Chapter 1 Temple and Road (monthly ticket plus 3/3 updates)
Panting, Song Le climbed to the top of the pagoda, overlooking the vast land.
The wide and majestic road extends far to the south.
There are sparse villages on both sides of the road. It is already evening, and smoke is rising from every house. The farmers sit around in the yard, holding rice bowls, eating a modest dinner, talking and laughing loudly.
Life in the countryside is so simple and unpretentious. In troubled times, with frequent wars, it is good to have food to eat, and no one thinks too much about it.
The road is the so-called first-class national highway connecting Mengzhou and Huaizhou.
In the past year, Heyang was generally peaceful and uneventful. However, it was a little tense a while ago. There were several small-scale killings in Wanshan Town. After more than a thousand people were beheaded, they retreated in a hurry and did not dare to go south.
Fifty miles of new road were built in one year, which seems a bit slow, but considering the high standard of this post road, it is not too slow.
The monks in the temple had already started their evening classes. Song Le watched it quietly, feeling relaxed and happy.
The name of the temple is "Yuhua". It is said that when the Buddha became a Buddha, he sat under a bodhi tree, meditating and meditating, observing his original mind. Clouds of flowers appeared in the sky, and mandala flowers rained down. This is an auspicious sign.
Hence the name.
Yuhua Temple is an official temple built with money from the Heyang Shogunate.
The imperial dynasty preferred to build official temples.
In the first year of Emperor Qianfeng's reign (666), Emperor Gaozong issued an edict to all states across the country to build Jingxing Temple.
In the first year of Tianshou of Wu Zhou Dynasty (690), Dayun Temples were built in various places.
In the first year of Zhongzong Shenlong (705), he ordered the two prefectures in Beijing to build Zhongxing Temple, and in three years it was renamed Longxing Temple.
In the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan (738), Xuanzong ordered all states in the world to build Kaiyuan Temple.
The spring of mages has arrived.
Nowadays, with feudal vassals and towns divided and the world in ruins, it is natural that we cannot afford to do such a thing.
There was originally a Yuhua Temple in Huaizhou, but it was destroyed by the war. Song Le ordered to allocate money to repair this temple outside the city, which can be regarded as rebuilt.
Official temples, or imperial temples, undertake a variety of special functions. For example, they receive visiting monks from foreign countries, undertake national taboos, and carry incense. The monks who control the state's monastic affairs usually live in official temples, which are their offices.
, sometimes the official temple also undertakes the function of accommodation for some officials.
During important festivals, official temples will also hold activities to have fun with the people. When there are disasters, official temples will pray for the people and provide porridge for disaster relief.
Song Le is not very interested in the theory of gods and ghosts. But he also knows that temples are indispensable and a symbol of normal and peaceful life.
Heyang was once a white land with sparsely populated areas. After years of hard work, it was as if the dry and cracked land had been irrigated by rainwater. The number of people gradually increased, and the people's lives were getting better day by day. Therefore, he readily approved Yuhua
The temple was rebuilt, and Huaizhou Sengzheng was appointed to manage the state's monastic affairs.
After getting off the pagoda, Song Le declined Seng Zheng's invitation and rode his horse to wander on the grassland on both sides of the national highway.
Next to the national highway is Qinshui River, and Song Le stopped at a garden beside the river.
The so-called Yuanya is an official village with a mill, usually a water-driven mill.
In the imperial dynasty, most of the mills used to grind flour for the common people were run by official villages or monasteries, except for small folk stone mills.
The production team is not. The donkeys in Guanzhuang are not allowed to rest. The sun is about to set, and they are still pulling the mill. In the water mill next door, the sound of water is rumbling, and the mills are constantly grinding the wheat into flour and putting it into bags.
.
Hydraulic machinery cannot be used on a large scale because it greatly affects agricultural production. The imperial court repeatedly demolished the mills on the Guanzhong River to release water for people to irrigate farmland.
"Has this garden been repaired for several years?" Song Le asked.
There was a member of the Yuanfang envoy in Yuanyang who heard this and said: "Back to Song Shuai, Dashun was built at the end of the fifth year, just a few months after Huaizhou was conquered."
"It's been three and a half years. I've been in Heyang for several years in a flash." Song Le sighed: "Is there no one to cultivate the fields in Guanzhuang?"
"There is indeed a shortage of people. Only a hundred hectares of five hundred hectares of land have been planted, and less than 30,000 hu of grains and beans have been harvested in two years." The Yuanfang envoy replied: "However, Judge Zhang of the shogunate said that two thousand Wei people will come soon. In autumn,
It may be possible to cultivate more farmland during sowing."
The two thousand Wei people were actually the two thousand Wei Bofu who were captured in Pingyin. These people were not counted as Jin soldiers, so naturally they could not be released. Shao Shude ordered them to be sent to the official village in Huaizhou to farm and raise sheep.
"Wei people are also suffering. After working in Guanzhuang for three years, let them register. You note the date of their arrival, and after the three years are up, submit the list to me." Song Le ordered.
"As ordered." Yuanfang envoy responded.
"Everything is on the right track, I feel happy to see it." Song Lelao was greatly relieved and said: "I will stay in the garden tonight, and I will take a good look at Guanzhuang tomorrow."
The Yuanfang envoy immediately sent people down to tidy up the house.
A caravan stopped outside Gaotou Post, one mile away from Yuanyang.
After the national highway was built to Huaizhou, the business of the post station became more and more prosperous. The post general was very busy as he welcomed and sent people there. He once wielded a heavy sword to kill people, but now his main job is to kill sheep, and he seems to be very efficient.
There is a supply of wine in the inn, which is brewed at home. There are two poems hanging outside the wine cellar: "Don't worry about the lack of supplies when guests arrive. The wild vegetables are brewing in the spring at home."
The name of the wine was "Wild Vegetable Spring". It tasted average, but it was sold out quickly, so that the merchants who came in were disappointed.
"Forget it if you don't have any wine. When we arrive in Huaizhou tomorrow, you can open up and drink." Kang Bingao ordered: "Watch those dozen sheep carefully. We will watch them in shifts tonight and don't make any mistakes."
The attendants responded loudly and quickly arranged the personnel schedule.
Kang Bingao looks quite old, in his thirties, with a typical Sogdian face, a curly beard, a high nose, deep eyes, and green eyes.
He is the nephew of Kang Fojin. It is said that his sister Kang is working as a maid in the Xia Palace, but he does not want to talk more about this matter.
The post general looked at the dozen sheep and was amazed.
He was handling a goat. The sheep was dead long ago. The sharp iron hook went deep into the goat's neck and hung on a wooden pole. The postman carefully scraped the meat membrane between the sheep's skin and the body with a sharp knife, and issued a
There was a rustling sound. While scraping, he looked back at the new sheep, looking very curious.
"The big-eating sheep were sent from Lingzhou." Kang Bingao explained briefly: "Heyang Ranch wants to breed fine-wool sheep, so it likes to use this kind of large-eating sheep for breeding."
The population of big-eating big-tailed goats has now expanded to more than a thousand in Lingzhou. Shao Shude ordered that 500 of them be sent to various pastures to be bred with local sheep to breed and cultivate new sheep species.
For example, Lingzhou uses the Dashi ram as the male parent and the local Hexi ewes, which are large in number, as the female parent for breeding and cultivation.
The Da Shi sheep in Tongzhou are bred with Shayuan sheep, and the Da Shi sheep in Heyang are bred with Hedong sheep.
"So that's it." The postmaster suddenly realized, and said: "In the first month of the year, Paoze came to me for a drink. He was wearing a woolen sweater, which was really warm. The wool looked very soft to me, and this big-eating Hu sheep looked even better.
"
"The wool used in that wool sweater should be taken from Dongzhang sheep. I have heard about the new sheep bred in Wangwu." Kang Bingao said: "There are tens of thousands of Dongzhang sheep now, but
King Xia was not satisfied and wanted better wool. These big-eating sheep came over and were bred with Dongzhang sheep and Hedong sheep to see if they could produce better fine-wool sheep."
"If this can be done, Your Highness will do a great job." The post general sighed: "Since ancient times, I have never heard of anyone trying to breed sheep. This is the first time in the history of King Xia."
"What you said is wrong. Where did the Shayuan sheep come from? This is a new sheep that only appeared in the imperial dynasty. It is only used for meat." A civil servant came from outside the post station and said loudly.
The post general looked embarrassed and cursed in a low voice: "Cuo is as big as a crow. It groans when hungry and cold. I won't serve you food for a while."
Combingao laughed, shook his head and left.
It can be seen that the prestige of King Xia in the hearts of warriors is very high. Every year, some warriors retire at the age of forty. Some of them took the last severance reward and went home, some of them ran inns, and some of them went to work as villagers.
The latter two are especially numerous in the five states of Meng, Huai, Luo, Ru, and Zheng. After all, they are sparsely populated and are easy to arrange.
The sun in the western sky has completely set, but there are still cars and horses passing by on the national highway. Looking at the direction they are traveling, it seems that they are heading towards Mengzhou. Are they withdrawing troops from Heyang and going south to Luoyang? He is a little strange.
Alas, don't let the Jin soldiers come south to attack. Heyang has finally reached this good situation. It would be a pity if it was destroyed in the hands of those gangsters.
However, this new post road is really well built. The more Kang Bingao looked at it, the more he appreciated it.
It is wide, flat, and slightly curved, so don’t worry too much about rainy days. It is already connected to Meng and Huaizhou. If nothing goes wrong, we will recruit slaves after May and continue to build it northward. It should be by the end of this year
It can be built as far as Wanshan Town, which is one of the important bases of the Tianxiong Army. It may even be built as far as Taihang Pass, ten miles north of Wanshan Town. After all, the terrain is flat and there is no need to dig mountains and walls.
I heard that conscripts were also being recruited in Nancheng, Heyang, and I planned to march thirty miles south to Luoyang.
This section is a bit more difficult, but a year is almost enough. The total distance from Luoyang to Taihangxingkou is more than 100 miles, and it is very suitable to connect them with the so-called first-class national highway.
Merchants like to build roads. The more they build, the easier it will be for them to do business.