bookcurios Chapter 179 Integration
Chapter 179 Integration
After breakfast, Doctor Wang, Doctor Gudu and three other gentlemen, each with their own children, as well as Meixiang, Xiaosan and Meiying, a total of ten people, boarded three carriages and set off for Luojia Village.
The carriage was traveling on the flat official road. Through the half-raised curtains on the carriage windows, a breeze blew on my face, bringing with it a cool plum fragrance. I couldn't help but sigh from the bottom of my heart: "Master Ou, this road is really well built. I don't have to suffer from motion sickness anymore. Hahaha..."
In the second carriage following closely behind, Doctor Dou and Doctor Shi were equally astonished by this road. This road was as wide and smooth as the real official roads they had walked on. Doctor Shi even leaned out half of his body without caring about his image, carefully checking the curbs and paving materials, "Was this road built by Liuzhou Prefecture itself?"
When it comes to this topic, Doctor Wang is very proud. He replied with a proud look on his face: "It was Xiang who insisted on building and expanding this official road connecting the city and the villages of Liuzhou Prefecture. She almost emptied her family's wealth for this. In her own words: if you want to get rich, you must first build roads. It really makes things much more convenient."
As they spoke, several carriages galloped past their carriage, leaving behind a long trail of whip sounds.
Doctor Dou and Doctor Shi looked at each other and fell into deep thought as they looked out the window. The sun had not yet risen in the early morning of August, but some women and elderly people had already started working in the fields. Children who could not walk were either left to play alone in the fields or carried on the backs of women in cloth bags.
As they walked along, they saw very few young and middle-aged men. The two could not help but sigh deeply. The long years of war not only consumed financial resources, but also cost the lives of many people.
Fortunately, the war is over now, and people have begun to devote all their attention to rebuilding their homes after the war. Everything is starting to develop in a good direction. Although it is hard, it makes people full of expectations and hope, isn't it?
Suddenly, after the carriage passed a rice field that was half a person's height, what came into view was a large area of short plants covered with vines that looked like grass but were not grass. "What is this? Why have I never seen it before? And what is that thing over there that looks like rice but isn't quite like it?" Doctor Dou asked, pointing to a piece of land not far away, as if he had discovered a new continent.
Doctor Wang was still the one who acted as the commentator, because it was the first time for these lonely doctors to see it. The last time they passed by, they were only concerned about the road construction and did not pay much attention to what was planted on the roadside.
"That piece is potatoes. This is the second season of planting this year. The yield is very high. After trial planting in the first half of the year, the yield per mu reached 300 jin. After being distributed to several villages, all the seeds were used as seeds for this season. Look, do you see that village?" Doctor Wang pointed to a village that happened to be passing by not far away and continued, "This village is called Xiaoliu Village. An old man in their village accidentally ate something he didn't recognize and was about to die. He happened to be met by Xiang'er who was going to the city for business. By chance, he saved his life. Later, after identification, potatoes were found on the mountain behind their village."
"Their village made a lot of money from selling potato seeds. Village Chief Ou organized everyone to use the money to repair the village roads and the houses of the orphans, the disabled and the young. Later, Xiang'er also gave him the job of repairing the official road. Now he has been transferred to the government office of Liuzhou Prefecture as a legal advisor. Ha, you will see him later. He is a very capable person."
"By the way, their village has also set up a market. It is open every day when grain or other crops are on the market. Now is the off-season, so the market is open once every three days. Villagers nearby can bring their own products to set up stalls. The government office will also send people to supervise and occasionally deal with some minor disputes. Master Situ will also send soldiers to maintain order and help. I will take you to experience it later."
Doctor Wang looked at the twinkling eyes of his three old friends and realized that he had strayed off topic. "Oh, we've strayed off topic. The one with smoother leaves is called sweet potato, and the one that looks like rice is millet. These two were discovered by Young Master Feng in the back mountain when he first came to the Liu Mansion. This is the first time he has tried to plant them. Judging from the growth, the harvest should not be too bad. With these three things, the people of Liuzhou Prefecture will no longer be afraid of going hungry."
"Sixth Young Master Feng? He's a scoundrel, why is he here?"
"Not only the Sixth Young Master Feng, the Second Young Master is also in Liuzhou Prefecture, but one is in love in the boundless back mountains, and the other is in the military camp with Master Situ. You will definitely not recognize them next time you see them, haha."
Doctor Dou and Doctor Shi's eyes flashed a few times, and they looked out the window without saying anything more.
Soon, several horse-drawn carriages drove off the official road and turned into the village road passing through Luojia Village. From afar, the sound of people scolding horses and talking could be heard.
Meixiang, who was sitting in the carriage, brightened her eyes. She motioned to Meiying, who was driving in front, to find a place nearby to park. They got out and strolled over to take a look.
Before Meixiang and the others got off the carriage and stood firmly on their feet, they saw a person walking hurriedly towards them from afar. "Hey, Miss Liu, what brings you here today? I'm a villager from Luojia Village. I've seen you from afar several times. Today the village chief arranged for me to park the carriage. Hey, just leave the carriage to me, I'll make sure you take good care of it." When the person saw that the girl standing in front of the crowd was Meixiang, he greeted her cheerfully.
Looking at the enthusiastic uncle in front of her, Meixiang thought of the voices she had just heard, so she asked casually: "Uncle, what day is today? How come I heard voices from so far away? They even arranged for you to park the carriage. Are there many people here?"
"Yes, recently these people have been coming to our village every day to look at the herbs, so the village chief has divided the villagers who are free into different tasks. Some are responsible for introducing the herbs, some help dig the herbs, some weigh them... I am responsible for helping to place the carriage. Hahaha..."
"Thank you for your hard work, uncle," Meixiang smiled and thanked him, then turned to the four people behind her and said, "Master, three gentlemen, let's go over and see what's going on."
When Luojia Village was originally planned, it was anticipated that when there were more customers, the market would be modeled after that of Xiaoliu Village, so the open space in front of the village, which is also in front of Old Man Luo’s house, was reserved in advance for special transactions.
Before she got close, she saw several people moving the packaged herbs onto horses from afar. Meixiang saw several familiar faces. It turned out that Chu Zeming and Feng had sent the officials who used to supervise Xiaoliu Village to help. Old man Luo brought several people who seemed to be the leader to weigh, count and deliver the silver at the table where the officials were.