In early April, with the successful sale of the second batch of nearly 3,000 pieces of soap, Liu Yan earned 900 taels of silver. With money in hand, Liu Yan was ready to start land reclamation immediately.
At this time, Liu Yan's plan to recruit military households was also coming to an end. As of now, according to the final statistics, Dapandun, which is still on paper, has a total of 53 households, with a total of 241 men and women. Among them, there are 128 men, 85 adults and 43 young boys. There are 113 women, 84 girls over 13 years old, and 29 girls under 13 years old.
Liu Yan ordered Zhao Min to register these people one by one and issue two original and duplicate certificates. Some of them turned out to be refugees from outside. He also issued military household registration cards for them and recorded their names in the military yellow book. From now on, they The family has been a military household in Dapandun for generations.
There are now fifty-three military households in Dapan Dun, with a population of more than two hundred, all of which are real numbers. Among the several forts in Wangjiazhuang, it is considered to be larger in scale. For the time being, these people built huts to live on the west side of Dapan Dun. For a while, it became a small village and town, which was very lively.
Now that Liu Yan had enough manpower, he discussed with Chen Xun and determined the scope of the first batch of land reclamation.
After this period of investigation, Liu Yan decided to first reclaim a piece of unowned wasteland relatively close to the west of Dapan Dun. The wasteland here is not only close, but also has a section of abandoned canal. It is only because it is too far away from those contiguous good fields that it has not been occupied by officers and gentry.
From the west of Dapandun to the Nanhe area, there are actually several other blocked and abandoned canals. If they can be used, the wasteland in this area can be turned into fertile farmland. However, Liu Yan currently lacks financial resources. Although there are many The income was huge, but the expenses were also not small, and there was little savings, so we could only ask our military households to dredge a section of one of the canals, and then repair it slightly, so that the water source could be used temporarily.
As for the remaining abandoned canals, Liu Yan planned to spend one hundred taels of silver to dig five deep masonry wells in various places for all military households to draw water for use. Before summer this year, he would first reclaim a batch of land and give each household a share. Let’s talk about dozens of acres.
During this period, Liu Yan had already sent Chen Xun to lead some military households to conduct a detailed investigation of this land. He had a detailed understanding of where there was a lot of wasteland and where the land was fertile. Finally, Liu Yan decided to reclaim wasteland on both sides of an abandoned canal called Xitong Canal to the west of Dapan Dun, dredge the canal, and then dig several deep wells on both sides of the canal to roughly solve the water problem in the fields.
At this time, in addition to Wang Yue and a dozen women who stayed in the pier to guard, there were also Chen Jiang family who continued to stay in the soap workshop in the pier to produce. In addition to a few old people, Liu Yan now has about a hundred men and more than eighty strong women. In this era, women also have to work in the fields with men. After these days of recuperation, everyone's complexion has improved a lot. Although most of these men and women are old and weak, it is undeniable that they are very energetic.
Among this group of people, except for Liu Yan who asked Chen Xun to lead some people to dredge the West Canal, the rest of them followed him to open up wasteland and make profit in the surrounding area.
For many days in a row, everyone went out at dawn and came back at dusk, working hard every day.
Those military households were very moved when they saw Liu Yan, the armor commander, taking the lead in working every day, sweating profusely and working very hard. They felt that a superior officer like General Liu Qi was really rare, and even more rare. Under such circumstances, naturally no military household would dare to be lazy behind the scenes.
And every day, Chen Xun and Wang Yue followed Liu Yan and fucked hard. Liu Yan also secretly observed Wang Yue. He took some military households to dredge the West Canal, or stayed in the pier to garrison, or worked together to reclaim wasteland. After a period of time, he worked hard. In particular, the silt that has been sorted out also knows how to pick it up and use it to fertilize the fields in the future. Liu Yan nodded, Wang Yue can still use it.
Early in the morning, all the military households quickly finished their breakfast. Under the leadership of Liu Yan, everyone left the fort again. Everyone was carrying pickaxes or hoes, and some women were carrying pickaxes or hoes. Dustpans, baskets and other items were brought along with them, and some military households drove a dozen cattle to open up wasteland, which doubled the speed. Based on manpower, each man can only clear half an acre of wasteland a day, but with cattle, he can clear one acre a day, or even more.
Liu Yan saw that Zhao Min was also following him with a pickaxe. Today he was wearing a short jacket, and his sparse beard was blown up by the breeze from time to time. However, his tall and thin figure was still upright, and it could be seen that he had Literary temperament. These days, he also works in the fields with everyone every day. Liu Yan was surprised that he, a scholar, could afford such hardship.
Recalling that Zhao Min had been very effective in these days, and he was the only scholar in the fort who could write and calculate, Liu Yan didn't want to tire him out, otherwise he would have to find a scribe again.
So Liu Yan glanced at Zhao Min and said with a smile: "The weather is getting hot now. How can a gentleman, a gentle scholar, endure such hardships with us rough guys? Don't get a heat stroke. If not, sir Let’s go back to the castle and rest.”
Zhao Min stopped, and he saluted Liu Yan solemnly: "The students are not talented, and they are protected by their love. Now that the fort is being established, everyone is working hard every day, how can Zhao Min be lazy alone and embarrass everyone?" Shame on you? Zhao Min must follow everyone there."
Liu Yan praised: "Okay, if Tunbao is prosperous in the future, Liu Yan will definitely not forget his contribution."
Zhao Min bowed deeply: "Thank you, sir."
Zhao Min straightened up and followed Liu Yan without saying a word. Although he had only been here for a short time, he already felt a vigorous momentum. This feeling made him intoxicated. He appreciates him, and the two flag officers under him also respect him. Compared with the past days in Wangjiazhuang, Zhao Minji can't live without it.
Soon everyone arrived at Xitong Canal, where a large area of land had been reclaimed. Liu Yan took a pickaxe and smiled at Chen Xun, Wang Yue and Zhao Min next to him: "Today we are all together, you guys Do you dare to compete with me?"
Wang Yue smiled and said: "The commander is brave, so he is naturally stronger than us."
Chen Xun rolled his eyes at Wang Yue, and then said: "It's a competition, I must win the Jia Chang today!"
Zhao Min also said: "Students are willing to compete."
The four people stood in a row holding pickaxes or hoes in their hands, all with serious expressions. Liu Yan's eyes were deep and he just looked ahead. Then he gave an order, raised his pickaxe high, and rushed out at the lead.
Then Chen Xun, Wang Yue, and Zhao Min also blushed, yelled and rushed out after Liu Yan. At this time, an old man on the ground who was responsible for beating the gong to boost morale also sounded the gong in his hand at the same time. The sound of the gong was rapid and sounded like a general's order.
The old man banged the gong vigorously and shouted loudly: "Work, everyone, work hard!"
Rows of men and women rushed out behind Liu Yan and others, all holding hoes high.
Swinging the hoe like rain, Liu Yan's pickaxe fell to the ground and he never straightened up. Zhao Min also worked silently, Wang Yue kept waving his hands while looking at the results of the three of them, and Chen Xun He worked hard for a while, and then burst into laughter when he saw that he was ahead of his performance. When he saw that he was lagging behind, he cursed a few times, and then quickly caught up again.
In this way, everyone worked until noon, until Chen Jiangshi's loud voice came from far away: "It's time to eat, everyone needs to rest and eat!"
But it was Chen Jiang who led a few women to deliver the meal. In order to improve efficiency, everyone ate on the ground. After Chen Jiang took care of the soap workshop, he led several women to deliver the food in the castle. Deliver it when ready.
Seeing that it was time to eat, Liu Yan stood up, looked at everyone who was also sweating profusely, and said with a smile: "It's time to eat, everyone, please rest!"
Zhao Min, Chen Xun, and Wang Yue also straightened up. Zhao Min suddenly staggered. Chen Xun next to him hurriedly supported him and said, "Mr. Zhao, are you okay?"
At this time, Zhao Min's bunting was completely soaked with sweat, and he lacked the confidence to speak. He huffed and puffed for a while, then waved his hands with difficulty and said, "It's okay, I'm okay!"
Then Zhao Min knocked on his back again and sighed: "I haven't done farm work for a long time, and my bones are all loose."
When Liu Yan saw this, he came over and asked Zhao Min a few words of concern, asking him to take a good rest. Zhao Min thanked him repeatedly.
Then Liu Yan smiled at everyone and said, "How about it? What do you think about winning or losing?"
As expected, Liu Yan was the first again today. Wang Yue sighed solemnly: "I really want to be inferior to Commander Jia's ability." Then Wang Yue bowed profusely, making everyone around him laugh.
Zhao Min was also smiling at the side, while Chen Xun was unconvinced and said: "Today, I let Chief A get the first place again. Let's compete again tomorrow."
Liu Yan smiled slightly. What he wanted was this enterprising atmosphere, and then he said: "Okay, let's have a rest. Let's eat."
Everyone put down their farm tools and gathered together to eat. Seeing that today there was another big bucket of rice, a big bucket of clear soup, several plates of vegetarian dishes, and a plate of meat dishes. Everyone was smiling. After working hard, the most enjoyable thing was the beauty. 's full.
Now the food rations for everyone in the pier are provided by Liu Yan, and the food standards are naturally set by Liu Yan. According to Liu Yan's regulations, it has always been meat on one day and vegetarian on five days. Breakfast porridge is provided in the early morning, and every ten people are given a glass of wine every seven days.
Here in Dapandun, as long as you are willing to work, you can have enough to eat, and the superior officers will not beat or scold you, nor will you deduct anything. You even share the joys and sorrows with these military households every day. This kind of life makes many people feel like they are in their dreams. He laughed out loud and followed Liu Yan wholeheartedly from then on.
Although the farming business in Dapandun was only established for a short period of time, and these military households came from various places, it has quickly become a cohesive group. Seeing this, Liu Yan was still very proud. This was the result of his hard work.
Liu Yan and the others were also looking for a place to sit down and eat. At this time, Wang Yue appeared in time. No matter where he was at dinner time, this guy would always come to eat with Liu Yan and the others to show that he was also an insider. .
Liu Yan understood Wang Yue's thoughts and smiled and asked him to sit down. Wang Yue happily sat next to Liu Yan and pushed Chen Xun aside. Chen Xun glared at him angrily and expressed dissatisfaction. He mumbled a few times.
By mid-April, the work of clearing wasteland and building canals for military households in Dapandun was completely completed. According to Zhao Min's statistics, a total of 1,473 acres of farmland had been reclaimed, more than three miles of canals were dredged, and five irrigation wells were dug. , this result is very good among the many forts in Wangjiazhuang.
Of course, this was also due to Liu Yan's extravagant spending. In just a few days, most of the nine hundred taels of silver were spent, and more than five hundred and forty taels of silver were scattered, thus ensuring everyone's food. and physical strength, as well as the cost of dredging canals and digging wells.
Afterwards, after Liu Yan's dossier of the number of acres in Dapandun Village was handed over for reporting, not only Wang Wenzhen was very surprised when he heard the news, but even Zhang Hailin, the defense officer of Qianhu Station in front of Xiahe Village who received the reported dossier, was also very surprised when he learned about it. joy.
