Ma Erniang's Splendid Pastoral

Chapter 155
The construction of the canal was started at the end of April, and a good day was chosen to officially start the construction. The common people watched it lively, and they were concerned about whether it could really be done?Amidst the debate, they waited for the result.

For experienced canal builders, what they look at is the doorway. Almost all the canal builders in the entire Liangzhou City participated, especially the Gu family. He won a good game of chess, but he didn't expect that Xiuqu was also a good player, and he lived up to the title of master craftsman.

It has been ten days since the start of construction. Standing by the abandoned dry well, the old man said: "From Beishan to Liangzhou City, and then to Lingqiu, a small county town in the south of Liangzhou City, it is a total of three hundred miles. It is divided into ten sections. Each section is divided into ten sections. Hundreds of soldiers and 5000 soldiers in the construction army, I have calculated that it will take three months to get through."

Huang Junyao said: "The king of the county has already said hello. If the war breaks out, the soldiers will be transferred to fight. You have to take this into account."

Old man Gu smiled: "Don't worry, Mr. Huang. There are tens of thousands of people in the city eagerly waiting to participate. If they want to make money, it should be fine."

Huang Junyao nodded, "Then let's work harder."

Old man Gu said happily: "Master Huang, let's make this matter a big one like playing chess."

"it is good."

A month later, the project of repairing the canal had achieved initial results, and the results were satisfactory. Xia Zhen's tight heart finally relaxed. At the same time, wars of all sizes occurred frequently. Yu Liang, Qing, and Ning have never been free.

When the distance is short, Ma Min'er will sometimes be by Xia Zhen's side and take care of him. If he is far away, he will not let her go, so he will let her stay in Liangzhou and help look after Tongqu.

At the end of May, Ma Min'er received a letter from his elder brother from Beijing, saying that he had passed the No. 3 imperial examination—Tanhua, and had been conferred an official position, the lowest bachelor in the Imperial Academy in the capital.

Ma Min'er was really happy for him, he finally started his official career, but from the letter, she felt that his elder brother wanted to be at the grassroots level and didn't want to stay in Beijing.She hurriedly replied a letter to him, telling him the necessity of staying in the capital for the past two years.

It was almost the end of June when Ma Dalang received the letter from his eldest sister. He had just returned home from get off work at the Imperial Academy. When he returned home, Feng Sanniang was waiting in the courtyard and saw him with a slight smile, "Mr. Ma Lang——"

"Feng Sanniang..."

"How is it in the Imperial Academy?" Feng Sanniang said, "Grandfather asked me to ask!"

In fact, Ma Dalang had just met Mrs. Jiang yesterday, and he had already said what he needed to say. He smiled, not exposing the little lady's lies, and asked, "It's getting late, have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet." Feng Sanniang said, "When I passed by Jingfeng Building, I bought some side dishes!" Walking to the table of the Eight Immortals, she reached out to lift the lid of the box, "It's still hot, hurry up and eat. "

"Thank you, Third Lady, for your hard work."

"Master Ma is too polite." Feng Sanniang's smiling face was bright and moving.

Peng Xiaohe had already fetched water, asked the host to wash his hands and face, the two had a meal together, and sat for a while after the meal, although they both talked about trivial matters in life, they still chatted with gusto.

One is sitting on one side of the table, and the other is sitting on the other end. Although they are far away, they seem to be very close. Feng Sanniang's refreshing personality reveals some of her daughter's misbehavior during the chat, which makes people unknowingly heartbeat.

"Then...it's getting late, I...I'll take you back."

"Oh well."

A pair of young people ended their conversation in a hurry. Ma Dalang sent the little lady back home, but only to the entrance of Fengjia Alley, not to the gate of the courtyard. Feng Sanniang kept looking for his own business, he thought Find a suitable opportunity to talk to your wife, otherwise, it will be disrespectful to her.

When I came back, I saw the letter from my elder sister, and quickly opened the letter: Hello, elder brother, I have received your letter...

Every time he reads a letter from his relatives, Ma Dalang always feels warm and warm. In addition to daily greetings and talking to each other, his sister also told him a lot of ways to lead the world, and how to live out his own appearance in troubled times.

...Brother, I have persuaded Brother Zhao to come to Liangzhou to be an official. I told him to stay in Beijing if he has the opportunity. This opportunity, get to know it well, I will tell you the same thing today, stay in the capital, get in touch with the capital, whether it is the scenery of the capital, or the complicated rich and nobles in the capital, you all need to understand it well After a while, only when you understand clearly in your heart, can you stretch your fists better when you go out of the capital to become low-level officials...

After my sister pulls it out like this, Ma Da Ma seems to be enlightened, with a goal to move forward, "Yes, my sister is still thinking carefully."

Peng Xiaohe stood on the side and asked, "Mr. Da Lang, does the little master let you stay in the capital?"

"Ah."

Peng Xiaohe smiled, "That's great, this way, I can wait until next year when my little boss comes to the capital to get married."

Ma Dalang looked at Xiaohe, "Sister said it's not certain, it might be in Fucheng."

The thick Peng Xiaohe said: "Mr. Dalang, look, the king of Beijun will definitely be recruited by the emperor to Beijing to get married."

Ma Dalang frowned, "Could it be because there is a county palace in Beijing?"

Peng Xiaohe said: "When I went to the tea shop with you, I stood outside the door and listened to the servants of the powerful families say that if you want to be a 'king', you will always be restrained by the ones above. They spend a lot of time in the capital."

Ma Dalang looked at Peng Xiaohe in surprise, "You mean, my sister spends a lot of time in the capital?"

"I suppose so."

Ma Dalang pursed his lips, "But there have been wars on the border, so it shouldn't be."

Peng Xiaohe shook his head, "Then I don't understand. Anyway, the enfeoffed princes and county kings are rarely in fiefs, and they are all in Beijing."

"That's true."

It seems like it was yesterday that the number one scholar with hairpin flowers paraded through the streets. Ma Meier's mind has always been haunted by the heroic appearance of her husband sitting on a tall horse. During this time, she has been in a state of excitement, and she was even more happy when she received the letter from cousin Min. She didn't expect that cousin Min would persuade her husband to stay in Liubu as a small official, raised her head and handed the letter to her husband.

"Husband, look—"

Zhao Yuyan took the letter and sighed with regret, "I still want to build Liangzhou City with her!"

Ma Meier smiled and didn't answer, she supported her husband in whatever he did, but if someone asked him to stay in Beijing, she would not object, after all the capital is her root, she likes it here.

Zhao Yuyan looked at his wife's belly, "Forget it, you have another child in your belly, I'll stay in Beijing for now and be a small official in the Sixth Department."

"Which department are you going to go to?"

This Zhao Yuyan has long thought about it: "The Ministry of Household Affairs."

"Why not the Ministry of War?"

Zhao Yuyan understood what his wife meant, "I won't be able to help the North County King if I enter the military department. On the contrary, the household department can help them."

"You mean, fight for food and pay for the king of Beijun, and be his backing?"

"If possible, I hope to repay their favor. Of course, I am also building a network for myself."

Ma Meier nodded, "My husband is right."

The difference between Tongfeng doctor Ma Chengzu's life and that in Yunshui is that he was teaching students at that time, but now it has become drinking tea and playing chess. The emperor can see him once every ten days and eight days, but that is in the early morning court. , there are very few opportunities to meet alone, and he did not take the initiative to find the emperor, and the emperor would not look for him.

Mrs. Ma has already retired to the second line, and she will not be the head of the house. The housekeeping has been handed over to Mrs. Ma San. At the beginning, she was secretly happy that she could finally be the head of the house. , her husband has no errands, and the money from that place makes her the head of the family. Now she only relies on Yunshui's shop and the two small shops that existed in her mother's house before exile. I dare not go.

That's all, although the daughter has become the empress in the palace, she is a fourth-rank beauty with a relatively low rank (this article uses the rank of the harem of the Song Dynasty as a model, except for the queen, the first class is a concubine, such as noble and virtuous concubine, and the second class is a concubine. Concubines, such as Shuyi and Shurong, Jieyu as the third, beauties as the fourth, talents as the fifth, no one as the sixth), if you want to gain a foothold in the palace, you have to pay her to perform the ceremony, it is simply It's a bottomless pit, but if you don't play the code, how can your daughter climb up in the harem, and how can she get close to the emperor to conceive a dragon seed?
Mrs. Ma sat beside the man, saw him holding a teacup in a daze, and said, "Master..."

Ma Chengzu didn't move.

"Master, let's find San'er an errand to do. It's not the same thing for a man who wants to support his family and spend money while doing nothing." Mrs. Ma didn't care if the old man could hear her or not, and continued: "Or, you can ask Mr. Feng for help and see if it works."

Ma Chengzu turned his head to look at his old wife, his eyelids twitched, "Yi Chu has entered the Imperial Academy, let him have a meal at home when he has time."

Madam Ma frowned, "Did you hear what I told you just now?"

Ma Chengzu said: "What can he do?"

"It's better to find a casual job than to do nothing."

Ma Chengzu took a deep breath, "I can't bear this face."

"You..." Mrs. Ma stood up angrily, "Then don't even think about me inviting your grandson over for dinner."

Ma Chengzu sneered, "The granddaughter of your palace doesn't count on the son-in-law of Lao Liu's family anymore?"

"You..." Mrs. Ma was so angry that she almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Some of the people in Liangzhou City participated in the construction of the culvert, and some began to tidy up the fields, pick up gravel, and plow the land.

Although the weather in Liangzhou City is dry and less rainy, it has plenty of sunshine, which is very conducive to the growth of crops, and because of the large temperature difference between day and night, the crops grown are of higher quality than other places.

Ma Min'er has asked Qiu Baiyan to bring in a large amount of wheat and wheat seeds. Besides the staple food, there are also millet (so-called yellow rice) and Champa rice, and she especially wants to rush to plant a season of Champa rice.

Because Huang Junyao focused on repairing the canal, Ma Miner found Sha Zhifu. At this time, Sha Zhifu didn't dare to trust him anymore. The noble person who couldn't find him took the initiative to find him. He was very happy, and secretly said, my senses have been preserved. , "Ma'am, why are you looking for an officer?"

"It's already the beginning of July."

"Yes, I know that the beginning of July is the hottest time in Liangzhou City."

Who told you that the weather is hot, Ma Miner looked at the slippery Prefect Sha, but didn't reveal it, "I found a place where Champa rice can be grown, you can arrange it."

"..." Prefect Sha didn't understand, and looked at the future princess, waiting for her to explain.

"Does Lingqiu know?"

Prefect Sha nodded and bowed his waist: "I know, ma'am, it's in a small county in the south of Liangzhou."

"Last year, there was plenty of rain, and there was still some water outside Liangzhou City..."

"Ma'am, there are 4 to [-] people drinking this water, and the officers and soldiers are guarding it every day." Prefect Sha Xindao was originally reserved for wealthy households, but was forced to use it by the king of Beijun. Now everyone has water to drink , As a result, there were no water sellers in the city, and a lot of money was lost. Thinking of this, he got angry, but he didn't dare to vent it.

Before he finished speaking, this guy interrupted, "Can you listen to me?"

"Yes... I'm sorry, I'm being rude, madam, please tell me..."

"I've already asked Mr. Huang..."

If you don't mention the surname Huang, Prefect Sha won't get angry, and if you mention that, you won't hit a single place, money, a lot of money...

"Sandman, what's your expression?"

"Uh...no...no, ma'am...please tell me—" Prefect Sha realized that he had lost his composure, and quickly pretended to be his grandson.

Ma Min'er frowned, and said patiently: "I've already asked Huang Da, the main road canal will be connected to water at the end of August, and it will flow to Lingqiu County, so some of the water in the moat can be used to irrigate the fields .”

"What does the lady want to plant?"

Ma Miner replied: "Compared with other places, the land in Qiuling is not bad. I plan to plant Champa rice for one season, then some seasonal vegetables, and plant fruit trees on the ridges of the fields to prevent soil erosion. , and can bring benefits to the farmers, what do you think?"

Today, even if Ma Miner said to plant dog shit, Sha Zhifu would take a picture of it and say that she planted it well, let alone food, "Of course it is good, of course it is good... I will let them plant it right away." .”

"What kind did you ask them to take?"

"Let them buy seeds and plant them?"

There is nothing wrong with these words, Ma Min'er really wants to scold someone, seeing Zhifu Sha's attitude, and how slippery she is, she suddenly feels that seeds and other things cannot fall into his hands, once they fall into his hands, they can be picked up by him Probably, on a hot day when she was sweating, her back felt cold, and she waved her hand, "Then let them buy seeds quickly."

"Oh, the next official knows, the next official will immediately find the county magistrate and ask him to implement it."

"Well, let's go."

Prefect Sha had just taken two steps before turning back.

Ma Min'er frowned, "Master Sha, this is..."

"The next official will send his wife out first." Prefect Sha smiled wryly.

Really confused, standing in the government office and letting the magistrate go away first, I am afraid that there is no one but herself, Ma Min'er laughed, "Thank you, Mr. Sha."

Mrs. Sha sent his wife to the gate of the mansion, and when he saw his daughter standing aside, he grinned again, "Ma'am, that's the little girl."

Ma Min'er looked in the direction he was pointing at, and a fair-looking little lady fell into sight. After taking a glance, she looked away and nodded towards the surname Sha, "Master Sha, what are you... ..."

"Ma'am, I heard that the king of the county has no other women except you. Although the little girl is not as good as you, it is okay to serve the king of the county and share some of the burden for you."

Ma Min'er is almost as good as a hair, but she knows that in this era, it is very normal for subordinates to send concubines, so she suppressed her anger and said softly: "I also often persuade Zi'an to let him take a few more women by his side. But he doesn't want it, so I can do it too."

"Jun Wang...Jun Wang doesn't want it?" Prefect Sha didn't believe that men are not lustful and don't want women.

"Yes!" Ma Min'er said with a very virtuous look: "How about, how about this, Zian will be back in a few days, you can try it yourself..."

"Then... then there's no need." Prefect Sha had already experienced the power of the King of Beijun, so he dared to approach him.

Sha Miaoying's ears were sharp, and she heard a few words from a distance. It seems that the future princess does not object to her serving the county king, and hurriedly stepped forward, "Ma'am... Ma'am... your dress today is so beautiful." Build a good relationship first. , to give a good impression to the future mistress.

Looking at the innocent little lady, Ma Min'er straightened her body and smiled slightly, "It's okay!" After finishing speaking, she turned her head and said to Prefect Sha, "Master Sha, for the matter of buying seeds, let the people below Let's act now."

"Yes, yes, ma'am!" Lord Sha smiled like a peacemaker.

"Madam...Madam..." Seeing that the future princess is gone, Sha Miaoying still wants to ask a few questions, how is her dress made, it is so beautiful.

Ma Miner is wearing a cotton and linen slim dress today. The improved skirt is simple and light. The key is to connect the top and bottom, just one piece. The weather is too hot. She doesn’t have one piece on the left and one piece on the right, like an ancient costume. But the color is a bit dark and loose, so I'm afraid that the simple underwear inside will show through and be seen by others.

Ma Miner walked around, not only the sunshade straw hat on her head quickly became popular in Liangzhou Prefecture, but her one-piece breathable cotton and linen jumpsuit was also very popular, becoming almost every little lady in the city. , A must-have item for the little daughter-in-law.

Anlong Trading Company did not expect that instead of making a fortune from seeds, it would make money from clothing.

Ma Min'er immediately found Qiu Baiyan, and said, "Master Qiu, the magistrate of Sha is not reliable, you just transport the seeds to the countryside of Lingqiu, and sell them standing in the fields."

"Yes, little master, I understand." Qiu Baiyan said, "What if the peasant has no money?"

"Give them credit and collect money when the harvest comes."

Qiu Baiyan nodded, "I understand, but I plan to separate the sales of seeds and credit into two accounts."

"It's still Shopkeeper Qiu who is thoughtful and thoughtful."

Like Liangzhou City, there are many people in Lingqiu, but not many farmers. They are all unemployed. When there is a caravan, they do odd jobs for the caravan. This year there is no caravan, and they live by building canals. Said, the concept of building canals is to have water to drink, but farming...

Qiubaiyan's seeds were transported to Lingqiu and stationed in the countryside, but almost no one bought them, let alone credit seeds. When the situation was reported to Ma Min'er, she could only call mother, "We can only plant them ourselves. "

The season waits for no one, so just do what you say, so Ma Miner found the magistrate of Qiuling County and asked for all the vacant fields, "I will plant one season first, and try to see if I can grow food. It’s better to give it back to you in Qiuling County.” It’s just a matter of throwing bricks to attract jade, hoping that farmers can see that they can grow grain, and everyone can farm.

The idle field is also empty, the Grand Master of Qiuling County doesn't care, he just happened to send a favor to the future concubine of the county king.

Ma Min'er was really angry and wanted to laugh, "These people don't have any economic sense at all. If you plant so many fields for me, you should at least rent them!"

Qiu Baiyan sneered: "Because this land has never given them anything, so they don't expect to get anything."

"Treasurer Qiu is right." Ma Min'er said, "Then let us give them hope."

These people who were dying of starvation had fields but didn't plant them, but when Ma Min'er gave them their wages, they all came to help with the farming.

"You really..." Ma Miner shook her head and sighed.

A farmer stood beside her and heard her sigh, "It costs money to buy seeds, and hard work may not necessarily yield a harvest for a season, so why bother doing these useless things."

"You also said 'not necessarily'"

The old farmer smiled, "I'm afraid that if you don't plant, we won't get paid."

Ma Min'er was so blocked that she couldn't say a word, but she shouted in her heart, I want to grow food for you to see, as long as you work hard, there is no field that can't grow food.

Liangzhou was dry and dry, but as soon as Ma Min'er's seeds fell, it rained, and it was a moist summer rain, which was just right, the kind that could wet the ground but not wash away the seeds.

"Oh my god, the little boss said it was going to rain, and it really did rain. It's amazing."

Shan Xiaodan said to her emotional mother: "People in Yunshui Town say that Xiaodong's family is the Goddess of Rain. As long as she farms, as long as she wants to rain, it will rain."

Aunt Shan covered her daughter's mouth with her hand, "Okay, we just need to know, don't go outside and talk nonsense."

"I know, mother."

Standing under the eaves, Aunt Shan saw that the rain had stopped, and said with a smile, "I'll go to the vegetable field to see what vegetables can be used for dinner."

"Mom, can you eat long beans and cucumbers?"

"I'll check it out, maybe it's too small."

"Little tender, you can pick some and bring them back."

"That's a shame!" Aunt Shan went to the vegetable field, and the vegetables washed by the rain were green, green vegetables, cabbage, amaranth, spinach (water spinach), raw melons, cucumbers, winter melons, and loofahs that climbed so high. Spiritual, it is gratifying to look at.

But Aunt Shan cut a handful of fresh and tender chives first, and said with a smile: "It must be delicious to make dumplings with leeks and pork tonight." She picked up another handful of chives, "It's refreshing to stir-fry." She picked a few more Loofah, roasted loofah egg soup, stir-fried loofah skin, nothing is wasted.

Aunt Shan returned to the yard happily with a basket of vegetables, only to see her daughter welcome at the door, avoiding it, she quietly raised her head to see, it turned out that the king of the county had returned, no wonder her daughter was standing there respectfully.

Before Xia Zhen could change the armor, she raised Ma Min'er with both hands, causing her to giggle, "You put me down, I'm not your daughter, son, what are you doing..."

"The little daughter-in-law can also hold it high!" Xia Zhen grinned her white teeth, and threw it twice more, this time it was not light, and the throw was quite high, so scared that the little daughter-in-law covered her eyes and screamed.

Shan Xiaodan lowered her head and grinned, seeing her mother was hesitating whether to go forward to salute, she moved over quietly, "Mother, let's go quickly."

"The prince is back, don't you want to serve?"

"The young couple is getting tired of it, I stand there and get in the way."

"That's true." Aunt Shan, mother and daughter went to the kitchen to make dinner.

Xiaowen and Jingmo stood in the shadow of the corner of the courtyard, the whole small wooden courtyard seemed deserted, Xia Zhen and the little daughter-in-law both smiled and entered the room, and then...there was no sound inside, and then the N was omitted Character.

After getting tired, it was too hot, Ma Miner pushed Xia Zhen to take a bath, but he refused to move, so tired that he lay on the bed, "Hurry up!"

"No strength."

"Isn't it a lie to raise the strength just now?"

"Just now."

Ma Min'er was so angry that she could hit someone, she pulled him up with both hands, "Go, the bathroom is near Koizumi, I made a pool, it's convenient and comfortable to wash in, try it, I'll keep you satisfied."

Xia Zhen tilted her head and watched the little daughter-in-law pulling herself so hard that she was sweating profusely. She couldn't bear it, and got up tired of breathing, "Okay, okay, go take a bath, I'm not old yet, so I hate my sweating." It stinks, what can I do when I get old..."

"Master, Su Suinian has strength, hurry up and take a bath." Ma Min'er pushed him from behind, a big man about 1.8 meters tall, even if he was thin, he looked like a hill, really heavy.

Xia Zhen took a shower and came out with crisp clothes. She looked down at the clothes. Ma Min'er was sitting by the stone next to Koizumi, waiting for him while enjoying the cool. Seeing him coming out, she quickly stood up.

"How is the dress, does it fit?"

"It fits nicely, but it's kind of weird.

"What's wrong there?"

"Sleeveless and legless."

"Haha..." Ma Min'er laughed loudly, "The daytime in Liangzhou City is like a fire cage. I specially made you a sleeveless shirt, and the legs are a little short. Cool off."

"do not think so."

Ma Miner flattened her mouth.

Xia Zhen raised her head, "I think the thing standing on the edge of the stone is cool."

Ma Miner said proudly, "This is my fan, let's cool it down."

Xia Zhen approached the strange thing, and saw three leaf-like things on the top of an iron bar, which kept spinning for some reason.

Ma Min'er followed Xia Zhen, "Come here... come here, let me show you how it keeps spinning."

Xia Zhen saw the spring water flowing into the dry well. The flowing water drove the two meshing wheels beside the dry well, and the meshing wheels drove the leaves on the top of the iron bar.

"It turns out that this water flow is equivalent to a person constantly shaking."

"Yeah, I'm smart."

Xia Zhen hugged the little daughter-in-law in front of her without any hassle, "Of course, my little daughter-in-law is not smart, who is smart?"

"Hee hee!" Ma Miner giggled happily, "How about we sit in front of the fan and watch the moon while having dinner tonight?"

"Okay!"

Xiaowen stepped forward from behind and handed over a thin outer robe. After all, Xia Zhen is a traditional dignitary, and she can't get up casually. Once she puts on the outer robe, her hands, neck and legs are no longer exposed.

Ma Min'er shrunk her shoulders secretly, fortunately she didn't make a short-sleeved dress, "Let's go, let's eat."

When Xiaowen heard that they were going to eat, he waved his hand outside, and Shan Xiaodan immediately asked her mother to cook.

There are seven or eight dishes on the small round table, all of which are delicious in color, fragrance, and taste. The key is in Liangzhou City, where the sky is full of yellow stones. The green vegetables on this table account for half of it.

When Xia Zhen saw the green leafy vegetables, she tasted so much that she hurriedly picked up chopsticks and ate them with a smile on her face, showing that she was in a good mood.

"How is it outside, can you rest at home for a few days?"

"The weather is hot, the horses can't stand it, and the opponent has stopped fighting."

Ma Min'er said: "It's not a solution to call back and forth like this all the time. Isn't there a better solution?"

(End of this chapter)