The Hele River is like a jade belt, flowing quietly, somewhere on the east bank, dry and hot.

It was easy to build a bazaar on the grassland, according to the rules of the Northlands, to lay a wooden fence and enclose a horse race.

However, the appearance of the Black Sheep City, let Wan Yankang change his thinking, here by the mountains and water, the terrain is dangerous, if a new city is rebuilt on the old site, not only can meet the needs of trade, but also for the future layout, can lay a nail on the Mongolian steppe.

The construction of the city, on the grassland, faced two major problems.

First, there is a shortage of materials.

Second, there is a shortage of manpower.

In Wanyankang's plan, the scale of the new town will be larger than the original Black Sheep City, with a capacity of 80,000 to 100,000 people. There are two things that cost the most to build a city, one is wood, and the other is stone. Both are in short supply on the grasslands. Fortunately, the east of Black Sheep City is backed by the mountains, and it is always convenient to organize people to go up the mountain to quarry and cut wood, which is always convenient for many other places.

The big question is, where do people come from?

Dajin or the Song State built cities, all for the purpose of conscription. Although Wan Yankang is the grandson of the emperor, this move to rebuild the Black Sheep City is purely self-controlled, where can he levy conscription, then he can only rely on his own money to hire people to build the city.

Wan Yankang copied several Tian families, and it was when he was rich that he wanted to build a small town, but Erer. He waved his hand and said proudly: "The problems that can be solved with money are not problems, before the New Year, Ben Shuai wants to see White Horse City rise from the ground!" ”

"Your Highness, if the construction of the city is to be completed within the year, at least 500 craftsmen will be required, and 20,000 other labors will be required before it can be expected, and it will cost a lot of money and food."

"Do the math, how much does it cost?"

Huang Jide took the branch and pulled it on the ground, and Wan Yankang was stunned. Just the wages and food consumption, almost had to empty the money and food he had saved in Gyeongju.

In fact, it's just about spending money, the point is, it's hard to find people!

There are 500 craftsmen and 20,000 laborers, if Emperor Dajin gives an order, it will naturally be no problem. But on this vast grassland, how can you find so many bitter haha, willing to move bricks and build a city.

Looking at Yan Kang's sad appearance, Huang Jide felt uneasy. Although he is the top rich man in Gyeongju, in this era, the status of Shinong, industry and commerce, and businessmen is low, and no matter how rich you are against the country, you are no match for a county order.

In the past ten years, what Huang Jide has been thinking about is to put on a thigh and donate an official body in order to glorify his ancestors. This time, I finally got on the thick thighs of Zhao Wang Shizi, if I couldn't do the errand, the official body in hand would be gone, and the fat man Huang would have the heart to hang himself.

Hundreds of craftsmen, trying to find a way, still managed to get it. But if you want to do 20,000 jobs on this grassland, you have to have fairy means.

"Your Highness, the villain has a way!" Huang Jide racked his brains and finally had an idea.

Buying slaves, this is the best plan that the rich man Huang thought of.

The Mongol tribes practiced slavery, and after conquest and annexation of each other, the victor takes all, and the loser becomes a slave, unless there is a war exploit and the generation is enslaved.

According to the market on the grassland, a young and strong slave only costs five to ten taels of silver, which is less than the price of an ordinary war horse. If you buy 20,000 slaves for labor, less than 200,000 taels of silver, you don't need wages at all to use them, and it is a good idea to make a lot of profits.

After hearing this idea, Yan Kang slapped his thigh and scolded with a smile: "There is such a good idea, why don't you say it early!" ”

Huang Jide accompanied him and said carefully: "So that His Highness can know that although there are all kinds of benefits to buying slaves to use as labor, there is one place where the villain cannot do anything, and that is this fugitive slave!" ”

In the city of Gyeongju, it was common for the major gentry and wealthy merchants to buy slaves from the Mongols, but Huang Jide has been in charge of the family business for more than 20 years, but he has become more and more dislike the use of slaves.

What do you say?

It's unreliable!

These steppe slaves run away without saying a word, seize the opportunity to steal a horse, and they can escape. Although it is not expensive to buy a slave, if it takes not long to buy it and run away, it will be a loss, and most of them will have to accompany a good horse.

If you run away, that's it. A few years ago, the Li family, a well-known wealthy man in Gyeongju, kept more than 100 grassland slaves at home, because the Li family was too harsh on slaves, which eventually led to a slave rebellion and the whole family was killed.

Therefore, Huang Jide also thought about it again and again before proposing this slave purchase plan, and he also put the ugly words in front of him and let the little prince make a decision.

"This matter, you just have to buy it for me. It's just that when you pick someone, you need to be so ......" Wan Yan Kang thought about it for a while, and he already had a plan in his heart.

According to Wan Yankang's instructions, Huang Jide and the surrounding tribes bought 20,000 slaves at a high price.

20,000 slaves, this is a big business, especially what makes the heads of the major tribes happy is that the shrewd Huang Da rich man for more than ten years seems to be a little difficult to use his brain this time, and half of the slaves he bought are old, weak, sick and disabled.

According to the instructions, when Huang Jide chooses slaves, he gives priority to slaves who have families and families, those who have relatives and friends, and elders who have skills.

After such a choice, 200,000 taels of silver were spent, and the number of young and strong men was only 8,000.

In the eyes of the leaders of various tribes, Huang Jide instantly understood Yan Kang's intentions, and couldn't help but admire the little prince who was not as weak as the crown.

When the 20,000 slaves, who were merely wrapped in fig leaf, arrived on the banks of the Hal River from all directions, the 3,000 heavily armed Gyeongju troops were already stationed there, showing their minions to the tribal leaders who had transported the slaves, and dispelling the restlessness of the originally ill-intentioned people.

Wan Yankang issued an order to separate the young and strong from the old and weak women. The young and strong people are those who have relatives and friends, and they are compiled as a group of ten people, and then they are divided into each class, and there are ten people in each class.

If one person escapes, everyone will be killed!

If one person escapes, all the classes will be killed!

If one person escapes, all the family members will be beheaded!

The three beheading orders were issued, and 10,000 people lost their color.

Wan Yankang knew that under this kind of strict order, it would be possible to greatly reduce the number of fugitive slaves, but to make these slaves roll up their sleeves and work hard, they had to rely on incentives.

What people fear most, many people think it is poverty, they think it is disease, they think it is death. In fact, what people fear most is that there is no hope!

The foundation that Wan Yankang wants to lay is to fill the hearts of these 20,000 slaves with hope!

Wan Yan Kang gathered a group of slaves and announced the precepts, and he issued several rules in Mongolian.

After the construction of the city begins, it will be assessed once a month on a class basis, and it will be recorded as excellent, good, and poor respectively.

Every ten classes are a row, one class in each row is excellent, and one class is given a bad evaluation.

After a total of three excellent classes, the whole class will be released from slave status, and he and his family can return to freedom; By the date of completion, if there is no bad evaluation, the whole class will be released as slaves, and the person and his family can return to freedom.

And for the class that has accumulated three negative reviews, choose the inferior one!

Wan Yankang knew that nothing was more important to these slaves than the restoration of their status as free people. When he learned that these words were spoken by the dignified little prince, when the loud voice of the little prince spread throughout the audience and swore an oath in public, the seeds of hope appeared in front of the eyes of these eight thousand young slaves.

Every morning at the light of day, all the slaves consciously got up and rushed to their construction sites in groups. Quarrying, logging, and foundation building are all done by young people. Although the old and weak women were not forced to work, they also consciously participated in clearing the ruins, selecting and stacking the stones that could still be used.

What kept the 20,000 slaves motivated was not only Wan Yankang's words, but also the daily meals and the Gyeongju army who participated in the work at the same time.

The 3,000 soldiers and horses were divided into three groups, and each 1,000 men served as overseers, one round a month.

Wan Yankang also demanded that the overseers should not only hold whips on the side, but also participate in the work moderately.

In the class of excellence, the supervisor can also get a reward of two taels of silver, which is equivalent to doubling the monthly salary of an ordinary sergeant.

In the good class, the overseer can only get a reward of half a tael of silver.

Naturally, the negative reviewers did not have a single penny.

As a result, everyone was full of energy, and at the end of January, no one fled.

In addition to Huang Jide in Gyeongju City, there were several wealthy merchants who helped to participate in the purchase of slaves to build the city, and after a month, they learned that there was really no fugitive slave, and these rich businessmen were shocked.

By the fourth month, out of the 800 slave classes, there were two classes that were judged for three months in a row.

Wan Yankang was overjoyed, gathered the people, and announced in public that the two classes of twenty people and their families were given the status of free people.

These twenty men knelt down in front of Wan Yankang, kissed his boots, and thanked the little prince for his great kindness.

After a short carnival, these twenty men wandered separately.

With a free body, I don't know where to go, this is the problem in front of these twenty men and their families. The original tribe has long been annexed, and if you look for another tribe to join, you don't know where to go.

Blood is shed every day on the grassland, and perhaps the tribes that join today will be destroyed tomorrow, and the free body that has been finally restored will become slaves in the blink of an eye.

Looking at the hesitant appearance of these twenty people, listening to the content of these people's whispered discussions, Wan Yankang showed a kind smile and threw out the plan that he had already thought of: you can continue to work here, and the food is still enough.

After hearing this, these twenty men all burst into tears, knelt on the ground again, and competed to kiss Yan Kang's boots.

After this scene, the motivation and passion of the remaining slaves climbed to the peak, and there were still many slaves who were worried about whether the little prince would unload the mill and kill the donkey, and they were not suspicious at this time.

While working, Wan Yankang asked the sergeants who oversaw the work to teach the slaves some simple Chinese, and also taught them an easy-to-learn song.

We workers have power, hey! We workers have power! Every day every day is busy building a city, hey! Every day, the city is busy......

Wan Yankang slightly adapted the lyrics of this powerful song of our workers, so that the Gyeongju army could learn it first, and then spread it, and this popular song quickly replaced the original various love songs and hymns of the Mongolian men, and became the only divine comedy for the construction of the city.

The little prince is so versatile in literature and martial arts, and he is actually proficient in music theory, and he has created such a divine comedy, which makes all his subordinates admire the abnormal.

It's just that the little prince never agreed when everyone shouted for him to sing......