mtl008 Chapter 436: Sudden Hail
Chapter 436: Sudden Hail
Everyone talked outside the study for a while and then dispersed. After all, it was autumn and the two little babies couldn't be blown by the cold wind.
"Your Majesty, the 100-day banquet for the two children will be held in two days. Please think of names for the children."
"No."
Xiao Mo held Xiaobao in his arms, sat down at the desk, and took out a stack of names he had written.
"I'm already dazzled and don't know which word to use. Jintang, you should come."
Ye Jintang took the names written by Xiao Mo and looked at them one by one.
Some are poetic, some are ambitious and many of the names are very beautiful.
But in Xiao Mo's opinion, these names are not worthy of his two children.
"As for the names, they don't need to be so complicated. Just use the word 'ping'. The first baby will be named Xiao Pingping and the second baby will be named Xiao An'an."
Xiao Mo looked at Ye Jintang in shock.
"Pingping, isn't it a bit too ordinary? Why do I feel weird about it?"
"Just call it a habit."
Xiao Mo still found it difficult to accept. Xiao Pingping, Xiao Anan, what kinds of names are these?
"Although the two children were born in an imperial family, it would be easier to raise them if they were given ordinary names, so they are called Xiao Pingping and Xiao Anan."
Xiao Mo thought that children of the royal family were the most difficult to raise. His mother had two children before she gave birth to him, and neither of them grew up safely.
For the children of the royal family, growing up safely is the most important thing.
"Okay, then it's settled. Our two children will be named Ping An An."
There was a good cotton harvest before the two children's hundred-day banquet, so Ye Jintang simply followed Xiao Mo's idea and held a banquet.
There were 50 tables set up in the palace, and almost all the important officials in Ningchuan City were invited.
Ye Jintang had someone set up a soup kitchen in the city.
Anyone who is a poor person can come and get a bowl of porridge and two steamed buns.
Afterwards, she had people carry a few baskets of copper coins tied with red ropes and scatter them out to make the people in the city happy as well.
At a banquet, the sound of drums and music rang from morning to night, making the whole day lively.
Pingping and Anan didn't care much about all this. They continued to eat, drink and sleep soundly.
Ye Jintang's face was frozen from smiling the whole day. Everyone said that she was a blessed person, and it was her arrival that brought hope to Ningchuan City.
This year's wheat and cotton both had a good harvest, and the poor people can finally have a peaceful year.
After the two children’s hundred-day banquets, the autumn wind began to blow and the weather became much cooler.
By mid-October, the cabbages in the fields were almost rolled up, and everyone was anxiously storing the cabbages and radishes in the cellar, fearing that if they were a little slow a heavy snow would freeze all the vegetables.
At first, Ye Jintang felt that it was a bit early to harvest in October.
Soon she realized how wise the people who lived in Ningchuan City all year round were.
Just two days after harvesting the cabbages, instead of heavy snow, there was hail.
Hailstones as big as quail eggs fell without warning, and several families who were slow in harvesting cabbages had their cabbages smashed to pieces on the ground.
Such huge hail not only destroyed all the crops, but also smashed the roofs of some farmers' houses which were not strong enough.
Some people were even hit by hail and lost their lives.
Ye Jintang stood in the corridor, listening to the crackling sound of tiles, her heart full of worry.
Ningchuan City is a city of exile. Most of the houses here are built with wooden boards and grass. It is not difficult for such large hailstones to break through the roofs.
And those thatched huts are even more vulnerable. It is hard to say whether they will fall apart after a hailstorm.
Thinking of this, Ye Jintang decided to wait until the weather got better and then renovate all the low and dilapidated houses in the city and replace them with adobe houses.
At least adobe houses can withstand severe cold, and neither hail nor heavy snow will harm the residents inside.
As for farmers living outside the city, she will also find ways to improve their living environment.
A hailstorm caught the entire Ningchuan City population off guard.
The weather cleared up, and Ye Jintang and Xiao Mo rode their horses around the city.
Just as she expected, the wooden houses and thatched houses were all vulnerable, and the roofs of some dilapidated adobe houses were also smashed to pieces.
The only thing that was slightly affected was the tile-roofed house. Such large hail only broke a few tiles, and no one in the house was injured.
"Your Majesty, I want to re-plan the city for the people. Let them demolish these dilapidated houses, and we will help them build stone and wood structure houses."
"There are so many households in Ningchuan City. If we build one by one, how much silver will it cost?"
"We only build it for the people living in this slum. Other families live comfortably in beautiful courtyards and don't need our help at all."
"Uh?"
Xiao Mo was completely confused by what Ye Jintang said.
"The city is so small, and the slums occupy most of the area. After they are demolished, we can build a workshop here. Our current workshop is still too small."
The textile workshop was expanded again and again. The original workshop was too small, so Gu Waner bought two more weaving workshops, which were barely enough.
If the place is big enough, we can directly build a larger weaving workshop so that all the female workers can work together, which will also be convenient for daily management.
After taking a look outside, Ye Jintang returned to the palace and drew a rendering of a three-story building for Xiao Mo.
"Each household can get a two-bedroom or three-bedroom house according to the population. If there are a lot of people, they can get two houses. There should always be room for everyone to live in."
Xiao Mo looked at the drawing that Ye Jintang had just drawn and fell into deep thought.
Ye Jintang on the side did not disturb him. Some things still required him to accept slowly.
There are quite a lot of people who can be accommodated in these three-story buildings, at least it is better than having them squeezed in slums.
And it is a good opportunity to take another look at the number of people living in the slums.
When various workshops were built later, they also became the main labor force.
"Jintang, give me the blueprint first. I'll go discuss it with the advisers."
"Okay, but this needs to be done as soon as possible. If the weather gets colder, there won't be enough time to build a house."
"I see."
Xiao Mo hurried away with the drawings and did not return until evening.
After this matter was finalized, Xiao Mo took advantage of the slack season in farming to directly dispatch a large number of people to make bricks and tiles, and began to build these three-story buildings on a large scale.
With sufficient manpower, a building can be built in three days.
When the soil in Ningchuan City began to freeze, more than 50 small buildings rose from the ground in the slums of Ningchuan City.
Several large workshops were built on the original sites of slums, including those for making weapons, weaving, spinning, and making clothes.
After all the construction work was finished, Ye Jintang and Xiao Mo rode over to see it together.
Looking at the obviously tidy streets, Ye Jintang secretly admired Xiao Mo in his heart. His execution ability was simply amazing. In just over a month, this place had been completely transformed.
"Jintang, this is a great idea. Next year during the slack season, I will continue to arrange for manpower to rebuild Ningchuan City."
"The people in Ningchuan City can have enough food to eat, and the population will definitely increase in the future. Building a three-story building can save a lot of space."
"Yes."