Yang Zhi was very drunk, because member Jin was so enthusiastic that he kept toasting.
If he retreated for a few days, Yang Zhi would definitely be wary.
But along the way, as long as they said they were going to give gifts to Duke Yuan Zhang, the gentry along the way would definitely treat the guests warmly. As they came and went, they were completely unsuspecting, which seemed to be the way it should be.
In the middle of the night, the treasured sword beside my pillow was taken away.
Although he didn't make any noise or even touch Yang Zhi, he seemed to sense something and suddenly woke up, opened his eyes, and directly reached out to grab the sword.
"This guy is awake, hold it down!"
Several servants rushed forward and pinned down Yang Zhi's body.
In this position, Yang Zhi, who had been drunk, could not exert any strength at all, and was tied up in a daze.
He was taken to the courtyard in the middle of the night, and was brightly lit by torches.
Yang Zhi angrily scolded Mr. Jin: "Straight bitch, you will not die well!"
Not just him, all the fugitives cursed, and the curses were extremely unpleasant.
When the fugitives got tired of scolding and gradually stopped, Zhao Fengji asked: "Tell me, where did you come from?"
Yang Zhi firmly refused to admit it: "We are here to give birthday gifts to Duke Yuan Zhang, why don't you let me go quickly!"
Zhao Fengji asked: "Who entrusted me to give gifts?"
Yang Zhi said: "Yongxing knows the army, Jingzhao Yin Xidan!"
Yang Zhi was right, and Zhu Guoxiang was indeed friends with Xi Dan. When he first came to Beijing, Zhu Guoxiang passed by Chang'an and had a very happy chat with Xi Dan.
Zhao Fengji naturally didn't know about this kind of thing, but he knew that Xi Dan was not a traitor.
Zhao Fengji sneered: "You speak with a Tokyo accent and have tattoos on your face. How can Xi Zhijun send your wife to give you gifts? Nearly half of you thieves are the ones who stabbed your spouse!"
"You can't be a good person if you have tattoos?" Yang Zhi asked rhetorically.
Zhao Fengji asked: "Since it was sent by Xi Zhijun, where is the proof? Where is the letter?"
Yang Zhi said: "When I met a thief on the way, I lost my trust."
"How dare you deny it!"
Zhao Fengji was too lazy to argue anymore and ordered: "All of them will be taken into custody. When I return, they will be taken to Xingyuan Mansion for questioning."
Yang Zhi shouted anxiously: "I know Duke Yuan Zhang. If you don't believe me, just take me to Daming Village."
Jin Yuanwai persuaded: "Young official, although this person has no credibility, his words do not seem to be false. Why don't you take him to Daming Village and ask Yuan Zhang Gong to take a look and you will know the truth."
Could it be that the wrong person was arrested?
Zhao Fengji came closer and stared at Yang Zhi. Yang Zhi raised his head and looked at him without showing any timidity.
Zhao Fengji was a little unsure: "Bring them on the boat tomorrow and take them to Daming Village together."
The next day, the official ship sailed down the river and docked at Daming Village at noon.
The inn business is not doing well this year, and the fleet of traveling merchant ships has dropped sharply.
Naturally, Daming Village was also hit by the disaster. When Zhu Guoxiang returned to the village, many villagers were already raising corn seedlings. He ordered all corn seedlings to be scrapped and forced all dry land to be replanted with corn, saying that corn could not withstand drought.
Although the villagers complained, they could only do as they were told.
At the worst time, all the weirs and ponds on the hillside dried up. Although the Han River did not dry up, the tributary that passed near Heifengzhai was as dry as a small ditch, completely losing its irrigation function.
Moreover, Daming Village was burdened by its reputation. The hungry people in seven or eight nearby villages did not believe that the government would provide disaster relief, so they all fled to Daming Village.
Zhu Guoxiang could only contact the old white officials and the surrounding gentry to jointly provide food and provide relief separately. He took the opportunity to build bridges and pave roads, dredge irrigation canals, and dig weirs and ponds. In any case, it was work-for-relief, which at least helped the hungry people survive these days.
In this way, Daming Village is more like a county town, and Zhu Guoxiang is the local county magistrate.
Although the weather is hot today, there are still several old women setting up stalls under the bamboo sheds near the pier.
Zhao Fengji said to his servant: "I heard that dried sweet potatoes in Yangzhou came from Daming Village, and now they are also available in Xingyuan Prefecture. This product is similar to preserved fruit, and it is cheap and easy to make. Both nobles and common people like to eat it."
"This thing is indeed excellent." The servant smiled.
Zhao Fengji said: "Let's try the most authentic Daming Village dried sweet potatoes. I don't have any copper coins with me, but you paid for two kilograms."
"Yes." The servant quickly took out the money.
Zhao Fengji walked to the inn again and asked: "Innkeeper, where is the residence of Duke Yuan Zhang?"
Yu Shanwei was reading a book. He raised his head and asked, "Where do you come from? What's the important thing to find Duke Yuan Zhang?"
female?
Zhao Fengji was a little surprised and said: "My name is Zhao Fengji. I have been entrusted by the Lizhou Road and Cao Division to discuss important matters with Duke Yuanzhang."
"Please come with me, distinguished guest." Yu Shanwei told the waiter to look at the store and took Zhao Fengji out.
Zhao Fengji looked around carefully and said curiously: "Daming Village seems not to have been affected by the drought."
Yu Shan smiled bitterly: "Since we are in Hanzhong, how can we not avoid disaster?"
The food that Daming Village had accumulated for several years was all used up this year, and some was used to provide relief to the victims.
There are also some landless farmers who fled famine and are unwilling to leave even after the drought is over. They will just go back and ask Daming Village to take in their whole family.
Zhu Guoxiang did not refuse anyone who came, and placed them further downstream to open up wasteland.
At this moment, Zhu Guoxiang is reading his son's letter.
The letter complained about how poor Jinzhou is, and asked Zhu Guoxiang to get some sweet potatoes and plant them as soon as the rain increases. After harvesting in winter, they can support the harvest. Otherwise, according to the disaster situation this year, there will be another crop next spring when there is no harvest.
There is famine.
Daming Village is also replanting sweet potatoes, and the seedlings have been transplanted.
There are not many potato seeds left in the cellar. It is estimated that after breeding, they can be planted in twenty to thirty acres at most. Moreover, the best planting season has passed, and now the temperature is too high, so the harvest will not be good.
He called Zhang Guangdao and ordered: "Since you plan to open a business road in Shiquan County, take all the remaining potato seeds to Jinzhou City. Tell my silly son that it is too late to replant sweet potatoes at this time. Can you
If you get half the normal harvest, you're lucky."
"yes!"
Zhang Guangdao is also very depressed this year. Shaanxi is too chaotic and thieves are everywhere, which seriously affects his smuggling business.
Zhu Guoxiang actually planned to return to Yangzhou to build a paper mill, and also acquired the technology to make bamboo paper.
Yangzhou itself is a paper producer. Cai Lun's grave is in Longtingpu, east of Yangzhou City (Cai Lun's title is Longtinghou). Papermaking here has a long history. In the past, it was mainly making rattan paper, but in the Northern Song Dynasty, it was changed to making vellum paper.
, the Min family is the largest paper manufacturer in Yangzhou.
In the early Northern Song Dynasty, rattan paper was still the mainstream paper in China. Not only was it expensive, but its output was also limited by raw materials, making it difficult to increase production.
Today's mainstream has become leather paper, which uses various barks as raw materials.
At the same time, bamboo paper was also on the rise.
However, the bamboo paper process is too complicated and is still being explored and improved. It will have to wait until the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty to develop significantly.
The emperor gave Zhu Guoxiang land. When he returned to the village, he found that there was no need to occupy this place. He could just go and occupy the bamboo forest in Yangzhou. There were large tracts of bamboo forest, and Su Shi and Wen Tong, the in-laws, made signs and produced
There must be a market for the bamboo paper. (Su Shi and Wen Tong both left poems in Yangzhou bamboo forests, and Wen Tong even left poems and paintings in batches.)
Unfortunately, the papermaking plan was disrupted by the drought, and Zhu Guoxiang could not afford any money or food now.
After reading for a while, Zhu Guoxiang went out to inspect the village, mainly going to the newly reclaimed areas downstream.
The distance between the newly opened wasteland and the inn pier is almost the same as going to Shangbai Village. Daming Village is stretched along the Han River. It is not suitable for farming any further. The mountains along the river are extremely steep, so you have to take a boat to get around some steep hills.
place.
"Mr. Yuan Zhang!"
Zhao Fengji stepped forward quickly: "Junior Zhao Fengji, I would like to pay my respects to Duke Yuan Zhang."
Zhu Guoxiang bowed in return, glanced at Yang Zhi, and saw that he was tied up with five flowers, and asked deliberately: "Why are you here?"
Yang Zhi hurriedly said: "I was sent by Xi Zhijun to give a birthday gift to Duke Yuan Zhang."
These questions and answers made Zhao Fengji extremely embarrassed and wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in.
Zhao Fengji quickly said: "Hurry and untie these strong men!"
"snort!"
To be continued...