Chapter 172 Difficulties
Lu Qiyan was looking at how to build a block in the river, and his thoughts were on how big the block should be. After hearing the news from the soldier, he casually asked, "Sister-in-law? What sister-in-law?"< br>
What is the situation? Is it possible that my family doesn’t even know that I have a wife?
The young soldier was stunned for a moment, "I don't know about that. Anyway, the person who came here said his surname was Xia..."
Surnamed Xia?
Is Xia Mingyue here?
Lu Qiyan finally came to his senses, "Where is the person?"
"That's the carriage." Xiaobing pointed at the carriage that was slowly driving here.
"I'll go take a look." Lu Qiyan rolled up the drawings in his hands and went to meet the carriage. After taking two steps, he turned back and went to look for Zhao Youcai.
When Zhao Youcai ran over panting, the carriage also stopped by the river.
The coachman first got off the carriage and put down the small stool in front of the carriage.
Lu Qiyan raised his hand to help open the curtain.
The curtain opened, and the first thing that popped out was a big black head, looking straight at Lu Qiyan.
Lu Qiyan, "..."
Why is it everywhere?
Wu Jin obviously sensed Lu Qiyan's disgust, and breathed out through his nostrils, then jumped off the carriage deftly, barked a dissatisfied "woof woof" at Lu Qiyan twice, and squatted obediently next to the carriage to wait.
Xia Mingyue and Lu got out of the car one after another.
"Why are you here?" Lu Qiyan asked.
"I heard from the butcher Hong on the street that you are building a bridge here. I was thinking about the cold weather in winter, so I thought of sending some winter clothes." Xia Mingyue replied. "I also stewed some braised pork and roasted some dried tenderloin to give you and Brother Zhao a toothpaste."
While talking, Xia Mingyue and Lu took out the cotton-padded clothes first.
Lu took Zhao Youcai aside to check whether the cotton-padded clothes fit him well, while Xia Mingyue handed the cotton-padded clothes to Lu Qiyan.
Since the First World War in Changzhou Fucheng, the army's supplies have declined visibly. The number of winter coats this winter is limited, and even if they are distributed, there is not much cotton in them.
Most of those who have been in the army for a long time are still wearing old cotton-padded clothes. Many veterans sew and mend them and add some new cotton to make do.
The cotton-padded clothes Xia Mingyue prepared were thick and soft, but the fabric of the cotton-padded clothes was made of the most common navy blue cotton and linen. Even the shoes were very ordinary cotton shoes.
Obviously, I want him to wear warm clothes, but I don't want to be too showy at this time when the army's supplies are limited.
It is the most basic courtesy not to smack your mouth when eating in front of hungry people.
The light in Lu Qiyan's eyes brightened, and he took the package handed over by Xia Mingyue with both hands, "Thank you for your hard work."
"Brother Lu is so polite." Xia Mingyue pursed her lips and smiled. , then raised his eyes and looked at the situation in front of him.
The Yongfeng River is quite wide, but because it is the dry season in winter, there is not much water in the river. More than half of the river bed is exposed and covered with gravel. Many soldiers are digging in the dry part of the river bed, waving shovels in their hands. A huge deep pit.
"Brother Lu, is everything going well here?" Xia Mingyue asked.
Lu Qiyan frowned slightly, "It's okay."
This was very contrary to his wishes.
In fact, he is facing some difficulties.
Building roads and bridges was originally done by the Ministry of Industry in conjunction with local yamen. However, at this time, the war was beginning to calm down, officials were replaced frequently, and repairs were needed everywhere. In addition, the supply of silver and grain to the front lines required various efforts. Most of the foundation of the Chu Yamen has been hollowed out, and even the labor force is not enough. After the establishment of the new dynasty, in order to show that the new emperor loved the people as his own son, he gave up the practice of randomly recruiting people to do hard labor and put some of these labors into the army.
The first reason is that even if there is no major war in the near future, military pay and food and drink in the military are still a large expense. The people raised in this way can just do a lot of things and make the best use of them.
The second reason is that after expanding the territory, the imperial court was worried that the people below were not loyal enough, so sending soldiers from the army to build bridges and roads would also allow the people to see the benevolence of the imperial court and the discipline of the army. , and then devoted allegiance to the new dynasty.
There was nothing wrong with this originally. Even if he was sent to do this, it was reasonable.
But after arriving here, he found experienced old craftsmen to help build the bridge, and things happened one after another.
First, one of them fell down when he got up that night and broke his leg. He could no longer go to the river to check the situation.
On the second day, a man accidentally ate poisonous dried mushrooms and fell unconscious. He was still lying in the hospital in the town.
On the third day, another person was knocked to the ground by the cow responsible for transporting materials. Now both arms are splinted, making it impossible to draw drawings.
When the remaining craftsmen saw this, they were all frightened and found various reasons to resign.
For those who cannot resign, they pretend to be sick, pretend to be comatose and lie in bed, refusing to come back to work.
In the end, Lu Qiyan only had a young craftsman available, and he drew a drawing.
But this young craftsman is only twenty years old today. According to his own confession, he doesn't have much experience. This drawing was barely made. He doesn't know what the actual bridge will look like and whether it is strong and durable.
Even in terms of the materials needed to build the bridge, the young craftsman didn't have much experience, so he just let Lu Qiyan try to make it slowly for the time being.
When things got to this point, Lu Qiyan naturally knew that someone wanted to trip him up.
But he is still not completely sure who the culprit is.
He was promoted quickly in the army, and was highly regarded by the battalion commanders at this time. There were many jealous people in Yin Hong, and there was also competition between battalions and commanders. Some people If you want to see the jokes of their camp, it’s possible.
At this moment, completing the task of building the bridge smoothly and with high quality is as important as finding out the mastermind behind the scenes.
So, while Lu Qiyan sent people to investigate secretly, he also sent people to find more skilled craftsmen so that the bridge construction project could be started as smoothly as possible.
But so far, not much has been gained...
But these are the difficulties he faces himself, and Lu Qiyan has no intention of talking to Xia Mingyue.
First of all, it was useless, and secondly, it just made her worry.
Of course, the premise is that Xia Mingyue will worry about her...
Lu Qiyan lowered his eyes, "It went smoothly."
Xia Mingyue pursed her lips.
She was aware of Lu Qiyan's hesitation, but since he didn't say anything, there was a reason not to say anything. Xia Mingyue didn't ask any more questions, just smiled and nodded, "That's good."
Here, Zhao Youcai was smiling so hard that he couldn't even see his eyebrows, "You know my wife is thinking about me the most."
"Let me tell you first, I didn't want to come originally. I just saw that my sister-in-law wanted to come. I was afraid that she would be unsafe on the road alone, so I just wanted to be with her as a companion."
Ms. Lu is doing this. Still speaking arrogantly, "I didn't come here because I was thinking about you."
"I understand, I understand." Zhao Youcai nodded repeatedly, but he couldn't suppress the curling of the corners of his mouth.