Chapter 257: The Road to High Office 57 (Bug Fix)

Chapter 257: The Road to High Office 57 (Bug Fix)

"It only includes labor costs. As for the materials... Master Zhang and his team don't plan to tear down and rebuild, so they’ve opted to use packed earth."

If they were to tear down the packed earth wall and rebuild it with blue bricks, not only would the cost be higher, but the time required would also be longer, which they couldn't afford.

After hearing Clerk Yuan's report, Xu Zeping pondered and dismissed the idea of a blue brick wall.

Given the current situation, they would follow Master Zhang's plan and build a packed earth wall.

As for the labor, Xu Zeping thought of using labor as a form of aid. After the New Year, those who help repair the city wall will be provided with lunch and dinner.

In a year or two, when the economy of Lingbei County stabilizes, he would figure out how to make cement.

At that time, they could simply pour a layer of cement over the packed earth wall—wouldn't that be ideal?

"Don't worry, I have a solution," Xu Zeping reassured. "Let the commoners enjoy a good New Year this year, and we’ll start repairing the city wall on the sixth day of the New Year!"

"Sir, do you really have a solution?"

"Yes, think about it. As long as the New Year's gift we present this year is accepted by the Sage," Xu Zeping didn't reveal his thoughts but shifted the topic to the toothbrush. "Don't worry, we won't run out of money."

Upon hearing this, Clerk Yuan immediately put away his worries. Indeed, they still had the toothbrush, a valuable item!

Thinking this way, Clerk Yuan felt that he had been worrying unnecessarily.

After a day of government affairs, Xu Zeping returned home. Seeing Cheng Ge Er's smiling eyes, all his tiredness just melted away.

"Pingping, guess what we're having for dinner tonight?"

Cheng Ge Er, timing Xu Zeping's return, happily greeted him as he entered the inner courtyard, naturally taking his arm.

Xu Zeping instinctively touched his palm, which was warm, and he felt relieved.

"Is it hot pot?"

Cheng Ge Er widened his eyes. "Pingping, how did you know?"

"Because I can smell it. It's the aroma of pickled fish."

"Pingping, you have a keen sense of smell," Cheng Ge Er sighed regretfully. "It seems I couldn't stump you."

As soon as Xu Zeping and Cheng Ge Er entered the main hall of the east courtyard, Autumn brought the hot pot to the table, followed by Summer helping to bring the vegetables.

Winter vegetables were scarce, with only a plate of potatoes and a plate of Chinese cabbage.

Xu Zeping first took off the fox fur draped over himself and placed it on his hand, then took the cloak from Cheng Ge Er and naturally hung it on the rack.

"Pingping, I can do it."

Xu Zeping gestured for Cheng Ge Er to sit down. "These are small matters. Sit down and warm yourself."

They didn't need anyone to serve the dishes, so after the hot pot and vegetables were set, Autumn and Summer went to have their dinner.

Xu Zeping picked up a piece of fish and placed it on Cheng Ge Er's plate, asking curiously, "Did you buy this fish from the locals today?"

Cheng Ge Er put the wilted cabbage into the hot pot and replied, "No, it was a small gift brought by Lady Cao today.

The Cao family's old residence is in Daji Town, right? They have a pond at home, and these two days they are preparing New Year's gifts, so they started catching and killing fish."

Hearing Cheng Ge Er's words, Xu Zeping suddenly had a bright idea: "Cheng Ge Er, your words gave me a great idea."

"What?" Cheng Ge Er looked at Xu Zeping with confusion, wondering what he had just said.

"Rice paddy fish!" Xu Zeping said happily, "We can have the onlookers raise fish fry in the rice paddies!"

Although rice paddy fish was a failed business model on Blue Star, in the Great Jing Dynasty, this model wasn't for commerce but to provide a bit more food.

Rice paddy fish require high water quality, and since the rice paddies in the Great Jing Dynasty haven't been exposed to pesticides, the water quality is naturally good.

As for the varying quality of the fish, that's even less of a problem. Xu Zeping's goal is simply to ensure that the people have enough to eat and don't starve.

A few bites of fish are lifesaving during food shortages; who cares about the taste or if there's a muddy smell?

"Really? Fish can be raised in rice fields?" Cheng Ge Er widened his eyes and asked, "What about when the rice is harvested? What do we do with all the fish? We can't eat them all at once."

"Of course, fish can also help eat pests on the rice seedlings," Xu Zeping thought more and found it feasible, "As for the surplus after harvest, we can dry them into salted fish or smoke them like cured meat."

Getting more and more excited, Xu Zeping felt the urge to write a proposal and prepared to head to the study...

Of course, Cheng Ge Er eventually persuaded him to finish dinner first.

A hot and sour pot left them both satisfied.

After eating and drinking to their heart's content, Xu Zeping rested in his seat for a while before going to the study to write a plan about rice paddy fish.

Xu Zeping only knew about rice paddy fish in theory and hadn't actually done it before, so he couldn't implement it on a large scale. He could only experiment with a few acres of land to see which fish fry are suitable for farming and at what stage of the rice seedlings they should be released...

So he planned to allocate three to four rice fields: one for crucian carp, one for carp, one for both crucian carp and carp, and another field left as a control group without any fish.

By the time Xu Zeping finished writing, it was already late at night.

He put down his brush, looked at the bright moon, and felt that the future was promising.

"Still not asleep?"

When Xu Zeping reached the door of the main house, he let the attending Little Tiger go back to rest.

After Little Tiger turned around with the lantern, Xu Zeping pushed the door open and entered. He saw Cheng Ge Er still leaning on the couch reading a storybook and thoughtfully turned up the oil lamp a bit.

"I can't sleep without you," Cheng Ge Er put down the storybook in his hand and opened his arms, signaling Xu Zeping to come and hug him.

"Don't wait for me next time, staying up late is bad for your skin," Xu Zeping gently pinched his nose and then effortlessly picked him up in a princess carry, walking to the bed.

Cheng Ge Er didn't listen to him, giving a sly smirk, "You didn't say staying up late was bad for my skin when you were messing with me."

"Really disobedient," Xu Zeping was both amused and annoyed, wanting to pat his bottom.

Cheng Ge Er rolled to the inner side of the bed, proudly throwing his outer clothes at Xu Zeping, "Can't hit me~ Pingping, put my clothes away for me, young master."

At this moment, Cheng Ge Er was like a proud little kitten, but soon he would get his comeuppance.

Xu Zeping neatly hung up both their outer clothes, then pounced like a hungry tiger, encircling Cheng Ge Er in his arms. He rubbed his growing stubble against Cheng Ge Er's tender cheeks, making Cheng Ge Er beg for mercy, "Pingping, it hurts, I was wrong."

"Wuwu, I really know I was wrong."

"I won't dare next time."

Xu Zeping looked at the teary-eyed young master in his arms and gently patted his bottom, "Dare to call me Pingping again?"

"I won't do it again."

Xu Zeping snorted lightly and muttered, "It's the eunuchs in the palace who are called Xiaoping, Xiaozhuo, or Xiaodeng. I am a real man."

Hearing Xu Zeping's muttering, Cheng Ge Er burst out laughing, "Yes, yes, our Pingping is a real man. I know that all too well."

As for why Xu Zeping is so averse to eunuchs, the blame lies with Xu Zeli.

When they were young, Xu Zeli often scared Xu Zeping, saying that if he didn't behave or study hard, he would be sent to the palace to become a eunuch.

Hearing the laughter, Xu Zeping raised an eyebrow, "Are you laughing at me?"

With that, his slender fingers undid the button on Cheng Ge Er's chest, "Do you want to give it a try?"

Cheng Ge Er immediately closed his eyes and obediently said, "I'm asleep, I know nothing."

Cheng Ge Er's sleep quality was quite good. He fell asleep almost as soon as he closed his eyes.

Xu Zeping looked at the young master sleeping peacefully in his arms, tapped his forehead, and thought, what a troublesome little rascal.

Gently withdrawing his arm, he got out of bed to extinguish the oil lamp.

When he returned to bed and lay down, Cheng Ge Er naturally rolled into his arms. Xu Zeping soothingly patted his back and soon fell asleep as well.

A good night's sleep, and it was the next day.

After waking up, Cheng Ge Er belatedly remembered something—he had forgotten to tell Pingping yesterday that he would be selecting a location with Mrs. Cao Zhou today...

Cheng Ge Er had experience in running an embroidery workshop, so he was very clear about the process of selecting a location and the procedures involved.

He and Mrs. Cao Zhou had agreed to finalize the location of the embroidery workshop within seven days, and then select the first batch of embroidery artisans before the New Year.

The basic requirements for selecting embroidery artisans were good eyesight, dexterity, and the ability to endure hardship. The first batch of artisans would be personally selected by Cheng Ge Er and Mrs. Cao Zhou, and after the second batch, it would be entirely up to Mrs. Cao Zhou to handle.

Of course, the embroidery skills would also be taught by Cheng Ge Er.

He chose to teach Shu embroidery. As for why it wasn't Su embroidery? That's because Su embroidery was Madam Jiang's unique skill, and without her permission, Cheng Ge Er naturally wouldn't dare to pass it on.

Shu embroidery was different. Sister Luoniang said that since her family was gone, why bother holding onto this inheritance?

Rather than letting those thieves monopolize it, it would be better to pass it on, at least allowing poor women to make a living.

For the first batch of embroidery artisans, Cheng Ge Er didn't plan to select many, only four.

His energy was limited, and he couldn't handle more.

In the future, these four would be trained to become the managers of the embroidery workshop, and they would teach the second batch of artisans.

The goal was to train the first batch of artisans within three months, so the basic requirements also included some prior experience in needlework.

Three months would only be a crash course, teaching some basic embroidery skills.

As for more refined skills, Cheng Ge Er looked at the bright young master in the copper mirror, picked out a pomegranate hairpin, and put it on. That would depend on whether they had the perseverance to keep learning.

Cheng Ge Er still remembered how he often sat in the embroidery workshop for three or four hours at a time to learn this craft.

Cheng Ge Er was precocious. He knew that to live peacefully in the Xu Family, being obedient and well-behaved wasn't enough. He had to be intelligent and capable, because no one could be kind to a stranger for ten years straight.

In winter, he felt heartbroken when he was slapped and insulted by the concubine of the county magistrate of Heluo County... but he knew that only in this way could he truly win the hearts of his uncle and aunt.

When the Xu Family used their connections and the county magistrate forced the concubine to kneel before him and beg for forgiveness, he knew he had made the right move.

Later, he lived better and better in the Xu Family. His food, drinks, entertainment, clothes, and even his dowry were exactly the same as his sister's. He knew that his uncle and aunt truly treated him as their own son.

"Young master, breakfast is ready," Autumn walked into the inner room and softly reminded him.

"Mm, bring it in."