Crossing over reveals a waste's difficult journey home

Zong Zhengliang had been thinking about how to make the people accept tofu and kangs. However, when he walked out of the General's Mansion, he found that the people had already accepted them to the extreme without him having to say anything.

Seeing the people bustling about and trying to stick their whole bodies to the millstones and kangs, he asked Ning Song, the chief secretary (roughly equivalent to the secretary general) standing nearby, what was going on.

Ning Song had anticipated such a scene: "General, how can the people not be excited when they see the beans being made into tender tofu and feel the temperature of the kang with their hands?"

"Yes, I over-complicated it. Are you ready for what's next?"

"General, I have summoned all the craftsmen in the city to learn how to make stone mills and fire beds. If there are people who want to learn, when the craftsmen learn, the people can follow them.

As for the problem of insufficient square bricks, the craftsmen also came up with other alternative methods. "

"what way?"

This year is Zong Zhengliang's third year in Northern Xinjiang. Two winters have made him fully aware of how cold the winters here are.

In winter, he didn't feel the cold so much because he kept moving around during the day, but when he lay down at night, he always felt cold all over and couldn't seem to warm up until dawn.

In fact, he was one of the best-treated people in Zhen'an City. He was a general and had no shortage of clothing, food, shelter, and daily necessities. His family would send him things from time to time, and His Majesty would also give him rewards.

If he felt very cold, then ordinary people and soldiers would naturally feel even colder.

Zong Zhengliang was a general who cared about his subordinates and the people. In the three years since he came here, he had tried every possible way to help those people improve their living conditions, but unfortunately with little success.

The appearance of tofu and kang this year gave him hope.

Beans are the most common food in Zhen'an City, and everyone used to eat boiled beans.

Bean curd will not be particularly soft no matter how much it is cooked, and it is a little difficult for the elderly and children to swallow. Being able to eat tofu made from bean curd in the future is a huge improvement.

Another very important thing is that the bean curd dregs left over from making tofu are not only edible by humans, but are also said to be edible by horses after certain processing, which can make horses stronger.

In the struggle between Bactria and the Xiongnu, Bactria was temporarily at a disadvantage because, on the one hand, it was unable to find the enemy, and on the other hand, the Xiongnu had many and good horses, and they came and went without a trace and were difficult to catch.

Therefore, how to raise horses and how to raise good horses is one of the things that Zong Zhengliang pays most attention to after he came to the Northern Frontier.

Now someone told him that the bean curd dregs left over from making tofu can make horses stronger, how could he not be excited.

Tofu can solve the food problem for some people and horses, while the kang can solve the problem of keeping people warm.

But after seeing how the kang was made, Zong Zhengliang realized that it would be difficult to get the common people to use it.

Zhen'an City was not as prosperous as the capital, and the few bricks were all used to build city walls and houses. How could there be any left over for building kangs?

Seeing that such a good thing could not be used by the people, he was really anxious. Now hearing Ning Song say that the craftsmen had thought of other things to replace the square bricks, he couldn't wait to ask.

Ning Song was speechless as he looked at Zong Zhengliang with a look that said, "Hurry up and tell me, I'll be anxious to death if you don't,"

They are brothers from the same father and mother, so why is the elder brother Zong Zheng He as calm and steady as a mountain, but the younger brother becomes so jumpy?

Every time he saw Zong Zhengliang like this, he admired His Majesty's vision. How did he discover the other party's extraordinary talent for leading troops from his untrustworthy personality?

Fortunately, he had gotten used to the other person's behavior over the years, so he didn't delay and said directly: "A craftsman discovered that it is also possible to use adobe bricks to build a kang, so there is no need to use the complicated square bricks."

Earthen bricks? Zong Zhengliang knew about this thing, and even saw the people in Zhen'an City making it. It was a kind of earthen brick made of mud, water and hay.

Some people in Zhen'an City would use that kind of earth bricks to build houses.

"The kang needs to be heated by fire. Can the earthen bricks withstand it?"

"It looks fine for now, but even if there is a problem, it's not a big deal. If it breaks, you can just replace it with a new one. Adobe bricks are much easier to make anyway."

Zong Zhengliang thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case.

First we need to solve the problem of whether there is any, and then solve the problem of whether it is strong enough. And whether it is strong enough is not that important. As long as it can survive this winter, the worst that can happen is that we have to rebuild it next year.

After solving the problem of the square bricks, he was in a good mood and was in the mood to satisfy his curiosity.

"Ningsong, I heard your brother sent a letter?"

"Back to General, yes."

Zong Zhengliang was very dissatisfied with Ning Song's calm demeanor and complained, "Ah Song, you said we have known each other for so many years and are very familiar with each other, why are you still so formal when talking to me?"

Ning Song didn't reply, but glanced at Zong Zhengliang.

Zong Zhengliang's hair stood on end when he was looked at, and he immediately admitted his mistake: "A Song, I was wrong, you must not write to my brother."

Zong Zhengliang was born into a family of military generals. He learned martial arts since he was a child and was extremely daring.

When he was in his teens, he dared to fight bandits without telling his family or friends. After he became a general, he became even more powerful and almost no one could control him.

However, almost nothing does not mean really nothing. The person he feared most in his life was not his parents or his Majesty, but his elder brother Zong Zhenghe.

Because he knew that his parents would tolerate all his shortcomings, His Majesty admired his fighting talent and would tolerate his rebelliousness, but his brother would not.

Once he did something that the other party could not tolerate, he would not be able to escape a beating even if he was a general now.

It would be fine if he was beaten when he was a child, but if he was beaten again now that he is in a high position, how would he retain his dignity in front of his subordinates in the future?

The important thing is that his elder brother disliked his temper but favored Ning Song. According to his elder brother, if Ning Song had not been in poor health, he would not have been the general.

It was precisely because of his brother's love for Ning Song that if he dared to bully the other party since he was a child, he would definitely be beaten.

Even now, he has become a great general protecting a region. If Ning Song wrote a letter to his brother saying that he was bullied, he was sure that his brother would immediately rush to Zhen'an City to let him experience the pressure from his brother.

In order to avoid being chased and beaten by his brother, he immediately apologized after seeing Ning Song's threatening look.

An apology is an apology, and you can't give up halfway when you want to ask a question.

"Asong, did your brother really not say anything in the letter, such as anything about the dragon?" Zong Zhengliang spoke the last sentence in a low voice, for fear of being heard by others.

"Do you think my brother will tell me?"