Chapter 251 Six-Word Maxim: Build High Walls, Store Up Grain
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The news of Li Shiyue becoming an official caused a huge discussion in Liujiatun, and people came to Li Shiyue's house for three consecutive days.
This forced Li Shiyue to lock all four of her dogs in the kitchen to prevent them from biting any lazy man in the village who came to her house.
Yes, Li Shiyue's dog only likes clean people. If any lazy person comes to the door, they're sure to get bitten.
It's fortunate that it's winter, and everyone is wearing more layers. If it were summer, a bite would definitely leave a bloody hole.
Although Li Shiyue had already made his word in Liujiatun a powerful force due to his work in spring planting and autumn harvest, as well as setting up inns and renting houses to merchant caravans coming to trade, his word was law.
However, there were actually a few people who looked down on Li Shiyue.
And the reason they looked down on her was simply because of her gender!
Yes, just because Li Shiyue is a woman, no matter how capable or skilled she is, or how well she can lead people to make money and live a good life, these people will still talk behind her back.
Moreover, among these people from Li Shiyue, the majority were women.
Even Li Youfu and his eighth uncle had to admit defeat to Li Shiyue. In Liujiatun, whenever Li Shiyue said he wanted to open the ancestral hall to discuss matters, he would always be the one sitting in the main seat.
But those women, who were actually the youngest daughter-in-law of the eighth great-uncle and another woman, would still gossip behind Li Shiyue's back, saying that she didn't act like a proper woman and was always showing her face in public, and that Li Shiyue would never be able to get married in the future.
However, even if they said these things to Li Shiyue, she wouldn't get angry.
After all, what could Li Shiyue possibly say to those women who were confined to their own limited perspectives and could only live on their own small plot of land?
Of course, they wouldn't dare say this to Li Shiyue.
Seeing that the constant stream of people coming from his family was not a good thing, Li Shiyue instructed Li Shiliang and Li Wangshui to inform each family to go to the ancestral hall for a meeting the next day, so that everyone could sit down and have a good talk.
Although Li Shiyue really wanted to go to the prefectural city as soon as possible to get her own official land, it was almost December and the weather was freezing cold. Even if she could use General Liu Tan's connections to get a fast track, it would still be difficult to say anything until the spring of next year.
Therefore, before going to the prefectural city, Li Shiyue planned to give the people of Liujiatun a proper talk about her future plans for Liujiatun.
Is a paper mill, two large inns, and twenty or thirty rooms enough?
This is certainly far from enough!
Just like Li Shiyue told Li Wangshui and the others before, now that the trade route is in place, they can go to the grasslands to participate in the trade market and make money right at their doorstep.
But it was the combined forces of the Xuanjia Army and the Youzhou Army that brought the Turks under their control!
The Turks then bowed their heads and accepted the trade agreement!
Otherwise, why would the Turks use cattle and horses to exchange for grain? They would have already ridden over and robbed them!
Robbery and plunder are truly risk-free businesses!
Judging from the competition that Li Shiyue participated in with Yan Jiuniang at the border market a few days ago, the Turks, who are not of our race, must have different intentions!
When they have accumulated enough strength, they will surely make a comeback!
At that time, their Liujiatun area will become the first stop for the Turks and Mohe to invade Andong!
Therefore, Li Shiyue naturally had to make two preparations: during peacetime, he would lead Liujiatun to expand production, earn money, and save lives!
In the future, when war really breaks out, we need people and money to not only resist, but also to lead Liujiatun to eat the flesh of the barbarians!
Just like their previous raid on the Mohe tribe, they were able to not only protect themselves but also eat the flesh of others!
So, while Li Shiyue was still in Yan Jiuniang's tent, the six-word proverb came to mind: "Build high walls and store up plenty of grain!"
In the future, chaos will return and war will break out again. These six words will allow Li Shiyue and the people of Liujiatun to survive in this chaotic world!
Therefore, when the meeting was held in the ancestral hall this time, Li Shiyue sat in the head seat with a very serious expression.
Of course, as a leader, it's not really appropriate to be all smiles in formal settings.
Li Shiyue nodded to Li Qiutian and Li Xiatian, and the two sisters then distributed the list of things they needed to do, which Li Shiyue had prepared in advance, to everyone present.
Practice makes perfect. Having learned how to do this work during the last autumn harvest when Li Shiyue arranged it, everyone was quite adept at taking the paper with densely written words and reading it this time.
Jiang Huai was also invited by Li Shiyue. After all, the fact that the people of Liujiatun could read documents, write their own names, and keep track of their own accounts during this period was largely due to Jiang Huai's efforts.
This time, when Jiang Huai was invited, he didn't decline as he had last time. It's unclear whether it was because he knew Li Shiyue had obtained an official position, or if he had considered something else.
In short, Jiang Huai took the piece of paper that Li Xiatian handed him with a smile, and looked down at the paper full of writing.
The first thing written was "charcoal burning plant," a place Jiang Huai was certainly familiar with.
Ever since Ma Zi and his friends successfully produced charcoal at the foot of Daheishan Mountain by following the method given by Li Shiyue, the school received a share of charcoal after the winter months.
No one should suffer, but children should not.
To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, Li Shiyue spent a lot of money to hire craftsmen from the prefectural city to build a stove for the school, so that the smoke could be vented outside.
Moreover, the charcoal supplied to the school was the finest smokeless charcoal produced by Ma Zi and his team. This type of charcoal produced almost no smoke when burned and even had a pleasant pine fragrance.
Of course, as the only teacher in the school, Ma Zi and his colleagues made a point of asking Jiang Huai before sending a cartload of charcoal to the Jiang family at the address he provided.
Originally, Ma Zi and his group didn't intend to charge them for the charcoal.
However, the Chiang family were particular people, and they insisted on giving money.
Ma Zi and his group couldn't refuse, so they only accepted half the market price, and the other half was a gift out of respect for Jiang Huai.
As for the charcoal, Li Shiyue had already arranged for two large carts to be sent to the General's Mansion in the city.
When it comes to pleasing people, you have to plan ahead and cultivate goodwill in advance. Otherwise, if you try to do it at the last minute, it will seem like you're not close enough, and you won't be able to ask them for a favor.
Jiang Huai looked at the information about the charcoal yard written on it. He saw that Li Shiyue had written that, apart from the trade market, the main business of Liujiatun before the beginning of spring would be charcoal.
After all, Andong is bitterly cold. Although the villages have heated brick beds, most people in the city sleep on beds, so city dwellers have to burn charcoal for warmth.
Therefore, the charcoal produced in Liujiatun is never hard to sell.
To Jiang Huai's surprise, Li Shiyue immediately wrote about planting trees right after he arrived at the coalfield.
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