Chapter Eleven Construction

  After dinner, Yang Heng walked around the forest and only then did he realize the difficulties of this place. It wasn't what his father said about the soil being shallow or the tree roots being long, but rather that it was too difficult to irrigate, and another reason was that the agricultural tools used in this era were too inefficient, or perhaps the agricultural technology in remote mountainous areas was too poor. As a result, Yang Heng's treasured land was abandoned here with no one coming to claim it.

  This land, the northern end is relatively high above the water surface, about two meters in height, and the south side is not very low, over one meter. It seems that Yang Heng and others have been here to open up the land several times. This place indeed has a thin layer of soil, but it's convenient to irrigate, just need to fetch water from the river and pour it on quickly. Once poured with water, it will naturally attract some tree roots and weeds to grow in this direction, which is what Old Dad said, "Crops can't grow taller than weeds and trees."

  "Grandfather, mother, I think we should build the house at the foot of the northernmost mountain." After turning around, Yang Heng chose a location for building the house, which was at the northern edge of the entire plot. This place had a higher terrain, and after the fields were opened up, it would be possible to observe the whole situation directly. Moreover, if a road were opened from the north, it could lead to villages far away, and that place was only over 300 meters away from the village.

  "It seems that my son has learned a lot of things, it would be great if he could formally attend private school." The old mother said with emotion, and even the old father's eyes were filled with joy. Perhaps they thought that all these were things Yang Heng had learned through stealthy learning, but they didn't think about how much one could learn from stealthy learning, it would be good if he could recognize a few characters.

  "What's with you guys?" Yang Heng looked at his old parents, who were staring at him like they were in a daze. He felt a chill run down his spine. "Son, go on, we're listening."

  "Alright, alright, I won't say anything more. Let's get to work now, starting from here, let's open up a two-meter wide road, otherwise how are we going to pull the flatbed cart to the north?" I didn't say anything else, just get to work directly.

  More than 700 meters of road, it's not far to say, nor is it close to say. There are only three or five hundred trees that need to be cut down with two knives on this road, and other small trees and weeds are not considered obstacles. In this way, the old father and mother were cutting trees in front, while Yang Heng was sorting out some of the felled trees behind them. Some of the trees with suitable shapes would be trimmed neatly by him and put aside, while the messy branches and weeds would be piled up and left for use as firewood.

  This body is strong and has its advantages. In less than an hour, a road over 700 meters long and two meters wide was opened up by the three of them. Yang Heng also collected over a hundred trees with trunks as thick as a bowl and several meters tall, among which there were dozens of even thicker big trees, but most of them were still trees with trunks as thick as a bowl. Yang Heng thought it through, to build houses, he would use these trees with trunks as thick as a bowl. This way, not only could they open up the land, but also use the opened-up trees to build wooden houses, and thus save the trouble of finding people to make earth-rammed walls.

  "Heng Er, the road is fixed, what's next?" Yang Heng looked at his parents' appearance and was speechless. They had cut down several hundred trees, not just harvested half an acre of wheat, but now they seemed to be breathing easily and sweating without any feeling, while he himself was exhausted to death.

  However, this is also understandable. The old father and mother just cut down the trees in front of them, without having to move or lift them, while Yang Heng had to trim the branches clean and stack things up, so it's natural that he was a bit tired.

  "Next, let's open up a place to build a house." Yang Heng chose a location ten meters from the shore and ten meters from the northern boundary, clearing a plot of land twenty meters wide east-west and thirty meters wide north-south. This would be a temporary courtyard for now; anything larger would exceed the limit. Work continued as usual, with his parents responsible for leveling the ground and removing trees and weeds. Yang Heng processed some tree branches and selected several wooden rods to serve as handles for axes and hoes. These were made from a type of wood called white wax, typically used for making rifle stocks or long poles. There were many such trees scattered throughout the forest, but unfortunately, not many were suitable for use; only a few grew straight and true.

  In less than an hour, the old father and mother opened up a large area of flat land again, this time opening nearly over 1,000 square meters. This was also for Yang Heng to cut down the trees he needed. The first thing he had to do was to surround the courtyard with a 30 by 50 frame. All the big trees, Yang Heng did not let the old father and mother cut them down, but instead climbed up himself to cut off the tree tops, then trimmed the branches around him, and cut the top into a sharp shape.

  Next, the hoe and the head took to the stage. The old father and mother dug a ditch over half a meter deep in this frame, and Yang Heng cut some bowl-mouthed thick trees into sharp heads on one end and semi-sharp on the other. Then, he buried the semi-sharp end in the ditch, with an interval of about two meters between the two trees, just enough to put his palm sideways. A simple wooden fence wall over three meters high was thus formed. Finally, they tied the fence firmly with rattan and wooden sticks in the middle, and the safety aspect was reassuring.

  "Finally, it's done. Not bad, not bad. Oh no, it's getting dark and we haven't even cooked lunch yet." The old lady clapped her hands and suddenly exclaimed.

  "Mother, you cook, aren't there still two wild rabbits? My grandfather and I will set up the shed for sleeping tonight." The shed is easy to build, just prop it up with trees around, cover it with thatch, and surround it with branches. Although it's drafty all around, digging a hole nearby and lighting a fire makes it cozy. It just needs someone to keep an eye on the fire at night, making sure it doesn't go out or set the shed on fire. These are small matters.

  Eating dinner, Yang Heng thought about his own affairs in his heart, feeling very sad. Others crossed over and got rich, built houses with glass windows, while he himself had to flee for his life when he first arrived, then started from scratch to build a wooden house. But it was okay now, he could be considered a small landowner, with 100 acres of land, not empty-handed anymore. He even still had the strength in his body, which, combined with his blacksmithing skills, could be considered a benefit of crossing over.

  Ever since he made the tool, Yang Heng had been puzzled. His parents' ironwork skills, even his mother's formula for bath medicine, were not bad, but why hadn't they ever developed anything? Even from his mother's words, it could be heard that the days of this family were getting harder and harder!