Chapter 1150: An Unrepayable Kindness

"Fine, I will take a good look around here these next few days. In any case, we must prioritize the matter of farmland. Our Huaxia relies on farming to have what we have today; we must never abandon or look down upon this."

"Although there is cattle and sheep everywhere here, my father once told me a saying: 'Even with a fortune of ten thousand strings of cash, things with fur don't count.' Once a problem arises, this wealth could potentially vanish in an instant."

Ce nodded in agreement, but still asked doubtfully: "Prince, what does this 'fortune of ten thousand strings of cash, things with fur don't count' that you just mentioned mean? I don't quite understand."

"In any case, the general meaning is that no matter how much wealth you have, livestock with fur cannot be counted in it. You will understand the term 'ten thousand strings of cash' in the future; it is just a unit of measurement, like a jin. You can think of it as ten thousand jin of grain."

Changle explained it casually, and Ce understood it as well, then firmly committed this saying to memory. In the future, he would use it at any time; as long as it was something the Prince said, it must surely have profound meaning.

The group chatted as they walked, and soon they reached the place where people lived. At this time, the others in the camp also came out to welcome and kneel before Changle. Changle, riding on his ox, casually gestured for them to rise.

Yishang and the others did not dare to remain mounted while receiving the greeting and could only dismount to walk. Only Changle and Ayuduo remained on their oxen. After all, Ayuduo was also Chiyou's daughter; she was not the least bit timid in such a scene and accepted it quite naturally.

Ce and the others also introduced to the Residents that Ayuduo was the Princess Consort, the Prince's wife, and told them to recognize her clearly and so on. After all, the two of them would be living here for a long time, and there must absolutely be no one who offended the Prince and Ayuduo.

The higher they went, the flatter the terrain became. Changle also got off his ox to walk, and the oxen of their group were also led away by others to be cared for.

The place was not large, and they could finish looking at it quickly. Looking at the somewhat crude and dim houses, Changle was still full of worry for everyone's life. The wooden houses were wrapped in mud and looked very dilapidated, appearing even worse than the areas around Huaxia City.

Ce also led Changle and the others to his own house. One point that Changle was relatively satisfied with was that for these officials, their houses were only a bit larger, but they were not built to be very luxurious; they were exactly the same as everyone else's.

The most luxurious houses were merely a row of offices. Because of the limitations in construction ability, such earth-and-wood structure houses, combined with the fact that the techniques were not very good, could not be built too large, so they could only be built in a row to increase office space.

On the wall of each house, a door was opened so that it could be connected to the other houses. If they could not build a large single-room house, then they would build it as a complex.

Every area was complete, and every department had an office. Although it looked very crude and the lighting was extremely poor, it was still better than nothing. In the Summer, they could open doors and windows to get sunlight, but in the Winter, it was a bit difficult; not a single ray of light could get in.

If they wanted to work and have light, they could only use Oil Lamps. Fortunately, there was nothing here that needed to be handled, and the workload of mental labor was very small. Once Winter arrived, it was even more so; the vast majority of work could not be done, and they could only stay at home and grow fat.

Seeing their somewhat difficult environment, Changle promised on the spot: "Ce, I have looked at your environment here; it is indeed very difficult. As for some necessary items, after I go back, I will write a requisition for you, especially Glass. The houses you live in yourselves might not be able to have Glass; after all, at such a long distance, it is very difficult to transport Glass, and the cost is too high."

"But for your offices, I can definitely get it for you. I will strive to have your offices all bright and clear by next year, so that it will be convenient for you to work."

Ce and the other leaders hurriedly smiled and thanked Changle. For them, this was truly great news. If they had Glass, they would not have to be so miserable.

In the Summer, when they opened doors and windows, they had to guard against mosquitoes, and in the Winter, they did not even dare to open the doors and windows for fear of freezing to death.

"Where are your warehouses? Take me to see them. How are your food reserves and such now? It shouldn't be much of a problem to eat until the beginning of Spring, right?"

Ce hurriedly led the way in front. At the same time, Xiaohe, the young man responsible for the economy and finance of the Western Development Group, also introduced to Changle: "Prince, there is definitely no problem with having grain until the beginning of Spring."

"Besides the grain we brought from Huaxia, at the same time, we have not been idle here. We have also been hunting and gathering. There are also many fish in the river bend of the Grassland, and the difficulty of hunting is not high."

"At the same time, after we arrived, we were gathering wild vegetables, and then we also carried out salt-pickling for storage. The current vegetable storage is also enough to eat until the beginning of Spring, enough to guarantee Winter vegetables for the entire Regiment."

"Also, when we were harvesting Grass, we also discovered that there is an extremely large amount of Nostoc commune here. Now we arrange for women and children to pick it in safe places nearby every day. Every day we can collect more than ten jin, and after soaking and expanding, the quantity is even greater."

"I even think we can take some back to Huaxia City. There is not as much Nostoc commune over in Huaxia as there is here, and the King also loves to eat Nostoc commune."

Changle laughed loudly and patted Xiaohe on the shoulder: "Good, good! I didn't expect you to still remember that my father loves to eat this. However, the conditions here are much more difficult now. I won't take any of the food from here back; you all keep it to eat."

"Even if there is less Nostoc commune in Huaxia City, it is impossible for my father to be lacking, right? Besides, it doesn't matter if my father eats one less meal, but I cannot let you all go hungry."

"Prince..."

Everyone was moved by Changle's words. Ce and the others wanted even more for Changle to take some of the Nostoc commune back, insisting that the food here was sufficient and they would definitely not go hungry.

Changle could not overcome the group and finally relented: "Fine, since you all guarantee it so much and have this heart, then let's do this: take a little bit of each of the wild vegetables and such. You don't need too much, just a little is enough."

"I will take it back for my father to eat and say that this is the output of the Western Development Group and also the heart of you people. Just let my father have a taste; knowing what you all eat will also allow him to understand you a bit better."

"That's great! Thank you, Prince! Thank you, Prince!"

Ce and his group, hearing that Changle had finally relented, were almost moved to tears. As long as the King could eat the food produced here, what did it matter if they went hungry? The King's kindness was something they could never repay.