Chapter 275 Igloo
Early that morning, Yang Zhengshan left the city with his entourage.

He wanted to go and see in person the disaster conditions suffered by the military households.

The snow on the road was so thick that even riding a horse would only allow for slow progress.

Hongyun didn't like such thick snow, and kept kicking the snow on the road with small steps.

Yang Zhengshan looked at the vast expanse of white and felt increasingly depressed.

He had predicted this heavy snowfall, but he was unable to make complete preparations.

Tenglongwei has been poor for a long time, and many problems cannot be solved in a short time.

Take houses for example. It is so cold that it is impossible to renovate them. They can only be simply reinforced.

The so-called reinforcement is nothing more than adding a few more tree trunks to support the house.

Nothing else can be done.

It took them more than half an hour to walk nearly twenty miles and they arrived at a garrison.

The tunbu here is different from the tunbu in Chongshan Town. The tunbu in Chongshan Town all have outer walls to defend against the invading Hu people, while the tunbu in Tenglongwei is more like a village.

This garrison is called Nanlingtun, with more than 30 military households. It used to be a hundred-household unit, but now only the structure of a general flag is retained.

When Yang Zhengshan arrived at Nanling Village, the military households in the village were busy building houses.

Someone saw Yang Zhengshan and his group coming, and soon a man in a leather jacket ran out of the village.

"Commander-in-chief!" The man said uncertainly when he saw Yang Zhengshan.

"Well! Are you the chief flag officer of Nanlingtun?" Yang Zhengshan jumped off his horse and asked.

The man straightened his expression, clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "Zhang Hu, the flag officer of Nanling Tun, greets the commander!"

Zhang Hu was originally a general flag of Tenglong Vanguard. Some time ago, Tenglong Guard underwent a major adjustment and he was transferred to Nanlingtun.

The major adjustment of Tenglongwei mainly adjusted officials at the centurion and deputy centurion levels, but some general flags were also transferred to other garrisons.

The adjustment of centurions and deputy centurions was just to prevent those who were originally close to the Lan family from causing trouble, while the transfer of some general flags was because Xie Yuan selected a group of available personnel.

The Lan family controlled the Tenglong Vanguard mainly by controlling high-level officials. They appointed their own family members as thousand households and then cultivated other deputy thousand households and hundred households as their confidants.

As for the general flag and small flag, the Lan family did not look down on them and did not have the energy to win over these low-level officials.

Therefore, there are still some capable and responsible flag officers in the Tenglong Vanguard who can be reused.

Xie Yuan wanted to train these flag officers he had selected, so that if they were truly capable, they could be reused in the future.

Xie Yuan had already reported this matter to Yang Zhengshan, and Yang Zhengshan was also aware of the situation.

"What's the situation in the village?" Yang Zhengshan asked as he walked towards Nanling Village.

Zhang Hu said in a low voice: "There are now 33 military households in Nanling Village, with a population of 1,680 people, 67 adults, 33 regular men, and 26 remaining men!"

Adults refer to males between the ages of sixteen and fifty, who are considered the main labor force among military households.

The regular soldiers refer to the registered soldiers, and the rest are the reserve forces.

A military household must have one regular male member. If the regular male member dies in battle or is unable to serve, the remaining male members will take his place.

At the same time, the surplus men were also the main labor force for military farming, because the regular men would sometimes go out on missions, participate in training, or garrison city defense passes, etc.

There were only 168 people in the 33 military households, with an average of only five people per household, which was obviously unreasonable.

It can only be said that poverty prevents military households from having children or raising them.

If a war breaks out, many of these military households will probably be wiped out.

Yang Zhengshan stopped and saw a collapsed house.

"Did anyone get crushed to death?"

"No, we were prepared. After the house collapsed, we rescued people immediately!" Zhang Hu replied quickly.

Rescue people after the house collapses!
Yang Zhengshan took a deep breath and asked again: "How many houses collapsed?"

"Well, not many. Only four houses couldn't hold up!" Zhang Hu said with some shame.

Orders had been issued many times before to reinforce dilapidated houses, and he did it seriously, but unfortunately the houses still collapsed under the heavy snow.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, said nothing, and continued to observe the village.

When the soldiers in the settlement saw Yang Zhengshan, they all retreated to the side, their eyes filled with fear.

Compared with the collapsed houses, Yang Zhengshan felt that the fear in the eyes made him feel more uncomfortable.

Fear means that they have been oppressed before, and it is not just ordinary oppression.

The oppression has crushed their spirit and blood, leaving them no longer able to resist when facing officials.

However, how can a group of bloodless people become a group of fierce soldiers?

The most important factor in determining whether a soldier is strong or not is not how good he is at fighting, but whether he has the courage and ruthlessness in his heart. Whether he dares to fight to the death on the battlefield.

No matter how strong a person is, if he does not have the determination to die, he is just a coward on the battlefield.

Why did the soldiers of Anyuan City Garrison Camp dare to fight? First, it was because Yang Zhengshan met their needs in life, so that they had no worries. Second, it was because they were determined to die, and they were determined to go through fire and water at any cost.

Obviously, these people are far from being good enough.

In terms of mental will and personal strength, there is a huge gap between them and the elite soldiers, which can even be described as a world of difference.

If Yang Zhengshan wants to train these people into elite soldiers, he still has a lot to do.

However, the most urgent thing at the moment is to get them through this cold winter.

"Do they have a place to stay?" Yang Zhengshan looked at those who were still rummaging through the ruins.

The collapse of these houses did not mean that only one house collapsed, but the whole house collapsed. They were all adobe houses with wooden beams. Once one house collapsed, the rooms connected to it would also collapse. If you were lucky, the house next to it could still be saved, but if you were unlucky, the whole house of four or five houses would collapse at the same time.

"Here, if we squeeze in, we can still accommodate him!" said Zhang Hu.

"Push!" Yang Zhengshan frowned.

What this means is that there are no vacant houses to accommodate these homeless people. But that's true. Nanlingtun is poor to begin with, so how could there be any vacant houses?

As for being crowded, as long as one person is accommodated in a family, there will always be a place to sleep.

But this is very inconvenient.

This is not a matter of squeezing in for a few days, but for several months.

It is only November now, and if you want to build a new house, you have to wait until early March next year, which means you have to squeeze in more than three months.

Those who lost their homes felt uncomfortable living there, and those who helped them also felt uncomfortable.

Conflicts are bound to arise over time, and too many conflicts will lead to greater troubles.

Yang Zhengshan fell into deep thought and felt that it would be better to arrange separate residences for these four families.

You definitely can’t build a house now!
"Let's build some igloos!"

If you can’t build an adobe house, then build an igloo.

Considering the weather conditions in Liaodong, Yang Zhengshan felt that this ice house could be lived in until at least February next year.

By then, the temperature will have risen somewhat, and although it will still be very cold, we should be able to get through it.

Living in an igloo is certainly not as comfortable as living in an adobe house, but it is the best choice now. Of course, the most important thing is that building an igloo is simple and easy, and it can be completed in just a few days.

"Ice house?" Zhang Hu obviously didn't know what an ice house was.

Yang Zhengshan nodded, "An igloo is a house covered with ice!"

As he spoke, he glanced around and walked to a well.

The well is about two meters deep. There is a thin layer of ice on the water surface. There is a long stick next to it, which can be used to break the ice when drawing water.

"Just like that, put the water in the bucket and leave it overnight. It should freeze completely. Then use the ice as bricks and stones to build a house."

"The igloo doesn't need to be too big, a smaller one will be warmer."

"If there are gaps between the ice cubes, you can pour water on them. After the water freezes in the gaps, it will naturally block the gaps!"

"Although this kind of igloo is not as comfortable as an adobe house and can't have a kang, it can block the wind!"

"It's still okay to live in it with a few more quilts!"

"Well, if there's no quilt, then put more straw!"

Yang Zhengshan tried to describe the situation of the ice house in simple words. The conditions were harsh and they could only make do with it like this.

However, the more Zhang Hu listened, the brighter his eyes became. Although he had never built an ice house, after listening to Yang Zhengshan's description, he knew that this method was feasible.

"My lord, you are wise!"

"The idea of ​​the igloo is great. Not only them, but others may also come up here. We can use ice to reinforce the house!"

Zhang Hu said excitedly.

Yang Zhengshan was stunned.

Fortify your house with ice!
This seems to be possible too!

It's freezing cold now, so it's impossible to dig the soil to build a house. It's impossible to dig at all.

As for wood, there are no dense forests around Tenglongwei, and wood is also a scarce commodity.

This is also the reason why they failed to reinforce the houses before.

But it would be much easier if you use ice cubes.

Which village doesn’t have a well?

Making ice requires a mold. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a suitable mold. You always have a bucket or a wooden basin. If the size is not suitable, you can chisel it or connect them together.

Given the coldness in Liaodong, it is enough to freeze a bucket of water solid overnight.

This Zhang Hu is quite good. He can actually draw inferences from one example. Yang Zhengshan just said to build an ice house, and he can think of using ice to reinforce the house.

Yang Zhengshan stroked his beard and glanced at Zhang Hu.

Oh shit, why didn't I think of that before?
If we had thought of it earlier, these houses might not have been collapsed by the heavy snow!

Zhang Hu thinks Yang Zhengshan is smart, but Yang Zhengshan thinks Zhang Hu is clever.

Yang Zhengshan's cleverness comes from the fact that he had watched some short videos about ice houses in his previous life, but Zhang Hu's cleverness is truly clever.

Yang Zhengshan had never thought of using ice to reinforce the house. In fact, even the ice house was an idea he came up with on the spur of the moment.

Of course, Yang Zhengshan would definitely not say it explicitly. He is also a man who cares about his reputation, so how could he expose his own shortcomings?

"Well, now that you have figured it out, bring someone to try it out!"

"Yes, sir!" Zhang Hu responded excitedly.

Yang Zhengshan did not stay in Nanlingtun any longer. He could not help here at all, and instead would make these military households timid and restrained.

Originally, he wanted to continue inspecting other thousand-household units and garrisons, but after thinking of the method of building ice houses and using ice to reinforce houses, he immediately returned to the Acropolis.

He immediately wrote down these two methods, and then asked the clerks in the yamen to copy dozens of copies and send them to each thousand households.

This is a good idea, perhaps not a perfect one, but it can help many military households survive this cold winter.

(End of this chapter)