My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 16 Quyuanli

Liu Feng flipped through the bamboo slips in his hand, listening to the report from the boy beside him.

"Young Master, we don't have much money or food left."

One of the boys, Liu Li, reported: "The food is alright. The patriarch instructed us that if we run out, we can go to the prefecture to collect more every seven days. However, we only have less than 20,000 coins left. Our daily expenses are more than 7,000 coins, which is not enough for three days."

Liu Li was a relative of Liu Feng. His father followed Liu Bei in his campaigns and died in battle while rescuing Qingzhou and fighting against the Yellow Turban rebels.

Saheli, a Hu orphan who also died in Qingzhou, said, "Young master, we calculated that if we stop the schooling and reduce the daily chicken, lunch and meat every three days, we can save more than 5,000 coins."

Although the other boys didn't speak, they all showed expressions of agreement.

There was no other reason than that they felt Liu Feng had been too good to them, treating them with excessive kindness.

The boys present, as well as the other boys who weren't there, were all willing to die for Liu Fengxiao!

Their elders died fighting for Liu Bei, but what kind of world is this now?
Liu Bei wasn't the only warlord. Compared to other warlords who treated their subordinates differently, Liu Bei was considered to have a lot of conscience and principles.

Not to mention that after their fathers and brothers died in battle, Liu Bei would give them money and provisions as long as they could be found.

After Liu Feng arrived, their lives became even better.

Almost all the orphans that could be found were gathered together. Liu Feng personally persuaded the Wu family to take out the money that Liu Bei had sent back, and also persuaded the head of the Liu family to take out the grain to raise these war orphans.

At the same time, Liu Feng even personally taught them to read and do arithmetic.

They eat three meals a day, with an egg added to both breakfast and dinner, so they have a meat dish every three days.

If it weren't for Liu Bei's repeated achievements abroad, his official position would have risen rapidly, from the temporary magistrate of Pingyuan County to the chancellor of Pingyuan State, then to the governor of Yuzhou, and finally to the governor of Xuzhou.

No matter how prodigy Liu Feng may appear or how eloquent he may be, he can forget about getting the Liu family to allocate so many resources to help him raise his child.

Even so, Liu Feng had spent most of the wealth that Liu Bei had sent back to Zhuo County over the years, leaving very little.

Fortunately, the Wu and Tian families doted on Liu Feng, and the Liu family of Zhuo County was willing to invest in him with all their might; otherwise, he wouldn't have survived until Big Ears took control of Xuzhou.

These three or four years of care and support were not in vain. During the Han Dynasty, the prevailing social norm was to value righteousness over profit.

Of course, this doesn't mean that people in the Han Dynasty were morally superior; one only needs to look at the behavior of powerful families to understand how corrupt they were.

However, other special factors have contributed to the unique ecosystem of worshiping fame at the grassroots level.

The common people, especially wandering knights, truly value gratitude, honor, and reputation more than their own lives.

Because the lifespan of this era is simply too short, especially for the lower classes.

At the same time, what wandering knights rely on for survival is their reputation.

Once one's reputation crumbles, there's not much difference between being alive and being dead.

Therefore, it is not surprising that their reputation is more important than their lives.

"Don't worry, go to Steward Liu later and withdraw 50,000 coins. Just say it was my order. You don't need to worry about the money. Just focus on your studies."

After giving his instructions, Liu Feng asked him about the matter he was most concerned about.

"Young Master, as you instructed, the Patriarch has sent us craftsmen. After these days of research, they have finally made what you wanted."

"really!?"

Liu Feng straightened up excitedly and asked Liu Li for confirmation: "Have you verified it?" Liu Li replied: "We have already tried it, and it works really well. The prototype has been brought, and as instructed by the young master, I have had Lu Gong start manufacturing the second one."

"it is good!"

Liu Feng laughed heartily. What excited him so much was the curved plow, which played an epoch-making role in the transformation of Chinese agriculture.

The curved plow was not invented until the late Tang Dynasty, and it was only gradually used in the Jiangdong region.

However, by the Song Dynasty, after large-scale development in the south, the curved-shaft plow, with its advantages of being lightweight, labor-saving, and effective, easily defeated the heavy and difficult-to-operate long-shaft plow.

Its appearance marks the maturity of agricultural tools in ancient China.

The Song Dynasty's population peaked at 120 million, almost double that of the Tang Dynasty, and the curved plow and Champa rice were undoubtedly the most important tools in this achievement.

Champa rice is located in Jiaozhou, thousands of miles away, and cannot be delivered in a short time.

However, the curved plow is not difficult to make. Liu Feng, who had an impression of the curved plow, recorded its overall structure and approximate proportions, and then arranged for agricultural implement craftsmen to restore it.

Unexpectedly, the craftsmen replicated it in just over half a month.

Liu Feng was overjoyed. He would then use any reforms, whether it was land reclamation, restoring the livelihood of the people in Xuzhou, cooperating with the Mi family, or even minor reforms that might infringe on the interests of the local gentry in Xuzhou, to appease the Xuzhou gentry represented by Chen Deng.

These are all extremely valuable assets.

How could Liu Feng not be overjoyed?

Thinking of this, he couldn't sit still any longer and stood up, with the boys from Liu'er Camp following suit.

Upon entering the courtyard, they indeed saw the curved plow.

Although there are still slight differences from what Liu Feng remembered, it is already very similar overall. All that's needed now is to make minor adjustments based on specific feedback during use.

"well."

Liu Feng turned to Liu Li and said, "Reward Lu Gong with one thousand coins, and give two hundred coins to each of the other participating craftsmen and the young men of Liu'er Camp. Distribute them today."

"Yes, my lord."

At this moment, a servant came from outside the courtyard and told Liu Feng that Liu Bei had summoned him and that he should bring Pan Zhang with him.

Liu Feng glanced at the sky and saw that it was almost noon. He then ordered the boys of Liu'er Camp to go down for lunch, and had two servants carry the curved plow. He then summoned Pan Zhang and went to Liu Bei's place.

When they arrived at Liu Bei's place, they learned that Liu Bei had planned to host a banquet for Zhao Yun and Tian Yu that noon.

Liu Feng's lips twitched slightly; his father's speed was still quite impressive.

I called the police on him yesterday, and he took steps to fix it today.

But then I thought about it again, wasn't the money my father had to make amends also something I had prepared for him?

Sigh, while others hope their fathers will become dragons, I'm helping my father become a dragon. Big Ears is so lucky to have met a son like me in this life.

However, Liu Bei was already adept at appeasing his old comrades, so why did he call me here?
He even made him bring Pan Zhang along. Could it be that he intends to appoint Pan Zhang as well today?
Pan Zhang was a little nervous. Although Liu Feng had taken the initiative to recruit him and treated him as a friend, Pan Zhang himself was still just a commoner.

The person sitting in the main hall now is the dignified Governor of Xuzhou, the highest leader of both the military and political factions, whose life and death can be decided with a single word.

(End of this chapter)