Chapter 28 Wine Pond and Meat Forest
The capital city was decorated with lights and colorful lanterns for the emperor's birthday, and every household hung red ropes at the door - this was the custom of the Great Zhou Dynasty to celebrate the emperor's birthday.
The number of carriages coming and going in the capital city has increased several times compared to usual days. Many dignitaries have come to the capital to celebrate the birthday, and there have been lively performances inside and outside the palace for several days.
The "Legend of the White Snake", which has recently become popular in the capital, has attracted these dignitaries who have just arrived in the capital.
During this time, Yan Xuanyu concealed his identity and opened a theater in the capital under the name of Yu Xuan. This was arguably the first of its kind in the entire Great Zhou, as in the past, families of prominent status would have their own opera troupes. The palace had its own court opera troupes, and their performances were held in a fixed location: the master's house.
Some second-rate folk opera troupes are more casual.
But the Jixiang Theater, which specializes in opera performances, is the first one.
There are relatively few programs now, with only two plays scheduled a day. The rest of the time is for storytelling. The storytelling is of course not about the picture books of the young men and women, but the two books that Yan Xuanyu took over - one is "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" and the other is "Journey to the West". In order to prevent newcomers from not knowing the previous plots, it is divided into multiple sessions, so the day can be fully scheduled.
What surprised him was that those who had clearly heard the show before would come to listen a second time if they saw that there were tickets. When the storyteller was telling the story, the entire hall was full of people but it was almost silent.
At first, those nobles felt that listening to operas in the theater was not decent and not in line with their status.
After knowing their idea, Yan Xuanyu was silent for a while, and then converted the unused second floor of the Jixiang Theater into private rooms, which were divided into gold rooms and silver rooms. They were equivalent to VIP rooms, which had good privacy and could show their noble status different from ordinary people.
Refreshments, fruit-flavored hard candies and other snacks will be provided in the private rooms to give them something new to try.
At first, Yan Xuanyu wanted to make money with these things, but unfortunately, if he wanted to produce these things in large quantities, it would consume both food and manpower, so Yan Xuanyu had to give up.
The number of private rooms in the Jixiang Theater was limited, and users could reserve a room for a certain period of time. Therefore, it became difficult to reserve a private room in the theater. Owning the Gold Room and Silver Room in the Jixiang Theater became one of the ways for the dignitaries in the capital to show off their status.
Originally, the decoration of the Jixiang Theater was rather simple. Yan Xuanyu's initial idea was to use some stories to enlighten the people, so the price of the theater was naturally affordable for ordinary people, and the interior decoration was not very important. However, as more and more nobles entered the theater, Yan Xuanyu found that they were really generous in giving tips.
So he quickly decorated the second floor, making it look as elegant and unique as possible.
The original price of listening to books in the lobby on the first floor remains unchanged, and there is free tea on the table. The lobby of Jixiang Theater has become a good place for people in Beijing to go after dinner.
...
At the same time, Fengxian City.
When the first drop of rain fell, the people in Fengxian City did not notice anything wrong.
Fengxian City had been dry for a long time since the beginning of summer, and everyone was welcoming the first rain since the beginning of summer with great joy - every household took a basin to collect water, the men went into the rain to wash the mud off their bodies, the children ran wildly in the rain, and even the women walked into the rain in coarse linen clothes.
It's hot now, so you can just take a good shower and dry yourself without worrying about catching a cold.
This rain is hope. God has heard their cries and sent down rain to save the crops in the fields that are about to die.
Zhu Cheng also took the only basin in the house and placed it in the yard to collect rainwater. He turned around and went back to the house, took off his clothes, wrung them dry, and hung them on a hemp rope.
"Acheng, use some straw to plug the leaking parts of the house. The kid is all wet." The wife said while holding the child.
Zhu Cheng responded, stood up, put on his shoes, and started to pull out the damp thatch. He heard his wife chattering behind him: "Oh, why hasn't the rain stopped after two days?"
He thought to himself, yes, why is the rain still not letting up?
...
By the fourth day, the water on the ground was almost above the calves. The initial joy of welcoming the first rain was gone, and everyone looked up at the gray sky with worried expressions.
Feng Guangwei in the prefectural government was also watching the heavy rain under the eaves.
"How many days has it been?" Feng Guangwei asked in a murmur.
At some point, Madam Han came over, supported by her maid, and said beside him, "It's been four days, Master."
Mrs. Han sensed something was wrong when she rode in a carriage from the capital to Fengxian City that day. It wasn't until she saw the carriage pass unimpeded into the Fengxian City prefect's mansion, and she saw that her husband was not at all inferior to the Fengxian City prefect when getting along with him - you know, the official rank of a city prefect is the fourth rank, and her husband was only a fifth rank doctor even before he was demoted.
Feng Guangwei did not hide from her the fact that he lived and ate with the laborers on the embankment. As smart as she was, she quickly realized that her husband's exile was not that simple. Thinking deeply, she thought that he might have come here to do something.
The couple stood quietly under the eaves.
Huaying, the maidservant beside Madam Han, was brought by Feng Guangwei on the first day she arrived in Fengxian City. After all, Feng Guangwei was not in the capital, and Huaying had some skills, so she could protect Madam Han by her side.
Mrs. Han has always been kind to the people around her. Huaying is thoughtful and considerate, and was soon taken by Mrs. Han to her side.
"Madam, the prefect's wife sent someone to deliver some food." Huaying said softly.
Mrs. Han is in poor health and has been standing outside. The humidity outside is very high and she is afraid that it will hurt her body.
Madam Han patted her hands, turned around and saluted Feng Guangwei, "Master, I will return to my room first."
Out of Mrs. Han's sight, Feng Guangwei and Huaying exchanged glances. The latter nodded and then followed Mrs. Han away.
After they left, Feng Guangwei looked at the heavy rain in front of him, and his eyes gradually became firm.
...
Yan Xuanyu, who was far away in the capital, had not received any letter from Feng Guangwei for several days. He knew that the dam in Fengxian City had been completed, but he was still worried. Modern flood control measures could not avoid risks 100%, not to mention the backward facilities in ancient times. It was still unknown how long the built dam could withstand the pressure.
Humans are so insignificant when facing nature.
Yan Xuanyu felt inexplicably depressed. He dismissed all the palace servants and asked Li Zhongxian to leave first.
At times like this, he would rather be alone.
[Host, your points are enough to draw cards twice. Do you want to draw cards? ]
The sudden voice in his head pulled Yan Xuanyu back from his own thoughts.
Yan Xuanyu sneered: "He doesn't come out normally, but he pours out diligently when he wants to take some points from me."
The system beeped twice. It was clearly the electronic sound of a machine, but it strangely revealed a hint of guilt.
[Host, you know I'm a new system. What you're doing is completely different from the Master System's manual for the Tyrant Card Drawing System. I need to update and learn. The system has been silently supporting the host!]
"Then tell me what you support me for?" Yan Xuanyu asked leisurely.
The system beeps twice more, and then the sound slowly comes out -
[The system has found a card draw preview for the host. Do you want to take a look? ]
"Look." Yan Xuanyu said immediately.
The familiar translucent screen slowly appeared in front of his eyes, but the panel on it was something he had never seen before. Almost all the content displayed on the panel was dull gray, indicating that he had not unlocked these cards.
The system's intention is not too obvious. It wants to dangle a carrot in front of him so that he can hurry up and complete the tyrant task to collect points and draw cards.
Yan Xuanyu looked at it for a while, then said coldly: "There are so many cards in the card pool, why did I draw a useless R card?"
The system quickly assured them that the Tyrant Emperor's card drawing system was absolutely real and there was no manipulation involved. The host's first R card was probably due to the randomness of the system's card drawing and the host's personal luck...
Yan Xuanyu was annoyed by the system's constant beeping in his ears. He felt overwhelmed by the incessant electronic noise.
This system is really, let's say it's naive, it knows how to urge the host to draw cards and ask the host for points that are beneficial to the system. Let's say it's smart, it can't hide its little tricks at all.
"Take one draw." Yan Xuanyu spoke to stop the system's voice.
The system suddenly started to buzz like fireworks in Yan Xuanyu's mind, and even the electronic sound was filled with joy.
The familiar card drawing interface appeared in front of Yan Xuanyu at lightning speed. It was still the familiar button, but after removing the 50% discount for newcomers for the first time, it returned to 100 points per time.
Before Yan Xuanyu drew the card, his mind suddenly flashed to Yuan Kang, who was galloping to the capital to meet the new emperor. It would be great if he could draw something that could be used at the border.
Thinking of this, he reached out and pressed the card drawing button. Suddenly, a white light appeared, mixed with a few strands of golden light. Then the color of the white light gradually darkened, and finally turned into an orange light with a few strands of golden light!
Yan Xuanyu's breathing stagnated, his eyes fixed on the flashing panel.
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the A-level card: Wine Pool and Meat Forest. Description: Wine is the pool, meat is the forest, for the long night of drinking.]
After using this card, you can get a pool of wine and a forest of meat.
Yan Xuanyu:!
The system was still saying some nonsense in his ear, such as the host could draw again, or maybe the S card was stuck, but Yan Xuanyu seemed not to hear it.
The border was bitterly cold, so the soldiers could warm themselves with wine; the meat could be air-dried and made into bacon and jerky, so the soldiers could eat meat.
System, thank you this time!
After banishing the system from his mind, Yan Xuanyu shook off his previous depression and regained his spirits. He still had a lot of things to do.
He couldn't save everyone from the flood in Fengxian City, but he would save as many as he could. Even if the result was worse, more people would survive than in the original owner's life.
He could use what he knew about post-disaster reconstruction to appease the people, encourage farming, and encourage them to rebuild Fengxian City.
...
Four days have passed and the rain shows no sign of stopping.
The heavy rain caused the water level to rise significantly. Finally, on the sixth day, huge waves, accompanied by heavy rain, broke through the winding river outside Fengxian City.
"There's a flood! There's a flood!"
Panic spread among the people.
Many people climbed to a high place to see, and saw that the huge waves were almost one and a half meters high. Just looking at it from a distance made people feel scared!
Zhu Cheng was among them. He stared blankly at the place that was so dry that the riverbed was almost exposed a dozen days ago. Now the raging flood was rushing in, hitting the dam they had just built.
Zhu Cheng's teeth began to chatter. Fortunately, Lord Feng had ordered them to build reinforced dams early on. Without them, the huge waves would have rushed over long ago...
The rain blurred Zhu Cheng's vision, but he could still see that a lot of river water had rushed over. The dam, which they thought was very solid, was so fragile under the impact of the huge waves, as if it would break in the next second.
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