Winter goes to spring, and in the blink of an eye it is January of the next year, and the so-called plan of the year lies in spring, in addition to the farmers began to prepare for spring ploughing and silkworm raising, other people also began to get busy.

Ba Shui, a fleet of twenty cargo ships is going downstream, they are starting from Yiyang County upstream, full of stones to Xiyang County downstream, each ship has a deep draft, and the boat gang is also very close to the water.

A large number of stones are needed to build the embankment, and Yiyang County, which is adjacent to the mountains, has a lot of stones, and the laden cargo ships take advantage of the water transportation to go down the river from Yiyang, exchanging stones weighing dozens of catties for copper coins.

Leading the big boat, Zhang Ning is looking at the Santai estuary in front of him, he is the owner of the Yiyang Quarry, there are three quarries under his name, after the autumn of last year, the Bazhou Prefecture government organized manpower and material resources to build the river embankment, and his business has not stopped.

The stones that no one wants are now valuable, and Zhang Ning's quarry has been open for two months, earning back all the capital, and the next thing is pure profit, which is a good deal.

"Boss, there is going to be an estuary ahead, please stand inside," the boat boss respectfully reminded, their boat was almost overloaded, and the draft was very deep, and it was also thanks to the small wind and waves in Ba Shui, so that they were not afraid of being washed into the cabin by the waves.

"You'll have to be careful in a moment, don't sink the ship." Zhang Ning confessed that he followed the advice of the boss of the ship and moved to the middle, and after a while, the cargo ship would slow down and turn, and the hull would inevitably shake, and if he was not careful to fall into the water, it would be a shame and a big loss.

The mouth of the Santai River is guarded by the government to prevent any thieves from entering the river, and the Bakou downstream is even more like a cloud of warships, preventing the Chen army on the other side of the river, but this is not a problem for Zhang Ning, because his fleet is a regular customer here.

"Isn't this Zhang Dong's family? Why did you personally escort the ship today? One of the apprentices who came on board to inspect said with a smile, he was in charge of stationing here to prevent any prisoners from escaping, and Zhang Ning's stone carrier fleet passed by every few days, so it couldn't be more familiar.

"Li Zhang's disciples have worked hard, can anyone escape these days?" Zhang Ning and the other party are quite familiar with each other, a large part of the labor force to build the embankment on the Santai River is captured by Chen Guo, and the government has set up a village here to guard it, and it is also to prevent people from diving and escaping at the upstream construction site.

"It's gone, the officials and soldiers are strict, and those who dare to escape are hung up and dried, and now they are all very honest." The apprentice smiled, and when he saw that the other people on the ship were all raising their hands to indicate that there was no problem, he bowed his hand and disembarked.

"No problem, let go!"

Acquaintances belong to acquaintances, and those who should be inspected must also be checked, Yu Wenwen has rectified state affairs since he took office, and officials at all levels from top to bottom have become much more honest, and the 'rich and easy to do' in the past no longer works.

The fleet smoothly entered the Santai River and went upstream, the boatmen rowed the long boats, and the cargo ships were loaded with stones and slowly moved forward, looking at the stretching embankment on the south bank, Zhang Ning was a little emotional.

His family lives in Yiyang County, Bazhou, and is no stranger to Xiyang County, before the two banks of the lower reaches of the Santai River, most of them are reeds, and every rainy season there is a big flood, and it is easy to have swelling disease, so no one dares to come to open up the wasteland.

Now it is different, last year the state government organized people to repair the south bank of the river embankment, but also extinguished the snails in the water, it is said to be able to prevent bulging disease, after surviving several heavy rainstorms in the rainy season, the south bank of the Santai River is safe and sound, and that large piece of wasteland has become a sought-after commodity in the eyes of everyone.

Zhang Ning couldn't see the other side of the river embankment from his boat, but he could imagine that in a few months, the wasteland that was being reclaimed would be reduced to thousands of acres of farmland.

"It's a pity, you can't buy it" Zhang Ning was a little distracted, although there is a lot of wasteland on the south bank of the Santai River, but it is not much, thousands of people even take a share of the soldiers, and there is not much left, Zhang Ning has thought about buying, but the government is not allowed to sell.

But it doesn't matter, the government has already announced that the river embankment on the north bank will be repaired, and everyone is welcome to buy the larger wasteland on the north bank.

So Zhang Ning decided to open a few more quarries, and after making enough money, he would be able to buy land in a few months, even if it was wasteland, because the supporting canal irrigation facilities were also being dug to drain the stagnant water and irrigate the fields.

The fleet soon docked, because the unloading site had arrived, and the embankment on the north bank of the Santai River was progressing rapidly, coming all the way from northwest to south, and several sections of the river were being constructed at the same time.

Now the upstream embankment has been connected, and it is not far from the mouth of the Santai River.

The cargo ship docked at the improvised trestle, and Zhang Ning watched as there were more than a dozen empty ships heading upstream, which was the fleet of ships from another quarry, and it seemed that they had unloaded their cargo and returned home.

Peers are enemies, but in the face of the strong demand for stone, everyone has money to make, no matter how big or small the quarry is, as long as it is transported to the construction site, there will be money, of course, the premise is 'genuine'.

The wooden boat was clearly floating underfoot, and the stones in the cabin were carried up the trestle by the coolies, and then placed on a basket at the left end of a rod scale, and when a certain number of numbers were accumulated, the large scale was balanced, and the four coolies crossed the basket with two wooden sticks with thick bowls and left.

"A basket!" The clerk guarding the side shouted, and the other person wrote down the numbers in the account, and the boss of the boat who went ashore as Zhang Ning went ashore received an iron skewer from the officer's hand, and at the same time, several large scales were heavy, and as a basket of stones was picked away, Zhang Ning's men obtained more and more iron skewers.

The iron sign is specially made, and there are some crooked symbols on it, which basically no one can understand, but you can exchange money with the iron sign to the state office, so the more iron signs, the more money you can receive.

Yuwen envoy Jun is an official who knows how to understand the traders, even if these iron signatures are taken to the state government on the same day, they can be exchanged for copper coins that resound the bell, unlike the black heart of the officials elsewhere, and the debts owed in the spring will not be repaid until the autumn, so more and more people are opening the mountain to quarry.

Don't be afraid of more monks and less porridge, although the river embankment will not be completed soon, but a series of water conservancy facilities on the north bank are still under construction, and the demand for stone is great, but this is still a drop in the bucket, and the big head is still behind.

Zhang Ning learned a basically definite news from multiple sources, and after the state government was busy for this year, it will start building the river embankment next year.

After he determined that this news was basically credible, he was so excited that he stayed up all night, and the amount of stone needed to build the embankment was not comparable to the embankment of the Santai River in this area.

These are all money, although I don't know where the state government went to raise so much money, but Zhang Ning has confidence in Yuwen Envoy, and the old acquaintance Li Fang follows this person to do business, and the money he earns in a year is as good as the previous five years, so his opportunity to make a fortune has come.

But problems also arise.

Zhang Ning looked at the hot scene on the construction site not far away, and countless young people were busy on the river embankment being built, some were picking soil, some were ramming earth, and some were laying stones, which seemed to be the legendary 'cement'.

He didn't care about any cement, he was just envious of these young and strong laborers who didn't need to be paid, and his quarry hired a lot of laborers, and because it was hired, he had to pay for it, so he had to deduct part of the money he got in hand.

Not only that, but also room and board, quarrying is a hard work, if the food is deducted too much, it is himself who is unlucky, so Zhang Ning is thinking about how to get some free labor.

Bazhou assassin Shi Yuwen Wen used troops against Chen Guo and captured many prisoners, and once released a message through Zhang Ning's old acquaintance Li Fang, if you are short of people, you can 'rent' some prisoners from the state government prison at a low price to go back.

But he didn't dare to use it, these Chen Army prisoners were soldiers who had killed people after all, and the guards in the quarry couldn't stop it, but as soon as he saw so many young and strong laborers who didn't need to be paid, and even ate worse than dogs, Zhang Ning's heart was like a cat.

cost, the problem he faces is how to reduce the cost, no matter how little the salary is, he has to give it, this is to take money out of his money bag, the state government will build a large number of buildings, at least for a few years, think about the past few years, Zhang Ning's heart is dripping blood.

So he was a little hopeful that when the war would resume, and when a new batch of prisoners would be captured, the old prisoners who had been trained to be obedient would be 'disposed of at a low price,' and that it would be much more cost-effective to get them in the quarries than to hire workers.

Just as he was distracted, the twenty cargo ships had been emptied, Zhang Ning looked at the heavy box of iron skewers with a happy face, if it was still early today, he was completely in time to cash in before the state government closed.

There was a shout behind him, Zhang Ning turned his head to see that a fleet of more than 30 ships was approaching, and he looked at the flag planted on the leading ship, he recognized it as the charcoal ship of the charcoal kiln in Yiyang County.

Yiyang County is near the mountain, not only there are many stones but also many trees, Zhang Ning's quarry business is booming, and the charcoal kiln business is not far behind.

Looking at the faint black smoke in the upper reaches of the west, Zhang Ning knew that it was an iron-smelting mill that did not go out day and night, and the two iron-making furnaces had to burn charcoal as long as they were burning, so the charcoal sellers were also busy every day.

The charcoal boat passed by the riverside, and a middle-aged man on the lead boat saw Zhang Ning and immediately gave up his hand, laughed and said, "It turned out to be Brother Zhang, is it also personally escorting the boat today?" ”

"Brother Wang, it's better to meet by chance, how about having a drink in the city today, the little brother is the east, and he will be in Wuwei Zhai!" Zhang Ning also smiled and bowed, and the brother Wang on the other side waved his hand when he heard the words, saying that he was going to enter the city after handing over the goods in a while, but he already had an appointment, so he could only get together again next time.

They are all from Yiyang County, and they don't look up on weekdays, and the brother of the royal brother is the Yiyang County Shou, so they are quite close to each other on weekdays, not only that, but they are basically familiar with the business in Yiyang County, although there are many peers, but they can't fight, because the demand in Xiyang County is too great.

Charcoal is not only needed by the military superintendent, but also has a lot of demand in the city, and now it is still a cold spring, and large households are rarely allowed to burn charcoal for heating, and the same is true in the military camp, whether it is the state soldiers or the Hulin Army of Yuwen Envoy, the demand for charcoal heating remains high.

The business of the families in Yiyang County is becoming more and more prosperous, but the problems faced by each family are the same as Zhang Ning: how to reduce costs. If you hire people, you have to pay them, no matter how much they want, but even if you pay them, you start to feel that there are not enough people.

Yiyang County is still short of manpower, and it costs a lot to hire people in other states and counties, although everyone has to go to other states to hire many people, but how to solve this problem is also imminent.

No one will be afraid of more money, the lower the cost, the more they will earn, and in addition to the general cost, quarrying or logging also faces a risk: mountain barbarian attack, although the government and the mountain barbarian in Yiyang County were safe and sound, but with the expansion of various quarries and logging sites, the conflict has increased significantly.

In order to protect the safety of the quarry and the logging site, he has to hire more guards to guard the town, which will cost money, Zhang Ning has a headache when he thinks of this, he has a good relationship with the county guard, but he can't let the county guard help take care of the family in the quarry.

Besides, the county soldiers have to spend money to serve the county soldiers, and they have to owe the county guard a favor, Zhang Ning and others also tried to contact the owners of the village in the mountains, after all, everyone is not good at fighting and killing, it is better to make a fortune together.

Some of the owners of the village are easy to talk, but some are completely unreasonable, feeding this family, and the other family will use the excuse to find fault and stir up trouble in order to ask for a higher price, but the original situation is gone, and they also shouted that the mountains left by their ancestors cannot be allowed to cut wood and quarry at will.

"The mountain left by our ancestors!" Zhang Ning was angry when he thought of this, "Is there a title deed?" Did you plant the forest? Did your ancestors bury the stone? ”

"What kind of king do you call yourself, I'm bah! Sooner or later, the officers and soldiers will be invited and you all will be arrested to work as coolies!! ”

As soon as these words came out, Zhang Ning was stunned, and he found that the words he had just blurted out triggered a thought (to be continued. )