In the freezing and snowy season, an old man wearing a shabby cotton coat held a gong and struck it while running.
"The men in every household have listened. The owner of the house is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see us suffering from hunger and cold. From tomorrow on, every household will send out a man to repair the houses in the village and use wood.
All the tools are provided by the owner’s family, and they also take care of two meals..."
The gong was struck over and over again, and Old Man Liu's voice reached every household in the village.
"What? The master wants to repair our house?"
"Isn't this... you're trying to trick dad into doing corvee work?"
"What a fool, if the master imposes a corvee, how can we escape? Besides, the master has not assigned a single corvee this year. Even if we are asked to work, that is what we should do. I don't know how to repay a favor.
, what’s the difference between that and animals?”
So the men from every household put on their clothes and came to the Baron's Mansion.
Qin Hao was a little confused when he heard the butler's report: "Didn't I say we would start work tomorrow?"
"The farmers can't wait until tomorrow when they heard that their houses will be repaired."
"How many people are outside?"
"There are at least fifty or sixty people."
Qin Hao thought for a moment: "Okay, you take the people to the front hall, and then let the kitchen prepare the food. Counting all the people, let's make some noodle soup. Under the big pot, hurry up!"
"promise."
A group of bankers were brought to the front hall, and Old Man Liu was among them. Seeing that Qin Hao hadn't arrived yet, the surrounding bankers asked him about the situation of his master's house.
Naturally, Old Man Liu was full of praise and used all the good words he could think of on Qin Hao, almost having to kneel down and kowtow at the altar.
At this moment, a tall and burly young man wearing a long cloak came out of the snow and wind.
Old man Liu quickly took the lead and knelt down: "I'm so scared, what are you doing in a daze? You haven't paid your respects to the lordship yet."
"Meet my lord."
"My lord, I will kowtow to you."
The bankers bowed their heads one by one, their heads banging on the cold floor.
Qin Hao quickly helped everyone up: "What are you doing? Get up quickly. Anyone who kowtows again will not have their taxes reduced next year!"
Upon hearing this, all the dealers stood up obediently, and stood helplessly in the hall like children who had done something wrong.
Qin Hao knew very well that the feudal society had a strict hierarchy, and being too polite to these farmers made them uncomfortable. Let alone the early Tang Dynasty, even in the Republic of China, ordinary people still knelt down when they saw officials.
"Originally, I planned to talk about some things tomorrow. Since everyone is here today, let's talk to everyone. Who else in the village is not here? Let's send them a message later."
"Zhuangzi, next year's taxes will still be paid at half of this year's. In addition, starting from next year, I will no longer plant grains in my field. I will plant this."
With that said, Qin Hao took out two potatoes and showed them to the farmers.
"Don't underestimate this thing. The yield per mu can reach fifty dan, which can be used as food or vegetables. If you believe me, after I bear fruit in the first season, you will also plant it together. Don't dare to say anything else.
Keep it safe so that no family in our village will go hungry again.”
The farmers passed the potatoes to each other, but no one said a word. From the time they can remember, the farmers have grown grains. Can they really eat enough by growing such a round thing?
When Old Man Liu saw everyone's doubtful faces, he got angry and cursed.
"You're such a coward, how can Sir Alex deceive you? You don't dare to plant melons, this old man will be the first to plant them."
Qin Hao patted Old Man Liu on the shoulder and comforted him: "Everything has an acceptance process, not to mention what I planted in the first season is not enough for three Zhuangzi to plant together. If you are willing to plant, just come to me and get the seeds.
I will also ask people to teach you how to plant. If you don't want to plant, you can continue to plant grains, and you can still pay half of the taxes as promised."
"is that OK?"
"Thank you Sir."
"Sir, can you plant half of your family?"
"We also plant, and our family cultivates two acres."
Some farmers thought that planting potatoes was a way of giving Qin Hao some face. After all, Qin Hao exempted them from half of the tax, so they had to support it.
Some farmers are still worried. After all, several members of a family depend on that little food to survive and cannot afford any risks.
Qin Hao didn't care. He just asked the housekeeper to register and distribute seeds to these families in the coming year. As for those who later saw other people's potato harvests and wanted to plant them, they could only wait until the next season.
Another banker asked cautiously: "Sir, Sir, Old Man Liu said that you want to help us repair our houses, is it true?"
"I went to see Zhuangzi. The houses are generally in disrepair. It's freezing. How can I live here? Since Your Majesty has given me this place as a fief, I have the responsibility to guard it for Your Majesty. As long as there are
I will not let anyone in Zhuangzi starve to death or freeze to death in one day." Qin Hao said solemnly.
Old man Liu was the first to kneel down on the ground, crying bitterly: "Folks, we have met a living Bodhisattva."
"Thank you Sir, from now on, whenever Sir Sir gives you orders, this old man will never frown even if it means going through mountains of swords and seas of fire!"
Many of the bankers fell to their knees, and Qin Hao had no choice but to help them up again.
At this time, the butler came to Qin Hao's ear and said, "Sir, the noodle soup is ready."
"Bring them all over and let everyone stay warm."
"promise."
There were big bowls of noodle soup, although there were no condiments, just a little salt, but these farmers devoured it one by one, eager to swallow the whole bowl.
"Eat slowly, there are still some in the kitchen, take care of them."
For these farmers, squatting on the ground and eating noodle soup is the happiest thing in the world.
Qin Hao couldn't help but sigh, these days there is no oil and water, but everyone is really good at eating. In the end, he finished all the noodles stored at home, and some farmers were still unsatisfied.
"Prepare something meaty tomorrow, otherwise you won't be able to work anymore." Qin Hao warned the housekeeper.
The butler couldn't help but remind: "Sir, if you continue to eat like this, the little money left in the house will not be enough."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Just worry about their food, I will figure out the money."
Making money, as a modern person, if you can't make money after traveling to ancient times, it will be a bit embarrassing for the time traveler, not to mention an "old man" like Qin Hao who has experienced many time travels.
Soap, do you know that he has already done it once in the world, and he is naturally more familiar with it this time. The only trouble is that there were too few people raising pigs in the Tang Dynasty, so it was difficult to obtain a large amount of lard.
Since lard is not good, then use soybean oil. In the romantic world of blood, he made his fortune from soybean oil, so it will not be a problem for him.
At the industrial level of the Tang Dynasty, the leaching method was definitely not possible. The only way to extract the oil from the soybeans was to grind, impact, and squeeze them using the pressing method.
Although the efficiency of the oil extracted by this method is relatively low, it is still barely enough.
In a wooden house, several shirtless men were swinging huge stone hammers to hit a strange-looking "wooden dragon". The center of the wooden dragon was stuffed with "bean cakes" that had been ground, steamed, and pressed into pieces.
, with the impact of the stone hammer, the grease flows from the groove under the wooden frame to the wooden barrel at the end.
Virgin soybean oil does not actually taste good. It has a strong beany smell that is difficult to deal with. This is why most of the people who consumed it in ancient times were sesame oil and rapeseed oil.
But for Qin Hao, this is not a problem. He uses the soybean oil to make soap, not for food.
At the same time, Zhuangzi was also extremely lively. With Qin Hao's support, all the farmers no longer stayed at home. Originally, there was only one man per family, but now basically everyone in the family who can work has come, and every household has
There are problems in every house, and there is no one who contributes more or less. As long as someone dares to cheat, he will be stabbed in the back no matter where he goes in the village.
Today you help me repair the house, and tomorrow it will be my turn to help you repair it. After going back and forth, the relationship between the various families in Zhuangzi has become more harmonious. Even the conflicts that had arisen over farmland in the past have been alleviated.
Old Man Liu looked at the brand new house and was so excited that he burst into tears and kept kowtowing in the direction of the Duke's Mansion.
"Honey, we really met a good person."
It took the three villagers nearly a month to repair their houses. Except for a few days when the snow was too heavy and it was impossible to work, the villagers were full of energy every day.
Of course, the consumption of food is also very alarming.
On this day, the housekeeper came to Qin Hao and said: "Sir, the food has been eaten and the accounting money has been spent."
Qin Hao could only say that the Tang Dynasty was still too poor and the salary was too small, and it was all gone in one month.
Fortunately, a batch of soap has already been made, and you only need to sell it to make money.
However, Qin Hao was not in a hurry to sell them, but took a few pieces of soap to the palace.
"Qin Aiqing, you are a rare visitor. What have you been busy with recently?" Li Shimin was asking questions knowingly. Baiqisi would send information to his case every day.
However, Qin Hao did not expose it and followed his words and replied: "Your Majesty, when Master was alive, he loved to be clean and used soap to bathe every day. After coming to the Tang Dynasty, I always felt a little uncomfortable.
Taking advantage of my free time recently, I made a few pieces of soap and presented them to His Majesty."
Li Shimin pretended to be surprised: "Oh? It's what Mr. Xiaoyaozi loved all his life. It must be extraordinary, so I brought it up."
"This soap does have a fragrance, and it is worthy of its name. How to use it?"
Qin Hao cupped his hands and saluted: "Please ask this eunuch to bring a basin of warm water."
Afterwards, Qin Hao demonstrated it again, and Li Shimin pretended to be surprised: "So this is what this thing is used for."
In fact, on the first day after the soap was produced, Baiqisi's spies got a small sample and sent it to Li Shimin's case, but Baiqisi didn't know what it was for. Li Shimin even asked the eunuch around him to
Tried it.
The eunuch's comment was: It tastes like chewing wax.
If Yun Ye saw this scene, he would probably lie on the ground laughing. Isn't this thing just like a candle, the main component is grease.
"It is indeed good. It is indeed much cleaner after washing." Li Shimin was very satisfied with the soap.
Qin Hao took the opportunity and said: "Your Majesty, in addition to cleaning and removing dirt, this product has an excellent nourishing effect on women's skin. I specially brought ten pieces of soap to present to the Queen."
"Well, that's right. It's rare that you have such a heart. I think Guanyin Maid will be very happy." Li Shimin was not polite and accepted it directly.
The purpose of giving the gift was achieved, Qin Hao did not stop and stood up to leave.
But Li Shimin stopped Qin Hao: "Qin Aiqing, is there really no better way to deal with the locust plague?"
"Your Majesty, Master often said when he was still alive that the relationship between human beings and nature is as small as a drop in the ocean, but if they gather together to form a country, they can dominate the world. Since ancient times, the sky has collapsed countless times, but human beings can always re-establish new ones.
In this country, as long as the people are united, the mountains can be leveled." Qin Hao bowed deeply to Li Shimin.
Li Shimin chewed on Qin Hao's words and sighed for a long time.
“It’s really a great regret in life that I don’t have the chance to have a drink and talk with Mr. Xiaoyaozi!”
After Qin Hao left, Li Shimin walked behind the screen and said in a cold tone.
"Have you not found any trace of where the three of them lived?"
"This subordinate is incompetent, please forgive me!"
Li Shimin kicked him down: "As a punishment, if I kill you, you can see Xiaoyaozi. I will kill you immediately. You trash, did these three living people appear out of thin air? There is no trace at all.
Can’t find it!”
"This subordinate deserves to die."
Li Shimin vented his anger and calmed down again: "You have been pursuing it for so long, but you won't tell me that you found nothing, right?"
"Your Majesty, in the past six months, Baiqisi has dispatched nearly a hundred spies to search all the areas where the Qin County man and the Yun County man appeared, but no trace of their long-term living was found. According to the Yun County man, they
The thatched cottage where he was located was destroyed by the flood. Baiqisi did find traces of the flood near a river valley, but when he traced further, there were no traces."
"Just say what you want to say." Li Shimin said impatiently.
"Your Majesty, if your guess is correct, this Xiaoyaozi should be the head of a certain secluded school. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deposed hundreds of schools and only respected Confucianism, all the schools of thought have either practiced in seclusion or entered the world to endure calamities.
, these hidden sects have their own unique methods to avoid the pursuit of the government. Once they enter a hidden area and set up some strange sects and Dunjia formations, even the people who live in the local area all year round will not do anything.
find."
Li Shimin's expression softened a little: "It seems that this should be the case. This Xiaoyaozi is a scholar of heaven and man, and he has taught two disciples who are such outstanding people. If he can be used by me, there is no need to worry about the Tang Dynasty not being prosperous."
"I order you to continue the investigation, no matter what means you use, if you want to see the person alive or the body after death, go ahead!"
"promise."
At this moment, Empress Changsun walked in and saw that Li Shimin's face was different, so she couldn't help but curiously asked: "Your Majesty is still troubled by the locust plague?"
"Guanyin Maid, do you think I am really wrong? Just two years after taking the throne, there is another drought, another Turkic invasion, and we are about to experience another locust plague..."
Only in front of Empress Changsun would Li Shimin show his fragile side.
Empress Changsun's expression became serious: "Why do you say this, Your Majesty? Drought and locust plague are natural disasters. What does it have to do with Your Majesty? The Turkic invasion is a man-made disaster. When the Tang Dynasty gathers its strength, it will definitely wipe out the Turks and save the shame of the Wei River."
"
"How much more can a husband ask for when he has such a wife?" Li Shimin sighed.