Human creativity has endless possibilities.
Nowadays, Zhilian Mountain has undergone overall planning and expansion. It is difficult for outsiders to believe that this place would have been a desolate mountainous area a few months ago.
When Kaifu Li first arrived in Zhilian Mountain, he doubted whether he had arrived at the county seat or an unknown state capital.
A two-foot-wide rammed earth road was built from Zhilian Mountain to the road connecting the county town outside.
Every short section of this rammed earth path is pressed into the soil with brightly colored stones to form a dividing line in the middle. A wooden sign is erected every few miles on the road that reads, "Be civil and courteous, and drive on the right."
The overall road surface is wide and clean, which makes people feel comfortable. It is said that Sixth Brother set up a special department called the Highway Bureau for this purpose, and there are about ten people in it who are responsible for guarding various roads.
At the foot of Zhilian Mountain are vast residential areas for civilians, while down the mountainside are the newly built residential areas, training grounds, and canteens for the bandit fighters. Halfway up the mountain is where the fort built by bandits was located.
Zhilian Mountain is led halfway up the mountain by a wide stone staircase. In addition to this stone-step mountain road, a wide mountain ring road suitable for driving has now been built to connect to the mountain village. Convenient to transport and store supplies.
There was originally a mountain spring more than half a foot wide flowing out from the top of Zhilian Mountain, leading directly to the stream at the bottom of the mountain. The reason why the bandits chose this place to build their cottage was because of the mountain springs and streams.
Zhang Rui felt that it was too wasteful for the spring water to drain away like this, so he had a large reservoir dug at the foot of the mountain, and the soil was used to build soil bricks. Then the mountain spring water is diverted to the reservoir for public use.
When Kaifu Lee was still visiting the housing construction area. At this time, on the rammed earth road leading to Zhilian Mountain, convoys of vehicles were walking one after another. In addition to the convoys transporting purchased supplies, there were also many people who came with their families.
The sun is scorching and the autumn wind is dry, making people feel thirsty.
When the convoys passing by on the road brought up bursts of dust.
Although there are many convoys passing by, because everyone abides by the rules of driving on the right, there is no congestion. This situation makes the passing convoys secretly feel surprised.
They haven't had such smooth sailing anywhere else.
Even though the road looks wide, there are quite a few motorcades coming and going. If this rule were not in place, the convoys would walk separately, and those who crossed from left to right would have become stuck in a traffic jam.
In addition to consciously observing the smooth roads, there is also the contribution of the "traffic police" mentioned by Brother Liu. It is said that its full name is: "Road Traffic and Transportation Management Police".
People don't understand this title. It’s just that Sixth Brother called it “traffic police”, so everyone followed suit and called it “traffic police”. People's understanding: It is the "road government officials" who manage the rules on the road, so many people also call them "road government officials".
There are not many people in this "traffic police station", only about ten people and ten horses.
They usually patrol the entire road on horseback. If they find anyone who does not obey traffic rules, they will pull them out and "educate" them.
"Brother, are you also here to join Brother Six?"
At this time, Ma Sanzuo, a middle-aged man wearing shabby linen clothes and no shoes on the road, opened his mouth and said to Qian Jinjin, another middle-aged man still wearing shabby clothes and no shoes.
Looking at the convoys coming and going along the way, Ma San did not dare to talk to the people in the convoys.
It wasn't until Qian, a poor man wearing shabby clothes, came in that he realized that he seemed to be seeing his "same kind", so he went over and asked boldly.
"Yes, I heard people say that there is such a place in my hometown. There is a good man named Sixth Brother, who is the hope of our poor people." Qian came in and saw Ma San, who was also wearing shabby clothes, followed by his wife and son, so I lowered my guard and told him one by one.
"If you can't survive, you can come to him. He will give you food and warm clothes, and he will also share houses and fields."
"I don't know if there is such a place in this world, but my 'guest' said: 'I can't survive anyway, so why not go and see it? What if it is real?'
Qian came in and said that his wife followed with his son and daughter. He asked Ma Sanzuo's wife, "Sister-in-law, you also came here to join Sixth Brother?"
"Yes, the family really can't survive anymore. The landlord Liu Peipi, who was already renting at 40% or 60%, now says that the court is going to war and wants to increase the rent, and insists on renting at 37% or 70%. You say, if you pay 70% We have to pay taxes and grain for the rent, so how much rice can we have left after a year of busy work?" Ma Chen, Ma Sanzu's wife, said helplessly to Qian Xu.
"I heard that Sixth Brother only has two bushels of grain per acre here. So, the head of the family and I combined the money and we can live here. Anyway, no matter where we live, as long as we can survive and raise my son, that's all."
With that said, Mrs. Ma Chen picked up her five-year-old son and patted his head dotingly.
Ma Chen originally gave birth to two sons, but they both died one after another due to malnutrition and illness due to lack of food. Every time she thought about it, her heart felt like a knife.
But, this is reality. A person who has not received any education since childhood, and who has been taught to accept his fate since childhood, can only live a compromised life in reality.
From Ma Chen's point of view, at least her two sons came to this world. However, how many children are strangled or drowned as soon as they are born and thrown into child graves because their families really have no food to feed them?
Ma Chen couldn't help but feel helpless and sad every time she thought about seeing the bones of children when she went up the mountain to chop firewood. That's a whole mountain. If one mountain is not enough, just throw it away on the second one. Note 1
"Yes, if it can really be rented at two dou per acre, then Sixth Brother is really a living Bodhisattva for the people in the world." Mrs. Qian Xu clasped her hands together and said with gratitude.
"That's not it. It's almost here now. Just go and inquire about it then." Ma Chen said
"Yes... I hope the rumors are true, otherwise we really don't know how to survive. We lived all the way in Jiangxi." Qian Xu pulled her son and daughter and said worriedly
"Jiangxi, that's far away. We came from Hunan..."
………
Zhilianshan
Back Hill Office Study
"Brother Six, haven't you noticed that the number of people coming to Zhilian Mountain has been increasing recently?" Liu Musiu said to Zhang Rui, who was writing at this time.
"I've been busy with the workshop and the prisoners these days, and I haven't paid much attention to it. What's going on?" Zhang Rui stopped what he was doing, raised his head, and looked at Liu Musiu who was looking at him.
"I recently discovered that not only are there more people coming to seek refuge with us, but they also come from places no longer just in Guangdong and Guangxi, but also in Hunan, Jiangxi, and even Guizhou." Liu Musiu said with some confusion.
"Do you know what's going on?" Zhang Rui became a little wary after hearing this. On such a large scale, this is not a good thing.
"I asked them about it, and they all said that they heard others spreading your story, so they came to see or come directly to join you." Liu Musiu replied, and at the same time he also blamed Zhang Rui.
After listening to Liu Muchiu's words, Zhang Rui couldn't help but be confused. He didn’t go to those places to spread the news! Why did it get spread over there?
"God wouldn't play with me like this! It took a lot of effort for me to suppress it and not let the Manchus pay attention. Who is doing this 'good thing' for me?"
Note 1: "Records of the British Envoy's Visit to Qianlong" and "I See the Prosperity of Qianlong" refer to the records of the British envoy's visit to the Qing Dynasty that year.
