by the whole Shaofu!"

After saying that, Liu Ying couldn't help but bowed her hands again, and then added with a gentle face: "These two are not government orders."

"If you loyal ministers and righteous men are not willing, you will not force yourself."

"If you wish..."

Speaking of this, Liu Ying pretended to be thoughtful, turned sideways, and looked at Lu Shizhi beside her.

After a while, Liu Ying smiled lightly and turned around, looking at Weibei Minzhuang outside the city wall.

"A few days ago, Jiancheng Hou once said: The people who come here are strong, and they may have enough rations to eat, and hide half of it."

"If Gu is at a loss what to expect, all of you are doing this because there is a shortage of food and rice at home, and you want to save some food and rice and bring it home to feed your wives, children, and parents?"

Seeing a few slowly nodding heads from time to time among the crowd outside the city, Liu Ying finally smiled again and placed her chips.

"Weave willows as seats, and next spring, I will bring willow seats to Sanyuan to help build the Zhengguo Canal. I don't ask for it."

"However, if you want to help the lonely, after a while, you can leave your name at the gate of the city."

"Anyone who is willing to help the lonely will be given food and half a stone!"

"Leave your name and taboo, and get this half a stone of grain and rice. You can go home and get together with your parents, wives and children."

After saying that, Liu Ying smiled and cupped her hands again, and then, under Lu Shizhi's incredible gaze, she vowed to walk down the city wall.

After a while, Liu Ying's voice appeared at the gate of the city, and there was a knee-high case with knives, pens and bamboo slips on one side.

And earlier, the grain and rice that Lu Shizhi mentioned as "more than [-] stones" had been moved to both sides of the north gate of Lianshao County...

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(End of this chapter)