"I've worked hard these days, brother!"

At the side of the "Pingyu Gate", after retiring everyone, Zhu Mingzhong bowed respectfully to Zhu Daxian, at this time he was not Jianghuai Jingluo, but only a student of Zhu Zhiyu.

"Why do you need to be polite, this city building is a matter of resisting capture, and I can't do my best for my brother!"

After a simple politeness, the two resumed their subordination relationship again.

Looking at the people who were wrapping the bricks and stones for the city gate, Zhu Mingzhong asked.

"Senior brother, according to the current progress, in a month, can we build a one-zhang tall earthen city?"

The one-zhang high earth city does not seem to be tall, but it can barely sanitize the Qinghe, and Zhu Mingzhong knows very well that this simple fortress earth city is the last line of defense of the Qinghe, and it is also the line of defense that it must have, just like the reason why he stares at the water army, the water army is the way back, and what is Qinghe?

It's a magnet!

It is a magnet to attract the Qing army, once it comes to the last moment, there is only one choice, that is, to attract the attention of the Qing army to the Qing River, with the help of the 21st century concept of defending the city, under the arch of the water army, with the canal and the Yellow River as the screen to attract the 100,000 Qing army to the Qing River, and finally hit the Qing army here.

Zhu Mingzhong did not doubt this.

After all, the city of Yaksa, which was guarded by hundreds of Russian troops, was also besieged by the Qing army for a year until the food ran out. Prior to this, under the siege of tens of thousands of Zheng troops in the Dutch city of Geranza, the Zheng army still failed to quickly conquer the city, and finally forced the defenders to surrender through a long-term siege.

Perhaps, this fortress is very simple, but compared to the Russian army in Yaksa City or the Dutch army in Geranza City, the biggest advantage is that it has tens of thousands of troops to hold this place, and in comparison, how long can the Qing army hold on to the attack?

A year?

In a year they will run out of food!

That's exactly why the city was built.

Of course, holding on to the city is the last option, even if there is a naval army to defend it, unless it is a last resort, Zhu Mingzhong will not make this choice, this is the last choice.

"As long as the food and wages can keep up, it will naturally be able to build a one-zhang high earthen city."

Zhu Daxian said in a very affirmative tone, and then he deliberately emphasized.

"You know, these people are paid a full 30 yuan a day, and if they can't keep up with the progress, how can they be worthy of this salary?"

Unlike other people who often serve the people in vain, Jiangbei levies and sends people to pay wages, and the daily salary of a strong man is 30 wen, and the monthly wage is 900 wen, which is a small income for any common people. Because of this, they work far more seriously than the people who have been served in vain.

Although admitting that the people who received wages were more serious about their work, Zhu Daxian did not know that for Jiangbei, this was also a big burden.

"It's just that the expenditure of a few thousand taels of silver a day is always a burden, and when you calculate it, most of the cost of building the city is on wages."

"Wages ......"

Saying these two words lightly, Zhu Mingzhong looked at the people who were working hard and said.

"As long as we can build this city before the Qing Dynasty goes south, it will be worth it, after all, with this city wall, the people will be at ease......"

Not only is the people at ease, but also Yangzhou and other places that are rich and wealthy. Because in their opinion, with the city wall, Qinghe can hold on for a long time.

"Jinglue, if it weren't for you being Zhenqinghe, how would the people of Jiangbei be at ease? This move is almost equivalent to "the Son of Heaven guarding the country"! ”

Zhu Daxian's words made Zhu Mingzhong stunned at first, and then smiled dumbly.

"The Son of Heaven guards the country", this is a ...... that has to be guarded."

At the beginning, "the Son of Heaven guarded the country" was not to appease the hearts of the people in the world, whether it was to tell the people of the world that the emperor personally guarded the country, and the people could naturally live and enjoy the night, Zhu Mingzhong did not know this. But he knew very well that the reason why he set up the location of the Xingyuan in the Qinghe River instead of the Huaiyang in Henan was to appease the hearts of the people in the two provinces, and to tell them that the loyal and righteous army would definitely stick to the Yellow River and never let the Qing prisoners cross the river.

"Since I am a Jianghuai Governor, I have the responsibility to defend the land, and I must not allow the Qinglu to get involved in Jiangbei again and enslave the people of Jiangbei!"

Thinking of these words, Zhu Mingzhong's brows suddenly locked, staring at the north, as if he wanted to see through the heaven and earth in the north. If the Qing captives re-enter Jiangbei, what kind of catastrophe will the people in Jiangbei who have already accumulated hair suffer? I'm afraid there will be another massacre!

"The day when the captives cross the river is the time when Zhu is loyal! Even if all the soldiers of our loyal army are wiped out, they will never retreat a single step! ”

Sometimes, people just need to be stubborn!

In any case, this Qinghe River must be defended, after all, this is not only where its foundation lies, but also related to the safety of millions of people in Jiangbei!

The young scholars near the city gate, when they heard these words, their expressions all became excited, and the young people's blood was the easiest to be awakened, and they were the most impulsive. When they were boiling because of Zhu Mingzhong's words. Zhu Daxian looked at his junior brother with a solemn and solemn expression, and he thought of his father's words in his heart.

"Sincerity is not benevolence!"

Father's appreciation for his junior brother has never been hidden, perhaps, his father is interested in him is the kind of "fist and childlike heart" that others have never had.

"It's just, Chengren's character, will it be too strong?"

Thinking of Chengren's experience on the way from Jiangyin to Jiangbei since he came out of the mountain, Zhu Daxian's mind sank slightly, although he also admired his character, but in Zhu Daxian's opinion, this may be Zhu Mingzhong's shortcomings.

If he can be more tactful, how can the relationship with the king of Nanjing Yanping be ...... However, it seems that the character of King Yanping is also very similar to him, and the personalities of both of them are too strong.

However, isn't the Ming Dynasty in need of a strong man like them now?

When he thought about it like this in his heart, it did not prevent Zhu Daxian from asking Zhu Mingzhong for some knowledge related to city building, after all, this city wall was designed by him, and there were some things that had not yet been figured out, so Zhu Mingzhong naturally needed to answer them.

When walking on the construction site, although he knew little about the fortress, as an engineering student, with some insights beyond the times, Zhu Mingzhong could always see some problems in the design and make some targeted improvements, while Zhu Daxian occasionally used the materials introduced in books such as "The Divine Machine of Western Law" to link it with the built earthen city, in order to strengthen the defense of the city wall.

Almost the whole day, Zhu Mingzhong spent the whole day on the construction site of the city, and even in his spare time, he also borrowed stone mills to design rotating forts during meals.

"In this way, the artillery on the turret rotates faster, and if necessary, it can fire shotguns directly at the siege captives, and a single cannon can top hundreds of birds......"

When mentioning the bird gun, Zhu Mingzhong thought of these days, and seemed to have forgotten about the bird gun!