Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 32 Xie Yi's Shocking Journey

The sky cleared up after the rain and the spring breeze blew.

The rain moistened the land and started the spring plowing process.

Lin Dao leaned over and grabbed a handful of dirt, kneading it in his hands. It felt muddy.

“Such a good piece of land.”

Looking around at the wilderness, he sighed softly, "Sure enough, deep down I still want to farm."

"Master Lin Jia." Feng Dun's slightly puzzled call interrupted Lin Dao's sigh.

"Why did you call us here?"

In front of the Jiehu, Lin Dao can be tacitly regarded as the Beggar General.

But without outsiders, the sense of antagonism between the two sides never disappeared.

After all, the people that Lin Dao took care of and sheltered were mainly military households and refugees.

They were in a different class from the wealthy families and court officials.

Lin Dao glanced at Jinlian.

Jinlian saluted, turned around and asked someone to come forward to demonstrate.

The generals watched with curiosity.

I saw a strong ox being driven over, with a strangely shaped plow on its back.

"Why is this plowshare so short?"

"The plowshare isn't straight!"

"The plowshares dig deep."

"This land is well turned over!"

The Jiehu were powerful, and the Qihuo army could not move around, so they were forced to gather here.

For so many years, we have relied on farming to make a living.

Otherwise, I would have starved to death long ago.

These generals are naturally knowledgeable about farm tools and farming.

Compared with the straight plows and long plows used before, this new plow has obviously greatly improved its effectiveness.

More importantly, this is not a stone plow, but a wooden plow.

But an iron plow!

"This is a curved plow."

Lin Dao took the initiative to introduce, "You have seen the specific effects with your own eyes."

He signaled to Jinlian again, and soon someone delivered another batch of iron farm tools.

A sickle for weeding, a hoe.

A hoe for turning the soil, a shovel for digging the soil, a rake for loosening the soil and leveling the field, etc.

Without exception, all these farm tools are made of iron.

Compared with the wooden farm tools or even stone farm tools currently used by the Beggars' Army, the advantages are obvious.

Lin Dao tapped the shovel with his fingers and expressed his opinion.

"If you want these things, exchange them for gold."

Originally, these farm tools were prepared by Lin Dao for the beggars in the camp.

He even planned to place an order for a tractor for spring plowing.

But as envoys from Later Zhao and Eastern Jin arrived one after another, Lin Dao's thoughts began to change.

After careful consideration, he decided to give up farming and start a business directly.

Make full use of the nature of the beggars' army as refugees and defeat the Jiehu first.

As for the agricultural tools that have already been ordered.

Based on the principle of not wasting, they planned to sell it to various forts in exchange for military funds.

Lin Dao had no intention of taking the people from the various forts with him.

The people in the various forts are all family clan vassals of the various generals.

They have a strong sense of autonomy.

Lin Dao didn't want to waste time and energy on them.

After squeezing out every last penny, they'll just send their troops away.

Feng Dun and others did not make a decision on the spot, saying they needed to go back and discuss it.

Lin Dao was very generous and gave each person a set of farm tools, asking them to go back and study and use them carefully.

In fact, if you want to farm, you have to fight a big battle with the generals first.

Because the fields nearby all belong to the various forts.

Land was the most important asset in ancient times.

A bloody battle for land will inevitably end in tragic casualties.

As soon as Feng Dun and others left, Xie Yi got the news from somewhere and rushed to the field.

"Commander."

Xie Yi looked at the various farm tools piled on the ground with a surprised look on his face. "Where did all this come from?"

"You want it?" Lin Dao said with a smile, "Bring me the gold. I'll sell you as much as you want."

Xie Yi's delegation did bring some gold.

However, these are used to bribe the Murong family, so how dare we use them for other purposes?

Lin Dao made up his mind and accepted the opinions of netizens.

You can temporarily use the banner of righteousness of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and accept the enthronement.

Wait until the north is stabilized before crossing the river south.

The Sima family, who brought disaster to the country and the people, and those aristocratic families who drank Wu Shi San all day long were all driven out and killed.

At this point, they were both using each other's strengths. Lin Dao also smiled and said, "It's just time for dinner. Let's eat together."

Watching along the way in the camp, Xie Yi was also amazed.

The neatly planned prefabricated houses were a rarity for him that he had never seen before.

When passing by the tailor factory where the female workers worked, a series of clattering sounds were heard from the factory area enclosed by Buman, which made Xie Yi even more curious.

"The Marshal is busy."

Xie Yi wanted to learn more about this strange beggar army.

Actively express "I will go on my own, no need for you to accompany me."

Lin Dao was not pretentious and called Sun Dalang to "take good care of Governor Xie."

Arriving at the cafeteria, Xie Yi looked around.

Seeing that the people who came to get the food were women, he was not surprised, but nodded instead.

“This is a good deed.”

Famines also often occur in Jiangzuo.

In years of famine, it has become the default rule to allow women to receive relief food.

Walking to a dining table where there was no queue, Xie Yi looked at the cook, and the cook was also looking at him.

Xie Yi frowned slightly. This guy was so rude.

He is the prefect of Jingling. After returning from his diplomatic mission to the Xianbei Murong clan and the Qihuo Army, he will be able to enter the court and become an important official based on his merits.

A small cook actually dared to look into his eyes!

The cook didn't recognize him. After waiting for a while and seeing that he didn't respond, he tapped the pot with his spoon impatiently and asked, "Where's the ticket?"

Xie Yi was puzzled when asked, "What tickets?"

The cook immediately became alert. "You're not from the camp?"

Sun Dalang stepped forward and said, "This is the master's guest, not a spy."

He took out a meal ticket and handed it to Xie Yi. "If you want to eat here, you need a meal ticket."

Xie Yi took the meal ticket curiously.

It is half the size of a palm, the paper is very thin and feels smooth to the touch.

There is beautiful handwriting on it, which is extremely neat and comparable to that of a great calligrapher.

There are two big words "meal ticket" written on the front.

On the back is written 'Single serving, small batch, single use.'

This was printed by Lin Dao at a printing factory, and the paper texture is similar to that of lottery tickets.

In order to avoid waste and other problems caused by eating, it came into being.

"I am the Lord's personal guard."

Sun Dalang gestured to Xie Yi and handed the meal ticket to the cook. "We have a special meal here, so this meal is on me."

The soldiers ate in their respective camps, and the female workers ate together in the factory.

In addition, there are dedicated people responsible for preparing and delivering meals to craftsmen, laborers, wounded soldiers, female nurses, etc.

Only personal guards like Sun Dalang and those with special jobs would come to the cafeteria to eat.

The canteen mainly provides big pot meals for each household to pick up.

The cook quickly prepared the food and handed it over on a plastic plate.

The one meat and one vegetable dish are stir-fried cabbage and stir-fried meat with shredded potatoes.

Plus a large spoonful of rice and a bowl of egg soup.

If it is a big pot meal, then the whole family will only have one vegetarian dish.

As Lin Dao's personal guard, he naturally eats better.

"This~~~"

Xie Yi shook his head repeatedly, "There's no need to deliberately arrange such delicious food."

"As long as I can have something to eat, that's enough."

He disguised himself as a businessman and traveled all the way to Guangzong County, where he naturally saw all kinds of miserable scenes along the way.

I have seen with my own eyes people being killed just for a bowl of wild vegetables.

The dry bones of people who died of cold and hunger can be seen everywhere on the roadside.

With so many people in the Beggar Army, food supply must be even more difficult.

There is no need to spend so much money on entertaining yourself.

Sun Dalang smiled and waved his hand, "Master Lang, these are just ordinary meals."

Seeing him bragging like that, Xie Yi naturally didn't believe it.

He simply turned and walked towards the women in line to see what they were eating.

The rows of dining tables were filled with women waiting to get their meals.

They also held meal tickets and large ceramic bowls in their hands.

There are two big pots for dinner.

A mouthful of steamed rice as white as snowflakes.

The other bite is the fragrant stir-fried cabbage.

Xie Yi saw with his own eyes that the cook first served a large bowl of rice and put it into the ceramic bowl.

Then add another spoonful of oil and stir-fry the cabbage.

If you look closely, you can see some oil residue left over from refining lard in the cabbage.

People lined up without fighting or scrambling, and the food was served quickly.

The two large pots of rice and stir-fried cabbage were quickly empty.

The big pot was taken to the kitchen at the back, and soon a few cooks came with two more big pots.

Xie Yi looked around.

This is the case with every meal you see.

There was a constant stream of cooks carrying pots back and forth.

"how is this possible?"

Xie Yi expressed disbelief, “Cabbage, refined rice, and oil!”

"Beggars, where did you get so much food?"

It was hell on earth all the way here, but when we got to the Beggar Army, it became a paradise.

Not only do you eat enough, but you also eat well.

Sun Dalang walked over proudly and asked, "How is it?"

Xie Yi, with a strange look on his face, still didn't believe it and thought that this was a performance put on by the Beggars Army specifically for him.

He walked towards a woman not far away and reached out to ask for the meal ticket that was tightly held in her hand.

Sun Dalang said, "Show him!"

The woman then reluctantly handed over the meal ticket.

Same size and material as the previous one.

The difference is what is written above.

'Ordinary kitchen, front camp area A, five-guarantee three-class~' followed by the Arabic numerals for Room 309, which Xie Yi did not recognize.

Below it was a seal that said 'valid today', and a string of unknown numbers.

"This is so weird."

Xie Yi had never seen such a thing, nor had he ever understood such rules.

But I felt something inexplicable in my heart, as I felt a magical power through this small piece of paper.

Although I don't understand it, I can feel the uniqueness of this power.

This is standardization and organization.

Suppress your anxiety about the unknown.

Xie Yi returned the meal ticket to the woman and walked straight to the kitchen.

He still didn't believe that the Beggar Army could afford to supply such delicious food to tens of thousands of people.

Not to mention anything else, just to cook for so many people, the firewood needed would require cutting down an entire small forest!

Sun Dalang indicated that there was no need to stop him, and if he wanted to see, he could see as much as he wanted. This was also what the master wanted.

The kitchen is not very big and there is no smoke like cooking with wood.

Hundreds of cooks and kitchen helpers were busy with their work in an orderly manner.

Xie Yi looked towards the furnace, somewhat uncertainly, "Is this, graphite (coal)?"

"Where are the fireworks?"

Sun Dalang, who followed, pointed to the chimney and said, "It all goes out from here."

Xie Yi pointed at the rows of woks and asked, "Why do we stir-fry the ingredients in the wok?"

“It’s called stir-fry.”

"Where did you get so much refined rice?"

"It was given by the Lord."

"Who exactly is your Lord?"

Sun Dalang didn't say anything. He didn't know where Lin Dao came from.

After a long silence, Xie Yi smiled and said, "Mr. Sun, I have hundreds of followers. Please arrange their meals."