Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

Looking at the bride in front of him, Chi Honghai's expression flashed with a hint of guilt towards Wu Wanruo.

The wedding is always a major life event. Not to mention Wu Wanruo, a lady from a prominent family, even women from ordinary families dress festively on this day.

Today, although the lady before me is not dressed simply, this is not her wedding attire.

According to the etiquette of wealthy Taoist families, this phoenix coronet and embroidered robe became a regret.

Wu Wanruo looked at the taciturn Chi Honghai with some confusion.

"What's wrong?"

Chi Honghai came to his senses.

"Happiness came too suddenly."

He reached out his hand toward the bride's face.

This time, Wu Wanruo did not let the groom extinguish the dragon and phoenix candles burning on the table.

……

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone had a very memorable holiday on the island.

After all, they are just ordinary people, celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival normally. Those whose families are better off simply have a bit more meaty smell.

Add to that the recent typhoon and the exorbitant taxes levied by government officials.

Forget about the smell of meat; for a family of several people, being able to eat their fill on this day is already a blessing.

Today, it's not just the smell of meat; Chi Honghai spends high prices to buy meat and grain, and all kinds of livestock that ordinary people can see are on this table.

The chickens, ducks, and suckling pigs that were somewhat spared were also kept in enclosures as reserves for the table.

Let them fatten up before killing them.

After enjoying a wonderful holiday, Chi Honghai has finally fulfilled a major life event.

Next, facing the expectations of the crowd, Chi Honghai thought about Zheng Zhilong's unpredictable attitude earlier.

The multiple pressures of family, subordinates, development, and survival crept back onto Chi Honghai's shoulders after the wedding candles burned out.

He pushed open the door, and the fresh sunlight shone on him.

Development leads to progress in both military and agricultural sectors.

He led Shen Er and Ai Si to the pond at the top of the mountain again.

Along the way, my steps became much lighter.

After that person arranged for people to dig sand and extract stones, the matter of building a mountain road was put on the agenda.

In just a few days, although not many stone steps were installed, some progress has been made.

As they walked up the stone steps, Shen Er and Ai Si repeatedly exclaimed that it was much more impressive than the mud steps.

When I looked at the pond again, the brothers on the mountain had already made most of the arrangements there.

After the damp soil underfoot was covered with a thick layer and leveled out, it no longer felt like washing one's feet when stepping on it.

Chi Honghai walked around the pond.

Shen Er asked, puzzled, from behind.

"Sir, you've fenced off that pond over there, why don't you fence off this one too?"

"We don't fence this area off so that it's convenient for the villagers on the mountain to fetch water for other uses at this time. If we fenced it off, it would be troublesome to use the water for washing and other tasks."

"Sir, you've thought of everything. How come I didn't think of that?"

After confirming that the pond project was nearly complete, Chi Honghai led the people down the mountain and back to the craftsmen's quarters.

The craftsmen were quite sensible this time.

While some were indeed afraid of Chi Honghai's authority, their greater satisfaction stemmed from their appreciation of the living conditions here after the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Having eaten and drunk their fill, they naturally want to stay in this place.

There wasn't so much coercion; life got better, and everyone did it willingly.

When the craftsmen saw Chi Honghai walking towards them, they went to greet him.

"Master, master, we've already completed a lot of the work you entrusted to us." The carpenters turned around and pointed to the pile of split bamboo in front of the house. "But, master, if we were to undertake a large project, it might not be enough. Don't worry, we'll keep working as fast as we can these next few days to make it up to you."

Chi Honghai was very satisfied with their performance, which finally saved him some trouble.

He walked over to the pile of bamboo and picked up half of it to examine it.

The carpenters are generally quite capable; if they don't do something well, then they haven't done it properly.

However, when Chi Honghai turned to look at the pile of bamboo again, he noticed something was wrong.

These split bamboo stalks were simply piled together.

The bamboo halves are so messy that it would take them half a day to find a match.

He shook his head, which puzzled the carpenters.

Could it be that my master has even higher demands?

"Sir, why are you shaking your head like that? Is it because our workmanship is poor?"

"It's not a problem with your workmanship. Look at this pile of bamboo. It would be hard to even find the original bamboo," Chi Honghai said, weighing the bamboo in his hand.

"But sir, if we're just delivering water, isn't it enough to simply prop up this half of the bamboo?"

Chi Honghai looked down at the mountain: "The mountain is different from the area next to our house. There's a lot of mud and insects in the mountains. We only cover half of it. What if there's mud and insects stuck in the bamboo core and it gets blocked? If we want to find where it's blocked, we'll have to climb the mountain and search along the bamboo path one by one."

These words left the carpenters speechless.

Indeed, carpenters in Xin'an County usually take on jobs in the city, and they've done these kinds of water-carrying jobs with wood and bamboo before.

However, the things they did at the time were all in the city, where the environment was not as complex as in the mountains, so they lacked consideration.

"Sir, how about these bamboo stalks? Brothers, pick them out and check them against each other?"

"No need. Let's just leave it as it is for now. We don't have that much time. Just put the smaller side down and the larger side on top of the smaller side, and tie them together with rope or wooden strips. As for the bamboo later, we'll divide them one by one."

"Understood, sir."

"Oh, by the way, sir, after you gave the instructions last time, we cut down a lot of bamboo and dug a notch at the end of the bamboo to support these bamboo poles used for carrying water."

Chi Honghai nodded, acknowledging their meticulousness in their work.

"Let Ai Si prepare an extra dish for you guys tonight."

"Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir."

After instructing the craftsmen, he had someone take the bamboo, which had been split in half and had notches, up the mountain.

Carrying so much bamboo up the mountain is no easy task. Two or three people carried a bundle of bamboo up the mountain.

Chi Honghai was worried that the split bamboo would chafe people's shoulders, so before they left, he draped several pieces of cloth over their shoulders, making sure they were folded thickly.

They carried these bamboos up the mountainside, taking breaks along the way.

Chi Honghai first had people take bamboo with notches and insert them into the soil at intervals along both sides of the mountain path from the pond to secure them.

After the bamboo stakes that were already in place were installed, the bamboo stakes were placed on these bamboo frames and carried down the paths along both sides of the mountain road.

Soon, Chi Honghai discovered that a single line was not enough to cover the fields on both sides of the mountain.

So, another water supply line was laid symmetrically, so that the farmland on both sides of the mountain was within the irrigation range.

"Don't set it too high! Just make sure it doesn't touch the ground completely," Chi Honghai instructed from the side.

Chi Honghai walked down the bamboo path step by step.

When he arrived at the fields, he discovered a new and fatal problem.