Twenty-three, tang gua nian.
Twenty-four, sao fang zi.
Twenty-five, mo dou fu.
Twenty-six, qu mai rou.
Twenty-seven, sha gong ji.
Twenty-eight, ba mian fa.
Twenty-nine, zheng man tou.
Thirty, ao yi xiu, chu yi chu er man jie zou.
On New Year's Day, Fang Er, holding Fang Xiaoya wrapped in a down quilt, sat in the front hall, receiving New Year's greetings from the heads of various districts.
Chai Yue sat at his lower hand, handing out large red envelopes.
Xing'er stood by with Fang Xin, and the family was only missing Xiao Qing who was still recuperating.
Fang Xiaoya was the nickname Fang Er gave his daughter; her full name was Fang Xia, Xia of Huaxia.
Greetings to Duke and Madam!
Happy New Year, Duke! Happy New Year, Madam!
Little Lady Xia is so beautiful!
Greetings to Young Duke!
Fang Er's face was aching from smiling all day from all the auspicious words.
After Zhao Gang and the others, a man walked from the back of the crowd, it was Fang Da, whom Fang Er had sent to the First Division long ago.
Greetings to Duke, greetings to Madam.
Fang Da's demeanor was completely different from before, exuding the aura of a battle-hardened soldier.
Big Brother, come quickly and see, this is our Fang family's sprout!
Upon hearing his address, Fang Er first shot him a glare, then walked over to Fang Da with Xiaoya in his arms.
Fang Da was not yet married, let alone had a child. Upon seeing Fang Xiaoya, his eyes instantly welled up.
In front of Fang Er, he dared not hope for family affection, after all, his own father had gone too far.
However, family affection is not something that simply vanishes; when suppressed for too long, it ferments like wine.
The moment he saw Fang Xiaoya, he felt that his guilt towards Fang Er had found an object of compensation.
Fang Xin, that little fellow, was the future successor of the Duke of An Guo's mansion, and he didn't need to do anything for him. But this little girl in front of him, he could protect her well.
Here, Big Brother, you hold her!
Fang Er was delighted for everyone in the world to share his joy. This was his little padded jacket, the kind filled with down, incredibly warm!
Fang Da repeatedly retreated, shaking his head and refusing, "No, no, no, I'm so clumsy, don't hurt Xiaoya."
When she grows up, I'll be her guard!
Fang Er was stunned, and Chai Yue was also stunned.
Seeing that the couple remained silent, Fang Da's expression turned somewhat dejected after a while, "Then, then Erlang, if there's nothing else, I'll go back to training."
Big Brother, please stay! Just as he was about to leave, he heard Fang Er's voice.
He turned around, a hint of confusion in his eyes, and saw Fang Er smile faintly at him.
Big Brother, your intentions are appreciated. If that's the case, starting today, you shall move into the mansion and no longer need to return to the First Division.
From now on, you will train alongside Xuance and the others.
His soul came from a later era. Even though there were rifts between the two branches, Fang Da was blameless.
Therefore, when Fang Da spoke of being Xiaoya's guard, Fang Er was quite touched.
Yes! Thank you, Duke, for your approval. I'll go report to Captain Wang right away! After receiving permission, Fang Da excitedly saluted Fang Er and then ran out.
Without waiting for Fang Er to reply again, he turned and rushed out.
After the New Year's greetings, Chai Yue took Xing'er and Xiaoya back to the rear courtyard.
Zhao Gang and the others who remained in the front hall began to report on the work achievements of the fourth year of Zhenguan.
With phased construction, the railways had connected Youzhou, Xingzhou, and Xiangzhou. They were only separated from Shenyang by a tunnel that was not yet fully completed.
Most importantly, the construction over the past six months had trained countless skilled craftsmen. With the old mentoring the new, the progress of the project was improving daily.
In the power workshop, two locomotives and over a dozen carriages had been produced. As soon as the tunnel was completed, they could be put into use, establishing a transportation channel from Shenyang to Xiangzhou.
In recent times, five more helicopters had been built, bringing the total to sixteen. Li Shimin's order had been half-fulfilled.
As for the Yun II rifles, they were expected to be delivered and equipped to the various military inspectorates by March of spring.
When settling accounts with the stingy old Fang, this payment had not yet been collected because the delivery was not fully completed.
The reserve of rocket launchers had reached an astonishing over 30,000 rounds. If operating at full capacity, it would only take minutes to destroy a country like Sasanian Persia.
The statistics from the bank were also very encouraging. By the time the five branches closed for business in the twelfth lunar month before the year's end.
The five branches had collectively absorbed over seven million guan in deposits and issued loans totaling nearly thirteen million guan.
The money released was not directly in cash, but rather in the form of small deposit slips.
These small deposit slips of one, five, and ten guan had now been widely accepted by merchants traveling from all directions.
After all, compared to copper coins and silver, these were more convenient to carry, and could be exchanged at any time in Shenyang, Chang'an, Bianzhou, Dengzhou, and Yangzhou.
In the sheep farm, thousands of first-generation crossbred ewes had now been bred. Once a batch of rams was released in the spring, second-generation improvements could be made.
Those that were culled, too inferior, or had congenital problems, were kept as meat for the mansion and the Tianhuo Army.
Those of ordinary quality, but not yet sufficient for breeding, were in high demand at the market.
Most importantly, was another matter reported by Hao Jianshe.
The Yellow River Bridge, although not yet completed, had its piers constructed under the supervision and design of Li Chun.
Connecting Zheng County to Yangwu County, each pier was as thick as three people embracing, with one every fifty meters, and three piers laid horizontally.
The Yellow River Bridge, spanning nearly fifteen li and thirty meters wide, had nearly five hundred cement piers driven into the ground.
Each one was twenty meters deep!
For over half a year, they had been pouring piers.
These piers alone had consumed a massive amount of rebar and cement, and the Shenyang Cement Workshop and the Chang'an Huishan Cement Workshop, operating at full capacity, were still insufficient.
Finally, Hao Jianshe proactively contacted Du Yiyang, the Minister of Works, and obtained a large amount of cement.
In Li Chun's words, the bridge deck could be constructed at any time, but the piers could only be built at this time of severe drought.
Where is Li Chun? Fang Er asked after hearing Hao Jianshe's report.
Reporting to the Duke, he is still in Zheng County, saying he is not at ease to leave.
Send a few people there to take good care of him. Once this bridge is successfully erected, it will be a miracle in the history of Chinese construction!
Not only Li Chun, but you, and all the craftsmen involved in building the bridge, will be recorded in history!
In the future, more bridges will be built!
The responsibility is immense, make sure Li Chun takes good care of his health.
When the bridge is completed, I will invite the Emperor to personally bestow an award upon him!
Yes, I have noted it. Hao Jianshe nodded repeatedly.