Xin'an County is the main route from Luoyang to Shaanzhou and Jingzhao Prefecture, and is also the location of the ancient Hangu Pass. There used to be roads here, but they were uneven, making it extremely inconvenient for new-style carriages to travel. To facilitate transportation, Henan Prefecture is expanding roads.
Lu Zongyuan hid behind a stone and covered his ears tightly. After a while, there was a loud noise not far away, and black smoke rose. Lu Zongyuan spit out a mouthful and said to Chen Xiaohui who was beside him: "Zhi Niang, this gunpowder is really powerful. It can explode a huge stone slab. Without gunpowder, I don't know how to do this job."
Chen Xiaohui straightened up and stretched. He said: "Yes, if there is no gunpowder, how can we open such a wide road in the mountains?"
After saying that, he turned around and looked at the road. This is an absolute national main road, five feet wide, flat and straight. There are large stones below the roadbed, small stones on top, and medium-sized stones in the middle. The top of the road is paved with fine gravel to facilitate walking.
After being caught, Chen Xiaohui and others were quickly sentenced and sent to Xin'an County to build roads. The prisoners were at the most dangerous front, cutting mountains and building bridges, and leveling the ground for those who were building roads behind. There is a roaring noise every day, which almost makes your ears deafened.
When the smoke cleared, Lu Zongyuan and Chen Xiaohui stepped forward with hammers and chisels to break open the stones.
After working for a long time, I heard a whistle. Lu Zongyuan threw the hammer in his hand on the ground, raised his hand, looked at it, and said, "Sister-in-law, you're bleeding again."
Chen Xiaohui put down the chisel and said to Lu Zongyuan: "This time I caused my brother to suffer so much."
Lu Zongyuan said with a smile: "What are you talking about! Our lives are in danger, why should we be implicated? Let's go and eat!"
After a while, all the workers gathered in front of the rice bucket.
The rice is millet brown rice with a radish stewed with tofu, two bowls per person.
Since it was hard physical work every day, Lu Zongyuan and Chen Xiaohui each carried two bowls and ate deliciously while squatting on the ground.
When I was about to finish eating, I heard someone shouting next to me: "Commander Mo is here. What a good luck today!"
I saw a member of staff outside, striding away and walking towards here. Two companions behind him, each carrying a load, followed closely behind.
When they arrived, the man stretched out his arms to signal everyone to calm down and said: "You have worked really hard to build the road. Although the road is built by the state, you have to dig mountains and build bridges every day, and I don't know how much effort you put in. Today I am doing We ordered stewed meat and salted duck eggs, let’s change our taste. Each person has a piece of meat and two salted duck eggs, come up and get them.”
All the prisoners cheered and gathered around Mo Yuanwai.
Chen Xiaohui and Lu Zongyuan hurriedly scooped up the rice in their bowls to serve the meat.
Although they are criminals, prisoners are never deprived of food here. They don’t need to grab food too much and they can eat enough every meal. No special system is needed to achieve this, as long as the food allowance is sufficient and the prisoners' diet is inspected in a timely manner. The prisoners are not fed well, mostly because the inspection system is not in place and the superiors turn a blind eye.
Member Mo looked at the crowd and walked slowly in front of Chen Xiaohui and Lu Zongyuan.
Chen Xiaohui looked up at Yuan Wai and asked strangely: "Is Yuan Wai looking for something to do with us?"
Officer Mo asked, "Are you two the ones who used fake clubs in Luoyang?"
Chen Xiaohui didn't know what Yuanwai Mo meant, so he just nodded.
Officer Mo said: "I heard that you are a master of painting and can draw exactly the same as Huizi. It's not a bank, so you can't tell at all. I wonder if this is true?"
Chen Xiaohui nodded, then shook his head: "It's not as impressive as Yuanwai said. Otherwise, I wouldn't be digging stones here."
Member Mo sighed and said: "Although Prime Minister Xuan is a great man, he is not particular about trivial matters. It is a pity that such a stranger from the world is sent here to break stones because of a trivial matter! I have nothing to do today. How about preparing some wine and side dishes for you two to enjoy?"
Chen Xiaohui was stunned and said: "We are prisoners, can we go out to drink?"
Officer Mo said: "Others may not be able to do it, but now I am treating you, and the guard will give me three points of thin noodles."
Chen Xiaohui couldn't help but muttered after hearing this: "The management under Xuanfu was extremely strict. Is there such a thing?"
Mo Yuanwai's entourage laughed when he heard this: "My Yuan Wai is one of the first-class philanthropic people in this county. What can't he do? You work outside, and the management is already loose. Is it strange that Yuan Wai invites you to drink? !”
The custom of this era was that the management of prisoners was not strict. In the Northern Song Dynasty, not to mention drinking, as Mo Yuanwai, it was not difficult to go out to eat well, drink hot food, and be happy and carefree. Now, the people below are worried about Wang Xiaolie's strict management.
Outside Changxia Gate in Luoyang, Zhang Zeduan and Li Di stood under the big willow tree, looking at the post road with longing eyes.
Zhang Zeduan was not overjoyed until several bullock carts came into sight. He said to Li Di: "Here he comes, he comes. If my sister-in-law hadn't sent someone here, how would we have greeted him?"
With that said, the two of them walked out from under the willow tree and faced the convoy.
The bullock cart stopped in front of the two people, and a woman got out of it. He looked at Zhang Zeduan and said, "Brother Zhang, I'm sorry to trouble you this time."
Zhang Zeduan smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, what are you talking about! Now that things are not going well for you, it's time to find another place to live. Now that you're in Luoyang, you have to relax."
The woman replied: "I hope so. After passing Xiangyang, I hired these ox carts and arrived at Luoyang smoothly. Fortunately, there was no accident."
Li Di said: "Under Wang Taiwei's rule, it is different from other places. Naturally, the journey will be safe."
The woman is Li Qingzhao, and everything has not been going well in the past two years. Last year, she remarried Zhang Ruzhou, and later divorced her. She spent nine days in jail, which was a tough ordeal. At the end of last year, I heard that Zhang Zeduan was in Luoyang, so I came to join my husband's old friend.
In today's world, it seems that the safest place is under Wang Xiaolie's rule. Not only is it better than those places where thieves are everywhere, it can't be compared even under Zhao Gou's rule. In the past few years, Li Qingzhao traveled with Zhao Gou and suffered too much.
As a member of the official family, Li Qingzhao still had many old relatives and friends. But because he remarried Zhang Ruzhou, his relationship with the Zhao family was not good, so he could not go there. Relatives in his own family, such as Qin Hui's wife, was her cousin, and Li Qingzhao looked down upon Qin Hui's character. Qi Chongli, now a Hanlin scholar, was related to her husband's family, and he had already helped when he was released from prison. After much calculation, I am now alone.
The reason why Zhang Zeduan was asked to help was because Li Qingzhao was interested in Luoyang and felt that he could live and work in peace and contentment in Luoyang. After traveling thousands of miles away, I came here to seek refuge.
This year, Zhang Zeduan lived very comfortably in the painting academy. The salary was enough to establish a family and start a business. He usually painted, and Wang Xiaolie rarely interfered with the affairs of the art academy. With Zhang Ze's current net worth, there is no problem in affording Li Qingzhao's daily living.
Of course, Li Qingzhao came from a family of officials, and his father-in-law once served as prime minister. No matter how depressed you are, just selling some of your household inventory is enough to make ends meet.
(End of chapter)
