Chapter 291: Dividing the Latest Rewards: Obtaining a Drill Hole...

Qi Chengming rolled his eyes at his retreating figure without any attempt to hide it.

Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. Uncle is a warm-hearted man who can't sit still. Whether he and my maternal grandfather are secretly talking about crickets or not, it's none of Qi Chengming's business anyway, let them be.

Qi Chengming's attention was entirely focused on this round of generous rewards.

As his infrastructure system upgraded, the chances of randomly drawn rewards became increasingly rare, while fixed rewards became more frequent. Qi Chengming hadn't drawn any unknown rewards for quite some time, but this time—

Of the four completed tasks, two were random reward draws, both from the infrastructure construction tasks in Luoyang City. The task of repairing the Prince's Mansion rewarded [30 fresh Yangtze River shad], [30 fresh Taihu Lake silverfish], and [100 spoonfuls of fresh Xi Shi Tongue].

Qi Chengming recognized the first two types of fish, and even the words "reward" made his mouth water. Living in Luoyang, a capital city in the Central Plains, it was almost impossible to get fresh river and seafood from other places. Transportation was an extremely labor-intensive and resource-intensive process, and Qi Chengming couldn't possibly be that kind of emperor. The fish supplied to the royal family were mostly frozen shad and dried silverfish; live fish were extremely rare.

So when Qi Chengming saw these two rewards, he had already figured out how to divide them. He was going to have the imperial kitchen prepare a delicious meal for him tonight!

But the last reward...

Qi Chengming: "?"

What is Xi Shi Tongue, and how is it weighed by the spoon?

It was beyond his knowledge, but Qi Chengming didn't dwell on it. He simply took out the reward and glanced at it.

One tablespoon of shellfish.

Qi Chengming examined the spoon closely, turning it over and over. He didn't eat much seafood or freshwater fish, mostly just fish, shrimp, and crab; he didn't recognize the rest. Was this a clam? Or a river mussel?

Never mind, the imperial kitchen surely knows what to do.

Qi Chengming immediately put the problem out of his mind and shifted his worries.

He openly took out the rewards, let Gan Tang in, and pointed to the large pile of things on the ground, saying, "I will keep five shad and five silver fish for myself, five for my relatives, five for the Marquis of Weiyong's residence, five for General Yang's household, five for the Tao family, and the rest will be given to the officials and their wives."

When Gan Tang came in, she saw the fish being raised in buckets of running water. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, but she made a serious note of it without changing her expression.

Your Majesty... are you not even going to put on an act in front of her anymore?!

But Gan Tang didn't ask how it came about. Instead, she asked carefully, "Which official does His Majesty wish to bestow this upon?"

There are only ten left, so deciding who to reward is a problem.

Qi Chengming considered carefully for a moment, then slowly recited the names: "Lord Song Gu, Lord Fang Bi, Elder Mu Jie, Mr. Qin Liusong, Elder Wu, Lord He, Commander Mao, Lord Zhou Zhu..."

These people were all old men who had followed and supported him all along; they were his most trusted confidants.

But he paused here, somewhat regretfully.

If he could still reward someone, he would like to save a portion for Mr. Huang as well, but since Huang Dong went to Silver Island Prefecture, he has been thousands of miles away and it is difficult to see him usually.

"...To Doctor Bian and Princess Liu's residence." Qi Chengming decided on the final spot.

Bian Shenyi is currently holding a nominal position in the Imperial Medical Academy, but he is usually out and about. Qi Chengming does not intend to detain him, also out of gratitude for his risky journey to the capital to enter the palace and actively get involved in the struggle for the throne, and for his efforts to advocate for Qi Chengming.

Even if it weren't for these reasons, Bian Shenyi's usual disregard for his own safety, his love for treating ordinary people, and his rushing to disaster-stricken areas were enough to earn his respect.

As for Nurse Liu...

Qi Chengming couldn't forget her either.

"Yes." Gan Tang replied gracefully, quickly calculating how to divide the spoils, and understood immediately.

Your Majesty still values ​​old friendships.

Without giving it any further thought, she continued softly, "Your Majesty, please also instruct on how the distribution should be made among the imperial relatives."

This is much simpler. Without hesitation, Qi Chengming tapped the table with his knuckles: "One set is needed for Uncle, one for Sixth Brother, one for the Third Princess's residence, and one for the Eldest Prince's residence. Finally, one set should be given to the Empress Dowager."

“I don’t want people to think that my elder brother has passed away and his descendants are left unattended.” Qi Chengming’s arrangement automatically bypassed the Emperor Emeritus. His reasoning was also sound and would not violate filial piety. “Those who cultivate the Tao cannot eat meat. I must think of my father.”

That's what he said, but Qi Chengming's schadenfreude was practically showing on his face.

Gan Tang suppressed a laugh, naturally siding with her Emperor. She curtsied again and said, "Yes—"

After the most troublesome part of sorting was done, Gan Tang looked at the spoonfuls of shellfish on the table. If His Majesty didn't say anything, she would pretend she didn't see them and beckon Xiao Ju and Shi Shuang to come in and help.

Qi Chengming was also having a headache over the distribution, so he simply sent all the Xi Shi Tongues to the imperial kitchen, intending to keep them for himself.

One spoonful at a time—it wouldn't be stingy to distribute them, but if there were too few, how would the kitchen prepare them? And if there were too many… these tiny shellfish, barely enough to fill a tooth gap, Qi Chengming had nearly a hundred clams in a single bowl at the night market in his past life. So, he cut them all in one go!

I'm going to eat all by myself today!

Outside, the eunuchs were making a ruckus, running around in circles under Gan Tang's direction. Xiao Dezi and Xiao Chengzi even joined in, discussing who would deliver the gift. Qi Chengming listened to the commotion outside the window and felt a sense of peace. He then began to look at the next reward.

Installing seismographs is a long and slow process. This time, only the first step was completed, and the reward is called the "Earthquake Early Warning Linkage Program".

The gist is—

Once the reward is claimed, in the event of an emergency, the earthquake instrument alarm will not only be directly transmitted to Qi Chengming's infrastructure system, but will also be automatically broadcast to other devices connected to the system network through this program.

"This is great!" Qi Chengming was overjoyed and very happy.

If an earthquake early warning system were in place, Qi Chengming would still have to manually transmit the information to the affected area, but with a program, the transmission can be automated. Don't underestimate this short window of time; it can save lives when necessary.

The remaining two features are the lottery features.

Qi Chengming hadn't smoked in a long time and was a little unsure of himself, so he specially took a bath and burned incense before opening his first one.

"I am the emperor now... I possess dragon energy, and Luoyang is the capital of multiple dynasties, a place where dragon veins converge. With dragon energy and dragon veins combined... there's no reason why we shouldn't find good things!"

After muttering to himself, Qi Chengming made a tough decision.

Fireworks burst into bloom, and a beautiful line of text appeared before him: [Two thousand cattle and horses].

Qi Chengming was stunned for a moment.

A cow is a cow, and a horse is a horse. What is a cow-horse mix? Is it a combined term for a thousand cows and a thousand horses?

In short, it's a good product.

Oxen are still a vital source of labor for most households, and in some impoverished areas, an entire village may only have one ox to share. Horses are also in high demand in Dingguo, a region constantly embroiled in war. They don't necessarily have to resort to smuggling them in from beyond the Great Wall.

But where to place it for inspection is a problem.

Qi Chengming pondered for a while, then remembered the wedding list that Yu Shuren had shown her on the day of the Third Princess's wedding, which included a pasture on the outskirts of Luoyang. Perhaps he could borrow that name; otherwise, with such a grand affair, it would be difficult to distribute. He'd think about it after his own wedding—

Qi Chengming put the matter aside, cleared his mind, held his breath, and pressed down hard again: Second pull!

[Portable handheld drilling machine].

The large, warm words almost brought tears to Qi Chengming's eyes. Overjoyed, he jumped to his feet and exclaimed, "...Great!!"

My darling, I've been thinking about you so much I'm almost dreaming about you, and you've finally arrived!

Qi Chengming knew that this infrastructure system was incredibly kind to him, acting almost consciously according to his wishes and the course of events… Now that he knew the reasons for his past life, he understood another layer of meaning: perhaps the infrastructure system was compensating him for his miserable past life. Having nowhere else to compensate, it had come to him…

With drilling machines, even in ancient times, it was possible to process those seamless steel pipes!

Do you remember the inspiration that old craftsman came up with? If you add a balanced and stable tail fin to a seamless steel pipe and make some lasting adjustments, that's when the true power of the rocket will be unleashed!

A portable drilling machine should be a lightweight model that can be operated by a single person.

After much deliberation, Qi Chengming summoned Fang Bi again, intending to have her find a few trusted confidants to work on the seamless steel pipe drilling in the side hall of Yinbing Palace. It offered good concealment and allowed for timely charging.

—In the end, drilling machines are just too modern and high-tech.

It's not good to be exposed to too many people.

...

After dealing with this generous reward, Qi Chengming enjoyed a delicious steamed shad with tender and fresh meat, as well as soup made with razor clams that was so delicious it almost made his tongue fall off.

This batch of shad can be used to make many dishes, such as those made with fermented rice wine, marinated and fried, or braised in soy sauce. However, in order to let His Majesty know the original flavor, the Imperial Kitchen still made some adjustments and served the first dish steamed to preserve the freshness to the greatest extent.

"...The others should have eaten by now, right?" Qi Chengming picked up a piece of crystal meat jelly with his chopsticks, still thinking about the other people's meals. "The fish won't taste good if it's dead."

Although they were having steamed shad for dinner, it wouldn't be just that one dish. Qi Chengming was always frugal, so dinner consisted of steamed shad, crystal meat jelly, spicy stir-fried cabbage, and mutton soup in a clay pot—three dishes and a soup.

People in the Luoyang area enjoy eating chicken, duck, fish, and goose, and especially love mutton.

Qi Chengming adapted to the local customs and gradually fell in love with it. The harsh winter weather was unbearable, and it was very comforting to drink a bowl of mutton soup every now and then to warm up.

The various parts of the capital city that he was concerned about reacted in different ways.

When the gifts were delivered, the Tao family, who had just received the reward, remained completely silent.

"Can this imperial gift be sent to your second and third uncles' rooms?" Tao's father asked hesitantly.

Shad and silverfish, even in this season when the river water is about to freeze, can be delivered to the capital still alive!

The Tao family was immediately in an uproar.

No wonder they were excited; no one in the family, including the second and third wives and Tao's mother's family, had ever eaten or even seen such a precious thing.

Logically speaking, this was a rare ingredient sent by His Majesty because he cared about their daughter. I heard that even the Prince of Ning's mansion only received two fish, but their family received ten! They had better be grateful for the Emperor's favor and enjoy these ten fish without worry.

But there aren't just one or two fish, there are ten. The Tao family has two branches, one legitimate and one illegitimate. The three branches have always had a good relationship since childhood. They separated but still live together, which... makes it difficult to find a proper balance.

Tao's mother looked at her aunt, who was standing silently beside her daughter, and gritted her teeth: "Let Jiang'er decide."

My daughter is about to become the future Empress. How can she not be established now? Her aunt, who has been teaching her court etiquette for several months, is not saying a word to remind her. The meaning is very clear.

Tao Jiang hesitated for a moment.

Is she going to distribute it? Those were imperial tribute items…

Tao Jiang instinctively dared not move, lest something go wrong. But a moment later, she repeatedly warned herself:

Calm down... Even His Majesty is my future husband, I can handle this little thing myself.

"Send two pairs of fish to the second and third households respectively, so that everyone can enjoy them together tonight," Tao Jiang said with a smile.

The aunt stood by without reacting, but she was nodding inwardly.

This Miss Tao is the daughter of a minor official. During this time, she has been cramming on the etiquette of palace life. Her aunt, following His Majesty's instructions, has broken it down and taught her bit by bit. Even if Miss Tao can't handle it right away, it's not a big deal. No one can change their nature immediately. As long as she doesn't do anything stupid or cause trouble, that's her aunt's minimum psychological bottom line.