Chapter 33 Beach Barbecue

As it gets dark, everyone lights up a bonfire on the beach, and the chef on the sea boat regulates the necessary barbecue items such as mutton, seafood, and vegetables under the guidance of the crossers. There are many types of seafood bought from fishermen, such as hairtail, crab, prawns, small yellow croaker, large yellow croaker, pomfret, tuna, white clams, horse noodle fish, herring, etc., and many other species that you don't know.

The crossing crowd mobilized everyone to sharpen bamboo sticks, and several carpenters quickly broke the bamboo poles brought by the boat and sawed them into small pieces. Together, they use knives and axes to chop the bamboo into thin skewers, and then sharpen the tops. There were a lot of bamboo skewers that were cut, and Wei Hongye instructed everyone to wear skewers and put the cut mutton, seafood, and vegetables on the bamboo skewers.

Soon, hundreds of skewers of ingredients were ready. Zhao Zizhong and the four of them started the barbecue first, and the Cui family, craftsmen, crew, fishermen and family members were all curious to watch this cooking method that they had never seen before.

Du Dalei shouted in his mouth while grilling: "Mutton skewers, mutton skewers, mutton skewers in Xinjiang, walk by, pass by, don't miss it, it's delicious and inexpensive!" ”

The baked food was not eaten first, but was distributed to everyone. Everyone was a little frightened, and they didn't dare to take those skewers. They heard that the four of them were the sworn brothers of the head of the Cui family, and their status was as high as they could imagine. Later, the fight in Mingzhou City spread, and it is said that the three of them laid down more than a dozen servants of the judicial army, and some said that there were more than 20. In addition, the tall, white-skinned and blue-eyed giant is said to be the reincarnation of the Western White Tiger, a fierce god who came to the world to subdue demons and eliminate demons, so everyone was very scared when they saw Boris.

Wei Hongye knew that the hierarchical concept of this era was still very serious, many people were slaves and lowly people, and his four brothers were high-ranking nobles, and it was very surprising that they could eat with these commoners, slaves, and craftsmen today. Later, I made the skewers for everyone to eat, how dare these people eat them!

Cui Zhaorong saw that the scene was a little embarrassing, so he came out to play a round: "Several gentlemen are the elder brothers of the head of the family, and their actions represent the will of the head of the family. These foods are given to you by the head of the family, so you can eat them with confidence, and thank you to a few gentlemen. ”

Everyone saluted the four of them, took the skewers, and ate them carefully. After the crossing foursome baked for a while, they took the plate to the side and drank, so that everyone would not be able to let go. The others began to learn to grill skewers, some ate them before they were cooked, some simply burned them, and familiar people shouted and scolded each other, and the atmosphere gradually became warmer.

The four of them drank and chatted, ate fresh seafood, and watched the happy people on the beach. Du Dalei bit a squid and muttered: "If you have a little chili noodles, it would be perfect, and if you eat barbecue without chili peppers, it is almost meaningful." ”

Zhao Zizhong took a sip of wine and said, "Don't worry, we will plant the chili seeds brought from the future in the spring of next year, and we will be able to eat them soon." By the way, Hongye, what happened to those corn and potatoes? ”

"The Cui family has already set up a greenhouse and sent experienced old farmers to plant corn and potatoes, and it is estimated that it will take some time before there is news."

"Don't have any problems with the corn and potatoes, if they can grow and mature smoothly, we won't have to worry about food shortages in the future."

"I hope that, God bless, the immeasurable Heavenly Venerable, Amitabha, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara who saves suffering and saves suffering." Du Dalei began to smug nonsense again.

At this time, Hu Yidao and Tian Renfeng came over with a plate and took the freshly baked seafood for everyone. Zhao Zizhong asked softly, "Have you eaten?" ”

"Mr. Zhao, I've already eaten it."

"Okay, tomorrow you two will follow us to find a suitable camp during the day, and at night we will take turns teaching you two to read and write, and also learn arithmetic, understand?"

Du Dalei looked at Hu Yidao's bitter gourd face, and said with a smile: "Hu Yidao, you kid listen well, after we find the location of the camp, the first house to be built is the small black house, if you don't study well, the small black house is your residence, until you can write down the three-character scripture silently, you can stay there." ”

Everyone laughed, and Wei Hongye comforted Hu Yidao, who was about to cry: "Don't be afraid, as long as you study hard, it doesn't matter if your progress is slow." The key is to have the right attitude towards learning and remember that 'attitude is everything'. ”

Tian Renfeng muttered a few words, and said excitedly: "Attitude determines everything, this is really good, Mr. Wei, can you help me write down these words?" I can't write yet. ”

Wei Hongye said with a smile: "It's too dark now, I'll teach you tomorrow, you remember, not only to read and write, but also to learn everything in this world has its own operating rules, these are what you have to study seriously." ”

The beach was noisy until late at night, when everyone returned to the boat to rest. The next morning, after breakfast, Cui Zhaorong began to arrange for everyone to unload the boat, and Zhao Zizhong and others prepared to set off to find the camp.

The ten guards sent by the Cui family were dressed in leather armor, armed with weapons, bows and arrows, and the two people led by everyone were familiar to everyone, Fan Jinchun and Hu Shuiyang in the "Eight Heroes of Divine Arrows". After everyone greeted each other, Zhao Zizhong said to Cui Zhaorong: "Steward Cui, the guards will give you five people to protect you to contact with the local residents, there are no fierce beasts on this island, we have enough manpower, we don't need so many people." ”

Cui Zhaorong excused himself for a while and agreed. Everyone decided that Fan Jinchun would take four people to follow Steward Cui, and Hu Shuiyang would take four people to follow through the crowd. At this time, the guide Wu Shuidan also arrived.

With a rudimentary hand-drawn map in hand, everyone set off.

Three days later, the traversers traveled the entire island and drew a simple map. In the evening, everyone gathered together with Cui Zhaorong, Fan Jinchun, and Hu Shuiyang for a meeting. Cui Zhaorong was the first to speak: "Ladies and gentlemen, in the past few days, I have contacted many residents of the island and sent them some food, cloth, iron tools and other things, they are very grateful, and I took the opportunity to recruit them, and the promised wages are very high, and many people have expressed their intention to come to work. So things are going well, and no one has turned against us so far. ”

Zhao Zi praised again: "Steward Cui is very clever! It is a great credit to settle the inhabitants of the island in such a short time. ”

Cui Zhaorong touched his fat face and said proudly: "This is called money can make ghosts grind, and if the golden copper coins are scattered, nothing can be done." ”

Wei Hongye continued: "In the past few days, we have traveled all over Qishan Island, drawn a simple map, and everyone has seen where it is more appropriate to set up camp. ”

Du Dalei was the first to speak: "It's in the north, it's close to the wharf, and it's convenient to transport supplies." ”

"I think it's appropriate to be in the southern part of the island, where there's a lot of tidal flats, flat land, it's easy to dry salt and grow crops," Boris said. ”

Both Dudare and Boris had their own opinions and began to argue. Wei Hongye hurriedly interrupted them, "Don't shout yet, I have something to say." I think it's better in the valley in the eastern part of the island, because we started building wooden houses, and the wind on the seaside is strong, and it can be very cold in winter, and even strong winds can blow over wooden houses. If you want to avoid this problem, you have to build a house in the valley, because the surrounding mountains block out the sea breeze. ”

He thought for a moment, "We also found several waterholes in the valley, and the water there was delicious, unlike the bitter and astringent groundwater by the sea. So camping in the valley is the best option. ”

After thinking about it for a while, everyone agreed to Wei Hongye's plan. Zhao Zizhong asked Cui Zhaorong: "Steward Cui, how are the materials on the ship unloaded?" ”

"Most of them have disembarked, and it is estimated that it will be all completed in half a day."

"Then tomorrow we will send someone to start repairing the road to the valley, and let the inhabitants of the island be informed to repair the road, and we must hurry up, for winter is about to begin." In addition, ask the returning sea boat to bring a letter to your lord, asking him when the next batch of supplies will arrive, when will the displaced people arrive, and how many people will there be? ”

Cui Zhaorong nodded and agreed, and found someone to arrange it. Everyone was tired and the boat rested early.

A.D. 962 (the third year of Jianlong) September 25

When we woke up in the morning, we were ready to start building the road. Steward Choi sent several guards on horseback to inform the inhabitants of the island. They packed up a few wagons, loaded them with road-building tools, food, and water, and headed out into the valley. When we got to the place where the carriage couldn't move forward, everyone began to work. Use a pickaxe to dig out the stones on the ground and dig the earth to fill in the pit.

After working for more than two hours, the island's residents arrived one after another. Fan Jinchun negotiated with the residents, gave them tools, and started working with them. With the passage of time, more and more residents came, and some even dragged their families, the elderly, women, and children all came, watching the excitement on the side.

Wei Hongye found Fan Jinchun and said to him: "Old Fan, tell those residents that the old and young women who come here can help us collect firewood, cook and do some work within our ability, and we will pay them all." The people who came were two catties of rice per person per day, and even the nursing children were given according to the per capita. Pay once a night and never be in arrears. ”

Fan Jinchun walked over and told the residents what Wei Hongye meant, and immediately there was a thunderous burst of joy, and many people came to thank everyone, and then they took action one after another.

Little by little, the road stretches towards the valley. Many elderly people, women, and children do light work on the construction site, picking up stones, carrying soil, etc., which greatly speeds up the progress of the project. At noon, the women of the islands cooked a meal, and after a brief meal, they began to work again.

Du Dalei saw that the progress of leveling the land was not fast, so he found a few coachmen and asked them to go back to the dock to pull a few grinding discs.

Soon the grinding disc was pulled back.

With the help of several coachmen, Du Dalei tied the grinding disc to the back of the horse with a rope, and let the coachman drive the horse to drag the grinding disc back and forth on the road, pressing the ground firmly.

Zhao Zizhong came over and praised him, "You kid has a very good brain!" ”