Lu Qiqi planned to keep the discovery of the limestone to herself to avoid being exploited by those with ulterior motives. The most important thing now was to carve out the mountainside.
Limestone is not very dense, but it is very hard and not easy to fire.
In order to break through the mountain wall as soon as possible, Lu Qiqi asked Lu Da to lead people to pile firewood next to the mountain wall.
The firewood was piled up in a length of about three meters, and a fire was lit to scorch the mountainside.
Once the temperature of the mountain wall rises, cold water is poured in, and the process of thermal expansion and contraction is repeated multiple times until the mountain wall becomes brittle and can then be excavated.
This way, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort.
When Lu Da lit the firewood with a torch, he could hear something running away.
The raging fire quickly ignited, and the flames were reflected in everyone's eyes.
"Water it!"
"The fire has burned out," Lu Qiqi shouted.
Immediately, villagers carried icy river water and splashed it onto the stone wall.
A moment later, the sound of rocks cracking rang out.
In areas where the fire was intense, large chunks of rock fell away, making it impossible for anyone to excavate them.
"The effect of adding vinegar is surprisingly good!"
Zhao Xiaodong, carrying a bucket, looked at the fallen rocks and couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
Lu Qiqi was also very satisfied with the result, as it would reduce manpower and allow the villagers to finish the excavation more quickly.
Although a lot of rocks have fallen, it is necessary to chisel them out manually, using hammers to break up the brittle rocks with iron rods and chisel out the mountainside.
Lu Qiqi instructed, "Tell the villagers to be careful and not let the stones hit their heads."
Zhao Xiaodong was well aware of the danger involved and dared not hesitate, so he immediately went to instruct the villagers.
The villagers were responsible for chiseling through the mountainside and moving rocks, while the remaining villagers were responsible for transporting firewood and river water.
The two items were used in such large quantities that the oxen pulling the cart ran until nightfall before they could finally stop.
With a loud crash, the mountain wall collapsed, and the narrow passage suddenly widened, revealing a bright moon hanging in the azure sky.
"It's connected! It's connected! It's connected!"
As the villagers cheered loudly, everyone's faces lit up with smiles; this was the result of everyone's hard work all day!
"Great! This road will no longer be a narrow passage!"
Someone shouted, and the cheers grew even louder.
Tianxin Village is close to Tianshui Village, so people go around to the back of the mountain to cut firewood or hunt.
Now that the narrow passage is passable, there's no need to take a long detour, which indirectly benefits the villagers of Tianxin Village.
How could anyone not be happy?
Amidst the villagers' joyful cheers, Lu Qiqi smiled, finally managing to carve out the mountainside before tomorrow.
Lu Qiqi walked to Lu Da's side, handed him a purse, and said, "This is the villagers' wages. Everyone has worked hard for so long to clear the wasteland. Let me express my gratitude."
Lu Da accepted the money from Lu Qiqi and thanked her in a low voice.
Lu Qiqi added, "I haven't thought about Tianxin Village yet, but I will definitely make arrangements for the villagers once I have."
After hearing Lu Qiqi's words, Lu Da frowned. So she already knew about the rumors circulating among the villagers?
Thinking of this, Lu Da felt he still needed to explain, since Lu Qiqi owed Tianxin Village nothing.
Before he could speak, Lu Qiqi added, "Since I've put in so much effort, the tax revenue should naturally be increased as well, otherwise it would be a waste."
Lu Da nodded in the moonlight. He thought of what Lu Qiqi had done for the other three villages and felt that the villagers were the ones who benefited from the 10% increase in taxes.
However, Lu Qiqi didn't think so. Once she turned her fiefdom into a prosperous land, she would naturally be the one to benefit.
Rather than saying who benefited, it's more accurate to say this is a win-win situation.
The mountainside was carved out, and it was already dark. After the last of the rocks were transported, the villagers of Tianxin Village gradually returned home.
After returning home, Lu Qiqi poured herself a bowl of water, which she had already replaced with spiritual spring water.
After a busy day, Lu Dahai and the others didn't feel so tired after drinking the spiritual spring water.
When the villagers returned home, they were surprised to find that despite working hard all day, they didn't feel tired at all.
What they didn't know was that this was all thanks to the water Lu Qiqi brought them.
That's spiritual spring water, which has the effect of strengthening the body, so of course you won't feel tired.
Upon discovering this, the villagers felt that the money they held in their hands was even more appealing.
The day after the mountain wall was carved out, Miao Dajiang, the village chief of Tianmiao Village, led the villagers to dig up tree seedlings early in the morning.
The saplings dug up today are peach and pear trees.
They pulled more than a dozen oxcarts to the 'One Line Sky'.
Miao Dashu from Tianmiao Village rubbed his eyes as he looked at the open mountain wall before him, and said in disbelief, "Village Chief, am I seeing things? Is this really a narrow passage between cliffs?"
Everyone in the surrounding village knows why the narrow passage is named "One Line Sky"—it's definitely not something else entirely.
Such a wide road could not possibly be completed in a single day.
This must be a hallucination!
It must be a hallucination!
After saying that, Miao Dashu rubbed his eyes again. When he opened his eyes again, the scene in front of him was still the same.
The light shone from the other side of the mountain wall, making it almost blinding to him.
"Village chief, have we taken the wrong road?" Miao Dashu asked again.
Miao Dajiang looked up at the mountain wall, where there were still some dark marks, which looked like they had been burned.
He didn't expect that Lu Qiqi would actually do what she promised: deliver the seedlings today and she would have a way to handle the rest.
In a single day, a road was carved out. Was this person a human or a god?
That's amazing!
"Let's go take a look," Miao Dajiang said, and then started walking towards the mountainside.
Miao Dashu followed immediately, while the remaining villagers waited in place with their oxcarts.
Miao Dajiang walked to the mountain wall and saw the traces of the wall being carved out, as well as the green moss visible overhead. He concluded that this was the road that had been carved out just yesterday.
"Village chief, the township head really did open up this road!"
Miao Dashu's voice was loud enough that the villagers driving the oxcart heard it.
There was a lot of discussion about it.
"It's incredible! Tian Shui Village has lived here for so many years and no road has ever been carved out, but it was carved out overnight!"
"Who says otherwise! If Tianshui Village hadn't been burned down, countless people would have been envious of the mountains behind Yixiantian!"
"To be honest, there's no use being envious. This place is now the fiefdom of the village chief, bestowed by the Emperor himself! Only someone with the guts of a bear and the heart of a leopard would dare to come and snatch it!"
Miao Dajiang had no idea what the villagers were talking about, and the time for discussion was fast approaching.
In order not to delay the planting of the seedlings, Miao Dajiang shouted, "Let's hurry up and go! We still have to plant trees, and time waits for no one!"
yes!
The village headman's words were law: they would be paid to plant the trees.
The wheels rolled, and the oxcart carrying fruit tree seedlings slowly entered the narrow passage.
Beyond the narrow passage lies a flat plain.
Miao Dajiang walked at the front. As soon as he came out of the narrow passage, he saw a lot of people chatting on the left side of the flat ground, with five or six large vats next to them.
They looked ready and waiting for them to deliver the fruit tree seedlings.
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