Chapter 66: Worried to Death

  This harvester existed for only one day before Zhao Shi ordered it to be dismantled again. The next day, more than a dozen people were selected from the government office, each carrying a part of the machine out of the gate. Several large iron and wood workshops in Gongzhou, Xiangyi County, Yingtian Prefecture, and other counties suddenly received an urgent order requiring completion within ten days. As a result, the residents nearby suffered, hearing the sounds of axes chopping wood, chisels planing, and hammers pounding metal day and night until deep into the night, disturbing their sleep.

  At the same time, several major handicraft guilds in the local area also became busy. They had to recruit more than 100 skilled and experienced blacksmiths and carpenters within a month. It was not an easy task to find so many people at once, but the employers offered high brokerage fees, so they were happy to take on the trouble, riding horses and sedan chairs every day to poach people from other workshops.

  The Zhao residence is now in an uproar, with people rushing about like chickens and dogs. In order to repair the canal and build a dike, some of the staff have already been mobilized, but it seems that the king still doesn't want to let go of the remaining people. A second mobilization has begun, gathering all men between 14 and 50 years old, regardless of whether they were previously gatekeepers or stable hands, and sending them off for crash training at the workshop. Although people have some complaints, with double pay on offer, everyone is willing to forgive the king's 'nonsense'.

  Time flies, and soon it's May, the weather is getting hotter, the dry ditch has been dredged, several ponds have been dug, and the roadbed along the ditch has been leveled, just waiting for the summer harvest to be paved with stone slabs. The construction site paid wages today and took a big holiday, and the strong men all went back to prepare for the summer harvest and summer sowing.

  In the backyard of the Zhao's residence, Zhao Zhan sat under a large willow tree by the pond, wearing short clothes and a short shirt, with two buns on his head, looking cool and refreshing. He held a fishing rod in his hand, staring at the water as the float bobbed up and down with the ripples. In the wooden bucket beside him, there were two carp about a foot long, flapping around inside, obviously the spoils of his half-day's battle.

  "Second Master, have a sip of sour plum soup to dispel the summer heat!" Jian Xi said as she handed him a cup from behind.

  "Good, it tastes good, you have some too!" Zhao Chu said with a smile after taking a sip.

  "Oh, Second Master is so idle!" At this time, a crisp and clear voice suddenly came, but somehow it carried a hint of sourness.

  "Hehe, Mei sister, didn't I tell you not to disturb me while I'm fishing? Why did you chase the ducks here? Didn't I say we should let them exercise less?" Zhao Yan smiled and greeted her.

  "The ducks have to swim this way, what can I do? They don't understand me when I speak!" Xiao Mei said irritably as she turned out from the flower cluster.

  "Sister Mei, you really look younger and younger, this figure of yours is just like a big girl under twenty! " Xiao Mei wore a pink narrow-sleeved light dress, with two treasures at the opening that seemed to be bursting out of her clothes, and a green silk skirt around her waist, swaying back and forth with her hips, exuding a unique charm.

  "I'm actually still quite young!" Xiao Mei said hastily, almost revealing her true age, and touched her smooth face with a hint of embarrassment.

  "Haha, Mei sister, if I were a bit older, I'd definitely take you in as my wife!" Zhao Ye teased, seeing the delighted yet surprised expression on Zhang's face. But why was Wang Ye so calm today? Normally, whenever someone mentioned his mother, he would jump up like a cat with its tail stepped on and threaten to extort money from them. Was Wang Ye thinking about something else today? No way, Wang Ye is only eight years old, not even in puberty yet!

  "It's probably because the king dislikes her being 'thin', having no fat on her body." Xianji could only think of this reason for the king, but she didn't know that every copper coin on her body had been squeezed dry by the king, and a large stack of IOUs had been accumulated, just waiting for the day when she would sign away her life and become his person.

  "Alright, since Second Master thinks highly of me, I'll get closer to him then!" Xiao Mei was secretly annoyed in her heart, but she smiled brightly and walked over with a flirtatious swaying gait.

  "Mei sister, spare me, I can't stand the smell of duck shit on you!" Zhao Che hastily waved his hand and said in his heart, "It's just because I'm younger, otherwise, even if it were your senior brother speaking to me like this, he would have to be prepared for a fight to the death. This man's jealousy is even greater than a woman's."

  "Hey, it's not your fault, Second Master. If you take me as your personal maid, I promise to make myself smell sweet every day!" Xiao Mei pinched Zhao Che's face and sat down beside him.

  "Haha, I'm so lucky, I have to sleep with my eyes open, and I even need to put a knife under my pillow to prevent you from sneaking into my bed in the middle of the night!" Zhao Yan handed her the sour plum soup he had been drinking.

  "Hmph, I'll just drink this bowl then, so you won't play any tricks on me again!" Xiao Mei snatched the sour plum soup from Zhao Che and gave him a white eye, saying. This little guy had given himself some kind of 'Nine Turns Life-Taking Pill', which had made her nervous for several days. After calming down, she finally realized that all she had eaten was just a few expired dill beans, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

  "Damn it!" Zhao Zhan cursed, finishing off the newly poured drink in one gulp. "Hey, didn't I ask you to raise those ducks for me? How come there are only a few left now?" He suddenly noticed that the number of ducks swimming around in the pond was always just over ten.

  "Bullshit! You're really asking for it!" Xiao Mei glared at Zhao Chu and said.

  "Over a hundred ducks burst to death, more than eighty of them! How did you feed them? You didn't force-feed them, did you?" The ducklings were bought according to Zhao Che's instructions, but even if some of the ducks were stupid and didn't know when they were full, it was unlikely that more than half of them would be so stupid.

  "Hmph, you really guessed it right, the duck was indeed fed too much and died from overeating. But I followed the method that your second master told me to feed it!" Xiao Mei said, sizing up Jian Xi from head to toe.

  "Alas, my mother, how did it come to this? These ducks will be of great use in the future!" Zhao Yi cried with a mournful face and puckered lips.

  "Tsk tsk, your duck isn't made of gold, is it necessary to be like this?" Xiao Mei said with a smile as she looked at Zhao Chu.

  "Although they are not gold, they are also silver. In the future, when they grow up and are cooked, one of them will be worth several hundred coins!" Zhao Yan muttered to himself.

  "Alright, alright, can't I compensate you? I'll write another IOU for you!" Xiao Mei was amused by Zhao Che's teasing, but she also feared he might come up with something else like the chicken and egg problem, so she decided to acknowledge it first.

  "Never mind, you still owe me money and writing more would be useless. I'll buy another hundred ducks and you can raise them instead!" Zhao Yan said with a wave of his hand, magnanimously.

  "If you mention ducks to me again, I'll throw you into the pond and raise you as a duck!" Xiao Mei was getting annoyed. This little devil wasn't letting her raise ducks at all, it was purely to tease her. When the ducks were over a month old, he wouldn't let them forage on their own, but instead had her force-feed them several times a day. How was she supposed to know how much to stuff in? She ended up suffocating the ducks to death. Wasn't this just playing with her?"

  "Alright, I won't say anything more!" Zhao Zhe was really afraid that this Bai Wuchang, who didn't know how to respect his elders or care for the young, would get angry and throw him into the water to cool off. He was also thinking about whether he could raise ducks or not, if there was a problem with the breed of duck. In his past life, he had raised Muscovy ducks on his farm, supplying several large restaurants, and he had even followed some training sessions and observed the production process for roasted ducks. But now, where could he find purebred "Peking ducks"? He estimated that they were still living in the wilds of Daliao. For now, he could only muddle along!

  "Where did you send my senior fellow disciple? Why hasn't he come back in over ten days?" asked Xiao Mei.

  "You owe too much, relying on growing flowers and raising ducks will not be enough to pay back even in a few years. I've given him a job that pays double wages, he'll probably be able to pay this month's interest after working for a while!" Zhao Ke said with a pat on his head.

  "You won't let him go until he's fully recovered, will you!" Xiao Mei said, standing by the side of Jian Xi, who swallowed back half of what she was going to say.

  "Rest assured, I'm a good person, don't worry, I won't let him do anything bad!" Zhao Yan said disdainfully.

  "Second Master, Zheng the steward has arrived!" A small yellow gatekeeper who was guarding the second door came over and whispered a few words in Xianxi's ear, and Xianxi hastily reported.

  "Alas, I'd like to take a break but it's not possible. Let him come here then." Zhao Yan sighed and said.

  "What could you possibly have going on, little brat? You seem busier than the emperor himself!" Xiao Mei coldly hummed as she looked at Zhao Che.

  Zhaoyi Xiangmei lowered her head and sighed, but unusually didn't retort. She had something to say in her heart that couldn't be spoken out loud. The Emperor was busy, but he was busy finding women, seeking immortals, repairing gardens, building Taoist temples... not a single proper matter could be found among them. If only he could manage some proper affairs, would she still need to worry about how to clean up after him in the future?

  "Second Master, 100 harvesters have been assembled and tested in the wheat field today. Using Ma La's words, one hour can harvest ten mu of land. If we get familiar with it, I think we can be even faster!" Zheng Lu, who has just become a regular manager, had just finished dealing with the matters on the construction site and was immediately dispatched to the workshop.

  "Uh, you immediately go to each village and select some clever young people, first teach them how to use it, then send them out. Whoever uses it will go to their home field, and we can appropriately collect a little fee. We can't afford to lose money on equipment and livestock feed!" Zhao Ke nodded and said.

  "Yes, I'll just collect 30 cents for one mu of land. They hire a temporary worker, and even the best ones can only cut three mu of land in a day, and they have to pay 100 cents in wages!" Zheng Lu said cautiously.

  "Alright, you go ahead and handle it. There's one more thing you need to hurry up with: after our harvest is complete, immediately arrange for five machines to head north and five machines to head south. Don't worry about making any money, but make sure others benefit from our harvesting machines. Tell them which factory made the machines!"

  "Second Master, why is this?" Zheng Luonuo was puzzled and asked in confusion.

  "Fool, why do we hire so many craftsmen just to keep them idle? They're supposed to make harvesters, but you've got one sitting on your own kang all the time. Who knows what good things you have here? Are we going to sell it to someone or just keep it for yourself?" Zhao Zhan scolded harshly.

  "Yes, yes, the small ones are foolish, but the wheat in the north of the Second Master's has not been harvested yet, while the southern ones have already been harvested. We went there and it was useless, isn't that so?"

  "Alas, you're really foolish. Are you still pretending to be with me? The wheat harvest is over, but aren't there still early rice crops? Our machine isn't just for harvesting wheat, it can also harvest rice!" Zhao Ke said with a bitter smile. This big manager isn't very useful, unable to fully understand the leader's intentions, and needs to be thoroughly trained.

  "This kid isn't just clever, he's actually got some real skills, and has managed to tame that stubborn official into submission!" As Xiang Mei listened in on the side, she suddenly didn't find Zhao Yan as annoying as before, and her gaze towards him also softened a bit.

  "The prince's life is full of worries, and now nothing in the mansion can be done without him. If one day he really becomes the emperor, won't he be even busier?" Jian Xi glanced at the prince and suddenly thought, bowing his head to take orders from the steward.