Starting from the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 166 Liu Ling: You call this a mess
Any tomorrow will be full of hope.

This is true whether it is for Li Huan, who cannot become a saint, or for her husband, who has not been heard from since he built the Great Wall.

As long as people themselves have hope, then there is hope at any time.

Xiaozui was wearing brocade clothes, and the soft fabric passed over the tips of her palms. The comfortable and soft feeling made her couldn't help but touch it gently again.

She never dreamed of wearing such luxurious clothes on her body. It was so comfortable and soft.

She subconsciously thought of the time two years ago when her uncle and the pavilion chief occupied her property and house.

She held her infant child, who was waiting to be fed, in her arms, followed by her eldest and second child. When she led the three children along the edge of the turbulent river, she seemed to have lost the courage to live.

Just when she was about to pick up the three children and jump into the rushing river together, and the family was reunited under the underworld, the one-year-old son suddenly let out heart-piercing cries, breaking her out of that kind of situation. He came back from the dazed state of seeking death.

She was full of hope, thinking that the county magistrate would do justice to her.

As a result, after being defiled in prison, she had twisted her rags into ropes and prepared to commit suicide.

However, the material of the rag clothes had decayed, and the pain of falling to the ground made her wake up again; after being released from prison, she lived the kind of life Li Huan knew.

Xiaozui looked at her three sons in brocade clothes beside her. They looked so luxurious that if she saw them on the street, she would not dare to recognize them as her own children.

"Hurry up, it's getting late, it's time to go over and pay homage to the Lord!"

The maid outside the door was talking softly, holding the youngest child in her arms, she couldn't help stretching out her hand to pinch the shriveled face, and said to Xiao Zui: "Don't worry, there is a saying in my hometown in Guanzhong, Harm is harm, there is life, eat more oil and water in the future, and you will naturally become fat for nothing, you big man, let the prince accept you as a disciple, and you will be ranked as a public minister in the future, it is no problem!"

Xiao Zui hurriedly said: "I don't dare, it's enough to just have enough food and clothing."

The maid just smiled and urged Xiao Zui to leave quickly.

When Xiaozui walked to the door of the room, she looked back at the tattered linen clothes thrown in the corner. She didn't know what she thought of, and suddenly said to the eldest son: "Follow this sister to see Junhou, it's getting late. , it’s time for grandma to go to the construction site to cook."

Under the surprised look of the maid with her mouth wide open, Xiaozui turned back to the house, took off his luxurious brocade clothes, put on his old shabby linen clothes, and hurried to the construction site with both hands and feet.

The maid wanted to dissuade him, but she thought it was getting late and she did not dare to keep the prince waiting at any time, so she led the three silent sons of Xiaozui to see the prince.

Li Huan had already gotten up early, took a shower, and put on a brand new dress.

The maid had already taught Xiao Zui how to speak. When he saw Li Huan, he slowly walked forward and knelt down respectfully: "Meet my mentor!"

Li Huan stretched out his hand to touch the child's back and said softly: "Your mother didn't name the three brothers. She just called you Dalang, your second brother Erlang, and your younger brother Sanlang. Today you will worship me as your teacher, so naturally I will I should give you a name, do you remember what your father’s last name is?”

This question was not one of the questions asked by the maidservant sister, nor was it one of the questions that his mother had asked him to answer. Dalang didn't know how to answer it for a moment.

Because his father had no surname, he only remembered that people called his father Bangchui...

Bangchui is also a name, just like the name of Cuihua, but Cuihua can be called Li Cuihua.

For another example, most of the people in Huo Qubing's mansion are named after military weapons. Li Huan has heard the name of a fierce man named Machete more than once. .

For another example, the boys under the machete have names such as Ball Head, Ghost Behead, etc...

In this era, anyone whose surname can be explained clearly is not an ordinary person.

Li Huan saw his disciple Dalang's embarrassment, but looked at him calmly. If he was just a child who knew filial piety but was not smart, Li Huan decided to let him engage in agricultural production.

A lot of agricultural common sense in his previous world can be said to be very advanced in this era.

For example, high temperature composting...

"Master, my father's name is Bangchui." Dalang suppressed his face until his face turned red, and then he said truthfully: "Our family is untouchable and we don't have a surname."

"Then you have to think of a surname." Li Huan said thoughtfully: "You are still in a very ignorant state about this world. You should follow me as a teacher for a while first, and then decide what your surname is. Now, we Everyone calls you like your grandmother."

"Dalang, do you understand?"

The maid next to her had a look of extreme envy in her eyes. Huo Qubing looked at the extra junior brother with a smile in the corner of his eyes.

The hardships this child endured were just like the hardships his uncle endured when he was young, and a natural sense of intimacy... actually arose spontaneously!

"Dalang understands!"

Li Huan nodded and said with a smile: "Qubing, you take him down. I have to deal with some things. I also want to talk to him about the situation of our family and introduce some of his three senior brothers who have not come here. He will return to Chang'an in the future. Let him study with little Anshi."

Huo Qubing smiled and took Dalang away.

Li Huan glanced at Erlang who was standing next to the maid, and Sanlang in the maid's arms, and asked curiously: "Where is Xiaozui? Where did she go?"

The maid immediately told Li Huan about Xiaozui's abnormal behavior.

After Li Huan heard this, he was quite shocked. He glanced at Sanlang who was held in the arms of the maid, and asked the maid: "Do you like taking care of children?"

The maid nodded: "Reporting to the Marquis, when I am at home, I take my younger brothers and sisters with me, and they rarely get sick..."

"Okay, from now on, your job is to take care of the children, and you don't need to do the rest."

After Li Huan finished speaking, he found that the little maid looked at him blankly.

"What? Didn't you say you'd take care of the kids?"

The little maid finally came to her senses as if she had just woken up from a dream, but she still asked in an uncertain tone: Master Marquis, do you really just need to take care of the child? "

"Yes, I will take care of the food and daily life of these three children. By the way, after returning to Guanzhong, I will also take care of An Shi's daily life... If you are too busy, go to the madam and ask for help."

"You're busy! You're busy!" The little maid suddenly nodded excitedly: "Don't worry, Lord Marquis, I will take good care of them, so I will take Erlang and Sanlang down first."

"Go!" Li Huan nodded, then grabbed a letter sent from Guanzhong and read it carefully.

As a result, after a few glances, it became boring. This is a letter from Jinzhan, which said that His Majesty has selected a manpower to go to other countries to show his power, and he said it very implicitly.

However, Li Huan knew very well that he was here to show off his wealth, and Cao Xiang was among them. Some of the others Li Huan had heard of, and some Li Huan had never heard of. But there was no need to think too much about these people. His ancestors must be the old nobles who followed Han Gaozu Liu Bang to open up the world.

"What happened to that maid just now?" Li Huan turned to Cuihua and asked.

Cuihua said with a smile: "Master doesn't know that these maids have to do all kinds of things while taking care of the children. If you ask her to only take care of the children and not do anything else, that is simply unimaginable. matter."

Li Huan shook his head: "Where is Ziwen?"

"I went to my mother's place early in the morning and said I had something urgent to report." Cuihua glanced at the courtyard where Gillian and Liu Ling lived, and whispered: "Master, I'm afraid the doctor can't do it today. I will accompany you to inspect the construction site."

Most of the construction sites outside the city are bricks, quarries, sand quarries, etc. As for the other various mines, Li Huan can only confirm after he personally inspects them.

It was only after arriving in his fief that he realized how wealthy he really was.

Perhaps Anyang Hou alone would not be so wealthy, but after Anyang Hou married a princess, and two princesses at that, these things really became Li Huan's.

In other words, it may have been owned in name only, but in fact it was still under the jurisdiction of the imperial court.

"It doesn't matter, let's take a look at Xiaozui first. This woman is really interesting!"

"I really don't know how interesting this little Zui is, that she can make a man like Junhou never forget her?"

A charming and moving voice suddenly came from outside the door, Li Huan's heart moved, and his eyes immediately looked outside the door.

A stunningly beautiful figure had already appeared outside the door. There was no trace of gouache on her fair, melon-like face, but it was full of pure and refined transcendent beauty.

Li Huan secretly marveled, this is really whiter than Li Taibai!
Liu Ling's peach blossom eyes were smiling, but Li Huan already felt like he was being shocked...

"Meet the Lord!" Cuihua hastily bowed and saluted.

"Xiao Nizi, what are you going to do? You have important matters to discuss with Dr. Zhang today. I'm really too busy to panic. My brother-in-law will take me for a walk, okay?"

Faced with such a coquettish sister-in-law, even a man cannot refuse; Li Huan prides himself on being a true man among men, how could he refuse?
Arriving at the construction site of Hou Mansion, Li Huan saw from a distance Xiao Zui who was lighting a fire, wiping his sweat, and then standing up to work again, shaking his head slightly.

"It's just ordinary." After Liu Ling said this, he suddenly smiled evilly. He wanted to tease Li Huan, but he saw that Li Huan had already walked over quickly.

"Master Hou!" Xiao Zui was startled and was about to kneel down.

"No courtesy." Li Huan shook his head and said, "Why not over there at the government office? Are you still busy here?"

Xiaozui shook his head and said with a smile: "The reward from the Marquis is already very generous, but over the years, the things I have done are really not good enough for me. My child will be very promising in the future, but if others Knowing that his mother was once a prostitute, the little woman was worried that he would not be able to hold his head high."

"No." Li Huan shook his head: "My disciple is definitely not the kind of person who would dislike his mother." "But the little woman dislikes herself." Xiaozui shook his head: "The little woman is dirty and not worthy of wearing brocade clothes."

Li Huan stretched out his hand to hold the door frame and bit his lip: "You are not dirty. No matter what a mother does to support her children, she is not dirty."

After leaving these words, Li Huan turned around and left without saying anything else.

Xiaozui looked at Li Huan's leaving figure blankly, and suddenly heard the sound of chirping in the pot. He hurriedly looked at the pot, and then wiped his tears while looking at the pot.

Liu Ling, who was walking behind Li Huan, vaguely heard the little woman laughing and crying: "The Marquis said I'm not dirty, the Marquis said I'm not dirty..."

These words seem to have been repeated many times...

"Brother-in-law?"

Liu Ling came forward, very curious about Xiao Zui.

Li Huan pulled the horse's bridle and told Liu Ling the story of Xiaozui.

Liu Ling was very sympathetic after hearing this, but Li Huan noticed that her bright and moving peach blossom eyes, for some reason, the brilliance shining in them gradually dimmed.

It certainly wasn't because of Xiao Zui's story, maybe... Xiao Zui's story reminded Liu Ling of some bad memories.

"This place is too poor." Li Huan shook his head and said: "The various construction sites outside the city are already in operation. First, we need to build a cement road from the main road, and then use the proportions I mentioned to bake it. Red bricks, build my palace."

Li Huan didn't ask Liu Ling what was on his mind, but instead talked about his plan with Liu Ling.

"I'm going to burn something called glass to decorate my gate; besides, I've already drawn the drawing of the drainage system." He pointed to the distance and said: "Anyang City is obviously on a high place, But there are still many places where water accumulates in the city, which is obvious because the drainage system is too poor..."

"Perhaps, before the autumn harvest, the entire Anyang City can be completely renewed!" Liu Ling praised Li Huan's strange words sincerely.

Li Huan nodded: "That's for sure!"

The light in Liu Ling's eyes flashed again. She never thought that so many brick kilns would be built outside Anyang City in just a few days!

She had even seen the paper that had been made, put in the donkey cart, and pulled towards the city.

Li Huan kept silent, and rode ahead on his horse. Liu Ling chased after him: "If so many brick kilns are abandoned in the future, what should we do?"

"Abandoned?" Li Huan shook his head: "Why do you think these brick kilns will be abandoned in the future?"

"I remember that when we came here, there was a piece of barren grassland, and there were people grazing sheep here." Liu Ling pointed to the large chimney emitting black smoke in the distance. After marveling, he answered Li Huan's rhetorical question: "Why not ?Brother-in-law, after your palace is built, what will be the use of these brick kilns?"

"Build houses for these people." A strange smile appeared on Li Huan's lips. There were many ways to stimulate the economy, and he chose the most interesting one.

"Build a house?" Liu Ling showed admiration: "Are you going to sell these houses built with red bricks to these people at a high price?" She lowered her voice in admiration: "Aren't you afraid that the censor will impeach you? Exploiting the people’s wealth and their anointing?”

"Who told you that these houses will be sold at high prices?" Li Huan glanced sideways at Liu Ling: "This will become a square in the future."

Liu Ling couldn't imagine a square built on the cement floor. He took a cursory glance at the position of Li Huan's fingers, shook his head and said: "I have never seen anyone who can't afford an early morning without benefits. Brother-in-law, you don't want to Give these houses away for free?”

"It is indeed a free gift." Li Huan nodded and said: "These people will be engaged in the production of red bricks in the future."

"What about the fields?" Liu Ling shook his head: "This is a sacrifice of the fundamentals, and the people will not agree. It is no longer the Zhou Dynasty. Your feudal households only have to pay taxes to you, which does not mean that they are all your private property. "

Li Huan nodded: "I don't regard them as my personal property. When it comes to farming, the people I brought here have more experience... Moreover, you never thought about a problem. The appearance of the plow and the columbine In the future, the same land will no longer require so many hands to be involved in farming.”

Liu Ling was a staunch supporter of everything created by the land. A slight smile appeared on her mesmerizing face. She felt that what Li Huan said must be deliberately deceiving her.

Throughout the dynasties, only with agriculture as the foundation can political power be more stable; otherwise, no matter how good you are at other things, how can the people survive without enough food?
Even a large part of an official's salary is mainly composed of food.

People on this land have been exposed to famine since they were born, so that people who have only had enough to eat for a few days always find the way of greeting "Have you eaten?" funny and ridiculous.

Liu Ling said: "The freed manpower can be used to reclaim more wasteland and grow more food, so that more people can have food."

"This is an easy task, but how to ensure stability and increase food production is more important." Li Huan couldn't hide his contemptuous eyes.

Liu Lingdai frowned: "Brother-in-law, you are the most intelligent person in the world, but don't always treat others as idiots, right?"

"Blindly opening up wasteland can expand the area of ​​cultivated land at once, but have you never thought about whether more manpower and material resources are needed to maintain it?" Li Huan pointed to the mountains in the distance and asked: "Do you know how many wild beasts there are in these mountains? ?Will wild beasts come down from the mountain and destroy the crops?"

"This..." Liu Ling was really confused by the question.

Li Huan said: "In my manor at the foot of Lishan Mountain, there are often hordes of wild boars that destroy the crops. The Royal Forest Army there to protect the safety of the mother queen, apart from daily patrols, is to lead the villagers to capture wild boars."

Liu Ling was a little slow to speak.

Li Huan squinted his eyes and asked with a smile: "You haven't planted the land yourself, have you?"

Liu Ling was like a puppy whose tail was stepped on. He reacted greatly, but he quickly calmed down: "I have been a noble person since I was born. How could I have farmed the land?"

"So, bragging is what people like you like to do most." Li Huan's words seemed to be deliberately irritating or driving away Liu Ling.

But Liu Ling didn't want to go back and continue being a stay-at-home girl with Gillian. No matter how Li Huan laughed at her, she always looked like she was studying.

"Brother-in-law, what do you mean by maintenance costs?" Liu Ling really doesn't understand farming... He is an undercover agent and an Infernal Affairs. He only needs to know how to disguise himself and how to seduce powerful men. , why do you know how to farm?
Liu Ling comforted himself in his heart, knowing that if he climbed into Li Huan's bed, the information he obtained would one day make Li Huan kneel in front of her like a dog...

The term "spiritual victory method" only came into being after 2000, but it does not mean that people before 2000 would not do it.

At this time, the ancients called this humiliation and bearing the burden.

"Manpower will not be increased in a short period of time, and the scope of cultivated land will be expanded rashly. The first problem that cannot be faced is insect plague; then there will be ice and snow weather, heavy rain weather, and as for the wild animals destroying cultivated land as I said, compared with these, It’s nothing.”

Li Huan said very seriously: "Just like there, I have asked people to dig river channels here. A few years ago, when Anyang County was building a flood control dam, the county magistrate and others embezzled money and food, causing the flood to change its course. After the flood receded, here It became like this.”

Only then did Liu Ling notice that if he didn't do this, once the flood arrived, those kilns would either be flooded, or all of them would be wiped out by the roar of the flood.

In particular, some low-lying areas here are full of water, which looks even more worrying.

"Are there enough manpower?" Liu Ling frowned, and there was a hint of worry in his peach blossom eyes.

"Are you afraid that all my efforts will be in vain?" Li Huan narrowed his eyes.

"As far as I know, you don't have the power to issue corvee." Liu Ling looked serious: "Such a big project cannot be completed at all if the number of people is small; and if you force the people to do this, it is tantamount to doing corvee, and it will kill your head. !”

Li Huan laughed: "But, what if I give you wages? Doesn't that count as force? Not only that, I'm also in charge of the food!"

"This..." Liu Ling was confused again. Then what was Li Huan doing?
"Do you still remember that I told you before that the red bricks fired in the brick kilns are used to build houses for the people for free?"

"What you're doing..." Liu Ling looked in disbelief: "It's so strange! What have you gained by doing this? A waste of manpower and financial resources? Just for a good reputation?"

"Have you forgotten that I have 100 households here?" Li Huan said: "If the taxes are always fixed on the cultivated land, then my taxes will not change in another [-] years. But if I build this place well, , then my one-year tax can be worth five or even ten years of tax, why not do it? Anyway, idle is idle."

After Liu Ling heard this, it seemed as if he couldn't breathe.

Li Huan continued: "This is the first point. The second point is that once the operation mode of Anyang City is successful, do you think His Majesty will let Sang Hongyang come here to patrol, and then go back to find a suitable place and do the same?"

Liu Ling's eyes suddenly became sharp, she felt that this was the point of everything!

Li Huan continued: "As long as there are more cities like this, will the tax revenue of our Han Empire reach a very terrifying level?"

"Continuing back to Anyang County, the living conditions in Anyang County are better, and people have food. Does that mean there will be more children? Once more children are born, will the cultivated land be orderly and stable? Promote expansion?”

"At that time, whether they are people who grew up locally or people who migrated from other places, they can become the manpower for construction here; human resources are the best and most direct resources at any time."

"Perhaps in three or four years, the forests we can see now will be filled with houses and turned into cultivated land; when there are more cities similar to Anyang City, the total population of my Han Dynasty will be Can’t we just go crazy?”

Li Huan looked at Liu Ling with calm eyes: "How is it? Do you suddenly feel that what I am doing now is very meaningful."

"It's more than meaningful, it's simply an example to the world!" Liu Ling took a few deep breaths and suddenly laughed: "Brother-in-law, you really dedicated your life to His Majesty!"

"That's wrong." Li Huan shook his head and said, "It's true that I am loyal to His Majesty, but I really can't do it if I'm exhausted. Not only that, I actually hate going out to fight. I just want to stay at home, eat, drink, and sleep every day. To bask in the sun.

Then Cuihua woke me up, and I played with the princess for a while, then ate, and after eating, went to play again; then ate again, and in the evening, we just had a party or something, and basically just lay in bed and be happy. "

Li Huan ignored Liu Ling's look that said, "I don't believe you." He continued: "But, the big man is too poor and does not allow a high-ranking prince like me to do this; I want to resign as a prince. , Your Majesty will definitely not allow it.

So, I figured out that I had to find a way to make the big man rich first, and then I could live my ideal life of sloppiness. "

"I..." Liu Ling's expression was complicated, and his facial features seemed to be at war with each other. He hesitated for a moment: "I...at this moment, I don't know what to say..."

　Thank you for the reward of 100 book coins from Short Legs. It has been growing for many days. I can’t ask for a reward too much.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)