Early the next morning, Lu Meng was still asleep, and Cao Shuo had already gotten up.

Greeting Shang Sima Yi, with a group of guards, he left Shouchun City.

Outside the city of Shouchun, there were originally many villages.

However, Cao Shuo found that these villages were empty, not to mention people, not even a wild dog had been seen.

"Childe, Huainan is really empty." Sima Yi said: "How many sins did Yuan Shu have done here? ”

"If it weren't for the evil, how could Huainan fall into our hands so easily?" Cao Shuo said: "What the people want is very simple, nothing more than to fill their stomachs, wear warm clothes, have a house to live in, and have a woman lying under them at night. If it's a woman, of course, they also want their man to lie on top of them often. ”

"I learned last night that the population born in Huainan in recent years is not very large." Sima Yi said: "Some families have given birth to children, or even drowned alive. ”

"It's not all Yuan Shu." Cao Shuo said: "Heavy taxes, the poll tax is more than ten times that of the Han family, the people can't afford to pay the poll tax, and they dare to have children?" ”

"When Gongzi came here, not only did he not collect a poll tax, but he also had to give a reward for giving birth to a population." Sima Yi said: "It won't be long before Huainan will increase its population. ”

"In fact, the population should not be controlled by us at all." Cao Shuo said: "The best way is to let him develop." However, Yuan Shu has turned this place into a barren land, and if I don't control the population, it will not be prosperous here for at least a hundred years. ”

"That's what Childe said." Sima Yi said: "Once there are more people, even if Gongzi does not plan to use troops abroad, the people and the soldiers of the three armies also hope to expand outward, and the soldiers will fight more carefully!" ”

"Several villages are already empty." "These villages can be demolished and rebuilt in the future, and the houses should not be built of adobe, but brick and concrete should be advocated," Cao said. ”

"Bricks?" Sima Yi asked, "What is that?" ”

"It's bricks mixed with more viscous soil." Cao Shuo said: "I took a look, there are many hills near Huainan, although it will not be a major earthquake, it is possible to shake a few times." Houses made of mud are simply not earthquake resistant, and if I want to increase the population, I can't ignore people's lives. ”

"Bricks are easy to solve, as long as you build a kiln factory and let the craftsmen fire more." Sima Yi said: "The most difficult thing to solve is the cohesive soil. According to Childe, it's really not easy to do! ”

"It's actually very easy to do." Cao Shuo said: "There is a thing called cement, and when you use it to build a house, not only adobe houses cannot be compared, but even ordinary brick houses cannot be compared. ”

"Cement?" Sima Yi was stunned and asked, "What is it?" ”

"When I entered Huainan, I found that there were many limestones on the mountain." Cao Shuo said: "Then go find some clay and iron ore powder, polish it finely and then calcine." Wait until it is calcined and formed, and then ground it into powder with gypsum, which is cement! ”

Sima Yi was even more stunned, and looked at Cao Shuo in a daze: "Where did Childe know this?" ”

"You forgot!" Of course, Cao Shuo would not say that he had learned all these from two thousand years later, and said to Sima Yi with a grin: "I once asked Zuo Ci to make alchemy for Guo Fengxiao. The elixir was not refined, but it was made of this extremely sticky material that could be used to build houses. ”

"I'll take note!" Sima Yi instructed the guards: "A few of you, each of you remember what Gongzi said, and tell me when you return to Shouchun!" ”

Several guards responded.

Not long after walking forward, Cao Shuo saw another village.

He said to Sima Yi: "If there is no one in this village, I really suspect that it occupies a barren land." ”

"To be honest, I'm a little skeptical, too." Sima Yi said: "Since the Yellow Turban Thieves disaster, although the population of various places is decreasing, there is no place as complete as Huainan. ”

"The population of Luoyang, Chang'an and other places has decreased, and most of them died in the war." Cao Shuo said: "Huainan didn't just die in the war, the people here still had to suffer from hunger and oppression, and you can think about how hard they lived in the past." ”

When he came to the entrance of the village, Cao Shuo saw two ragged women walking outside the village carrying wooden barrels.

Seeing Cao Shuo and the others, the two women were not too surprised.

They watched blankly as the group of men in armor approached.

"Two big sisters." Seeing the two women, Cao Shuo felt an inexplicable joy in his heart, he clenched his fists and said, "Dare to ask how many people are still in the village?" ”

The two women looked up at him, still dazed.

"Childe is asking you something, why don't you answer?" The two women didn't say anything, and Cai Ji asked.

As soon as Cai Ji drank it, they hurriedly lowered their heads, and finally showed a panicked look.

"The tone is better." Cao Shuo glared at Cai Ji.

Cai Ji hurriedly said: "Son, forgive your sins!" ”

"Two eldest sisters, I am the second son of the Cao family." Cao Shuo said to the two women: "After occupying Shouchun, I went around and found that many nearby villages were empty, and I only met you here. So I want to ask how many people are in the village. ”

Cao Shuo introduced himself, and the two women looked at him with shocked faces, and one of the women asked, "Childe is ......"

"Exactly!" Cao Shuo nodded and said to the two women: "We are here to investigate how many villagers are nearby, and there will be some grain and cloth transferred here in a few days." ”

"There are more than twenty more." Hearing that food and cloth would be allocated here in the future, another woman hurriedly said, "It's all old people and women......

"What about men?" Cao Shuo asked.

"Either they were captured and enslaved, or they fled." The woman said: "In the past few years, those who have stayed at home have either starved to death or been arrested, who dares to be at home?" ”

"Can you take us into the village?" Cao Shuo dismounted.

Two women stood aside with their heads bowed.

Entering the entrance of the village, Cao Shuo found that the village was also empty and lifeless.

"Where are the villagers?" Cao Shuo asked.

A woman replied, "It's all ...... at home"

When the woman spoke, the expression on her face was extremely strange.

From her expression, she could see that there was something unspeakable, Cao Shuo didn't ask much, and walked towards a house.

The door was gently pushed open, and he saw a sleek figure busy in the room.

Someone pushed the door open, and the people in the room turned their heads to look.

What Cao Shuo saw was a girl who was not even wearing a trace of clothes on her body.

Seeing Cao Shuo, the girl's face was blank, obviously used to being looked at like this.

The girl's expression was blank, but Cao Shuo was somewhat embarrassed.

Except for the ladies in the back house, he really didn't look at a woman's sleek figure so closely.

PS: I have a headache today, and I can only have three more chapters at most, and I owe five chapters in two days, which will be made up after I rest

(End of chapter)