Building fortresses and repairing roads

  "Wu Ping Bo, I have been ordered to bring 800 stones of cement and 20 craftsmen from Taiwan to assist Wu Ping Bo in building the Rao Wei Stockade."

  Jimei is also known as the end of the Gulf, where the Dongxi River, the largest river in Tong'an District, empties into the sea, forming a vast bay that locals call the Gulf of Jimei. The west bank of the Gulf of Jimei extends to Jimei, which is already at its tail end, hence the name Jimei, and the term "Jimei" is actually a Minnan dialect homophone for the elegant name of the end of the Gulf, and these two terms have been interchangeable since the Ming Dynasty.

  "Twenty craftsmen?" Liu Guoxuan looked at the Ministry of Works with a cold gaze. "Jimei and Xiamen's Gaoqi are separated by a narrow strait, and in the year of Guiyou (1663), the northern army crossed the sea to land on the island. Such an important place, and the Ministry of Works only sent twenty craftsmen? Is it not that Lord Li Jing wants to surrender to the enemy?"

  "Wu Pingbo's words were heavy, and relying solely on the twenty masons would indeed be impossible to build a fort, but they were all old hands at repairing roads and building bridges with cement over the past few years, and were master craftsmen." Although facing the murderous aura that was rushing towards him, Gong Bu was not moved in the slightest. "As long as Wu Pingbo's side sends some laborers to help out"

  ??”

  "Is it just a matter of lending some labor?" Liu Guoxuan cut off the other's words and asked directly. "How much labor is needed? Don't tell me that General wants to transfer the entire army to you."

  "Wuping Bo smiled and said," The Ministry of Works thought for a moment, and casually reported a number. "Just adjust five hundred soldiers."

  "Only five hundred people?" Liu Guoxuan was skilled in using spies, and naturally he wouldn't ignore the news from Taiwan. These years, cement had been a topic of discussion in Taiwan, and even last year, he had sent 8,000 captive laborers to Zheng Kecang through his hands. Seeing the confident look on the Ministry of Works' representative, he didn't dare to ask further questions. "It can be completed within those few days."

  "As long as we have enough manpower and supplies, according to Wu Pingbo's plan, this small fort with 800 soldiers will be taken down in just one day and night."

  "Alright, I'll give you a day and night. If it's not completed by then, don't blame the military law for being ruthless."

  ??”

  Liu Guoxuan's news of building a fort at the end of the strait could not escape the ears and eyes of the Qing army. The governor of Tong'an immediately assembled more than 4,000 Manchu and Mongolian soldiers from the Eight Banners and the Green Standard Army to rush over. However, they did not expect that within one day and night, a stone fort had already stood at the end of the strait. In fact, whether it was making concrete with bamboo reinforcement or using it as an adhesive coating for exterior walls, both required a long time to set. The Qing army rushed over hastily, originally intending to use speed to defeat their enemy slowly, so they did not bring heavy artillery like the Hongyi cannon. Therefore, facing the high and deep fort of the end of the strait, they were at a loss for what to do. Fearing that Liu Guoxuan's main force would cross the sea to provide reinforcements, the Qing army retreated without a fight, unaware that there were only hundreds of exhausted soldiers in the fort after a night of hard work.

  "Done well." Liu Guoxuan, who asked the source of inquiry, is not a person who insists on saving face. Seeing that Gongbu can indeed do what he says, he also praises him without hesitation. "The commander wants to build one or two artillery forts next to the camp, can you help with this?"

  "As long as Dongning can allocate enough cement, I can not only add artillery fortifications to Junwei Village, but also expand it." In response to Liu Guoxuan's sincerity, Gongbu Doushi was straightforward. "It's just that the cement production in Dongning is not high, and Shisun is also actively promoting the construction of prefectural and county roads, so it may be a bit difficult."

  "The enemy of Tong'an has sent eight warships down the river to spy on Siming's true situation." Liu Guoxuan had such confidence, what official path, now the most important thing is Siming's safety, everything else must give way. "If this major internal threat is not eliminated, I will not be able to rest easy, so I have increased the construction of artillery forts to defend against the enemy, which is imminent. I will personally request King Wang to allocate more labor and materials."

  ??”

  Liu Guoxuan, who is on this side of the ocean, has begun to realize the benefits of cement at the same time, Zheng Kecang is also inspecting the Tongning Official Road construction project, which is a large-scale project that started in July last year. After a lapse of one year, not only Zheng Kecang cares about its progress, but also Chen Yonghua wants to know about it.

  "In the case of the road from Anping to Shuntian, 67.5 miles have been transformed into a 15-step wide cement road and cement bridge. For this purpose, 45,000 cubic meters of crushed stone, nearly 25,000 tons of cement, 43,000 tons of yellow sand, and 35,000 bamboo sticks were used.

  The Ministry of Works' Langzhong Chen Ming'an reported on the two-and-a-half-inch thick cement road surface, saying that with such thickness, it would be considered an absolutely excellent project in later generations. This was not because Zheng Kezang had high demands, but rather because his cement production had low strength.

  In addition, all the slaves, artisans, supervisors, and soldiers consumed 11,000 stones of rice and flour, as well as other food, meat, wine, sugar, and salt worth 430 taels. One hundred and seventy-seven stone-quarrying and road-building slaves died from illness, while fourteen people were killed by falling rocks, and eleven people lost their lives due to floods destroying the bridge."

  "Is there a problem with the official road paving?" Zheng Kezang bowed his head and touched the completely hardened road surface. According to the test by the Ministry of Works, this thickness of cement pavement is enough to withstand the passage of super-heavy artillery weighing tens of thousands of catties without cracking, and it can be said that it has basically met his original design requirements.

  "The first is that the production of cement is insufficient. Currently, all eight kilns in the Ministry of Works are firing together, but the output is still not enough." Chen Ming'an was frank and open, unlike his predecessor Li Jing, who gave Zheng Kezang a very bad impression. "The second is that there are not enough workers." This is where the contradiction lies - when there is cement, people wait for cement; when there is no cement, people wait for cement, so the construction speed has never been able to pick up. "There's nothing else."

  "The cement production is not enough, then open more kiln mouths. As for the need for people to quarry limestone and grind bricks and tiles, these will be solved somehow." Zheng Kezang's solution was to import slaves, of course, this required money, but he didn't have to report to Chen Mingbiao. "By the way," Zheng Kezang continued to ask, "those surrendered Qing soldiers haven't caused any trouble, have they?"

  "With the bravery of the guards, this bare-handed traitor can't stir up any trouble." Chen Ming'an thought for a moment. "There were a few who tried to escape, but after being caught and taught a lesson, they were beaten until they cried out for their parents, and then starved for a while. Now, basically no one dares to try to escape privately." Chen Ming'an seemed very optimistic. "Even if they escaped from the labor camp, it's not necessarily a good outcome. Not to mention the mountain bandits, even the Pingpu tribe may not dare to take them in."

  "It's true, but we can't always treat the Yuwei Army as if they were originally garrison soldiers. Zheng Kecang thought for a moment. "You can announce that each team will compete with each other, and the top three teams that complete the most construction work every day and pass the inspection will receive extra food. Furthermore, at the end of the year, the top three teams can be immediately released from their duties and become ordinary civilians, and they can also be granted land just like ordinary refugees."

  "This method of Shi Sun is good, so let them compare themselves, and it's also convenient for someone to hold back from causing trouble." Chen Ming'an carefully responded with a sentence, but the result was that he returned to the original question. "But the manpower was already somewhat insufficient, if some more were released, wouldn't it be even more scarce?"

  "Making these people labor is originally a punishment for their treachery, but after all, they are Han people, and can't be detained forever." Zheng Kezang's cold gaze seemed to pierce through the strait. "If I really wanted to exhaust them to death, wouldn't I have arranged for them to quarry stones, mine, or pan for gold?" As he spoke, his tone suddenly shifted. "Of course, it's also possible to be too lenient; they must be made to know the consequences of being Han traitors!" After finishing this harsh statement, Zheng Kezang signaled the coachman to bring over that unique four-wheeled carriage from Dongning. "You try it out, see how fast you can run on such a flat road." The coachman took his leave and departed, watching as the carriage accelerated and soon disappeared into the distance. Only then did Zheng Kezang respond to Chen Ming'an's persistent question. "Rest assured, I've already made arrangements with Yingui Li's merchant house; in a few days' time, they will send at least five thousand black slaves, half of whom will be allocated to the Ministry of Revenue's Tiantai Clearing Office, and the other half to the Ministry of Works. From now on, every year there will be this number of black slaves coming to Taiwan, so please don't worry, Chen sir."

  Chen Ming'an fell silent, he was not a government official in charge of finance, so naturally he wouldn't understand how much money it would take to buy that many black slaves.

  The chariot, which had been galloping at a breakneck pace, finally turned back after a while. Seeing the lathered Andalusian horses, Zheng Kezang didn't need to ask to understand why the coachman's face was flushed with excitement. But Zheng Kezang's first question caught him off guard: "Do you think we need to re-shoe the horses?"

  The coachman savored it for a moment, nodding heavily: "Monarch, on such a road, galloping horses probably need to use heavy nails from the Liaodong side."

  "Magistrate Chen," Zheng Kezang shifted his gaze back to Chen Mingyuan. "The road construction is still in your hands." Chen Mingyuan hastily replied that he didn't dare, but Zheng Kezang ignored him. "Director-General Chen will take care of things over there, you don't need to worry." Before Chen Mingyuan could figure out whether Zheng Kezang's words were a double entendre or not, Zheng had already boarded the carriage. "Let's go!" The horse-drawn carriage sped along the newly paved cement road, and Zheng Kezang gazed at the wide but deserted road with a furrowed brow.

  ??”

  "What? To draw lines on the newly built official road and let pedestrians walk on both sides?" Chen Yonghua looked at his son-in-law in surprise. Before the Tang and Song dynasties, it was not allowed for ordinary people to walk on official roads. Only in the Ming dynasty did he hear that ordinary people were not allowed to enter the post station easily, but never heard that pedestrians were not allowed to walk on official roads. "Son-in-law, are you mistaken?"

  Zheng Kezang was taken aback, he really had made a mistake, but at this time he could only pretend to be correct: "Father-in-law must have misheard, the son-in-law's intention is to separate the roads, and divide the newly built cement road into two lanes for coming and going. Those who come must walk on the lane for coming, and those who go must walk on the lane for going, so as to avoid blocking traffic."

  "How many people will it take to manage?" Chen Yonghua pointed out the flaw in Zheng Kecang's plan. "Besides, Dongning is not a prosperous business, and there are few pedestrians on the old official road every day. If the new official road is built, but the government dispatches personnel to supervise the order, it will be a loss."

  "This?" Zheng Kezang hesitated, indeed, not everything can be copied from later generations. "The father-in-law's teachings are to let the young son think carefully again."

  ??”