Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 261, Section 153: Wrong in every way, right in every way

Yun Ce took the book from under Feng An's arm, glanced at the title, and returned it to him.

The book is "Advanced Mathematics".

Have you been reading this book lately?

Feng An laughed and said, "Huo Liao claims he has already understood some of it."

Yun Ce thought that Huo Liao was talking nonsense. Putting aside everything else, even if Huo Liao was a learned man, he couldn't possibly understand the symbols in the book.

"Maybe we should stop watching and look at something else; we might gain something from that."

Feng An shook his head and said, "If you don't understand something, you shouldn't learn it. That's not how you should study."

"The problem is, if you don't understand something, you should ask someone who does. Knowing something you don't know but not asking is not how you should learn."

Feng An looked at Yun Ce and said, "The problem is that Huo Liao understood it."

Yun Ce sighed, first looking at the arrogant women and sycophantic men in the camp, then at the stubborn Feng An. For the first time, he began to doubt whether his dream of relying on these people to build Yun City was correct.

"Ah-"

A black eagle took off from the ground with a sudden, dramatic leap, circled a few times in the air, and then shot straight into the clear sky like an arrow until it became a tiny black dot. Then it began to swoop down, its body growing larger again. Just when it was about to fall to the ground and die, it spread its wings and flew level along the horizon.

Yun Ce covered his face with his hands. He had been looking forward to the growth of this eagle, but he never expected it to grow into such a crazy creature.

The chestnut horse went after the black eagle...

Yun Ce spent a whole day inspecting the development of Yun Family Manor. The first place he looked at was the granary. The granary on the manor was enormous, filled with grain that could not be stored in the Jin Suo Guan warehouse. He didn’t need to check it carefully; he only needed to look at the height, length and width of the grain pile to get a rough idea of ​​the size.

The grain stored at Yun Family Manor alone is enough to feed the entire Yun family for three years, not to mention the even greater amount of grain stored in Jin Suo Pass.

This is only the grain produced in one year. Yun Ce felt that if the world was peaceful, the Yun family could grow grain for two more years, and then there would be no need to grow grain for the next ten years or so.

Ironically, while many places south of the Great Wall are experiencing severe food shortages, the people of Yun Family Manor north of the Great Wall are worrying about having too much food.

Feng An has already begun the work of converting grains, one aspect of which is brewing wine. The brewing technique was provided by Gouzi, while the yeast came from Wu Tong in Chang'an.

The dog studied the yeast used in the Han Dynasty, and was amazed by the antiquity of the yeast bacteria there, which could even be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty.

Gouzi came to this conclusion, which Yun Ce considered obvious: wine existed during the time of the Yellow Emperor, and the earliest wine yeast was made from Polygonum hydropiper.

This thing was used for many years. In the Han Dynasty, the yeast for making wine was still made from Polygonum hydropiper. So, the yeast of the Han Dynasty undoubtedly also used Polygonum hydropiper. However, this plant may not have existed in the land of the Han Dynasty. It must have been a substitute.

Because they didn't know what the substitute was, they asked Wu Tong to get some yeast. Once Gouzi has analyzed the yeast, the estate won't need to buy expensive yeast when brewing wine again.

That's right. In the land of the Han Dynasty, it was impossible to implement a salt and iron monopoly. What they implemented was a liquor monopoly, and the core of implementing the liquor monopoly was the monopoly of yeast.

The best grain for brewing wine is naturally sorghum, but this plant only grows in Yongzhou. Apart from Yongzhou, there is not a single sorghum plant in any other state. Even if some well-meaning people transplant sorghum to other states, it will not grow and will not produce seeds.

Yun Ce suspected that Shehuo was behind it all.

Speaking of which, the people in Yun Family Manor seem unreliable, but it is this group of unreliable people who have made the entire Yun Family business thrive.

Every task was carried out in an orderly and methodical manner, without panic or slackness. After inspecting the work, Yun Ce had to admit that everything was under control.

"It's just not good-looking, not beautiful!"

After accompanying Yun Ce on his inspection for a day, Feng An, having failed to find any problems, drew a dissatisfied conclusion about his own work.

"What's wrong with it? What's not beautiful about it?"

Seeing Yun Ce press for answers, Feng An sighed and said, "Everything is against my wishes, yet I always manage to achieve my goals. Many things are done awkwardly, abruptly, and without any beauty, unlike what the book says, 'The king's rule should be like flowing water.'"

Yun Ce didn't know the origin of "the king's rule should be like flowing water," but he could tell from the literal meaning that the highest requirement of the Han Dynasty's politics was that governance should be as smooth as water.

Politics is essentially about management, and management itself goes against human nature. How can we expect a management system that goes against human nature to be implemented smoothly and effortlessly?

“Liang Kun’s rule in Xiangcheng has now entered a critical period. If Liang Kun’s investment promotion plan is successful, Xiangcheng will have the opportunity to become a major commercial town in Pingzhou. However, Liang Kun insists on keeping Xiangcheng’s commerce in his own hands. I am worried that when he implements the strategy of closing the door and beating the dog, his previous investment promotion work will be in vain.”

As Feng An walked, he offered his advice to Yun Ce.

Yun Ce said softly, "The Han Dynasty has given merchants too much power. Giant merchants are emerging one after another, and they can make countless profits by buying and selling. In this way, merchants will threaten the rule of the government sooner or later."

In my view, businesses that concern people's livelihoods should be controlled by the government, not run by merchants.

Feng An nodded and said, "I understand. This is the legal basis for Liang Kun's strategy of closing the door and beating the dog in Xiangcheng. Since the lord suppresses illegality with authority everywhere, why does the lord ignore Qin Shu's advice?"

According to He Qingfang, the only army the lord is currently satisfied with consists of those thirty-six children with red triangular scarves tied around their necks.

Yun Ce said, "In five years, Qin Shu, He Qingfang, and their five hundred cavalry will return to their hometowns. We cannot select qualified soldiers from among the people under our rule, so training children from a young age is our only way out."

Feng Andao said, "We cannot have five long years of peace. Qin Shu and the others have now put forward a new proposal to the Lord through me, and we hope that the Lord will adopt it."

Yun Ce nodded and said, "Mercenaries? Zhang Min has already told me. You can tell Qin Shu that I agree to this suggestion. I allow them to recruit five thousand warriors from Tiewei Pass or Tianxia with money and supplies."

A smile appeared on Feng An's face. He stood up, bowed to Yun Ce, and went straight to carry out his duties.

Watching Feng An's retreating figure, Yun Ce believed that with their efficiency, Yun Clan Manor would soon have a mercenary force that, while not the best, was certainly not weak.

When Yun Ce returned to the manor, E Ji also returned, but she was dizzy, her face was flushed, and she smelled strongly of alcohol.

"Madam inspected the winery today, and it turned into this state halfway through the inspection."

Anji, who was reporting the matter to Yun Ce, was also swaying unsteadily, clearly indicating that she was drunk.

"You're going to an alcohol workshop today?"

"Yes, yes, at first we were watching the brewing process, then we watched the distillation, and as we watched, the lady started acting strangely."

Anji was indeed acting very strangely. She was supposed to be there to help Eji settle down for the night, but she kept circling around Yun Ce. In the end, she seemed to be unable to hold her liquor and collapsed into Yun Ce's arms.

Looking down, Yun Ce quickly looked up. This brat was trying to seduce him by not even wearing a bra; underneath she was just wearing a loosely tied bodice, revealing her beautiful figure.

Yun Ce picked up E Ji and tucked her into the blankets. After thinking for a moment, he picked up An Ji and tucked her into the blankets as well. He prepared warm water for them, then closed the door and left.

As soon as Yun Ce left, E Ji opened her eyes and looked at the timid An Ji, saying, "Didn't you say this move was very effective?"

Anji said aggrievedly, "In the past, the women in the manor always found this trick very effective."

Eji threw off the covers and sat up abruptly, pounding the covers twice as she said, "Zhang Min got away with it again."

When Yun Ce arrived at Zhang Min's room, he found her sitting in a chair waiting for him. Seeing that she was about to make a sarcastic remark, Yun Ce immediately said, "If you want to mock me, then leave."

Zhang Min changed her tune, saying, "Haven't you noticed that your first wife has been going too far lately?"

Yun Ce shrugged and said, "I've only been back for ten days."

"She's becoming more and more like a vixen, and you always fall for her."

Yun Ce hugged Zhang Min and said, "If we don't let her succeed, it will be more troublesome. It's better to let her succeed. She's a pregnant woman who's about to give birth. Right now, she's just suspicious and insecure, which I think is already very good. I can completely understand her using some harmless methods on me, and I'm willing to let her succeed in order to keep her in a good mood."

"Me too, I'm pregnant too, and she always makes me her target."

"That's why I come to comfort you every time."

Yun Ce didn't understand what he had done wrong again, and Zhang Min used her head to push his back and chase him out of the bedroom.

Fortunately, the moon was shining brightly tonight, so Yun Ce could enjoy a drink alone under the moon. He had only drunk one pot of wine, half of which was drunk by his chestnut horse. Before he could even get into the mood, two pregnant women who had chased Yun Ce out came to invite him back to sleep.

Whose room to sleep in and with whom to sleep is a big question. So, Yun Ce, unable to hold his liquor, lay on the stone table, preparing to sleep with the chestnut horse that night.

(End of this chapter)