Before departure, the staff headquarters' plan was to build two castles on the opposite bank: Huangxi and Shangdu, and one castle each in Shigang, Tazhou, and Zhongzhou as the second line of defense. The county serves as the third line of defense.
In order to prevent Yang Xing's counterattack, the first step was to carry out construction in Huangxi and Shangdu. Repairing the Buhe pontoon bridge, expanding Shigang and the wharf and dam of Wangjiadu on the other side became top priorities.
Fortunately, some of the ships captured in Shigang could be used to build pontoons on the river. Some of the unfinished ships were used as caissons, which were filled with stones and sunk at the designated location to become the foundation of Wangjiadu's new wharf.
Huang Shu went to Shigang to serve as the garrison. One of his tasks was to recruit a thousand workers to participate in the construction of Wangjiadu and Shigang docks. After the wharf is built, six animal-drawn express ships will dock here and be responsible for ferry transportation and river security.
Shigang Ferry Company will be the first joint venture in which Anren County Government is the major shareholder and local gentry businessmen participate.
The sites for the castles to be built in Huangxi and Shangdu have already been secretly selected.
Shangdu Fort is located northwest of the ferry, with a perimeter of 250 feet, and is slightly quadrilateral. There are two ponds outside the east gate that can be used as barriers, as well as the north gate and the south gate.
The entire castle is actually the valley between the two hills on the east and west, which is used as the school ground. The two hills are connected by ten-foot-long walls on the north and south sides. The slopes on the east and west sides have been carefully trimmed into steep slopes, making it difficult for people to walk on them.
The top of the slope is open and flat, with the narrowest point being two feet to four feet. The barracks are built directly on the top in rows, and horse-drawn carriages and catapults can even be used for reinforcements to the designated positions at any time.
Almost half of the construction of Shangdu Fort is based on the original terrain, so it is estimated that it can be fully completed in less than a month, and it can even be repaired while fighting.
The people who will be stationed here are the Wansiyou tribe from Mianshan who participated in the encirclement and annihilation of Mao Taigong.
Huangxi is a key project! Huangxi is also called Huangxi. The reason is that Dashiling and Chishiling are made of red sandstone. After the rainy season, the water washed down from the mountain enters the water at the foot of the mountain and turns it brown. Therefore, the stream on the mountain is called Huangxi. Later, I don’t know why. Written as "Huangxi", the water lake was called Huangxi Lake, and the town was named accordingly.
The reason why Huangxi Town became a town is mainly because it is the only way from Anren to Yujiang and Dongxiang, and it is a resting point for business travelers.
The town spreads along the official road, with restaurants, wine shops, inns, and red buildings lined up in rows. It is three miles long from the west entrance to the east entrance, but is only three hundred paces at its widest point.
It is very troublesome to build a castle in such terrain, and the surrounding areas are surrounded by fields, so land acquisition is also a big problem.
Finally, at the suggestion of a staff officer, it was decided to locate the castle directly on a large rocky mountain. The sandstone on the rocky mountain was used to make the city walls and gates, and a series of pools and ponds at the foot of the mountain formed a protective trench.
Li Dan was the first to fall in love with this plan, but he slightly modified the plan to form a solid fortress with a hexagonal outline of five miles in circumference and a core inner fortress of three hundred paces (more than two hundred meters) on each side.
The most peculiar thing is that the wall is two hundred paces (fifteen feet, or forty-six meters) thick, with protruding arrow-shaped battle platforms at each corner and three horse faces on each side.
This kind of design doesn't even require building a house. Instead, caves are dug directly into the wall to station troops and store troops.
The garrison cave was built on a high platform to prevent rainwater from pouring in. Instead, the school yard in the center became the lowest point. There were drainage ditches around the school yard, which flowed water into the reservoir, and the excess was discharged out of the castle through underground ditches.
This castle design caught everyone by surprise. They thought that a large amount of cement, bamboo, wood, and stone would have to be transported there, and then thousands of people would be recruited to build the castle. Now it only requires some modifications to the relatively soft sandstone ground.
Yang Yi set up camp by the water at the foot of the mountain, and then prepared to recruit 1,500 people to start work.
Because they were digging sandstone, Li Dan ordered people to take samples to Zhu Erye and found that the texture was good. Not only are the particles uniform, but they also contain very few impurities such as sand and sand. It is possible to use local materials and mix the excavated sandstone soil into cement to supply the needs of Anren and other places for city construction.
Now instead of transporting cement ash powder here, the lime only needs to be transported to the local area, and then the cement can be prepared on site.
"We need your county's assistance, and put up a notice. One is a notice that all soldiers, farmers, businessmen, and businessmen can contribute capital to support the team training and inspection department to protect the hometown; the other is a notice to recruit 4,000 laborers to participate in the city's
Construction of forts and bridges. After tea, Li Dan started talking about business:
"These two are the most important. The other is to establish four inspection divisions of Huangxi, Anren, Shigang and Huangqiu and their corresponding militia teams. The specific measures have been implemented by Yu Gan, so we can just copy them.
In addition, Yu Gan will mobilize 2,500 craftsmen and laborers to assist in the construction. For these people, your county needs to find a place for them. Food, tools, bedding, etc. are all transported by our own logistics department, so your county won't have to worry about it. "
"These... don't need us to take care of them?" Zhou Zhixian's face was full of disbelief. He originally thought that Li Dan would open his mouth and even ask him for the military pay and food of the Blue Shirt Team, but the other party did not mention it at all.
Li Zhu, who was next to him, handed him a pamphlet and said softly: "This is the method for gentry to invest in shares. Please take a look at it. This method has been implemented by Yu Gan, providing ample support for group training."
After reading it, the county magistrate handed it to Zhou Xin, and then said, "I think this method is entirely composed of private organizations and shareholders. Can everyone trust you so much?"
Li Zhu glanced at his younger brother, smiled and whispered a few words in the magistrate's ear about the expected dividends from individual stocks after the Polygonum Flower Seeds were taken, and the magistrate suddenly realized:
"So, everyone invested because they saw your unit winning the battle and capturing a lot of money? If we defeat the Jiangshan Army and recapture Dongxiang and Yujiang, wouldn't it be possible to fully recover the capital and double the net profit? Benefits?"
"That's exactly the truth!" Li Zhu nodded: "If you can double your profit within half a year, who wouldn't want to do this kind of business?"
"That's it!" Zhou Zhixian nodded, and then went to see Zhou Xin.
Zhou Xin pondered for a moment after reading the brochure, and asked: "I'd like to ask the inspection department. Your brochure says that one share starts from one hundred dollars. Doesn't that mean ordinary people can also participate? In addition, this is not limited to cities. In here?"
"What Jing'an mentioned is quite reasonable." Li Dan nodded: "When we started the trial, we did promote the inspection branch as a unit, and mainly in the city. In the future, we should indeed expand the promotion to attract more people. Participation is.”
"In addition, when issuing dividends, it is best to issue a notice first, clearly stating the amount of dividends per share, so that the people can rest assured and avoid subordinate officials from causing trouble." Li Zhu was inspired to add, and Li Dan immediately turned to his accompanying staff to write it down. .
Next, Li Zhu introduced the county's inventory situation to Li Dan. All the money in the inventory was looted by Jiangshan's army, and the food was only a mere hundred shi. Li Dan frowned and told Tan Zhongxiao:
"Immediately after the meeting, find someone among the prisoners to find out whether Dongxiang or Yujiang will send supplies to them regularly and how often. I want to know in detail."
The Baishi Food Commission was really not much, only enough to feed 500 people for ten days, so Li Dan suspected that Yang Xing was intentionally controlling the defenders' food pay, and was also worried that the team delivering food would find something unusual next time.
Then he asked the county magistrate if he could know about the situation of the scholars in the city.
Zhou Zhixian was greatly moved and told him that one of the two teachers at the county school was dead and one was injured, and the students were scattered and hiding in the city. Zhou Xin did know that there were six or seven students under the protection of his disciples.
Li Dan sighed and told Zhou Xin: "Now that we are employing people, the scholars should come out as soon as possible to help the government.
Some can come to the county government, and some can go to various bridge and dock construction projects. All of them require a large number of people who are literate, can do arithmetic, or can draw up account books and directories. Lord Zhou can send them here, and there will be a place where their materials can be used! "
"Yes, the grassroots will tell them when they get back, asking all the scholars to report to the Yamen as soon as possible."
"Although Zhao Tongzhi has temporarily appointed my elder brother to act as the chief clerk, there are still vacancies in each house. Please discuss a list with Mr. Zhou and the magistrate. Tomorrow, Mr. Tongzhi can present it for viewing.
The Huangqiu and Shigang Inspection Divisions have been appointed on my way here. The Anren Division is headed by Xie Guiting of our department. Can you recommend Zhou Jun, the sub-inspection candidate for the Huangxi Division?
Those who have force, understand the law, and are able to arrest criminals should take on this responsibility. In addition, the captain of the Anren Militia District Squadron also asked Mr. Zhou to consider his personal selection and bring him to see me after making a decision. "
Zhou Xin was stunned after hearing this. Neither the inspection branch nor the militia had anything to do with him. What was Li Sanlang's intention?
While agreeing, he secretly looked up at Li Dan. Li Dan pretended to drink tea and ignored his gaze, and then talked to the magistrate about building the bridge.
On the Buhe River side, a pontoon bridge to Zhongzhou was still built at the southeast ferry of Shangdu Fort, but the pontoon bridge from Zhongzhou to the pier outside the south gate was eventually decided to be demolished. Not only because the ships it uses are temporarily requisitioned, but also because it hinders the passage of ships.
But without the bridge, Shangdu Fort on the other side would be alone. But how to build a bridge with a span of nearly fifty feet while ensuring the passage of ships and pedestrians? The Engineering Department under the leadership of Mr. Zhu has been arguing for a long time about this.
After Li Dan heard about this incident, he also thought about it. He drew arch bridges, suspension bridges, tower bridges, and cable-stayed bridges.
After much deliberation, the easier thing to realize is the arch bridge. Many craftsmen in this dynasty know this technology. If combined with the use of cement concrete prefabricated components such as arch ribs, bridge decks, coupon boards, etc., a lot of stone cutting, cutting, and transportation costs can be saved. of time and material resources.
In the end, he chose a solution that combined an open tower bridge with an arch bridge.
An open tower bridge with a span of ten feet is designed on the west channel. Through the action between pulleys and ropes, the animal power in the tower drives the winch to raise the suspension bridge plate to allow large tall ships to pass.
Other ships can pass through the large central arch with a span of 20 feet and the small arch on the east side with a span of 15 feet.
This plan shocked everyone in the engineering department for a while, but after careful consideration, it turned out that it was just about building three bridges. Needless to say the arch bridge, the "Tower Bridge" and the suspension bridge at the city gate were almost the same thing, so there was nothing surprising about it.
Because the dry season has not yet completely entered and the water volume is still sufficient, Zhou Qin will be responsible for supervising the construction of this bridge on the Jinjiang River.
The plan of the Engineering Department is to build two dams using bamboo cage caissons to divert the river water to the middle, and then use stones and cement to make concrete piers and an upper gate-type bridge tower building in the west dam.
The suspension bridge supports are made of prefabricated concrete components and the bridge deck is laid with wooden beams. At the same time, the small arch on the east side is also made of bridge piers in the same way, using prefabricated concrete components to splice arch coupons and arch ribs, and finally lay a prefabricated bridge deck on top.
By opening both ends of the dam, the dam becomes a diversion dam, and finally a central arch is built.
After the bridge is built, the pontoon bridge will lose its function. The boat that was originally used as a pontoon bridge can either be returned to its original owner, or it can be used by the Qingshirt team through purchase or physical investment (Li Dan plans to implement fund-raising and committee management methods in Anren).
When Zhou Zhixian heard that they would build the bridge within a month, he was so surprised that he couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear. Li Dan smiled and told him:
"Zhou Zhixian shouldn't be so surprised. We have prepared many materials and are on their way to your county. What your county needs assistance is auxiliary labor, such as soil picking and transportation.
The engineering department of our department will distribute chips according to working hours and workload. The participating laborers can exchange chips for grain, meat, non-staple food, cloth, salt, wine, tea, sauce, etc.
In this way, before the imperial relief and donations from the gentry arrive, the food pressure in the city can be relieved to some extent. "
"Your Majesty is really the father and mother of the people of this county. I would like to express my gratitude to you in advance on behalf of the people!" Zhou Zhixian hurriedly looked at the inventory and felt deeply disappointed. However, Li Dan pointed out a way to solve it for him. How could he not be overjoyed?
I was so excited that I forgot that I was still wearing official uniform. I stood up and was about to bow down. Li Dan quickly stopped him and said, "You are a superior official, how can you disturb your dignity by worshiping me?" He then realized that he had lost his composure and was very embarrassed.
"Nothing to be embarrassed about," Li Dan waved his hand:
"We have already anticipated the situation in your county and have made preparations for it. It's just that the situation is a bit more serious than imagined, but it doesn't matter. We just need to add more caution.
As long as the squires are willing to invest money and grain into shares, relief will soon be available. All we have to do is help your county survive the toughest ten days ahead! "
After hearing this, Zhou Zhixian nodded repeatedly, saying that he would cooperate in promoting this method of investing capital and getting the squires to take action as soon as possible.
After hearing this, Zhou Xin said that he would take the lead and expressed on the spot that he was willing to spend one thousand shi of grain and three thousand taels of silver banknotes to become a shareholder. Li Dan is overjoyed!
Everyone also discussed the location where the Qingshirt team would camp, as well as the takeover and control of the entire city after the official army moves in tomorrow.
Stationing matters. The county magistrate of Zhou invited Li Dan to live in the county government office. He only had one servant, and most of the back offices were vacant.
Li Dan declined with a smile and said, "I will stay here today. Where can I stay when Mr. Zhao comes tomorrow?" After saying this, he looked at Zhou Xin.
Zhou Xin was a smart man and immediately said: "Why don't you live in a poor man's house? Although there are not many houses, there are still a few study rooms and flower halls." Zhou Xin, the county magistrate, had lived in his house, so of course he knew it and immediately agreed.
"Well, I will disturb Jing'an for a few days first. However, the affairs have been quite complicated in the past few days, so I'm afraid I will disturb your house too much." Li Dan said, helping Shuang Guan (his sword was given to Zhu Qizhen):
"It's best if you arrange a room close to the door so that we don't come in and disturb you!"
"Inspection, do you think I'm the one who likes to hide in the city?" Zhou Xin said with a smile: "Don't worry, my Zhou family school is next door, connected to the main door, and there is another main entrance facing street.
If you don't mind it, sir, I will order the clan school to be moved to Xuegong (County Confucian School) to stay for a few days. After the cleaning is done, how about asking the adults to stop by? "
"Okay!" Li Dan heard that he wanted to borrow the county school's house for his family to study, and he said it in a relaxed and high-sounding way, but in front of the county magistrate, he was surprised that he had such power in Anren.
However, he happily agreed: "Then let's go take a look and make a reservation if it's suitable. How about that?"
So he separated from Zhou Zhixian, Li Zhu and others. Zhou Xin took them forward for a while, turned left onto Xinzhou Road, and then walked west to a gatehouse.
Looking back, I saw that the gate was facing a street heading straight north. Zhou Xin smiled and said, "That's where you'll find the Temple of Wealth."
"Oh, that's weird, your door is facing the road to the Temple of Wealth?" Lu Jiu blurted out, and everyone laughed.
Zhou Xin pointed to the street corner next to him: "That alley leads to my family school."
Li Dan walked there and asked as he walked: "How big is the population of your clan in the county?"
"There are not many people with the surname Zhou in the local area, but there are about 700 people in and outside the city combined." Zhou Xin replied.
"It's quite a lot!" Li Dan laughed. The entire Anren has a population of just over 30,000, and the population concealment situation is not serious in just over 50 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China. If the hidden slaves of large households are calculated as 20%, the total population is less than 40,000.
So when Li Dan heard that his family had a large population, he thought it was a big family in the county.
"My family's population does not account for a large proportion of this county, but... Sir, do you know that half of the county's commercial tax comes from my Zhou family?"
After hearing this, Li Dan, who had just walked through the door, stopped, looked sideways at the old servant who opened the door, and asked with a smile: "How many people usually live here? Are there students staying here?"
"My lord, there are only common people and sir here. Usually there are three to five students staying here, but now there is only one left." The old servant replied respectfully.
Next to him, Zhou Xin told Li Dan that the gentleman who had been sitting in the hall after the city was occupied had gone home, so only the student was still there.
"Everyone else has left, why doesn't he leave?" Zhu Qingqi asked: "Isn't this student a local?"
"Counsellor Zhu is really right. This student's home is in Meigang, so it is not convenient for him to go back." Zhou Xin knew that Zhu Qing was the counselor of the Si Affairs Department and quickly answered.
"A man from Meigang came here to study? It's not easy! Why don't you ask him to come and see him as a kind gesture of encouragement?" Zhu Qing suddenly remembered the little boy from the Hu family in Meigang whom Li Dan asked people to visit earlier. When the prodigy comes, he immediately reminds him loudly.
Li Dan, who was looking around in the classroom, suddenly became curious and nodded: "Okay, then invite him to meet him."
In a blink of an eye, the old servant came with a school boy.
Li Dan took a closer look and saw that he was tall and thin, wearing clean and simple clothes that smelled like soap locust and were covered with patches. Her hair was put into a small bun, with a branch as a hairpin and an old blue helmet-colored cloth as a rag. The back hair was washed cleanly and draped over her shoulders.
He came over and looked at Li Dan with a surprised expression, then looked at Zhou Xin, lowered his head and bowed deeply, and said clearly: "Student Hu Jusheng has seen Mr. Li being inspected by the police."
