GBP Chapter 38 The descendants are endless.
Chapter 38 The descendants are endless.
Chang Yuchun glanced sideways at Limpy Wu and asked in return, "Do you know what the biggest advantage of a lighter is?"
Limpy Wu chuckled and nodded: "I've heard the county magistrate say that the best thing about lighters is that they're not afraid of moisture. No matter how heavy the rain or snow, as long as you don't pour water directly on them, they can still be lit even in the dampest weather."
Chang Yuchun snorted and said, "Isn't that enough? The other day there was continuous rain, so we couldn't rely on flint and steel at all, and the tinderbox would get damp if we weren't careful."
"If it weren't for the batch of lighters that your county magistrate sent over, the soldiers in the army would have had a hard time even getting a hot meal."
"Of course, if it were just about providing a hot meal, this lighter wouldn't be anything special. The most important thing is that when we attacked Xuzhou a few days ago, I took advantage of the fact that the Tartars' cannons couldn't be lit. I had people cover the cannons with tarpaulins, then lit the fuses with a lighter. A few shots terrified the Tartars in the city, and we took Xuzhou almost effortlessly."
"Now, not only do the cooks cherish their lighters like their lifeblood, but the soldiers who handle artillery also cherish their lighters like their lifeblood."
At this point, Chang Yuchun suddenly snorted: "Also, don't think your county magistrate is any good—he said the artisans in the army could copy this thing, but when they actually went to copy it, I found out it wasn't true at all!"
Limpy Wu was slightly taken aback and asked, "Is it difficult to imitate?"
Chang Yuchun snorted and said, "It's easy to imitate, but this thing requires wood and iron, as well as cotton and cotton thread. You need specialized people to thread the thread, stuff the cotton, and fill it with oil. It's all delicate work."
"If the artisan camp in the army wants to replicate this thing, I need to find a way to get them iron, wood, cotton, and cotton thread, and I also need to find a way to recruit some women to do this kind of delicate work of threading and stuffing cotton."
"In the end, it would be more cost-effective to let Magistrate Yang handle it himself."
"Otherwise, do you think that old bastard Xu Da would obediently pay for this piece of junk?"
As he spoke, a smile appeared on Chang Yuchun's face, his schadenfreude impossible to conceal: "However, your county magistrate won't be smug for long."
"If the imperial court doesn't know about such a fine thing as a lighter, that's fine. But once the imperial court finds out, it will definitely order the craftsmen to make a large number of imitations. They might even be of better quality than what your county magistrate makes, and cheaper too."
Limpy Five, however, curled his lip dismissively and said, "Just copy it. The county magistrate said long ago that this thing is not difficult to make. Any blacksmith or something can make it. Besides, if the imperial court wants to copy this thing, who can stop it?"
Chang Yuchun was slightly taken aback, then asked with great curiosity, "Once the imperial court starts to copy them, your magistrate will no longer be able to make money from lighters. Won't he feel bad about that? Won't you, Limpy Five, feel bad about that too?"
Limpy Wu gritted his teeth and said with a dark face, "My county magistrate said that even if the imperial court wants to imitate them, it won't be able to sell them to the north in a short time. The lighter workshop in Ningyang County can at least hold on for a few more years. With these few years, the people can live a good life."
What followed was a string of incomprehensible words, such as "My county magistrate only cares about the people, not about money," and "I, Limpy Five, am not the kind of vulgar person who cares about money." The central command tent was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
……
Yang Shaofeng sadly realized that his greatest role as the county magistrate in Ningyang County was probably to act as a mascot—whenever it required physical labor, the people of Ningyang County would try every means to stop him, absolutely not letting Yang Shaofeng, the great magistrate, do any physical work.
If Magistrate Yang went to inspect the lands of the various villages and communities or to the artificial lake, the people or the yamen runners would bring out stools that had been prepared in advance for Magistrate Yang to sit down, and then have someone bring him a bowl of cool boiled water.
As the master said, water must be boiled before drinking. Even if you don't like warm water, you must let it cool down before drinking. No one is allowed to drink raw water.
Although not many people actually followed the rules, and those who were supposed to drink raw water would still do so secretly, everyone would consciously drink warm or cooled boiled water when Magistrate Yang was present.
The main point is to do a good job of appearances and never offend the master.
Later, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng became too lazy to keep going out of the city and instead went to inspect the breeding farms and livestock farms in the city.
The situation at the farm is very promising.
Two months ago, the chicks were only the size of a palm. After more than two months of rapid growth, they have grown quite a bit. Many of the roosters are already crowing with their necks outstretched. In another two or three months, these roosters will be at their best in terms of taste.
According to the women who are in charge of taking care of these chicks, the hens in the farm will start laying eggs in about a month.
Based on the current scale of the chicken farm, it is estimated that a few to a dozen eggs can be collected every day.
It wasn't much, but it was enough for the magistrate to eat to his heart's content. He could eat boiled eggs, poached eggs, or fried eggs as he pleased. Even if the magistrate wanted to eat several different kinds in one meal, it wouldn't be a problem at all, although Magistrate Yang was reluctant to eat them.
Compared to the chicken farm, the pig farm next door is not so impressive.
Although it's nominally a pig farm, there are only two pigs in the entire farm, and they are castrated sows.
In just over two months, the two piglets had only grown to about 20 or 30 pounds. Not to mention that they were still far from the 300-pound fat pig that Magistrate Yang Shaofeng had dreamed of, they were still a long way from even being a half-grown pig weighing a hundred pounds.
More importantly, it's very difficult to find piglets now. Once these two sows grow up and are ready for market, the pig farm will be empty.
Looking at the two sows lying on the ground, grunting and occasionally swishing their tails to shoo away flies, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
If I had known it would be so difficult to find piglets, I shouldn't have had those two sows castrated in the first place. Instead, I should have raised them slowly and then found them mates so that they could have "endless offspring."
Pity.
While regretting his actions, Yang Shaofeng recalled all sorts of random cooking methods, such as braised pork, twice-cooked pork, garlic pork belly, and braised spare ribs.
Especially those big, flapping ears—after removing all the pig hair, braise them, slice them thinly, drizzle with minced garlic and vinegar, and pair them with a pot of wine—the taste, the flavor!
"Moo~"
The mooing of cattle from the neighboring livestock farm pulled Yang Shaofeng, the county magistrate, back from the crisp taste of the cold pig's ear salad.
Thanks to the livestock sent by Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, the Ningyang County Livestock Farm has expanded in size, in addition to the cattle and horses distributed to the people. It now has a total of one bull, five cows, and three mares.
After the pregnant cows and mares give birth, the scale of the livestock farm will be further expanded, and once the number of cattle on the farm reaches a certain level...
After all, cows are very intelligent animals. What if one of them suddenly decides it doesn't want to live anymore?
According to a Duke Cheng who wished to remain anonymous during the Tang Dynasty, some of the cattle he raised would commit suicide out of despair, while others were simply unlucky and would fall and die.
Anyway, if the cattle in Duke Cheng's household can be thrown to their deaths, the cattle in the livestock farm can be thrown to their deaths as well.
Then I can braise beef brisket, make braised beef, grilled ribs, and stir-fried beef tongue.
Wiping away the tears that had welled up in his eyes from the pain of the cow's death, Magistrate Yang began to hope that Lame Wu would return soon, preferably with some good news.