The construction process of the masonry composite city wall is very complicated, the cost is extremely high, first with the bluestone strip of four feet long, one foot thick, and two feet wide to build the pedestal of six feet high, and then the outer wall is built with blue bricks, and the inner wall core is pressed with cement mixed with small stones.

The cement is made of yellow mud as the basic raw material, mixed with lime, green wood ash, seaweed mud, glutinous rice milk and other ingredients. The master of making the cement is hired by Yu Hualong from the south with a high salary, and the process of making glutinous rice milk is regarded as the highest secret by these masters, and it is strictly conservative, and the preparation materials are carried out in a closed mat shed, and the outside of the mat shed is full of military generals, and it is strictly forbidden for idle people to approach.

After the glutinous rice milk is added to the cement after drying, the bonding effect is not the cement, and the axe chopping knife is not damaged at all.

Building walls with cement binders was not part of the original plan, the Suxiaodu area was sandy land, and the yellow clay used to make the cement had to be transported from Yanzhou, 40 miles away, which cost a huge amount of money, and the project budget increased several times. Yu Hualong bargained with Li Shigu on the one hand, asking for an increase in the budget, and on the other hand, he sold the wealth he had accumulated over the years as a pirate to build the city, which ensured that the project was not stopped.

After the beginning of spring, the sky in Chengwu County seemed to be torn open, and the rain was pouring down non-stop, and more than a dozen townships in the south of Chengwu County and more than a dozen counties in neighboring Songzhou, Xuzhou, and Yanzhou were affected at the same time.

The number of displaced people pouring into Chengwu County is increasing day by day, and the grain reserves of Yicang are insufficient, and due to poor management, the accounts do not match the facts, and there are many losses. Poor food and clothing, door-to-door begging has caused unrest in the neighbourhood, petty theft is becoming more and more rampant, and local residents are frustrated with the flow of food, often clashing with outsiders, and people are injured every day. Chengwu County's government has been patrolling the streets day and night, and the situation has not improved in the slightest.

Xue Rong was deeply worried about this, and after some deliberation with his colleagues, he prepared to open a porridge shack outside the city to lure the displaced people in the city out of the city. On that day, Li Mao was on business in the city, and when he heard about this, he persuaded Xue Rong: "A total of more than a dozen counties in Yan, Xu, and Song prefectures were affected by the disaster, and tens of thousands of people were affected. ”

Xue Rong was taken aback, frowned, and already understood, tens of thousands of hungry people in various counties, if they heard that Chengwu County had set up porridge sheds, wouldn't they all rush over? Even if there is a grain mountain in Chengwu County, it will have to be eaten empty. He sighed and said, "Nevertheless, how can I see death without help, and let the people die of hunger and cold?" He asked Li Mao if he could borrow some grain from Gushan Town.

Li Mao said: "Yunzhou is very tight on the construction card of Gushan Town, with a penny to allocate a penny, there has never been a balance, and the construction process has been changed, and now the Qing Navy is all relying on eating the old book, how can there be excess food to take out." Speaking of this, Li Mao's eyes lit up, and he said: "The progress of the project in Gushan Town is slow, and because of the lack of people, why don't my brother lend the Yicang and the grain raised to Gushan Town, and Gushan Town will come forward to recruit young and strong workers from the hungry people?" ”

Xue Rong thought about it and was overjoyed, so that Gushan Town had enough people, and once the most active and troublesome young people were taken away, the remaining women and children, old and weak, would not be afraid of them causing a civil uprising.

Thinking of this, Xue Rong unconsciously sighed, he was in the bureau, forced by the situation, and it was inevitable that there would be inconsiderate things, but the hateful thing was that Cui Li and Feng Bu were among the elites, who could clearly see through the drawbacks here, but they watched from the wall, watching themselves jump into the fire pit without saying a word, the officialdom is sinister, nothing more than this.

With a sense of hatred, Xue Rong immediately summoned the officials of the government, ordered the withdrawal of the people who went to set up porridge sheds outside the city, and set up six recruitment offices outside the city. Xue Rong's attitude has never been tough, and his arbitrary style surprised Li Mao.

Six recruitment offices, within five days, recruited 3,000 people, led by county catchers and native soldiers, sent to the construction site of Gushan Town in batches. Seeing so many strong laborers joining, Yin Mu, the deputy envoy of the Qing Navy who actually presided over the construction project of Gushan Town, couldn't close his mouth and praised Li Mao's ability on different occasions.

However, although this measure greatly accelerated the progress of the project, it also made the already stretched project budget even more tight, not only the people's remuneration could not be fulfilled on time, but even Li Mao's promised food supply of three meals a day could not be fulfilled.

The Qing Navy built the general Shang He came to have a fierce temperament, the people were a little slack and whipped with a leather whip, the people were afraid of his fierceness, dared to be angry and did not dare to speak, and privately sent the fire on Li Mao's head, Li Mao's walk led to the tent to be besieged several times, and there was also the black fist who ambushed Li Mao who went to the toilet in the middle of the night, but the means were not clever enough, not only did not defeat Li Mao but was beaten violently by Li Mao.

After the incident, Yin Mu sent four elite guards to Li Mao to ensure safety.

The grain judge clerk was worried about the shortage of grain every day, and said to Li Mao one day: "Yunzhou's money is unwilling to be allocated for a long time, and if it continues like this, there is a way to raise grain on the spot to meet the urgent need?" Li Mao said: "There are no more than five families in Chengwu County who can take out a thousand stones of grain at one time, and Su Xiaodu's Su Gui is one, but his family has long been hollowed out, and in addition to two grain merchants in the remaining four, only Su Zhen and Su Dong brothers from Su Nu Township are left. ”

"I've heard that these two men are shrewd and stingy, and expect them to come up with food...... Hmph, it's tantamount to seeking skin with a tiger. ”

Li Mao said: "If the displaced people rise, how can his Su family be alone? The military town bought his food and gave him a talisman, if he didn't know how to lift, he would blame the soldiers for not being able to rescue him in the future. Besides, isn't his son supervising the imperial history in the imperial history platform, his hometown was in a disaster, the villagers were displaced, but his old father was hoarding, his face is good-looking, if people participate in a book, the career is only afraid of worrying. On the contrary, if he is willing to pull out a hair to do good deeds, and the military town and the county court will ask for a table for him, it will also be of great benefit to his son's future. Shrewd and stingy are often the most rational, and as soon as the small abacus is opened, it may be willing. Su Nuxiang, then I'll go for a trip, as long as he is willing to take out three melons and two dates, let's vigorously show it and see where he goes under his fame. ”

The clerk twisted three locks of whiskers in his hand, and pointed at Li Mao with a smile: "You, you, this idea, huh...... Great, that's it! Set him on the fire and see how he is? ”

To go to Su Nu Township, you must pass through Chengwu County, and when you learn that Li Mao is coming, Xue Rong deliberately rushed back to the back hall from the front office, and when she met, she said: "The day before yesterday, I went to visit Mrs. Dingtao outside the city and talked about you. The old lady said that there is a little lady in the Zheng Changshi family in Jiyin County who is waiting for the boudoir, and the eight characters are very compatible with you, and the character, appearance, and personality are also excellent. Zheng Changshi has been a Ruzhou Sihu, and the Zheng family is also one of the few surnames in Jiyin County, so if you make a pair, it will be a good match. This man should get married and the woman should get married, and the official should also consider this marriage event. ”