Chapter 159: Chapter 124: The 9 Basic Fraworks of the Clan
「Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.」
Beyond the River, about a li to the south, was an area designated as a graveyard.
Li Ze, along with his wife and daughter, ca to his mother’s grave. They knelt on the ground, quietly gazing at the headstone.
A few ters away, Cheng Zongyang stood waiting. He watched the backs of Li Ze’s family of three, his expression calm.
After half a month of recuperation, Li Ze had recovered. It could only be said that his Physique was quite good; he had pulled through.
At this mont, hearing the bustling sounds of enthusiastic work coming from both the Henei and Beyond the River regions, he couldn’t help but turn his head to look, a faint smile on his face.
In the past half a month, under Cheng Zongyang’s instructions, the master mason Gao Yongzhuang had also begun planning in the Henei Region.
The first step, naturally, was to make ramd earth blocks. To build a large number of tall houses, they could only use earth blocks. They were also convenient and sturdy.
Cheng Zongyang had considered firing bricks and the like, but now was not the ti. They would think about it after getting through the first phase of developnt.
But this was a long-term job. It could only be done little by little; it couldn’t be accomplished overnight.
There were only so many people here. Aside from their two families, the others hadn’t fully recuperated yet and didn’t have much strength, so of course, things couldn’t go quickly.
However, they were still able to build slightly simpler wooden cabins and fell trees in the area Beyond the River.
In half a month, twelve new wooden cabins had been built. This was the advantage of having more people, and it greatly alleviated the crowding.
The felled logs were all handed over to the two master carpenters, the brothers Zhu Wenying and Zhu Wenjie, who led others to process them.
In the past half a month, he had also put in a lot of effort, bringing back many tools from the County Town and also fetching Li Ze’s wife and daughter.
He took whatever he could from the County Magistrate’s Office. The office even had a section for the Ministry of Industry, so it naturally had plenty of tools. If they didn’t have sothing, he would buy it from the residents.
Only then did the artisans of Inner Mountain Pass have tools to use.
A mont later, Li Ze rose to his feet with his wife and daughter. They walked over to Cheng Zongyang, and the three of them clasped their hands and bowed deeply.
"Young Clan Leader, for the grace of saving my life, for the grace of burying my mother, and for the grace of rescuing my wife and daughter, I, Li Ze, will never forget it for all eternity. From now on, I will work for you like a horse or an ox without a single complaint!"
Cheng Zongyang helped Li Ze up and said with a smile, "There’s no need for that. I saved you partly because we are acquaintances, and partly for your skills."
He didn’t bother with false pleasantries and continued, "In the future, we will need a lot of wine. You know how to brew it, and that is enough."
Li Ze asked, "Young Clan Leader, will we be brewing fruit wine, or sothing like rice wine? The forr would be easy. The Inner Mountain is vast and its resources are plentiful, so there must be no shortage of wild fruits. If it’s the latter, I’m afraid it will be difficult. The price of grain is too high, and the cost of the resulting wine would also be high."
Cheng Zongyang shook his head. "Don’t be anxious, and don’t worry. We’ll have grain in the future. Brewing wine isn’t sothing that can be done in a day. In the Beyond the River region, you can choose a place for a winery yourself. Discuss it with Master Gao and see how to build it. From now on, that winery will be under your managent. As for the brewing tools, auxiliary ingredients, and so on, I’ve already procured them from the County Town. You’ll be in charge of those as well. But I will have people assigned to assist you."
"Yes! Young Clan Leader, this humble one understands," Li Ze said, clasping his hands.
Cheng Zongyang didn’t correct this form of address. It was to be expected, so there was no need to be concerned about it.
Cheng Zongyang didn’t stay much longer. He returned to the Henei Region to continue discussing so matters of house construction with Gao Yongzhuang.
"Husband, we aren’t going back to the County Town, are we?" Mrs. Cai of the Li Family asked, grabbing her husband’s hand with so worry.
Hearing her ntion going back to the County Town, Li Ze’s expression turned cold. "Whether or not we return to the County Town is up to the Young Clan Leader. But I will never go back to *that* ho. I am no longer a mber of the Li Family!"
Mrs. Cai of the Li Family tightened her grip on her husband’s hand and murmured:
"It’s good that we’re not going back. That ho... If you hadn’t entrusted the Young Clan Leader to take us away, I’m afraid my daughter and I wouldn’t have survived."
"Alright, let’s live a good life here from now on. I believe this place will beco wonderful," Li Ze said, taking his wife and daughter by the hand and heading toward the settlent.
In the Henei Region, Cheng Guanghai was discussing the construction of the ancestral hall with Master Gao.
For a clan, an ancestral hall was indispensable. Although its location wasn’t fixed, in his view, the pri spot was in the very center. Then, the other houses would be built outward, surrounding the ancestral hall.
Gao Yongzhuang was a mason. He knew so of the rules and traditions, and what he was doing now was determining the approximate location.
Once the two brothers from the Zhu Family finished making the wooden beams and let them air-dry, and the ramd earth blocks were sun-dried, they could begin.
"Father, let
handle this," Cheng Zongyang said with a smile, coming to his father’s side. "As for things Beyond the River, you can help my eldest maternal uncle handle the allocation of the Outsiders’ houses."
"Young Clan Leader," Gao Yongzhuang imdiately greeted Cheng Zongyang with a bow.
"Hello, Master Gao," Cheng Zongyang returned with a smile.
"Alright." Cheng Guanghai glanced in the direction of Beyond the River and said, "You talk to Master Gao. The ancestral hall’s location will be in the center."
"Okay," Cheng Zongyang replied.
After Cheng Guanghai left, Cheng Zongyang looked at Gao Yongzhuang and smiled. "Thank you for your hard work, Master Gao. I was wondering, is the thod my father ntioned feasible?"
Gao Yongzhuang nodded. "That’s not a problem. It just ans shifting the position slightly. However, if we are to build two ancestral halls and place them both in the center, that will be difficult to do."
As soon as Cheng Zongyang heard this, he understood what Gao Yongzhuang ant.
There would be no distinction between primary and secondary.
Although the Zhou Family was his mother’s kin, the main family was the Cheng Family. This was beyond doubt.
’My old man is thinking like this because he doesn’t want to create a rift between the two families. But you can’t be sentintal about this kind of thing. In the past, they could share one hall, split down the middle, but now they have to be built separately.’ Cheng Zongyang imdiately looked at Gao Yongzhuang and asked with a smile:
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