It was the beginning of April, and the dam that had been built before the winter had already been completed on the mountain pass outside the Cang River. The dam was built with wood and stone, and its height was twenty-four feet (about seven meters in the future). It was now undergoing the test of the flood season.
In the infrequent flood season of this mountainous region, the flood diversion by the dam was now pouring forth with a dangerous and alarming force, and the roar of the discharge was deafening. The road into the mountains took a detour around the riverbed.
After entering the mountain pass, the waters of the Cang River behind them had suddenly expanded due to the dam, and the dangerous blue waves spread forward. The narrow dam that was connected to the reservoir sometimes made people's hearts tremble, and they were worried that it would collapse. Of course, as the opening was towards the outside, it would not be a big deal if it collapsed. At most, the river valley and the mountain stream outside would become a big bathhouse.
He entered the mountain pass with the chattering Hou Yuanyong and greeted the soldiers guarding here. What appeared in front of them was a 100-meter-long road that went around the mountain. Due to the recent rainy season, the road was a bit muddy. On one side of the road, there were caves mixed with some wooden and earthen houses, which were occupied by the soldiers guarding here. Further ahead was the gathering area of the residents of the Cang River.
The appearance of the reservoir had caused the water level of the Cang River to rise a lot, occupying many places in front of the valley. But as they went further, the impact gradually decreased. Caves, rows upon rows of houses, and tents were gathered in this area. Looking from afar, the various houses looked simple and crude, but the planned area was surprisingly neat. Zhuo Xiaofeng had participated in the drawing of lines in this area. The houses might have been built in a hurry, but all the lines in the area were drawn in a square, which was strictly required by Ning Yi.
Even if the houses could not be built for the time being, they could put down their tents and live in them. The edges of the tents were not allowed to go beyond the boundaries of the lines.
After all, although it was a residential area, the majority of the people in the Cang River were soldiers. During the most difficult days of the winter, some people came from outside the mountain and made a scene, saying that the people here were blind. But then they were suppressed and chased out of the valley. At that time, it was winter and the former soldiers of the Wu Rui Camp had to work every day. It was inevitable that some of them would slack off and almost all of them joined in. After that, a rectification meeting was held in this valley with tens of thousands of people gathered.
The Female Zhenren was like the sun at high noon. Meanwhile, the Xixia people were attacking the cities and seizing the land outside. What had happened to the refugees who had come in was a clear proof of this. They are civilians who have lost their homes. You are soldiers. Do you still want this land under your feet in the future?
For a soldier, every rule would save many lives on the battlefield in the future!
After the meeting, the military leadership also strictly regulated the daily use of coal briquettes and charcoal fires. After the dam was built, the wooden huts gradually replaced the tents. However, there was not a single wall that went beyond the boundaries of the original lines.
At this time, the process of replacing tents with wooden houses had not yet been completed. The entire settlement was basically built with houses of various sizes surrounding a central plaza. Although the lines were drawn neatly, the scene was chaotic and the road was muddy. This was something that the people of the Small Cang River had no time to care about. From the autumn of last year to the beginning of summer, the construction of the Small Cang River had not stopped for a moment. Even in the harsh winter, all kinds of preparations were carried out.
Houses were built to ward off the cold, caves were dug out, and dams were built. In the spring, the main work changed to reclaiming the land and planting crops such as wheat and other crops. At this time of summer, the outline of the settlement in the valley gradually took shape. The wheat fields extended along the river valley for hundreds of acres. A suspension bridge connected the two sides of the river bank. Further away, the outline of the breeding area for horses and other livestock was gradually drawn out. Several watchtowers had been built on the hilltop, but the real necessary work was far from meeting the living needs of the tens of thousands of people in the valley.
Along the way, a child named Hou Yuanyong was chattering with Zhuo Xiaofeng about the changes in the valley. The roadside was bustling with noise. Men pushing carts and carrying stones passed by from time to time. It had been less than a month since Zhuo Xiaofeng left the valley, but many places in the valley had changed a lot. Over the past half a year, the Little Cang River had been growing every single day. Especially after the dam was formed, the speed of change was even more intense.
Occasionally, there would be people greeting Zhuo Xiaofeng. The youths from the Euphoria Youth League and the Vital Energy Society in Hangzhou had now become low-level managers and were responsible for distributing and coordinating work. When they passed by a slope, the cart that was dragging the soil and rocks got stuck in the mud. Zhuo Xiaofeng and Hou Yuanyong went over to help push the cart. A young man came over and said casually, "Brother Zhuo, Chen Xing and the others have set up a Ink Assembly and are recruiting people."
"Ink meeting?" Zhuo Xiaofeng frowned. At this time, there were soldiers walking around and a few men beside the cart were shouting in unison. Zhuo Xiaofeng followed with an "Ah!" and pushed the cart out of the mud pit. Only then did he say to Hou Yuanyong, "Find some plaster and wooden planks to fill up the pit." Hou Yuanyong nodded and left. He said to the young man who came over to talk to him, "I just came back and don't know what's going on. I'll go see my teacher first. We can talk later tonight."
The young man nodded. "I know. I just wanted to inform you first, Brother Zhuo."
Then, Hou Yuanyong dragged a dustpan filled with gravel and wooden planks over. The three of them filled up the mud pit and continued on their way. Even though they had just come back and did not mention it again, Zhuo Xiaofeng could more or less guess what was going on with the Ink Meeting.
After rebelling from the capital and going north, the Wu Rui Camp settled down in Little Cang River. After walking out of the initial confusion, they began to build Little Cang River. During this period, Ning Yi put in a lot of effort. Not only did he control the construction of the entire valley, but he also gave many lectures on the training of talents every day.
These lectures were generally divided into three categories. The first was to explain to the craftsmen the principles of all things. The second was to teach the managers in the valley about manpower arrangements and the concept of efficiency. The third was to teach the disciples, children, and even the relatively quick-witted officers some of their own ideas, such as analysis of current politics, speculations on the overall situation, and how a person should be.
When assigning jobs to people, he would try his best to explain to the administrative staff around him why he made the arrangements in such a way. For Ning Yi, this kind of thing, including the first two kinds of lectures, was to instill modern science and modern management as quickly as possible. It was a crash course to nurture these kinds of talents. Only the third kind of course had a long-term feeling, like a lecture. However, in the eyes of others, it was naturally different. These things were all considered the embodiment of Ning Yi's own ideas.
Emphasis on rules, efficiency, valuing things, placing people in important positions, craftsmen, businessmen, not looking down on lowly jobs, and personal self-discipline and awakening … These things were naturally different from the system of Confucianism. Especially in the past half a year, other than the first few times he went out, Ning Yi stayed at the Small Cang River and arranged almost everything himself. During this period of time, until now, the efficiency of the Small Cang River was frighteningly high. From drawing lines and making preparations, to building dams and reclaiming fields, it was as if there was a giant beast entrenched in the valley. Every day, it swallowed and spat out soil and stones, flattened the ground, and turned the desolate land into houses. And the speed of this change seemed to be constantly increasing.
Even the most experienced and knowledgeable person had never seen such efficiency before.
Flying Kongming Lanterns into the sky, building dams in a few days and then stopping the flow of the river. After the dams were formed, the terrain of Little Cang River changed greatly in a short period of time. Using human power to resist the power of heaven and earth was a shocking sight to the people. With the support of these things, people had long said that Mister Ning's inheritance was very similar to the ideas of the ancient Mohists. With the existence of the Euphoria Youth League and the Vital Energy Society, there were already a few small groups formed by young officers like the Huayan Society within the army of Little Cang River. Naturally, it was not surprising that the Mohists had appeared as well.
Walking out of the residential area and along the road to the other side of the valley, there were still scenes of people running on the road. Looking back, the muddy street seemed to contain an abundance of vitality.
At this time, Little Cang River was naturally facing a huge problem. Every day, at the small square of the residential area, there would be people bringing news from the outside world, such as the urgency of the Central Plains and the advancing war situation of the Western Xia army. There would also be people announcing the progress of Little Cang River at the square. However, anyone who paid attention would be able to see that Little Cang River was facing threats from all sides.
The threat from Western Xia was one of them. As long as they could gain a foothold in the northwest, Little Cang River would first face the problem of being unable to develop around it. This did not include the problem of what Little Cang River would do if the Western Xia took the initiative to attack it.
The problem of food was of utmost importance. To the tens of thousands of people in the valley, reclaiming the wasteland in the valley was already the fastest speed they could muster. However, they did not have enough tools and time was tight. In this spring, about a thousand mu of farmland had been added along the river valleys in the mountains. Wheat had been planted there, and it seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see. However, in reality, the land here was barren and had just been cultivated. If a thousand mu of land was planted well, it might be able to feed a thousand people, but if it was a thousand soldiers, they would still be malnourished.
Little Cang River currently relied on the blood transfusion from the Green Wood Stronghold. However, the Green Wood Stronghold itself did not have enough farmland, so it relied on the blood transfusion from the outside world. However, once the forces of the Jurchen and Western Xia stabilized, even if they did not consider the possibility of being attacked, this place would still face a real catastrophe.
Therefore, even though Little Cang River seemed to be full of energy at this moment, many people understood its problem. The countdown had never stopped at any time. In this situation where the Jurchen, Western Xia, and the rest of the world were rotting, Little Cang River had to extend its tentacles and roots. It was not like rowing a boat against the current, but sailing at the edge of a waterfall. If there was even the slightest hesitation, it would be doomed eternally.
"Ah — —" A loud shout came from the front. It was the scene of the army training at the river valley in front of the road. Even though they had replaced their usual physical training with a lot of manual labor, every team still had to train in battle formations once every three days. Zhuo Xiaofeng looked at the scene of the army forming a battle formation and firing their spears. He turned the road in front of him and saw the military and political meeting hall located halfway up the mountain. From afar, there were only two rows of simple wooden houses, but at this moment, there was a quiet and austere atmosphere.
*****
Spring turned to summer. In the fourth month of the second year of Jingping of the Wu dynasty, the Jurchen who had invaded the south had squeezed out everything that could be plundered from Bianliang. They appointed Zhang Bangchang as the emperor and established the regime of the Great Chu. Only then did they escort more than a hundred thousand people, including the Jingping Emperor of the Wu dynasty, the Empress Dowager, the Empress, the noble ladies, the nobles, the nobles, the commoners, and the craftsmen, to the north.
In the northwest, the Western Xia emperor, Li Qianshun, had started to expand his territory after he had recovered several cities such as Qingjian and Yanzhou. His troops were forced to move in the direction of Qingzhou and Weizhou, and he had recovered two hundred miles of Hengshan. At this time, the area north of the Yellow River of the Wu dynasty had fallen into a temporary state of "no one's land". The Jurchen, the ruler of the area, had not had enough time to digest this area. The newly established regime of the Great Chu was not legitimate. After the Jurchen withdrew their troops, Emperor Zhang Bangchang immediately took off his yellow robe and title. He did not work in the main hall of the imperial palace and followed the rules. He was not in the mood to manage the political affairs in the north of the Yellow River.
More than half of the country's patriots were still loyal to the Wu Dynasty. The mountain bandits and volunteer armies were also using the name of defending the Wu Dynasty. However, among them, the various factions that had begun to search for a way out for themselves had also begun to move quickly. Among them, apart from some big clans and armies that were already deeply rooted, Tian Hu's forces had also made a great leap during this period. At the same time, after the influence of the Wu dynasty faded, the Tubo tribes that had been separated by vassal kings also began to move toward the land in the east, eager to make trouble.
At this time, the rebel army that had just begun to take root in the Small Cang River was in a strange state. If one looked at it from the back, the army that had been operated by Ning Yi's powerful operational ability was actually walking on the edge of a sharp knife. To put it more seriously, this army that had rebelled after the regicide had no way forward and no way back. There were three reasons why it could be maintained. One of them was the obvious pressure from the outside world and the Chinese plains that was about to collapse and rot. If the people in Small Blue River Valley wanted to make them realize this, it was also directly related to the power of Ning Yi's propagandists to the people in the valley.
Secondly, it was the result of strong planning and the nurturing of manpower. The astonishing work efficiency in the valley had, to a certain extent, fed back on the workers themselves. As a result, the higher the efficiency, the higher the sense of achievement and surprise in everyone's hearts. In particular, the construction of the Small Cang River Dam had given people an indescribable sense of satisfaction, and it had also further promoted the efficiency of other things.
The third reason was because of the promotion of Ning Yi's achievements and the gradual formation of personal worship. Of course, everyone knew about the predicament that Small Cang River was facing. However, before this, when Ning Yi was still a Foreign Minister, he had already started a war with all the grain merchants in the world. This was something that Takeshi's followers were relatively clear about. At this time, Ning Yi had sent out a large number of people to contact all the merchants, constantly manipulating them. In the eyes of the people, it was naturally a sign that he was trying to use the power of commerce to solve the grain problem. At this time, the world was in chaos, and it was admittedly difficult to achieve this. However, the inner demon was always calculating and manipulating people's hearts. When he was in the Prime Minister's residence, he was even called the God of Wealth. At least when it came to business, most people had an almost blind confidence.
The factors that pushed the Small Cang River to continue operating were all interconnected, and the loosening of any link might lead to the collapse of the whole thing. However, during this period of time, the whole situation was operating strangely. At the same time, on Ning Yi's personal side, at the beginning of April, Yunzhu, who had been pregnant for ten months, gave birth to Ning Yi's third child, which was also his first daughter. However, due to the difficult delivery, after the child was born, both the mother and the child fell into an extremely weak state. The little baby ate very little on normal days and often cried in the middle of the night without sleeping, so many people felt that this child had a difficult life and might not be able to grow up.
At this time, the situation in the outside world was still worsening. With the return of Zhuo Xiaofeng and the others, the intelligence they brought back showed that the Tiger King Tian Hu, who was thousands of miles away, was now actively forming alliances. He had gathered some of the original big clans of the Wu dynasty and had already extended his tentacles to the northwest region. At the same time, he was trying to establish a trade route and even establish a connection with the Western Xia and Tubo regions. It could be seen that all of this was to prepare for the future confrontation with the Jurchens. And looking at their methods and the conflict between the two sides, Ning Yi seemed to be able to see the figure of a woman on Tian Hu's side.
Even in an ideal situation — even if the Western Xia temporarily did not extend their hands to the northwest region — it would be difficult for Wu Ruiying to open up a trade route in this area. Now that the demons were dancing, it had entered an almost impossible situation. And on the Western Xia side, in the past four months, Li Qianshun had already heard the name of Wu Ruiying, the king slayer. He had sent out an envoy to ask the Small Cang River to surrender. At this time, the envoy was heading toward the mountains where the Small Cang River was located, ready to inform the Small Cang River of its fate: surrender or be destroyed.
The 100,000 troops of the Western Xia had come to pacify the northwest region. Since they had entered their sights, if they did not surrender, there would definitely be a battle in the future.
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