Li Zhan thought that most of this time he was going to return in vain, so he planned to rest in Xijing City for one night, and then leave the city early the next morning to report to His Royal Highness King Yong.

But in the early morning, before they had time to leave, the Xijing families they visited yesterday sent their children to their temporary residences, and their attitudes were very different from last night.

"General Li told last night, in a hurry to respond carefully, today the elder sent the juniors to tell here, even if regardless of the distress of the township, since His Royal Highness King Yong's decree has been issued, we and other villagers will not dare to do so. It's just that the thieves in Xijing disturb people, and they can't calmly collect and accumulate goods in a hurry. But please rest assured that after the army arrives in the city, there will be food and goods to serve the king's army. Special thin Jane, please return to His Highness! ”

As he spoke, several noble children handed over a book of honors, which recorded the names and quantities of various goods they planned to donate.

Li Zhan took the list of books, and his eyebrows couldn't help jumping secretly, he didn't expect that these miserly and arrogant people in Xijing were really willing to bleed, and this list was several times more than what was offered by the Xijing Left-behind Mansion yesterday.

Putting aside the surprise in his heart, Li Zhan was more or less disappointed in his heart. He could guess that His Royal Highness King Yong was going to attack these noble families in Xijing, but he didn't know what the scale of His Highness's heart was.

But if these people in Xijing can really prepare the materials according to the list, I think His Royal Highness should also be polite to them, maybe there will be some restraint in the future, and I am afraid that I will not be able to take advantage of the situation to take revenge on these people for belittling him yesterday.

But he himself felt that it was secondary, and after all, it was the right thing to complete His Highness's order.

Li Zhan quietly put away the list, squeezed out a smile on his face, and said: "It is rare for all families to have loyalty and diligence. I will tell Your Highness the truth about your words and deeds, and I hope you will not lie and misbehave. As for whether the materials are sufficient or not, it is not for me to speculate, and I will wait for His Highness to reply. ”

After finishing speaking, Li Zhan was too lazy to entangle with a few more people, so he turned his head and ordered the soldiers to pack up and prepare to leave the city.

Seeing this, several noble sons did not stay long, said goodbye and withdrew from the Fang District. It wasn't until the Chunmingmen Hengjie that a younger disciple said strangely: "Sixteenth brother, the elders also prepared a gift for that General Li, why didn't you say it just now?" ”

Hearing this, the middle-aged man who was in charge of negotiating with Li Zhan just now snorted coldly and directly took a low sip: "Gift goods? That Hunu is also worthy! Don't think he's a great character just because he was in front of King Yong's tent, this kid has ugly roots, and everyone is willing to let him go to the court, which is already taking care of King Yong's face, otherwise he will be expelled directly with a cane......"

As soon as the middle-aged man said this, other people on the side also spoke one after another, talking about Li Zhan's life experience, and there was a lot of disdain in their hearts.

They may be a little envious of Li Zhan in their hearts that he can follow the powerful and command elite soldiers at such a young age, but when it comes to family background, they have the confidence to look down on each other. In particular, some people talked about the old story of Li Zhan's father, Li Yifu, who was attached to the Li family of Zhao County and then expelled from the list, and his demeanor and words were full of contempt.

When the group walked to the vicinity of Pingkangfang, suddenly a few more people stopped, looked at the equally closed door of Pingkangfang, and said with a smile: "The thieves have made a mess, and there is no peace in the city, and those delicate ladies in the workshop are afraid that they will be even more panicked." Previously, he was confined to his home and could not take time out to comfort his family. King Yong's army is coming soon, and Chang'an is not far away, don't the brothers want to take advantage of this good time to enter the workshop to comfort the beauty and play with their hearts? ”

Hearing this, many people showed a tacit smile on their faces, although the relatives and elders of the family were still waiting for news, they could have deduced that Li Zhan was arrogant and difficult to negotiate, or that his journey was hindered by something, and he could still pull it out in an hour or two.

Of course, there are some people with a square character who dare not miss serious affairs, but they were pulled and advised: "King Yong is good at making Fengyue, and then he will be in the town for a long time, and there may be noble confidants hidden in the workshop. ”

The army was newly disciplined, and then did not continue to march, but stayed in Lanqiaoyi to continue to stabilize the morale of the army and accumulate military momentum. At the same time, there were people and horses chasing after him and merging into the army.

Although the army did not advance, Li Tong was not idle, in addition to summoning soldiers every day to show his gratitude, he also took some time to conduct a patrol between the left and the countryside.

Lanqiao Yidi is in Lantian County, which already belongs to the traditional core area of Guanzhong, so it is also densely populated. Although there is a lot of noise in Xijing Chang'an at the moment, the countryside hundreds of miles away has not been greatly affected.

After Li Tong issued the military order for a certain distance, and then looked at it, although there was no picture of flourishing vegetation in the suburbs in the depths of winter, he could also see a large number of neatly groomed fields, and mulberry orchards and fruit forests could also be seen everywhere, and there was almost no abandoned land as far as the eye could see.

Even on the slopes, you can see the well-repaired slopes. From this point, it can also be seen that the diligence of the people of Guanzhong is worthy of being the country of abundance that has nurtured the lineage of the two empires.

He was still feeling that Guanzhong was the foundation of the royal industry, but Zhang Zhuo, who was in the team, got off the horse and grabbed a handful of soil clods in the fields on the side of the road, and after a while in his hand, he crushed them with his fingers, and sighed: "The frost is shallow this winter, and I am afraid that farming will be difficult in the coming year." ”

"How?"

Li Tong couldn't help but be upset when he heard this, he also turned over and dismounted, walked into the field, crushed the coagulated soil with the tip of his boot, and looked down, only to see that the land was dry and hard and cracked, and there was indeed only a shallow layer of frost.

But his shallow knowledge of agriculture is not enough to connect it with the next year's farming, and he is even a little glad that there is little snow in Guanzhong, which is different from the wet and cold climate of Luoyang, the capital of the gods, and does not have much impact on the army's accommodation.

After hearing this, Zhang Zhuo lowered his head and walked behind King Yong, opened his palm to reveal the dust on his hands, and said with a worried face: "Whether agriculture is prosperous or not depends on water vapor to nourish it." If the winter is too dry and cold, the soil will be dry and scattered, and it will be difficult to produce seedlings. If there is no snow before spring, it will be difficult to plant spring wheat, and the grain hemp will not grow, and even the winter wheat will be fed with locusts......"

When Li Tong heard this, his face couldn't help but become serious, although he had already prepared quite sufficient supplies for the operation of Guanzhong when he was in Shendu, he could start shipping one after another after quelling the turmoil in Xijing.

However, these materials should not only be supplied to Longyou, Anxi and Shuofang, but also used to restore production, prevent drought and flood disasters, and even prepare for the transportation of large rivers to be blocked by the Shendu Imperial Court for several years.

"Since the drought is already so bitter, why don't the people grow more hardy wheat?"

He asked with some curiosity, which was also one of his long-standing doubts. As early as the last time he came to Guanzhong, he noticed that the crops planted in Guanzhong were only corn, and although wheat was also available, the planting area was not large.

The farmland you see in front of you alone, only those acres on the slope are covered with grass bran chaff and chaff, protecting moisture and seedlings, and it should be planted with winter wheat, which is too small. Especially compared with Heluo, wheat accounts for a smaller proportion of crops.

Li Tong remembers that wheat is relatively drought-resistant crops, and if farming is well arranged, the harvest period with other crops can be staggered. And in today's diet, pasta such as Hu cake and soup cake also account for a high proportion.

It stands to reason that wheat cultivation should be very easy to spread in Guanzhong. Even if he doesn't know anything about farming, he still remembers those who passed through the predecessors who didn't have a bowl of noodles in hand.

After hearing this, Zhang Zhuo sighed and said: "Although wheat is cold and drought resistant, the price is too low, a bucket of millet costs 20 yuan, and a bucket of wheat does not cost 10 yuan. Even if the harvest is wide in a good year, the income is really not much, only the collection of composition materials. Although the price of noodles is high, it is not available to small people. The wheat rice is coarse and gritty, and the body is weak and boring after eating for a long time, so it can only be used as food to save the time, not as daily food. What's more, wheat harvesting and farming are in conflict with the martial arts, so there are fewer plants in Guanzhong......"

Hearing these reasons told by Zhang Zhuo, Li Tong was a little surprised, it turned out that the doubt in his heart was really why he didn't eat minced meat. If it weren't for Zhang Zhuo's introduction, he really didn't know that there were so many profound reasons for restricting the wheat planting area in Guanzhong, and it could even be related to the government military system.

Although wheat has many advantages, its cultivation procedures are relatively more, and they tend to be concentrated in the period after autumn and before spring. The autumn and winter seasons coincide with the time when the government soldiers gather for training and martial arts exercises, which clash with the planting period of wheat.

And there are strict agricultural restrictions on the harvest of wheat, and there are often only seven or eight days in a year, and if the government soldiers are conscripted at this time, then the hard work of the season will be in vain.

Of course, the most important reason is the economy, and the processing of wheat into flour requires the use of tools such as milling. But the power of these tools is water, and the water source in Guanzhong is not sufficient, and they are often controlled by Haoqiang.

Wheat is grown because of inadequate irrigation, but because the water source is controlled, even if you grow wheat, you can't get a good income, and it becomes an endless cycle.

The wheat rice cooked from unprocessed wheat is so coarse and gritty that it is difficult to swallow, and it is not good for the body to eat for a long time, which is called heat poisoning. Li Tong still wanted to carry forward his style when he was marching on Songyang Road, and had a few meals of wheat rice and military rations with the battalion soldiers, but he really couldn't stand it and had to give up.

If it weren't for the fact that wheat was still used in the koji of the sake brewing, so that the farmers could still receive some economic returns, wheat would have been grown in small quantities as a ration for famine relief. Everyone was stunned, it was really a fantasy.

Zhang Zhuo didn't think that His Royal Highness King Yong would be interested in this kind of trivial agricultural work, but seeing that His Royal Highness King Yongwang not only listened carefully, but also pondered after listening, and after weighing it for a while, he crossed his hands and said: "There is a country treasure that I want to introduce to His Highness, I don't know if His Highness is willing to go?" ”

When Li Tong heard this, he nodded: "Lead the way." ”