Chapter 52 Poverty Alleviation First, Military Training Next

After receiving instructions from Yang Zhengshan, Yang Chengze and others immediately began to select people.

"Stand still!"

"Don't move!"

The scene was a little chaotic for a while.

These recruits were scared and panicked and had no idea what to do.

Fortunately, Yang Chengze and others had received training from Yang Zhengshan and were not stage-frightened.

Another quarter of an hour passed before the hundred soldiers formed a shaky formation and appeared in front of Yang Zhengshan.

"My name is Yang Zhengshan, and from today on I will be your centurion!"

"Look at my face clearly, don't mistake me for someone else next time!"

Yang Zhengshan walked in the queue with his hands behind his back, his eyes sweeping over the sallow faces.

"Now I'm giving you three tasks!"

“First, eat a full meal!”

"Second, clean yourself up!"

"Third, clean Linguanbao inside and out. I don't want to stay in a pigsty, and you've made it dirtier than a pigsty!"

"Understand?"

"Understood!" Yang Chengze and others shouted loudly.

However, everyone else lowered their heads and no one spoke.

"Are they all dumb?"

Before Yang Zhengshan could say anything, Yang Mingzhi started scolding him.

"Understand?"

"understand!"

"Louder! Got it?"

"understand!"

As Yang Mingzhi shouted, his voice gradually became louder, but it was still uneven and lacked any momentum.

Yang Zhengshan didn't care, waved his hand and said, "Distribute food, three dou per person!"

These soldiers were refugees before and had no savings at all.

Linguan Fort had been abandoned for many years. Although it had been rebuilt, there was not even a drop of surplus food in the fort.

According to Zhao Yuan, after this group of refugees arrived, he asked Lao Li to distribute a batch of food. However, Yang Zhengshan estimated that they had almost eaten the food they had received before, otherwise they would not have looked so pale and thin.

When they heard that Yang Zhengshan was going to distribute food, the originally lifeless team suddenly became noisy.

They all stared at Yang Zhengshan with surprise and joy.

Yang Mingwu had already taken people to move the food.

"Thank you for your reward, sir!" Old Li was the first to react and shouted loudly.

With him as their leader, the soldiers all knelt down and kowtowed to Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan looked at Lao Li approvingly.

Old Li is also from Linguan Fort, but he is not an ordinary military household. He is originally a veteran in Zhenbiao Battalion. Only because of a disability in his left leg, he followed Zhao Yuan to do some odd jobs.

He was previously responsible for the reconstruction of Lingguan Fort and the resettlement of refugees.

"Distribute food!" Yang Zhengshan shouted.

Yang Mingzhi, Yang Mingwu and others immediately called on everyone to come forward and collect food.

After the food was distributed, everyone dispersed and Yang Zhengshan walked into the government office of the garrison.

It is called a government office, but in fact it is just four adobe houses with a small courtyard and seven or eight more adobe houses at the back.

In front is where the Tunbu officials work, and in the back is where they live.

"Is there a yellow book?" Yang Zhengshan asked Lao Li.

"My Lord, follow me!"

As Lao Li said this, he led Yang Zhengshan to a study room. The furnishings in the study room were simple, with a desk, two chairs, a bookcase, and a heated kang.

Old Li took out two books from the bookcase and handed them to Yang Zhengshan, saying, "Sir, these are the Yellow Book and the Fish Scale Book."

The fish scale book focuses on the fields, and the yellow book focuses on the households.

Yang Zhengshan opened the yellow book and looked at it.

There are one hundred households in the fort, but the population is only four hundred and thirty-two.

This is obviously not normal. For example, there are more than 80 households in Yangjia Village, but the total population is more than 700, with an average of eight or nine people per household.

But thinking about the fact that these people had experienced escape, it was normal for their relatives to have died or been separated from them, so Yang Zhengshan didn't find it strange.

Yang Zhengshan quickly browsed through the yellow book and called Yang Mingzhi, Yang Mingwu and others over.

"Tomorrow you will learn about the specific situation of each household, including how many people there are in each household, how old they are, whether they have ever been to school, whether they have ever practiced martial arts, and whether they have other special skills, such as needlework, cooking, knitting, etc."

"The more detailed the understanding, the better!"

"Yes!" Yang Mingzhi, Yang Mingwu and others responded in unison.

When he arrived at Linguanbao, Yang Zhengshan realized that what he had to do was not to train soldiers, but to help alleviate poverty.

He originally thought that the ten carts of food given by Zhou Lan would be enough, but now it seems that he had thought too simply before.

The group of refugees Zhou Lan gave him was not a group of recruited soldiers.

Although the recruited soldiers may be a motley crowd, they are at least a group of qualified young and strong men.

Refugees are refugees, and the priority for refugees is to ensure that they and their families have enough food and clothing.

To keep them well fed and clothed is not just about giving them enough food and clothing, but also about finding them a way to make a living.

Let them have the foundation to live a stable life, so that they no longer need to worry about their family’s food and clothing, and so that they have no worries.

In this way, they can receive training and go to the battlefield to kill the enemy.

If they were military households from other places, they might be able to make a living through farming, but the fields here are too barren.

Yang Zhengshan was certain that Linguan Fort could not be self-sufficient relying solely on farming.

Silent all night.

The next morning, Yang Mingzhi, Yang Mingwu and their colleagues began to investigate door to door.

At the same time, Yang Zhengshan took Lao Li and Yang Minghao around Linguan Fort several times.

After the tour, Yang Zhengshan stayed in the study and wrote and drew.

The first thing he drew was the plan of Linguan Fort.

The outer wall of Linguan Fort was built very solidly, but the houses inside Linguan Fort were repaired by the refugees themselves.

It is shabby, dilapidated, messy and simply useless.

Yang Zhengshan felt that except for buildings such as government offices, warehouses, granaries, and stables, all other buildings in the fort should be demolished and rebuilt.

Of course, what he wanted to build was not a big brick and tile house, but just an adobe house.

The foundation can be built of stone, the walls can be constructed of mud, and the roof can be built of wood and thatch.

He had just checked that these common materials could be obtained locally around Linguan Fort and did not cost any money.

Yang Zhengshan spent an hour drawing the planning map of Linguan Fort.

According to his idea, the open space in front of the government office should be larger to serve as a training ground for the soldiers. The housing for the military households was all built behind the government office, with each household having three main rooms and four side rooms, forming a small courtyard.

As for the front of the government office, in addition to the training ground, some functional buildings can also be built, such as kitchens, restaurants, workshops, blacksmith shops, etc.

Build the house first, and then plan what to use it for in the future.

On the third day, Yang Zhengshan gave his plan to Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingwu and asked them to lead people to start building houses.

It is not difficult to build adobe houses. He had seen villagers build houses in Yangjia Village before.

There is no need to hire bricklayers. Just find some young and strong laborers in the village and build three houses in two or three days.

Yang Zhengshan estimated that the entire Linguan Fort could be rebuilt in just ten days.

He can afford to wait for more than ten days.

(End of this chapter)