Chapter 29

Wen Yi originally thought about whether to make some equipment to defend the city, but in the end he decided to reinforce the outer city and the inner city wall first.

If even such a high wall can be breached, the enemy is not something that can be dealt with by simple siege equipment. It would be better to get more bows and crossbows to increase the firepower on the wall.

Although the wall is extremely thick, it is trapezoidal in shape, leaving little room for movement above. A crane is needed to transport the stones piled below.

Wen Yi simply wrote down the knowledge she still remembered in a simply bound book. Amu adapted well to her writing and drawing method and was able to express it clearly to others.

Their activities in the city during this period were not without results. Amu and the others learned a variety of things, recording them in the blank notebooks they carried with them. The addition of Yao Wenjun, a junior fellow apprentice, provided them with new inspiration. A group of children began to take notes everywhere, and those who could not read drew as they went, surprisingly accumulating quite a bit of information.

The junior fellow student helped organize the contents, and finally got a thick first edition booklet, and then began to revise it continuously.

Wen Yi was happy to see this happen. Although they still had a lot of time, and at a time when there was no way to receive education, this method of acquiring knowledge and solving problems was a very good choice.

A few adults who were occasionally free wanted to help, but were seriously rejected by Amu and the others. They said they needed to have a good rest and could just leave these things to them.

This was a bit amusing, but no one thought it was a bad idea. When passing through residential areas, some aunts and uncles would give them snacks. The children would thank them for the inexpensive items in the city, the kind that could buy a large jar for a single copper coin, and would politely decline anything too expensive before continuing on their way to their destination.

Although there was no way to enforce it, the notices were posted there, and no one stopped people from copying them on purchased paper.

In He Xuan's words, even if it is a good thing, people will always retreat if they rush for it. On the contrary, people will cherish things more if they get them with great effort.

The same goes for words and knowledge. Subconsciously, everyone knows that this is very important. They may feel a little intimidated and think they are not capable of it, but when people around them start to do it, they will also become eager to do it.

This is a subtle psychology. People with huge differences may only sigh about what they have, but it is different for the people around them.

Wen Yi understood all this and stopped paying attention to it.

The carefully prepared equipment and food were packed up and stored, and winter became busy.

*

Wen Yi did not accompany the troops on this expedition, so Yao Wenjun chose two people who he had always brought with him.

Nan Xun stayed. The soldiers had been sharing hardships with him for a while, and since then, those who stayed were all Yao Wenjun's confidants, so they would naturally not do anything detrimental.

Even if the general wanted to do something, he couldn't control this group of people.

Yes, that general was also among them. I don’t know whether this person had communicated with them or was temporarily convinced. In short, during the time when Yao Wenjun was away, he and Nan Xun restrained each other and maintained stability in the city.

Winter wheat has entered the grain filling stage and spring plowing has been completed. It is time to water the fields. Fortunately, the ditches outside the city are soaking the fields with water as the water wheels creak.

Putting down the records in his hand, Wen Yi called Yuwan, who was snoring beside him, to go out for a walk together.

In the season of revival, there are more snakes and rats in the warehouse. These people have no way to deal with them. In addition to Yuwan, there are also many cats in the city, but their size cannot be compared with Yuwan.

"Thanks for your hard work."

The cook in charge of food saw the sleek big cat and couldn't help but squat down and rub its head. After all, the kitchen was also a place frequented by mice. With it strolling around from time to time, it became much quieter here.

The shops along the main road became bustling again. Wen Yi had wooden doorheads and poles made uniformly, and wrote patterns and names on them.

The things compiled by the children were also handed over to He Xuan, and after some revisions, the draft was finalized.

In addition to these, the many books that had been copied earlier had already piled up on several bookshelves. He Xuan also translated the books that he had previously been unable to understand. Fortunately, the books at that time were extremely concise, so it didn't take long to finish.

Those that are of no use are put aside, but there are still many that are quite useful, and it would be a waste to keep them here.

She tried carving single words and putting them together on a tray, but it was difficult to keep the word blocks at the same height. It would be better to carve them directly into pieces using wooden boards or ceramic plates, which would be more accurate and convenient.

Commonly used inks are also non-oily and are not actually suitable for printing. These improvements cannot be completed in a short period of time. Many inks with suitable fluidity and drying properties are harmful, so it is better to wait for an opportunity before considering it.

Put this document aside and get the next one.

The departure of Yao Wenjun and others made the matters originally handled by them fall back on Wen Yi and others.

Important information also needs to be summarized by Wen Yi and then delivered by messengers quickly so that he can grasp the dynamics of other forces and make the best decision.

"Put these aside for now. Copy these and post them on the notice board over there."

Sang Yu nodded, put the things Wen Yi handed him aside, and went to deal with them after finishing the data. Fortunately, there was nothing urgent at the moment, so everything could be done slowly.

“Sometimes I think it’s okay.”

Wen Yi walked back to his seat and said to the old man beside him.

He Xuan nodded, "That's true, but the general trend of the world is not like that. If we don't do it, we will be swallowed up and won't be able to hold on to this place."

Compared with the forces in the south that have vast territories and resources, the conflicts on their side are more like minor skirmishes. If a large army is sent to besiege them, they will not be able to hold out within a few days.

Although the outcome of doing this may not be much better, it is better to try than to give up at the beginning.

The news from Yao Wenjun was much better than expected. Although there were some losses, the casualty ratio was extremely low. There were also medical supplies prepared in advance, and the wounded had already returned with the messenger and were receiving better care.

The place captured this time was also a small town, Shangyong, which originally belonged to Yu.

Shangyong is similar to Pingyi, but it has not experienced looting. The previously occupying forces have only increased the exploitation, and overall it can still survive. Yao Wenjun did not transform it from scratch, but only sent a message to find two experienced people to take charge temporarily, and they will take over the territory in the south next.

When Wen Yi saw the news, he couldn't control his expression for a moment. After calming down, he still sent someone over, but his desire to recruit people became stronger.

Even He Xuan, who originally didn't have to do much sitting here, couldn't stand it anymore and helped to deal with those complicated matters.

Even so, everyone went home later and later at night. Sometimes they even took a nap in the next room and then got up to continue working. Soon, several of them had dark circles under their eyes.

So when Wen Yi saw someone coming, he became much more enthusiastic. Regardless of whether their ideas were the same or not, he wanted to keep the person to help.

Putting down the things in his hands, Wen Yi called a few soldiers to follow him to the city gate to greet them.

The servant driving the carriage first bowed to Wen Yi, then carefully helped the people out of the carriage.

This person was about the same age as Yao Wenjun, but slightly shorter. She had a rather delicate hairstyle, and although it was not noticeable from the outside, Wen Yi could notice that her legs seemed to have some difficulty. It was not noticeable when she walked slowly, but she still needed someone to support her.

Song Jin was quite flattered by Wen Yi's enthusiasm.

She did have some correspondence with Yao Wenjun, but the transmission efficiency was really low at that time, and it was several months later when she learned that Yudi had fallen apart.

The place where she lived was a bit messy, so she had to move to a place closer to the mountains and forests. As a result, Yao Wenjun's letter took a long time to reach her.

Putting aside other matters, just considering the friendship they had shared back then, she had to come and help. It seemed her timing was unfortunate, as Yao Wenjun had just gone out with his soldiers, so it would be best for her to get used to the situation here for a while.

Now, Amu and his companions have become able to skillfully lead the new merchants to familiarize themselves with the southern area, so it will naturally be easy for them to lead Song Jin to familiarize themselves with this area.

It was not easy to just grab people to do the work at the moment, so Wen Yi could only work overtime with a few others, while calculating and counting what Yao Wenjun needed, and arranging the limited manpower to deliver the supplies.

Perhaps it was because of the powerful equipment, or perhaps it was because those cities were like loose sand, in short, several small cities near the east were occupied by Yao Wenjun.

He divided the soldiers at his disposal into several groups for garrison, and then began to send people to Pingyi for construction.

Yao Wenjun naturally had some selfish motives in choosing these locations. The locations of these small towns could vaguely protect the east and south of Pingyi. If communication could be established, it would at least give those in the rear time to evacuate.

After seeing the news from his subordinates, he realized that there were not enough people in Pingyi. Even though Song Jin took the initiative to join later, he only saved everyone from the state of "about to collapse". They still had to work overtime every day, which was completely different from the previous days when they could leisurely drink tea.

As for sending craftsmen over there, it was not a big problem. Firstly, many of these things could be learned immediately by people who had been exposed to similar work before. Moreover, the construction of Laipingyi was nearing completion, and they had not done any major projects for a long time. Wen Yi simply packed up these guys and sent them over. When the work was done, they could come back whenever they wanted, or they could just stay there.

As they set off, they also brought with them a number of handwritten booklets, which contained various steps and pictures summarized by Amu and the others. These booklets were for Yao Wenjun, and it was up to her how to use and handle them. Wen Yi didn't have the energy to worry about it.

Wen Yi has replaced all the accounting staff's abacus with abacus, which he asked Qingping to help make a long time ago.

At a time when things like multiplication tables already existed, using counting rods to calculate was not difficult, but it was troublesome and easy to get confused. Under the pressure of accounting, they quickly accepted this convenient thing that allowed them to get off work earlier.

Wen Yi also packed up the general and handed him over to Yao Wenjun. From his observations during this period, it seemed that this man had a good ability to handle affairs, but unfortunately his mind was not very clear.

It seems that his old habits have returned in the past few days. According to reports from the soldiers, he seemed to have received some news and started to hang around the place where the "staff member" was being held.

Wen Yi doesn't have that much time to waste with him now, so he might as well throw her away. Maybe she can still shine with Yao Wenjun. As for the training ground, Nan Xun is enough.

Another problem is that although that area is newly occupied, the food and warmth of the people who originally lived there must also be considered.

The wool collected before exceeded the needs of the people in Pingyi, and often we would entrust caravans to sell one or two to other places, but considering these places, it felt that it was not enough.

Wen Yi’s prices for basic items like these have never been high. As long as you work hard for a while, you can always save enough money to buy some warm clothes in the fall.