Chapter 146 How many gentlemen do you have in Liaodong?

What Liu Laowu didn't know was that Liaodong had many volcanoes in the past, and the constant eruptions resulted in the groundwater often containing large amounts of sulfur compounds, which made drinking water a major problem in almost half of Liaodong.

In ancient times, drawing water was a very expensive thing. A well could not be dug well without spending hundreds of taels of silver. In this chaotic world, people were already struggling to survive, so where could they get money?

It would take an unknown amount of time for a village to scrape together one hundred taels of silver to hire someone to dig a well.

However, the water that comes out of a well is not necessarily safe to drink. Some well water is extremely poisonous and can kill people if drunk. Therefore, the water that many people here usually drink actually has a sour or even bitter taste.

For example, when Liu Fu and Xiao Ying'er first went to the fiefdom, they encountered this incident while traveling incognito and asking an old man for water.

When the elderly couple heard that Liu Fu wanted a bowl of water, their first reaction was that their water was bad and they were afraid that Liu Fu and his family wouldn't be used to it. The real reason was actually this.

Pooling money to dig a well at great expense, and even then, there's no guarantee the water will be drinkable—that's a big problem.

So now, clean, fresh water flows through the village every day, providing everyone with a convenient water source, which is naturally a great deed.

Liu Laowu carefully examined the setup of the water-drawing platform.

Stone pipes made of concrete stretched out one after another, reaching into the distance, from which clean water flowed.

Liu Laowu was curious and immediately asked:

"Where does all this water come from?"

“A reservoir,” someone nearby replied.

"A reservoir? What's a reservoir?"

Liu Laowu was dumbfounded once again.

The people of Liaodong didn't really know how to describe a reservoir, because there had never been such a thing as a reservoir before. They could only describe Liu Laowu like this:

"A reservoir is a large lake built upstream. The lake has a lot of water, so it won't dry up. When it's time to drink water, the gates are opened and water is released so that everyone can drink water. When it's busy farming season and crops need water, the gates are opened and a flood comes down, irrigating all of everyone's crops at once. Occasionally, if there are areas with bad terrain that can't be irrigated, water trucks are used."

Liu Laowu seemed to understand but not quite, and couldn't help but ask:

"What if a large lake is built upstream, and the water overflows and floods the villages?"

"It won't flood, there are dikes."

Liu Laowu shook his head:

"What if the water overflows the dam? What if a heavy rain washes the dam away and you all suffer?"

"It's alright, there's flood diversion. Mr. Zhuge has devised many methods, so there's nothing to be afraid of."

Liu Laowu was taken aback; this was the second time he had heard the name of this Mr. Zhuge.

"It's Mr. Zhuge again."

Liu Laowu took a sip of the clean water here, and it was indeed sweeter than any other water he had drunk along the way.

He wanted to see exactly what this reservoir was.

After walking thirty miles, we finally saw it!

Good heavens, a dam blocked the water source, creating a huge lake.

But apart from being a bit big, this lake doesn't seem to have any particularly special features.

Liu Laowu was convinced only after he saw the soldiers opening and closing the sluice gates to release and store water.

"Yeah, why didn't we think of this? So this is a reservoir! Brilliant!"

What Liu Laowu found even more intriguing were the stone pipes. Could these pipes have been carved out of stone bit by bit?

How much effort would that take?

It wasn't until he fully understood it that Liu Laowu was truly convinced. It turned out that this thing was called cement, and that it was surprisingly easy to mass-produce these pipes using cement.

Even in some parts of Liaodong, cement roads have already begun to be built on a trial basis.

The sights and sounds along the way made Liu Laowu increasingly envious of Liu Fu's Mr. Zhuge. Halfway there, he encountered more and more strong men cultivating crops in the fields. Liu Laowu thought to himself that Lao Ba had been complaining about being poor, saying that there were only 200,000 men left in Liaodong, making it the place with the lowest proportion of men among all the vassal states of the Later Han Dynasty.

Is this still not enough?

Isn't it all men planting crops along the way? And they all look very strong, with a noticeably different energy and spirit.

It was only after asking around in the fields that he learned that, according to the laws of the feudal state established by Liu Fu, almost all the soldiers of the prefecture, state, and border armies would return home to farm during the busy farming season each year, so as to reunite with their families. After they finished farming, they would return to the army on a fixed date.

It is precisely because it is the busy farming season that all the soldiers have returned, which is why we can see this peaceful scene of a whole family working together in the fields.

"I see."

"This is a good idea. During the busy farming season, these soldiers can return to farm. This will save several months of military pay each spring and autumn. When these soldiers return, they can reunite with their families and also take care of the crops that cannot be planted or harvested. This is an excellent idea and should be promoted throughout the Later Han Dynasty."

Liu Laowu was extremely excited, practically overjoyed, and couldn't help but ask:

"Who came up with this brilliant idea? Who was it?"

"It is Master Xun Yu."

"What? Mr. Xun Yu? What does he do?" Liu Laowu couldn't help but ask.

"Mr. Xun Yu is the Vice Chancellor, and he assists the Eighth Prince along with Mr. Zhuge."

Another prime minister?

What a talent!

Judging from the methods they came up with, both Zhuge Liang and Xun Yu were truly talented individuals!

"You were the first in Liaodong to reclaim the land from the wealthy households. Have you all been allocated land yet?" Liu Laowu asked again.

"I got it! I got it!"

Liu Laowu asked them one by one:

Are you all satisfied with the land you were allocated?

"Satisfied, very satisfied."

If he had only asked one or two households and they were satisfied, that would have been fine. But since everyone he asked was satisfied, Liu Laowu began to have doubts again.

Throughout history, the distribution of benefits has been an eternal problem. Who can distribute everything to everyone to their satisfaction?

There's only so much good land, medium-quality land, and bad land. All of these lands need to be cultivated, so someone will inevitably be assigned bad land, right?

Moreover, how to divide the land is also a problem, as this is the place most prone to disputes. How come the land division is so harmonious in Liaodong?

After asking again, Liu Laowu finally understood why.

"It's all thanks to Mr. Xiao He's excellent management of the grain affairs. He enforces the law fairly, and none of us have any complaints."

Liu Laowu was stunned again. Another Mr. Xiao He had arrived.

How many gentlemen do you have in Liaodong?

What? We came to Liaodong to demand an explanation, but now it seems like we've come to Liaodong to learn from them?