after being kidnapped by the general

The scene was silent for a while.

Everyone dared not move.

The comedians on the stage fell to their knees with a "plop", sweating all over their heads. They didn't know what angered Chu Hechao, and subconsciously begged for mercy: "General, forgive me, general!"

Chu Hechao stood still.

The sudden anger was too fierce, something floated up in his eyes, then sank again, repeated several times without making a sound.

He didn't make a sound, and no one dared to make a sound.

After a long time, Chu Hechao said: "The day of great joy, the end of the year is approaching, you see what you are talking about."

Everyone in the world knows that the performances of comedians have a hint of irony, and they often use comedy to cover deep meaning, and use funny stories to satirize the current world or the ruler.

For a moment, Chu Hechao even felt that these comedians had read through his mind and made up a story, using it to satirize him and make a metaphor for him in front of him.

But he knew that these were just his thoughts.

But how dare these comedians.

How dare you tell such stories of incest and foul language in front of him and Yuanli when they are both in the audience, how can this not make people think that they are insinuating?

"Sister-in-law incest, widowed sister-in-law, elder brother who died of illness," Chu Hechao smiled every time he said a word, and he raised his eyelids, "Who do you want to say this to today? Are you telling me?"

The comedian was shocked, trembling and begging for mercy, "No, it's not...the villain has absolutely no intention of insinuating the general!"

The others were startled, yes, telling this kind of story in front of the general and Mr. Yuan, isn't it really a deliberate arrangement to ridicule the general and Mr. Yuan?

Yang Zhongfa reacted very quickly. He showed an angry face instantly, raised his eyebrows, slapped the table hard, stood up and shouted loudly, "You are clearly insinuating! Tell me, who ordered you to do this!"

The comedian began to explain, crying out loud.

They came from humble backgrounds, where did they know that the general had an elder brother and an elder sister-in-law, not to mention that the elder brother died and only the elder sister-in-law remained.They don't even know that the general and his widowed sister-in-law are sitting under the stage now. If they knew, they wouldn't dare to tell stories about the incest of uncle and sister-in-law to their face if they were killed!

In order to prove his innocence, the leading comedian even said what He Lang said when he invited them here.

He Lang invited comedians to entertain him, and those stories between men are nothing more than that.The soldiers in the barracks are all rough people, so He Lang hinted that comedians should prepare more such witty and dirty stories.

The comedian not only prepared this one story, but also prepared many more. Who knew that by such a coincidence, the first story told was the incest of uncle and sister-in-law, which was regarded as having ulterior motives.

Cold sweat broke out on He Lang's forehead, and he immediately stood up and apologized, "Forgive me, General, I did say these things to these comedians."

Chu Hechao glanced at him from the corner of his eye.

Yang Zhongfa didn't dare to be casual about this kind of thing, he asked in a low voice: "General, do you want to investigate these comedians?"

"Well," Chu Hechao said, "Immediately send someone to inquire secretly."

Yang Zhongfa said: "Yes."

Soon, some soldiers retreated quietly.

He Lang wished to go back to the past and slap himself who wanted to invite comedians to come to his house. He wiped the sweat from his brow, "This subordinate will order someone to bring them down."

"No need," Chu Hechao said indifferently, "Today is your good day, so you don't need to be so angry. Let them change the story and continue."

He Lang was moved and said: "General..."

Chu Hechao raised his hand and patted He Lang on the shoulder, and smiled, completely out of the anger just now, "Don't think too much. There is a newly acquired manor [-] miles north of Jixian County, and I will treat it as a congratulatory reward." Here you go."

As soon as these words came out, He Lang knew that Chu Hechao was not really angry with him.He Lang breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and said beamingly: "Thank you, General!"

Chu Hechao sat back on his seat, and the servant stepped forward to quickly clean up the mess.The silk and bamboo orchestra played again, and this time, the comedians no longer dared to say anything out of line, and picked up a few funny stories and told them out.

Not long after, Yuanli came back.

He was wiping his hands with a handkerchief, with a slight smile on his face.The hair curled mischievously by his ear, giving him the appearance of a handsome young man.

As soon as he appeared, the atmosphere relaxed a lot, He Lang couldn't wait to say hello to Yuan Li, "Young Master Yuan, you're back."

Yuan Li replied with a smile, and sat back in his seat.He didn't find anything wrong, and continued to watch the comedian's performance with relish, being amused from time to time.

When he smiled, others were also in the mood to watch the comedian's performance, talking and laughing, and regained their former ease.

Yang Zhongfa also felt the same way. He glanced at Yuan Li with a smile, and then glanced at Chu Hechao who was staring at the stage expressionlessly, with constant slander in his heart.

He even said that he didn't want to talk to Mr. Yuan, I'm afraid you didn't immediately arrest comedians for interrogation because you saw Mr. Yuan liked him.

No matter what other people think, Yuanli really had a very comfortable day.

In the evening, they got He Lang drunk at the banquet, and then left the He Mansion with a smile.

A few days later, it was Chinese New Year.

After the Chinese New Year, Yuanli will be 19 years old.

His birthday is on the thirteenth day of the third month of the lunar calendar. Yuanli knew that he would be crowned on this day, which meant that before this day, he would receive an envelope from Ruyang, and learn that the patriarch had passed away due to illness. And the last wish for him to stand on the crown.

Because of this premise, Yuanli's life this year was not happy, even a little heavy.

From the day of the new year, Yuanli has been guessing when the patriarch will "die of illness".

He hoped that even if the patriarch left, he would spend the New Year well before leaving.

Yuanli is thousands of miles away, he can only guess the situation of Ruyang out of thin air, and count the death date of the patriarch.This feeling is not good, Yuan Li sometimes feels melancholy when he sees Yuanlou Yuandan's ignorant appearance.

But he didn't reveal any of these negative emotions, he covered them up tightly, and took Yuan Lou and Yuan Dan to spend a fulfilling year in Youzhou.

It's not Yuanli's character to be indulging in sadness. Years later, Yuanli kept himself busy, filling his life with all kinds of things—until the letter came that told him that he could be crowned .

After the vertical windmill was finished, Yuanli drew the waterwheel on the paper as he remembered it.After seeing it by chance, Yuan Dan asked enthusiastically, "Li'er, what is this? It looks like a rolling wheel. It looks very novel."

"It is something that can be rotated to water and irrigate. It can draw water from a low place and irrigate it to a high place." Yuan Li explained.

Yuan Yi understood immediately that he was very interested in waterwheels.Yuan Dan has liked to play with these carpentry work since he was a child, and he has some talents in strange skills and ingenuity.Seeing his performance in this way, Yuan Li handed over the drawings to Yuan Dan, and asked Yuan Dan to lead the craftsmen to make the waterwheel.

Yuan Dan stared at him, and then his blood boiled, and he happily accepted the order, patted his chest and assured Yuan Li, "Don't worry, Lier, I will definitely make this thing for you!"

Yuan Li smiled and said, "Then I'll wait."

Yuan Dan felt a lot of pressure all of a sudden, like holding gold, he asked quickly: "Yuanli, how is the craftsmanship of Youzhou craftsmen?"

"The craftsmanship of these craftsmen I found is very exquisite," Yuan Li said, "It is not inferior to the craftsmen in Luoyang and the South."

Yuan Dan was surprised: "Really?"

"Really. There are a lot of wood in Youzhou, and there are many craftsmen," Yuanli said patiently, "The trees in the north are stronger than those in the south. The craftsmen in Youzhou know how to deal with the wood in Youzhou best. You can use it with confidence."

Yuan Dan nodded again and again, and then happily went to find the craftsman in Yuanli.

Yuan Li watched him leave with a smile.

In the past few days with the Yuanlou brothers, Yuanli has already made plans for their future.

Yuanli intends to build a department dedicated to the research of agricultural tools and military weapons.If Yuan Dan can do a good job with the waterwheel, Yuan Li is ready to let Yuan Dan lead the department.

Compared with Yuan Dan, Yuan Lou's personality is calmer and more dull. Although he has the ability to handle affairs, he is too upright and young, not smooth enough.Yuanli is going to let Yuanlou study with Liu Jixin for a period of time to grind his face.

He didn't tell the two brothers about these plans, but the two brothers felt that Yuanli valued them.They chatted in private a few times, and they were even more moved. They tried their best to show their talents and gain a firm foothold among Yuanli's many subordinates.

Thanks to their hard work, Zhan Shaoning, Wu Kai and Wang Er couldn't help but feel a sense of crisis. They trained more troops every day and set stricter requirements on themselves. .

Except for Liu Jixin who was leisurely drinking tea and taking people to deal with government affairs, even Zhong Ji couldn't help but feel a little restless seeing them like this.

Although Zhong Ji didn't formally join Yuanli's sect, he already vaguely agreed with Yuanli in his heart.He knew that he would have to wait for the ice and snow to melt before going to fight the Yishan Army, so he was not in a hurry.But seeing these people working hard one by one, he felt like a cat scratching his heart. Finally, he couldn't help it, and ran to find Zhang Mi and went to buy horses with Zhang Mi.

When Liu Jixin came to his senses, he found that he was the only one in the whole house who was still doing things without haste, "..."

His eyelids twitched, he walked around, and he had nothing to say.

That's all for the lord, how come Yang Zhongfa and He Lang, who are under the general's command, are no exception, so busy every day that no one is there?

On the tenth day of the first month of the year, another heavy snow fell in Youzhou.

The heavy snow stopped after only one day, but even so, dozens of piglets in the pig farm froze to death.

Yuanli was worried about the potatoes in the experimental base, so he went to the experimental base to see the growth of the potatoes.

Compared with the piglets that were frozen to death, the potatoes in the experimental base grew well.There is only one kang, and when it is fired, it is the favorite temperature of these potatoes.The potato leaves on the ground have grown green and broad, and they seem to be slightly mature.Yuanli couldn't tell whether the potatoes were ripe from the shape of the leaves, so he simply dug out a potato plant and looked at it, and found that these potatoes would be ripe in about a month.

This speed was much faster than expected. Yuanli asked and found that it was all due to the chemical fertilizers.

But there was not much fertilizer left, Yuan Li immediately ordered, "Zhao Ying, let those bandits make more fertilizer."

The bandits under Zhao Ying's hands were already picking dung until they were about to vomit, but when Yuan Li said this, Zhao Ying said without changing his face: "Yes."

He doesn't care if these bandits want to vomit or not, since the lord has spoken, these bandits will continue to pick manure to make fertilizer.

The livestock farm in Yuanli has always been clean, thanks to these bandits.The excrement of livestock such as pigs, cattle and sheep will be cleaned by them every day to the composting house for composting.

Chemical fertilizers need to be composted before they can be used, because it will be winter, the temperature is low, and the compost fermentation is slow.Although it can be stacked, the time will be extended, and it will take at least three months before it can be used.Just when the fertilizer pile is ready, it is the season of potato planting.

Because the composting time will be longer in winter, Zhao Ying wants to compost more at a time.However, the excrement of livestock such as pigs, cattle and sheep is limited after all, and it is difficult to find a collection of human excrement, so he told Yuanli about this difficult matter.

Yuan Li rubbed his chin and thought for a while, "The 'public toilet' I built in the farm before can be built and popularized in Ji County, so that the common people can use the 'public toilet' conveniently to collect excrement."

Zhao Ying said worriedly: "But how can the common people feel comfortable in the 'public toilet'?"

Yuan Li raised his eyebrows and said, "Go and call Wu Kai and Wang Er."

After Wu Kai and Wang arrived, Yuan Li directly sent them a task.After the public toilets were built, they called on the people in the streets and alleys to go to the public toilets for convenience.Afterwards, they will be divided into two patrols every day. Once they see people defecating indiscriminately, they will be warned for the first time and fined for the second time.

Wu Kai and Wang Er responded one by one, holding fists together.

As soon as Yuanli's words came out, the Baimi prisoners began to build public toilets in various places in Ji County that day.In a few days, the construction of public toilets was completed.

Because the common people could not read, Yuanli did not write the word "male and female" on the toilet as a distinction, but simply and rudely carved flowers and axes to distinguish them.

When the toilet was first built, the common people were very curious. They gathered a few meters away and looked at the small house, not knowing what the house was for.

When people in the government advertised that this is a convenient place for the common people, the common people were puzzled.

Well done, why did the government allow them to enter such a small house for convenience?

They are not used to it. At the beginning, if the common people suddenly had a stomachache on the street, they would habitually find a corner on the street corner for convenience.However, after being discovered and warned by the patrolling soldiers, these people dare not do this anymore. Even if their stomach hurts, they still have to go to the toilet for convenience.

After a period of time, the common people also belatedly understood the benefits of having public toilets.

The real ancient times are not as beautiful as people imagined in later generations.Pedestrian feces can be seen everywhere on the road, and the drainage system is not standardized, and sewage is even more common.In summer, it will emit an unpleasant and pungent smell.

The royal capitals like Luoyang are okay, and the sanitation conditions in counties like Suiyang, Chenxian, and Jixian where governors live are also very good, but it's not that there is no feces and sewage.

With public toilets, no one defecates on the street at will, and the air is much cleaner.Walking is not afraid of being splashed with dirty things on shoes and clothes. The clean streets make people feel at ease at a glance, which makes the people of Jixian quite happy.

And the common people soon discovered that the government would send people to clean up the filth in the public toilets every two or three days.These people didn't know where they got the filth, which made the people quite curious.

In the end, rumors gradually spread that the governor ordered the excrement to be taken away to make something called fertilizer.

The common people are puzzled.

What is this fertilizer?

But they faintly feel that if the government can build public toilets and pick up manure for two or three days, is it possible that the fertilizer made from their manure is a good thing?

Amid the curiosity of the people, the cold winter gradually warmed up, the river melted and everything began to recover.

A month later, the potatoes in Yuanli were fully ripe.He led people to dig out all the potatoes in the potato base and store them in a dry warehouse, ready to wait for planting in March and April.

After finishing the potatoes, Yuanli, who finally had free time, finally lost the desire to find something to do for himself.

He temporarily put down what he was doing, and focused on waiting for the letter from Ruyang.

At this moment, Chu Hechao came to him.

The general took off his thick winter coat early and only wore two layers of unlined clothing. He stood tall and tall in front of the door with a strong and strong figure.

He looked down at Yuanli, and said lazily, "Change into clothes and follow me."

Yuan Li raised his eyes, wondering, "Where are you going?"

Chu Hechao smiled, tapped the handle of the knife with his fingers, "I'll take you to visit Daru, sister-in-law."