As soon as March began, the weather in Yongzhou suddenly became hot, just like the hottest June day, when the scorching sun was in the sky at noon, the air conditioner was turned off, and it was so hot that people didn't scratch it.

Early in the morning, Xu Ping watched the growth of vegetables in the vegetable patch in his yard, and Xiuxiu and Gao Daquan followed behind pulling weeds.

The dew wets the trouser corners, the legs and feet are cold, and the breath of the refreshing fragrance of the vegetable field is refreshing from head to toe, from the inside to the outside.

Xiuxiu pulled the grass, glanced at the red sun that had poked its head out of the sky, and pouted: "I hate it, the sun is out again!" Official, it's only March, and it's as hot as June in our Central Plains. If it continues to heat like this, Xiuxiu will be roasted. ”

Gao Daquan wiped the sweat from his forehead and said to Xiuxiu: "How can it be hot all the time?" If you want me to see it, that's it, it's just that it's hotter than the Central Plains for a longer time. ”

Xiuxiu asked Xu Ping: "Official, do you say what Brother Gao said is true?" ”

"It's hot here for ten out of twelve months a year, and Gao Daquan said about the same."

"That's fine, otherwise how would we stay here?"

Xiuxiu said as she carefully picked the chili peppers beside her, and said to Gao Daquan: "Brother Gao, you go and get a basket, this chili pepper should be picked again." ”

Gao Daquan answered, turned and left.

Xu Ping asked Xiuxiu with a smile: "I have been growing in the village for so many years, and I usually ask you to eat a little like feeding poison, why can't you leave this pepper for a day when you arrive in Yongzhou?" ”

Xiuxiu thought about it, but didn't come up with a reason, shook her head and said: "I don't know, when I was in the Central Plains, I thought this thing was unpalatable, did I find myself guilty!" When you get here, especially when it's hot, you can't eat without chili peppers. Well, I can't figure out why. ”

"The spicy taste is appetizing, the climate of this place is hot and humid, eat two chili peppers, and force out the poisonous gas in the body, so that you will feel comfortable. Xiuxiu, this is one side of the water and soil to raise one side of the people, and there are local tastes in various places. Eat chili peppers twice a day, and the miasma will hide from you! ”

made up reasons to coax Xiuxiu, Xu Ping also sighed in his heart. The peppers themselves have been planted for many years, and they did not cultivate a spicy one when they were in Zhongmu, and when they arrived in Yongzhou, they couldn't eat a few times, Xiuxiu and Gao Daquan were not happy, and they regarded the peppers in this field as a treasure.

Later generations were densely populated, the miasma disappeared, and most of the people in Liangguang had a light taste, and only the people in the deep mountains were spicy and acid-hungry, and this diet could effectively resist the harm of the harsh natural environment. Yongzhou here is sparsely populated, and even the city of Yongzhou is similar to the environment in the mountains in later generations, and people only need to eat chili peppers once in hot and humid weather.

The liquor has been steamed in several large vats one after another, Xu Ping did not rush to sell it, found a cool place to store it, and sank the fragrance out.

There is very little sorghum here, most of it is used as fodder for horses, and it is difficult to find raw materials for liquor, so it is difficult to ensure continuous production of liquor. From the time of the Central Plains, Xu Ping brought some seeds suitable for local crops in later generations, in addition to the current ground planted with peppers, tomatoes and other vegetables, the most important thing is corn, of course, sweet sorghum and alfalfa These grass seeds are also not missing, I don't know if it is suitable for planting here.

Officials have job fields as a subsidy for foreign officials. Yongzhou is a Jiedu state, and Cao Keming, the governor of the prefecture, has 15 hectares of land, Xu Ping has 8 hectares, and other officials of all sizes range from 2 to 5 hectares.

The vocational field was in the hands of the general judge, and it was rented out to collect rent. In this place of Yongzhou, it is not even popular to cultivate the land before planting, how much can you collect rent? After Xu Ping came, he collected all of them, planted corn, and after harvesting them, as raw materials for winemaking, the income must be more than renting out, and officials at all levels thanked him when collecting the money.

The sun climbed overhead, and the scorching sun poured down, steaming the moisture in the field, and it was impossible to stay outside. Xu Ping returned to the house and said to Gao Daquan, who followed up: "It's really hot, has the deep well I asked you to take someone to dig a few days ago has been drilled?" ”

Gao Daquan wiped his sweat: "It was done the day before yesterday, and Tan Jie is taking people to Tao in the past two days?" ”

"Is the water coming out cold?"

"It's cold, just out of the well to wash your face, comfortable to the bones."

Xu Ping nodded: "Okay, let's take a look." ”

In the backyard, Tan Hu and a few soldiers were drawing water around a well, and when they saw Xu Ping and Gao Daquan coming, they hurriedly came up to salute.

Xu Ping went to the well, looked at the water coming out of the well, it was already clear and clear, and said, "It's almost, you've worked hard in the past few days." In the evening, Yuxian Building opened, and a table of good dishes was reserved for you. ”

Tan Hu hurriedly came up and thanked him. These days, they are making wine under the guidance of Xu Ping and Gao Daquan, and they also secretly drink two sips from time to time, and they covet the several large vat of liquor in storage, just waiting for today.

Xu Ping's small courtyard has five main rooms, and two deep wells are drilled not far away, Xu Ping has seen them one by one, and said to Tan Hu: "Didn't I let you cast a lot of tin pipes?" Let people carry in. ”

Dozens of tin pipes were piled up at the edge of the well, and Gao Daquan asked curiously: "Official, what are you doing with so many tin pipes?" Even if you add a few steamed wine retorts, you won't need so much. ”

Xu Ping checked the tin pipe, and said without raising his head: "Because I can't stand this ghost weather anymore, I can make an air conditioner in the house early to save a few months of suffering." ”

"What is an air conditioner?"

"Oh," Xu Ping stood up and replied casually, "It is to cool down in the house, so that people will not feel hot when they stay." You work hard, and after two months, the restaurant will make money, and I will install one in your house. ”

Seeing that it was still early, Xu Ping commanded Gao Daquan and Tan Hu to install tin pipes.

In this era, Xu Ping couldn't make a compressor or make a real air conditioner, but it was barely possible to make a water-cooled air conditioner using the cold water in the deep well. Yizhou, north of Yongzhou, is rich in tin and lead, and in addition to paying tribute every year, the rest are allowed to be sold in other places, and the price is much cheaper than that of the capital, which is just used by Xu Ping.

The water is drawn in the form of a chain with a water cylinder, which is powered by an unusable Dali horse. Originally, it was better to use a donkey, but unfortunately it was humid and stuffy, so it was not suitable for raising donkeys.

After the water is drawn out of the deep well, it enters and is led to the house through large bamboo pipes, and is discharged from the other side of the room through tin pipes arranged vertically and horizontally. In order to increase the cooling effect, Xu Ping added several cut-off fans behind the tin tubes, which were driven by another horse.

By the time it was ready, it was past noon, which was the hottest time of the day. The sun scorched the land in front of the door, and the water vapor steamed, and the sky and the earth were like a steamer.

Xiuxiu stood in front of the tin pipe, curiously touched the tin pipe with her hand, waited until the water flowed, and shouted happily: "Sure enough, there is cool air!" ”

After a stick of incense, the water flow became normal, and the temperature near the tin pipe dropped significantly, Xiuxiu put her little face on the tin pipe and said to Xu Ping: "Official, it's so cool and comfortable here!" ”

Xu Ping smiled and ignored her. The water-cooled air conditioner is dark and damp, and the refrigeration effect is still very good, if the depth of the well is appropriate, it is no less than the normal air conditioner.

After the water flow was normal, Tan Hu took the soldier and took another horse to go up, and spun up with the fan behind the tin pipe.

A trace of cool air emanated from the tin tube and was fanned into the distance. The humidity in the house was too great, and the cool breeze brought out a puff of mist, and Xiuxiu felt amazing when she looked at it.

After a while, Xiuxiu shook her body by the tin pipe and said to Xu Ping: "Official, I feel so cold, how can this be done?" ”

Xu Ping said angrily: "Why are you standing there when you feel cold?" Why don't you stay away? Come to the window and see if it's still cold! ”

Everything was not in order, Gao Daquan and Tan Hu came in, and as soon as they entered the house, they first made a stir: "It's so cool in this room, it's really like being in heaven!" ”

Xu Ping sat down at the table, leaned back in the chair and felt it for a while, and nodded: "Yes, there is that meaning." With this set of devices, Lingnan can also stay. ”

said to Tan Hu: "Starting tomorrow, you go and borrow a few conscripts, and make a set for the general judgment hall as you like." As soon as March begins, it takes several hours for the state government to rest in the summer, and how many official duties are missed. When this set of things is installed, there is no need to rest at noon to escape the heat, and everyone is happy when they rest early in the afternoon. ”

In the capital, in June, the officials all have summer vacation, and when it is time to go to work, they also take the morning and evening, and the officials hide at noon to rest in the cold. Guangxi is almost hot all year round, and there is no summer vacation, and when the office is cool in the morning and evening since March, there is no ghost in the government during the day. This kind of work and rest system is to avoid the heat, but at night when the city is lively, the officials are working, and it is also very painful.

As for the other office locations in the state government, Xu Ping can't manage it, and now there is no minister's money, so he still pays out of his own pocket, and it is impossible to help others do it.

After taking a cool ride in the house for a while, Gao Daquan pulled Tan Hu aside, muttering that he would also install a set in the place where they lived. The two of them managed Xu Ping's personal soldiers, lived together, and at night the two big men were in a room, so hot that they couldn't wear clothes, and they were not less embarrassed. Especially Gao Daquan, who grew up in the north since he was a child, where can he stand this kind of weather. Summer in the north is also hot, but it is dry and hot, and the wind is blowing, as long as you don't bask in the sun, you can sit under the shade of the trees and get through the summer comfortably. Where is it like here, it is hot and damp, and the sweat on my body is constant from morning to night, and there is nowhere to hide.

Tan Hu listened to Gao Daquan's meaning, frowned and said: "What Brother Gao said is good, but I don't have any savings, you see that set of tin pipes costs a lot of money." ”

Gao Daquan secretly glanced at Xu Ping and scolded in a low voice: "You are stupid! If you can't afford tin, we can just use a few bamboo branches and it will be over! ”

"How's that going to work? Bamboo branches won't be cool! You see that tin pipes are used when steaming wine, what the officials do must make sense, where you can change it casually! ”

Gao Daquan glanced at Xu Ping again, and said in Tan Hu's ear: "The tin tube can also be used, as long as you accompany a careful person to ask the official, he will definitely give you money, and the official has always been generous to his subordinates." ”

Tan Hu looked at Gao Daquan and said vigilantly: "Why don't you ask?" You have followed the officials from the Central Plains to here, and you have followed the officials for many years, and you are not as big as me. ”

Gao Daquan sighed: "It's not that I won't go, the official has already said that it will take two months to install it in our house." The words have been spoken, how else can I say it? It's hot now, and I won't have to go crazy for two months! You're also a member of the official's side now, just go and say it. ”

Tan Hu listened to Gao Daquan's words, half-convinced, and reluctantly nodded.