Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 155 The Farmers of Vito Town

"Corlas, Pang Wu, Charles, the three of you set off immediately, taking a pot and some food. I need you to build another cabin of the same size at the second cabin camp. We need to provide the most basic food and lodging for all the farmers who are transporting and building roads. Of course, due to the tight schedule, the standards can be relaxed. My only requirement is that it can provide shelter from the rain for everyone and ensure that they have hot water to drink and will not catch a cold."

Li Wei immediately issued the order. His previous preparations came in handy at this moment, and he also formed a somewhat unclear plan in his mind. He needed to refine it little by little and adjust it according to the situation.

Next, Li Wei took Clyde and Liu Zhongyuan directly to the town for a shopping spree, mainly for vegetables. There was no shortage of vegetables this season, such as carrots, lettuce, romaine lettuce, and pumpkins. They bought a cartload for only five gold coins. In addition, they also bought a small pig that wasn't too fat and two large pots.

After all, providing daily food for fifty farmers is no small matter.

On the other side, Captain Jade was not going to be perfunctory. He needed to recruit farmers and arrange transportation vehicles. This matter sounded simple, but it was actually quite simple. If they disobeyed, a good lash would make things easy.

As for the wagons transporting wheat, they simply requisitioned merchant caravans, which went very smoothly. With their noble status, they had no worries about these merchants causing trouble.

Once he had gathered fifty farmers, Captain Judd told Li Wei that he could set off at any time, or perhaps tomorrow, in which case Sir Tucker would be hosting a banquet that evening and hoped he would attend.

Ha ha!

Li Wei declined.

He has all his wealth tied up here, how could he dare to relax even a little?
However, the farmers can indeed set off tomorrow. They are all pale and thin, skin and bones, so let's make sure they have a full meal.

They immediately found an open space outside the town and set up a temporary campsite.

With Liu Zhongyuan as the head chef and Clyde helping out and maintaining order, there was no time to slaughter the pigs, but they had plenty of dried meat to make vegetable and meat soup. The staple food was wheat from the cart, cooked into wheat rice. Together with the six drivers, they ate with great enthusiasm, and at one point it even resembled a continuous feast.

Although those farmers seemed dull-witted, they were actually quite cunning; not only did they eat their fill, but they also called their wives and children over.

Li Wei chose to ignore this until the vegetable and meat soup had completely run out of ingredients.

As night fell, the farmers, like lost lambs, quickly disappeared into the darkness and went home.

"My lord, should I go and bring them back?"

Clyde stepped forward and inquired, in a sense, these farmers should be under their jurisdiction.

"No need. We don't even have a place to stay here. Are you going to stop people and make them sleep in the open?"

Li Wei countered, saying he wasn't in a hurry at all.

“But I’m worried that these farmers won’t come tomorrow morning. Will we still need to trouble Captain Judd then?” Clyde was a little worried. He could understand that Li Wei’s idea was well-intentioned, but those peasants wouldn’t appreciate it.

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal. You and Charles watch the first half of the night, and I'll watch the second half. Take some time to rest."

As they were talking, Li Wei lay down on the carriage filled with food, looking at the starry sky, and soon began to snore softly.

Clyde watched silently for a while, and then thought that this might be an extraordinary thing done by an extraordinary person.

Previously in the mountains, Li Wei was always tense, but not in a tense way. Rather, he was meticulous in everything he did, with excellent control over every detail.

He could go dozens of miles ahead to scout the roads and search the surrounding area while others were resting; he was simply an outstanding scout.

But once they arrived in the town of Vito, they immediately relaxed. There were fifty farmers there. Captain Jade had to whip them to recruit them. You don’t think that a meal from you will make these farmers grateful and come to report for duty tomorrow morning, do you?

No way!
Clyde left silently. In his opinion, if he were in Li Wei's position, he would have set off this afternoon and taken direct military control. He could have moved slowly, but he would have to leave the town of Vido. He wouldn't mind feeding them if they were hungry; the important thing was to get on the road as soon as possible.

Of course, he respected Li Wei's orders regardless.

"Hey hey hey!"

Not far away, Liu Zhongyuan, who was cleaning up the mess, looked up and chuckled. Clyde knew that this old man wanted to chat again. He knew that a dog's mouth can't produce anything nice, so he gave him a warning look and then silently went on patrol.

Six fully loaded wagons were there to guard and protect the area; that was their duty and responsibility. As for whether the grain could be transported back or whether the road could be repaired within five days, that was none of their business.

That's a matter for you, my lord, to consider.

And so nothing happened that night. The town of Vito was very safe, with guards patrolling even at night.

The next day at daybreak, the drivers brought back the horses that had grazed all night, fed them some soybeans, and they were ready to set off at any time.

They were very responsible in this regard; all the farmers had fled last night, but these cart drivers had stayed out all night.

Fortunately, the Tuk side was responsible for all the expenses of these carriages, including the drivers' wages and even the tarpaulins used to protect the carriages from the rain.

There won't be any problems with this area.

Li Wei was only responsible for road repairs and food supply.

But now that it's daylight, none of the farmers responsible for repairing the road have returned.

The drivers whispered among themselves, discussing the matter.

Clyde and Liu Zhongyuan stood solemnly on either side of the carriage, like statues. Hmph, they were curious how Li Wei was going to handle this.

As it turned out, Li Wei seemed to be deep in thought, gazing at the floating clouds in the sky, motionless. What is it? What are you thinking about? Captain Jade has already made it clear that these six carriages must return in four days, because they still need to provide transportation support for the caravan heading to Kahe City.

"Clyde, go to the market and buy some more vegetables. Liu Zhongyuan, cook some vegetables and meat soup and wheat rice. Take two hundred catties of wheat." Li Wei suddenly spoke up.

"As you command, my lord!"

Clyde stopped trying to persuade him. He was curious, though: You don't really want to be a rich man here, thinking that you can win people's hearts by giving alms to those farmers?

Perhaps you've been reading too many novels?

Whatever!

Clyde and Liu Zhongyuan were efficient and decisive. By the time the first pot of vegetable and meat soup was cooked, the farmer, along with his wife and children, began to appear around them...

By the time the second pot of vegetable and meat soup was ready, the temporary camp was already packed with nearly a hundred people.

It's so noisy. If you don't take advantage of a good deal, you're a bastard. It's rare to find such a silly aristocrat, hahaha!
By the time we finished breakfast, it was almost noon, but those cunning farmers, without warning, took advantage of the chaos to run back and grab me to be a laborer, demanding that I bring a whip.

Clyde and Liu Zhongyuan squatted in the distance, waiting to watch the excitement. The six coachmen were also happy to relax, some feeding the horses and others taking a nap. The sun was really nice!
Li Wei, however, didn't care at all. He changed into his summer clothes and wandered around the town. He even spent a copper coin to buy a chick from a little boy as a pet and studied it for a long time, which was quite speechless.

However, around 2 p.m., a dark cloud drifted over from the horizon and quickly covered the entire sky and earth.

Rumble!
A thunderclap boomed, and in the blink of an eye, the world was plunged into chaos!
The rain is pouring down.

Li Wei, Clyde, and Liu Zhongyuan squeezed under the eaves. The former was still leisurely holding the chicks, trying to train the pet, while the latter two were dumbfounded.

At that moment, they finally realized exactly where they fell short.

Details, and damn details!

Li Wei could have set off yesterday afternoon, but he didn't. Instead, he sent Coras and the other two back to build a new wooden house.

He could have left this morning, but he still didn't.

The reason is actually very simple: what's the point of setting off if the cabin isn't repaired?

Those farmers were a bit cunning, but if they stayed in this town, they wouldn't get wet in the rain, catch a cold, or get sick.

Because they all have their own homes!
However, if we set off today, the grain on the wagons will be fine with the rainproof tarpaulins, but more than a dozen of the fifty farmers might die.

They still want to build roads?

It's more like building a tomb.

The downpour stopped after a little over an hour, and the sky cleared, everything was beautiful.

Li Wei then glanced at Liu Zhongyuan.

"Slaughter the pig, stew the meat!"

"As you command, my lord!"

Liu Zhongyuan was convinced; he had no choice but to admit defeat.

That evening, the makeshift camp outside the town was filled with joy, and the farmers ate happily. But as night fell, they vanished like lost lambs.

However, on the morning of the third day, Li Wei did not instruct Liu Zhongyuan to cook. Instead, he had the coachman harness the old horse, and then he put on his noble armor and walked into the town. He brought out fifty farmers, not one missing. He could even call them by name, their wives' names, their children's names, and knew where they lived.

My cooking, Old Li's cooking, isn't that delicious.

However, at this moment, the fifty farmers did not have much of a desire to resist, especially when Li Wei could still say their names, especially when they could calmly say goodbye to their wives and children, and when he told them to take their wooden bowls for eating and their farming tools for repairing the road.

So, without any major issues, the problem was resolved in less than half an hour.

Then, no need for breakfast, let's go!
The farmers weren't surprised and were quite cooperative.

Even at this point,
Li Wei noticed that his reputation in the town of Vito was slowly increasing. Well, that's great!
I treated you to several good meals, but you treated me like a sucker and didn't give me any credit.

You slipped away under the cover of night, thinking I'm a complete fool and won't add to my reputation.

Now that I've sent you all back, you actually think I'm reliable and prestigious, tsk tsk! You even gained reputation.

interesting.

Li Wei smiled and didn't take it seriously. He let Liu Zhongyuan and Pang Wu lead the farmers to repair the road while he brought up the rear, walking lazily without urging them.

They traveled twenty li in the morning and twenty li in the afternoon, stopping for a meal in between, and arrived at the second wooden cabin campsite just before evening.

The farmers were exhausted and hungry, but what greeted them were two small wooden houses with an area of ​​160 square meters, and steaming hot vegetable and meat porridge.

Because Li Wei had Liu Zhongyuan come back early with a pot on his back to cook.

Every detail is under control.

(End of this chapter)