Chapter 87: Build Roads First if You Want to Be Rich

After walking for a while, we met the same group of natives from this morning.

Seeing Su Ying and the others driving an ox cart loaded with a large water jar and three plows, they looked back from time to time and whispered something.

The atmosphere of laughter and joy suddenly cooled down and everyone fell silent.

They walked until they reached a fork in the road, and the group of natives slowly headed towards the fork.

Su Ying and her friends' ox cart could no longer enter the road, so everyone untied the ropes, unloaded the cargo, and dismantled the ox cart.

Then those who carried water tanks carried water tanks, those who carried plows carried plows, those who carried wheels carried wheels, and those who carried vehicle frames carried vehicle frames, and they walked in along the mountain road.

Su Ying instinctively felt that someone was peeping at her from behind. She turned around but saw no one, only swaying branches.

"Sir, don't the Li people here interact with the Han people?" Su Bucheng asked the question in his mind.

Lingnan has been included in the Central Plains since the Qin Dynasty. At that time, the people of Lingnan were called Baiyue people, and now they are called Li people.

For thousands of years, the two sides have not yet integrated with each other. Both are cautious and wary of each other.

"Interact? I would like to, but in recent years the Li people and the Han people have lived their own lives, without interfering with each other." County Magistrate Hu sighed.

This is the best way to get along with each other at present. In the past, they were quite hostile to the Han people and often had fights over land, food and water.

"Then how do you manage the Li people?" Su Bucheng asked curiously.

"How is it managed? Official documents are delivered to the village headman, and if there's anything, we go to the headman.

They did not dare to anger the government. Although they were not very happy, they paid the taxes and levies as long as they were not excessive. Otherwise, they had almost no contact with the Han people.

When disputes arose between Han and Li people, the government was sometimes powerless.

This place is poor, mountainous and water-scarce. The Li people are the indigenous people and are not easy to mess with. Except for the descendants of the former garrisons, most of the Han people are exiles who also need to survive and have to fight for it.

Most of the time, as the two sides fight, a delicate balance is formed.

There are no sudden or extreme incidents, and everyone just lives their own life.

Su Bucheng wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, he didn't speak.

I am just a first-rate criminal, but people politely call me Mr. Su.

We should not forget our limits, act arrogantly, or interfere with other people's management.

After walking for more than half an hour, we stopped to rest at a pass. Everyone's back was wet.

Drink some water and take out the rice balls you brought to replenish your energy.

Su Ying invited the Hu family father and son, the lawyer, and the household clerk to eat Hubing.

County Magistrate Hu, his legal advisor, and the household clerk were all fine, as they often went to the countryside and were used to being hungry.

It was the first time for Hu Erlang to walk such a long country road. He made the decision on the spur of the moment and did not prepare any food or drink. He was very hungry and thirsty.

He drank most of the water in the bamboo tube in one gulp, took the Hu pancake and gobbled it up, "How far is it from here?"

"There's still more than half an hour!" Su Ying replied.

"It won't be easy to transport your goods out!" Hu Erlang shook his head. The road was long and difficult to travel.

"It won't delay you from picking up the goods! We'll deliver them to the fork in the road, and you can send someone to pick them up there."

"This is the only way!" Hu Erlang couldn't think of a better way.

"Don't worry, this road will be accommodating horse-drawn carriages sooner or later. During the slack season, we will organize road construction and widen the road." Su Ying said surprisingly.

"Build a road!" Hu Erlang exclaimed. He had never thought about this at all.

It is said that there are only 32 households in Huanggou Village, and the mountain road is at least 20 miles long. Can that few people do the job?

The county government has corvée labor every year, which is all about repairing official roads or river embankments, slope protection, etc.

It is unheard of for villagers to build roads on their own initiative.

County Magistrate Hu, Su Bucheng, Yang Dalang and other villagers nearby were all stunned. Is it possible?

“If we want to expand our business, we have to widen this road. The inconvenience of traffic will restrict subsequent development.

Not only is the labor cost high and transportation extremely inconvenient, but there will also be tea oil in the future, which will be difficult to transport and will result in large losses.

If you want to get rich, you must first build roads! Only when roads are built can your business grow! "

Wow! What Su Ying said makes a lot of sense!

"Aying! Can we really repair it?" The villagers were both hoping and worried that they did not have the ability to do so.

This is a mountain road, full of big rocks, making every trip extremely inconvenient.

"Why not? Yugong was able to move mountains. We are just building a road. If one year is not enough, we can try two years. If two years are not enough, we can try three years! Three years is definitely enough!" Su Ying was full of confidence.

"I never thought a girl could be so bold!" County Magistrate Hu was shocked. "Mr. Su must have accumulated a lot of merit in his past life to have such a daughter!"

After serving as the county magistrate for more than ten years, County Magistrate Hu had entered the state of governing by doing nothing, but he did not expect that a brave man would suddenly appear and roll up his sleeves to take action.

It had been a long time since he felt so excited. County Magistrate Hu was inspired by Su Ying's words and was very curious about what kind of road the villagers of Huanggou Village could build.

"Aying, do we really want to build a road? There are only a few people, and we have to produce vermicelli. There are not many people left. Can it be done in three years?" Yang Dalang hesitated.

It's not a flat road, so just flatten it and compact it. The mountain roads are mainly made of rocks, and it takes forever to carve them with hammers and chisels.

"As long as the arrangements are reasonable and the coordination is appropriate, it will definitely work! We build roads along the mountainside.

Try to avoid rocks and build on the dirt road. If you really can't avoid them, find a way to remove the rocks, which can save a lot of labor.

We'll wait until the busy farming season is over, find a few people we know, and discuss the route, then we'll decide on the rest."

Su Ying spoke very logically.

"Now that Ah Ying mentioned that, it seems that the road is not that difficult to repair!" Yang Dalang scratched his head, unable to tell what the problem was.

Su Ying smiled and said nothing. How could building a road be that simple?

But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If you just sit and think about it without taking any actual action, the road will never appear on its own.

Fortunately, this is Lingnan. Although it is a mountain road, the vegetation is dense, which means that the attached soil layer is deep and there are not many exposed rocks. By following the mountain terrain and taking a slight detour, the construction difficulty is greatly reduced.

"Uncle, aren't you in charge of road construction in the Ministry of Industry? This will come in handy." Su Ying said to Su Laoer, who had been silent all this time.

Everyone looked over and saw Su Lao Er and Su Lao San busy giving the cows water and feeding them grass.

"I'm in charge of the maintenance of the official roads in the capital, which are different from the mountain roads..." Su Lao Er was a little flustered by the attention of everyone.

"Uncle, you know best what kind of soil the road should be built on and what is considered qualified! We still have to rely on your on-site guidance!" Su Ying did not give Uncle Er a chance to refuse.

"Yes, Mr. Su Erlang, we don't know anything, so please be more patient! We will do whatever you say!" the villagers echoed.

"I, I..." Su Laoer had never been so happy before, and he was so nervous that he didn't know how to express himself.

"Okay, second uncle, there will be several village elders with us, so you don't have to be nervous." Su Ying said with a smile.

This second uncle works hard and is not good at scheming for personal gain. He has done a lot of work in the Ministry of Works, but all the credit has been taken by others. He has been stuck in a position above the ninth rank.

Everyone rested for a while and continued on their journey.

The production of vermicelli has not yet started, but distributors have already arrived and they are even considering building roads.

The villagers feel they have never been so busy, with tasks already scheduled for three years into the future.