I rely on infrastructure systems to build a prosperous village

Zhou Yuntian sighed lightly and smiled bitterly. He had originally held out a glimmer of hope, but now it seemed that he had no choice but to confess.

He sighed softly and said slowly, "The Great Qin Dynasty has gone through three emperors. The founding emperor expanded the territory. The second emperor stabilized the borders and fought countless wars. The third emperor is your majesty. He has the ambition to stabilize the court, implement benevolent policies, and create a prosperous era for the Great Qin Dynasty."

He paused, looked at Li Lan, and continued, "But I didn't expect that in the second year of my reign, a drought would hit, and the treasury was empty. The drought continued into the second year. Your Majesty, out of pity for the people and also fearing that some people might mislead and destabilize the regime, ordered the three continents north of the Qin River to open their granaries and release grain. But how could that little grain be enough?"

"However, we didn't expect the drought to last for three years, and even now, it hasn't rained. Your Majesty is well aware that if it continues, it will be even more detrimental to the entire Qin Dynasty. So, he summoned me to the palace late at night to discuss a solution."

At this point, his eyes flickered. Just as he was about to continue, he was interrupted by a cold voice.

"The solution you discussed is this: select powerful merchants from various regions who have no ties to the aristocratic families. The first step is to send people to lobby them. The second step is to provide substantial support by making concessions. The third step is to spread the word. Send people everywhere to spread the word about your majesty's benevolent rule and his compassion for the people, encouraging merchants and people everywhere to donate money. This will build momentum. The fourth step is to raise funds. This way, the ministers and the aristocratic families will not be able to ignore it and will definitely join in the fundraising. And the merchants you have selected will, at this time, begin to raise funds with all their strength."

At this point, Li Lan chuckled and continued, "And at this time, the various noble families and ministers in the court who were preparing to raise funds had to reluctantly make sacrifices. So, who else do these people hate if not you?"

After hearing Li Lan's words, Zhou Yuntian's eyes became brighter and brighter, the corners of his mouth turned up, and his eyes were full of admiration.

Li Lan watched his raised lips and praised him sincerely, "Zhou Yuntian, what a brilliant plan! This strategy will not only solve the problem of raising food for disaster relief, but will also bring good reputation to His Majesty and rally the nation to work together. Furthermore, it will support merchants without connections, and in the long run, it will weaken the power of some aristocratic families."

Zhou Yuntian looked at her, nodded with a smile, and said, "However, this is far from enough to weaken the power of the aristocratic families. There is still a long way to go."

Li Lan nodded in agreement and said seriously, "Indeed. However, Your Majesty's benevolent government will certainly focus on talent selection and promote more talented students from humble backgrounds."

At this moment, their eyes met and they smiled at each other. Those who understood understood.

Li Lan couldn't help but look away. He clenched his fist and coughed lightly, then said seriously, "We can work together. How about you be my big backer?"

After hearing her words, Zhou Yuntian was very happy and asked with a smile: "How to do it?"

"I can help you solve the problem of water shortage and the problem of food. The other problems depend on your needs. But one thing is, only ask about the hard work, not the harvest. No matter what I do or where the things come from, you can't ask too much." After saying this, Li Lan's face was calm, his eyes were sharp, and he stared at him straight.

"Okay, sure." Zhou Yuntian didn't hesitate at all. Everyone has their own secrets, so why bother exploring them? Especially since this is such a good thing that benefits the country and the people.

Li Lan was delighted to see that he didn't hesitate at all. She added sternly, "But I have one more request. During our cooperation, you must protect my family and the villagers. Okay?"

Hearing what she said, Zhou Yuntian's pupils shrank, and he said in a deep voice: "Isn't it going to protect you?"

"No need, I'm very strong and flexible, most people can't hurt me." Li Lan said proudly.

Zhou Yuntian looked at her deeply and said in a low voice: "Okay, as long as you need me, I will always be behind you."

Li Lan: “…”

This, this, this... this answer is wrong.

The two were silent for a while.

At this moment, Li Run's voice came from outside the house.

"Sister, brother-in-law, it's time to eat."

When she heard Li Run calling her, she quickly turned around and walked out of the house, shouting, "Hey, here I come, little brother, go call your second brother to come over and help your brother-in-law get up to eat."

Zhou Yuntian looked at her flustered back, with a smile on his face.

The dinner table.

"Yuntian, come, eat more meat." Zhang used the serving chopsticks to pick up several pieces of pork for Zhou Yuntian.

"That's right, just eat more and nourish yourself well." Mrs. Wang said with a smile.

Seeing this, Zhou Yuntian nodded in agreement and quickly reached out to catch the bowl.

Li Lan looked at Zhang as she picked up a few pieces of meat for Zhou Yuntian and gave her a resentful look. Zhou Yuntian looked at her like this with a smile in his eyes and picked up two pieces of meat from his bowl and put them in hers.

Looking at the extra meat in the bowl, Li Lan's eyes lit up. He glanced at Zhou Yuntian and said awkwardly, "Eat it yourself. You don't have to pick it up for me."

After saying that, he picked up the meat in the bowl and started eating.

The others were delighted to see the two interacting, and several adults even smiled and nodded frequently.

Big room at night.

"Boss, you don't know, our house is very lively today." Wang said excitedly as she thought about the scene this afternoon.

"What's wrong?" Li Chunlei asked in confusion.

"It's the husband that the eldest girl bought. He came to the yard to read today. All the women and wives in the village who have nothing to do came to see him. That scene...tsk tsk tsk tsk..." Wang showed an expression that was hard to describe.

After hearing what Wang said, Li Chunlei snorted and said, "These old women and wives are just idle. Let the masters of the family clean up a few meals."

Wang rolled her eyes and frowned, "Everyone's curious, too. This is my first time seeing him. Why would the eldest girl spend so much money on such a black boy?"

When Li Chunlei heard what Wang said, he was unhappy and was about to refute immediately, but was interrupted loudly by Li Xing who was sleeping on the other side of the straw curtain.

"Mom, you can't say that. My brother-in-law may be dark, but he can read and knows a lot. Just like what he said today, you can't judge a person by his appearance alone."

After hearing what Li Xing said, Li Chunlei agreed: "That's right, you can't do that when you look at people..."

He scratched his head and thought for a long time but couldn't figure out what Li Xing had just said, so he frowned and asked, "Second girl, how did you say that?"

"Dad, you can't judge a person by his appearance."

"Right, right, right. You can't judge a person by his appearance alone."

Wang, who heard the conversation between the father and daughter, rolled her eyes inwardly and thought: Forget it, forget it, they are all obsessed. This eldest girl is already powerful enough, and the husband she bought is also powerful. Look at how he has won over the family.

The next morning, Li Lan took Zhou Yuntian, who was leaning on a wooden stick, and walked towards the farmland.

On the way, Li Lan looked at Zhou Yuntian who was walking with a stick and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Zhou Yuntian looked at her wrinkled expression and said with a smile, "What's wrong?"

Li Lan looked at the stick in his hand with a complicated expression and said, "Actually, you don't have to fight so hard. Your face is already dark enough, and now you have to pretend to be lame. If you do this, I..."

Zhou Yuntian looked at her with a guilty look on his face, his eyes flickered, and he said softly, "It's okay."

"Forget it. Even if I owe you a favor, I allow you to make one condition to me. You cannot violate the principles. I will not do anything like killing or arson." Li Lan looked at him and said generously.

When Zhou Yuntian heard this, the light in his eyes disappeared in an instant and he replied "Okay".

They hadn't been walking long when they saw a patch of green in the fields. Li Lan nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Not bad," inwardly. It looked like the rice seedlings had grown. They could be pulled out and planted soon.

Zhou Yuntian, who was standing next to her, looked at the scene in front of him and his pupils shrank. This was farmland irrigated with water, full of vitality.

"Hey, look, is that the son-in-law that Lan bought?"

"Oh, yes. I was watching them for a long time yesterday."

"This guy is really dark."

"Yeah, he's leaning on a stick, so he's not a cripple, is he?"

"Why does this girl like such a dark-haired guy?"

……

As they walked through the farmland, they could hear the villagers whispering. Li Lan looked at Zhou Yuntian and saw that he was calm, which made him feel relieved. He thought to himself: Oh, he is really wronged.

Zhou Yuntian suddenly stopped and looked at a nearby well. A cylindrical wooden barrel, about two meters long, stood beside it. Above it, a long bamboo tube connected to the water source. He wondered what mechanism was inside, allowing the water from the well to flow continuously through the bamboo tube into the canal below.

Li Lan followed his gaze and explained, "This is a ram pump. It uses the power of the water flow to pump water from a low place to a high place, thus achieving irrigation."

After hearing this, Zhou Yuntian immediately walked to the water hammer pump and observed it carefully. He was secretly amazed. He had never seen such a sophisticated device. It turned out that the water in the well was pumped up through this mechanism.

Seeing the curiosity in Zhou Yuntian's eyes, Li Lan explained the working principle and usage of the hydraulic ram pump in detail. Zhou Yuntian listened with great interest, asking questions from time to time, and Li Lan patiently answered them.

"This water hammer pump is really amazing. If it can be promoted in other places, it will definitely benefit more people." Zhou Yuntian exclaimed.

Li Lan nodded, his eyes twinkling. "I think so too. I hope that one day all farmland can use this convenient irrigation tool."

Zhou Yuntian couldn't help but feel a little admiration when he saw Li Lan like this.

"Girl, can you provide me with the blueprints?"

Li Lan simply ignored his address and thought for a moment before saying, "I can give you the blueprints. But until the imperial court manufactures them, all custom-made ram pumps must be made by our village. For those custom-made by the government in the three continents north of the Qin River, we'll take 50% of the fee. For other custom-made ram pumps, the imperial court and our village will split the cost 30% and 70% respectively. How do you think?"

Before Zhou Yuntian could answer, Xiaobao's voice suddenly rang out.

"Host, why should we give 30% of our profits to the imperial court? With this extra 30%, we can build a prosperous village."

"Xiaobao, we can't be too radical now. First, this thing of ours is too conspicuous. Second, we will definitely have a lot of things to take out in the future. Now is our chance. The emperor of the Great Qin Dynasty is our greatest backer."

Xiaobao thought for a moment and said, "Okay, host. I understand."

"Okay, I'll write a letter back to the capital to inform His Majesty and wait for his decision." Zhou Yuntian said in a deep voice.

"Okay, then I'll wait for your Majesty's reply." Li Lan said happily.

The two of them walked around the farmland again, saw the village chief, walked over and chatted for a while, and then prepared to go to the wasteland where they were going to build a house.

"Sister, brother-in-law." Li Run ran over and shouted.

Li Lan saw that he was sweating profusely, so he took out a coarse cloth handkerchief from his arms and walked over to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

Li Run smiled and let Li Lan wipe his sweat. Zhou Yuntian stood beside him, his face calm and silent. He watched Li Lan wipe Li Run's sweat and moved his lips, wanting to say something, but was interrupted by Li Run.

"Brother-in-law, are we still going to sit in the yard and read today?"

Li Lan looked at Zhou Yuntian in surprise and asked Li Run, "Why are you sitting in the yard reading?"

"My brother-in-law said that if I sit in the yard and read, everyone will know my identity, and I won't kick him out."

Li Lan: “…”

Zhou Yuntian looked at Li Lan and wanted to explain, but before he could say anything, Li Run ran over excitedly.

Pulling him, making faces, she whispered, "Brother-in-law, you even brought a stick with you. If the villagers saw you, would they say anything? Would my sister feel bad? Will my method work?"

Zhou Yuntian: “…”

Li Lan: “…”