Each platoon leader took the team out, stopped the team at different planned locations, and distributed tools for the soldiers to start building the rammed earth wall. Building the city wall is very simple. It is to dig soil from the outside of the city wall according to Yang Peng's plan, and then fill the soil into the planned position of the city wall. Where the soil was dug out, it became a moat. When the time comes, water will be diverted from the Haihe River, and the moat will become a moat. The soil accumulated on the city wall was tamped with stone piers to form a rammed earth city wall, which was the inner foundation of the brick city wall.
The most arduous task of building the city wall is tamping the soil, which must be compacted every time a layer of soil is laid. During operation, more than a dozen people use ropes to pull a large stone mill from different directions. Everyone shouted in unison, pulled the stone mill and waved it, and then pulled the rope to let the stone mill hit the soil of the city wall hard, compacting the soft soil. Repeat this step again and again until all the soil is compacted and compacted.
Doing this work of ramming earth is very laborious and it is a heavy physical work. After the rammed earth wall was built, the brickwork and battlement construction were left to the masons. The city wall project planned by Yang Peng is quite large. The city wall has a circumference of 10,000 kilometers and is a square, with each side measuring 750 meters. The city wall is five meters high and three meters wide, with a horse face built every twenty meters.
The so-called horse face is a pier protruding outward on the city wall, which allows soldiers on the wall to attack enemies climbing the wall from the side. The design concept of this Ming Dynasty defense facility is similar to the bastion of later generations, with the purpose of forming multi-directional crossfire. When designing, Yang Peng absorbed the advantages of the bastion and designed the horse face as a protruding triangle to facilitate the cross fire on the city wall to attack enemies who climbed the horse face.
Calculated in this way, the entire city wall of Xiwangzhuang New City requires more than 50,000 earthworks. On average, each soldier has to do more than 20 earthworks of rammed earth walls, carrying stone mills on their shoulders and backs to compact them. Calculating, it requires four, Five months. However, the food given by Yang Peng contained vegetables, meat and meat, which was nutritious. Doing physical work with adequate nutrition and adequate rest is good for the body. Speaking of which, although the two thousand servants recruited by Li Zhi were in good health, they were not strong enough by the standards of soldiers. Building rammed earth walls can help these soldiers exercise their muscles and become physically qualified soldiers as soon as possible.
In addition to the arrangement of soldiers, Yang Peng also arranged for officer candidates. Zhang Xiang personally served as the leader of the vanguard selection group, which facilitated Yang Peng's control of the army. Cheng Shijie and Duan Zhixian were the two captains of the original soldier team, and now they naturally serve as the two battalion commanders of the forward selection team. There are still two battalion commander positions, one of which Yang Peng decided to let Zhan Jinguo take. In these troubled times, being a general in the army has a better future than managing a salt factory. Yang Peng deliberately left the good position of battalion commander to his brothers. And if Yang Peng leads troops from the Kingdom of Jin, it will also be a shock to others and will make Yang Peng's position as the head of the family more stable. Zhan Jinguo has been practicing as the general manager of the salt factory for several months and has certain management abilities. Now he is moving to the position of battalion commander to continue to hone his skills.
After making up his mind, Li Zhi rode to the textile factory to find Zhan Jinguo. Yang Peng entered the factory and saw Zhan Jinguo walking around the factory with an assistant. Yang Peng called Zhan Jinguo, and he saw Yang Peng and ran over with his assistant.
"Brother, are you here?" "I haven't been here these days. How is the salt factory doing?" Li Xing clapped his hands proudly and said, "I'm just waiting for you to ask me! Under my management, the salt factory has been doing well this month. The factory's output increased by half, with a monthly output of more than 31,000 quintals of salt. In addition, I organized outstanding salt workers to teach other yarn workers their experience, and this month seawater consumption dropped by 7 quintals!"
Tilting his head, Zhan Jinguo said: "Brother, you are going to give me a reward of silver!" Yang Peng spat: "You have the nerve to tell me a small number like seven dan?" Zhan Jinguo said dissatisfied: " It's a saving to some extent! I don't have the guidance of the immortals on the seaside, so I can only engage in this kind of petty trouble!" After saying this, Zhan Jinguo pulled his assistant to the front and said loudly: "Brother, I want to recommend you my assistant.”
Yang Peng glanced at the assistant: "Oh?" "Brother, I'm afraid you have forgotten it. His name is Zheng Hui, he is our fellow countryman. He learned the training of the salt factory in two months, and he is very familiar with the management of the factory. It's clear that the production of more than half of the salt this month is all due to him." Zheng Hui was pushed to the front by Zhan Jinguo. He was a little nervous and said, "I have met the master of the family," and he knelt down to salute Yang Peng.
Yang Peng also put on airs in front of his subordinates, and waited for him to finish his salute before saying: "No courtesy! You did a good job and helped occupy the Jin Kingdom!" Zheng Hui stood up after hearing this, with a happy face, and stood He stopped talking. After praising Zheng Hui, Yang Peng said sternly to Li Xing: "Zhan Jinguo, I'm going to change your position! Let you change your position!"
Zhan Jinguo blinked and thought for a while, but felt that Yang Peng had no higher position than the general manager of the salt factory. He murmured: "Brother, what position do you want to give me? Isn't my general manager doing a good job? ?" Yang Peng patted Zhan Jinguo on the shoulder and said, "I want you to be a general and the battalion commander of the selection group."
Zhan Jinguo's eyes lit up and asked: "Being a battalion commander? How many people are in charge?" Yang Peng said: "Now you are in charge of 500 people. But being a battalion commander is different from being a factory manager. Being a battalion commander is a general, and you have to deal with it. Soldiers are responsible for their daily life, food, work, training, and operations! They have more power." After a pause, Yang Peng added: "And the selection group will be expanded in the future, and your battalion commander will become the regiment commander."
Zhan Jinguo rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "Okay! It sounds good!" Yang Peng said: "Being a general is so majestic. You can take a group of people with you wherever you go. When there is a war, you can command the soldiers to charge into battle. , which is very different from being the general manager of a salt factory!”
Zhan Jinguo thought for a while and said with some worry: "But I can't lead troops to fight?" Li Zhi said slowly: "I can learn if I can't. I will learn it bit by bit through training and practice. My new military skills It's a flintlock gun, and the way of fighting is completely different from before. No one has experience. You learn things very quickly, and you can get started within a few months."
Zhan Jinguo said loudly: "Okay, then I will be the battalion commander for my eldest brother!" Yang Peng nodded and said no more. Yang Peng left the last battalion commander position in the selection team to Liu Zhiliang. Liu Zhiliang manages the soap workshop very well and is a rare management talent. He and Yang Peng were close confidants, so Yang Peng felt more at ease leaving the troops in his hands.
Liu Zhiliang was to be the battalion commander, and the soap workshop needed a general manager. Yang Peng thought for a while and simply asked Li Yousheng to take charge of the soap workshop. Now Yang Peng's career is getting bigger and bigger, and almost all the people who fought with Yang Peng in the beginning have been hired in the industry. Now everyone recognizes Yang Peng as the boss, but Li Yousheng is not as recognized as Yang Peng. However, Li Yousheng was a shrewd person, and he was in good health before he was forty years old, and he could still manage. The most critical thing in the soap factory is that the secret recipe cannot be leaked. As one of the first beggars taken in by Yang Peng, Li Yousheng is very unlikely to leak the formula, so he is a reliable candidate.
Seeing the juniors getting rich following Yang Peng, the old guy Li Yousheng was also a little envious. Yang Peng asked him to be the general manager, and he immediately agreed happily. As for the candidate for the general manager of the salt factory, Yang Peng chose Zheng Yuan, who was also one of the first beggars. Although Zheng Yuan was a little shy before, that was caused by his poor life. After working as an assistant in the past few months, his mental outlook has completely changed. He is very serious about his work and can be regarded as an excellent manager.
Zheng Yuan was overjoyed to be promoted from assistant to general manager of the salt factory. That night, Zheng Yuan knocked on the door of Buzhuang and bought six feet of purple silk before returning home. Zheng Yuan gets off work at midnight every day and comes home late. His wife Qu is used to eating by herself. That day, Ms. Qu was sitting on the bed spinning yarn when she saw Zheng Yuan walking into the house mysteriously with his hands behind his back. She covered her mouth and said with a smile: "Why are you so tiptoeing, like a thief!"
After her husband was promoted to assistant at the salt factory, he earned five or two months' worth of money. Zheng Yuan's family's economic conditions suddenly improved. Apart from anything else, Qu has the confidence to eat some eggs and pork every day. Women's families have a small appetite. Even if they eat some meat for a month, it only costs five cents. Qu can afford it now. She has been married to Zheng Yuan for ten years and has not given up even when it comes to becoming a beggar. Mrs. Qu only laments that the hard days are finally over. Now that her family's conditions are better and she has status in front of other women, she speaks louder. She was in a good mood and her whole body was much plumper. Mrs. Qu used to look like she was in her thirties, but now she looks like she is only twenty-eight years old.
Her mood improved, and her attitude towards her husband became better. Although Zheng Yuan was tiptoeing around, Qu only thought her husband was joking with her, and still talked to Zheng Yuan with a smile. In the past, Qu Shili would not bother to care about Zheng Yuan. Hearing Qu's question, Zheng Yuan smiled, sat on the bed with his hands behind his back, and said, "Madam, I've been thinking recently that we should buy a house!" Qu stopped the spinning machine and asked, "Buy a house? "
Zheng Yuan said: "Yes, buy a house! Buy a single-family two-story house!" After hearing Zheng Yuan's words, Qu's eyes flashed with excitement. Women have a natural desire for the sense of security of owning their own house. , Mr. Qu doesn’t want to rent a house for the rest of his life. But after thinking about it, she said hesitantly: "Husband, although your monthly income has increased in the past few months, it has only been a few months and we have only saved more than 20 taels of silver. How can we save enough in TJ City?" Want to buy a house? I hope a two-story house in the city will cost at least six or seventy miles!"
Zheng Yuan shook his head and said: "If we don't have enough money, the owner can lend it to us. But we don't buy a house in Cangzhou, we buy a house in Hope Village!" Mrs. Qu was stunned when she heard Zheng Yuan's words, and murmured: "Hope The house of the village? The Hope Village where Yang Peng was an official?" "Exactly!" Zheng Yuan said loudly: "Now the boss has expanded the Hope Village to the size of a county town, and will gradually move the salt factory and soap workshop there. Home Mainly, we need to build thousands of two-story independent houses in the city and sell or rent them to workers. I am now the general manager of the salt factory, so of course I have to take the lead in buying a big one! We will buy one with six rooms."
Listening to her husband's talk becoming more and more mysterious, Mrs. Qu couldn't react, so she interrupted: "Are you the general manager of the factory? Aren't you the assistant of the third workshop? How come you became the general manager?" Zheng Yuan chuckled, and then He said slowly: "Zhan Jinguo was transferred to the First Battalion of the Hope Village Xuanfeng Regiment as the battalion commander, so I filled the gap and became the general manager of the salt factory." Hearing Zheng Yuan's words, Qu was stunned. It took him a while to react. Looking at Zheng Yuan, Mrs. Qu asked: "General manager of the factory, how much monthly salary do you get?" "Fifteen taels! Hehe."
When Mrs. Qu heard Zheng Yuan's words, she looked at Zheng Yuan happily, opened the corners of her mouth little by little, and finally grinned upward exaggeratedly and laughed loudly. The more she thought about it, the happier she became. She stood up on the bed excitedly, waved her arms in a dance, and said with a laugh: "Fifteen taels? I'm getting rich, I'm getting rich! With fifteen taels of silver a month, my family will live a good life!" Have a good life!"
When she was excited, she knocked over the spinning machine on the bed, and Qu didn't know it. Zheng Yuan let his wife jump on the bed and sit at the end of the bed without saying a word. After dancing for a minute or two, Mrs. Qu calmed down, looked at Zheng Yuan and said, "Why are you unhappy?" Zheng Yuanyun said calmly: "The master's career is getting bigger and bigger. Since I have followed the master, sooner or later, When you are developed, this will happen naturally!"
Mrs. Qu looked at the indifferent Zheng Yuan with some admiration and said, "Husband, you are getting more and more powerful!" "That's natural!" Zheng Yuan smiled, then took out the six-foot purple silk from behind, and said with a smile : "The purple silk I bought just now will make you a skirt!" Mrs. Qu looked at the purple silk in Zheng Yuan's hand and covered her eyes with her hands in surprise, only looking at the six-foot thin and silky silk between her fingers. Purple silk. She was used to living a hard life. She never thought that she could wear silk clothes, but for a moment she didn't dare to accept the purple silk.
Zheng Yuan pulled Ms. Qu's hand over, put the purple silk in her hand, and said with a smile: "You can sew it yourself, or you can find a tailor to do it. Anyway, we are rich now and don't have to live a tight life anymore." It's over!" Mrs. Qu held the purple silk in her hand and stared blankly for a long time, her eyes changing from surprise to excitement, then to joy, and finally calmed down. After a long silence, she suddenly said: "Husband, I have it!"
Zheng Yuan was stunned for a long time, and asked: "What do you have?" Qu's face turned red and said: "I have a child!" Zheng Yuan's face was full of excitement when he heard this, and he asked loudly: "Are you pregnant?" Are you on?" Mrs. Qu nodded with a blushing face, then lowered his head and stopped talking.
In the past, Zheng Yuan's family had no money, and the couple did not dare to share a house because they were afraid that they would starve to death if they could not afford to raise a child. It wasn't until Zheng Yuan worked in Yang Peng's soap workshop that he earned twenty taels a month, that Zheng Yuan and Qu shared a room. After half a year, Qu became pregnant. Zheng Yuan's face gradually became full of excitement. My wife is pregnant! He is about to have a child and have offspring. As the male member of the Zheng family, he has also taken on the responsibility of carrying on the family line. Now in his thirties, I am finally no longer the honest and pitiful Zheng Yuan, I am going to be a father!
The good news came one after another, and Zheng Yuan felt that his breathing was a little short! He grabbed his wife's head, put his mouth on her face, and kissed her hard.
After finishing the arrangement of the new army and the city wall, Yang Peng used the money he had collected in the past few months to start building large-scale construction within the new city wall. The masons and carpenters in Cangzhou and Yingzhou have found work throughout this year. I hope there are two groups of masons in the village now: one group was hired by Yang Peng to build the barracks for the Selection Regiment, and Tao Youmao's group; the other group came a few days ago to help more than a hundred craftsmen and blacksmiths with repairs. Broken house.
The second group of masons and carpenters numbered more than 400 people and had already finished repairing the gunsmiths' houses. Now Yang Peng hired them all to build factories and villas inside the newly built city wall. Not only did he hire this group of craftsmen, Li Zhi also sent people to various prefectures and counties near Cangzhou to find more than a thousand masons and carpenters, and hired more than 600 civilian workers to carry bricks and wood, all of whom came to Hope Village to build houses.
More than two thousand construction workers suddenly gathered in Hope Village, moving in and out various materials. It was so lively! The craftsmen who repaired the house and the team who repaired the city wall turned the inside and outside of Hope Village into a huge construction site. Only Yang Peng, who owned such a large industry, could afford to hire so many craftsmen. In addition, the more than one million taels of silver obtained from the Khitan people also gave Yang Peng the confidence.
Although the city wall has not yet been built, Yang Peng's plan for the "Hope Village" within the city wall has been designed. In the future, not only will the barracks of the Frontier Regiment be located within the city walls, but the salt factory, soap factory and cement workshop will also be within the city walls. Li Zhi will also plan 7,000 pieces of residential land within the city walls - 5,000 of which will be vacant. Reserved for sale, another two thousand residential plots are now being used to build "villas".
These villas were built as family homes for workers and soldiers. Hope Village is more than sixty miles away from Cangzhou City. In this era, the distance would take a day to walk. Since Yang Peng built factories and workshops in Hope Village, it was impossible for the workers to continue living in Cangzhou, so they naturally had to move their families to Hope Village. In addition, with such a high monthly salary, the New Army soldiers are getting married and starting families one by one. Naturally, they will also need a residence in Hope Village.
In order to respond to these needs, Yang Peng designed three types of villas. The first type of small villa is for ordinary workers and soldiers. It covers an area of 55 square meters and has two floors, which means the usable area is 110 square meters. It has a main hall, a kitchen, a toilet, and four bedrooms. It's enough for a family to live in. Yang Peng plans to build two thousand such houses and sell or rent them to workers and soldiers.
The cost of building this kind of house for Yang Peng was thirty taels of silver. Including the cost of building the city wall, the cost was forty taels of silver. Yang Peng priced the sale of this kind of house at fifty taels of silver - Yang Peng had a full two thousand Soldiers protect Hope Village, and of course they have to earn some money from the real estate. In any case, this kind of house is cheaper than the houses in Cangzhou city.
If workers and soldiers don't have enough savings when buying a house, they can borrow money from Yang Peng, and the repayments will be gradually deducted from the monthly payment. If you rent it, the monthly rent for this kind of house is two cents and seven cents, which is very cheap. Of course, singles or families with financial difficulties can share a villa with several families, which is cheaper.
If the workers own houses in Cangzhou City and sell their houses in Cangzhou City to buy villas like the one in Hope Village, they will probably have a lot left over. If you are renting a house in Cangzhou City, it would be more cost-effective to rent this small villa in Hope Village. In addition to the 2,000 small villas built by masons, Yang Peng also reserved more than 4,000 55-square-meter blank plots of land in the city. If workers and soldiers don't like the small villas provided by Yang Peng, they can also buy land and build their own houses. This kind of land costs twenty taels of silver. After buying the land, you can hire masons and carpenters to build any kind of house.
The second type of villa is for managers and officers. It covers an area of 80 square meters, with a total use area of 160 square meters on the upper and lower floors. It has a main hall, a dining room, a kitchen, a toilet, and five bedrooms. Enough for three generations to live together. Yang Peng wants to build 100 units of this house, all of which will be built in the west of the city.
This kind of villa is priced at seventy taels. If you don't have enough money, you can also borrow money from Yang Peng. If it is rented, the monthly rent is four denarii. If you buy land and build it yourself, the land price is thirty taels. The last type of villa is for senior managers and senior military officers, such as Zhao Jinxi and Zhan Jinguo. This luxurious villa covers an area of 140 square meters and is surrounded by a two-meter-high wall. Within the wall is a 40-square-meter yard. The usable area of the building is 200 square meters. It has one more bathroom, one study room and one bedroom than the mid-level villa.
This kind of house is all planned in the west part of the city with the best feng shui. The price is one hundred and thirty taels, and the rent is seven cents a month. If you buy land and build it yourself, the land cost is fifty taels of silver. In addition to the more than 2,000 large and small villas to be built, Yang Peng has also planned more than 5,000 blank residential land. In the future, these plots of land can not only supply soldiers and workers, but can also be sold to businessmen who come to Hope Village to do small and large businesses. Once the families of workers and soldiers move into Hope Village, there will be huge demand for all walks of life, which will attract people from all walks of life. When businessmen, vendors, and service industry personnel settle in Fanjiazhuang, the empty land will be put to use.
Of course, I hope that the village will have another kind of house in the end, which is Yang Peng's official hall. After Yang Peng's expansion, the original Hope Village has been surrounded by the walls of the New Hope Village. After the old wall was demolished, the Old Hope Village became part of the New Hope Village. The original Hope Village was too small, including the shabby official hall. Yang Peng rebuilt a large house with four entrances in the middle of New Hope Village as the new official hall.
The new official hall will be the heart of New Hope Village from now on. In addition to the simple shacks for themselves to live in, the first thing the craftsmen will build is this new official hall. The masons Ge Laoer and Zhong Min were Yang Peng's people who hired masons from Yingzhou to build a villa in Hope Village. On the first day he came to Hope Village, Ge Laoer was shocked by Master Yang Peng's "cement". This dark thing seems inconspicuous, but its effect is very sharp. Mix sand in a ratio of one to five, and mix it with water to form a sticky substance, which is very effective when used to lay bricks and paint walls. After drying, the cement is very hard and cannot be pried open with a wrench or a stick. It is as hard as natural stone and adheres firmly to the bricks.
The effect is much better than Sanhe soil. It is said that the head of the Yang family is unusual and has all kinds of new things such as soap and Yang's refined salt. But it was only when he saw this cement that Ge Laoer truly realized the magic of the Yang family. Before work started the next day, Ge Laoer and Zhong Min went to the cement workshop to get a barrel of cement and then used it on the construction site. Ge Laoer looked at the cement in the barrel along the way. The more he thought about it, the more wonderful it became, thinking that it might completely replace Sanhe soil in the future.
Ge Laoer thought that this cement would definitely be recognized by the market in the future, and it would not be long before it spread to various counties. I just don’t know the price of cement. If a mason abandons Sanhe soil and uses cement to build a house, will he lose money? If cement is more expensive than Sanhe soil and the owner who builds the house likes to use cement, the extra cost of using cement must be subsidized by the owner of the house, so the mason will not make much profit. If the cement is cheaper than Sanhe soil, the mason will accept the order at the original price, and the mason can make money from the price difference between cement and Sanhe soil!
It used to cost several taels of silver to build a yard. If cement is slightly cheaper than Sanhe soil, but the effect is better than Sanhe soil, masons can make a lot of money. Ge Laoer only earns one or two taels of silver a month by helping others build houses. If cement is cheaper, there is no doubt that his income will be doubled.
Ge Lao'er was thinking about it and couldn't help but ask Zhong Min: "How much does Mr. Yang Peng sell for a pound of cement?" Zhong Min walked in front of Ge Lao'er, but he didn't think too much and answered casually: " I’ve never heard of Mr. Yang Peng selling cement. Now that Hope Village is covering the city walls with bricks and building ‘villas’, the cement consumption is so large, I’m afraid there won’t be any extra to sell!”
Ge Lao'er thought about it in his mind, feeling a little uneasy, and asked: "Do you think this cement will be cheaper than Sanhe soil?" Zhong Min looked at Ge Lao'er and said, "This cement looks black, it doesn't look like this." Very expensive things. But that’s not necessarily the case. This is a house built by the Yang family, the Yang family! Maybe it’s because of the good quality of the house and the use of good materials, which may not necessarily save money compared to Sanhetu!" Ge Laoer had something on his mind and couldn't help but say : "No! We need to figure this out. Let's go back to the cement workshop and ask?"
If you want to know what happens next, let’s look at the breakdown in the next chapter.
