The Land God Temple east of the city was a fairly large temple, situated at the foot of a low earthen ridge spanning roughly a hundred zhang in every direction, less than a li from East City's gate.
A man-made river wound its way past nearby.
In this great world, Demons and Monsters often ran rampant through the wilderness. Naturally, humanity's various nations and regional powers had devised many ways to deal with them.
Within the Great Ming Dynasty, sturdy, towering city walls had basically been built around every town and city, with City Protection Arrays laid out as well.
Every official town had more or fewer canals, or medium-to-large water channels, to meet the city's water needs.
Even in places constrained by their terrain and environment, where no outside water source could be diverted in, many deep wells had been dug.
Most of the labor conscripted by the authorities each year was used to clear and maintain the rivers, canals, and ditches both inside and outside the cities.
In recent years, the climate had changed drastically, and droughts across the land had grown ever more severe. This was especially true in the northwestern regions of the Great Ming Dynasty, where many large and small waterways had dried up.
The little river beside the Land God Temple Li Dingguo and the others had just arrived at held only a thin layer of water along its bed, like a mountain stream.
It appeared that within less than a month, it would dry up completely and cease to flow.
In the Land God Temple's rear courtyard stood a large deep well. Its water was still fairly plentiful, so the several dozen orphan beggars who usually gathered here to live did not yet need to worry about having no water to drink.
Looking at this dilapidated Land God Temple, where incense had long since ceased to curl through the air, Li Dingguo, who had lived here for three years, felt his emotions churn in a complicated tangle.
He first had Tang Guangqiang and Cao Yongxiang lead the Martial Artist youths in distributing the coarse cloth clothes and straw sandals they had just bought.
The six large water buckets and several bars of soap they had just purchased were divided equally between the boys and girls and handed out as well.
"Take turns going to the well in the rear courtyard first. Boys and girls separately, in batches. Draw water and carry it back to your rooms, wash yourselves clean, and change into your new clothes."
He looked at the orphan beggars before him and said loudly, "The overwhelming majority of illnesses are caught because people usually do not care about hygiene."
"If you do not want to fall sick in the future, then strictly do as I say!"
"I'll have people help build two large latrines in the open spaces on either side of the Land God Temple's rear courtyard next, one for men and one for women."
"From now on, no one is allowed to relieve themselves wherever they please! If you need to go, remember to use the latrine!"
"Did you hear me clearly?"
His tone was stern as he barked at the little beggars.
"Got it, Boss!"...
His prestige among these orphan beggars was extremely high. Now that he deliberately released the full aura of a Martial Artist at his peak, he frightened his little companions into responding again and again.
Li Dingguo waved to Tang Guangqiang and Cao Yongxiang, signaling for the two of them to direct the others and maintain order.
Every boy and girl who received new clothes and straw sandals had joy written all over their faces.
Under Tang Guangqiang and Cao Yongxiang's constant shouting, they split into two groups by gender and went to line up beside the well, taking turns drawing water with wooden buckets and carrying it back to their rooms to bathe.
Two large side rooms in the Land God Temple, each with drainage outlets, were temporarily used as male and female bathhouses to avoid any embarrassing incidents.
Once he saw that everything had fallen into place and become orderly, Li Dingguo directed the remaining nearly ten Martial Artist youths to begin a thorough cleaning of the Land God Temple.
They also gathered scattered pieces of wood and took them into the rear courtyard. After selecting two suitable spots, he had the Martial Artist youths dig pits and erect two large latrines.
These Martial Artist youths each possessed several hundred jin of strength now. As long as someone directed them, such miscellaneous chores were no challenge at all.
Li Dingguo, who came from twenty-first-century Earth, understood the necessity of hygiene better than anyone and valued it more than anyone.
He had his own plans, but for now, he could not speak of them to others.
If he wanted to survive in this chaotic twilight of an empire—and live better and better—he could not possibly rely on himself alone.
There were many matters that, even if one wished to preserve one's wisdom and integrity and merely cling to life, one could not stay out of.
In troubled times, the only things one could rely on were one's own mind and martial strength, and whether one had a loyal, dependable armed force under one's command.
With a Cheat System, his growth would certainly not be slow. Why should he fear any challenge?
It was necessary to standardize all the good living habits within the future team as soon as possible.
The early stages of any venture started by common folk were always the hardest.
But once a complete set of procedures and methods had taken shape, and there were capable people under one's command, growth and expansion in the middle and later stages would become easier and easier.
By the time everyone had finished busying themselves, it was already noon.
The young men and women who had bathed, changed into new clothes, and put on straw sandals gathered again in the open space of the Land God Temple's rear courtyard, their faces brimming with delight.
"Tang Guangqiang, have the sixteen strings of cash from earlier been used up?"
Li Dingguo asked Tang Guangqiang, who had come to his side.
"Boss, the money isn't all gone yet."
Tang Guangqiang hurriedly replied, "But there isn't much left—less than three strings of cash."
"The clothes were mainly too expensive. Even coarse cloth clothes cost a lot. After buying them, more than half our money was gone."
He explained, then complained a little.
"Mm. Take the remaining money and bring a few people to the food stalls. Buy two baskets of white-flour steamed buns, so everyone can have another full meal."
"Also buy some bowls, chopsticks, ladles, and basins. While you're at it, buy two new large wooden buckets. Go to the porridge shed by the market and bring back two buckets of thin porridge!"
"If the Rebel Army soldiers there ask, tell them Li Dingguo wants it."
Eight Great Kings Zhang Xianzhong had been making such major moves recently that Li Dingguo did not need to think hard to know that the names of both he and Ai Nengqi had already spread to every Rebel Army soldier in the city.
For such a trivial matter, once he mentioned his own name, those ordinary Rebel Army soldiers would not dare make things difficult for him.
The Martial Artist uniforms Tang Guangqiang and the other youths wore were the obvious mark of their Orphan Youth Camp.
"Hurry up. It's already getting late, and we still need to return to the Wang Family Courtyard by evening."
Li Dingguo waved his hand, adding one last sentence to signal Tang Guangqiang to quickly get on with it.
"Yes, Boss!"
Tang Guangqiang hurriedly gathered ten Martial Artist youths again. Taking the remaining money, he led them out of the Land God Temple in a rush and quickly departed.
Even though they had spent all the money the king had handed out in one go, these Martial Artist youths had good dispositions and took it all in stride.
In any case, the money was of little use in their hands now. If it was spent, then it was spent.
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