More than half a month has passed, the time has reached the end of March, the salt field has been on the right track, the average daily production of about one stone of salt, that is, more than 100 catties, now can be reduced by half.

Zhuang Yi asked the soldiers to pass the order to Zhang Yitai, and transferred Mei Shaobai to take charge of the daily management and operation of the salt factory. Of course, more than 500 people need a lot of food every day, and the salt produced is brought back to Liucheng by the soldiers who escorted the grain and grass.

After dealing with the follow-up matters, Zhuang Yi returned to the construction site of Juluo County with the extra 500 people and a battalion of soldiers. The progress of the work here is still very slow, and the foundation of the city wall has just been built, and the four corners have only been built half a foot high.

As soon as he came, Zhang Yitai complained that the stall was too big and there were not enough people. Among them, 4,000 young people participated in the firing of city bricks and the collection of stones, 1,000 people transported them, and 2,000 people built them, but the building materials were still not available.

But Zhuang Yi has no good way to do this at present, firing city bricks need to be mixed with weeds first, and then use molds to make bricks to dry, and then can be baked into large green bricks and green tiles in the kiln, which is very troublesome, but to make the city strong, you can't rush it.

At least the surface of the city wall should be made of green bricks, and the middle layer can be filled with bad soil, so it seems that it will not be completed in two months. Do you want to slow down and build Anhua County first? Zhuang Yi quickly dismissed the idea, even if it was two more months, it would have to be built this year.

The ideal is very plump, and the reality is very skinny! At this moment, Duan Zhongzhong sent someone to deliver a letter from Liucheng, and the food was urgent, asking him to return to Liucheng as soon as possible.

After Zhuang Yi received the letter, he silently calculated, the food should not be used up so quickly! found the officer who came to deliver the grain, but the result was that he didn't know anything, of course Duan Zhongzhong wouldn't tell the soldiers about this kind of thing, of course, he couldn't talk nonsense, Zhuang Yi had to hurriedly take the soldiers back to Liucheng.

After entering the city, Zhuang Yi didn't care about anything else, and first went to the grain depot to count the grain storage, the situation was indeed not optimistic, it was only enough to last for more than half a month, that is, both construction sites had to be stopped. The reason why this is the case is that there are still 20,000 people in Murowei immigration, minus the young and strong, plus the expenses of Liucheng Academy, which all need to be fed. This was not taken into account in advance.

"It's a big problem! As soon as the work is stopped, we will have to wait until the second half of the year to start again! But there are still things in the second half of the year! "Zhuang Yi is a little anxious.

Only stayed in Liucheng for one night, and early the next morning, Zhuang Yi only took a few guards out of the city, intending to go to the construction site of Anhua County, and traveled more than ten miles to the north, and saw a large number of people building roads, and they were almost in Liucheng.

This official road is very important, but it is not only to dig the road, but to lay a layer of river pebbles on the dirt soil, then a layer of bad soil mixed with black mud and coarse sand, and then a layer of fine mud and sand, and finally the road surface is smooth and solid. In the days when there was no cement, this was a very good road. Of course, there is Qin Zhidao better, but for that kind of project, Zhuang Yi can only think about it.

However, as for cement, its use and performance are divided into three categories, namely general cement, special cement and special cement. It is definitely not so easy to burn out, it needs mixed materials such as volcanic ash, slag, gypsum, fly ash, etc., as well as limestone, sandstone, shale, iron powder, etc. as the main materials, and then calcined mature materials, with the corresponding proportion of mixed materials, all ground into fine powder, is Portland cement. But it takes trial and trial to know what kind of cement it is.

Look at this condition, no matter which one it is, it is not something that the current Zhuang Yi can achieve. And he is also a very realistic person, it is impossible to be whimsical, and he will burn cement at the expense of people and money. But if you have the right conditions, you can also give it a try.

This official road from Anhua County to Yuluo County, the road is about one zhang five wide, the total length is about 350 li, and the two sides are built with stones to build low walls to protect the roadbed, and then two rows of windbreaks are picked. The trees in the windbreak forest are all planted with fruit trees such as hawthorn, persimmon, white pear, and cherry.

Each section of the road is assigned to a village, and the villagers pick and maintain the fruit trees themselves, and when it is time to harvest, the fruit will also belong to them. This is definitely a big project, but there is no urgency, and the city must be built first.

When rushing to the construction site of Anhua County along the newly repaired official road, it was in the middle of the hour, the sky was still very early, and the city wall was seen from a distance as high as two zhang, and groups of craftsmen were busy on the city wall, and the underground was a group of people, who transported the city bricks and various materials to the city wall with a horse-drawn carriage, and then used the stand equipped with a pulley group, and hung the city wall with a warp rope. Because last year's construction of the military fort, everything was ready-made, and this progress is very fast.

After a while, Duan Zhongzhong was reported by the soldiers, and when he heard the news, he trotted over, wearing straw sandals on his feet and his sleeves rolled high, so that he did not look like an official, but like an old farmer in the field.

"Not bad...... Have a way of doing things! Zhuang Yi joked.

"Ahem...... There is no one to use on my hands, these people's leaders, they have to ask me about everything, and some things have to be tried in person, and they are so busy that their feet don't touch the ground, and you still come to joke...... What do you think? Go to the granary and see it, right? Duan Zhongzhong complained about the bitter water, and did not forget to gloat and sarcastic.

"Hey...... It's really a problem, it's too late to go to Youzhou to transport grain back, once the work is stopped and the people go back, and then requisitioned, it's a trouble to toss back and forth, what good can you do about this? ”

"I've said a long time ago that the project can't be too big, but now...... Very simple! The official road was repaired to Liucheng, and then the project in Juluo County was stopped, and there were few households on the seaside, so there was no hurry to build the city next year! In this way, half of the grain can be saved, and it is enough to go to Youzhou to transport grain. Duan Zhongzhong said unceremoniously.

"How? None of the projects can be stopped, and we can't rely on the province without food, so we have to find another way! Zhuang Yi shook his head and said, his hand touching his chin and pondering.

"A certain reckless and stupid person is no longer imaginable, Dalang, you have always been wise, there must be a good way! I'm still busy, so I'm not accompanied! Duan Zhongzhong sent a sycophant, then bowed, turned around and walked away.

"I'll ...... This old slippery head! Zhuang Yi rolled his eyes speechlessly, muttered, and continued to think.

I don't have food here, but others do, such as Youzhou, Xiren, Khitan, Bohai, and Silla, all of them are meat heads. Youzhou still owes 9,000 stone of grain, although it is too late, but Fuda has just gone to Youzhou, and he just sent someone to send a letter to inform him, asking him to go to Li Kuangyan to ask for a batch of grain to bring back.

The Xi people in the vicinity don't need to think about it, this borrowed is to be repaid; Khitan ...... If you go to rob them now, it's just asking for trouble, but if you don't rob them, it's too late in time, and you won't think about it.