What surprised Li Xuan was that the Thunder Army's camp was actually a group of cement houses.
There are hundreds of these cement houses in a row, and they all look like new houses that have just been built a few months ago. They were obviously built specifically for the Thunder Army.
After taking Li Chenglu around for a walk, Li Xuan couldn't help but sigh secretly.
Sure enough, there are infrastructure maniacs everywhere!
At night, Li Ji, the leader of the Thunder Army, as well as Xue Rengui, Li Chongyi, Cheng Chusi and other generals gathered in the camp to greet Li Shimin.
Moreover, there are specially vacant houses, which are enough for Li Xuan, Li Shimin and others to move in.
Obviously, Li Shimin had already informed Li Ji before coming.
Because Li Shimin was visiting privately incognito, all the officials in Huazhou, even Li Chengqian, Wang Xuance and others from Weinan County, were unaware of the arrival of Li Shimin, Li Xuan and others.
Nothing happened all night.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, Li Shimin, Li Xuan and his entourage got into a carriage, left the camp, and headed for Weinan County.
However, just as a few people left the camp and descended the hill, the convoy stopped before they had walked ten miles.
On the roadside, there were actually a group of young and old farmers, standing in piles on the bank of the Weihe River not far away, braving the cold wind.
Among them, a group of old men and some boys of about half an age piled piles of firewood in the fields and beside the Wei River, and then lit them.
On the side, there was a group of young and strong men, wearing thick gloves and hats, holding picks, iron shovels, and shovels. After the firewood burned out, they began to dig holes and ditches in the ground!
If one or two hundred people are like this, it doesn't matter.
However, as far as the eye can see, all the banks of the Wei River are dark and filled with piles of people!
In such a scene, there must be official uniforms conscripting people!
"Li Wei, what are these people doing?"
Seeing through the glass on the carriage was somewhat incomplete, Li Shimin got out of the carriage directly, stood on the shaft, looked at it for a long time, and then asked with a solemn expression.
Li Shimin, who had served as a soldier, could calculate from just a cursory glance that there were at least tens of thousands of civilians.
"His Majesty!"
"His Majesty……"
At this moment, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others also got off the carriage behind them and walked to Li Shimin with solemn expressions.
What is Weinan County doing when it recruits people in winter?
Li Wei bowed respectfully to Li Shimin and reported: "Reporting to Your Majesty, some time ago His Royal Highness seemed to be working with all of you to map out the entire Weinan County's watersheds and acres in preparation for the construction of water conservancy projects.
Therefore, at the end of the day, these common people should be digging ditches and building canals..."
"What?"
Upon hearing this, the expressions of Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling and others on the side changed, and they quickly looked at the piles of common people in the distance again.
The more I look at it, the more I feel that these people are really building water conservancy projects as Li Wei said!
"snort!"
Suddenly, as if he thought of something, Li Shimin snorted coldly, his face gloomy.
"Come on, come with me to see why these people are braving the cold winter and coming out to build water conservancy projects!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji had obviously thought of something, and looked ugly.
However, when he saw that Li Shimin was walking angrily towards a group of people, he quickly followed him.
Li Wei, who was on the side, quickly led a group of personal guards to follow the guards.
The remaining guards stood guard over the carriage and were on alert everywhere!
"Aye, your Majesty's uncle seems to be angry?"
Seeing Li Shimin walking away angrily, Li Chenglu cautiously looked up at Li Xuan and asked with some fear.
"It doesn't matter! His Majesty is not angry with you!"
Li Xuan smiled lightly and said: "However, since you have left Chang'an, you can't call His Majesty your Majesty uncle outside. You only need to call him uncle!"
Li Chenglu felt relieved when he heard that he was not angry with him, but then he looked confused again.
"Aye, why is this?"
"Your Majesty is only visiting privately incognito this time. He just doesn't want others to know his identity!" Li Xuan explained.
"I see!"
Li Chenglu nodded seriously, "Aye, don't worry, Chenglu will definitely not expose your uncle's identity!"
"Very good, I'll follow you and have a look!"
Li Xuan nodded with satisfaction.
"Yes, Aye!"
Li Chenglu's face lit up and he quickly followed Li Xuan forward.
By the time Li Xuan and Li Chenglu caught up with Li Shimin, Li Shimin had already brought Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others around a group of old farmers.
"My father-in-law, it's such a severe winter and the ground is already frozen. Why do so many people like you come out to dig ditches? But the Weinan County Magistrate is a stupid person and he doesn't even understand this common sense?"
Although he did not know who Li Shimin and others were, the old man, who had lived for decades and had become mature, could also see that Li Shimin and others were big shots, otherwise he would not have dared to scold a county magistrate like this.
Therefore, they were still very respectful to Li Shimin and others, and were even a little afraid that Li Shimin would blame the Weinan County magistrate, so they all said hurriedly.
"Reply to this noble man, we dug ditches and canals. We all came here of our own free will. I don't blame the county magistrate!"
"Exactly, digging ditches and canals is a matter of benefit to us and other common people. We all came here voluntarily to dig ditches and canals!"
"The county magistrate has told us before that the most suitable time for digging ditches is spring or autumn. We all know this truth. However, we can't wait until next spring or autumn.
Moreover, in the spring, we can do some other work to make a living for our family. It just so happens that although the weather is very cold and the land is stiff and difficult to dig, the Weihe River is frozen and the water flow is weakened, which is a perfect time for us to dig ditches again.
Dig a ditch!
Moreover, I have been staying at home these past few months with nothing to do. It would be better to go out and dig ditches to save me from having to finish my work in the spring next year and delaying the farming season!"
"..."
After hearing that these old farmers were all trying to excuse the Weinan County Magistrate, Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and others looked slightly relieved, but they were still full of doubts.
"However, in such extremely cold weather, the ground is frozen as hard as rocks. Working here is a waste of half the effort. In fact, over time, your ears, hands and feet may easily freeze, and the gain outweighs the gain!"
Hearing this, all the old farmers couldn't help but smile proudly.
"Hey, this noble man may not know that the magistrate of Weinan County is a man from Chang'an City. I heard that his family is very powerful. Originally, he wanted me to wait until spring when the land is soft before starting.
However, the county magistrate is from a noble family and does not know the sufferings of farmers like us."
"In the past, I stayed at home during the cold winter because I couldn't make any money, and it was easy to waste food after exerting my strength. The gain outweighed the loss. If my ears, hands and feet were frozen again, it would be a big loss.
Got it!
And now, our Weinan County Magistrate has told us that as long as we come out to work, each strong man will be given five cents of money, two kilograms of grain, one tael of cured meat, and one tael of salt every day, and as long as we finish working
Give it a day, and you will never default.
As for these useless old men and young boys like me, although we cannot receive so much, we can receive half of it, three coins of money, one catty of grain, half a tael of bacon, and half a tael of salt, which is also a daily payment."
"Hey, I can earn so much money and food in winter, but I can't even think about things in my life. Who would stay at home and not go out to work?"
"Exactly, I'll wait..."
Hearing this, Li Shimin narrowed his eyes and said suspiciously.
"Wait a minute, this old man just said that the Weinan County Magistrate won't let you go out to work in the cold winter. Why is he giving you so much money every day to encourage you to go out to work?"
"Forehead!"
The old farmers were stunned for a moment, and then they all looked up and down again at Li Shimin and others.
However, the respect before was gone, and his tone was a bit indifferent.
"I wonder who these nobles are? No matter what the nobles say, we, the magistrate of Weinan County, are all good officials. Please don't bully him!
As for what this noble man suspected, the county magistrate did not let me go out to work in the cold winter, and gave me so much money and food every day. It was because the county magistrate wanted to recruit me to dig ditches in the spring next year.
The wages for digging canals.
It’s just that we common people couldn’t wait for the spring of next year, so we all petitioned the county magistrate one after another to go out and dig ditches before it snowed. Seeing our sincerity, the county magistrate agreed!”
"I see!"
Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling and others couldn't help showing a hint of joy on their faces.
As long as those few little bastards in their family don't bully the people and do whatever they want, that's fine!
"Thank you to the elders for informing me. We were just passing by officials from the DPRK and China. When we saw so many people digging ditches here, we thought that the magistrate of Weinan County was incompetent and causing harm to the people, so we hurriedly came to check!"
After feeling relieved, Li Shimin slowly explained with a smile on his face.
"Thank you for your concern, noble people!"
Knowing the purpose of Li Shimin and others' visit, the old farmers were also filled with gratitude.
"The county magistrate is a good official and will never harm us. After knowing that we had to work in the cold winter, the county magistrate purchased tens of thousands of sets of woolen gloves and woolen clothes from Datang Shop.
!
According to legend, such warm clothes are not only extremely expensive, they are only sold in Tang Dynasty shops and are hard to find..."
As he said that, the old farmers noticed the strange looks on the faces of Li Shimin and others, as if they had realized something, and quickly smiled, laughed, and quickly changed the topic.
"You noble people may not know that the county magistrate is not only approachable, but has been patrolling the countryside since he took office. A few days ago, he also said that if we insist on digging ditches in such cold winter weather, we can go to the court for instructions.
I got a few magic weapons to help us dig ditches and ditches!"
"What magical weapon?"
Changsun Wuji asked directly with some curiosity.
"Please forgive me, this noble man, I don't even know!"
An old farmer smiled and said: "We have never heard of tools that can help us dig trenches in the cold winter. If such a magical object really existed in the world, it would definitely be collected by the court.
How can you bring it to Weinan County and give it to lowly farmers like me?
In order not to embarrass the county magistrate, we will directly start digging ditches on our own initiative!"
"You made such a huge move and didn't ask the county government for instructions?"
Hearing this, Fang Xuanling was shocked and asked quickly: "Aren't you afraid of a hard day's work? The county government doesn't know and won't pay you wages and food?"
"Thank you so much for the heads up!"
The old farmer grinned slowly and said nonchalantly: "The sweaters we are wearing were directly given to me by the county magistrate. The price of one sweater is already worth a whole winter of work.
Moreover, the county magistrate conscripted us to dig trenches and canals, which will ultimately benefit the common people like us...
However, the magistrate will never deceive me.
In the early morning, we have already sent people to report to the county magistrate!"
"It seems that the Weinan County Magistrate has deep trust in your hearts!"
Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction and said.
"It's natural!"
All the old farmers nodded repeatedly with emotion on their faces, "In the past, no county magistrate sat in the county office all day long. But since this little county magistrate came to Weinan, in addition to handling official duties, he also brought guards with him all day long.
Visit every township and village, punish evil and promote good, deal with all kinds of injustices, love the people like sons..."
These old farmers praised Li Chengqian and others again, which made Li Shimin narrow his eyes slightly and feel very good.
This was the first time that he heard the people of the Tang Dynasty praise his own prince like this, and he was much happier than the thousands of people praising him, His Majesty of the Tang Dynasty!
On the side, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others were also filled with joy. Looking at the old farmers in front of them, they felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment!
"Aye, the land is frozen again!"
Suddenly, a shout came from the side.
Li Shimin, Li Xuan and others looked back and found that at some point, dozens of young men had dug a ditch two feet deep and three feet long on the ground.
However, due to the freezing cold, these young men could only penetrate half a finger deep into the soil with their pickaxes each time, and they made a dull sound. Apparently, after a while, the land was frozen again!
Seeing this, all the old farmers looked anxious and quickly turned their heads to Li Shimin and cupped their hands.
"Please forgive me, sir. The cold wind is too strong and the ground has frozen again. The old man is going to collect some firewood and continue burning the ground!"
"It's me who disturbed you all, please help yourself!" Li Shimin said apologetically.
Soon, a group of old farmers and a group of half-grown boys disappeared into the woods behind them.
"Proprietor?"
Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others stepped forward and looked at Li Shimin expectantly.
"Let's go ahead and take a look before we talk!"
After looking up for a long time, Li Shimin said slowly.
"yes!"
Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji responded.
As for Li Xuan, he was dragged around Li Shimin by Li Chenglu, who was curious about everything.
Afterwards, Li Shimin walked several villages further and asked several old farmers.
I found that these old farmers all respected the Weinan County Magistrate and praised him endlessly.
As a result, Li Shimin felt relieved and felt very good.
"Let's go, I'll wait until we enter the city!"
"Yes, proprietor!"
Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others quickly responded. At this time of year, standing by the river, the cold wind whizzed like a knife into the neck and shoes.
After a while, they were all shivering from the cold.
Hearing this, Li Xuan also pulled Li Chenglu into the carriage.
Soon, the motorcade headed directly along the highway towards Weinan County.
"Boom..."
Suddenly, a muffled sound came into the carriage.
Li Xuan's expression changed. This sound was definitely the sound of a bomb exploding!
"alert!"
Outside the car, Li Wei, Zheng Fu and other guards also reacted and looked around with vigilance.