12dz Chapter 346 Bandit Horse Village
Chapter 346 Bandit Horse Village
The Liangyu recruitment site fell into chaos, which was a situation that the clan members who came to recruit workers had not anticipated.
In reality, it wasn't as if anyone was secretly fanning the flames. After all, the people here had no idea what these outsiders were doing for a living.
The imperial court issued an edict to develop a barren mountain twenty miles away from Liangyu into a highway, but the specific reason was not mentioned at all.
Most of the people recruited from Pingyang were responsible for road construction, while most of those from Jingxian were skilled workers.
Liang Yu's initial recruitment was intended to lay the foundation for future expansion, but no one expected that a few troublemakers would emerge.
With free food and accommodation and generous wages, everyone wants to get a piece of the pie, and some even try to just get by.
As a result, although the recruitment conditions seem simple, there are many considerations in terms of age, physical condition and knowledge, which makes it difficult for those who want to get through by cheating.
People who really want to work and make a living may be passionate, but they will never make too much noise.
But the unemployed vagrants in the county town, especially those who are afraid of hardship but want to make money, don’t think so.
The scene became chaotic, and the man with the pointed chin and monkey cheeks finally revealed his true thoughts: "If you don't let us do it, then no one else can do it."
"That's right, no one can do it!" The people following behind shouted in unison.
It was obvious that someone was deliberately stirring up trouble.
Seeing this, the recruitment manager understood the purpose of these people.
He slowly stood up, put away the registration list, and gently brushed off the non-existent dust on his clothes.
He said, "We, the aristocratic coalition, are not afraid of anyone, you little scoundrels. Let alone a few of you petty thieves, for us, it would be a piece of cake to deal with you."
The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.
Some of them were from the ? clan. When they heard that these people were the coalition forces of the aristocratic families, they remembered that Jinyang was attacked by these people.
So, someone secretly went to Guwu County to inform the news.
Shi Li heard that someone was developing Liangyu, which was his hometown. How could he not have a share in such a good thing?
"We will lead our troops to occupy Liangyu. We can't let them succeed so easily." Shi Li said impulsively with an angry look on his face.
Kui Zheng had been feeling depressed for a while. After hearing Shi Li's words, he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, "Chief, don't be so impulsive. We should send someone to investigate first. What are they trying to accomplish by making such a big fuss?"
Hou Lin heard Kui Zheng's words from the side and felt very unhappy.
"You old boy, you always think before and after when you do something. Back then, when I traveled all over Bingzhou, everyone knew my name, Hou Shan." Hou Lin shouted at the top of his voice.
"Yes, although you, Hou Shan, are very famous, you were still thrown into prison." Kui Zheng ruthlessly exposed Hou Lin's past.
Hou Lin instantly became furious: "I will kill you, you bastard! How dare you insult me..."
Seeing this, Shi Li shouted angrily, "Alright, now that we're all gathered together to work on a great cause, can you please put aside your past grudges?"
After scolding him, Shi Li looked at Xia Shao and said, "Take Pu Xuesong with you to Liangyu and find out what these people are up to."
Xia Shao understood what Shi Li meant, jumped off the stool, and replied simply: "Okay!"
……
Coincidentally, ten days after recruiting workers, the iron mine was discovered.
What’s even more coincidental is that this iron mine happens to be located in Liangyu, less than two miles away from Pingyang County.
The coal mine and the iron mine are nine miles apart, separated by a large mountain.
Faced with such a fantastic opportunity, Zhao Sheng made a decisive decision to build the smelter within Pingyang County. This would greatly reduce transportation costs and future maintenance.
Two miles west of the iron mine, there is a river that runs through the mine from north to south, making it an ideal place to build a factory.
Going south along the river is where the coal mines are mined.
Less than a mile further south, a coal storage warehouse was set up, and some workers' accommodation areas were also built beside the river.
Those who were unaware of the situation in Liangyu thought that the noble family only had one coal mine here.
After the coal mine opened, the number of employees was quickly increased by another thousand, all of whom were miners.
"There are few shrimps. It seems that they only mine coal, and all the coal is shipped to Pingyang."
"What are they transporting these coals to Pingyang for? Have you found out?" Xia Shao asked with a frown.
"Our people have carefully checked along the newly built road and haven't found any clues yet, but..." Pu Xuesong hesitated to speak.
"Just say what you want to say, don't be hesitant!" Xia Shao saw Pu Xuesong leaving words unsaid, and a look of displeasure appeared on his face.
"There's a workers' shack being built on the other side of the mountain. There aren't many people living there, and they're only the workers who are building the road."
"I see. But is it really necessary to build shanties when we're only across a mountain? Can't these migrant workers just set up a shelter at night?"
Xia Shao felt that this matter was very strange. Building shanty houses was a huge project, and there were few trees on the mountain.
"Send someone to investigate carefully to find out what those shanties are used for."
"Yes!" Pu Xuesong responded, and then disappeared into the night.
Just as Xia Shao expected, when the iron ore was first discovered, the people sent by Luancheng did not rush to mine it, but first built the furnaces for producing steel.
Moreover, the coal transported is not ordinary coal. It needs to be processed and made into coking coal.
Pu Xuesong and his men secretly waited on a nearby hilltop, but because they could not get close, they were unable to discover the mystery.
"You three stay here. I'll take San'er to Pingyang County."
……
After walking twenty miles north, we found a camp of road construction workers, where there were many neatly dressed people.
Moreover, there are a large number of armed people here, at least five thousand.
"No, something is wrong here." Pu Xuesong waved his hand to stop the people traveling with him, squatted halfway up the mountain, and observed the situation below intently.
It seems that a brick kiln has been built here. Those people who look like soldiers are shirtless, mixing mud and beating it into regular-shaped bricks.
"Are they building a military camp here?"
Looking at the repaired road, it was more than twice as wide as the official road they were walking on, and there were a lot of gravel on the road.
In fact, this was exactly the service area of the expressway model that Zhao Sheng had planned. As for whether it could lead to Liangyu, Zhao Sheng had not given it much thought for the time being.
This service area is surrounded by hilly areas and the resources are not abundant, but there are many local villagers and the population is no less than that of Liangyu County.
This is also one of the reasons why a service area was built here.
Secondly, there is a large pond here, where local horse caravans and bandits like to stay.
Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of the expressway, a garrison must be set up here, while also promoting the development of local people's livelihood.
Because horse caravan bandits often appear in this place, local people call it Fei Ma Zhuang.