In ancient times, the utilization rate of coal was relatively low. One of the main reasons was due to insufficient transportation capacity. Mining areas were generally located in mountainous areas, making transportation inconvenient.
Therefore, Zhao Bin arranged a staged transportation method. Transportation from the mountains can only be carried on human shoulders or carried by livestock. Transport them out of the mountains and then transport them back to Yancheng by horse-drawn carriage.
The next day, more than 4,000 people plus hundreds of carriages and horses headed towards the Western Mountains, accompanied by two military doctors, also borrowed from Qin Fang.
They brought some medicine specially designed to treat bruises. The mountain road was difficult to navigate, so bumps and bumps were inevitable. They were prepared to receive timely treatment if something happened.
In ancient times, when medical conditions were backward, it was easy to become disabled or lose one's life if one were not careful. Fortunately, the coal mines in Xishan are readily available and easy to find, and nearby mountain residents often get some and sell them in the city.
In the northeastern area of Yancheng, old houses have also begun to be re-planned on a large scale. Some unnecessary courtyard walls or dilapidated houses should be demolished, and the removed bricks and tiles are also arranged and reused.
Time is tight now and there are not so many new bricks to use, so we can only make do with them.
Some of the better houses that are close to the edge and are not in the way are being kept temporarily and converted into warehouses or dormitories.
In Zhao Bin's vision, this place will only be used temporarily. In the future, a more reasonable area will definitely need to be re-planned to ensure production.
On the northwest city wall, Zhao Bin, accompanied by Cao Li, Wang Wu and others, looked at the busy crowd below. Everyone's face was filled with indescribable joy.
"My lord, this is probably the most special corvee in history. I have never heard of people being so happy while doing corvee." Cao Li said, looking at the busy crowd under the city wall.
Zhao Bin looked at Cao Li and said: "To be honest, this corvee is not done for me, this corvée is purely for themselves.
We refine salt to trade for their livestock, and the iron smelting plant we built is also to cast farm tools for them, don't you think so? So the ultimate beneficiaries are the people themselves. "
"What the prince is saying is that in the two months since the prince came to Yancheng, he has done so many things for the people of Yancheng. He has held a humble position in Yancheng for decades. Hey, it is embarrassing to say it." Cao Li was a little ashamed. said.
"Lord Cao, there is no need to blame yourself. Many things cannot be solved overnight. We have only made a start now, and it is not enough to solve Yancheng's problems.
I think most people in the city are not even as good as the farmers outside the city. "Zhao Bin said leisurely.
"What the prince said is absolutely true. The commercial system in this city is extremely shrinking, and there are very few ways to make money. If you can't make money, you can't buy food.
Many people only eat one meal a day. The farmers outside the city guarded the land anyway, and they could dig food out of the soil no matter what.
Whether it's digging wild vegetables or nibbling tree bark, there's still something to chew on. The people in the city are not farmers and have no land. How difficult is their life? "Cao Li replied.
"There is no land? Why doesn't the government allocate land? This can also ensure an increase in food production." Zhao Bin asked puzzledly.
"The land has not been divided, but it does not make much difference whether it is divided or not. Firstly, most residents in the city do not know how to farm. Secondly, there is also a large shortage of farm tools. Thirdly, during the autumn harvest, the Jie tribe's cavalry often enters the country, and most people do not dare to do so. "Leave the city," Cao Li said helplessly.
Listening to what Cao Li said word by word, Zhao Bin kept falling into memories. If it were his previous life, what would the country do?
"Cutting interest rates to promote consumption? What a drop, where are the banks?", "Developing real estate?" Now less than half of the residents in Yancheng can't afford to eat, so how can they buy a house?
No, no, it’s not necessarily real estate, it’s engineering? Build projects to create jobs, or invest in factories to create jobs.
But now we are building projects and building factories. We are not the country, and we don’t have that much money. Oops, Zhao Bin got a headache just thinking about this.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, it's not good, Your Majesty..." Just as Zhao Bin was getting a headache from thinking about it, a palace guard hurriedly ran over not far away.
When the guard came to him, Zhao Bin hurriedly asked: "What happened?"
"Go back, Your Majesty, there are many people coming to the palace." The guard replied, breathing heavily.
"People? Didn't they all go back? Why are they here again?" Zhao Bin said helplessly.
"No, it's not the people outside the city, it's the people inside the city. They heard that they had to do corvee service for the palace and take care of the food, so many people came to the palace to petition and wanted to do corvee service for the palace." the guard replied.
"Oh, it's really troublesome. Now I just build a few houses wherever I go to do corvee work, and there are 20, 30,000 people coming in one after another. Have you seen how many people there are?" Zhao Bin cursed angrily.
"I didn't see the details clearly, but the street in front of the palace was full of people kneeling. It looked like there were three to four thousand people." the guard replied.
Zhao Bin stood on the city wall, knocking on the city wall stacks, and kept chanting "corvee" and "corvee".
Xiao Chu, Wang Wu and others could only watch from the sidelines.
"Yes, don't you want to join the corvee? Lao Cao will take them to dig canals and bring me the Baihe River in the northeast of the city. We need water for iron smelting. We have to work morning and night. Take them to dig canals." Zhao Bin pointed at Yan. Said the big river flowing northeast of the city.
"It's the prince. I'll make arrangements right now." After saying that, Cao Li led two government officials down the city and headed towards the palace.
At this time, Xiao Chu stepped forward and asked: "Your Majesty, this Baihe River is only two thousand meters away from Yancheng. Thousands of people can dig the canal in less than a day. What will happen in the future?"
"Don't worry, it won't be finished in one day. Not only do we have to dig to the bottom of the city, we also have to dig back from the east so that it can rejoin the White River.
I feel like if we don't find something for them to do, we'll have a hard time getting back to the palace tonight.
I hope Wei Xiang and the others can find iron ore soon, and then let all these unscrupulous people go mining. "Zhao Bin said angrily.
Wang Wu saw that Zhao Bin was a little irritable, so he stepped forward and said, "My lord, I would like to take you to ride a horse. The horse farm built by that boy Qin Fang is nearby."
"Forget it, riding a horse hurts your butt. Let's think about how to let these unruly people work! What do you think about letting them herd the horses?" Zhao Bin asked.
"Forget it, Prince, they don't even know how to plant land, let alone herd horses," Xiao Chu joked.
"No, no, farming is so difficult, but herding horses is so easy," Wang Wu retorted.
"Easy? Those horses are all untrained. They can trample people to death as soon as they come face to face with them." Xiao Chu replied.
"So, even if you give them the horse, they won't be able to ride it?" Zhao Bin asked in confusion.
"It's not that difficult. You can train it in two or three months. It just takes a little time." Xiao Chu said.
"It doesn't matter, the horse is given to them, how to train it is their business." Zhao Bin said with a flick of his sleeve.
