Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 236: Craftsmen's Camp and Shipyard Camp

After annexing the three villages of Dulonggang, the county issued a notice to open up the sale of farmland. Zhao Zhen did not expect that the farmers in the county would suddenly rush to the villages, take out most of their copper coins, and occupy the farmland they liked early.

Zhao Zhen had a plan in place. In principle, whoever rented the land would be the first to purchase it. Since it was close to the water, Zhao Zhen attached great importance to water conservancy. Most of Liangshan County was paddy fields near the water. The price of paddy fields was five strings of cash per mu, and dry fields were three strings of cash per mu. Although it was not cheap, there were more than a dozen families in each village who bought 20 mu of land in full.

In addition, Zhao Zhen specifically stipulated that if a family had a son serving in the military, they could purchase an additional ten acres of land. After all, twenty acres of land was not enough for a family to live on, and the remaining land could only be rented out for cultivation. In addition to paying taxes, there was also a tenant rent. Farmers naturally knew that buying land was much more cost-effective than renting it out, after all, the land could be passed down to their children.

Taking advantage of this favorable situation, Zhao Zhen opened up the sale of houses. If one felt that the small courtyard was not big enough, one could buy land and build one by oneself, or ask the county's army to build one.

Yes, it was the Xiang Army. Zhao Zhen referred to the Xiang Army in the Song Army and also set up Xiang Army. The Song Dynasty had various professional soldiers such as the city defense soldiers, the city prison soldiers, the post soldiers, the river cleaning soldiers, the river defense soldiers, the river opening soldiers, and the weir soldiers.

After discussing with Wu Yong, Xiao Rang and others, Zhao Zhen consulted with [Nine-tailed Turtle] Tao Zongwang and appointed him as the commander of the camp. He first established a [Craftsman Camp] specializing in construction. In addition to the soldiers who were originally good at construction and were transferred from the Imperial Guard to the Wing Army, the carpenter workshop was also included. He also recruited carpenters, bricklayers, stonemasons, and apprentices from Heihu Temple Town and Dulonggang, a total of 500 people.

[Jianzuoying], not engaged in fighting, but dedicated to construction. The first task was to build a village in Dulonggang. It was still a small courtyard with sufficient earth, wood and stone materials, and a house was completed every day. It was rented or sold, so that farmers who bought land nearby would have a place to live.

Although these craftsmen were all soldiers, their salaries were not high, only 200 coins per month, but these craftsmen were eager to join. However, Zhao Zhen was afraid that these people would just sit there and do nothing, so in addition to their basic salaries, they also received job salaries, rank salaries, and rewards for completing tasks. Their families could also buy five more acres of land and receive two sets of clothes every year. Moreover, these craftsmen did not have to stay in the barracks all the time. They could stay at home on weekdays, do some repair work, and have time to cultivate their own fields.

In addition to the [Craftsmen's Camp], Zhao Zhen also brought back Ruan Xiaoer and Meng Kang from the main world, and the brothers Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi replaced them.

Zhao Zhen, with Meng Kang of Yufangan as the leader, built Chuanfangying. Tao Zongwang and Meng Kang had a dispute over this, as both camps needed carpenters.

Finally, they were divided into two groups according to the craftsmanship that each craftsman was good at. Zhao Zhen then realized that carpenters were not able to do all kinds of carpentry work. Some carpenters were proficient in everything, while others were only good at one.

There are long carpenters, who build houses; square carpenters, who make furniture; round carpenters, who make barrels and foot basins, also known as hoopers; and sawyers, who saw wooden boards, also known as boundary carpenters.

Buying and selling land and houses, building new villages, recruiting soldiers, the whole Liangshan County suddenly became lively, with singing and laughter everywhere.

After resting for a few days, the heroes from all over the county began to get busy, training their men and horses and teaching martial arts.

Ruan Xiaoer, the commander of three naval forces in the water fort, taught boat driving and boat fighting every day. It was heard that in the battle with Zhujiazhuang this time, the navy was just on guard and did not fight.

Ruan Xiaoer complained to Zhao Zhen, "Sir, the navy has occupied nearly half of Liangshan County's troops, but they are useless. My brothers are not afraid of the land either."

Zhao Zhen said: "Brother, you have also seen that Brother Meng Kang has established the [Shipyard Camp] here. In addition to fishing boats and merchant ships, warships are still the main force. Brothers, just train the navy, and they will be used one day. If something unexpected happens, this waterfront will be our last place to settle down. When the time comes, the navy will naturally be of use."

Ruan Xiaoer listened to this without saying much, but he became more and more interested in training the soldiers. As the weather warmed up, Zhao Zhen resumed his daily martial arts practice. Since Coach Zhang went to Wanzi City to train the soldiers, Zhao Zhen began to learn from the heroes again. He also added bow and arrow and flying knife practice. In addition to the secret book, Li Ying could not help but demonstrate it in person many times, and Zhao Zhen's flying knife skills naturally improved rapidly.

That day, Zhao Zhen held the stone lock in the yard for half an hour. Seeing that the time was up, Zhao Zhen went into the house to change his clothes and said something to Cheng Wan'er. Seeing Zhang Yun in Cheng Wan'er's arms, staring at him with a pair of big eyes, Zhao Zhen could not help but poke Zhang Yun's cheek with his finger, which made Zhang Yun giggle and shout "Daddy, hug me".

Zhao Zhen couldn't help but take Zhang Yun from Cheng Wan'er's arms and teased her for a while.

When he arrived at the meeting room, Wu Yong was already waiting there. When he met Zhao Zhen, Wu Yong said, "Sir, I plan to go to Dongping Prefecture tomorrow to pay a visit to the old master. I want to settle the matter of Zhujiazhuang in an official manner, in case it is delayed for too long and something unexpected happens."

This matter had been discussed long ago. Although Liangshan County was a vassal county, it could make its own decisions on matters of all sizes, and it was still under the rule of the Song Dynasty. Moreover, Zhao Zhen's father-in-law Cheng Wanli had now been promoted to the position of prefect, and Zhao Zhen should congratulate him.

Nowadays, Liangshan County has a strong army and sufficient weapons and armor. The blacksmith shop has recruited many apprentices. The weapons are good, but the armor is slow to make. This time, Wu Yong went to Dongping Prefecture with the idea of ​​buying some "old armor" from Cheng Wanli.

Ever since Wu Yong learned that most of Zhujiazhuang's weapons and armor were obtained through this channel from various military units, he became interested.

Zhao Zhen asked: "Xuejiu, who are you taking with you this time?"

Wu Yong said: "The old steward still needs to accompany us. In addition, the three brothers Shi Jin, Chen Da, and Yang Chun are free at the moment, so it would be best if they could accompany us. When we return from Dongping Prefecture, the soldiers in the Wanzicheng camp will have completed their initial training, and the three brothers will be just in time to form the Sixth Capital Cavalry."

Zhao Zhen also thought so and said, "That's good. I have prepared the letter from the lady. Let the old steward Zhao Xing deliver it personally."

As they were talking, Shi Qian and Bai Sheng came in from outside. They greeted each other and were about to serve tea. Shi Qian waved his hand and said, "Sir, military advisor, we have found out where Zhu Yongqing is. This guy is cunning. He actually went to Jingyang Town and lived in the military camp."

Wu Yong said: "Is the news true?"

Bai Sheng said, "Military advisor, rest assured. We have seen this guy before and we will not make a mistake. He must have seen the defeat and was afraid that we would go to attack Zhujiazhuang, so he did not dare to go back and instead ran to the Imperial Army camp where his brothers were in Jingyang Town. The two of us searched the surrounding area, but we did not find his whereabouts."

"Brother Shi Qian said that this guy didn't seem like someone who was willing to wander around, so he must be nearby. Thinking that Yunlong, who was now staying in Jingyang Town, was his brother, the two of us went there. After careful inquiries, we found out that a lot of paper money and incense were bought in the military camp. We made a special inquiry and found out that it was Yunlong's personal soldiers who bought the paper money and incense. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the military camp buying, the two of us entered the military camp and saw Zhu Yongqing."

Wu Yong said: "This fellow is quite clever. Now that we know he is there, we must be on guard against him in the future. At Dongping Prefecture, ask the old man to issue a warrant to arrest him so that he cannot stay there. Then we can get rid of him."

Zhao Zhen nodded. It would be best if he could get rid of Zhu Yongqing. After all, he had a grudge against his family and his entire clan. This guy was good at martial arts, and it would be troublesome if he did something bad in secret.

(End of this chapter)