Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

Li Xu drew up the contract the next day and received the first deposit. He was quite considerate of the customer and divided the payment into three batches, paying 20.00% when signing the contract, 50.00% after one month, and the remaining 30.00% % You can wait until you receive the goods before paying.

Li Xu is not afraid at all that they will renege on their debts. Three years is enough for him to flex his muscles. At that time, there should not be too many people rushing to give him money.

Back home, the little princess came to welcome him with two letters, "Father, Little Eunuch Liu and Uncle Kou have sent letters."

"Oh, where's the messenger?"

"Seeing that you are not at home, he said that he would go home first and come to see you in an hour."

Li Xu took those two letters, and they were indeed sent by Liu Shu and Kou Xiao. Thinking of the letter he sent, his head hurt a little. He was frustrated at that time, so he wanted to talk to Kou Xiao, now In retrospect, I was quite naive, and even started to make small reports.

Putting Kou Xiao's letter aside, Li Xu opened Liu Shu's letter first. The beginning of the letter was full of longing and heartfelt emotional topics, and he wrote a whole two pages. Li Xu read it patiently, wishing he could catch Liu Shu and beat him After all, raising a son is not as clingy as he is.

Looking further, Liu Shu mentioned in the letter that the first batch of salt has been sun-dried, and there are tens of thousands of catties in total, filling the warehouse to the brim. Moreover, the quality of the salt is very good, as white as snow, and it is definitely the best salt in the world. Good salt.

Li Xu jumped up excitedly, ran to the yard and shouted: "Wu Jin, Wu Jin."

Wu Jin trotted over, thinking that there was something urgent, so he listened to Li Xu's order: "Go and call Mr. Ji, forget it! You go to prepare the car, this king is going to the county guard's mansion."

The little princess tugged at his sleeve and asked, "Father, please take me with you, I miss my wife."

Li Xu picked her up and kissed her on the face, "Okay, let's go together, and when I come back, I'll buy you some nice cloth to make new clothes for you." When Li Xu thought of the tens of thousands of catties of salt, he felt like With a lot of money, the economy is finally not so embarrassing.

"Okay, okay, I learned how to sew clothes yesterday, let's make a clothes for my father."

"Baby can make clothes, it's really great!" Li Xu hugged the little princess for a while, threw her high, and then boasted after catching her: "I'll make a dress for your grandpa myself later!" , the old man will definitely like it."

No matter how much Li Xu doesn't like the emperor, it is impossible for him to break the relationship between him and the little princess, and he has to find ways to strengthen the relationship between the two. It doesn't matter if he has no official status, but the little princess should be favored , so that no one dares to bully her.

It's a pity that I don't have enough power as a father, otherwise he should be the backer.

The little princess hadn't heard him mention Grandpa Huang for a long time, so she nodded happily. "Then Shu'er write another picture of longevity, as the emperor's grandfather's birthday gift this year."

Li Xu counted the time, and it was time to start preparing for the emperor's birthday ceremony, otherwise it might be too late to transport it from South Vietnam to the capital, "Okay, let's do it like this."

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When they arrived at the Sheriff's Mansion, Li Xu and Ji Hanyu talked in the room for a long time, while the little princess sat aside and listened, neither noisy nor noisy, and I don't know how much they listened to.

"That's it, re-register the population. All the people who have completed the household registration procedures with the government within three months can receive three taels of salt per person. Those who live alone in the mountains are encouraged to move to nearby towns. The people are allowed to open up wasteland, and the land that will be opened up in the next three months will be owned by individuals, and the government will distribute rice seeds for free, and the grain tax will be exempted this year, and all the income from labor will belong to them.”

Ji Hanyu walked back and forth excitedly in the office, rubbing his hands together and asked, "Your lord, you mean you can plant another season of grain this year?"

"Yes, Mr. Zhong came to report a few days ago that the rice in the experimental field at the villa is growing well, and it will be harvested in a month or so. The good land that has been reclaimed can be sown from July and will be harvested by the end of October, so I leave it to them to open up the wasteland. There is not much time, and the decree must be issued as quickly as possible."

"It's a good thing for the common people to open up wasteland, but I'm afraid that the land measurement will not be timely enough. When the time comes, the account books will be messed up, and it will easily cause trouble if the accounts do not match the facts."

This is indeed a difficult problem, but Li Xu doesn't want to let go of the opportunity to grow late rice. This kind of variety will provide more food security for one season. Seeing that this year's flood season is coming soon, I don't know whether God will give him face, in case the flood surges , was seriously affected by the disaster, and he was even sad at this level.

Ji Hanyu thought of going with him, and suggested to him: "My lord, can cement be used to build dams? These days, Shui Cheng has come to me every day, begging me to strengthen the dams before the flood season .”

"This is indeed an important matter, but the time is definitely too late, and the cement is not enough. In this way, you can pass it on and ask officials from all over the country to check the river section before the heavy rain. The silt that needs to be dredged and the reinforcement should be reinforced. When the torrential rain comes, organize the low-lying people to evacuate to the high ground. The king will let people make tents quickly, and other disaster relief supplies must be prepared. We can’t wait for the disaster to come. We can’t predict natural disasters, but we Rescue can be prepared."

"What about money?" Ji Hanyu has been in charge of the family for a few days, and he also knows that the normal operation of a county guard's mansion cannot be separated from money and food. It is no wonder that General Kou had to support Lei Ming to take power in the past. Without money, it is really difficult to move an inch.

Of course Li Xu knows the importance of money, but it takes time for him to make money. Now that the traffic is so bad, economic and trade can't be done just by doing it.

He especially misses the days of the modern Internet era, when information is transmitted quickly, transactions are fast and fast, and capital recovery is naturally fast.

"Use the cement payment received this time first, and then find a way if it is not enough."

Ji Hanyu made a deep bow, and said with emotion: "My lord, I have a deep understanding now that it is too difficult to be a good parent. If you don't help me behind the scenes, I'm afraid I can only be a little boy." Literary officials."

Li Xu shook his head, "Everyone is good at different fields. You see that General Kou is so good at fighting, so he can't handle this small county guard's mansion? I'm afraid I'm not as good as you as an official."

When Li Xu walked out of the Sheriff's Mansion, he saw Lei Luo running over happily, "My lord, my father is back."

"What a good day today. I didn't hear the magpies calling in the morning. How come good things happen one after another."

Lei Luo didn't know why, but it could be seen that the prince was in a good mood, and he was about to dance while walking with the little princess in his arms.

"Where is Brother Lei?"

"I'm waiting at your home. The villain came out to look for you specially."

"I came here to announce the good news because I want to reward you with money, right? Unfortunately, I don't have any."

Lei Luo was not embarrassed to be told that he was out of his mind, and said with a smile: "It is already a reward to show your face in front of the prince, and the villain should not reward you with money."

Li Xu pointed at him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, in terms of flattery, Liu Shu is number one, and Lei Luo is second.

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Back home, Li Xu asked the little princess to eat first, and he went to the study to meet Lei Yang before he even had time to eat.

Lei Yang still had the same smiling face, and he didn't see any loss of flesh after working hard for two months, but the fatigue and wind and frost on his face were indeed obvious.

"Brother Lei is tired, you should go back and rest first when you come back."

Lei Yang saluted, wiped his tears and said: "When we arrive in Fujian Province, we will be exhausted. I have to report to you before resting. Otherwise, I won't be able to get up for a day after lying down. People are old and some people can't run. Moved."

Lei Yang is not old in his [-]s, but he can't bear to travel long distances. He plans to hand over the business to his three sons after two years of running, so that he can take care of himself in retirement.

"Haven't eaten yet! Then let's go to the restaurant and talk about it." Li Xu took people to the restaurant, opened another table, and asked while eating: "How can I do business well during this trip?"

Lei Yang drank a bowl of soup, and replied in a cheerful tone: "It's better than I imagined. I remember you said that brown sugar is good for women's health. It can nourish blood and promote blood circulation, and it can also beautify the skin. The female relatives of rich and noble families sell it, and everyone who tasted it said it was good, whether it has any effect or not, this delicacy will never go away, and it is best used to cook sweet soup."

Li Xu nodded, "This is indeed a large market, and the price can be relatively higher."

"Yeah, there are many rich families in Yangzhou, and the people there are much richer than those in Nanyue. The Lei family has shops all over Yangzhou. This brown sugar is famous and sells very fast. If there is no delay, I can come back a few days sooner." After finishing speaking, Lei Yang leaned in front of Li Xu and whispered, "This trip is really lucky, guess what I brought back?"

"It can't be Yangzhou's skinny horse." Li Xu joked.

Old Lei Yang blushed, and said: "There are thin horses in Yangzhou, but they were brought back by a certain person. If you like them, I will bring you some next time."

The corners of Li Xu's mouth twitched, thinking to himself that he couldn't tell, this Lei Yang's grandson is still so playful, he really is a scumbag.

"No, this king doesn't want to support idlers, just tell me, what good things did you bring back?"

Lei Yang said in a low voice: "A certain bought a ship of iron."

"Iron?" Li Xu was shocked, "Which channel did you buy it from? Is it reliable?"

"Don't worry, I bought it from a Northland Hu merchant. It is a smuggled product. Although the price is a bit high, the quality is very good, and the other party knows that it cannot be disclosed and will keep it secret."

"This is really great!" Li Xu was about to order land reclamation, and now that he had these irons, he could follow up in terms of agricultural tools.

"My lord, the Hu businessman said he can get more iron, shall we continue to trade with him?"

"Do you know where he got the iron? Did he buy it or mine it privately?"

"I don't know, but he promised that there would be no problem."

Li Xu didn't believe in such a guarantee. It was not an easy task to transport a ship of pig iron to Yangzhou. This Hu businessman either had someone in the officialdom, or the power behind him was very strong and could deal with all kinds of officials.

"This matter must be concealed enough. Once the court finds out that the king is buying iron, it will be a serious crime of treason."

Lei Yang was taken aback when he heard that, "In that case, I'd better not buy it, and I don't know if the other party is reliable."

"I still have to buy it, but next time I will trade with him in another capacity, and don't let him know that it is South Vietnam that has been trading with him."

"It's easy to handle. After all, it's a smuggled thing. They don't dare to sign a contract blatantly. They just change their faces to talk about it every time, and just don't be tracked when they are transported away."

After saying a few words, Li Xu asked Lei Yang to go back to rest. Lei Yang was really tired so he didn't delay. When he walked to the yard, he remembered that he had a gift for Li Xu.

He pointed to a few sacks in the corner and said, "Your Majesty, this is a half-sold and half-given item from the Hu businessman. You once said that you would search for seeds in the Western Regions, but I don't know these things. See if you can use them."

As soon as Li Xu heard the interest, he asked He Zun to open a bag, which turned out to be a whole bag of dried chili, "I'll go!" Li Xu's eyes brightened, he took a dried chili in his mouth and bit it , the soaring spiciness hit his taste buds, choking him to tears, which made He Zun think that Lei Yang had brought poison back to frame his highness, and almost chopped him off.

Li Xu rinsed his mouth, poured two more glasses of boiled water, wiped his tears and said, "It's all right, it's just this taste, it's so authentic, I just haven't eaten spicy food for a long time, and I can't get used to it."

Seeing that he was indeed fine, He Zun felt relieved, and Lei Yang patted his chest and said, "It's okay, I've never seen this thing before, and I dare not try it. Hu Shang only said that it can cure cold syndrome. It’s still medicine.”

Li Xu opened another sack, and there were all kinds of things piled up in random, most of which Li Xu didn't recognize, but he still picked out some things that looked like seeds, and prepared to try planting them all.

He Zun wanted to help but he refused, Li Xu lifted the hem of his clothes and sat directly on the ground. After a long time of sharing, he only separated out a small handful of unknown seeds, so he asked Wu to go in and call Zhong Shuiqing: "Let Master Zhong bring four or five A subordinate came over, it was very exhausting."

Li Xu asked Lei Yang to go first, and he chose for a while. Feeling that it was too time-consuming, he patted his buttocks and stood up. When he stepped on something, Li Xu looked away, and his eyes immediately became a little straight.

He picked up the soybean-sized seed, looked at it over and over for a long time, and thought uncertainly: Is this a cotton seed? Doesn't he have such good luck?

When Mr. Zhong brought people over, the first thing Li Xu asked him to do was to pick out the things that looked like cotton seeds, and the others naturally had to be picked out as well. Open up a special garden to plant these, plant a few of each, and ask the king to see it when it grows and bears fruit."

Zhong Shuiqing has been in contact with plants since he was a child, and is also very familiar with all kinds of seeds. He pointed to a few of them and named them, but he didn't recognize the rest.

This Hu businessman also got all kinds of seeds from nowhere, and the plants don't only grow in one place, some are even very common in South Vietnam, which is normal.

Li Xu gave half of the dried chili to Zhong Shuiqing, "This is chili, so it can be directly planted on an acre of land, and when it is harvested, it will be dried in the sun. It is a good condiment."

Zhong Shuiqing heard that it was seasoning, so he also took one and put it in his mouth. Before Li Xu could stop it, he saw him yell, jumped up and went straight to the water tank.

He Zun had experience, and hurriedly handed him water to rinse his mouth, and drank a few more cups, but it was relieved a little, and he said with teary eyes: "My lord... my lord, what is this, why is it so choking?" mouth?"

"Chili, stay here for dinner tonight, I will cook boiled fish for you to try."

Zhong Shuiqing wanted to shake his head, but he knew that King Shun was good at cooking, and he was a little reluctant to give up this good treatment. If it was a peerless delicacy, wouldn't he regret it if he refused.

Li Xu hadn't been in the kitchen for a long time, and now that he had chili peppers, he wanted to make some by himself. Aunt Xu in the kitchen was startled when he saw him enter the kitchen.

King Shun's good cooking skills are well-known, and Aunt Xu has heard of him a little bit, but she has never seen him cook in person. She thought it was boasted by outsiders. Yes, she thought most men were like this.

"What is the prince going to do? The slave can do it for me."

Li Xu rolled up his sleeves and walked straight to the stove, "You come and help me, I want to make a chili sauce first."

Without a cooking machine, it would be a bit of a hassle to chop dry chili peppers, and people with hot eyes could not open their eyes accidentally, so Li Xu asked Aunt Xu to wash the vegetables, and called a cook from the back kitchen of the grocery store to do the hard work.

Men are more convenient to use than women, it's not that Li Xu discriminates against sex, it's just that it's less burdensome for rough men to use.

"Chop chili into fine pieces, add some peppercorns, and prepare some green onion, ginger, and garlic." Li Xu found peppercorns a long time ago, but he seldom uses peppercorns, so he seldom uses them. It came in handy.

The hot oil was poured on the chili noodles, and there was a sizzling sound, and the spicy smell spread out, and after a lot of smelling, it was actually fragrant.

In the evening, Li Xu not only made boiled live fish, but also made spicy chicken, mapo tofu, spicy shrimp and mao xuewang. All the dishes looked red and oily, which made everyone discouraged.

The little princess hugged Li Xu's thigh and asked, "Father, these dishes look a bit scary."

Li Xu blinked, forgetting that children can't eat spicy food, so he hurriedly asked the cook to make another stewed egg with minced meat. The cooked food was brought directly from the shop and filled the table.

Li Xu has always been unassuming, and it is not a burden to eat with everyone, but Zhong Shuiqing's subordinates dare not go to the table, so Li Xu had to divide the table between two, and then he couldn't wait to enjoy the Sichuan-style feast.

Everyone didn't dare to chopsticks to those spicy dishes, Zhong Shuiqing even avoided them, Li Xu didn't care about them, and ate them all by himself.

Spicy is really hot, and cool is also really cool, but he overestimated his ability to withstand the spiciness, and his lips were red and swollen after eating two pieces, which scared the others away.

"Father, is it delicious?" the little princess asked expectantly.

Li Xu nodded while wiping his tears, "It's delicious, put less chili next time, let you try it too."

The little princess quickly shook her head, "I'm still young, I'll try this kind of thing when I grow up."

Li Xu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he picked up a shrimp and peeled off the shell and put it in her bowl, "Try it, this one is not too spicy, it's all on the shell."

The little princess couldn't bear the expectant eyes of her father, she picked it up, put it in her mouth, licked it, frowned, then put the shrimp into the soup and washed it before putting it in her mouth, and smiled at Li Xu after eating Said: "Father, it really is delicious."

Shrimp with only a hint of spicy taste is more delicious than usual. The little princess actually doesn't like seafood with too strong fishy smell, so the taste is just right.

Everyone was opened to a new world by her, and they all poured bowls of boiled water and ate spicy dishes. Not to mention, dishes with only a little spiciness are indeed more delicious, and they are still hot after eating.

After the meal, Li Xu took a sip of tea and sighed, "It's a wonderful life to be able to eat hot hot pot in winter."

When he returned to his room at night, Li Xu always felt that he had forgotten something important, so he asked He Zun, who pointed in the direction of the study and said, "You haven't read General Kou's reply, and the messenger has been waiting for a long time."

Li Xu patted his forehead, "It turned out to be this, I really forgot, and the person who delivered the letter, why didn't I see him at dinner just now?"

"He smelled the acrid smell outside the kitchen and ran away, saying he was coming after dinner."

Li Xu changed into a suit of clothes and went to the study, and asked He Zun to invite someone over. He opened Kou Xiao's letter first to read.

Different from Liu Shu’s nonsense throughout the article, Kou Xiao asked a good question at the beginning of the article and went straight to the topic, "The prince wants to change, and he will eventually understand it, but it is not advisable to act too hastily. Take it slowly, South Vietnam is remote, and the level of officials is uneven. It has even been passed down from generation to generation that there are many vegetarians in the corpses, but the more this is the case, the more serious the protection of officials and officials. If the prince wants to reuse the poor children, it will definitely touch everyone's interests. What's more, seeing that you have dismissed most of the Lei family from official positions, I'm afraid that you want to cleanse the officialdom, everyone is in danger, so naturally join forces to block it. If the prince only promotes one person at a time, I believe the resistance will be much smaller. If things fail, I will return to the city at the end, and I will definitely help you."

Li Xu also wrote to Kou Xiao when he was in a hurry at the beginning. It was a complaint, but now he is calm. Looking at Kou Xiao's reply, he feels that this kid is really talented, and he is much more rational than him. He also knows that he has acted too much. This led to unanimous opposition to the establishment of the Ministry of Industry.

Just like what Kou Xiao said, if he only promoted Cen Jin at that time, even if there were some voices of opposition, as long as he promised some financial benefits, it would definitely pass.

But now he is not in a hurry to do this. The craftsmen under him will be invited by the government in the name of technical guidance when they need it, and the rewards are very generous. Everyone is very satisfied.

After reading the letter, Li Xu folded it and stuffed it back into the envelope. He found that there was still a small thing inside, so he poured it out. After a look, it turned out to be a boat made of paper. The craftsmanship was rough, and the corners were not symmetrical.

Li Xu took the boat and laughed, took it apart and prepared to fold it again, and then saw a sentence written in the middle of the paper: "My lord, we have been apart for a long time, and I miss you very much. 』

Li Xu looked at this sentence and was silent for a long time. He seriously thought about Kou Xiao's feelings for him. In the past, he didn't take it seriously when this kid took advantage of him. He thought it was the restlessness of a young boy, and it was mostly a joke. Now It seems that the other party is probably serious.

But to what extent, Li Xu didn't know.As the only son of the Kou family, Kou Xiao can live with a man for the rest of his life without marrying a wife and having children?It is estimated that all South Vietnamese people disagree.

It is stupid to know that there is nothing to be done, Li Xu does not intend to take this difficult road, the broad road is in front of him, why would he make trouble for himself.

To put it bluntly, Li Xu only admired Kou Xiao, but he didn't feel tempted. If one day, he fell in love with Kou Xiao, maybe he would also be willing to take the thorny and bumpy road.

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small theater:

Old Gong: "After being separated for so long, I miss my wife."

Li Xu: "What do you think?"

Lao Gong: "I think about it day and night, I also think about eating, taking a bath, and going to the toilet."

Li Xu: "Don't you need to work? You are free."