Chapter 430 Building Houses
Xie Yunyang's fingertip paused on the map, his eyes flickering slightly: "Linxi City is built against the mountain, and the waterways mostly extend along the mountain streams. Water buffaloes are too heavy to walk on the mountain paths, so goats or donkeys would be more suitable. Goats have a firm grip on the ground and can carry light tools and deliver supplies along the mountain paths. Donkeys have more stamina and can transport silt on the temporary walkways built halfway up the mountain, which is much less strenuous than carrying it by hand."
"Wow, brother, you're so smart!" Sheng Sheng looked at Xie Yunyang with admiration.
Although Xie Yun-yang had no ambition for this, the Crown Prince was indeed worthy of being called the Crown Prince; he possessed no shortage of genuine talent and learning.
Xie Yun-yang nodded in approval and immediately ordered his personal guards, "Go and tell the prefect about this method, and have him organize people to post notices in the villages near Linxi City that anyone willing to lend livestock will receive double the amount of fodder from the government. We will never mistreat the people!"
"Yes, General!"
Xie Yunli had been troubled by the matter of Linxi City for some time, but now that he had Xie Yun's idea, he felt much relieved.
We'll just have to wait and see if this method works once it's implemented.
"Look at me, I was so caught up in this urgent matter that I almost forgot to tell you all." Xie Yunli slapped his forehead.
"Elder brother, what is it?"
"It's nothing major. Didn't the capital send an envoy to Zhennan Pass to negotiate with the barbarians? My second brother had the envoy deliver a message saying that he plans to ask Father Emperor for a marriage decree at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet. I haven't been back to the capital for a long time, and my second brother wanted me to take this opportunity to return and celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together." Xie Yunli grinned. "But he didn't expect that I was originally planning to return to the capital with you all."
"What!" Sheng Sheng's eyes widened, and she jumped three feet high with excitement, like a chick fluttering in a field, eagerly confirming with him, "Brother said he wants to ask the imperial decree for a marriage?!"
"Yes, that's right. It seems to be with the eldest daughter of Minister Li's family, what was her name again?" Xie Yunli couldn't remember, so he could only sigh and say, "It seems that my second brother will be the first among us to have a family. I never expected this."
Sheng Sheng was overjoyed. The last time she heard news about them, Xie Yunchuan and Li Manyan were still awkwardly at the point of not yet making the final breakthrough.
Why does it sound like they're going to arrange a marriage today?
Xie Yunyang laughed, "See? It's a good thing I urged you to come back soon. Otherwise, if we let you continue to 'waste your time on playthings,' we wouldn't be able to make it back in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival."
Hearing Xie Yun-yang exaggerate that he was wasting his time on frivolous pursuits, Sheng Sheng didn't refute him, but just kept agreeing: "Yes, yes, yes, Crown Prince, you were so farsighted. Luckily, I had anticipated this and prepared gifts for you and your future sister-in-law in Jin. I was just worried about not having a good opportunity to give them away, but now it's perfect! After you ask for the imperial decree to grant us marriage at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, we can give the gifts out!"
"Fine, you're preparing gifts without me?" Xie Yun-yang feigned complaint. "I did buy some odd little trinkets and other things that could be used as gifts along the way, but this is for my second brother and his fiancée's engagement party... Hmm, it's really a bit difficult to prepare."
"Yes, yes, Sheng Sheng was troubled for a long time back then too."
Sheng Sheng and Xie Yun-yang kept calling her "soon-to-be sister-in-law," and Xie Yun-li, having heard it so many times, couldn't help but start calling her that too.
"From what you're saying, it seems that my second brother and his fiancée are mutually in love. Otherwise, why would you start preparing gifts so early?" Xie Yunli rarely asked, "Tell your eldest brother what's going on between these two."
"Hehe, that's a long story..."
He swaggered into the tent, swaying his head, like a storyteller in a teahouse trying to sound mysterious. He stroked his nonexistent beard and said as he walked, "Speaking of which, the story of my brother and sister Yan Yan actually started because of me. It all began with an assassination attempt..."
Xie Yunyang couldn't help but laugh and said to the curious Xie Yunli, "Brother, let's go and listen to Shengsheng tell a story."
Xie Yunli raised an eyebrow and followed with a smile.
The three siblings stole a moment from their busy schedules and chatted about gossip all day in the tent.
As they chatted, Sheng Sheng even started to admire herself.
After this "review," she realized that she could actually be considered Xie Yunchuan and Li Manyan's matchmaker!
...
Xie Yun-yang's method was indeed very effective, and by using the power of animals, the officers and soldiers were able to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Apart from the occasional minor incidents such as sheep running amok or donkeys kicking people, the overall progress has been very smooth.
There was only one point: the government planned to take advantage of this opportunity to rebuild the houses and decided to spend even more time building an "indestructible" house that would not easily collapse even when the earth dragon came.
Otherwise, the earth dragon in Linxi City can come out of nowhere and the newly built house will collapse in the blink of an eye, wouldn't that be a waste of effort?
Xie Yunyang watched as the group of craftsmen Xie Yunli had brought argued around the blueprints, then turned to Xie Yunli beside him and said, "The government has thought things through this time, but the construction period will be delayed by two or three months, and the people will probably have to live in tents for a while longer."
"Most of the houses in Linxi City are quite old. Linxi City has experienced several small earth dragons before, but this time the earth dragon is of such a large scale that it collapsed so completely. It would be a good thing to take this opportunity to repair and renovate them."
"Yes, it's about how to improve the situation so that those houses are stable enough to withstand more earthquakes. We'll need to spend some time researching that."
Xie Yunli frowned, getting angry at the mention of this. "There are many earth dragons in the western part of Xixiang County, and this problem should have been properly resolved long ago. But do you know what the current magistrate of Linxi City said? He said that the previous magistrates only built new houses temporarily, only caring about the immediate solution and not about these issues. The prefect of Xixiang County actually tacitly approved of this. Now, the current magistrate is encountering such a large earth dragon for the first time since taking office. He never thought about it before, which is why none of these craftsmen have thought about how to solve the long-term problem. They have only listened to them and built houses quickly."
Xie Yun-yang frowned as well: "How can they be so irresponsible?"
“Yes, Linxi City hasn’t had a dragon strike for several years. If I hadn’t been here this time, I’m afraid they would have just dealt with it half-heartedly.” Xie Yunli snorted coldly. “Hmph, when I first came to Zhennan Pass, the prefect openly and secretly thought that I was just here to play around. It just so happens that I’m back in the capital, so I’ll tell my father and let him see what real playfulness is.”
Xie Yun couldn't help but chuckle; the craftsmen each held their own opinion, and none of them would concede to the other's method.
Whenever one person made a suggestion, the other craftsmen would immediately glare at him and slam their tools on the ground, sending dust flying.
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