After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 760 - 750: Meat

Fu Tinghan watched her lying half in the field, rolling up the dry grass and stuffing it into the hole, then got up and ran off to the other side, shouting back at him, "Quick, light the fire."

Fu Tinghan watched silently for a while, turned around, walked to another hole, lit the collected dry grass from the field, and placed it at the entrance of the hole.

Seeing the smoke curling up, he thought for a moment, lifted his robe, and fanned the fire, trying to fan the smoke into the hole, but because he was tall, he miscalculated, and the fan was on the smoke instead of into the hole.

Fu Tinghan had to kneel down, using his robe as a fan, aimed at the entrance of the hole, finally managed to fan the smoke inside.

Fu An tugged at the dry grass everywhere, grabbed a handful and saw, hurriedly stuffed the dry grass that was burning into the hole, "Young master, don’t light the fire too much, half-burning and half-not is the best for smoke, just stuff it in the hole."

From a distance, Zhao Hanzhang responded, "Yes, it needs to be half-lit and half-not."

Not long after, Zhao Hanzhang happily exclaimed, "I see the smoke."

As soon as the words fell, a plump gray rabbit shot out of the hole, Zhao Hanzhang moved faster, a gray shadow flashed by, her hand even quicker than her mind, she reached out and pressed down...

Just as she pressed one rabbit, two more rabbits darted out of the hole, she lay prone in the field, kicked with her foot, sending one rabbit flying, then grabbed the rabbit in hand and pounced to pin down another, while Ting He intercepted the other.

The rabbit skillfully darted past Ting He’s feet, breaking through her defenses, she couldn’t help but shout as she chased after it.

Seeing this, Fu An hurried over from the other side to block, as the two scrambled to catch rabbits, Zhao Hanzhang was already standing up holding two rabbits, her eyes sparkling with laughter, "Tonight we eat stir-fried rabbit meat."

Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but smile too, he quickly pulled out two hemp ropes and stepped forward to help her tie the rabbits’ legs, as he tied, he couldn’t resist and touched one of the plump rabbit’s bellies.

Zhao Hanzhang noticed something amiss too, reached out to touch, "Is it pregnant?"

Fu Tinghan: "It seems so."

Zhao Hanzhang regretfully was about to untie the rope to let it go, Fu Tinghan suddenly said, "Now that we are so short of meat, rabbit meat is actually good, and rabbits reproduce quickly, grow fast, faster than chickens, pigs, and sheep."

"You also obtained alfalfa grass from Liu Yi, you can completely raise rabbits on a large scale like cattle and sheep."

Zhao Hanzhang was surprised, "Rabbits can survive just on pasture?"

Fu Tinghan laughed, "Yes, they are omnivorous animals, if you want them to grow faster, you can feed them cabbage, radishes, and other vegetable leaves."

Zhao Hanzhang’s thoughts spread out, "When the weather warms up, cabbage, vegetables, and radishes grow quickly, can harvest a batch in about fifty days, we have plenty of land, even if just sowing seeds as pasture, it’s enough for them to eat."

It’s possible they might not be raised very well, but it can save labor, and there’s meat to eat.

Zhao Hanzhang began to look around, "To plant vegetables, we need to find a place close to water."

Before she found one, Wang Si Niang ran over to report: "Commander, Governor Zhao is here." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Zhao Hanzhang hurriedly handed the tied rabbits over to Ting He and Fu An, who caught the rabbits, and was about to pat off the mud from her body when Zhao Ming led the officials from the road to the field.

Looking at Zhao Hanzhang covered in mud and dust, even with black ash on her nose, Zhao Ming averted his eyes painfully, intending to glance at Fu Tinghan to rest his eyes, but saw a dark patch on his left face, clearly from accidentally touching soot while making a fire.

Zhao Ming sighed, reminding them, "Please, Inspector, tidy up your appearance."

Zhao Hanzhang turned to glance at Fu Tinghan, instinctively touched her left face, thinking about going into the fields later, she simply waved, "This is the badge of labor, we will also be getting into the fields later."

Seeing Zhao Ming displeased, she softly suggested, "Uncle Ming, if you find it unpleasant, why not look at the distance more? Or you could look up at the blue sky."

If it weren’t for the officials and advisors present, Zhao Ming would surely scold her, this time he suppressed his temper, calmly asked, "Commander left the city early in the morning saying you will plow the fields, how many acres have you plowed today?"

Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze wandered, she lightly coughed, and solemnly said, "I noticed there is very little water in the fields, look at these plots, no standing water at all, difficult for the people to water, so the canals really need to be repaired."

Zhao Ming asked calmly, "I see you covered in dust, obviously thought about it carefully, have you planned the layout of the canals, how will you build them?"

Zhao Hanzhang was finally stumped, she turned to look at Fu Tinghan.

Fu Tinghan said, "About twenty yards from here, there is an abandoned canal, the nearby fields are relatively high, if the abandoned canal can be water-bearing, then the fields in this area can be irrigated. We saw it this morning on horseback, the river connected by the abandoned canal has changed, and been blocked by sludge so river water can’t be drawn. To clear the canal, we need to clean up the sludge and weeds in it, and excavate a section to reconnect the river."

Fu Tinghan paused, then said, "I checked the soil near the river, mostly sandy soil, judging by the traces, the river swells every summer, flooding the nearby land, but the autumn and winter recede very quickly, unfavorable for irrigation."

He said, "If possible, expand the river at the canal’s starting point, ideally make a large reservoir, to absorb water from the riverbanks in summer, and ensure irrigation needs in autumn and winter. Of course, cleaning up the river would be even better, alleviating blockages, making the surrounding fields usable for irrigation."

Zhao Ming’s expression softened, looking at the proud Zhao Hanzhang, he was less angry.

He turned and invited Zhao Hanzhang to lead, "Inspector, please, let’s go see the abandoned canal."

Zhao Hanzhang walked in front.

Fu Tinghan followed, the others wisely lagged behind, getting further away, vaguely hearing their governor reprimanding the inspector, "You as the inspector of two states should be steady, running around like a wild child catching rabbits, what’s that about?"

Zhao Hanzhang said, "I am steady, but I’m also flexible, catching rabbits is good practice."

Zhao Ming snorted, "Seems to me you’re just craving meat."

After a pause, Zhao Ming’s tone softened a bit, he said, "The new currency is being implemented smoothly, everyone knows you’re poor, won’t issue new currency recklessly, so they’re willing to transport goods to Yu State, especially after you deployed troops to seize other counties of Si Province, in two months, the merchants traveling to Luoyang have increased more than threefold, even with low commercial taxes, the treasury has gained some surplus, meat, you can afford to eat more."

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head, with a compassionate look, "People are not even having full meals under my rule, how can I think of having a feast of meat?"

Zhao Ming: "Then release the three rabbits you caught."

Zhao Hanzhang said earnestly, "An occasional treat is still permissible."