Chapter Twenty-Four: A Grand Blueprint Hidden in One's Chest

  "I thought it would take some time for you to return, sir. I didn't expect you to come back so quickly!" After everyone sat down, Zhao Xing asked about their well-being.

  "Master every day standing in the square mouth reciting 'Mr. how not yet see return', it turns out all fake!" Li Tiezhu, who was standing in the corner, whispered to Xu Wanlin, who was looking around, his voice just loud enough for people in the hall to hear.

  "This Li Tiezhu! He's clearly trying to upstage me!" Zhao Xing thought, gritting his teeth in his heart. "But this next line is really well done! Through a child's description, it can even better reflect my eagerness to find talent... Hmph!"

  But it made Guo Chang worried. Jia Yu heard Li Tiezhu's words and felt warm in his heart, "This is my youngest son Jia Mu, he is eight years old this year." Jia Yu called a boy of similar age to Li Tiezhu from behind him to the front, introducing him to everyone.

  Jia Mu fell into a deep bow and saluted Zhao Xing with great courtesy, saying "I have seen the master".

  "With demeanor and speech so calm and composed, he truly has his father's air about him!" Zhao Xing looked at him with a gleam in his eye and couldn't help but praise.

  "Guo Chang is indeed a flatterer!" Jia Yu said with courtesy, pointing to a wet nurse holding a child in her arms. "This is the youngest son Jia Fan, not yet a year old, but born during my travels, hence the name 'Fan'".

  "This is Jia Ying, the eldest daughter, who is ten years old and about the same age as Young Madam's younger sister..." Jia Xun introduced his family members to Zhao Xing and the others one by one.

  Everyone says "dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and mice beget hole-diggers". Zhao Xing saw Jia Yu's children, regardless of whether they were boys or girls, they all had elegant and refined appearances, their behavior was dignified and proper. He couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion. Thinking that in his previous life he hadn't even had the chance to become a father, this life he had fewer worries, from now on not only did he want to be a dad, but also take the lead as a role model, have many children and raise them well, with descendants filling the halls, striving for the rise of the nation!

  After Jia Xu finished, Guan Yu also introduced his family to the crowd. It turned out that Guan Yu's father, Guan Yi, did not follow Guan Yu on this trip. Since Xie County was under the jurisdiction of Shangdang Commandery and was not far from Changzi County, if something happened at home, he could return in two days by riding a fast horse. This time, Guan Yu only brought his wife, Hu Shi (named Hu Dingjin), and their eldest son, Guan Ping.

  Guan Yu is a representative of the common people among the famous generals of the Three Kingdoms. His family has no foundation or background, and this time he came with only three members of his family. When he saw Guan Ping, who was only five years old, Zhao Xing suddenly remembered that Guan Yu's second son was originally named "Guan Xing", but since he had not been born yet, how could he be called "Xing" in the future? Wouldn't this confuse the generations?

  Zhao Xing gave a piece of courtyard adjacent to his own north side to Jia Yu, which was enough to accommodate their whole family.

  Although Guan Yu's family was small, Zhao Xing gave a house with an area similar to the one given to Jia Xu, adjacent to his own in the south, to Guan Yu, both to show his importance and to encourage Guan to contribute more fresh blood to the revolution.

  In order to make it easier for people to distinguish and recognize, and also to satisfy the naming habits of a certain guy, Jia Yu's courtyard was named "Chongwen Garden", and Guan Yu's courtyard was named "Shangwu Garden".

  The Qiang people brought back by Jia Xu were arranged in the upper right corner of the "concave" shape of Wohu Village, and the family soldiers recruited by Guan Yu were arranged in the upper left corner of the "concave" shape of Wohu Village, which was convenient for the two to manage and train their own troops.

  Two groups of people, separated by a large square, wouldn't have conflicts even if they were close enough to touch each other's lips. Zhao Xing had already thought it through - from now on, the two groups would train facing each other across the middle of the square, and under the atmosphere of comparison and competition, their enthusiasm for training would definitely be mobilized.

  If someone is itching for a fight, unwilling to give in, and starts staring each other down, no problem. Just head to the arena for a "PK" match, one-on-one or group battle, as long as no weapons are involved and no one gets seriously hurt. Whoever wins becomes the "big brother", whoever loses becomes the "second brother".

  In the future, if someone else comes to surrender to Zhao Xing, they will continue to build houses along the two sides of the "凹" shape, extending forward until they connect with the distant platform. If it can really be connected, I estimate that there are at least 8,000 people, even if not 10,000.

  Of course, Zhao Xing would not put so many people around his own courtyard. If there were really that many people and horses, the ones surrounding his residence should be the families of soldiers and officers. The area around the square in the future will be a residential area and municipal center. As for the troops, they can be stationed on the city walls in the future or outside the current Zhuangzi.

  The courtyard where Zhao Xing lived has also been expanded. After the original wall was demolished, two more houses were added to both the north and south sides of the three rows of five rooms (a total of nine rooms per row). In the backyard, there were originally several vegetable fields, but now only a few osmanthus trees are left, and some other flowers and trees have been planted. Two rows of houses of the same scale as the front three rows have been built next to them.

  The front three rows of houses have a room in the middle with doors at both ends, called "hall". The corridors between the halls are covered with eaves to shelter from wind and rain. The gaps between the east and west rooms of each row are all covered with side houses that can accommodate servants' quarters.

  Thus, Zhao Xing's courtyard became a fully enclosed layout similar to the traditional Beijing quadrangle courtyard, with five rows of houses in front and back. Zhao Xing's mother Li Yujiao, his wife Xu Wanting, his younger sister-in-law Xu Wanlin, and future female relatives lived in the last two rows.

  The front three rows became the residence of Zhao Xing, the convener of the meeting, and the family general. If viewed from the middle, the houses are lined up neatly like barracks, and the front three courtyards have three horizontal and one vertical (corridor) layout, resembling a "king" character. And if you add the square in front that is being expanded and renovated, as well as the drum tower in the middle of the square and the "point general platform" in the distance, it vaguely resembles an imperial seal!

  Of course, some unscrupulous person would not admit to this being their premeditated plan in the first place, and would only say: "Hey, why do you like to make a big deal out of nothing and think wildly? How could it be a '皇' character? Look at our house's front and back, it has five rows of courtyards, where have you ever seen a '王' character written with five horizontal strokes?"

  The entire compound was named "Humble Administrator's Garden" by Zhao Xing, meaning that one should cultivate his mind with humility and diligence, and the heaven will reward those who are diligent.

  Due to the Wo Hu Zhuang backing onto a mountain ridge, the space extending backwards is relatively limited, and can only expand south and north along the Taihang Mountains, and extend westward along the mountain slope to the open and flat area. Zhao Xing's courtyard is located in a high position, which can overlook the front and lower parts, with an open view, conducive to defense.

  The tenants of the original Wohu Village were to be relocated by Zhao Xing to a flat area at the foot of the slope, near the location of the Xu family's wine workshop, making it convenient for them to go to work at the Xu family's wine workshop and also facilitating contact between the Han and Qiang people.

  To be honest, if it were in ancient times, Zhao Xing would still be the actual owner of this land. Otherwise, people from the National Land Resources Bureau and Urban Planning Bureau would definitely find trouble with Zhao Xing. They actually used a large piece of arable land to build "affordable housing" and "relocation housing".

  The place vacated, Zhao Xing was preparing for the people who would join the small group of Wohu Village later. According to Zhao Xing's words, this is called "planting a paulownia tree and attracting a phoenix!" Translated, it means "Talent Introduction and Settlement Project"!

  Looking out at the distant square where the family soldiers and Qiang people had already begun training, Zhao Xing felt a sense of pride in his chest. Currently, the number of men and horses in Wotou Village had surpassed that of an entire battalion in his previous life.

  Thanks to the newly opened "Drunken Immortal Pavilion" in Jinyang, which relied on 45-degree fragrant Longhe wine to open up the market, the current Sleeping Tiger Village relies on the income of two wine pavilions, and it can be described as making a fortune every day. Even merchants from outside the pass, including the Tabgach Xianbei and Qiang Hu, have come to spend big money buying wine, saying "I'd rather go three days without meat than one meal without Longhe".

  Zhao Xing continued to use the money he earned to buy more grain, and basically, for every dan of grain that was brewed into wine and sold, he could earn enough to buy back ten dan of grain. After deducting labor costs, grain prices, and losses, Zhao Xing's white wine business had reached an astonishing profit margin of 600%. If this snowball effect continued to grow, within two years, Zhao Xing's wealth would become the greatest in Shangdang and even Pingzhou!

  But Zhao Xing thought of an even more extreme plan. If the snowball grew big enough, he would suddenly stop increasing production, causing all the brewing materials - grains - to pile up. For a modern enterprise, having a large amount of raw materials stockpiled is very dangerous, as it means that the capital chain may break. But for Zhao Xing, this was exactly what he wanted! Was Zhao Xing afraid of having too much grain? He hated that he didn't have enough grain!