Compared to Ganzhou in Hexi, Luzhou is a bit more humid in winter, but because there are no heated brick beds in the rooms, only beds, it feels damp and cold, which is quite unusual.
Xu Di has truly put in a lot of effort this time. He not only wants to manage the Miao River and repair its channel, but also to build a road from Miao Prefecture to Lu Prefecture. Xu Di has already explained the potential benefits of this road to Emperor Liang Cheng in a secret memorial. Emperor Liang Cheng specially sent a secret guard with an eunuch to give Xu Di 100,000 taels of silver. The eunuch told Xu Di that this silver came from Emperor Liang Cheng's private treasury. Originally intended for Emperor Liang Cheng's 50th birthday celebration, the money was diverted by Emperor Liang Cheng to Xu Di for road construction, all because of the enticing prospects described by Xu Di.
Xu Di never expected that Emperor Liang Cheng would have such a grand vision. Inspired, he led his men to develop explosives and blasted up all the areas that needed to be leveled. During those days, the city of Luzhou could hear the rumbling of cannons every day. At first, everyone was very panicked, but later they learned that the mountains were to be blasted to build roads, and many people from nearby farms who were not in the summer came to ask for help.
Of course, they couldn't let people work for free. At that time, labor was very cheap. Ten or so copper coins could hire a strong laborer to do a day's work. Xu Di didn't treat everyone harshly. He provided a meal at noon. This meal not only included steamed buns made of sorghum flour, sweet potato flour, and corn flour, but also a large pot of stewed vegetables with slices of fatty meat.
With better food and daily pay, more and more people came to work. By the twelfth lunar month, the blasted rocks were not only cleaned up and the road surface leveled, but the rocks were also simply processed and leveled before being laid on the road.
Later, some feisty women came over and asked if he needed any help. Xu Di took pity on them and thought it would be good to earn a few copper coins as a secret stash of money. When he saw the scraps that had been chiseled off the rocks, he had them use hammers to smash the scraps into small stones.
Xu Di had already made a plan. These mountains were all rocky mountains. The rocks blasted down would be chiseled into stone slabs and used to pave the road. There were also some large bluestones. After processing them, they would be transported to the Miao River to be used as materials for building dams. It would be better than using soil.
They worked until the twelfth lunar month, and the road winding through the mountains was basically passable, although some sections were still unpaved. This road was essentially the straight-line distance from Miaohe to Luzhou, only about thirty miles long. If one were to take a detour, not only would the road be difficult to travel, but it would also add more than a hundred miles of mountain road. Overjoyed by the successful completion of this road, Xu Di, whose eyes were dark from exhaustion, happily dragged Zheng Boyuan into a drunken stupor.
The road was repaired, and the stones brought from the mountains were simply trimmed and transported to the riverbank. They were loaded onto boats at the makeshift dock and sailed down the Miao River. There, the Liao family father and son, along with a group of young men, were working enthusiastically to repair the riverbed during the dry season. Everywhere, there was a scene of positive energy and prosperity.
Xu Di hadn't been home for over two months. When Li Yuexi saw how exhausted and thin Xu Di looked, she felt heartbroken and kept crying. Xu Di didn't have time to comfort her. After washing up, he ate a bowl of hot soup noodles, lay down on the bed, and fell fast asleep. He didn't know how long he slept, but when he woke up again, he saw the two little ones lying by the bed, carefully looking at their father who was starting to seem unfamiliar.
Xu Di, his whole body aching, propped himself up on his arms and sat up, laughing as he said, "What, don't you recognize your father again?"
Duoduo said with a grin, "Mommy said you are Daddy, so you are Daddy."
Guoguo shook his head and said, "Daddy is fat." He meant that his father in his memory was even fatter than Xu Di was now.
Li Yuexi brought in a washbasin. After asking, Xu Di learned that he had slept from yesterday afternoon until the evening of the next day. He washed his face in the washbasin in Li Yuexi's hand. Zhao Saozi had cooked millet porridge, made steamed buns, and added a few appetizers. After eating, Xu Di felt refreshed and had the energy to play with the two children in the room.
After entering the twelfth lunar month, it's time to prepare for the New Year. For Li Yuexi, the most important thing is to prepare New Year's gifts for everyone in the Marquis's mansion in the capital.
Although he had done it before in Tai'an, Xu Di was no longer the scholar he once was. He was now a fifth-rank official in the imperial court and a local magistrate. If the gift was too light, people would probably gossip.
Although family members love each other, that affection is built up little by little through getting to know each other. During holidays, you give me a gift that makes me happy, and I give you something in return that makes you happy. The affection grows deeper slowly through these daily exchanges.
Li Yuexi took out the list she had prepared and showed it to Xu Di. After a quick look, Xu Di said, "You have prepared quite comprehensively. However, please add twelve pairs of various gold and silver pastries for Grandmother to use as a New Year's gift. Also, write a separate letter to Grandmother with a 600-tael silver note in it, saying that Grandmother should keep it to buy snacks."
Li Yuexi was stunned and said, "Husband, isn't this inappropriate?"
Xu Di smiled and said, "What's wrong with that? When we were little, didn't our grandmother always plan things for us like this? Now that she's old, we should take care of her like we would our children. Just do as I say. She's not someone who lacks these things or this money. It's all about making her happy."
Li Yuexi smiled and agreed, then quickly went to prepare. She had prepared two cartloads of goods and sent her family's capable steward to escort them. They took a boat from the Caobang to Tongzhou, and then went to the capital from Tongzhou.
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