Chapter 108
Li Ji thought about it and decided that if all the Li family members moved here, they would definitely settle down in Xiaxi Village.
He has also decided to go back to Xiaxi Village and ask Village Chief Wu to buy a piece of residential land and build a large house for his parents and eldest brother's family to live in.
But of course he had to keep his son by his side. His son was only five years old this year and was hard-earned. When he was arrested, imprisoned, and then exiled, the one he was most worried about was his son.
Now that I know that he has lost both his father and his mother to take care of him, I feel so heartbroken.
Since he often worked on Dunzi Island, Song Ge'er naturally had to live with him on the island.
In that case, he could just rent a small house on the island.
I usually live with Song Ge'er. When my elder brother and sister-in-law, or my father and grandfather come to the island to play, they also have a place to stay.
After hearing Li Ji's explanation that it would make it easier for him to work on the island, Gu Ran expressed his understanding and agreed readily.
"After the cottages are built, you can go and take a look at them yourself. If you like one, tell me and I will sign a lease for you. For the sake of our friendship, I can give you a discount and charge you a lower rent." But when working for yourself, you have to be more serious.
"Okay." Li Ji nodded, and the matter was settled.
So Li Ji rented one of the four small houses built by Uncle Wu San, and the remaining three were given to other farmers and servants, but they were completely sufficient.
While the small house on the island was being built, Gu Ran hired a number of villagers and helpers, and was also constructing the mountain road from Xiaxi Village across the miasma forest to the bank of the Wujiang River.
In order to achieve the shortest distance from Xiaxi Village to the starting point at the Wujiang River, Gu Ran chose to cross in a straight line.
The area outside the shallow forest is not bad, as we just need to cut down the weeds and shrubs and move the rocks. But as we get closer to the deep forest, we will need to cut down a lot of towering trees.
Fortunately, at the beginning, the road that Gu Ran wanted to build only had one lane, which was wide enough for a single horse-drawn carriage to pass through. Therefore, in order to leave this width, not too many trees needed to be cut down.
And except for the areas that must be felled and trimmed according to the predetermined route, other places in the deep forest do not need to be involved. This can control the danger of hired loggers being harmed by miasma or big beasts after entering the deep forest.
As a result, the guys who seldom went into the island forest and were afraid of the miasma in the forest were more willing to follow them in to build the road.
Gu Ran planned to collect the cut wood and send it to the Wujiang River to build a ferry.
Felling trees in the deep forest was relatively simple, but it was the shortest route they had chosen, and the most troublesome problems were two.
First, there is a mountain ahead of us on the road.
The rocks are piled up and the mountain walls are thick and hard. It is possible to dig through them manually, but it is too time-consuming. The road construction process can only be temporarily stopped here.
Take a detour?
Gu Ran never even thought about it.
So she went to find Village Chief Wu. Village Chief Wu looked at the hill for a long time and came up with a solution for Gu Ran: "I will go to the county government office and see if I can go to the official blacksmith shop and ask for some fire bombs."
Gu Ran was stunned.
Fire bomb?
Yes, I seem to have heard that the Great Sheng Dynasty had developed firearms and even developed many gunpowder artifacts in the military, which were powerful weapons against foreign enemies.
However, did the people of the Dasheng Dynasty also know that gunpowder could be used to blast mountains and rocks?
"I also heard from Village Chief Weng that when Donglin Township was building the road and the ferry, they encountered similar obstacles. Later, Liu Dongjia went to the county government to petition, and finally got permission from the government. They sent pyrotechnicians to blow up the entire hill."
Gu Ran was very surprised.
Has the Great Sheng Dynasty become so proficient in the use of gunpowder?
So the matter was handed over to Village Chief Wu.
Fortunately, Xiaxi Village has been in the limelight recently, and building roads in the village can be regarded as an achievement of the county magistrate, so it was quickly approved by Village Chief Wu. However, the use of fire bombs and the cost of dispatching pyrotechnicians had to be paid by Gu Ran himself.
The pyrotechnician came to Xiaxi Village and was amazed to see that they had built a road into the miasma forest. After inspecting the site, he calculated the number of fire bombs that would be consumed, which amounted to twenty taels of silver.
Gu Ran originally budgeted fifty taels of silver for hiring workers and hauling sand and gravel to build this road. Now he had to pay twenty taels more, so he had no choice but to pay.
The pyrotechnician took the money and came back the next day with the mountain-opening artifact.
That day, all the creatures, big and small, around the island forest on the top of the mountain were startled by the sudden loud noise.
Thousands of birds left the forest and hundreds of beasts fled.
With a series of loud bangs, the passage that Gu Ran had planned to pass through the mountain was blown open, and the road could finally go straight through the mountain.
The seemingly impossible task was completed in just one afternoon.
Gu Ran looked at the rocks that were blown into large and small pieces and couldn't help but sigh: Silver is useful.
That’s right. Without money, how can we ask the pyrotechnician to come with gunpowder?
Moreover, the road being repaired later seems to have to pass through the foot of the mountain.
Sure enough, when they saw the mountain standing tall later, blocking their passage like a roadblock, Gu Ran already knew what to do: pay money!
Fortunately, the cost of the two subsequent ones that required the use of gunpowder to clear the way was not as expensive as the first one, and the total cost was fifteen taels of silver.
Wow, it’s really expensive to build this road in Lantau Forest!
If it weren't for her own convenience, if it weren't for the reward from Mr. Shen, she really wouldn't be willing to spend it.
Another troublesome problem was that the passage they had designated had to pass through a swamp.
The swamp had an area of almost one acre in diameter. In order to build the road as planned, the swamp had to be filled in.
It just so happened that she had hired pyrotechnicians to blast the mountain with gunpowder three times, so weren't there a lot of rocks left?
First, move these rocks over, and then, starting from the edge of the swamp, throw them all into the swamp. Then, transport sand and gravel to fill it in, and finally dig up the soil, mix it in, and tamp it firmly. In this way, when you step on it, it will be like walking on flat ground.
After solving these two major problems, the project of cutting down trees and building roads went smoothly.
Road builders are generally divided into five groups:
One group was responsible for cutting down trees to clear the way ahead, and then digging up the tree stumps and filling them up.
The second group is responsible for paving the opened road with gravel.
The third group was responsible for burning the soil and then spreading the burned soil on the ground.
The fourth group was responsible for paving the road with stone rollers.
As for the fifth group, they are responsible for daily meals.
Since we are going to build a road, we naturally have to make it better so that it will be easier to walk on and easier to drive donkey carts and horse carriages, which will make the journey much faster.
Including the young men in the village who took turns to work, there were about fifty people in total. They divided the work and cooperated with each other. It took them nearly a month to build the road to the bank of Wujiang River.
Seeing that the road from the Wujiang River to Xiaxi Village had been truly built, all the people who were building the road that day looked at the river and the ships passing by on the river and shouted excitedly.
"It's done, we really did it!"
“We really fixed the road!”
"We in Xiaxi Village have our own road now!"
"We are so awesome!"
Gu Ran listened to their cheers and laughed out loud while looking at the river.
Pei Liu stood beside her. The wind from the river blew past him, causing him to squint his eyes slightly. He felt very proud in his heart.
On the river, whether it was the boats coming down from the county town or the boats coming up from Donglin Township, everyone was shocked:
"What, what did I see?"
"This, this is the miasma forest, right?"
"Who are they? Where are they?"
"There's actually someone in the miasma forest?"
A curious boatman called out to the boat and sauntered over to the edge of the miasma forest. He looked at the people who were so excited and asked, "Who are you? How dare you enter the miasma forest?"
"We are from Xiaxi Village!"
"We dare to enter the miasma forest."
"Look, look, our village also has a road leading directly to the Wujiang River!"
As he said this, he stepped aside and proudly showed them the road he had built.
The passengers and the boatman were surprised and looked at the straight passage with their mouths wide open.
"You, you dare to build a road in the miasma forest?"
"Indeed, the road is well built and looks good."
"Directly to Xiaxi Village?"
Everyone nodded vigorously: "Directly to Xiaxi Village."
"This is truly remarkable!"
Everyone laughed proudly again.
"Who would have dared to think of going from the riverside through the miasma forest to Xiaxin Village?"
"Second Mother, the Second Mother of the Gu family in our village, was the one who came up with the idea."
Everyone turned their eyes to Gu Erniang, and Pei Liu also glanced at her.
Gu Ran felt a little embarrassed by being looked at, and waved his hand: "Well, if I dare to think of it, everyone else must dare to do it, right? Everyone has contributed."
Everyone laughed again.
More and more passengers and merchants rowed their boats here to see what was going on, and before long, everyone in the surrounding area knew about it.
Even if it spreads to the county town, it won’t take long.
Because the road was completed, the people who built the road were greatly encouraged, so when it came to building the ferry, they worked even harder. In less than half a month, the ferry was completed in a decent shape.
From then on, there was an additional resting place for boats to get on and off the Wujiang River. Passenger and merchant ships traveling on the river could see the newly built ferry in Xiaxi Village whenever they passed by, and the news naturally spread more and more widely.
After the construction of this road, the happiest person, besides Gu Ran, was Village Chief Wu.
Building roads was something I never dared to think about before, but now I have not only thought about it, but also actually realized it.
Even though it's a small village, it has great ambitions. As the village chief, she will be able to hold her head high in the future in the surrounding area.
Also, we can apply to the county government to transfer a few more families here, and we will have the confidence to do so.
Because of this happy event, many people in Xiaxi Village were more excited than during the Chinese New Year.
Like the people in Donglin Township, they can now have their own ferry.
You can take a boat from the village to the ferry, so you don’t have to spend time walking to Donglin Township.
During the days when the road was completed, people from Xiaxi Village set out from the village every day, crossed the miasma forest together, arrived at the ferry, and then returned to the village with smiles on their faces after enjoying the scenery by the river.
It takes no more than half an hour to walk from the ferry to Xiaxi Village, but it would be even faster if you take a donkey cart.
Other villages also heard that Xiaxi Village had built its own road, especially the road that went directly through the miasma forest and reached the bank of the Wujiang River, so they also came in groups to watch the fun.
"Hey, you people in Xiaxi Village are really amazing. You actually dared to build a road through the miasma forest."
"Ferry, there's a ferry in Xiaxi Village now. You can come and take a boat anytime."
"That's right, you guys in Xiaxi Village are so enviable!"
"This is much more convenient than us villagers having to go all the way to the Donglin Township ferry to take a boat!"
"Yes, this ferry is newly built. Are there any boatmen here to solicit passengers?"
No.
After the road was built, it was mainly used by Gu Ran for a period of time at the beginning.
Firstly, Xiaxi Village has a small population, so not many people go out often. Secondly, there is no dedicated boatman at the ferry. Other villagers who arrive at the ferry via this road still have to wait at the ferry for a passing boat to board.
However, as more and more villagers living close to Xiaxi Village came to the ferry to wait for the boat, some boatmen who saw business opportunities also began to stop at the Xiaxi Village ferry to pick up passengers.
In this way, gradually, more and more people came to the Xiaxi Village Ferry to take the boat, and the increasing number of passengers attracted more and more boatmen, and the ferry began to prosper little by little.
As more and more people passed through Xiaxi Village to go to the ferry, the village became more lively. Some families who were attracted by the convenience of entering and exiting the ferry in Xiaxi Village began to consider moving to Xiaxi Village.
As for the harm caused by miasma, don’t the people in Xiaxi Village say that they are no longer afraid of miasma because of the windmills?
Now the road leading to the ferry still passes through the miasma forest!
So many people come and go, nothing happens, what are you afraid of?
Village chief Wu went to the county government to apply for more people and households, and the county magistrate approved it. Gradually, the number of households in Xiaxi Village increased.
Gu Ran, who spent a large sum of money and was entitled to be the first to enjoy the convenience of the ferry, has been riding a donkey cart from the village to the ferry these days. He then has his own small boat take him to the island, and leaves the island from the Dunzi Island ferry. He paddles a distance that is only slightly longer than the river surface to reach the Xiaxi Village ferry, which takes less than ten minutes. It is extremely convenient.
The ferry at Xiaxi Village does not have a donkey cart to pick them up. It would be more convenient if there were donkey carts and horse carriages like the ones on Dunzi Island that could carry passengers back and forth.
However, this is a big step, so let’s wait a little longer!
Gu Ran didn't have to wait long, because as more and more people came to the Xiaxi Village ferry, some idle elderly people in the village drove their own donkey carts to take passengers to the ferry.
Once they arrived at the ferry, they would naturally wait to pick up passengers and earn some money before returning.
So she would soon be able to take a bus back to her home at any time at the ferry.
The road has been repaired and the ferry is now available. The next step is for Gu Ran to consider whether to replace his small boat.
No, or rather, add another cargo ship.
The boat that Gu Ran owns now was bought with all the money he saved up during the year when there was a bumper orange harvest.
Because as the owner of an orange grove on the island, he couldn't always let his employees ride on Liu Chengong's broken and small fishing boat, right?
Moreover, it is not very convenient to use the fishing boat to carry goods, especially when transporting them to the county dock or seaport. Large cargo ships have to be hired to help transport them. For larger transactions, like selling early-ripening varieties of oranges to Fusheng Trading Company, Manager Xu can only drive the merchant ship himself.
As a boss with a conscience, Gu Ran calculated the money he had on hand and quickly went to the shipyard to buy a small boat.
This small boat is naturally better than Liu Chengong's fishing boat. Although it looks simple, it is stable and reliable. Most importantly, it can carry a load of about 500 kilograms. Such a small boat cost nearly 50 taels of silver.
Now, hey, don’t I have the unexpected money in my hands? I can upgrade my weapons and want to buy a stronger and bigger merchant ship, mainly for shipping goods.
"What do you think?"
Since you want to add assets to your business, you naturally have to discuss it with your partners.
Fortunately, this lovely, no, now beautiful partner always listens to my advice and immediately nodded in agreement, "We should definitely buy another one."
Buying a boat was immediately put on the agenda.
The next day, he went to the dock with Pei Liu to see the boats.
The convenient and developed water transportation in Minzhou promoted the rapid development of local shipbuilding technology, not to mention the prevalence of maritime affairs in the Great Sheng Dynasty. The warships built by official shipyards for military use, loaded with gunpowder and heavy weapons, effectively curbed the invasion of pirates and foreign countries along the coast, and won repeated victories, which in turn brought peace and tranquility to the southern ports of the Great Sheng Dynasty in recent years.
Even in the first generation, the ancient shipbuilding technology of Minzhou was found to be very advanced, and even the unique Fujian ship culture that demonstrated the extraordinary skills of Fujian craftsmen has been preserved.
And this is also the case in this prosperous dynasty.
The stability and reliability required for carrying passengers and the load requirements for transporting cargo are key requirements that must be met by different ships. At the same time, they all need to be isolated from water when operating on rivers or seas.
For this reason, after generations of improvements, the craftsmen of the Minzhou Shipyard have widely used the watertight bulkhead Fujian ship manufacturing technology. In Gu Ran's first life, this technology had already appeared as early as the Tang Dynasty. It has been developed and promoted ever since, and even the Wanhu Shenzhou was produced, which can be regarded as an aircraft carrier among ships. It has not only spread throughout the entire continent and is unique in China, but is also famous overseas.
The so-called watertight bulkhead Fujian ship manufacturing technology is also a derivative and improved technology of the traditional mortise and tenon craft. It combines core technologies such as caulking and uses camphor wood, pine wood and fir wood as the main materials to build merchant ships or fishing boats with independent and sealed cabins.
The entire hull is tightly stitched and the frame is sturdy. It is not afraid of water seepage during sailing, and can withstand wind, rain, and waves. Even if an accident occurs in a cabin at some point, the cabin can be sealed to stop the loss in time and minimize the harm.
Therefore, many times, merchant ships from the north that come to Fujian to transport goods like to purchase Fujian ships locally.
This also further allowed money to flow into the shipbuilding industry in Minzhou, while allowing craftsmen to quickly improve and upgrade watertight compartment manufacturing technology.
This kind of craft is usually completed by a master craftsman leading many craftsmen. Therefore, in the shipyard, there are merchant ships, passenger ships, etc. that have been built by craftsmen working together.
When buying a boat, you can directly choose from these ready-made boats, or you can tell the master craftsman in the dock about your boat requirements and the functions you want to achieve. The master craftsman will then design the boat drawings based on the customer's requirements. After the customer confirms the drawings, pays a deposit, and sets a delivery date, the master craftsman will work with the craftsmen to build the customized Fu boat within a limited period of time.
The second type of custom-made Fujian ships has a long production cycle. Gu Ran wanted to use the new ship immediately after buying it, so he chose the first type: buying a ready-made one.
If you want to buy a ready-made one, you can also tell the shipbuilder in charge of the shipyard what you want.
The shipbuilder is familiar with the craftsmanship of the ship and understands the needs of the customers. Of course, he can immediately recommend a Fujian ship that meets the requirements. This is much better than blindly looking at it yourself. It can also avoid the absurd situation of buying a good-looking Fujian ship and then finding out that the purchased Fujian ship is not suitable for use when going out to sea or sailing.
"A small boat, used to carry cargo?"
"Yes, we hope the load capacity can reach at least fifty hu."
"Which waterways do you mainly sail on?"
Gu Ran, who had bought a boat at the shipyard before, had already understood this problem.
For ships that mainly navigate inland canals and rivers, the requirements for wind and water resistance can be lower than those for ships that mainly navigate offshore waterways.
After all, the winds and waves encountered when sailing on the sea are greater than those encountered when sailing on inland rivers.
Moreover, among the same type of ships, there are differences between merchant ships used for long-distance voyages and short-distance voyages. Ships for long-distance voyages must be more durable than ships for short-distance voyages.
"I only use it for inland cargo and occasionally go to coastal ports, but never go out to sea."
Gu Ran explained the purpose of the ship he had chosen to buy in detail to the shipbuilder. Finally, the shipbuilder recommended three merchant ships. Gu Ran chose one of them and asked for three hundred taels of silver.
Wow, that’s more money than I spent to buy the entire Dunzi Island.
However, if you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools.
She expanded the planting of orange trees this year and allocated funds to buy a batch of orange trees to plant. The amount of oranges produced will definitely be more.
We can't just sit there and watch so many oranges piled up in a warehouse in the orange grove, unable to be transported away?
So Gu Ran gritted his teeth and bought it.
When they were riding back to Dunzi Island on the newly purchased cargo ship, Gu Ran stood at the bow, extremely happy.
"Sixth Lady, we finally have a decent cargo ship. It will be much more convenient to transport oranges in the future!"
"certainly."
"Besides, hehe, now that we have this new boat, we won't have to be jealous when we see Mr. Shen's boat moored at the ferry on Dunzi Island in the future."
That’s right, another reason that prompted Gu Ran to grit his teeth and buy a new boat was that Mr. Shen also bought a boat.
The first reason was to facilitate the transportation of bricks, stones and wood when building his mansion. The second reason was to facilitate the transportation of the materials they needed ashore in the future. The third reason was to facilitate the travel of their family.
Although he didn't know the performance of the Shen family's boat, from its appearance and after inviting Gu Ran to visit it, he knew that the boat was much better than his own small, broken boat.
Seriously, some of the boats of the people living on the island are more luxurious than her boat as the island owner. How can that be acceptable?
So Gu Ran wanted to buy another one at that time.
But at that time I was busy building the road and had no time. Now that the road is built, buying a boat is naturally on the agenda.
The new ship's arrival at the shore indeed attracted a wave of surprise and praise from the guards and workers at the ferry.
Gu Ran was very proud. After towing the boat into the ferry storage area, he took a look at the Shen family's boat and breathed a sigh of relief.
The Shen family has now moved out of the house.
After the mansion was built, Mr. Shen thanked Gu Ran, said goodbye to her, and then moved out quietly one afternoon.
After more than two months of construction, the Shen family's house, although not as exquisite as that of ordinary wealthy families, was built to look like a garden, elegant and magnificent.
They came to the island to escape from the world, so they only invited Gu Ran, Pei Liu and Li Ji to the house-warming banquet when they moved into their new house.
Looking at the beautiful mansion, Gu Ran couldn't help but feel envious and jealous.
How could she, the owner of Dunzi Island, live worse than the Shen family?
Wait, when she makes enough money, she will build a house that is more beautiful than the Shen family mansion.
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