Fu Tinghan watched her half-lying in the field, rolling up dry grass and stuffing it into a hole to block it. Then she got up and ran toward the other side, turning back to shout at him as she ran, “Hurry and light the fire.”
Fu Tinghan silently watched for a while, then turned and walked to another hole. He lit the dry grass collected from the field and placed it at the hole entrance.
Seeing smoke rising in wisps, he thought for a moment, then lifted his robe and used it to fan, trying to fan all the smoke into the hole. But because he was tall, his estimate was off—the wind fanned above the smoke but didn’t go into the hole.
Fu Tinghan could only kneel down, using his robe as a fan, aiming at the hole entrance to fan. Finally the smoke was fanned inside.
Fu An was gathering dry grass everywhere. He brought over a handful and saw this, immediately stuffing the dry grass into the hole. “Young Master, this fire doesn’t need to be fully lit. Half-lit, half-not is what produces the most smoke. Just stuff it in the hole.”
From a distance, Zhao Hanzhang responded, “Right, it should be half-lit, half-not.”
Before long, Zhao Hanzhang called out happily, “I see smoke!”
Her words had barely fallen when a plump gray-white rabbit suddenly shot out from the hole. Zhao Hanzhang’s speed was even faster. The gray-white figure flashed by, and her hand moved faster than her brain—she reached forward and pressed down…
She had just pressed down on one when another two shot out from the hole. She lay prone in the field and kicked out, sending one of the fleeing rabbits flying, then grabbed the rabbit in her hand and pounced forward to press down on it. The other one was intercepted by Ting He.
That rabbit nimbly darted past Ting He’s feet, breaking through her defensive line. Ting He couldn’t help but cry out, chasing after it at full speed.
Seeing this, Fu An hurried from the other side to intercept. The two fumbled clumsily after the rabbit while Zhao Hanzhang had already stood up, holding a rabbit in each hand. She smiled with eyes full of stars. “We’ll have stir-fried rabbit meat for dinner tonight.”
Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but smile as well. He hurried forward with two hemp ropes to help her tie up the rabbits’ legs. As he tied them, he couldn’t resist touching the belly of one of the plump rabbits.
Zhao Hanzhang also noticed something was off and felt it as well. “Is this one pregnant?”
Fu Tinghan said, “Should be.”
Zhao Hanzhang felt quite regretful and was about to untie the rope to release it when Fu Tinghan suddenly said, “Right now we’re so short of meat. Actually, rabbit meat is quite good. Moreover, rabbits reproduce quickly and grow fast—faster than chickens, pigs, or sheep.”
“You obtained alfalfa grass from Liu Yi. You could raise rabbits on a large scale just like raising cattle and sheep.”
Zhao Hanzhang was surprised. “Rabbits can survive just eating pasture?”
Fu Tinghan smiled. “Yes, they’re omnivorous animals. If you want them to grow faster, you can also feed them cabbage, radishes, and other vegetable leaves.”
Zhao Hanzhang’s thoughts expanded. “Once the weather warms up, cabbage, greens, and radishes all grow very quickly—about fifty days for one harvest. We have lots of land. Even just scattering seeds to grow them as pasture would be enough for them to eat.”
It’s just that they might not raise them very well, but it could save manpower. And they’d have meat to eat!
Zhao Hanzhang began looking around. “To grow vegetables, we need to find somewhere close to water.”
Before she could find a spot, Wang Siniang came running to report. “Governor, Commandery Governor Zhao has arrived.”
Zhao Hanzhang hurriedly handed the tied-up rabbits to Ting He and Fu An who had caught a rabbit and come over. She was about to brush the mud off herself when Zhao Ming had already walked from the road into the field with the officials.
Looking at Zhao Hanzhang covered head to toe in mud and dust, even her nose tip smudged with black ash, Zhao Ming averted his eyes in pain. He planned to look at Fu Tinghan to rest his eyes, but saw he had a big black smudge on his left cheek—clearly from carelessly getting it while tending the fire.
Zhao Ming sighed and reminded them both, “Please tidy your appearance, Inspector.”
Zhao Hanzhang turned to glance at Fu Tinghan. Subconsciously touching her left cheek, she thought that they’d be going into the fields soon anyway, so she simply waved her hand dismissively. “These are the medals of labor. We’ll be going into the fields shortly anyway.”
Seeing Zhao Ming’s displeasure, she quietly suggested, “If Uncle Zhao Ming finds it hard on the eyes, why not look at the distance more? Or you could look up at the blue sky.”
If there weren’t officials and advisors present, Zhao Ming would definitely scold her. This time he suppressed his temper and calmly asked, “The Governor left the city early this morning saying she would go plow the fields. I wonder how many acres the Governor has plowed today?”
Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze drifted. She cleared her throat and said seriously, “I looked at the water in the fields—there’s very little. Look at these fields—not a bit of standing water. It’s difficult for the common people to irrigate, so these irrigation channels still need to be built.”
Zhao Ming calmly asked, “I see the Inspector is covered in dust—clearly you’ve given this serious thought. Have you planned the route of the channels and how to construct them?”
Zhao Hanzhang was finally stumped. She turned to look at Fu Tinghan.
Fu Tinghan said, “Twenty-some zhang from here there’s an abandoned channel. The nearby fields are at relatively high elevation. If the abandoned channel can carry water, then all the fields in this area can be irrigated. We rode out on horses this morning to look. The abandoned channel originally connected to a river that has changed course and been blocked by silt, so it can’t draw river water. To make the channel functional, we need to clear the silt and weeds from the abandoned channel and dig further forward to reconnect it to the river.”
Fu Tinghan paused, then continued, “I examined the soil near the riverway—it’s primarily sandy soil. From the traces, every summer the river floods and that area gets submerged, but in autumn and winter the water recedes very quickly. This isn’t conducive to irrigation.”
He said, “If possible, we could expand the riverway at the starting point of the channel. Best would be to create a large water retention pond. This way in summer it can absorb water that floods onto the banks, and also ensure water for irrigation in autumn and winter. Of course, if we could also clear the riverway itself, that would be even better. This would ease the silting problem, and the fields near the riverway could all be used and have convenient water access.”
Zhao Ming’s expression softened. Looking at the proud-faced Zhao Hanzhang, he wasn’t so angry anymore.
He turned and gestured for Zhao Hanzhang to proceed. “Please, Inspector. Let us go examine the abandoned channel.”
Zhao Hanzhang took the lead.
Fu Tinghan followed. The others all tactfully fell behind, and moreover increasingly distant. They could only vaguely hear their commandery governor quietly scolding the Inspector. “As the Inspector of two provinces, you should prioritize dignity and composure. What kind of behavior is it to run around everywhere catching rabbits like a wild boy?”
Zhao Hanzhang said, “I am composed. But I’m also flexible. Catching rabbits can train one’s reflexes.”
Zhao Ming snorted. “I think you’re just craving meat.”
After pausing, Zhao Ming’s tone softened somewhat. “The new currency is being implemented very smoothly. Everyone knows you’re poor and won’t indiscriminately mint new coins, so they’re all willing to transport goods to Yuzhou. Especially after you sent troops to occupy other commanderies in Sizhou, in just these two months, merchants traveling the road to Luoyang have increased more than threefold. Even though the commercial taxes you collect are low, the treasury has become much more comfortable. Meat—you can eat more of it.”
Zhao Hanzhang shook her head with a compassionate expression. “When the common people under my governance haven’t even had their fill of rice, how can I think about feasting on meat?”
Zhao Ming said, “Then release those three rabbits you caught.”
Zhao Hanzhang’s face turned serious. “Occasionally having a bit of meat is still acceptable.”