On the fifth day of the ninth lunar month, the county town sent people to bring axes and saws that filled two wagons, and also sent two craftsmen who were good at building houses to help and guide the refugees in the Zhengxiang work site to build solid houses.

These two carpenters, one surnamed Chen and the other surnamed Bai, so the refugees in Zhengxiang called them Master Chen and Master Bai.

Zhao Yu had known about this for a long time, and it was not surprising that when the axes and saws and other tools sent by the county arrived, he gathered the refugees and announced in public: "Put aside digging ditches for the time being, and build houses first to protect against the harsh winter." ”

Naturally, this order was embraced and supported by all the refugees at the site, and they even cheered for it.

Because they were building houses for themselves, all the refugees present were very active, and in just one day, the young and strong people among the refugees cut down a lot of wood from the nearby woods and mountains and moved it to the east side of Zheng Township.

It is worth mentioning that even the people of Zhengxiang, who are concerned about digging ditches, have sent many young people to help the refugees cut down trees and build houses.

During the cutting of trees, Ding Lu met the young man of Zheng Township named Zheng Le again, and Ding Lu couldn't help but say to the latter: "I really didn't expect you to help us." ”

Due to the previous conflict with each other, Zheng Le pursed his lips and ignored Ding Lu, but there was another Zheng Xiang Qingzhuang beside him and said: "Just if the people of our township dig the ditch, they can't dig far, so it's better to help you finish building the house first...... If you want to reciprocate, you can dig a ditch in the future......"

Although these Zheng Township people came to help, the tone of their speech still made Ding Lu and the other refugees a little unhappy, no, Ding Lu's little brother Feng Bu immediately smiled strangely: "That's natural!" After all, in the future, we will be neighbors across this Jinggong Canal. ”

Hearing this, the faces of several Zheng villagers changed slightly, and they walked away without saying a word.

Looking at the backs of these people leaving, Ding Lu said to Feng Bu: "Abu, what are you doing to provoke them?" ”

Feng Bu snorted coldly: "This group of Zheng villagers, who think they are the masters of the local area, still regard us as outsiders, like locusts, hum!" The second prince has already said that Liu Gong has allowed us to build a village and a township here......"

"Then you don't need to provoke them for no reason, you must know that we can build a township here and face Zheng Township across the canal, this is with the acquiescence of the Zheng Township Chief......"

"I just can't get used to the attitude of these people." As he spoke, Feng Bu glanced at Ding Lu strangely, frowned and said, "Big brother, why are you getting more and more afraid?" ”

Ding Lu was choked, and at this time, Zu Xing, another younger brother who was relatively taciturn on weekdays, shook his head and said: "The eldest brother is not afraid of things, the eldest brother has a responsibility." ”

"Responsible...... Is it? ”

Brother's understanding, Ding Lu smiled slightly, and turned his head to look at the refugees around him.

At this moment, the refugees who carried wood near him were basically refugees from his first tun, and when Zhao Yu handed him over to him, there were only about 60 people, but after just a dozen days, with the influx of refugees into Luyang County, the number of refugees under his hands has grown to more than 90 people, and even at this rate, it will not take long to reach the full 50 households.

I have to say that this made Ding Lu very stressed.

I remember that when he was in his hometown of Zhangling County, he and Feng Bu and Zu Xing in the same county were called the first tyrants in the township, and the villagers did not walk around when they saw him.

But like this, he is now in charge of more than 90 people under his hands, think about it carefully, this is really ironic.

Shaking his head and putting the past behind, Ding Lu clapped his palms and encouraged the people under his jurisdiction like Zhao Yu: "Work hard, this is building a house for us, are you still willing to live in that leaky grass hut?" With a little bit of effort, we'll be able to live in a solid house in a few days. ”

Under his encouragement, not to mention the men in the tun, even orphans and widows like Ma, they forgot their tiredness because of excitement.

The new house, or the new home, they have fled from Wannan or Wanbei to this place, and they have long been ready to be disliked and rejected by Luyang County, who would have thought that one day they would be able to settle down in Luyang County and have their own home again?

Whenever they thought about this, the refugees were sincerely grateful to the county magistrate Liu Wei, and even more to the Luyang township marquis, because as far as they knew, it seemed that it was the Luyang township marquis who persuaded the county magistrate Liu Wei to accept them and allow them to settle in this Luyang county.

Here Ding Lu is not skilled at motivating the refugees under his jurisdiction, not far away, Tian He and Yu Peina, the people under their jurisdiction are more cheerful, the men shout "hey, hey", and the women even sing the poetry of their hometown.

It's hard to imagine that a month ago, these people were a group of desperate refugees.

At this time, on a dirt slope in the distance, Liu Wei, the Marquis of Luyang, Zhao Yu and others climbed to the top to watch the progress of these refugees in building houses, and observed their emotions from afar.

When he saw the cheerful smiles on the faces of the group of refugees in the distance, Liu Wei couldn't help but smile a little.

Although he is the county magistrate of Luyang County, his duty must give priority to the people of the county, but if he can, he also hopes to help those helpless refugees.

He happily turned his head to the Luyang Township Marquis and said to Zhao Yu: "Thanks to the persuasion and persistence of your father and son, Liu was able to see this beautiful thing...... As the second son said, only by thoroughly accepting these refugees and allowing them to settle down can our Luyang County be stabilized. After a pause, he expressed his concerns again: "But I'm still a little worried, I'm afraid that in the future, I won't be able to feed so many people in Luyang County...... In the future, it is conservatively estimated that there will be a county with 5,000 households, and Liu really can't imagine that there are not so many people in Yecheng. ”

At this time, I heard Zhao Yu say on the side: "In fact, Liu Gong doesn't need to worry about anything, before the completion of the Jinggong Canal, it is enough to support these people with work relief; After the completion of this canal in the future, we might as well build a few Jin cities along the river to attract passing merchant ships with water transportation, and touch the light of Rushui counties...... That's why I suggested widening the river under the original plan. ”

Liu Wei is not a mediocre talent, as soon as he heard this, his eyes immediately lit up, and he said in a voice: "Good idea! In the past, Rushui did not pass through my Luyang, although because of the relationship between Rushui water transportation, the merchants of Rushui counties came and went quite frequently, but it had nothing to do with my Luyang County, but after the Jinggong Canal was completed, hehehehe......"

Listening to this old man and the young man taking a 'Jinggong Canal', the Luyang Township Marquis was really embarrassed, and looked into the distance with his hands behind his back and did not speak.

He gradually regretted it a little, he had known that he would be called Xianghou Qu, why did he name himself in the first place? It's so embarrassing right now.

After half a ring, Liu Wei, who was chatting with Zhao Yu very speculatively, couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "It's a pity that although the second son is talented, he is too young, otherwise Liu would be eager to recruit the second son as the county prince." ”

The so-called county officer, that is, one of the two deputies of the county order, is different from the county lieutenant, who is mainly responsible for maintaining law and order, and mainly deals with civil affairs in the county, and can be called the right-hand man of the county order.

Liu Wei can say this, it can be seen that he really values Zhao Yu very much, and he is more important than the Luyang Township.

Hearing this, Zhao Yu said with a smile: "Liu Gong's words, if Xu Xiancheng hears this, Xu Xiancheng is afraid that he will be cold......

"Haha." Liu Yi replied with a smile: "He has been so busy recently that his feet don't touch the ground, and his whole person has lost a lot of weight, how can he be cold?" ”

The Xu Xiancheng in their mouths is Xu Xuan, the county magistrate of Luyang County, don't look at it recently, it seems that Liu Xian and the Luyang Township Marquis are running around for help, but in fact, the most annoying person in the county government has to be the Xu County Cheng, after all, people are responsible for managing the county government, and sometimes Liu Xian, the county magistrate, may have to break his leg.

Zhao Yu also saw that Xu Xiancheng a while ago, who had a similar personality to his father Luyang Township, and he didn't like to talk much, but he was really capable.

Even Liu Wei once said that he can be without him in the county government, but there must be no Xu Xiancheng.

Although this may be an exaggeration and a bit of a compliment to his subordinates, it is undeniable that Xu Xiancheng is indeed capable.

After laughing, Liu Wei stroked his beard and pondered: "The matter of building a village and a house can be as little as half a month or as much as a month, and this month may be quite reluctant...... And next month, if nothing else, the weather will be cold, and then heavy snow will fall, and the digging of the ditch may have to wait until next year......"

Hearing this, Zhao Yu suggested on the side: "The matter of digging a ditch, the project is huge, it can not be completed overnight, the kid suggests that there is no need to be in a hurry, after the spring next year, before the spring planting, you might as well let the refugees at a few sites, no, the people, tell them to open up some wasteland nearby, plant some wheat, and then plant some beans after the wheat is ripe in July, and they can be harvested before winter, so that there will be two harvests a year, which is more cost-effective than a single grain." ”

"Hmm." Liu Wei nodded approvingly.

Then after watching for a while, Liu Wei and the Luyang townsman left in a carriage.

And Zhao Yu also took advantage of this opportunity to take Zhang Ji, Ma Cheng, Cao An, and Jingnu to follow his father's team back to the Xianghou Mansion, ready to rest for two days, after all, the work site here in Zhengxiang has gradually settled down, in fact, it is not so important that he can not get out.

An hour or so, everyone returned to the Xianghou Mansion.

At this time, Zhao Yu noticed that a carriage was parked not far in front of his family's mansion, which seemed to be quite particular at first glance.

"Got guests?"

Zhao Yu asked his father curiously.

The Luyang townsman shook his head in confusion, saying that he had not received any news.

And just as he was about to enter to ask what was going on, he saw a man walking down from the carriage not far in front of the mansion, bowing to him from a distance, and speaking in a strange tone: "Long time no see, sir." ”

The Luyang townsman turned his head to look at the man, and at first there was a look of confusion on his face, but gradually, this confusion was gradually replaced by solemnity and shock.

Under Zhao Yu's surprised and puzzled gaze, the Luyang Township Marquis, who had already recognized the person, was full of shock: "Kong Jian? …… Are you still alive? ”

The other party laughed.

"Dad, who is that?" Zhao Yu asked in a low voice.

The Marquis of Luyang took a deep breath, lowered his voice and said word by word: "Former Luyang County Order, Kong Jian, Kong Wenju. ”

“……”

Zhao Yu was taken aback for a moment, and looked at the person in the distance with a frown.