This is also the reason why Chen Huaixiu is anxious to go back. How could the leader of the Shachuan Gang not show up at such a critical time?
"Very good, the morale is good." Zhao Hao sat back on the pillow, eating the orange that Boss Chen had peeled, and asked, "Has Pan Zhongcheng been there?"
"We are looking at the terrain on the island." Chen Huaixiu said, "Chairman Yu is accompanying his father. He said that the blueprint will be produced in a few days."
"Well, Lieyang is still reliable." Zhao Hao said with confidence: "Xueying has helped Chongkaisi recruit enough workers. This year is not a good year, and the people in Jiangnan have a hard time. This is good news for Chongming."
"Yes, if it wasn't difficult to survive outside, so many people wouldn't come back." Chen Huaixiu nodded in agreement.
"Then the seawall construction will be officially started this month." Zhao Hao added: "We still have to hurry up and not let the county town affect the progress of the seawall. Otherwise, if it is not completed before the peach blossom flood next year, it will be a big trouble."
"Don't worry, sir. Under the leadership of Jin Xianzun, there will be no delay." Chen Huaixiu looked at Jin Xuezeng with admiration and said:
"This old parent is really amazing. Now the whole county is convinced."
"Of course." Young Master Zhao smiled proudly. Jin Xuezeng was a typical person who would shine with a little sunshine. He hadn't made any progress before, because he was a good cook without rice.
He has no money, no land, and no people, so no matter how great his abilities are, he won't be able to display them.
Zhao Hao's trip to Chongming solved all the problems, and Jin Xuezeng could finally let go and show his talents.
Originally, Zhao Hao only asked him to select a site for the county town, but Jin Xuezeng did not wait and persuade Yu Shensi and Chen Huaixiu to build the earthen wall in advance after selecting the location of the future county town. In this way, when the bricks and stones are in place, the earthen wall can be covered with bricks.
His reason was simple: for a place with extremely serious population loss, there was no better measure to reverse the decline than building a county town.
Without a city that can protect the people of the whole county, it is impossible to give the people a sense of security, and it is difficult to recall the lost population. It is even more impossible to attract hired workers and refugees from other places to settle on Chongming Island, and miss a great opportunity to restore Chongming's prosperity.
Moreover, most county towns were built with earth walls as the inner core and bricks as the outer layer. However, Jin Xuezeng separated these two steps into two parts - after all, earth walls are also walls, which can also give people a sense of security... As long as the bricks are covered before the rainy season next year, it will be fine.
The people understand these principles, but they still have many concerns.
The reason is simple: the people are already scared. The county town has collapsed three times in the past thirty years. Who can guarantee that this time it will not be a waste of effort?
How did Jin Xuezeng dispel the people's concerns? He brought out the two gods worshipped by the people of Chongming - the Sea God and Mazu. He summoned the elders of the whole county, laid out three kinds of animal offerings, and prayed for the blessings of the two gods.
He swore a poisonous oath in public that he would live as long as the county. The day the county collapsed would be the day Jin Xuezeng died!
Combined with some scientific tricks to create miraculous phenomena, the people of the entire county finally mustered the courage to try again.
This set of operations is inherited from his master and is almost a secret manual for becoming an official in the scientific field.
All the people in the county worked hard for themselves. In less than two months, they finally built an earthen city with a circumference of nine li and thirty steps, a moat eleven steps wide, four land gates and one water gate.
When coal is transported to the island in the future, kilns will be dug and bricks will be fired. In one or two months, the earthen walls will be covered with bricks, and a solid Chongming County will be built!
Jin Xuezeng was afraid that the people would worry that the city wall was too crude to defend against the enemy, so he added four gatehouses and four corner towers to the wall. The Chongming County City, which originally looked like a mud wall, suddenly looked more presentable.
Although it is completely useless when it comes to defending the city, it greatly increases the people's sense of security because it looks so good.
At the same time, Jin Xuezeng organized the militia to build streets and the county government in Tucheng. The Shachuan Gang also began to build houses in the east of the city, preparing to move the headquarters to the county town.
The entire Sansha Island has become a bustling construction site at this time.
~~
In the ward.
After listening to Chen Huaixiu's report, Zhao Hao was very satisfied with the performance of Chongming County and the Shachuan Gang.
Although Chen Huaixiu never boasted about herself, it goes without saying that she contributed greatly to this.
It really paid off that Master Zhao had taken so much trouble to put her on the throne of gang leader.
Now, we can talk to her about the two issues that were originally put on hold.
"The Shachuan Gang is focusing on the construction of the county. I'm afraid their business will be greatly affected?" Young Master Zhao asked naturally.
"Of course." Chen Huaixiu nodded and said, "Now 80% of the men in the gang and more than half of the elderly and women are busy working on the construction site. Only 500 to 600 sailors are left to run the boats and transport goods to maintain the livelihood of the gang."
As she spoke, she patted the white silk on her hands and said frankly, "But you don't have to worry too much, sir. Even if there is no project, most of the ships will be idle. The market is not good this year, and business is difficult. We who run ships are the most affected. Fortunately, there are big projects in Chongkai Company, so at least we don't have to worry about our gang members going hungry."
"The Sand Ship Gang still needs to run ships. Sailors and captains are valuable talents. It would be a waste to have them carry sacks on the construction site." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "Why don't we set up a joint venture shipping company and just take over Jiangnan Group's own business, which will be enough to support the whole gang."
"Is that so?" Chen Huaixiu felt happy at first, then worried, feeling mixed emotions.
In fact, she had been waiting for Zhao Hao here, and a big part of the reason was to see if she could get some business from Jiangnan Group to replenish her blood.
Now Zhao Hao is willing to hand over all the group's transportation business to the Sand Ship Gang, which is of course the best. In the future, they will have a stable income and no worries about their livelihood.
But the problem is, it's a bit too good.
Chen Huaixiu was not the kind of fool who only focused on the present. She keenly sensed a fatal problem - if the two sides jointly established a shipping company as Zhao Hao said, should the captain and sailors listen to the gang or the company?
The Sand Boat Gang is not a gang, but a business disguised as a gang. The key to the gang leader's control over the entire gang is that she can represent the entire gang in business negotiations and internally, she has the power to allocate business.
Once it becomes a shipping company, the business will be assigned by Jiangnan Group and distributed by the shipping company. Then is there any need for her as the gang leader?
Even if no one crippled him, he would gradually lose control of his fellow gang members, and the Sand Boat Gang would also exist in name only...
Chen Huaixiu was not afraid of the former result, but she could not afford the latter result.
ps. Third update, I will write another one to make up for yesterday's debt. Hey, otherwise I won't be able to sleep well...