Mangjia New City began to prepare for construction at the end of the ninth year of Jian'an, and it has been more than three years since the beginning of the thirteenth year of Jian'an.

In three years, if it had been placed in the inland area at that time, a city might have been built long ago. But for Yizhou, which Lu Ren had on hand, it was not the case at all.

First of all, Lu Ren's manpower has always been very tight, and he really can't concentrate a large amount of manpower for the construction of new cities like in the inland areas. To put it mildly, the first batch of people who could be mobilized by Lu Ren to carry out the construction of the new city were only less than 1,000 people, but this was already the limit that Lu Ren could mobilize without affecting other industries at that time.

Fortunately, it was the first period of population explosion in Yizhou, and there were a large number of displaced people from the north. In the absence of distribution and settlement in a short period of time, Lu Ren asked Shirley to adopt the method of cash-for-work, that is, to pay the corresponding wages and let these displaced people help with the infrastructure construction of the new city. Moreover, at the same time, Lu Ren also adopted a division of work system, and the displaced people with outstanding work division could be allocated and arranged here in Yizhou first.

At the beginning, Lu Ren was in charge of the expansion of Xuchang City, and he was familiar with this kind of internal affairs. And as a time-traveler in modern society, Lu Ren is also very clear about the difference between initiative and passivity.

At that time, things like the construction of castles were generally done by forced labor, that is, the passive labor of the registered households. But at that time, Lu Ren did not have an official position, and his identity could only be regarded as the leader of the clan alliance in Yizhou, so he naturally could not use the method of conscription to build. If it is forcibly adopted, the nature of the matter will become that Lu Ren is bullying people and enslaving the public, which will only bring very bad negative effects, and where would Lu Ren commit such stupidity?

However, if you pay you a fair amount of money and motivate the displaced people with a labor sharing system, things will change completely. These displaced people have food to eat and work to do, and they are not excessively servited, and they are easy to accept. And if you do well, you can get the corresponding preferential treatment, and the enthusiasm will naturally be mobilized.

After a little time, even some people who did not have any expertise after tasting the sweetness, obviously met the requirements of the work division and could be assigned to other positions, but still expressed their willingness to continue to stay here to carry out the work of new city construction. Lu Ren has a promotion position for such a person...... In fact, to put it bluntly, let these people become contractors, and their teams will become special construction teams, after all, there are too many things to build in Yizhou, and the emergence of some such construction teams is also what Lu Ren needs. Of course, if anyone dares to cut corners like those contractors in later generations, Lu Ren will be absolutely fierce.

It's just that even with this relatively good situation, the problem of human resources here in Yizhou is still a big shortcoming. For example, it is impossible for all the displaced people who are suitable to live to be willing to move bricks and dig soil, and there will be those who are willing to have unsuitable physical fitness. In addition, Yizhou is not a city of light repair, and other industries also need to increase the allocation of human resources with further expansion. Therefore, the manpower gathered in the construction of the new city has always been in a relatively insufficient state, and the progress is naturally slow.

And there is another very important one here, that is, in Lu Ren and Shirley's imagination, Mangjia New City is not as simple as an ordinary city. Not to mention that this new city will be the capital of Lu Ren's governance at that time, the requirements themselves will be much higher, and more importantly, in a sense, Lu Ren and Shirley are using the standards of modern cities...... It's a bit too much to say that a modern city is a good one, but the standard of a modern city is pretty much the same. Not to mention anything else, the amount of work required for the sewer system, as well as the scheduled water supply system and power system, is no joke. And these things naturally caused the progress of the Mangjia New City project to be further slowed down. However, Lu Ren's reply to this is that he would rather be slower, and don't mess with me!

There are a lot of words and annoying, just to say that at the beginning of the thirteenth year of Jian'an, the total number of craftsmen and laborers concentrated in Mangjia New Town is about 5,000 people, and the construction progress of the new city is only about 40%. This is also the result of Lu Ren and Shirley opening a lot of plug-ins and making a lot of manpower-saving tools and instruments. However, this 40 percent is a very critical 40 percent, which means that projects such as the foundation and water supply system have been basically completed. This will be followed by the formal construction of the city, which can be much faster.

said that Zhen Mi heard Lu Ren say that he wanted to go to Xincheng to have a look, and subconsciously picked up the words and said, "Mr. is going to Xincheng to have a look, right?" I'll go and get the horses ready. ”

Lu Ren nodded at first, but immediately shook his head and called Zhen Mi and asked, "Isn't the laying of the railway between here and the new city already completed?" Then we don't ride horses or walk today, but we use our hands to shake them over. ”

Zhen Mi was stunned, but Liu Ye was puzzled. Of course Liu Ye knew about the laying of a railway between the small city and the new city, but Liu Ye and Zhen Mi didn't understand the use of this road with wood under it and two railroad tracks on it, and they didn't understand why Lu Ren spent a lot of manpower and material resources to make such a thing.

It wasn't until some time ago that Lu Ren invested in a number of simple vehicles, and Liu Ye vaguely understood that this was a road built to facilitate the transportation of materials. By the way, this simple vehicle has a bit of the meaning of modern railway wagons, but it is mainly made of iron matching wheels, and the power is still pushed and pulled by manpower and horsepower.

In general, it is much more convenient, for example, there will be no muddy roads and get stuck in a wheel or turn over a carriage or something, and the relative effort required by people and horses has also been reduced, but Liu Ye always felt that there was no need to engage in such things. Because the manpower and material resources spent on building this railway are really a bit large, it seems that it is better not to repair it, so Liu Ye decided to follow Lu Ren to do a good job, and also advised Lu Ren for this.

Of course, Lu Ren knew that Liu Ye didn't understand this thing to make such an admonition, so he just smiled and appeased Liu Ye a few words before continuing to do this. And Liu Ye didn't say much about this, after all, when Liu Ye came to Yizhou, the railway was almost completed, and it didn't make much sense to persuade Lu Ren to stop at this time. And Liu Ye's original intention was to ask Lu Ren not to engage in this kind of thing that seemed meaningless to him in the future.

Let's not talk about these for now, just say that Zhen Mi's face became quite strange after hearing Lu Ren's words, and then asked Lu Ren: "Sir, do you really want to use that to go to Xincheng?" ”

Lu Ren smiled: "Hmm." The weather in Yizhou is not as cold as in the Central Plains, but now that spring has just begun, the weather is really a little cool, and sweating a little with that is good for the body, isn't it? ”

Zhen Mi's face was a little red: "But, but with that, isn't it a little ......?"

Lu Ren looked at Zhen Mi's pretty face, and said happily: "Isn't it also fun?" ”

“……”

Zhen Mi had no choice but to nod his head and make corresponding preparations. Liu Ye didn't know what they were talking about, so after thinking about it, he asked, "General, what are you talking about?" ”

Lu Ren laughed and said, "You'll understand in a while." ”

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Not long after, Liu Ye was at the starting point of the railway in the small town and looked at the cars coming out of a garage in a daze, and he couldn't even say a word for a long time.

I really can't say anything, because there is a rocker on this car that runs the railroad like a child playing with a rocker, and Lu Ren and Zhen Mi are sitting on one end of the rocker...... Is Nyima playing with a rocker?

But after playing, this car is really not slow to run on the railway under the movement of this rocker. Liu Ye was just stunned, and the car ran out for dozens of meters. By the time Liu Ye reacted, Lu Ren and Zhen Mi had already stopped playing with the rocker, and Lu Ren also beckoned to Liu Ye and the entourage guards: "Ziyang, why are you stunned?" Why don't you take everyone to the bus quickly? ”

Liu Ye came back to his senses, and stupidly led a group of people to board the vehicle that made him scratch his head. After being stunned for a while, Liu Ye asked out loud: "General, what kind of car is this?" How can you ...... without pushing and pulling?"

Lu Ren said with a smile: "This is called a lever railway car, and its power is the lever on it." In fact, this kind of car can also run on flat ground, but it needs to be equipped with accessories to control the direction. Seriously, it's better to run on the railway. ”

Lever railroad cars, in fact, to put it bluntly, are vehicles that use the principle of levers to drive wheels. As early as the middle of the 19th century, the railways of European and American countries used a miniature unpowered locomotive - a human-powered rail car. A few decades later, this kind of rail car was introduced to China, and people called it "hand-cranked car" or "hand-rolled car" or "hand-rolled car". Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the "hand-cranked cars" manufactured by the Shanhaiguan Bridge Factory had been sold to various railway lines in China. The "hand-cranked car" has four wheels, is driven by levers, crankshafts, gears and other mechanical devices, weighs about 200 kilograms, and can reach speeds of up to 20 kilometers per hour. The "hand-cranked car" is usually driven by four people, two people in the front and two in the front and two hands holding the lever handle and rolling it up and down alternately, so that the car can run forward.

When a "hand-cranked car" travels on the operating line, it is necessary to dispatch "points" to the station, and if a train is encountered on the way, the "hand-cranked car" must be lifted off the track, and the "hand-cranked car" must be avoided before continuing to drive. This kind of human-powered rail car has a simple structure and is light to use, and is a common means of transportation for the construction and maintenance of line equipment in the public works and electrical departments. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, with the mass production of various diesel small rail cars and the increase in the speed and density of trains, "hand-cranked cars" were rapidly eliminated. By the 60s of the 20th century, it was already difficult to see it. Later, people could only appreciate its posture from individual films on the theme of railway revolutionary struggle and railway museums.

As for Lu Ren, before Shirley got the official steam locomotive, this relatively light and easy-to-use hand-cranked car was more in line with the current needs, so after the basic laying of the railway, Lu Ren asked Zhen Mi's steel department to try out a few first. And some time ago, Lu Ren tried it with Zhen Mi. At that time, it was also Lu Ren's childlike nature, a good hand-cranked car was not to shake it with his hands, but to play with Zhen Mi on the child's rocker in the car, which was indeed labor-saving and fun.

It's just that Lu Ren thinks it doesn't matter, but Zhen Mi, a girl, is playing with Lu Ren like a child, and it's strange that his face doesn't turn red...... (To be continued.) )