Chapter 257: Chapter 162: Li Lu Goes Out; Arranging Affairs (Part 2)
"I’ll arrange for people to work with you. Whatever type of craftsn you need, they’ll be found. You can also recomnd any friends you know. In return, they’ll get a spot in the training and an extra portion in their daily food rations.
I don’t care about the process, only the results. Here are the blueprints. The general structure is what matters; it doesn’t need to be perfectly precise or accurate.
You won’t be responsible for the underground tunnels; I’ll find soone else for that. Once you have your teams, gather at the third shed by the farmland outside the city tomorrow before Noon."
"Yes, Your Excellency!"
The crowd replied in unison, their voices filled with excitent.
After dismissing them, Cheng Zongyang didn’t linger at the County Magistrate’s Office and returned to his residence.
He had other matters to attend to.
Li Dafu, a man past fifty, was a craftsman with thirty years of experience as a bricklayer. With no parents left to care for but a young one to raise, he was a refugee who had fled famine, ultimately choosing to stay here rather than move on.
The subsequent turmoil in the County Town had given them the chance to settle in Jade Peak County.
Although they went hungry every day, the family was fortunate enough to receive two one-tael stead buns. They would bring them ho, add them to a soup, and barely manage to survive.
Li Dafu hurried ho, his heart pounding with excitent. ’After all this ti,’ he thought, ’our chance has finally co.’
He didn’t know the first thing about farming; he just did as the farrs told him. But now, with His Excellency wanting to build a village, the skills of craftsn like him could finally be put to use.
That wasn’t what was important to him. What mattered was that his family’s fate was about to change.
In a small residence in South City.
Li Dafu returned to their cramped little ho. The mont he stepped inside, he shouted:
"Wife! Quick..."
"Could you keep your voice down? The boy just fell asleep." A woman with graying hair and a gaunt, aged face limped out of the inner room.
She glared at her husband, annoyed. "Always shouting the mont you get back. What is it now? Little San just fell asleep. If he wakes up, he’ll just start crying from hunger again!"
Li Dafu grinned. "Our good days are here. His Excellency just summoned us..."
Li Dafu quickly explained what had happened. As his wife stared in disbelief, he chuckled. "And later, I’ll have Little San start Martial Arts Training. What do you think? Once he becos a Martial Artist, our whole family will be able to live a good life!"
The woman nodded again and again. "This is wonderful, just wonderful. His Excellency is truly benevolent! We’ll tell Mingshi when he gets here."
As she said this, she saw her husband was already turning to leave again. "Where are you off to?" she couldn’t help but ask.
"I’m going to find Da Lin. He’s a carpenter, and they’ll need him for the construction. His family’s situation is just like ours—they’re refugees, too. I’ve got to give him a hand."
Hearing this, his wife nodded in agreent. "You should. If it weren’t for Da Lin, we would’ve lost our last grandson."
And with that, Li Dafu rushed out again.
It was a similar story across the county. As the construction workers returned to their hos, they all sprang into action.
So started recruiting others, calling in favors. Others stayed ho, debating which child they should send for the Martial Arts Training.
In no ti, bricklayers were recruiting carpenters, carpenters were recruiting stonemasons, stonemasons were recruiting painters, and eventually, even bamboo weavers were brought into the fold.
One man brought in another, and soon, a massive construction team had been assembled!
That night, many were too excited and thrilled to sleep.
Cheng Zongyang, however, spent the night in cultivation. His proficiency with the Breath-holding Technique increased by 5 points.
Early the next morning, Cheng Zongyang was woken by his steward.
The reason was simple: Li Lu had arrived.
He had co to say his farewells.
He was personally leading one hundred of the strongest young n from his gang, all fully equipped. They were preparing to scout the nearby towns to assess the situation and see if they could scavenge for dicinal materials or any hidden, untouched food supplies.
"Younger Brother Cheng, I’ve already spoken with the n from the four gangs. You can assign them tasks whenever you’re ready."
Cheng Zongyang nodded. After a mont’s thought, he said, "Take the bird with you. If anything urgent cos up, you can use it to send a ssage back."
Li Lu was taken aback for a second, but after considering it, he didn’t refuse.
’If he ran into a crisis he couldn’t handle on his own, he could still call on Cheng Zongyang for help.’
Then, Li Lu led his n in a great procession, heading first for the South City Gate.
That gate opened onto the road to Furong Town, the closest town to the county seat.
Because of the Foreign Race’s invasion, many of the local influential families had fled, unable to take everything with them. It was likely that a good deal of supplies had been left behind.
This trip was an attempt to recover those supplies. Their main targets were food and dicinal materials. They didn’t need any other miscellaneous goods; the County Town had plenty of those.
They had brought three doctors along, as only they could handle the task of identifying dicinal materials. Ordinary n like Li Lu wouldn’t know one plant from another.
After seeing them off, Cheng Zongyang had Steward Zhang summon Zhao the Seventh and the chiefs of the other three gangs.
A quarter of an hour later, Li Xian, Zhao the Seventh, and the other two chiefs arrived together.
Zhao the Seventh was carrying sothing. As he entered the courtyard, he handed a bag to Zhang Chuchu with a smile.
"Steward Zhang, this is the tea you asked us to find. We recovered it from the estates of so of the old families.
I have no idea if it’s any good, so please have His Excellency try it. If he doesn’t like it, I’ll find so more."
Zhang Chuchu cupped his fist and smiled. "Many thanks, Gang Leader Zhao."
"Oh, no need to be so polite, Steward. We’re all serving His Excellency. If you need anything, just send word. For now, we’ll go see His Excellency."
"Right this way, gentlen." Steward Zhang smiled, handing the bag to a nearby maidservant. "Use this to brew five cups of tea and bring them to the main hall," he instructed.
"Yes, Steward." The frail-looking maidservant, who couldn’t have been more than fourteen or fifteen, replied respectfully and departed.
Zhang Chuchu led Zhao the Seventh and the others toward the main hall in the rear courtyard.
"Young Master, the four gang leaders are here," Zhang Chuchu announced from the doorway.
"Mm."
Cheng Zongyang set down the Celestial Human Scroll and looked up at the four n who entered: Zhao the Seventh, Li Xian, Chen Eryun, and Xiao Bing.
Zhang Chuchu remained waiting outside.
"Your Excellency," the four n said, bowing respectfully with cupped fists. They were all inwardly puzzled, wondering why all four of them had been summoned at once.
Cheng Zongyang gave a slight nod. After a sweeping glance over them, he cut straight to the chase.
"I’ve called the four of you here because I have a task for you."
"It’s about the construction of the new village. Brother Li has already inford you of the basics, so I won’t elaborate further.
At noon today, a group of skilled craftsn will be gathering at the third shed by the farmland. Your job is to maintain order.
They are the main workforce for building the village, so they will receive an extra portion of food. Everyone else’s rations will remain the sa. The initial tilling is complete, and the follow-up work of weeding and watering doesn’t require many hands, so the farrs can handle it.
Allocate the rest of your n to assist the craftsn. You must ensure the village is completed within four months."
The four n took a mont to digest this. Once they understood, they all agreed to the task.
’With so many people,’ they thought, ’building a village in four months shouldn’t be hard.’
Cheng Zongyang continued, "Also, find seven or eight of your fittest n. It’ll be a tough journey, so make sure they’re supplied with dry rations and water. Send them north to Qingfeng County to gather intelligence. I primarily want to know about the ruling powers and the food situation there. Have them report back."
At this, Li Xian spoke up, cupping his fist. "Your Excellency, the situation in Qingfeng County may be even more dire than our own."
Li Xian’s words imdiately drew the others’ attention.
Cheng Zongyang heard this and, guessing the reason, shifted in his seat. "You have n from Qingfeng County under your command?"
He had brought back refugees from Qingfeng County himself, but they hadn’t known much about the current state of affairs there.
Li Xian nodded. "Yes. I make it a point to question refugees from different areas. So don’t know much, but others have a clearer picture.
Our County Town doesn’t restrict outsiders anymore, so I’ve been able to question so new arrivals from Qingfeng County. From what they’ve told , the place was plundered by the Foreign Race just as badly as we were. Even worse, many of the great families were wiped out."
After hearing this, Cheng Zongyang thought for a mont and understood.
In Jade Peak County, the two previous County Magistrates, Chang Younian and Luo Dingran, had already purged all the established, influential families.
So, when the Foreign Race arrived, there was no one left for them to purge.
But Qingfeng County was different, which explained the disparity.
’But thinking back,’ he mused, ’the war between Luo Dingran and Wang Tianfeng was also related to my own looting spree.’
At this point, Chen Eryun added a reminder, "Your Excellency, it’s a long way to Qingfeng County. A round trip on foot would take the better part of a month."
Zhao the Seventh remained silent, as he wasn’t originally from Xiangyang.
His knowledge was limited to the current state of Jade Peak County; he knew nothing about Qingfeng County, a place that took ten to fifteen days to reach.
Reviews
All reviews (0)