The villagers all chimed in, "Yes, yes, we're not ungrateful bastards. We know in our hearts who we owe our good fortune to. We're not the kind of people who don't know what's good for us."
Village Chief Song's expression softened. "That's more like it. A person can't live without a conscience."
We owe our survival to someone who helped us escape the ravages of war and settle in this valley. We should not only remember this in our hearts, but also tell our descendants about it, so that they will remember the kindness of the Lu family and not become heartless ingrates.
Most of the villagers are kind and honest people, and they all nodded in agreement after hearing what Village Chief Song said, saying that it made sense.
Some people immediately called their children over and started educating them, telling them to remember the Lu family's kindness.
The Fang brothers, Dayong and Eryong, both lowered their heads in shame.
Although Village Chief Song did not specify, the Fang family has been the ones causing trouble recently.
Moreover, the one who was hiding in the crowd asking questions just now was their mother. Everyone knows who Village Chief Song is referring to as an ingrate.
Fang Senlin and Fang Junmu didn't take it seriously, and were even somewhat dissatisfied with Village Chief Song, but they were afraid of being driven out of the valley, so they only dared to keep it to themselves and didn't dare to say it.
After the villagers finished explaining to their families, Village Chief Song said, "I am truly unworthy of the title of village chief. I have been able to help everyone settle down in the valley and have rice to eat, but I have not been able to do anything to help them."
Jiang Tangtang said sincerely, "Village Chief Song, please don't underestimate yourself. We've just arrived here and there are many things to do. If it weren't for your mediation and arrangements, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly for everyone."
"No, I only do some odd jobs. Anyone can do those kinds of odd jobs. You and Sanlang are the real benefactors of our village."
After finishing his sentence, Village Chief Song raised his voice again, "Listen up, everyone. As you all know, the brick-making technique was Sanlang's wife's idea. In fact, besides the brick-making technique, the idea of building an irrigation canal in the valley also came from Sanlang's wife..."
After listing Jiang Tangtang's contributions, he asked, "Everyone, don't you think it's appropriate for Jiang Niangzi to have the final say in matters concerning our valley?"
As soon as Village Chief Song finished speaking, a villager nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, yes, yes, it should be Jiang Niangzi who has the final say. Jiang Niangzi not only taught everyone how to make bricks, but also how to make salt and remove the toxicity from cassava. We should be led by Jiang Niangzi."
"Let Jiang Niangzi be the village chief."
...
After repeated requests from the villagers, Jiang Tangtang reluctantly agreed, saying, "Since everyone thinks so highly of me, I will respectfully comply."
However, we are different from ordinary villages now; we are essentially self-contained, and there are still many things to deal with. I suggest that Village Chief Song continue in his position, handling village disputes and conflicts. I, on the other hand, will primarily be responsible for the overall planning and coordination of the valley.”
"What does 'overall planning' mean?" a villager asked, puzzled.
Jiang Tangtang said, "Simply put, it's about the overall safety layout of the valley, planting arrangements, and long-term development."
The villagers understand the safety of the valley, but they don't understand planting arrangements or long-term development.
The villagers thought that they should plant whatever they wanted in each season, so why should she make arrangements? Besides, everyone was hiding in this valley, so why bother with long-term development?
Seeing everyone's doubts, Jiang Tangtang explained the benefits of digging water conservancy projects, as well as the plans for planting medicinal herbs for the village's own use and for foreign trade.
Upon hearing this, the villagers immediately understood.
"So this is what overall planning is all about! Yes, yes, that's how it should be. If it weren't for Madam Jiang's idea of digging irrigation ditches first and letting us reclaim wasteland indiscriminately, where would we have gotten so much fertile land?"
Although the irrigation canals in the valley are not yet fully completed, they are already taking shape.
The villagers are all experienced farmers, so they can naturally see the benefits of these irrigation canals.
Without the irrigation canals, only the fields on both sides of the river would be fertile. But after the canals were built, even the land far from the river would not lack water.
Those who initially didn't take the irrigation canal repair seriously, and even thought the Lu family was a nuisance, all became incredibly impressed with the Lu family after discovering the canal's ingenuity.
Amid the villagers' praise, Jiang Tangtang slowly began to speak: "Then today I will talk about the arrangement of these bricks."
She pointed to the entrance of the valley, "As you all know, although our valley is secluded, it is not 100% safe. We need to establish some outposts in the valley in case any bad guys come to harm us."
Moreover, once the outpost is built, besides being used for sentry duty and defense, it can also be used as a temporary shelter from the rain until everyone's houses are finished. Of course, while it can be used for temporary shelter, it cannot be occupied privately. It is the common property of our village.”
Most villagers thought Jiang Tangtang would take the bricks to the Lu family to build a house first, but they didn't expect that she was considering the bigger picture.
The villagers admired Jiang Tangtang even more, and some even felt that the title "Jiang Niangzi" (Jiang the Lady) didn't sound imposing enough, so they spontaneously gave her the title "Gu Chang" (Valley Chief).
And so, Jiang Tangtang was appointed as the head of the valley.
She instructed Jiang Dahai to lead the men to continue firing bricks, while she herself selected some people to dig a foundation at the entrance of the valley and establish a defensible stronghold.
Autumn will be here soon, and it could rain at any time after that. It's impossible for the village to finish building the houses so quickly.
This outpost can also be considered a temporary shelter.
At that time, most of the villagers will probably spend their time at this outpost.
Therefore, in building this defensive outpost, in addition to considering defense, we also need to consider living conditions.
While the villagers were busy building the valley, Lu Shiyan led his men to the prefect's residence.
Liu Chengfeng still felt like he was dreaming when he finally met Zhang Kui, the prefect of Puzhou.
Although he had long felt that Lu Shiyan was skilled and that following him would lead to a better future, he never expected him to be so powerful.
They went from being ordinary refugees to becoming honored guests at the prefect's residence.
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