Don't make trouble, let's build infrastructure!

Tong Ran rushed forward, but the man pouted his buttocks and said, "Mimi, can you touch me?"

The little tiger held the grilled chicken leg with two paws and bared his teeth at him.

The boy's heart trembled, and the hand that was about to be stretched out was retracted.

"Cub." Tong Ran called it.

The little tiger looked up and saw him, and ran over, avoiding the pouting man and the chicken legs.

"Wow!" The little tiger grabbed Tong Ran's leg and complained.

Tong Ran didn't understand, so she picked it up, and looked at the boy who was still carrying half of the roast chicken with displeasure: "Brother, this is my tiger. It never eats outside, so don't feed it at random." good."

As Tong Ran spoke, he swept the roast chicken in the boy's hand - only one leg was missing.

He also seemed to be casually looking at the chicken legs on the ground - there were no tooth marks.

Very well, the little tiger didn't eat the food given by others, and Tong Ran's mood improved a little.

"Hehe." The young man hastily hid the roast chicken behind his back, failed to tempt the tiger with food, and was caught straight by the owner, which was a bit embarrassing.But he is not thin-skinned, otherwise he wouldn't want to see Tong Ran himself.

The book boy took the boy's roast chicken from behind and stuffed him with a cloth towel.

The young man wiped his hands, and bowed politely to Tong Ran: "Hi brother Tong, my younger brother Qiu Ming, whose name is Tianqing. The younger brother came from the river, and because I have admired Brother Tong's name for a long time, I came here to pay a visit."

Tong Ran also took out the cloth towel. Just now, the little tiger's paws were on the drumsticks, and some oil was on them.

He glanced at Qiu Ming from the corner of his eye. His surname was Qiu, and he came from Jiangliu. He probably belonged to the Tonghu Qiu family, but he didn't know whether it was the main family or a collateral line.

"Brother Qiu, you're welcome. Tong Ran's name is only a few days ago. He has long admired him. If you want to learn how to dig wells and compost, everyone in the first village of Jiuxiang, Xiaoguo County will know it. You can go to them."

Qiu Ming hit a soft nail, and said embarrassingly: "Your patriarch is right in front of you, why should I look far away."

"Sorry, brother Qiu Ming, the patriarch is very busy now, you can find someone else." After finishing speaking, Tong Ran walked away.

"Hey wait." Qiu Ming said.

Tong Ran acted as if he had never heard of it.

"Master, shall we go up and chase him?" Qiu Ming's book boy asked.

Qiu Ming stuffed the roast chicken into his arms: "Don't chase after me, young master, I'm hungry, you go and buy another roast chicken, let's stay here and see if Tong Ran agrees."

Tong Ran went home with the little tiger in her arms, and Qiu'er had already prepared lunch.

"Do you still eat chicken today?" Tong Ran said, "Yesterday, Zai Zai was fed roast chicken. Someone killed a pig in the next village today. Why didn't you buy a piece of pork for him? Zai Zai is still young, so pay attention to balanced nutrition."

"Yes yes yes." Qiu'er put the bowl of roast chicken in front of Tong Ran, "This is for the two of us, how can it eat roast chicken made by this kind of old hen, its menu today is charcoal grilled pork belly .”

Qiu'er brought another big plate, which contained oily roasted pork belly, which was much more delicate than Tong Ran's bowl of roasted chicken.

"Really, once you meet a little tiger, it's like an old lady." Qiu'er muttered.

"Huh?" Tong Ran was making tea for the little tiger, but didn't hear him.

Qiu'er: "I said, do you spoil this tiger too much? You see, it eats chicken and duck in rotation every day. Humans don't have such a luxury."

The villagers in the village only eat meat once a year, and the little tiger contracted the whole village’s chickens. If it weren’t for Tong Ran’s income from "Journey to the West" and the printing workshop, he would have been poor by the little salary of being a farmer. up.

"It's just a little tea." Tong Ran casually continued to feed the little tiger tea, "It's a pity that there is no river nearby, otherwise I can get some fish for it to change its taste."

Ball: ...

A few days ago, Tong Ran found that the little tiger hadn't grown any longer. In the past few days, he took it to the next village to see a doctor when he was free. The doctor usually treats pigs and cows and has no experience with tigers.

Later, Tong Ran took the little tiger to the county town, and the doctor who showed him in the county town also said that the little tiger was healthy.

Tong Ran also thinks so, her cub may not grow up because of a genetic mutation, as long as she is in good health, since she will take care of it herself, she will not be hungry or cold.

The little tiger was harassed by Qiu Ming for a long time, and he was already annoyed.

Right now, holding Tong Ran's hand, he drank a cup of tea and ate some barbecue, feeling very comfortable.After eating and drinking enough, he yawned, showed a pair of cute fangs, and fell asleep in Tong Ran's arms.

In the Xuanzheng Hall, Chu Jun lay down for a while before being waited upon to get up.

"Your Majesty, Lord Ruan is already waiting outside the hall." Su Jin said.

Chu Jun spread his arms, asked someone to put on a robe and a golden crown for him, and then said: "Xuan, I will meet him at Dongnuan Pavilion."

Ruan Zheng originally went to Dunan Road with the Taoist jury, and then turned to Longyou, but was recalled by Chu Jun on the way to Longyou.The eunuch who went to deliver the decree didn't say anything, but let him quickly enter the palace to face the saint.

"See Your Majesty."

"Sit down flat without courtesy." Chu Jun sat down at the main seat, and asked Ruan Zheng to sit beside him.

"The Zhuoyang Mansion's affairs were handled well last time," Chu Jun said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your compliment." Ruan Zheng and Chu Jun have known each other for a long time, not only the friendship between the monarch and his ministers, but he admired the young monarch very much. It's a pity that now that the gentry is in power, it is difficult for His Majesty to fully realize his grand ambitions.

"There is one more thing I need you to do now." Chu Jun went straight to the point.

"Your Majesty, please order." Ruan Zheng cupped his hands.

Chu Jun beckoned, Su Jin handed over a piece of paper, Chu Jun unfolded it, and there was a map on it.

"This is the residence of Deng Qi, the magistrate of Xiaoguo County. Here," Chu Jun pointed to a point marked in vermilion, he said to Ruan Zheng, "This is a secret room. Deng Qi often organizes gambling here. I want you Do two things, first, find out who has been in his gambling game, and second, break in while he is starting the game, come and get the stolen goods."

Ruan Zheng took the map. The map was very detailed, and beside it was a note on the layout of Deng Qi's mansion, including the location of the secret room and the opening method of the passage mechanism.

Chu Jun said again: "You don't need to know where the map came from, just follow my instructions."

A few months ago, Chu Jun went to the secret room with Tong Ran as a little tiger. At that time, Tong Ran and Qiu'er were all blindfolded, but no one cared what a tiger saw, so Chu Jun took the inside of the secret room. Waiwai looked at everything, and drew this map after returning.

At that time, Tong Ran designed and made a righteous agreement with Deng Qi. With this agreement, Tong Ran quickly established a foothold in Wujia Village, and implemented the method of composting and digging wells to irrigate the fields in Xiaoguo County, which achieved great results.

In the agreement between Tong Ran and Deng Qi, the county will provide funds for his agricultural reform. If the personnel in the county is changed rashly, the newcomers may hinder Tong Ran's plan, so Chu Jun has not done anything.

Today, the barley harvest in Xiaoguo County is bumper, even if the county magistrate changes, it will no longer affect the farming affairs in the county.

"Yes." Ruan Zheng guessed that there should be some other forces under Chu Jun's command, but he knew the benefits and would not inquire rashly. He just asked, "Please tell your Majesty that after the county magistrate of Xiaoguo County is captured, he should go to the higher-level yamen for disposal. Or take it back to the capital?"

"Bring it back." Chu Jun said, his green eyes glanced at Ruan Zheng, "Besides, after you catch him, search the mansion and the county government. He has a jar of tribute Dahongpao, and bring it back."

"Yes." Ruan Zheng said.

"Go." Chu Jun waved his hand.

Ruan Zheng retreated respectfully to the outside of the hall.

The door of the palace was closed, and a breeze blew in. Ruan Zhengcai realized that his back was cool, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

His Majesty is sitting in the deep palace, but he even knows that there is a pot of tribute tea in the house of a seventh-rank county magistrate.Thinking of this, Ruan Zheng couldn't help but stand on end. This His Majesty looks young, but he really can't be fooled at all.

"Tong Tiangan, these barleys have germinated. You can't eat them." Someone passed by Tong Ran's yard and saw a lot of barley spread evenly in a corner of his yard, all of which had germinated.

"Oh, this barley should be dried as soon as it is harvested."

"How can there be so much barley here in Tianpan? It will take two days for our wheat to be harvested." Someone asked.

This question reminded everyone passing by.

Tong Ran heard voices outside and came out: "These are Chen Mai from last year."

"Tong Tianwan, you want to eat wheat and we'll send you some after we collect it. What are you doing with old wheat?" someone asked.

Tong Ran smiled and said, "Wine making."

"Wine?"

One of them suddenly realized: "Tian Jian, you said earlier that there are other ways to eat barley, but how about making wine?"

Tong Ran nodded.

Everyone looked left and right, and looked at each other. They had heard that rice wine, sorghum wine, glutinous rice wine could be made, and even peaches and bayberries could be made from anything. But this was the first time they had heard of barley wine making.

Brewing wine is a good craft. They have to drink at happy events, at funerals, at happy times, and at sad times. If the barley can make wine, and the wine tastes good, they won’t have to worry about not being able to sell it. up!

"Tian Tian, ​​you have to teach us the art of making wine from barley!" said an old lady.

"I'm going to do it now, are you willing to help?" Tong Ran asked.

"I want it!" Immediately someone pushed Tong Ran's courtyard door and walked in, rolled up his sleeves and asked, "How can I help?"

"Grind these wheat into flour for me first." Tong Ran said.

"Okay!" Several villagers found bamboo baskets, filled them with germinated wheat, and took them to the village mill for grinding.

The Chinese tradition is to drink baijiu made from rice, which has a high alcohol content and is not suitable for everyone.In contrast, beer with a low alcohol content and a thirst-quenching drink has a wider audience and is easier to promote.

It's a pity that there is no hops here, so beer in the modern sense cannot be brewed. Tong Ran's method is more similar to that of the ancient Egyptians.

The raw materials of this ancient Egyptian beer are very simple, only barley and water are needed. Tong Ran wanted to try it out. If it works, it may increase some income channels for these villagers.

I don't know if his little tiger will like it. If he is drunk, he probably won't resist no matter how much he rubs it.

The villagers who came to help moved quickly, and when Tong Ran arrived at the mill, they had already ground more than half of it.The mill was in the middle of the village, and many villagers who passed by or got news gathered here one after another.

When Tong Ran arrived, everyone greeted him.

Yan Qi's daughter-in-law just delivered good food to the family members who went to work in the fields, and she was also in the crowd, and hurriedly asked, "Tian Jian, what are you doing with the wheat?"

Everyone was curious about her question, and the surrounding villagers all looked a little more seriously.Recently, everyone's wheat harvest is approaching. After the harvest, it is a matter of buying and selling. Merchants who harvest grain have come to the village one after another. Because of this year's bumper harvest, the price of wheat has been kept very low.

Because it was rumored that Tong Ran had a solution before, most of the villagers still bit their heads and did not nod. Seeing that Tong Ran really made a move at this moment, they looked forward to it even more.

"Tian Yan said, we want to make wine!" said one of the villagers who was grinding wheat.

"Wine?"

The surrounding villagers' brows and eyes gradually showed joy, the wine making is good.Brewing consumes food, and if their food can produce popular wine, they will not worry about selling it.

"Sorry, borrowed, borrowed, thank you."

The surrounding crowd surged, revealing a head wearing a thin silk scarf: "Would you like to make wine, I'll help too!"

"you?"

Tong Ran didn't speak, but the surrounding villagers spoke first.The young man in front of him had fine skin and tender flesh, he was well dressed, he didn't even have any calluses on his hands, and he didn't look like he could work no matter what.

"Of course." Qiu Ming rolled up his sleeves, "I know how to grind noodles, and I'll help."

As he spoke, he took the initiative to step forward to help push the mill.

Tong Ran didn't care about him, anyone who grinds is grind anyway.

He simply stood aside and told the surrounding villagers about the method of making wine.

Ancient Egyptian beer was born very early, so the preparation method is not complicated, only water and barley are needed.Tong Ran's wheat sprouted because he soaked the wheat in water.

"Put it on a flat stone slab after germination, let it bask in the sun for a few days, or dry it with firewood, and then grind it into powder like this," Tong Ran said.

The onlookers included not only those from their own village, but also those from neighboring villages. They planted wheat in every household. Now they listened attentively, fearing that they might miss a single word.

After Tong Ran briefly explained the method of making it, the barley flour just finished grinding, and the villagers who had nothing to do aside wanted to try the method Tong Ran said, so they rushed to the next step.

"I'm going to boil water!"

"I'm going, I'm going too."

After grinding the flour, put the wheat flour in a wooden barrel, add water and knead it into a ball.The process of kneading dough is a bit similar to that of wine, which is stepped on with feet.

The old men's feet smelled a little, Yan Qi's daughter-in-law covered her mouth and said with a smile: "Then I'll go and call some young wives and young ladies from the village."

Soon warm water was brought in, and Yan Qi's daughter-in-law summoned many young women to do the work of trampling the dough.

Dacheng's overall folk customs are relatively open, and the men and women in the village are not serious about defense. The unmarried girls are a little cautious, and those who are already married wash their feet cleanly and start to step on the dough.

This is a novelty, the little ladies are holding hands, stepping barefoot in the mixture of wheat flour and water, a little itchy, laughing and laughing.

Tong Ran found a small wooden basin, put wheat flour and warm water in it, and carried the tiger cub that had washed its paws into it: "It's very interesting, you should try it too."

The little tiger stepped on it twice with a blank face, and it was sticky. Why does it play barley flour and water here, the majestic king of a country?

"Brother Tong, your Mimi's hair grows really well." Qiu Ming leaned over and said, he lived in Wujia Village, and visited Tong Ran from time to time, but Tong Ran was still lukewarm to him, and often let him The ball came to send him away.

"Wow wow!" My name is not Mimi!

The little tiger waved its claws and threatened.

After the barley flour was formed into a ball, Tong Ran instructed the villagers to put it into the stove for roasting, mash it after roasting, mix it with hot water, and then filter it through a sieve to obtain wort.

After filtering out the wort, the villagers each found many clay pots from their homes, poured the wort into it, and after two days of fermentation, they could get beer.

Two days later, the newly brewed beer came out. Tong Ran broke a straw to make a straw, and tasted the newly brewed beer as if drinking a drink.

Perhaps because it is brewed from barley, this ancient Egyptian beer has a smell of freshly baked bread, and the taste of alcohol is not very strong, but it is very suitable for quenching thirst in the hot summer.

It was time for the barley harvest. During the day, the village was quiet, and everyone who could work had gone to the field, including the children.

In the evening, people came back one after another, all concerned about the beer.

Tong Ran brewed these beers for the sake of more income for the village, so he didn't want to keep the brewed beer for himself, and distributed it to the villagers for tasting.

Beer was originally something that didn’t exist here, and Tong Ran’s brewing it was considered a small invention. At the same time, he also taught the villagers in Wujia Village how to make beer. Righteousness surged.

The newly brewed beer outside spread throughout the village, and when the door of the house was closed, Tong Ran sat cross-legged on the bed, only the little tiger guarded him.

The little tiger paced back and forth a few steps on the collapsed platform.

The last time when the righteousness was rising, Tong Ran was promoted to the upper rank of the Huang rank, and his righteousness was still rising after that, until he reached the fifth rank of the upper rank.

This brewing was not as earth-shattering as the agricultural reform. Chu Jun let out his senses and probed carefully, thinking that it would be about two or three steps up.

Sure enough, after Tong Ran's righteousness rose to the eighth stage of the upper Huang rank, the momentum slowed down.

Tong Ran opened his eyes, wine making is not a road that is the foundation of people's livelihood like agriculture, and he was able to advance to three stages because of his ability to teach people how to fish. It is really not enough to use this to step up to the mysterious level.

"Zai Zai." Tong Ran saw the little tiger wandering around him at a glance, and held it up in front of him, "Tell me, if I make some barley tea or something, can the price rise a bit?"

"Wow wow!" Put me down!

The little tiger struggled, but Tong Ran acted as if he had never heard of it, and hugged it into his arms, and kissed it along the way.

Little Tiger:……

What was the barley tea this kid was talking about just now? He had just brewed barley wine, and he said later that he could make barley tea.The little tiger's green eyes looked at Tong Ran probingly. He asked Fan Zi to check Tong Ran's details often, but so far there was no progress.

It's not that Fan Zichang is ineffective, but that Tong Ran has no clues around him.

The "Journey to the West", bamboo plaques, water wheel wells and other things he took out are all new gadgets, which have nothing to do with any place or any force, and if there is anything suspicious about his daily words and deeds, it is natural Wouldn't avoid it a tiger, but apart from the fact that it knew too many new things, there was nothing suspicious about it.

This Tong Ran seemed to appear out of thin air.

His household registration is also a client who settled in Zhuoyang Mansion. He said he couldn't remember where his household registration was.Dacheng's household registration system is not as strict as that of the previous dynasty. When encountering such a thing, most of them will not interrogate them strictly.

But Chu Jun's curiosity was aroused by him a little bit.

In any case, he wanted to find out about Tong Ran.

The villagers outside tasted a round of beer, and they all liked it very much.It smells like freshly baked wheat, and it tastes refreshing, with some sweetness, and the taste of alcohol is not too heavy, and it doesn't make you drink too much. It is suitable for men, women, and children.

Originally, the people in the village were interested in brewing beer, so they became more concerned about beer.

On the same day, another grain merchant came to the village, wanting to collect some barley at a low price, but no one in Wujia Village agreed.

When the grain merchant asked about the last one, he returned in vain and was completely dumbfounded: "Every household of yours doesn't sell the barley. What are you doing with the barley?"

The last family was Wu Fuqiang's, and Wu Fuqiang said, "It's used to make wine."

The grain merchants also heard about it: "But if you use it all to make wine, aren't you afraid that you won't be able to sell it?"

Wine is certainly a good thing, but the smell of wine is also afraid of deep alleys. Every household in their small village knows how to brew it, and no one will buy it. Although there are many people in the county, it is impossible to digest so much wine in one go.

"Don't worry about it, brother, I have my own way." A boy's voice suddenly came out from the side.

The grain merchant turned his head to look. It was the young man who often went to the village to tease the tiger, and then the tiger waved his paw. He seemed to be called Qiu Ming, and he was from Jiang Liuqiu's family.

It is said that he came to ask Tong Tiangan to teach him how to dig wells and irrigate the fields.

Qiu Ming smiled, showing two canine teeth, and said, "I've made an appointment with Brother Ang, as well as other families in the village. They are in charge of brewing wine, and I want as much as I have."

"You, didn't you come to learn how to sink a well?" The grain merchant was shocked.

Fortunately, they are members of the Qiu family. Ordinary merchants would not dare to say such frivolous words as much as they want.

"Hey, Tong Tiangan doesn't want to teach me." Qiu Ming shook his head, but there was no regret, "But it doesn't matter, I guess there are more than this in Tiangan's hand, but I guessed it right. The beer business is mine now!"

The first thing Tong Ran aroused his idea was that digging wells to irrigate the fields was true, but he did not hesitate to inquire about them along the way, so which quill pen or "Journey to the West" is not a new thing?

Although he didn't know where Tong Ran got these inspirations, Qiu Ming's intuition told him that Tong Ran's stuff was definitely more than what he had now.If he can be the first to make a new invention like Donglaiwashe, then he must be the most outstanding among all the children in the clan during this business trip.

So when he found out about the beer, he started planning.

He persuaded everyone in Wujia Village to brew beer and sell it to him. His price was much higher than those of those grain merchants. People in Wujia Village knew him well and knew that he had a good background, so they readily agreed.

However, with so much barley, the wine brewed must be very impressive.

In order to win the trust of the villagers, he usually shows a generous side, but in fact he is shy but cannot be seen by outsiders.

To actually eat that much wine is no small challenge.

The barley harvesters in the village harvest barley, and the beer brewers brew beer. Tong Ran is not idle either. Xiang Da wrote to him a few days ago, saying that there are only two manuscripts left of his previous Journey to the West, asking him to be free. Write some more.

Tong Ran wondered, the manuscript he left earlier was enough to talk for more than half a year, why it was almost used up in less than half a year.

After he wrote back and asked, he found out that "Journey to the West" was popular in Zhuoyang Mansion and even Dunan Road, and even many people from Jiangliu Road, Shanlin North Road, and Longyou Road came all the way, just to hear about it at the first time. The latest review of "Journey to the West".

Xiang Daxin was a little aggrieved and said: I have never talked about such a long book. Seeing those listeners think about it day and night, I really feel soft-hearted. Sometimes I release a book every five days, and sometimes a new book is released every two or three days. Even if the new listeners feel that it is not enough, they can't wait to listen to the whole book at one time.

After reading his letter, Tong Ran couldn't help laughing. After several days and nights, he finally rushed out twenty manuscripts.

"Brother Tong, have you finished your manuscript?"

Tong Ran had just put down his pen when the door was pushed open.

He thought it was Qiu'er, so he let out a casual "hmm", but he heard the person by the door say: "Brother Tong, I want to ask you something."

Only then did Tong Ran realize something was wrong, and turned around to see that Qiu Ming, who always went to the place where the pigs were kept at the entrance of the village to tease his little tiger, was standing by the door, smiling attentively.