"Master, Master!" Bafang opened the door curtain and rushed in, "Master Wei personally sent the servant here."
Meng Changqing immediately walked out, "Hurry up and greet us."
She walked quickly and happened to meet Wei Fangyun who was dismounting from his horse.
"Uncle!" Meng Changqing looked at the group of servants behind him. There were about five thousand of them, but looking at the clothes of some of them, he knew that Wei Fangyun was completely helpless.
Sure enough, Wei Fangyun sighed as soon as he dismounted, "I have brought you more than 5,000 people this time. Let someone pick up the roster."
Meng Changqing shouted: "Colonel Yang, come to pick us up."
"Uncle, you have worked hard. Come and sit down at the county government office."
"What kind of county government are you talking about?" Wei Fangyun frowned deeply, "It's better to go to the wall and take a look."
Bafang came over holding torches and led the way.
As he slowly approached the city wall, Wei Fangyun noticed, "Why is no one working?"
"The evening shift is off today."
"Are you in time? Meng Changqing, don't be ridiculous!" Wei Fangyun called her by her first name for the first time, "There aren't enough slave laborers, why do you still work the third shift, and now the work is suspended? What do you think? How can national affairs be such a trivial matter?”
As soon as he cursed, the soldiers standing guard on the city wall immediately looked over and said, "Who is this!"
Bafang took two steps forward and replied loudly: "Master Meng is inspecting the city wall, there is no need to ask more questions."
Meng Changqing replied respectfully: "Sir, please calm down. Why don't you take a look at the city wall first and see how long it is."
From Wei Fangyun's point of view, at a glance, he could only see the city wall submerging into the night, and he could not see the edges with his eyesight.
"How long?" Wei Fangyun asked.
"It's more than three miles."
Wei Fangyun turned around and said, "Bring me my horse."
He wanted to confirm it with his own eyes.
Wei Fangyun asked for a horse, and Bafang quickly brought Meng Changqing's horse over.
The two got on their horses and looked along the city wall. Wei Fangyun estimated the distance all the way and ignored Meng Changqing the whole time. He didn't soften his expression until he confirmed that the length of the city wall was indeed more than three miles.
"You have less than 10,000 servants. It is really not easy to build something like this in such a short period of time. But today is already January 22, and the time for spring is getting closer and closer.
With your current speed, how can you ensure that the city wall is built before the Yan army attacks? ”
"Uncle." Meng Changqing reminded him, "I never made such a guarantee. I only promised to build the city wall within two months."
Wei Fangyun choked.
Meng Changqing continued: "The Yan army may attack at any time. We only judge from previous years' experience that they are unable to attack Daliang in winter.
If something unexpected happens, I can only take the people back to Yangmen County. ”
Wei Fangyun tightened the reins and turned the horse around, returning to where he came from. "One day, there will be soldiers to deal with it. Since I promised you two months, no matter what, I will give you two months."
"Thank you uncle." Meng Changqing urged his horse to follow him.
"Evergreen." Wei Fangyun asked him, "Why can you build so fast with less than 10,000 people?"
Meng Changqing said: "I divided them into groups of about fifty people. Whichever group works faster can eat first and eat freely.
Most of the first two batches of slave laborers were born in poverty. They had few opportunities to eat openly, so they were naturally willing to work hard. ”
Wei Fangyun changed his view of Meng Changqing even more after hearing this. He asked tentatively: "So, with the current number of slaves, is it possible to build the city wall within two months?"
Meng Changqing replied, "No."
Wei Fangyun sighed. The horse under his crotch seemed to be able to sense the master's mood and slowed down. "You are extremely smart. I don't need to say more, you can see it. In the entire Liangzhou, there are all the slaves who can recruit." The levies are here, and those who want to spend money to be exempted from labor are all here. The total number of people in today's batch is less than 15,000.
But if the counties continue to force conscription, it will really mean that the officials are forcing the people to rebel. ”
Wei Fangyun stretched out his hand to touch the city wall, and the rough rammed earth wall passed by his fingertips, "I know that there is a huge difference between these and the number of slaves you have invited.
After I go back tonight, I will immediately request an order from the imperial court to have the Weishan County garrison come over.
You are capable and can endure hardships, and your uncle cannot hold you back. ”
"Master!"
Just at this moment, I heard shouts from far and near from all directions.
Bafang was chasing after him on horseback, and he lowered his voice when he got close, "Uncle, young master, please go back and take a look. Captain Zhang has brought thousands of people back."
"What!" Wei Fangyun rode his horse and rushed to the camp. As expected, he saw thousands of people standing in a noisy way.
Zhang Yuan shouted outside the crowd: "Separate men and women! Those from the same county stand together, and those from the same village or neighboring villages stand in a row. When the time comes, you will be divided into groups. It would be better if you are in a group with familiar people, right?"
Wei Fangyun stepped forward and asked Zhang Yuan, "Who are these people and where do they come from?"
Zhang Yuan was startled by him and said, "Report to the general, these are people from various counties who volunteered to build the city wall."
Meng Changqing dismounted his horse calmly and walked over steadily.
It was just the first batch, so why was she so excited? She had already laid out three baits.
"What's going on?" Wei Fangyun couldn't figure it out. He couldn't even catch him. Why did so many people come over voluntarily when he turned around?
"Back to the general, they heard that the servants who came back told us what happened here, and they wanted to come and eat millet rice."
Wei Fangyun suddenly laughed heartily, just as Meng Changqing walked up to him, he slapped Meng Changqing on the back, almost covering her head and slapping her into the soil.
Just as he was about to stop, he heard Wei Fangyun say: "Okay! What a Meng Changqing! You really have a way! Why should I stop work? I see, that's it! That's it!"
Wei Fangyun turned his head, looked at Meng Changqing, nodded and affirmed: "I underestimated you, you are worthy of being the son of General Dingbei."
"Uncle, thank you." Meng Changqing asked: "How many people are here?"
Zhang Yuan replied: "We counted them before leaving Yangmen County, and there were 5,874 people in total."
"Check again, divide into groups as soon as possible, and let the guards take them to dig holes."
"Yes!"
The same night, at a farmer's house in Qianzenzhuang, Liangzhou.
Mrs. Zeng was sighing, "When a woman goes to a place like that, there will always be some gossip. Since you are going to take her there, just don't worry about what will happen in the village."
"Mom, you don't know what's going on over there." Zeng Laosan squatted in front of his mother, "Men and women are managed separately, sleep separately, and don't work in the same place. Do you have any gossip to talk about?"
Mrs. Zeng doesn't care what her third son says, she only cares about what Boss Zeng means.
Until Boss Zeng said: "I made my own decision, I know it well."
"What time will you leave tomorrow?" Mrs. Zeng asked.
"Get up early and leave."
"Then go to bed quickly."
After returning to the compartment where the couple slept, Boss Zeng discovered that his wife, who had been silent all this time, had red eyes, "What's wrong? Are you hungry?"
Meizi took a deep breath and asked: "Did you think of those words just now, or did your mother ask you to say them?"
Boss Zeng was confused: "What did you say?" (End of Chapter)