Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 1397: Gossip Cannot Be Spread in vain
Zhu Zhen and his party left Nanjing at the end of February and followed the original route, going upstream all the way, and arrived in Mayang in one and a half months.

Mayang is located at the junction of Huguang and Guizhou, and is also the end of the water route. The next step is to take the land route.

The chieftains of Xiangxi had been waiting here for a long time, and were anxiously waiting to welcome his arrival.

Five years ago, Zhu Zhen reached an agreement with them, allowing them to replace taxes with road construction and maintenance. Of course, they had to build it according to the court's standards, with a width of ten feet on flat land and two feet on mountain roads. The road had to be kept flat, without potholes, and the roadbed had to be higher than both sides of the road to facilitate drainage...

For fear that these Mao-bashing gangs would deal with the situation in a disorganized manner, he also asked the Ministry of Works to send officials to supervise the work.

After more than a year of construction, officials from the Ministry of Works reported that the road had been completed and passed the inspection. Zhu Zhen was very happy at the time, thinking that he had underestimated these chieftains. Aren't they quite capable?
Who would have thought that two and a half years ago, when he was leaving Yunnan and returning to Beijing, he almost had his intestines thrown out while walking this section.

The road was full of potholes, like the surface of the moon. The roadbed had collapsed in many places, and there was serious water accumulation. There were even fish in the water.

Zhu Zhen was furious at the time and immediately called these Mao-sympathizing people over to show them what a horrible road they had built looked like.

The Maoists were also shocked and swore to the heavens that they had really repaired it seriously at that time. Otherwise, it would not have passed the imperial court's inspection.

Zhu Zhen then asked: "Do you usually maintain the roads?"

"Ah? We still have to maintain the road..." The chieftains were stunned.

Zhu Zhen wanted to hang them up and beat them, and cursed: "It would be fine if I didn't say it, but I have repeatedly warned you that this road is 30% repair and 70% maintenance! Do we have to inspect it regularly and repair it in time?!"

"We thought that newly built roads didn't need maintenance, at least for a few years." The chieftains said timidly, "Who knew that it would become so rotten after only a few days of construction?"

"Don't you know how severe the floods are in your Xiangxi mountainous areas? If a mountain torrent comes, won't the road be destroyed?!" Zhu Zhen was so angry that he gave each of these Mao-bashing people twenty lashes, and ordered them to repair the road before he returned. If the road was still in such a tattered state when he returned, they would be sent to Yunnan to dig salt!

The chieftains were all terrified. As soon as Lao Liu left, they hurriedly led all the tribesmen to repair the bridge and the road, and restored the road to its original state. They maintained it carefully as if they were serving an emperor. Many chieftains even built their homes on the roadside to facilitate constant care. They were afraid that the terrible prince would find fault with them again when he returned...

But they never expected that they would have to wait year after year, a full two and a half years, before they finally got him back.

When the chieftains heard the news that the prince was about to return, they all shed sad tears. They really wanted to say to Lao Liu: "Do you know how we have been living for the past two and a half years?"

We patrol the road every day, fearing that there will be problems somewhere.

If there was a flash flood after heavy rain, they would be so scared that they couldn't sleep all night. As soon as the water receded, they would rush to restore the road surface without delaying for a single day.

Over the past two years, my legs have become thinner and I have become tired and thinner. The most important thing is that I am always worried. It is simply not a life for a human being. It is better to just pay some taxes and save worry.

Fortunately, their hard work was not in vain. When Zhu Zhen saw the convoy moving steadily on the wide post road, he praised it highly: "Very good, very good. It has been maintained so well until now, which shows that you have put in a lot of effort. There will be a big reward!"

Hong Bao, who replaced Ma Sanbao, quickly led people to bring out the cloth, silk, salt and tea that had been prepared long ago and rewarded them to the chieftains.

Each chieftain received a generous reward, which made them so happy that they put aside the idea of ​​never repairing the road and decided to continue working hard. In fact, saying "it's better to pay taxes" was just an angry remark. These chieftains set up their homes on the roadside, set up tea stalls, opened inns, let the passing caravans rest, and sold some mountain products by the way, which made them earn a lot of money. Their lives were much more comfortable than before.

If you want to get rich, you must first build roads. This saying is always applicable. If they lose this road, they will have to continue to dig in the soil for food. Even if it is toast, they will have nothing and will be extremely poor. So they depend on this road for their livelihood, so of course they have to continue to maintain it.

~~
After entering Guizhou, the road condition was so good that Lao Si was amazed. It was just like the official roads in the mainland.

If Lao Liu hadn't told him, he really couldn't imagine that such an extremely difficult mountain post road was actually the work of a group of Luo Luo people.

At this time, the two female leaders of the Luoluo people had been waiting at the Guizhou border for a long time.

Madam Shexiang and Liu Suzhu were still as charming and beautiful as ever. Zhu Zhen missed them after not seeing them for so many years, but he could not be as reckless as he was in the past. One reason was that his sister-in-law was still following him, and he had to save face.

Second, her two sons have grown up, and she feels embarrassed to be too intimate with their mother in front of the young men.

"Why has the prince been gone for so long?" Liu Suzhu's beautiful eyes were filled with undisguised longing.

"Ah, there are too many things to do. I didn't expect to be gone for so long." Zhu Zhen winked at her and said seriously, "How are the two ladies?"

"Everything is fine." She Xiang replied calmly, "I just miss you day and night."

In the carriage, Xu Miaoyun wanted to get off and say hello to these two remarkable women, but when she heard this, she bumped her head against the door frame and whispered to the fourth brother beside her: "Did I hear it right?"

"No." Zhu Di coughed and said softly: "There have been rumors about this many years ago..."

"Then I'd better not get out of the car, to avoid embarrassing Uncle Six." Xu Miaoyun closed the car door and thought to herself that no wonder Uncle Six didn't let Run'er go with him, it turned out there was this part waiting for him. His ability to seize opportunities was truly amazing.

"..." Not to mention his fourth sister-in-law, even the sixth brother couldn't hold back. He looked around guiltily and saw that everyone, whether Han or Yi, had turned their heads away. He then calmed down and said to She Xiang:

"I miss you too, my king."

For a prince, as long as he is shameless, there is basically no taboo. She Xiang is already so brave, so he has nothing to say. In one word, just do it!

"So you only think about your sister." Liu Suzhu pretended to be sad and said, "I even drew eyebrows specially for the prince."

"Hahaha, then I'll have to take a good look at it." Zhu Zhen laughed and carried the petite Liu Shuzhu directly to his horse's back. Then he asked her, "How come you have become so bold after not seeing you for two years?"

Liu Shuzhu leaned on his broad chest and smiled faintly: "Everyone in the world says that we are not clear-headed. If we still pretend, won't we die of poverty?"

"That's true. In the eyes of others, you have long been my women!" Zhu Zhen laughed and said, "It's me who is obsessed!"

(End of this chapter)