Big Song Xiaohou Ye

Chapter 79 The Problem of Eating

Seeing that noon was approaching, Li Ce stayed at the construction site to supervise the work all morning.Zhou De'an looked at the sun and said, "Brother Li, let's go back to eat first."

But Li Ce said with a smile: "Brother Zhou, why don't you just eat here, I saw that there is already cooking smoke there, let's also try the food at the construction site."

Zhou De appeased and said: "Miaoji, Miaoji, I'll arrange it now." Li Ce grabbed him and said, "No need to arrange, we will eat whatever the servants eat."

Zhou De'an hesitated and said, "This..."

Li Ce waved his hand: "No problem."

After a while, the servants came ashore covered in mud. Everyone took off their short shirts, sweated, talked and laughed with each other and walked to the dining place.

"Let's go to eat." Li Ce pulled Zhou De'an and walked over there.

"My lord!" Liu Tingzhu saw Li Ce with sharp eyes, and rushed to say hello.

Seeing that he was also covered in mud, Li Ce asked in surprise, "Did Liu Dutou go into the river too?"

"Hehe, old Liu doesn't have anything else, but he has strength. All the brothers under him have joined, and I'm the only one left. It doesn't make sense." Liu Tingzhu said with a silly smile.

Sure enough, when Li Ce looked, all the officers and soldiers were sitting in the east. Everyone also saw Li Ce and stood up to look at him. Li Ce smiled and waved his hand to signal everyone to sit down and continue to rest.

"Why don't you see Guan Zhen?" Li Ce searched around but couldn't find Guan Zhen.

"That kid, don't expect him to go down the river. You can fight wars, but it's harder than killing him to resist sacks and dig mud. Well, I went hunting with Dean, and said that I want to give everyone Extra meal." Liu Tingzhu said helplessly.

"This kid, I'll deal with him later." Li Ce cursed secretly.

"Let's go, eat." Li Ce patted Liu Tingzhu on the shoulder, and led him to the place where the officers and soldiers were doing.

This fellow originally wanted to shorten the distance with his subordinates.

Liu Tingzhu thought to himself: Your Excellency embraces him like this and is so close, which means that he does not regard himself as an outsider. He felt happy for a while, raised his head high, and glanced at the officers and soldiers. See, the Commander and I are so good that we can hook shoulders Back to the point of the.

The meal was ready soon, and when the food was served on the table, Li Ce saw that it was okay, a big pot of vegetables, which seemed to be stewed randomly, and there was a lot of fat in it, and then there was a big pot of steamed buns.

"Come, come, don't be idle, eat quickly." Li Ce hurriedly greeted everyone.

I picked up some green vegetables with chopsticks, I don't know what kind of wild vegetables it was, it was a bit rough in the mouth, and I took another bite of the steamed bun, it was even rougher, Li Ce chewed hard, and swallowed it before chewing.

Seeing Li Ce's difficult expression, Liu Tingzhu laughed and said, "My lord, are you not used to it?"

Li Ce blushed, and hurriedly said, "How could it be? I'm used to it. I'm used to it. It's not bad to have this food when I'm marching and fighting." Go pick up vegetables again.

He looked up at the crowd quietly, only to find that everyone was eating with relish with their heads down, and the sound of "huluhulu" drinking soup kept coming and going.

"Hey, it's also Xiuhe, why do we eat pig food, and they eat food." But at this moment, a discordant voice came.

Li Ce frowned, followed the voice and saw that it was a servant at the table on the west, huh?The meals on their table seem to be different...

"Don't complain, they are officers and soldiers, can you compare? You have earned money by repairing the embankment, so what else do you want to do?" A servant next to him comforted him.

"That's right, there are still many people who don't want to come. Okay, eat quickly, and you will have the strength to work when you are full." The man grinned, picked up the bowl, and started to drink.

"What's the matter, brother, about this..." Li Ce came over at some point. He wanted to ask the servants for their opinions, but when he saw the food on the table of the servants, he was stunned. Stopped, and the following words are also stuck.

Li Ce's smiling face turned red instantly, he clenched his fists hard, trying to restrain his emotions.

"You will eat this?"

"Oh, it would be nice to have a stutter." A servant lamented.

This... Li Ce is a little ashamed. What is there on the table? There is only a big pot, a pot of soup, some flour in it but more wild vegetables, and nothing else to eat!

Liu Tingzhu realized something was wrong, and had already run over. He saw Li Ce's anger, and said cautiously, "My lord..."

When Li Ce turned around and found Liu Tingzhu, he said angrily, "What's going on?!"

Liu Tingzhu pulled the corner of Li Ce's clothes and motioned him to the side. Li Ce was furious, and shook him off, saying, "Just say it here!"

Liu Tingzhu had no choice but to give up. He wondered: "Your Excellency, you don't know that there is not enough food, even if it is only for the officers and soldiers, it is not enough, and all the servants who come have been taken care of by reducing or exempting corvee and tax, so this..."

"It's also work. Why do you only eat food, and they can only drink water, and the food is not good, so how can you work? You are not afraid of embarrassing you if you say it!" Li Ce scolded severely.

"Come on, extra meal! Everyone will enjoy the same meal." Li Ce said loudly, and he wanted all the servants to hear.

"Thank you sir, thank you sir." The servants were overjoyed and shouted their thanks one after another.

Liu Tingzhu and Zhou De'an looked at each other, Liu Tingzhu opened his mouth, but seeing Li Ce's ugly face, he didn't dare to speak.

The cook took the order and started cooking in full swing.

"My lord, if I eat like this, I'm afraid I won't be able to last for a few days." Zhou De'an was also a little troubled, he looked at the happy servants, and thought: Who doesn't want to show mercy, but the key is to have the capital.

"The imperial court issued disaster relief supplies this time. I'll ask Mr. He for them. You don't have to worry about this. No matter what, you must ensure that the people who work are able to eat enough. Regardless of whether the food is good or not, at least they must be able to eat enough! " Li Ce said solemnly.

"Okay, tell everyone, let go of your belly and eat." Zhou De'an finally made up his mind after gritted his teeth, and ordered.

Li Ce looked at the vicissitudes of the faces of the servants, coupled with the tattered clothes, and sighed deeply, he lost his appetite to eat again, he pulled Zhou De aside.

"Brother Zhou, where did you find this guy?" Li Ce suddenly asked in a low voice.

"Oh, it was chosen by the slave husband." Zhou De'an replied casually
"What?" Li Ce stared, thinking: No wonder cooking is so unpalatable!

"So, send someone to the restaurant in the city to hire a chef to cook." Li Ce said suddenly.

"What, my lord, are you joking?" Zhou De'an was so startled that his eyeballs almost fell out.

"I'm not kidding." Li Ce said seriously.

"This is not for corvee service, it's clearly for dinner." Zhou De'an muttered in a low voice.

"Haha, old Zhou, don't mutter. Don't you hear that if you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools? The laborers are coolies. We must try our best to ensure their rear supply. The logistics are done. Only the servants can really contribute, and the construction period can be completed as soon as possible." Li Ce also worked in a state-owned enterprise in his previous life, and he is well versed in management, but more importantly, he has received a people-oriented education...

In the eyes of authentic Northern Song officials like Zhou De'an, even if your servant eats bran, swallow vegetables and drink water, that is nothing more than normal. Do you think you are here to enjoy the blessings of corvée?Besides, this is an obligation you must fulfill.

But Li Ce didn't think so. The government forcibly recruited people to build the embankment, which already delayed the farm work. Not only did they not pay wages, they didn't even have decent food. Isn't this too much?

(End of this chapter)