When it was nearly noon, Xia Houdun led Lu Ren and Cao Ang and their respective entourages, and slowly rode out of the gate of the inner city of Puyang City. However, they did not go to the outer city gate, but under the guidance of Xia Houdun, they came to a certain place in the outer city of Puyang City.

After walking for a while, Lu Ren looked at a circle of wooden sheds that should have been erected not long ago, there were fences and antlers outside the shed, and there were soldiers patrolling outside the fence. Then I looked into the shed and saw what the people in the shed were busy with.

"General Yuanrang, here is ......"

Xia Houdun smiled: "You don't need to ask, you can see it before you get close." ”

What else can Lu Ren say? Let's be honest and talk about it. When they got off their horses in front of the gate, Lu Ren followed Xia Houdun into the wooden shed and looked at it again, and saw a lot of wood piled up in the wooden shed, and the tools in people's hands knew at a glance that they were used by carpenters, obviously this was a craftsman's area.

To Lu Ren's surprise, there were several dump water wheels lying flat in the middle of the wooden sheds, as well as the messy various farm tools placed around the dump water wheels. These farm tools are as small as a seedling dividing ring, as large as a rice mill several feet square, and mixed with movable rams used to divide water and cut off the flow in rice fields...... There are even barrels, tubs, and other things! And these farm tools, Lu Ren could see at a glance that they were the farm tools he used when he was in Tuntian at the junction of Juancheng and Fan County.

Lu Ren was stunned at this moment, but he didn't understand anything. Shaking his head a few times, Lu Ren grabbed his scalp with one hand, and pointed at these farm tools with the other hand and asked Xia Houdun: "General Yuan Rang, these farm tools ......?"

Xia Houdun said with a smile: "The battle between you and Yuan Hei in Tuntian, Yuan Hei lost a lot, how can you not pay attention to it?" Six stones of grain per acre of land, this is unheard of in Dun, now Lu Jun you have success in Tuntian, Dun should also follow Lu Jun your intensive cultivation method. Wouldn't it be inconvenient to prepare these farm tools in advance in winter and call them in the spring? In this way, Lu Jun can do your best and use the fertile soil of Puyang to store grass and grain for Meng Deduo. ”

"Oh, oh! I see! ”

Xia Houdun glanced at the shed again and said: "It's just that you haven't arrived yet, and I don't know what to prepare first. So I sent some soldiers to cut wood outside the city, and then ordered the craftsmen of the whole city to come here to make these farm tools. ”

Lu Ren's ears hurt: "What? All the craftsmen of Puyang City are here!? Looking at the wooden shed again, Lu Ren felt that there didn't seem to be many craftsmen in Puyang City, because it seemed that there were only five or six hundred people at most.

Xia Houdun nodded and said, "Yes, all the craftsmen in the city can mobilize are here." Oh, because their skills are uneven, I sent people to the land of Liangtun, and brought here one of each of the farm tools you used in your tun fields, and gave them a model for these craftsmen to see. ”

"Huh!?" Lu Ren's mouth opened wide because he remembered the dump waterwheel in the middle of the shed. The total height of this thing is about six meters, and the width is almost one meter. And when it was first made, it was considered that it must be more durable, so the wood with a relatively strong texture was used, and the total weight of the dump waterwheel was nearly 1,000 catties! The first few planes were erected by Lu Ren personally under the command of the craftsmen, and Lu Ren knew what it was like at that time. Now I hear that such a waterwheel has been transported here completely and without missing anything......

Thinking about the hundreds of miles between Puyang and Tuntian, Lu Renxin said that you Xia Houdun is really a master who is not afraid of trouble, but he is a little stupid. There are craftsmen who have participated in the production of agricultural tools in the Tuntian site, and there are also copies of the original drawings of the agricultural tools made in Li Dian. Isn't it just a matter of this person and thing? Why did you put so much effort into moving such a big guy here?

Thinking about it, these words are still difficult for Lu Ren to say. But it's a good thing that Lu Ren didn't say it, otherwise he would have made a big joke, because Lu Ren ignored some things from the perspective of his own personal concept.

At that time, how many craftsmen in the lower strata of society would know words and understand the patterns of the workbook? Basically, I just do things with that feeling. If there is no standard finished product style for everyone to refer to, unless it is the kind of working group that has been run in and cooperated, it may be okay, otherwise it is likely that the things made between each other will not be assembled at all.

And these craftsmen summoned by Xia Houdun are just a group of "stragglers" who "go their own way", and most of them will get worse and worse if they only rely on the patterns. Lu Ren was able to make it smoothly at that time, mainly because of him, a person who understands this area, and gave correct guidance to the craftsmen.

Moreover, after Lu Ren was transferred, Han Hao was also transferred out of his camp, and now the two camps are all managed by Li Dian alone. The Yingtun on the north bank will soon be changed according to the situation on Lu Ren's side on the south bank, and the number of acres in the two tuns is likely to be increased again, and Li Dian's own craftsmen are also very tight, and the patterns must be left for the craftsmen to use as a reference, so it is naturally impossible to distribute them to Xia Houdun. And these are the things that Lu Ren ignored after returning to Juancheng.

But Lu Ren, who was self-righteous in his heart, secretly laughed at Xia Houdun a few times, and then his mind suddenly changed, because if he was just rushing to make farm tools, Xia Houdun didn't need to separate the people around him at all, and looking at Xia Houdun's expression, he should have something else to ask himself. After thinking about it, Lu Ren asked: "Brother Yuanrang, there is no one around now, if you have anything to ask, just ask." ”

Xia Houdun looked Lu Ren up and down for a few counts, clasped his hands in his arms and muttered: "More than ten days ago, you should have not left Juancheng at that time, right?" At that time, I received a letter from Wen Ruogong, which meant that I should do my best to help you take care of Puyang's agricultural affairs no matter what, and there must be no mistakes. Dun also knows that the country is based on agriculture, and the matter of agriculture and mulberry must not be neglected, but Xun Jun reiterated several times in his letter that it seems that there is no other intention to be so serious. The letter was very short, and Dun didn't know what Xun Jun meant, but Xun Jun left a sentence at the end of the letter, 'If you have any questions, you can ask Lu Yihao'. Lu Jun, since you have come here, you should tell me what Xun Jun means. ”

"Huh?" Lu Ren was also troubled, because Xun Yu didn't explain anything to him when Lu Ren left Juancheng. Now listening to Xia Houdun say this, it is strange that Lu Ren is not confused. After thinking about the letter from Xia Houdun asking for Xun Yu, he looked at it over and over for a while, but Lu Ren didn't see the reason, because this letter of more than 100 words had nothing else except Xun Yu's repeated request for Xia Houdun to help Lu Ren do a good job in the next year's agricultural work.

frowned tightly and handed the letter back to Xia Houdun, and Lu Ren's hand unconsciously grabbed his scalp. After grabbing for a while, Lu Ren suddenly reacted. After looking around at the people around, Lu Ren approached Xia Houdun and asked in a low voice: "General, after Duke Cao received the edict of the court, he was already in charge of the entire territory of Yanzhou, and what Duke Cao wanted to do after that, can the general know in his heart?" ”

Xia Houdun shook his head slowly: "Although he and Meng De are close, they will not easily inquire about things that should not be asked, and this is not the way of the subordinates." Moreover, Meng De once made it clear that a certain character is too straightforward, and many confidential things may be difficult to keep secret, so he will not inform Yu until the corresponding time. ”

Lu Ren took a self-pat and said, "That's true!" Xun Yu thought that I was a very knowledgeable and visionary person after hearing me tell me about Cao Cao's next strategic direction, so he not only handed over Puyang's agricultural production to me, but also asked me to tell Xia Houdun about Cao Cao's next strategic direction, so that Xia Houdun realized the importance of paying close attention to production during this period. As for not telling Xia Houdun in the letter......

"Coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes, can this kind of thing be said nonsense? It's hard to say what the letters of these years are, but if they leak again, it will be a big trouble for people with ulterior motives to know about it. After all, there is a more powerful Yuan Shao in Hebei, and Puyang is so close to Yuan Shao's territory, Xun Yu can't guard against Yuan Shao.

"In contrast, now is not the time for other members of Cao Cao's camp to know, except for absolute diehards like Xia Houdun. And now is indeed the time to let Xia Houdun know and be prepared. ”

As soon as he thought of this, Lu Ren pretended to mysteriously pull Xia Houdun aside, and said that the Chang'an that he had mentioned to Xun Yu before was about to change, and Cao Cao should have done it in advance to rob the emperor to achieve the strategy of coercing the Son of Heaven to order the candidates, and at the same time emphasized that "Luoyang is ruined, and the cost of reconstruction is huge", "The cost of the emperor's world, the daily consumption of thousands of gold" and the like, anyway, it is to emphasize to Xia Houdun the importance of the next year's agricultural mulberry production to reserve a good economic strength.

After saying this, Xia Houdun suddenly realized, but with a little hesitation, he also asked Lu Ren about the feasibility of Cao Cao's westward march to seize the emperor. It's just that this kind of thing needs Lu Ren's two hundred and five, how can he explain it to make Xia Houdun suspicious? Lu Ren has always been just "pushing the boat with the water" according to the general trend of history, and he really wants Lu Ren to explain the cause and effect relationship...... Hehe, Lu Ren doesn't have the ability. However, Xia Houdun in front of him didn't want to find a way to pass it, so Lu Ren played a trick - pretending to smile mysteriously and not saying anything, and then gently shook his head a few times.

Not to mention, this trick is quite clever. As soon as Xia Houdun saw Lu Ren's confident appearance, he couldn't ask any doubts. But to be honest, from Xia Houdun's point of view, it's useless to ask Lu Ren, right? Even if you want to persuade Cao Cao, you have to wait for Xia Houdun and Cao Cao to meet. Lu Ren is just a person who is ordered to do things, and it is useless to talk too much.

There is no need to gossip anymore. Anyway, Xia Houdun is one of Cao Cao's diehards, and for Xia Houdun, it is most important not to ruin Cao Cao's great cause because of his own doubts. Therefore, after Xia Houdun understood Xun Yu's true intention of agreeing to send Lu Ren to Puyang at that time, he naturally patted his chest and promised Lu Ren that he would spare no effort to support Lu Ren's farming work. Even when the two were about to say goodbye, Xia Houdun pulled the reins of Lu Ren's horse and said something that almost didn't make Lu Ren fall off the horse:

"Lu Jun, if the number of people who recruit Mu to come to Tuntian is insufficient, if necessary, you can divide half of the Puyang soldiers under my command to Tuntian! And Dun will also be conceited of the soil, and persuade the people to use the method of intensive cultivation to tuntian! ”

Lu Ren smiled and said, "Please, it's not yet time for you to go to cut off the Taishou water slope......"